The Axe Cop Story in Detail

Creating Axe Cop was one of those things that sort of happened to me more than I made happen. It was a crazy whirlwind of an experience and now that it’s simmered down, Malachai is in Junior High and I’m a family man, I’ve looked back on the whole adventure with some fascination. So I decided I’d write a weekly chapter on the story of how Axe Cop happened. Most of you have heard the story of the Christmas visit when Malachai wanted to “play Axe Cop” with me. But I want to tell the whole story.

Why no new comics? For now, I’m not doing Axe Cop for a couple of reasons. First being financial. People aren’t buying them. I don’t resent this. I’ve been amazed from the beginning that Axe Cop became as popular as it did, and I get it, it’s a funny joke but not a series you want to invest yourself in for life. At least not most people.  It’s also the age Malachai is at, and the place I am at in life. Looking back, I never could have made Axe Cop if I had what I wanted in life.

I was 29 at the time and all I could think about was how lonely I was. I wanted a wife. A family. I hated being alone, and I was alone until I was 31. But if I had a family, Axe Cop never would have happened. I couldn’t have spent large amounts of time one-on-one with Malachai, traveling to visit him for entire months. Now that I have a family I see how hard it is to ever travel, and when you do travel, you are mostly wrangling kids. As much as I resented my singleness, it afforded me the ability to spend lots of one on one time with my little brother. Time I couldn’t spend these days unless I totally ignored my family for weeks at a time.

I also respect the art of not overstaying your welcome when you make a good thing. I wanted to make a good body of work while Malachai was still young, and we did that. I’m happy with what we made, and if there is never another page of Axe Cop made I’ll be satisfied. But I’m open to revisiting Axe Cop with Malachai from time to time. He has talked about finding the right kid to “pass the torch” to as well.

For now, Axe Cop is an awesome memory for both of us. We lived two states apart and thanks to that little webcomic, we got to spend way more time together than we ever would have without it. I don’t think many other brothers who are 24 years apart, living separate lives who get to see each other as much as we did when Axe Cop was on fire. So, since there’s no new material t post, I’m posting this.

I write this as an introduction. Next week I will start into the story from the days prior to creating Axe Cop and what led up to it. I asked myself if I would want to hear the story if it wasn’t me, and I think I would. I find “how we got to where we are” stories fascinating so why not share my own? Questions and input are welcome along the way. My plan is to post on Tuesdays, so stay tuned.

Also, if you would like to see the other things I have been working on, check out www.EthanNicolle.com and consider joining me on Patreon.

Ethan