Floyd Choat: R.I.P.

Posted: Wednesday, December 25, 2002
By: Darren Schroeder

A sad piece of news came my way this week regarding the passing of small press creator Floyd Choat. A collaborator of his, Perry Lake, posted the following message to the Small Press Net mailing list:

To our members--

On Thursday, December 19, small presser Floyd Choat passed away in his Lubbock, Texas home.

I realize that many in this group will not be familiar with Floyd since he was not a member. In fact, Floyd did not own a working computer. But that did not prevent him from producing an impressive number of comics, either on his own or in collaboration with others. I am honored that I was one of those Floyd worked with.

Like with so many small pressers, Floyd and I had never actually met face-to-face, but we had corresponded for nearly four years, and he was the talented artist on two of my published Rawlins comics and a story in an issue of Cassiopeia The Witch. A third Rawlins book illustrated by Floyd might have been published by now except that I became overwhelmed in the annual Xmas mayhem. However, I promise I will have this book published and in the mail soon.

Floyd is probably best known for his work with longtime smallpressnet member Johnny Gonzales. Rarely has a team of small press creators gelled so well. Sometimes one would write and the other draw, and sometimes they would change off. Sometimes one would sketch the layouts that the other would finish them. Amongst other titles, they produced Triple Noir Theater, Starr Security Service, Brannigan, Shade, and Malcolm Z.

It was Gonzo who informed me about Floyd's sudden passing. Apparently Floyd laid down for a nap one evening and he never woke up. A great small press talent has been lost.


Floyd's work with Johnny always raised a smile on my face, and this along with the strong and dynamic artwork he helped produced meant their books always went straight to the top of my to read pile. I'm sure that there's a lot of readers who, like me, will miss getting his work in their mail box. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.



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