Dakota McFadzean

My interest in comics started at a young age, but it wasn’t until I was about about 18 that I really began to understand the full potential of the medium.

That was when I saw the documentary Crumb for the first time and had the artistic equivalent of a religious experience. My sketchbook quickly grew fat with ink that night as I frantically tried to comprehend the world that had just opened up before me. Robert Crumb’s relationship with drawing really resonated with me, and I’ve used his obsessive abilities as a barometer for my own output ever since.

As a self-important teenager, I also used to get girls to watch the documentary with me within the first few dates … my misguided theory  was that if they liked it then they would like me. One girl seemed to think I was just into sick flicks and so she got me to watch Requiem for a Dream and The Ring upon the Blockbuster clerk’s recommendation.

Another girl eventually dumped me.

Yet another one married me. See? The system works!