Well, here we are…
About 30 years ago or so, my mother bought me and my brother a box of comics from a garage sale. I already loved to draw, but what struck me was the fusion of drama and art that was my very first experience with comic books.
These comics were mainly Spider-Man and Daredevil, so it is not surprising that Nightstik bares more than a passing resemblance to these two iconic characters. Hopefully, the resemblance is not enough for Marvel to sue…
For years, I toiled on my story. I would draw it. Get disgusted. Re-draw it. Forget about it. Re-discover it. Lose it. There were a few attempts to self-publish with a buddy of mine when I was in the Navy, but nothing ever really came of it. And so it went for 25 years.
About two years ago, I realized that over that 25 years I had drawn roughly 24 pages, the standard length of a comic book story. These pages were scattered over two sketch books and a couple of “attempts” at legit 11 x 17 pages. I finally decided, “Enough already. Stop waiting for it to be perfect. It never will be. Just get it out there.”
My first attempt on the internet took place on Tumblr. In two years I amassed about 12 followers. I also dabbled with a facebook page.
This comic book is a life long dream of mine. Just the fact that I can get it out there is pretty cool to me. This comic book is published warts and all. Meaning every attempt has been made by the creator, me, to make it as good and as true as possible, but it is a work in progress, and I am learning. This is not to say that I am asking for permission to suck, its just that well, some stuff here might just suck.
Nightstik is a mash-up of those early marvel comics, pop culture, and a homage to all of those things we love about the hero’s quest. He is a familiar hero doing familiar hero things. One of the things I miss about those early comic stories I read as a kid is that there seemed to be more of a willing suspension of dis-belief. In other words, we just accepted a kid could get bit by a radioactive spider or get blinded by radioactive waste and get powers. We didn’t need pages of technobabble trying to explain it all like we do these days.
So this is a comic where stuff just happens and we accept it.
I would be remiss if I did not thank a few people. Creative endeavors are rarely solo efforts. First I’d like to thank Stephen Prescott, an amazing artist and teacher who has been huge help offering gentle, yet needed critique. You’ll also be seeing a lot of Stephen’s amazing art in upcoming issues. Jenna Baggins for showing me how all this internet stuff works, Meescha Dare for her help with Manga Studio, Barry Curry for teaching me not to use comic sans, Arie Wheaton for her encouragement and being one of the dozens that follow me on Tumblr, Fantasium Draw Club, my wife for putting up with this, and Heather Harvey for her help in getting my website to not look too embarrassing.
Finally, it is cliche, but I have to thank my mom for encouraging me when I was younger and buying me those old comics years ago. Without her, none of this would be possible.
Toby Dycus