WHO?
Sometime in January 2026, between Sunday the 4th and Wednesday the 7th, an artist named John Staton passed away. John worked at Third Eye Comics, a local comic shop in College Park, Maryland, a diverse city just a few miles north of Washington, DC.
John was an institution in Maryland. He drew for decades. He drew comics since he was young. He said once that not everyone "got" his style and his love of bunnygirls. He was ahead of the game. John was drawing manga-style art back in the 1990s. To paraphrase from certain film, the students of the mid 1990s weren't ready. But their kids were gonna love it.
This is a character from a comic strip I drew waay back in my college days. (I actually had a professor request a sketch of her at the end of a term. ;)) She didn't normally dress as a Playboy bunny, but for some reason the look works on her.
John was an institution in Maryland. He worked at the local comic book store Closet of Comics, which eventually became Liberty Books & Comics, then Big Planet Comics, then Third Eye Comics, providing continuity across decades, for more than thirty years. He loved comics. He loved Superman and Star Trek, and he had a big laugh and an incredible erudition.
John enjoying a cake celebrating 25 years at the same store. He was happy about it. This photo was in 2017.
But I didn't know him as John. I knew him as an artist on deviantart by the username We-r-Nomad. I can't pretend to have known him in person; this reflection isn't on his physical day-to-day life in Maryland. But it is a reflection of 'him,' because regardless of how you knew him - whether online, personally, or at a store - it's clear that he was a wonderful soul, a beautiful person, and a friend.
This is a reflection on him from my own personal perspective. Writing this helps me grieve. We all grieve in our own ways.
The French Maid Planet
John's creativity was unbelievable.
The Chainsman Institute was a prominent website and online community in the late 1990s and 2000s dedicated to "Damsel in Distress" (DiD) fiction and art. It had stories and artwork and interactive fiction, and it inspired a lot of people. It was more akin to Saturday morning cartoons or comic books than anything more hardcore. And, it inspired a legion of people, myself included. There was something extra approachable about it; for a generation whose brains were already warped by cartoons, it was a natural progression to go from "that one scene that inspired you" to "making your own stories based on that inspiration."
Nomad was born there - specifically, a version of the character from the Star Trek TOS Epside 2x08 "The Changeling." John was participating in that site, and he made a version of that character that came to the Chainsman Institute; instead of sterilizing everything, decided to have all the cute ladies tightly tied up. (This page isn't going to go into the Deep Lore. That's for another time.)
But the results are just outstanding.
This image was from the 2000s, and he considered it "just a pencil sketch." But it is, by my eyes, still incredible. It is the very first "Nomaid" (portmanteau of the character Nomad and Maid). It features the also sadly departed Tasha Polecat, another early influence and inspiration. It features outstanding shading and thigh-squish and a fun scenario. It's in a distinctive style that's both Western and anime. It's absolutely wonderful.
He was special.
This piece, colored by Suichi, is another ancient entry from the Chainsman Institute. It's a smorgasbord - the girls from Saber Marionette (an anime series from the 90s that I'm sure you haven't heard of) and Star Trek and Suichi's colors and some truly wonderful gear and bonds and an incredible sense of movement.
These are illustrative of his style - his visual style, yes, but also the way he worked. He loved references to the things he loved. If you got them, awesome. If you didn't, that was on you. He really knew his stuff with an incredible breadth and depth of knowledge on art, artists, and all things pop culture and comics.
He was a keen collaborator. John/Nomad loved using other peoples' characters. He had his own, and he treated them right, but he'd frequently borrow those belonging to friends and treat them right. Especially since most of those characters were getting re-interpreted to fit in his setting, his ever-growing Maid Wars setting. Characters from numerous "deviants" (as deviantArt users were called) and friends and collaborators would get appearances. The man did a lot of free art. Didn't have to. Did it because it was fun, and because we loved it.
He could have monetized it, but the tools weren't there. He came before Patreon and Subscribestar and Ko-Fi made it easier. He wasn't the best at social media. Didn't need to be. Those deviantArt days were powerful and hit at the right time for a lot of millennials.
He had an insane attention to detail. The lore for every fighter plane in his art - whether it was designed for capturing cute girls, or for his vanilla comic work - was unbelievably good.
If he could draw a plane used for kinky fun that well, could he draw something vanilla well too? Well as this Robotech fanart proves, the man could go hard no matter the subject matter.
That extended to the way he talked to the guys and gals who commented on his page. He had so much attention for everyone. If you left him a good comment he'd respond with something that was 10% steamy offer and 90% insightful response that usually led to him coming up with some new concept on the spot. It felt collaborative. It was truly unbelievable and was so insightful. He didn't have to. But he did. It made everything feel alive and interactive.
Even today, creators are still talking about it. "I had some interactions with him, and they were all positive." Not just, I loved his art. But dozens of artists I've spoken with all said "I spoke to him, and he was great."
He talked to you. Treated you like you were a person, every time.
He was overflowing with ideas. His vanilla account brims with stories of America Jones, a sci-fi parking enforcement meter maid. The man could take a story about a meter maid and spin it out into some of the sickest shit I've ever seen. I'd have read a manga about it. Bought an artbook if he ever made it.
He didn't. That's okay.
He once told me that he wished he had drawn famous comics. His mother asked him what he'd worked on. He couldn't say he had. I empathize. I also wish I could say I did lots of famous things. I haven't. But that's okay. I'm me. And I'm Phantom in part thanks to him.
He was the right one.
In the late 2000s, Nomad's kink gallery was extremely approachable. The anime style was a mix of the familiar and the unknown. It made him feel easy to approach, even if he was also very intimidating to approach. (This was a grown-ass man! A talented one! With fans! I couldn't just talk to him, could I?)
But you could. He was so generous with his time. Anyone could talk to him. DeviantArt (at that time, it sucks now) was the perfect platform for communicating with an artist via comments, notes, replies, whatever.
He was such an inspiration for me. As I was coming up with weird lore for Phantom he was expanding his own thing. I was so deeply inspired by him and his style. We communicated frequently for a few years. I might even call him a mentor though I didn't realize it at the time.
He'd never post a picture without some context, some notes, maybe a kinky little story. And those kinky stories always had a little danger. Not bodily peril, but the sense of spooky danger - males getting vaporized, women getting wrapped up and tied and fitted with mind control chips. It was perfect.
I couldn't believe it when he drew Phantom.
I remember pacing around my college apartment and smiling. I didn't even know what to do. Someone drew my character! AND she's tied up! (Not to denigrate any of the many artists who drew her before or after, of course.)
We even had a "collaboration" where I got some friends to 'invade' his French Maid Planet and then have it go wrong and get tied up. That was decades ago, and I sort of cringe at it now. But it was fun at the time.
The way I talk "As Phantom" is, intentionally or not, based on the way he'd write. The way I interact with my fans (I don't have as many! How could I?) or write asides is again, intentionally or not, based on the way he'd interact with people.
The worldbuilding I sometimes insert? The stories? Yeah. Obviously him. All him. We discussed that kind of thing all the time via deviantArt notes and e-mail.
I absolutely had a crush on him.
I told him as much. I said stuff. Stupid stuff, lovey stuff. Things I shouldn't have said. Things that he could have exploited.
But he didn't. He was too smart, too emotionally intelligent, and too mature. He told me all the things I needed to hear.
He let me down so easy at a time when things could have gone wrong. It made me more careful, and also more trusting - careful around what I said and to whom, but also more trusting of people who were honest with me. I owe him for that. I owe him for so much.
I miss him.
I miss him for all of the reasons I've listed and more. There are things I wish I'd done but I don't have regrets. I wish I'd done more; helped him catalogue more, collate stories together, and so on. He was awful with social media. In 2025, I tried to help him get started with things again. He started a tumblr but only made a few posts. Life got in the way. But you can see a few final FMP related pics there and even some new lore about bunnygirls.
There were later projects, of course. Lots of amazing fan-works.
For example, Heartgear made a terrific little flash program for dressing OCs up as maids. (Direct Link with Flash Emulation)
Hell, Zarsh even did an animation. And some friends and I did voices. Hearing some of my best friends voice characters who I grew up seeing in kink pics definitely was… an experience. (Animation Link on Bluesky)
To my knowledge, he never made money from any of it. I wonder how he felt about folks who had some money coming in from stuff inspired by or derived from it- commissions or the "Suspicious Links" series from Heartgear maybe. I don't know how he felt about that, whether it bothered him, or if he'd simply decided it didn't matter. Seems complicated. I wish I'd asked.
There were questions I did ask that I am glad he said. I once asked him how the FMP felt about trans women. He said something like "I need to think on it," then returned and said something like "Birth sex doesn't matter. All women will be will be brutally processed and maidified." The perfect answer that I'm paraphrasing.
So while I can't ask him questions anymore, I know he's with us.
The Future
John, Nomad, however people knew him. He'll always be with us as long as we're creating.
In a literal sense, I plan to make a repository for all of the FMP art and lore as a tribute and make a real website that won't rely on DeviantArt and its whims. I'll update people as it comes along. I'm also a busy adult now. I'm going to keep creating at my own pace. I hope you do too.
Eventually the French Maid Planet aesthetics and storylines will fade. Some of them are unresolved, although, the central crux of it to me - which was the relationship between Angie and Prin - was resolved happily.
Without someone paying constant attention to them, they'll drift into the background the way things do. Don't get too depressed about it. That's just how it goes. There aren't many people writing about explorers on Mars these days, but the old scifi mags used to be filled with them. The world moves on. I don't think he'd demand people keep his ideas going.
And that's okay. There are there are elements of what he made that have seared themselves into my brain like a FMP control chip. I'm not the only one.
Those ideas aren't going anywhere. That attitude - the candor and honesty and creativity and erudition - that's not going anywhere. Frankly, it's woven into the fabric of kink specifically and creativity in general. Take from stuff, make it your own, make new stuff. People will still draw French Maid Planet once in a while. More importantly, people are doing their own thing.
If you were inspired by my work, or his, then keep going and do your own thing. Have fun. Nomad didn't necessarily want to get rich doing pin-ups of Star Trek girls. I think he just wanted to have fun. He wanted to do his own thing. I'm sure he'd want you to do yours.
So get out there and have fun with it. That's what he did, and that's what he lived. I'll leave you with one of the many wise things he told me.
Imagination is the one toy that never runs out of batteries.