Post by G on Mar 12, 2024 0:25:53 GMT -5
I haven't been on here in a long time and when i last was, i went over to my friend, Defiant1's site and as we often had, i spent some time chatting with him over a few weeks in personal messages. We had done this through the years, numerous times. Towards the end of our discussions, Defiant1 started indicating to me that he wasnt doing well and was experiencing some personal health problems.
Unfortunately, during this time, i was experiencing some personal issues unrelated to health myself, and i inadvertently stopped coming by and messaging Defiant1. Life was taking me elsewhere and it took me away from him at a bad time.
Now, 2+ years go by and me and a friend were discussing a video i made and it prompted me to want to find it so i could send it to my friend. I couldnt find it but i had remembered i had posted it somewhere on either mine or Defiant1s site. So, this brought me back here for the 1st time in 2+ years. I spent an hour or two looking for it with no luck. No worries, ill just go to my old friend Defiant1s site known as Life after Comics and log on and look for it over there. And thats what i started to do. Upon logging on, I went to the personal messages part of the page and seen he had messaged me a week after I last spoke to him in November of 2021. Once done seeing that, I began to wonder how his board was doing and noticed it looked completely dead. So this made me look up Defiant1 himself.
Upon pulling up his profile i quickly noticed that it said he was last online in February of 2022 and I immediately got gravely concerned. Definat1 was someone who went to his own site often, even if it was dead, he could still be found working on it. So, I knew when it showed he hadn't been on in 2 years, I knew something was very wrong.
I couldn't find any answers on his own board. But the fear in me kept me searching. This made me look at boards he used to be on in hopes that someone else might have some news. I eventually made my way to the Valiantfans site and once there I did a search on Defiant1.
The results produced a thread talking about Jim Shooter and a podcast he had made and discussing the podcast itself. Defiant1 always claimed to know and chat with Jim Shooter. Most people didn't believe Defiant1. Thought he was name dropping. But in this discovery, it indicated that during the podcast, Jim Shooter made mention that Defiant1 had passed.
This hit me like a ton of bricks.
I had a long history with Defiant1. I saw him on many other boards and he often engaged in conversations that got him in many fights because he was viewed as cockky and arrogant, but in reality, he was very smart and knew his stuff. This made him a lot of enemies.
When I made this board way back in 2007, Defiant1 was my 2nd member and he would go on to post over here more than any other member. He often kept my board going when no one else would even visit. Even when I quit coming here, he often came and made posts just to keep my board going.
He also helped me in ways that had nothing to do with comics. Since around 2012, I have endured the most trying times of my life and when everyone else failed to show me a kind ear to vent, there was Defiant1 willing to talk things out with me. He spoke to me like others wouldn't. He also informed me many times that he was a Christian and to seek help from God.
There was also a time way back in 2013 when I was going through divorce and hard times and was jobless and trying to hold onto my house and selling my comic books on eBay. I had become dramtically poor and bad things were happening. One day, I was at home and my electricity got turned off for lack of payment. I had no money to pay for it and I was wondering how I was going to make it. That same day, I went to my mailbox and was surprised to see an envelope with Defiant1s real name on it. I was shocked to see it. I immediately opened it up and couldn't believe he had sent me a check unasked for and untalked about my problems, for $300. I nearly cried on the spot. When I went to thank him and wondered how he knew, he basically replied that he had sensed i was going through a very bad time and this is what Christians do.
As mentioned earlier, Defiant1 was a very smart and informed individual who held tightly to his standards on the things he knew and what he thought was good. I must also add that there was more than 1 time he sent me stacks of free comics containing many obscure and hard to find or pay for items. He often acted like me and him held some of the same ideals for what we thought made comics great and why we thought comics turned to mostly trash over the last 30 years.
I seen him battle it out with many people on many boards time and time again and he never backed down and stood by his beliefs and knowledge every time. He was often ganged up on on boards and a few of them he was even banned. Still, he never backed down.
He gave me many words of advice about my own boards and his contributions to the comics world is overlooked. One thing that should be appreciated more is his comic checklists he worked tirelessly on and was added to his site as well as here. I know of no one else that did these things. He made my board so much better just because he was here and contributing to it. I could never thank him enough for everything he has meant to me as both a collector and a friend over the years. This board is 17 years old now and long been dead but any look at all and youll see how he added so much to what I was trying to do.
I will forever feel guilty at how I lost contact with him right when he was obviously becoming sick and telling me about it. At the time, I felt he was going through a bad stretch in health but never considered that this may have been what ultimately took his life.
When going back to his board and seeing he was gone and then finding verification that he had indeed passed, that finding literally hurt me and I have thought about it all week since I learned of this.
Since he was there for me at the beginning, I felt it only fitting to honor him at what is likely close to being my boards end. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for him at the end the way he had been for me all throughout knowing him. I never met him or spoke to him on a phone but we often spoke of doing so eventually. It hurts we never did.
I owe a lot of my board and a big piece of my life to him. I will forever miss him.
RIP Defiant1
Unfortunately, during this time, i was experiencing some personal issues unrelated to health myself, and i inadvertently stopped coming by and messaging Defiant1. Life was taking me elsewhere and it took me away from him at a bad time.
Now, 2+ years go by and me and a friend were discussing a video i made and it prompted me to want to find it so i could send it to my friend. I couldnt find it but i had remembered i had posted it somewhere on either mine or Defiant1s site. So, this brought me back here for the 1st time in 2+ years. I spent an hour or two looking for it with no luck. No worries, ill just go to my old friend Defiant1s site known as Life after Comics and log on and look for it over there. And thats what i started to do. Upon logging on, I went to the personal messages part of the page and seen he had messaged me a week after I last spoke to him in November of 2021. Once done seeing that, I began to wonder how his board was doing and noticed it looked completely dead. So this made me look up Defiant1 himself.
Upon pulling up his profile i quickly noticed that it said he was last online in February of 2022 and I immediately got gravely concerned. Definat1 was someone who went to his own site often, even if it was dead, he could still be found working on it. So, I knew when it showed he hadn't been on in 2 years, I knew something was very wrong.
I couldn't find any answers on his own board. But the fear in me kept me searching. This made me look at boards he used to be on in hopes that someone else might have some news. I eventually made my way to the Valiantfans site and once there I did a search on Defiant1.
The results produced a thread talking about Jim Shooter and a podcast he had made and discussing the podcast itself. Defiant1 always claimed to know and chat with Jim Shooter. Most people didn't believe Defiant1. Thought he was name dropping. But in this discovery, it indicated that during the podcast, Jim Shooter made mention that Defiant1 had passed.
This hit me like a ton of bricks.
I had a long history with Defiant1. I saw him on many other boards and he often engaged in conversations that got him in many fights because he was viewed as cockky and arrogant, but in reality, he was very smart and knew his stuff. This made him a lot of enemies.
When I made this board way back in 2007, Defiant1 was my 2nd member and he would go on to post over here more than any other member. He often kept my board going when no one else would even visit. Even when I quit coming here, he often came and made posts just to keep my board going.
He also helped me in ways that had nothing to do with comics. Since around 2012, I have endured the most trying times of my life and when everyone else failed to show me a kind ear to vent, there was Defiant1 willing to talk things out with me. He spoke to me like others wouldn't. He also informed me many times that he was a Christian and to seek help from God.
There was also a time way back in 2013 when I was going through divorce and hard times and was jobless and trying to hold onto my house and selling my comic books on eBay. I had become dramtically poor and bad things were happening. One day, I was at home and my electricity got turned off for lack of payment. I had no money to pay for it and I was wondering how I was going to make it. That same day, I went to my mailbox and was surprised to see an envelope with Defiant1s real name on it. I was shocked to see it. I immediately opened it up and couldn't believe he had sent me a check unasked for and untalked about my problems, for $300. I nearly cried on the spot. When I went to thank him and wondered how he knew, he basically replied that he had sensed i was going through a very bad time and this is what Christians do.
As mentioned earlier, Defiant1 was a very smart and informed individual who held tightly to his standards on the things he knew and what he thought was good. I must also add that there was more than 1 time he sent me stacks of free comics containing many obscure and hard to find or pay for items. He often acted like me and him held some of the same ideals for what we thought made comics great and why we thought comics turned to mostly trash over the last 30 years.
I seen him battle it out with many people on many boards time and time again and he never backed down and stood by his beliefs and knowledge every time. He was often ganged up on on boards and a few of them he was even banned. Still, he never backed down.
He gave me many words of advice about my own boards and his contributions to the comics world is overlooked. One thing that should be appreciated more is his comic checklists he worked tirelessly on and was added to his site as well as here. I know of no one else that did these things. He made my board so much better just because he was here and contributing to it. I could never thank him enough for everything he has meant to me as both a collector and a friend over the years. This board is 17 years old now and long been dead but any look at all and youll see how he added so much to what I was trying to do.
I will forever feel guilty at how I lost contact with him right when he was obviously becoming sick and telling me about it. At the time, I felt he was going through a bad stretch in health but never considered that this may have been what ultimately took his life.
When going back to his board and seeing he was gone and then finding verification that he had indeed passed, that finding literally hurt me and I have thought about it all week since I learned of this.
Since he was there for me at the beginning, I felt it only fitting to honor him at what is likely close to being my boards end. I'm so sorry I wasn't there for him at the end the way he had been for me all throughout knowing him. I never met him or spoke to him on a phone but we often spoke of doing so eventually. It hurts we never did.
I owe a lot of my board and a big piece of my life to him. I will forever miss him.
RIP Defiant1
