Don MacLean

Don MacLean was born in 1963 in a small town in Ontario, Canada. He grew up a sensitive, bookish lad, who preferred to spend his time with a book (and, occasionally, a hand) in his lap.

In his twenties he started writing book reviews for local gay newspapers in Ottawa and caught the eye of the powers-that-be at Toronto’s Pink Triangle Press (PTP) who were planning to start up Canada’s first national adult magazine for gay men. He applied for the editor job and, alas, came in second. Happily, PTP’s first choice had a mysterious change-of-heart and they were forced to approach their runner-up for the job. Don solemnly swore to do everything he could to turn the publication into a rousing (and arousing) success. With witty wordplay like that, it’s hard to believe the magazine ceased publishing less than two short years later.

One of the few bright spots for Don in those two years was receiving a fax of Patrick Fillion’s work. Don knew immediately that he had found a first-rate illustrator for his second-rate publication. And, after many lengthy, laugh-filled, long-distance phone conversations (on PTP’s dime), he also realized he had met a kindred spirit.

Don and Patrick kept in touch after Canadian Male magazine went tits up. (Yes, that’s what Canada’s first national adult gay men’s magazine ended up being called. Again, hard to believe that Don’s powerhouse imagination couldn’t keep it going!) A year later Don moved to the west coast.

At that point Patrick was still doing Class Comics part-time and, one fateful day, he mentioned to Don that he had written a new script for his latest creation, Naked Justice. Don was curious to read it and offered to do a quick edit on the script for spelling and grammar. He ended up doing two edits, the first one being the basic edit he had originally promised, and the second one, a comedic re-write. Don saw a lot of potential for Naked Justice as a more light-hearted hero. After reading his second effort, Patrick agreed, and the rest, as they say, is history.

These days Don lives a contented life on Canada’s west coast (when he isn’t lapsing into a coma during the extraordinarily long periods between Naked Justice books.)

The only writing he does (or plans to do) is for Class Comics.