Hello blogosphere. My name is Keith Kappel, and I am a Star Wars fan. I have been a Star Wars fan for a long, long time, dating back to when I came out of the womb. I was only born in 1979, so I missed ANH in theaters, and I am certain I missed ESB as well. ROTJ was the first Star Wars film that made me fall in love with the GFFA as a four year old. Like many children of that era, I had all the toys, the ewok playset, etc. However, I naturally "outgrew" Star Wars as I hit my adolecense, and it wasn't until my freshman year of high school in 1993 that I rediscovered the holy trilogy.

Some friends of mine reintroduced me to Star Wars that year when they did a class project on the trilogy. I immediately fell in love with the story, latching on to the mythology that resonates with so many of us. It was a good year to become a Star Wars fan, as I quickly discovered Tim Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, and the rest of the EU. Dark Horse was just begining to print the Tales of the Jedi and Dark Empire comic series, WEG RPG books were plentiful (and I was already a gamer), a true beginning and golden age for the EU.

I spent until 1995 merely being a spectator, a fan like any other. In 1996, however, I got online. That was the year I decided that I wanted to be more than a spectator; I wanted to be involved in the Star Wars fan community. I discovered online RPGing on AOL, and within days had formed my own RP group known as red squadron. I met my future best friend Ryan Brooks in that group, a man I would come to know very well, and work on several future projects with.

Within 6 months Red Squadron folded up, and I decided to try something new, a much more generalized star wars fan club. We were extremely elitist in our membership, requiring prospective members to take a lengthy test and several interviews to be considered for membership. We only wanted hardcore fans. However, our fan club included almost all existing aspects of star wars fandom, allowing for a wide range of expression for love of the Star Wars Galaxy. Of course, the gaming side continued to dominate, as it was what I found most interesting.

This was not the ultimate group for me, still. After 6 months the fan club folded up, and I sought a new project. Ryan Brooks and myself decided to focus on Star Wars online text RPing, and formed NSU (New Sim Universe). We were dedicated to forming the most realistic text based star wars game online, creating our own set of rules and enjoying great success on AOL. That group lasted well into 2004, peaking at 1000 players.

For many years, I thought that this was the be all end all of star wars fandom. Unfortunately, Ryan eventually found NSU to be far more work than play, and left the group. WIthout my wingman, I found that the group was impossible to run and maintain. The thrill had gone. We folded up in mid 2004, and I was left with two 6 foot bookshelves of star wars EU material and no use for it.

Ryan Brooks and myself were still close, talking frequently. I was the best man at his wedding, but we both knew that something was missing from our lives. There was a gaping hole that was previously filled by serving the Star Wars fan community. Being an avid comic book reader myself, I mentioned to Ryan how I had always wanted to write comics, a sentiment he understood and also had. Out of that conversation, Fandom Comics was born (www.fandomcomics.com). We decided that doing star wars fan comics would be fun, and no one seemed to be doing it anymore online anyway.

It took quite some time, but eventually I found artist Steve Criado, and wrote my draft of Cracken's Crew: The Invisible War. Finally, I had an outlet for my creative energy, and a justifyable reason to own as many bookshelves full of star wars books, comics and reference material as I do. Life, once again, felt complete. Not only that, but I cannot even describe the thrill, the high, one gets from seeing something you created in your head, being drawn by a talented artist on the page. I can only compare it to parenthood, which I have not experienced, but thats how I imagine it feeling.

Fandom Comics opened in may of 2005 (alongside ROTS), and has been a smashing success ever since. We have two comics currently running (Cracken's Crew: The Invisible War and Tales of the Chu'unthor), as well as a Clone Wars D20 Fan sourcebook, harkening back to my years of gaming. I can't even begin to describe how amazing and fulfilling the experience of being with Fandom Comics has been, and continues to be. I feel like I run the most amazing fan site in the entire star wars community, and there isnt a single other thing Id rather be doing.

I want to thank every single star wars fan who ahs visited my site(s) over the years, and I want to encourage all the other fans out there, who have considered doing something great within the star wars fan community, but haven't gone out and done it yet. Sack up and take your best shot, its been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, following in the footsteps of current star wars EU greats like Abel Pena, Pablo Hidalgo and Joe Corroney.

MTFBY,

Keith "Nar" Kappel
http://www.fandomcomics.com