There were business things I had originally planned to cover in this issue, and to talk about how grateful I am to those who come in month after month. But that can all wait until next time. This month I want to talk about someone who most of you, but less than a handful of people, know: Kyle D. Dobbs. I recently found out that Kyle had passed away. As I am writing this, I have reached out to his Mom, his brother, and his sister to find out what happened. But unfortunately, no one has looked at my messages. While I do not know for a fact what exactly happened that led to the ending of his life, I do have an idea based on a single post I found on the internet. If my assumptions are correct, my sadness for him deepened because he was not deserving of that sort of conclusion to the life he led. You may be wondering who Kyle is, and other than being a friend, how does he connect to the company? Well, we met in Mojave High School in 1994. It was during lunch, and I walked by a guy who caught my attention because A) He was drawing a comic book character that I was familiar with and B) he was using both hands to draw. He would draw the main layout with his left hand and add in detail with his right. Me being me, and not knowing a stranger, walked up to him and asked, "How the hell can you divide your attention to do two things at once?" He went on to say that in his childhood he suffered a brain injury that caused him to develop epilepsy, but he learned that he could do two things at once. It was an amazing talent, but the price he paid was heartbreaking. His seizures would freeze him in the middle of what he was doing, no matter the task, and whether he was talking or walking, he would simply freeze for a few moments. Over the coming weeks, we became friends talking about comics and drawing. It was around that time that I was burning out on drawing as I was writing and drawing my comic M-Team, and I hired Kyle to replace me as the artist on that title. One of the things that I still have (I lost the majority of old stuff when I moved to my current home in 2022) was a collaboration on the Lifesigns Alpha One-shot cover. We took turns drawing and then fixing each other's art, and I think I did the inking on it. He continued to work for me, finishing the comics, but fell out of contact shortly after I graduated from High School. It was the summer of 1996 when we came back into contact. During that time, my wife and I lived in Arkansas, and he relocated to Oklahoma because long-distance phone rates were a thing back then, so we mainly communicated via mail and letters. He wanted to venture out on his own, but because of his epilepsy, he was too afraid to really go out and start his life as an adult. It was around that time that my late wife, Lacie, came up with the idea to have him move in with us (we needed a roommate to help with the bills), and he did so for almost the rest of that year. During that time, he worked on several comic titles before he moved back to Oklahoma. I ran into Kyle in 2000 digitally, as it were, and was the one who told me about Hardcore Harry and New Wave Comics. Those were created by my brother, Randolph Lofrgen, and has sold the rights to a friend back in the mid-nineties. This was the direct reason why I ended up purchasing them back in 2001. Kyle would pop back up again in 2009 via social media. He had gotten married and had decided that he no longer wanted to be an artist and wanted to write instead. I introduced him to this magazine and told him to send in whatever, and we would find a home for it. In 2010, he actually became Editor-in-Chief of the Company for a short time, working on several issues of the magazine and did, in fact, host a few stories here in the magazine. After his run, we remained friends, and while he was not creative, the two of us continued to talk about writing and stories, the foundation that our favorite authors had built for us as readers. I wish I remembered the exact time frame, but I remember that his marriage came to an end, and that put him in a dark place. I want to say 2013-ish; I remember Zoie was very young and Lily had not been born yet. We continued to chitchat and stay in touch over the years, and he always wanted to make that step from his small town in Oklahoma, because he had earned a bachelor's degree in English and he really wanted to become an editor for a big publishing house. I always told him that he would need to either move to the East or West Coast, or at the very least move to Oklahoma City, and he needed to move out of the small town if he wanted to live out his big dreams. Over the years, we continued to talk, and I would offer him the odd editing job, but it was in 2020, after the conclusion of the Open Contract Challenge's second year, that I offered him the job as Director of the Contest. His final job was in 2024, and he did the editing on the four free comic strips we released for American Smash #1/2 for Free Comic Book Day. I had no idea that it was going to be his last, and he really got a kick out of the story but said if I were to do something other than comedy, he would be interested in editing for that book. Our last conversation was on February 17, 2025. I was planning on restructuring the company, and I had plans to offer Kyle a new role in the company. He was offered the CFO role but turned it down because he was getting married again and seemed over the moon about it. We talked, and I congratulated him and said when he came back from the honeymoon to give me a call. That was the final conversation we had. From what I understand, he did not get married, for a reason unknown to me. But he did pass away a little over a month later, on March 27, 2025. It was not made public, and I had no clue. I continued to message him throughout the year, wishing him what I thought would be his 50th birthday, Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas, and not receiving a response. I simply figured that he was married and living his best life. I decided to stop messaging and figured he'd drop me a line when he was ready to chitchat about life as we had done so many times in the past. It was while I was on vacation at my sister's, who coincidentally now lives in Oklahoma City, that we were talking, and Kyle's name came up. She did a quick Google search and discovered he was no longer with us. That is where I have to leave this for now. I may never know exactly what happened during the final weeks of Kyle's life, and until his family chooses to share that information, I do not want to turn assumptions into fact.
What I do know is that Kyle D. Dobbs was my friend for more than thirty years. He was an artist, a writer, an editor, a dreamer, and part of the history of this company. His work helped shape several of the projects we created, but his friendship meant far more to me than any title he held or any assignment he completed.
I regret that I did not know he was gone. I regret every unanswered message that I assumed he was simply too busy to answer. Most of all, I regret that our conversation on February 17, 2025, was our last, because I ended it believing there would always be another one.
Kyle deserved the chance to live the life he spent so many years talking about. He deserved to see where his talent, education, and dreams might have taken him. I cannot change what happened, but I can make certain that his part in our history is remembered.
This issue is dedicated to my friend, Kyle D. Dobbs.
Thank you for the art, the stories, the arguments, the laughter, and more than thirty years of friendship. I am sorry I did not get the chance to say goodbye.
There were business things I had originally planned to cover in this issue, and to talk about how grateful I am to those who come in month after month. But that can all wait until next time. This month I want to talk about someone who most of you, but less than a handful of people, know: Kyle D. Dobbs.
I recently found out that Kyle had passed away. As I am writing this, I have reached out to his Mom, his brother, and his sister to find out what happened. But unfortunately, no one has looked at my messages.
While I do not know for a fact what exactly happened that led to the ending of his life, I do have an idea based on a single post I found on the internet. If my assumptions are correct, my sadness for him deepened because he was not deserving of that sort of conclusion to the life he led.
You may be wondering who Kyle is, and other than being a friend, how does he connect to the company?
Well, we met in Mojave High School in 1994. It was during lunch, and I walked by a guy who caught my attention because A) He was drawing a comic book character that I was familiar with and B) he was using both hands to draw. He would draw the main layout with his left hand and add in detail with his right.
Me being me, and not knowing a stranger, walked up to him and asked, "How the hell can you divide your attention to do two things at once?" He went on to say that in his childhood he suffered a brain injury that caused him to develop epilepsy, but he learned that he could do two things at once. It was an amazing talent, but the price he paid was heartbreaking.
His seizures would freeze him in the middle of what he was doing, no matter the task, and whether he was talking or walking, he would simply freeze for a few moments. Over the coming weeks, we became friends talking about comics and drawing.
It was around that time that I was burning out on drawing as I was writing and drawing my comic M-Team, and I hired Kyle to replace me as the artist on that title. One of the things that I still have (I lost the majority of old stuff when I moved to my current home in 2022) was a collaboration on the Lifesigns Alpha One-shot cover. We took turns drawing and then fixing each other's art, and I think I did the inking on it.
He continued to work for me, finishing the comics, but fell out of contact shortly after I graduated from High School. It was the summer of 1996 when we came back into contact. During that time, my wife and I lived in Arkansas, and he relocated to Oklahoma because long-distance phone rates were a thing back then, so we mainly communicated via mail and letters. He wanted to venture out on his own, but because of his epilepsy, he was too afraid to really go out and start his life as an adult. It was around that time that my late wife, Lacie, came up with the idea to have him move in with us (we needed a roommate to help with the bills), and he did so for almost the rest of that year. During that time, he worked on several comic titles before he moved back to Oklahoma.
I ran into Kyle in 2000 digitally, as it were, and was the one who told me about Hardcore Harry and New Wave Comics. Those were created by my brother, Randolph Lofrgen, and has sold the rights to a friend back in the mid-nineties. This was the direct reason why I ended up purchasing them back in 2001.
Kyle would pop back up again in 2009 via social media. He had gotten married and had decided that he no longer wanted to be an artist and wanted to write instead. I introduced him to this magazine and told him to send in whatever, and we would find a home for it.
In 2010, he actually became Editor-in-Chief of the Company for a short time, working on several issues of the magazine and did, in fact, host a few stories here in the magazine.
After his run, we remained friends, and while he was not creative, the two of us continued to talk about writing and stories, the foundation that our favorite authors had built for us as readers. I wish I remembered the exact time frame, but I remember that his marriage came to an end, and that put him in a dark place. I want to say 2013-ish; I remember Zoie was very young and Lily had not been born yet. We continued to chitchat and stay in touch over the years, and he always wanted to make that step from his small town in Oklahoma, because he had earned a bachelor's degree in English and he really wanted to become an editor for a big publishing house. I always told him that he would need to either move to the East or West Coast, or at the very least move to Oklahoma City, and he needed to move out of the small town if he wanted to live out his big dreams.
Over the years, we continued to talk, and I would offer him the odd editing job, but it was in 2020, after the conclusion of the Open Contract Challenge's second year, that I offered him the job as Director of the Contest.
His final job was in 2024, and he did the editing on the four free comic strips we released for American Smash #1/2 for Free Comic Book Day. I had no idea that it was going to be his last, and he really got a kick out of the story but said if I were to do something other than comedy, he would be interested in editing for that book.
Our last conversation was on February 17, 2025. I was planning on restructuring the company, and I had plans to offer Kyle a new role in the company. He was offered the CFO role but turned it down because he was getting married again and seemed over the moon about it. We talked, and I congratulated him and said when he came back from the honeymoon to give me a call.
That was the final conversation we had.
From what I understand, he did not get married, for a reason unknown to me. But he did pass away a little over a month later, on March 27, 2025. It was not made public, and I had no clue. I continued to message him throughout the year, wishing him what I thought would be his 50th birthday, Happy Thanksgiving, and Merry Christmas, and not receiving a response.
I simply figured that he was married and living his best life. I decided to stop messaging and figured he'd drop me a line when he was ready to chitchat about life as we had done so many times in the past. It was while I was on vacation at my sister's, who coincidentally now lives in Oklahoma City, that we were talking, and Kyle's name came up. She did a quick Google search and discovered he was no longer with us.
That is where I have to leave this for now. I may never know exactly what happened during the final weeks of Kyle's life, and until his family chooses to share that information, I do not want to turn assumptions into fact.
What I do know is that Kyle D. Dobbs was my friend for more than thirty years. He was an artist, a writer, an editor, a dreamer, and part of the history of this company. His work helped shape several of the projects we created, but his friendship meant far more to me than any title he held or any assignment he completed.
I regret that I did not know he was gone. I regret every unanswered message that I assumed he was simply too busy to answer. Most of all, I regret that our conversation on February 17, 2025, was our last, because I ended it believing there would always be another one.
Kyle deserved the chance to live the life he spent so many years talking about. He deserved to see where his talent, education, and dreams might have taken him. I cannot change what happened, but I can make certain that his part in our history is remembered.
This issue is dedicated to my friend, Kyle D. Dobbs.
Thank you for the art, the stories, the arguments, the laughter, and more than thirty years of friendship. I am sorry I did not get the chance to say goodbye.