Darick Robertson - Career

Career

Robertson created his first comic book at the age of 17 while still in school and also working as a bill collector. Many small press black and white books featuring anthropomorphic heroes were seeing sudden critical and commercial success in the wake of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Robertson had "always loved this idea of stuffed animals fighting they bleed and stuff comes out of them when they die." As a result he created Space Beaver, “a cute little beaver…running around shooting people."

Robertson showed his new work, drawn on typing paper in ball-point pen, to Michio Okamura, an inker working as a security guard in the same building as the collection agency. Okamura inked Reggie Byers's Shuriken for Victory Comics, and introduced Dairck to the use of Bristol Board, ink pens, and zip-a-tone. Okamura sent Robertson's pages to Victory Comics, who agreed to publish Space Beaver, but not to compensate Robertson. Robertson then took the finished pages to Tibor Sardy, owner of Peninsula Comics in San Mateo California. After seeing Robertson’s work, the comic store owner agreed to pay Robertson and publish Space Beaver under the name Ten-Buck Comics. Robertson would now spend every day after work and school drawing the book, which would run for 11 issues. Years after the series ended people still ask Robertson to confirm he was the creator of Space Beaver. Perhaps most notable for the young artist, Robertson’s father carried a worn copy of Space Beaver #1 folded into his coat pocket to show his friends what his son had created.

In 2000 Larry Young acquired publication rights to Space Beaver and AiT/Planet Lar released two trades collecting the entire run.