07/05/2021
Wonderful words from our friends at PigDog Press ❤️
As some of you may have heard, we lost a great friend, mentor and letterer of Killing Moon - Dave ‘Bolt-01’ Evans. Today is a very sad day. Chris has written the following:
I first met Dave Evans at the Bristol Comics Expo in 2007. He was behind the FutureQuake Press table, amazingly friendly, amazingly knowledgeable, amazingly enthusiastic. I liked him immediately, but that was only natural. There was nothing not to like.
My brother Steven and I were life-long comic fans, and aspiring creators. We’d self-published a couple of Massacre For Boys comics, and the first thing you’d think if you looked at them is “wow, these guys really need a letterer”. Dave, a supreme letterer, offered to step in. He was the first person we’d ever collaborated with, and it was a dream. So keen, so helpful, so talented.
Steve and I both got involved with FutureQuake Press as well, and there we saw Dave the editor, alongside compadres Richmond Clements and Owen Watts. Always motivated to work with inexperienced creators and to give people a chance to express themselves and to develop. Steve ultimately went on to work for 2000AD, one of many, many writers and artists that trod the path from FutureQuake to professional work.
So the years passed. I kept meeting Dave at conventions, and kept collaborating with him too. About five years ago, Neil Roche assembled the team to work on Killing Moon. I was delighted when Dave came on board as the letterer. But it was hardly a surprise. Neil had got to know Dave in a similar manner to the way I had. I think very many people have their own variation of the same story. The impact he made cannot be underestimated.
The last time I saw Dave was at Oldham Comic Con, 2019. We kept in touch and I am kicking myself that I still owe him a reply to his last email about Massacre For Boys. Dave was working on Killing Moon Rises just a few days ago.
One thing has struck me now, now it’s too late, and that’s in all the years I knew him Dave never asked me for anything. I owed him so many favours and he never called them in. Again, I suspect I am by no means the only one.
A few weeks ago I was reading The Life And Death of Johnny Alpha by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. I saw that Dave had evidently helped them out too, and the story was inscribed “Thanks to Dave Evans”. I think that sums it up.
Thanks Dave. We’ll miss you.
Chris Denton, 7th May 2021
