I couldn’t tell you when I first met Matt Feazell, but it had to be at my first comic book convention. This would’ve been in my younger days when the industry seemed to boom with fresh ideas, long before purchasing comics for mere investment value became the trend. Little did I know about the world that awaited me when I entered the Artist Alley that day: a slender man with black-framed glasses and fedora beckoned me over.

“Draw Cynical Man and get a free comic.”

I didn’t know how to draw — or more accurately, I knew enough of my skill to know I couldn’t draw anything recognizable to another human being. Being in a comic book convention’s Artist Alley, my mind immediately danced with visions of Frank Miller, John Byrne and John Romita Sr. No force on earth or in heaven could pull such sketching from my fingers.

Then I saw Cynical Man. For all intents and purposes, Cynical Man is a stick figure. Anyone could draw Cynical Man, as his creator told me. I stood there trying to understand why this man was giving away free comics for the longest time before jotting my version down on the sticky pad and picking out which issue I wanted.

Almost immediately, I thumbed through the book. A half page minicomic, I marveled that it was self-published and damn entertaining. Before leaving the convention, I purchased additional issues for later reading. I have been in love with Cynical Man and Not Available Comics ever since.

When I toyed with the idea of self-publishing, though at the time I was interested in proving to someone that they could be published (that’s for another issue of Blame later), I knew whatever I did, whatever format I chose or however I got this crazy scheme to work, there would have to be a staple. Something about the staple made it more real, created the illusion of legitimacy.

It would take finding a copy of Cynical Man around the house to make me realize: the staple makes it an official publication because that’s what Matt did. In the middle of every one of his minicomics, a staple holds the whole thing together. It would all fall apart without it.

So, Matt Feazell shares blame in this publication. If he hadn’t shown me early on how, I wouldn’t be putting this thing out at all. If you want someone to blame, he’d be the man.