Here is the very first ever picture of Darvin, from 1983. If you happen to have the Galaxion Graphic Novel, you may remember seeing this printed in the Gallery in the back. When Wendy and I were first brainstorming about the science fiction story we wanted to tell, we came up with a basic premise, that it would be about the crew of a ship called the Galaxion. Then we went home and each drew a half dozen characters. Yes, we were planning to write a novel at the time, not do a comic (yes, I was reading comics at the time, but it was many years before I switched my goals from being a novelist to being a comic artist). No, this didn’t seem contradictory. But I guess we weren’t really all that many years out of reading those illustrated chapter books for kids, so it all makes sense.
Darvin was originally created to be the commander, which is why I tried to make him seem a little older than the others. But Wendy had also created a commander for the Galaxion, Scavina. I recall feeling a bit put out by this when we compared our drawings the next day, but in the interest of friendship and making sure our collaboration got off to a good start, I decided not to make a fuss and let Wendy’s character take top spot.
For some reason, Darvin didn’t even get to be second-in-command. According to my notes– because I never would have remembered this otherwise– he was in charge of the exciting world of scanners and “maintinence”. Well, at least that gave him a spot on the bridge.
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