The other day, I ran into an illustrator whose work I have followed for quite a while. He’s recently been posting pages for a comic he’s been working on, so I immediately asked him how it was all coming along. Now, the fan in me was asking out of sincere interest…it came from a place of humble dedication to someone’s work I enjoy. However the publisher in me was asking with an evil ploy in mind. I intended to gauge whether he’d be interested in showing me some more of his works and potentially allowing FEC to represent him. *insert maniacal laugh here*

But it didn’t work out that way. Before I could get him and his talent within my grasps, he proceeded to tell me that another local publisher has shown interest in putting out his comic.

Now I could have been disappointed about this. I could have cracked the shits and gotten in a huff. I could have even lied and told him that the other publisher won’t do as good a job as FEC would. But really, I was just happy to hear that it was getting made. And what made me even happier is that there were numerous doors open to him. A great local comic creator has options! Options!!!

So we both went on our merry way and all I could think was “How great is it that the Melbourne comics scene is getting so healthy that we’re seeing creators with these opportunities?!”

We’re living in a Golden Age, my friends. Australian comics are getting bigger and better everyday and I’m hugely grateful to be a part of it!