I have been working in the comics industry for nearly two decades. I’ve worked on every side of the spectrum almost. Starting as an Associate Editor, becoming Editor-in-Chief of a few small publishers. I stumbled into lettering and made a 15-year+ career of that, while still writing columns, reviews, etc. and running several comic book news websites.
In 2008, I published my own first comic book, Wannabez, and gained a little momentum thanks to a site I then owned a portion of, Comic Related. Fast forward to 2009, as my comic life started taking me in various directions. I was now on the convention circuit both with Comic Related and for my comic. I was working for Haven Distributors as well, handling submissions and designing the monthly catalog. And I was gearing up to launch my podcast that would go on to run for 10 years.
I got hired as a letterer for a webcomic called Spy Girl that was going to be entering DC’s Zuda competition. Quickly, the name would change to Spy6Teen, which didn’t win Zuda, but went on to produce four online issues as a webcomic. It was then that I met Lisa for the first time.
Lisa had been working as a comic book colorist and got hired for the same webcomic. It was the first of many project we would work on together over the years, each throwing each other work as we could, and sometimes just ending up on the same projects as fate would have it. Her career went on to see her doing the bulk of her coloring work for BOOM! Studios’ KaBOOM line on titles like Garfield, Regular Show, Peanuts and Bravest Warriors to name a few.
Lisa and I quickly became very good friends, even though she was in Texas and I was in Kentucky. In the fall of 2010, September 10th to be exact, Lisa drove up for a small comic convention where the largest gathering of Comic Related alumni would ever assemble. Over 40 of us converged and met for the first time, including Lisa and I meeting in person for the first time.
After that, I got really sick for a couple of years, bad bouts with a gallbladder that would take me off the convention scene. I ended up doing some flatting work for Lisa. Haven shut down and lettering had slowed down for a bit.
In 2014, I was at probably my lowest point in my life. I had lost quite a bit, my work had all but dried up, and Comic Related was on its way out. But Lisa was always there. She had been asking me to come to Texas for a long time and I had resisted. Finally, in late June, I made the decision to move. She had a spare room and I desperately needed a fresh start. So on July 10, 2014 I moved to Texas.
The very first night I was here, Lisa and I talked until the sun came up. Before I ever came to Texas, people teased me about Lisa and I, but I’d always say we’re just friends. But once I got here, deep down something stirred in both of us. It wasn’t long after that we became involved. It wasn’t ideal, it wasn’t perfect, but it just felt right. She got me, I got her. We understood each other, cared for each other, and respected each other. To this day,I can count on one hand how many real fights we’ve gotten into and still have a finger or two left.
In early 2015, Lisa came to me and basically said “What if we start our own company?” We had both been working so long and hard for others, but our own creative needs weren’t being met. We were frustrated and hungry. So in February 2015, we launched Last Ember Press and debuted our first titles in June of that year.
Fast forward to 2018. We had done numerous conventions, including going back to Kentucky for my Comic Related buddy Chuck Moore’s final year running Derby City Comic Con. Incidentally, it was there we decided to end Comic Related after its storied 11 year run. We were all ready to move on.
We had published several comics, launched and successfully funded three Kickstarters, and saw my mom move to Texas and my brother contemplating as well.
We had hoped to go to MegaCon that year, and I had an elaborate plan that involved a trip to Disney World, Lisa’s favorite place (her whole family is big on Disney). It fell through sadly, so I had to come up with a new plan.
Jump back to September 10, 2010. It was the day before the big Comic Related gathering at Champion City Comic Con in Ohio. A few of us went out with my good friend Bill Gladman to play disc golf for the first time. Lisa and I were among them, me playing, her watching. This was officially the first time and place Lisa and I met in person.
Back to 2018, on September 10th, the 8-year anniversary of that meeting, Lisa and I went to dinner in Tyler, Texas. It started raining afterward, which upset me because I had plans. I powered through, though, leaving Lisa confused as I drove out to a park we had never been to presumably just to walk and talk after a good meal and a regular date night. This park had a disc golf course.
After driving around it, waiting for the rain to let up, trying to find a secluded spot, I pulled into an empty lot where there was a roofed area presumably for picnics and the like. We walked out there, and just looked around. The rain had let up enough where we weren’t getting wet. I put my arm around her shoulders and asked her if she knew what day this was. She didn’t. So I told her. I said it was a special day. She smiled at me and said something like “Yeah, it is.”
I then pulled away and asked her “So why don’t we make it even more special?” I dropped to one knee and pulled a white box out of my pocket. She looks at me smiling and says “What”” obviously surprised and then turns away, her eyes starting to tear up. I lost my whole planned speech somewhere in the recesses of my mind, and just told her how much I loved her and how special she was to me. Then I asked her to marry me.
I slid the ring on her finger as she stood there crying. I stood up, she pulled me close, hugging me tight and then we kissed. I then noted that she never actually said “Yes.” to which she then responded “YES, yes, of course yes.” or something like that.
On that day, we were engaged.
Last Ember Press is not only the culmination of two people’s long careers leading them to the point of breathing their own creations to life. It’s much more than that. It’s the culmination of two people longing for love, finding it and each other through the world of comics and starting something together that would only be the beginning of their epic journey together.
So when I say that our hearts and souls are poured into this company, believe it. This is who we are, how we met, how we came together, and a place where everything creative within us has a chance to be shared with the world.
Lisa and I invite you to be a part of that experience through everything we do.
-Brant Fowler
