I remember the first time I wrote my name. I was 5 years old, sitting in kindergarten class, and I do recall being quite proud of myself for accomplishing such a feat. Now let me introduce you to Mr. Malachai Nicolle, AKA my “buzz kill.” He is 5 years old and in kindergarten, but HE is a renowned author of a hugely successful comic book franchise titled “Axe Cop.”  yep, no shit, it’s the truth.

This all came about when Malachai’s 28 yr old brother Ethan, already fairly well known for his Eisner Award nominated graphic novel Chumble Spuzz, was visiting the fam for the holidays. before dinner, a game of pretend was afoot and Ethan was recruited to be on the side of Malachai’s fictional persona, an axe-wielding heroic police officer. In the weeks following, Ethan decided to scribble out some pages of his brother’s pretend universe, and in no time he posted drawings on his Facebook page for the rest of the family to enjoy.  His Facebook fans also enjoyed them, so much so, that Ethan decided to make a web-zine out of “Axe Cop” for practice on another project that he was working on.  The Nicolle brothers talk regularly, usually when Malachai is excited about a new idea, to create the outrageous and unpredictable plot.  7 months and Entertainment Weekly’s “Site of the Day” later, those pretend misadventures of an axe-wielding cop riding a dinosaur with machine gun arms is a full fledged graphic series signed by Dark Horse comics with Hollywood projects in the works.  And my handwriting still sucks…

Words and Photos by Dustin Downing