An Interview with Brent Fisher

[00:00:00] Your ears do not deceive you. You've just entered the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you by your friends at Comic Book Yeti

[00:00:07] So without further ado, let's get on to the interview

[00:00:10] Hello and welcome to another episode of Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner

[00:00:16] I'm one of the hosts Jimmy Gaspero, and I am here today

[00:00:20] with a

[00:00:22] comic writer

[00:00:24] publisher editor the storyteller also the

[00:00:30] editorial and creative director of Dauntless Stories as well as the most recently or newly announced chief diversity officer of Band of Bards

[00:00:42] this is somebody that I have interacted with on

[00:00:47] Twitter for a while and

[00:00:50] really enjoyed some of the stuff that they have put out and

[00:00:54] Really excited for what the future holds for them. So please welcome to the podcast. I can't wait to get into it Brent Fisher Brent. How you doing?

[00:01:02] Doing good. I'm happy to be here

[00:01:04] I think like I echo what you said a little bit earlier before we hit record is that we finally get to

[00:01:08] Meet face-to-face so to speak and have a sit down

[00:01:12] Yeah, yeah, it's it's always that's like the most fun for me of doing this is you know folks that I've interacted with

[00:01:18] On you know Twitter mainly

[00:01:20] it's kind of the only social media I'm really on and

[00:01:24] You know for to get creators on here whether or not writers artists editors, you know colorist letters whoever it might be and

[00:01:32] Kind of chat about comics and find out what they they have going on and you know what's kind of led them here

[00:01:38] you know depending on um

[00:01:41] You know how whether or not it's a brand new creator or somebody that's more established

[00:01:45] So yeah, I really appreciate you coming on this is I'm very excited to to talk to you

[00:01:50] especially in light of all this the recent news with a band of Bards an indie comic publisher out of

[00:01:58] Buffalo has kind of announced that they are partnering for for certain things with Dauntless stories

[00:02:05] And there's some new officers involved. There's like a new board

[00:02:09] There's three additional chair persons and band of boards is kind of gonna be a more of like a greater own

[00:02:17] cooperative

[00:02:18] And has a lot of big plans for the like the comics and like the art scene in Buffalo

[00:02:25] So that's that's pretty exciting, it's like a pretty big deal. I guess let's start there

[00:02:32] Why don't you tell the listeners I because I recently had

[00:02:35] Travis B. Hill and Ben Humeneck on they have a band of Bards story coming out last goodbye

[00:02:41] And I've talked to some other band of Bards creators and you know comic book yet

[00:02:46] He has covered some Dauntless stories as well. I know Marcus has been interviewed

[00:02:51] So why don't you kind of tell me kind of your I guess start with the new the news about band of Bards

[00:02:58] Becoming a cooperative and what exactly does that does that mean?

[00:03:02] Well, it's I know it triggered a lot of you know to discourse about that, you know

[00:03:07] How does this help? What is this kind of move things forward and I guess the thing we need to underscore first and foremost is that

[00:03:14] This is going to be a work in process and in progress

[00:03:19] Eventually the modality of a workers cooperative is you

[00:03:23] Buy into the cooperative the members that exist at the time vote for your allowance in and then you have access to equal share of

[00:03:30] The profits as well as the resources of the larger group

[00:03:33] We're not in a position yet where we can bring more on board

[00:03:36] But the idea is that eventually think like spokes on a wheel

[00:03:40] Bards is at the center of the in or the organizational infrastructure

[00:03:43] But you could bring in your own imprint your own idea your own independence. You don't lose that

[00:03:48] You become a voting member of the greater whole

[00:03:52] So giving it we started with Dauntless stories because we wanted to be able to combine forces and resources

[00:03:58] And we just happen to be well positioned to do that and kind of put our pound of flesh in

[00:04:02] I

[00:04:04] Guess like we want to be kind of like the a 24 or the skybound of

[00:04:08] Like sky skybound to their image in a way because they have direct market access

[00:04:12] They have the relationship with diamond. They have some printing relationships

[00:04:15] We do as well our own and an aggregate we get substantial

[00:04:19] Aggregate discounts for print production so we get stronger from that

[00:04:23] And then we also and we can also leverage our crowdfunding experience on the Dauntless side

[00:04:27] And if the crowdfunding experience was good enough

[00:04:30] We could push it through through the bars and bars and help facilitate maybe a direct access to you know being sold

[00:04:36] So there's a lot of different prebutations of that and the nice thing is though

[00:04:40] You don't have to buy in to get access to all those things

[00:04:43] Like if you are a creator that wants help getting your story out there your story told because that's the mandate

[00:04:48] Especially on the Dauntless side is that like you have an idea you're an independent creator

[00:04:53] We will help facilitate say the crowdfunding aspect of it

[00:04:57] We'll get that we'll help you get that book funded and made hopefully and then but because you're working with us

[00:05:02] We can still leverage those print contacts that

[00:05:05] De Bards has at comic expressions or that we have with comic impressions or or mix them

[00:05:11] which for a slightly higher quality print relative to cost and

[00:05:14] And you know and I just think that we have those kind of opportunities that we can like then leverage for you

[00:05:19] You don't have to be part of the cooperative to benefit from in front of those just working with us does that

[00:05:23] That is kind of the elevator pitch of

[00:05:27] How we can help how we can move forward and what this all means and there's also you know

[00:05:31] In terms of maybe being a little bit easier in terms of making decisions, but what can be pushed?

[00:05:36] To be created like if we let your idea will help you make it and you might not always get that if you just try to facilitate it somewhere else

[00:05:43] Okay, and so so band of parts and dauntless stories

[00:05:47] Um

[00:05:48] That still totally separate, you know entities in terms of like corporate structure in terms of autonomy

[00:05:54] But it's really about kind of sharing resources sharing contact sharing knowledge

[00:06:01] certainly sharing

[00:06:03] opportunities to try and have more creators

[00:06:06] Um have their stories told I mean essentially philosophically

[00:06:11] Yeah, that's all he was when we put a call out, you know just just for fun for the dauntless side

[00:06:16] There was like hey who wants to write, you know a story that work with dauntless or something like that

[00:06:19] And we got some pitches and ideas and that's exactly what it's for

[00:06:22] um

[00:06:23] people we kind of want to take out this

[00:06:26] situation where you have this beautiful idea and

[00:06:29] It may not be flying with some of the bigger kids

[00:06:33] Uh, or you may not feel it's ready for prime time

[00:06:35] You might want to have somebody kind of look it over or if you maybe you do think you have a really great idea

[00:06:39] And it's we're in it's or maybe you have a perfect example. Let's say your book's complete

[00:06:44] That's a conversation for bars. That's where they're brought in buttersits

[00:06:47] They know how to turn a relatively complete project and something that could be actualized relatively

[00:06:52] Well in uh in with diamond or something like the for for dauntless

[00:06:56] We can help you maybe get that book completed

[00:06:59] And uh, also best practices for crowdfunding on zoop or on kickstarter or on our own independent or backer kit now

[00:07:08] Or on our own green light system, which is kind of this in-house

[00:07:12] Uh crowdfunding apparatus we have built into the dauntless website

[00:07:15] Uh, you don't get as much crowd penetration

[00:07:18] But word of mouth can still work and also you get way more profit margin for the creator

[00:07:23] Which is also a goal of ours. We we're just here to keep the lights on and to keep growing

[00:07:27] if we can keep the lights on

[00:07:29] Keep growing and you know facilitate the protection of the book and get the creators paid relatively well

[00:07:34] We're gonna try for that too. Right. Yeah, I mean, I've said it on this podcast before when

[00:07:39] Talking to creators who have used crowdfunding or you know go on to the the direct market but

[00:07:44] And I don't have any hard data on it. I don't even know if there it's out there

[00:07:48] but

[00:07:49] I am interested to see what the

[00:07:52] You know that the if there is a Venn diagram in terms of folks that are using

[00:07:57] You know getting comics from kickstarter or zoop in terms of crowdfunding and the difference with the

[00:08:03] You know the direct market and in the local comic shops and is there you know, how much overlap is there or are they

[00:08:09] You know two separate audiences and I'm always kind of interested in

[00:08:14] You know trying to figure

[00:08:16] that

[00:08:17] out

[00:08:18] You know because you'll see a successful kickstarter campaign on the indie level

[00:08:23] and

[00:08:24] You know a six might be successfully funded have like a few hundred backers

[00:08:29] But when you start looking at some of the direct market numbers, it's you know

[00:08:32] The numbers are even for indie comics are

[00:08:35] More substantial than that. So having those direct market contacts are still pretty important to getting your you know your story out there

[00:08:42] Um, so I think it's interesting to kind of be able to mix those two and have the opportunity to get the book completed

[00:08:48] Maybe get a crowdfunded find a successful audience and then continue to grow that and have a publisher that can get

[00:08:55] Um the book out there into the direct market

[00:08:57] I mean, I think makes a lot of sense and that shows the potential I think has the potential for you know, hopefully a lot of growth

[00:09:03] Yeah, and we're up front about it too like

[00:09:05] We're not going to suddenly sometimes what I think when you when you pitch an idea

[00:09:09] It becomes someone else's idea

[00:09:12] Because then it's where it has a value attached to it because it could probably bring in additional profit

[00:09:17] And that's where the gatekeeping comes in and that's where the ownership question comes in

[00:09:21] We also try to make sure that the comp the creators are comfortable with your arrangements

[00:09:26] I know, you know, I don't this is uh

[00:09:28] motto is you know from soup to nuts. We want you involved in your project

[00:09:32] We don't want it to be something you just eventually at some point you just

[00:09:35] You see the diamond, you know previews. Oh, it's out coming out. So that tends to happen

[00:09:40] Sometimes, you know or anything along those lines

[00:09:43] We just wanted to have put a human face on it and we know there's a challenge to that

[00:09:47] As you get bigger, but that's also where the co-op comes in again

[00:09:51] You know, we when as we get larger everyone that's part of the co-op or that

[00:09:57] You choose is to work with the co-op

[00:10:00] benefits from that increased scope

[00:10:02] Because it is getting difficult out there in terms of I think in terms of indie crowdfunding

[00:10:07] We're we're I think we're seeing a choke point right now where there's just a lot going on on april 1st

[00:10:14] Like a day before or day right after we announced the previous week

[00:10:18] I think what like half a dozen Kickstarter's launched

[00:10:22] Oh, yeah, it seemed like a very like all of a sudden my timeline was flooded with new new uh new campaigns

[00:10:30] And I'm still always mystified by what hits and what doesn't like I

[00:10:36] You know, I creators I talk to still say that social media doesn't really

[00:10:42] Have a huge draw a lot of

[00:10:45] creators seem that at least I've talked to

[00:10:48] Are still getting a lot of their backers from with for Kickstarter anyway from within Kickstarter itself

[00:10:54] But there have been campaigns that I have seen that I'm like this should be funded

[00:10:58] I have no idea why it isn't and then you know, there's the I

[00:11:01] There's things that I am not familiar with

[00:11:04] That have that have taken off and I'm happy for the creators. I mean, I think

[00:11:07] Alex

[00:11:09] Pack Nadel like I think it probably just ended right now as we're recording this but he's writing a like

[00:11:16] cult of lamb story

[00:11:18] And I think it just passed like six hundred and sixty six thousand dollars

[00:11:22] Yeah, it's harder and it's just wild. I mean that's something as of 45 year old

[00:11:28] I've

[00:11:29] And who's fairly active in like indie comics and online. I I don't know what that is

[00:11:33] I know that clearly people love it

[00:11:35] Oh, cool. The lamb. Yeah, I don't know what that is. Are you familiar with like binding of Isaac and stuff?

[00:11:42] Okay, it's it's a top-down

[00:11:46] roguelike although I think

[00:11:48] Uh, the lamb a lamb has a bit more of like a colony building element to it. You're essentially

[00:11:54] raising a cult

[00:11:56] It's in a very cartoonish setting

[00:11:58] Yeah, and I mean, I'm just it's just not something that for whatever reason ever I ever I came across

[00:12:05] Um, but I love Alex's work and happy for for him. And I think I think only press is doing it. So, you know, that's great

[00:12:12] But um, it's just wild to you see like such variation sometimes, you know

[00:12:18] um, yeah

[00:12:20] There's a lot of variation and also there's no sometimes things are just

[00:12:24] I predicated on luck as well

[00:12:27] Yeah, there's a lot having to do with uh with timing. You know, I'm I'm sure

[00:12:33] um

[00:12:34] so you

[00:12:36] You first became involved Marcus Simenez started Dauntless stories

[00:12:40] And then you first became involved with with Dauntless as editorial and creative director

[00:12:46] Yeah, I was kind of like a ghost helper for the last

[00:12:50] I'd say two two and a half three years

[00:12:53] And I basically told Marcus and I don't mind saying this like

[00:12:56] I

[00:12:57] I will work for free

[00:13:00] Helping you in any way I can until we get to a point where we can

[00:13:05] Not do that

[00:13:06] because we we share a lot of

[00:13:09] ideological

[00:13:10] um perspectives

[00:13:11] on not only the necessity with the power of storytelling

[00:13:16] uh in terms of connecting connecting people and thoughts

[00:13:20] and uh using them as instruments of

[00:13:23] of empathy

[00:13:25] and understanding emotional authenticity

[00:13:28] and awareness

[00:13:29] And we just love telling compelling stories. Uh, even aesthetically we don't Dauntless stories from the from the branding

[00:13:37] as an evocation of old Hollywood to it that kind of gilded upside down figure

[00:13:42] Making a deftifying leap but just the color choice to font structure is very art deco

[00:13:48] And it's meant to evoke those kind of Hollywood-esque risk takers

[00:13:52] From the 30s and 40s, you know

[00:13:54] And this and uh, what else is that it was like I said a 24 we want to be like an a 24 style

[00:14:00] In terms of the risks we take in the stories. We want to you know help foster

[00:14:05] Right and so you became involved with with Dauntless and then

[00:14:11] Because of the partnership with band of bards where you brought in early on in turn for the when they were talking about the cooperative

[00:14:19] Yeah, yeah, I said uh, I want to help however I can. Um, because band of bards, I think has a really good mandate

[00:14:26] um, and and and I have said this elsewhere because I'm aware of

[00:14:30] The fact that you know circumstances despite my own particular gender identity journey as it were

[00:14:37] Has put made me look like you know the standard demographic as you see in comics

[00:14:42] Uh, but that's not who I am and that's not what I stand for and I think my record

[00:14:46] you know, hopefully

[00:14:48] Creates a substantiation of my belief in that regard that I'm here for diversity and for representation as

[00:14:54] Uh, and so they said why not we you know bring you on board and kind of

[00:14:58] Help have it talk about ways we can help with diversity

[00:15:01] And I said well the first thing we have to do is ensure that some of the more the stories that we bring on board

[00:15:06] Not only the characters but the creators have increased diversity spread and that's that's an ongoing process

[00:15:11] Uh, the first thing I actually had control over to a degree that I wanted to put my feet down on

[00:15:16] Was you mentioned the board briefly?

[00:15:18] I won't get into every member of the board that can be you can look that up on the band of bards website

[00:15:21] But I invented three chairs on the board in particular that we kind of fleshed up together as a group

[00:15:27] But I ideated them which is a community chair

[00:15:30] Which is somebody from the broader comic book reading community somebody well versed in pop culture

[00:15:35] And I'll I'll say at an influencer or a reader

[00:15:38] Somebody who has their finger on the pulse of how whatever one's thinking in some way

[00:15:44] Then there's an industry chair, which is uh, usually a creator or a retail owner of some kind

[00:15:50] I think we actually brought that out into an actual separate industry chair and now we have a retail separate retail chair

[00:15:55] Which is my lcs owner

[00:15:57] Um, so I asked because I was do anybody in mind that might be a good fit and I had a standing relationship with my lcs owner

[00:16:03] He's the alan herrington. He's the first

[00:16:06] um, psc owned

[00:16:08] Comic book shop in my city columbus, ohio

[00:16:11] His wife and his wife neah and who were married by stan lee and the first thing they did was

[00:16:15] Owned a company by a company started a comic book shop. That's wild

[00:16:19] Isn't it great? Yeah, and

[00:16:20] And then we did um

[00:16:22] community chair of course is um is an

[00:16:25] fairly, you know, Henry's comics and uh

[00:16:28] And what is the other one i'm not thinking of um, you're the your industry chairs. Um, it's melissa. Mizaros from

[00:16:34] Yes, thank you. Melissa from mad cave and pia don't hide pr

[00:16:37] Um, but but uh, but yeah, melissa actually was predates my my involvement alan and and were my my contributions to the discussion

[00:16:46] But I really wanted

[00:16:48] To make sure that the board didn't look like us as much as they physically could and I want to continue that

[00:16:53] Uh where I can uh because it'll be it's a one year

[00:16:58] Um role and then when the when the chairs are are up again all the seats are up again

[00:17:03] I want to make sure that a diversity presents itself

[00:17:06] Uh, but yeah, that's that's a large part of where the diversity comes

[00:17:10] You know comes in for the role

[00:17:11] I want to make sure because of where how I came into comics was based on elevating voices that are underrepresented

[00:17:17] And making sure that more stories get told about characters

[00:17:21] That challenge our notions of what a hero is what a rogue is

[00:17:26] What uh, what's what kind of stories can be found on a shelf? I really want to push back on that

[00:17:32] No, I love that. I mean I

[00:17:35] I think that uh, you know band of bards

[00:17:38] um

[00:17:39] When they were started when I first heard about them that was

[00:17:43] I think one of the things that they talked about wanting to do

[00:17:46] And sometimes I think that's that can be easy to say but difficult to put into practice

[00:17:50] So I think it's very important to kind of uh,

[00:17:54] You know continue and support that that mission, you know

[00:17:58] I I found that some of my favorite stories in terms of comics are

[00:18:03] by folks that look and have lived a life, um

[00:18:07] Very different from my own because I I I know, you know

[00:18:12] I know me and I I am familiar with that and I crave stories by people that

[00:18:19] Don't have anywhere near my experience. I mean that's part of the power of storytelling. I mean that's

[00:18:27] I don't know. I think of one way early on I learned empathy by seeing other people's lives

[00:18:36] You know, I firmly believe that stories are vehicles and instruments of empathy

[00:18:41] um, I

[00:18:43] I love all stories. I don't and I think I was actually having a really nice conversation with somebody recently who

[00:18:49] works in horror

[00:18:52] And um, that's an excellent example of the I think any genre

[00:18:57] Is capable of evoking an emotion or making an emotional connection or conveying a message

[00:19:03] I think you can learn kindness from a horror story. I think you can learn empathy

[00:19:07] From an action comic. I think you can learn all kinds and the ones that do are the ones that stick with you

[00:19:13] Uh, because they they move beyond the boundaries and the contours of their original inception

[00:19:19] Uh, they they challenge the notion of what something can be and no matter what it is a character a story a

[00:19:25] Com you know if it pushes if it challenges the nature of what is

[00:19:29] It makes you think about what could be and that's really where the magic happens. Oh, yeah, I

[00:19:35] Wholeheartedly agree

[00:19:38] So in terms of in terms of stories in terms of comics with band of bards and and with Dauntless

[00:19:44] What can you tell us and tell the listeners about?

[00:19:47] What's coming up?

[00:19:50] Well, uh, on the I think on the bard side the two things we led with from the video are

[00:19:55] Revisiting Magda the mighty which I really enjoyed

[00:19:59] Uh, and I believe uh, we had I'm actually in it which is kind of hilarious amongst the stars

[00:20:06] Oh

[00:20:07] sci-fi roman

[00:20:08] I know people have been asking on and off like hey, you know

[00:20:11] Is that one coming back because it was kind of

[00:20:13] It was kind of big and now it's even bigger because cj is cg doesn't know how to do anything small. I don't think

[00:20:19] Okay, and it's gonna be it's gonna be huge. It's gonna be

[00:20:23] Multiple covers. I think there's gonna be some print

[00:20:26] Items, but all of the interior art is just absolutely phenomenal. Oh, I can't wait

[00:20:33] I had some of the creators on

[00:20:36] Yeah, I think chris was on and cj and some of the other individuals involved. We did either like a

[00:20:42] comic book yeti live when the first time they they had attempted to crowdfunded

[00:20:46] Unfortunately wasn't successful, but i'm so excited that it's coming back. That's awesome

[00:20:50] Oh and props to cj by the way. I think cj funded today on the island

[00:20:56] Oh

[00:20:57] Fantastic that looks great

[00:20:59] It does and it's also another collaborative of a bunch of artists

[00:21:03] Cj has the ability to just I mean

[00:21:05] Bring so many different creators together. It's amazing

[00:21:08] Uh, but but dialing it back to amongst the stars. Yeah, it's like a science fiction and romance

[00:21:13] Rammed together like two Barbie dolls making a kiss and it's literally and uh, I one makes me really excited though

[00:21:19] Just to toot my own horn. My story was originally with fellhound

[00:21:23] And fell is now working on sir. So I'm will it fell do their thing because I'm excited for that

[00:21:29] but um, uh for um my story I ended up picking up a

[00:21:33] Eileen

[00:21:35] and so

[00:21:37] Lean also is doing a variant cover for cj's island thing too, but it looks my story is gonna look amazing

[00:21:43] So I I'm just so

[00:21:45] Over the moon with everything

[00:21:47] Oh, and on the

[00:21:49] Yeah, that's the part side. Sorry the dotless side, which is probably I should probably toot my horn more on that one

[00:21:54] Uh, I have my young adult original graphic novel the prelaunch is going on

[00:21:58] Uh right now it's called unbroken and it's part of marcus's deadly verse universe

[00:22:05] Uh

[00:22:05] It on a completely different side of it

[00:22:07] Like it's an independent young adult og and you can kind of read it on its own or you can

[00:22:12] Eventually see how it interconnects with the broader tapestry of the world we're building in that verse

[00:22:17] um, but that's in prelaunch right now is unbroken and um

[00:22:22] Of course we have kara, uh, who's it's um valour verse

[00:22:26] The valour verse special number one is going to be uh is now and then I guess the kind of like the green light equivalent of

[00:22:33] prelaunch

[00:22:34] We are starting a newsletter because there was just so much interest in that book

[00:22:39] That uh, we wanted to make sure people could follow along

[00:22:42] That's going to be coming in later in the year as we as development unfolds kara's still giving us

[00:22:46] We're still looking at scripts and whatnot. Okay, then there's um pawn which is another which is like a uh a foundational

[00:22:53] Precursor it's like it's it's a lore builder for the deadly verse and that's by an ass

[00:22:58] and that looks

[00:23:00] Amazing too. I can't really I don't want to give anything away on that one because that one is just

[00:23:06] It's it's phenomenal. I mean it's it's got such an emotional

[00:23:10] Uh awareness to it because of the nature of what the character is

[00:23:14] I know that the fridges are kickstarter didn't work outright. And I think that was just a fluke

[00:23:19] We're gonna

[00:23:20] Later, it's also part of our 2024 production schedules to get that back on

[00:23:23] Kickstarter as well. Yeah listeners if you're not familiar uh nas, uh, abdull hake um has he did uh

[00:23:30] partnered with some great collaborators

[00:23:32] Etharis was his he's been on the podcast before to talk about some of the comments that he's done

[00:23:37] But etharis is phenomenal. I really really liked it

[00:23:40] um, so yeah, that's exciting for for poin and then um

[00:23:46] Kara

[00:23:48] Her last hueset

[00:23:50] Yes, yes, I know right and um, yeah, she had sparrow and uh, which I really liked and um

[00:23:57] So excited to see the valor verse and uh, yeah, that's it sounds like some great plans

[00:24:03] And I can't wait so unbroken is going to be your like young adult original graphic

[00:24:09] Is it uh novella or like a novel like how do you develop?

[00:24:14] Okay, but it's still a lot of pages. Oh, yeah, I wasn't saying novella like

[00:24:20] derogatory way

[00:24:23] No, no, no, I know you're not saying that

[00:24:27] You triggered like this this like PTSD memory of

[00:24:31] Of like I was I had like a like a laptop on a couch

[00:24:35] Cranking out the end of that thing and because it was like it was at the time

[00:24:37] The most I ever wrote in a single go. Oh, wow. And so it was it was because it was I just want to make sure I got everything right

[00:24:45] and so

[00:24:46] It was it had to be perfect. So uh, but before I forget um, taylor stoff's uh

[00:24:52] Fire and blood uh jason zang adventure. It's kind of like this homage

[00:24:57] Tiniana joans and that's in our 2024 schedule as well

[00:25:01] Now

[00:25:02] That is a packed schedule

[00:25:04] All right, let's take a quick break

[00:25:07] Hey comics fam it the comic book publisher band of bars just got a level up and announced it is now a cooperative

[00:25:14] This heralds a new era for them including a partnership with dollas stories

[00:25:19] And they added several new members to the ownership group marcus. Jimenez is now chief operating officer

[00:25:25] Brent fischer takes on the role of chief diversity officer

[00:25:28] And joey galvez is introduced as head of Kickstarter ops and social media manager

[00:25:33] Which is sure to increase their capabilities overall as a publisher

[00:25:37] And it further promotes their mission statement of advancing representation

[00:25:41] inclusion and diversity in the media

[00:25:44] They also established a new board of directors to help chart the new path of their journey

[00:25:48] With new projects in the works like Alaska by dropping in june

[00:25:52] I'm broken soon launching on Kickstarter and pollen coming up with dauntless

[00:25:55] Stay tuned to this space for more exciting news from the growing bards family

[00:26:03] Let's get back to the show

[00:26:05] And so who have you who are you working with with unbroken?

[00:26:10] Uh rachel dislar

[00:26:14] And uh, oh um in buddy on lettering i'm gonna butcher buddy's last names board board

[00:26:20] But do I mean bedoing

[00:26:22] We're doing yeah, because I always get it wrong. I always think of um the chef the celebrity chef

[00:26:29] Bourdain. Oh, oh, yeah, that's I see what is a um

[00:26:34] I like buddy. I like buddy's work. That's buddy's cool, but buddy is

[00:26:38] Uh

[00:26:39] My hero uh, he uh, he came through for me huge on a jam that I did with an artist named sia

[00:26:46] About a few months back and it was absolutely wonderful. And so the opportunity to

[00:26:51] Everybody letter, uh, this is going to be really great

[00:26:55] No, that's that's fantastic

[00:26:57] and um

[00:26:59] Can you give us, you know a little hint about the the the story and do you are able to say when it's actually going to go

[00:27:06] live yet

[00:27:09] um

[00:27:10] It's all right if you can we're used to people having secrets

[00:27:14] I'd say I I'd say toward the latter end of april. Okay

[00:27:18] okay, um

[00:27:21] But so what is what can you tell us about unbroken?

[00:27:24] uh, it follows

[00:27:28] A young girl named m and her brother zack

[00:27:33] who

[00:27:35] Are kind of they're this ancient city of dresden

[00:27:39] And it's in this fantasy realm that exists parallel to our own

[00:27:44] um, I for not for anybody who's read the opening

[00:27:48] Uh story of the deadly verse uh the living saga

[00:27:52] earlier on um

[00:27:54] The magic that infused into the heroes that made them who they are came from this magical realm that runs

[00:28:01] concurrently to our own

[00:28:04] and uh

[00:28:05] It's and there's this eternal city

[00:28:08] on an archipelago in this broader world

[00:28:11] that's kind of like um

[00:28:14] The city from our the the netflix legal legend show arcane mixed with coursant

[00:28:20] Mixed with um tattooing I guess almost icely it's like so it has like a upper level and underbelly

[00:28:27] And but it's been around forever

[00:28:29] And it's so old that no one even remembers the foundational elements of its history. It's just it's been like the

[00:28:35] It's like roam if roam was ever eternal

[00:28:38] It's it's always it is literally eternal as far as anybody can recall and the one part of the city that no one

[00:28:44] Could really attribute a beginning to is this giant

[00:28:48] Crescent sphere sphere

[00:28:50] That's buried half into the earth

[00:28:52] So like three fourths of it still emerged from the earth and jut forward into like this

[00:28:57] Kind of circle and and it's made of this uh really refined stone with moss creeping up its corners

[00:29:03] But it's always been there and no one knows why it's almost like the unofficial

[00:29:07] uh

[00:29:08] mascot of the city or or

[00:29:11] Or a place to visit

[00:29:13] And uh and in

[00:29:16] M is a seeker

[00:29:18] They're a race I'm trying to kind of like piggyback on all the lore that going too deep into it

[00:29:22] Seekers are are like these nomads on this world that have the capability of having almost an uncanny ability

[00:29:29] To the truest sense of the word an uncanny ability to locate lost things

[00:29:34] Oh, okay and in reflection to that in literal allegory

[00:29:39] Intrinsic like an inverse allegory. They can they have a physical power of translocation

[00:29:44] They can move themselves. They can essentially will themselves to warp like a starship

[00:29:48] But they're a person and from like from kind of like it's kind of like a kurt Wagner teleport

[00:29:53] Nightcrawler thing but with a little bit more flash and it drains them and and and also the

[00:29:59] It's also more powerful and more substantive

[00:30:02] So you can go far greater distances do amazing things

[00:30:06] Even move individual items if you want to have to focus your abilities enough

[00:30:09] But so many of the seekers are gone now because they've been

[00:30:13] I hunted down or reused to the point where

[00:30:17] They can't be trusted because some things some secrets deserve to be kept buried

[00:30:22] And the seekers ability to kind of uncover anything

[00:30:25] Makes them a liability

[00:30:27] And so but yeah, but M is with her brother their father passed on all he knew to her

[00:30:32] They're the only seekers that they know left at least locally in this giant city

[00:30:36] And they get tasked by a crime local crime lord named Roth to find

[00:30:40] An ancient wand that stretches all the way back almost to the foundation of the city itself

[00:30:45] For purposes he won't disclose

[00:30:47] But the process of trying to find that wand

[00:30:49] Opens up a few questions and also threatens both universes ours and theirs

[00:30:55] And I'm I'm I want you to keep going

[00:31:00] I

[00:31:01] The lure building is awesome

[00:31:05] Yeah, I can't wait unbroken. All right

[00:31:08] Well, that sounds fantastic

[00:31:12] I'm it's gonna be really I wrote it for I wrote it with action and adventure in mind

[00:31:17] But a little bit of a fantasy twist. Yeah, it sounds like it

[00:31:20] If you like the brandon sanderson mistborn novels, I draw a lot of inspiration from that

[00:31:26] Oh, yeah, so uh

[00:31:28] And someone else who's not uh not unfamiliar to um

[00:31:33] Doing well on Kickstarter. Uh

[00:31:37] Backer kit. Yeah, that was huge

[00:31:40] So let's go back a little bit in terms of

[00:31:43] A your own personal journey in comics

[00:31:47] and what led you

[00:31:49] Well, this is where I usually where I start with with everyone. Were you a fan of comics as a kid or did you come to him later?

[00:31:55] Yes, I was um

[00:31:58] I'm one of those people that rediscovered their joy. I'm sure it's the same old story for a lot of folks, but um

[00:32:03] My mom was a tomboy

[00:32:06] And uh, she had baseball cards

[00:32:08] She had all the original your new york yankees cards your yogi bearer cards and mickey mantle

[00:32:13] And I even I think we still have the yogi bearer and stuff

[00:32:16] She also had one of those tragic childhood back stories where they moved once

[00:32:19] And all of her stuff was in a box and they left it there because it was a bunch of junk and

[00:32:23] You know and she was distraught, but uh, but she managed to keep a little bit of her stuff

[00:32:28] And some of the stuff she kept was a bunch of old bronze age marvel stuff

[00:32:32] um, and uh from like the 1970s so 60s mid 60s late 60s

[00:32:39] early 70s it's a good it's a medley of that kind of eras you have bronze and overage

[00:32:44] bingo bingo. Yeah, and um classics illustrated

[00:32:48] The og ones okay, and and I I grew up once I discovered reading

[00:32:53] I didn't discover reading tells in fifth grade really I kind of hated it and then I um, my dad had a bunch of

[00:32:59] of pocket

[00:33:01] Star Trek pulp novels

[00:33:03] And I realized hey wait a minute the adventures of the enterprise continue in this and that

[00:33:08] Got me reading and after I started reading that I read more of those

[00:33:11] But I also loved classics illustrated stuff

[00:33:14] And I read all the cover to cover over and over again these ancient books

[00:33:17] I really shouldn't have been doing that but you know at the time, you know

[00:33:19] That's the best way to be though read them. That's what they were for that's what they were made for

[00:33:23] Um, but that got me to love comics and then as I got older

[00:33:28] We didn't have a lot growing up. We weren't like

[00:33:30] We were lower middle class kind of rust belt to lead Ohio

[00:33:34] And my parents both worked as a teacher and an artist worked in an advertising agency

[00:33:38] So my dad at least had the he he shelved a lot of his ambitions to make trans met meet by working in agencies for years

[00:33:45] Oh, yeah

[00:33:45] But um when we had when we had enough money

[00:33:47] She'd spoil me by going to the comic book shop

[00:33:49] And I would get I even had a Wednesday poll back when they still show some places still do this

[00:33:54] You know that thin brown paper bag the quintessential one the ubiquitous one

[00:33:57] Yeah, I had one of those and I was a DC kid growing up

[00:34:02] I uh

[00:34:03] I think my best year ever was 1998

[00:34:07] Because I think that was the year of the else world annuals

[00:34:10] And every single every single line had an L had an else world

[00:34:14] And I must have read those

[00:34:16] I would take them out and read them all the time. They're all

[00:34:19] Upstairs now, but it was like all the batman else world all this ruin else worlds. They were phenomenal

[00:34:24] Uh, and I think I fell in love with else worlds just generally like I have the superman cal-l

[00:34:29] I got my favorite batman else world is darkest night where the green lantern ring comes to bruce instead

[00:34:35] The alien ship crashes chases the bats away and the rings looking for another host

[00:34:40] And stuff I love it and yeah

[00:34:42] Um, I think the one thing that really kind of cemented the deal though is I got

[00:34:46] I was gifted a copy of the greatest batman stories ever told

[00:34:50] And if you know DC comics from that era and even into modernity

[00:34:54] It's been done in multiple editions now

[00:34:56] But if you know batman and if you know DC collected works everyone knows that book

[00:35:01] um and I

[00:35:03] most of it a cover to cover a million times

[00:35:06] and um

[00:35:07] And I read superman as in high school a little bit too from that poll my mom got me

[00:35:11] And then it kind of I graduated and it all went away

[00:35:14] And but I remembered miss marvel because that's what she had and along with us a few dear devils and stuff

[00:35:19] and I remember um heroes for hire hero for hire and I remember

[00:35:23] Um classics illustrated and but I really went into college when I graduated

[00:35:29] That's when the housing crisis hit

[00:35:31] And I managed to get a house. I got a condo. I managed to get a condo

[00:35:34] And then I heard I could feel the door shut behind me

[00:35:37] You know, uh, and I was I may have gotten all those things. I was very luck

[00:35:41] I'm miss old enough to have

[00:35:43] Gotten the promise that was promised to all of us to a degree

[00:35:45] But I never but I'm just young enough that I was ever able to do anything about it

[00:35:49] Because it's always been paycheck to paycheck during those times

[00:35:52] And even so for a lot of us it still is that way in the major catastrophe, you know

[00:35:57] But um

[00:35:59] I'd say about around 2012

[00:36:02] Carol got became captain marvel and I saw it in the news

[00:36:05] And I always had something on my facebook about captain marvel or carol dan versus me because I was always a fan

[00:36:10] Uh, she was always kind of like I don't know why I identified with her so much until later

[00:36:13] and I guess it was the whole gender identity thing but um

[00:36:17] I said, you know why does she start collecting again?

[00:36:19] And so I did here and there a little bits and pieces

[00:36:22] And then in 2015 I started collecting more in earnest. I started to start to get up a poll

[00:36:26] again somewhere and then

[00:36:28] uh, I think right before coveted 2018 2019

[00:36:32] Crazy comics my lcs opened up across the street from my job

[00:36:35] And I said, you know what? I'm going to do it for real. So I started getting previews out

[00:36:40] Getting an actual pull as of what I was interested in

[00:36:42] In gray shooting myself back into the x-men with my shop owners guidance because dawn hit

[00:36:47] Literally as I started collecting again almost

[00:36:50] Um, and it was a great it was a great time. I never looked back

[00:36:54] But I I think as I was reading and collecting

[00:36:58] I remembered all of the joy I had as a kid that I just completely forgot about

[00:37:02] And it came it all came crashing down all at once

[00:37:05] Um, I started volunteering at Kaleidoscope youth center where I was on the board for a half a decade and

[00:37:10] And that combined with the joy of comics and everything I I forgot who I was

[00:37:14] um

[00:37:15] by just trying to exist, you know, and

[00:37:18] You could call it a midlife crisis if you want. I don't think it was but I

[00:37:23] rediscovered myself and rediscovering myself helped with my gender identity journey

[00:37:27] It helped with my love of comics and I always wrote poetry for years. I had a tumblr

[00:37:32] Um, but I did most of my poems were short stories

[00:37:35] You know one pagers in a way

[00:37:37] um

[00:37:38] And I realized that you know, I'm gonna give this thing a try then gale samon had that

[00:37:43] Comic school during coveted and I took it on twitter

[00:37:46] and because of gale, um

[00:37:48] I wrote a script

[00:37:50] fell hound a friend I made as up when I was still just collecting comics

[00:37:53] And I was the carol collector in earnest in like the 2017 2018 era, you know, bright you write pretty well

[00:38:00] You know, you want to do a thing for this project big hype this dug fellow

[00:38:04] Is doing something and I go sure

[00:38:06] and um

[00:38:08] That was my first comic script

[00:38:10] And I said I never looked back

[00:38:11] I won't if there was a project I could help with I would do it

[00:38:14] If there was a thing I could collab on I would volunteer

[00:38:17] And I wrote and I wrote and I wrote and it's been wonderful

[00:38:21] And I've made so many friends along the way like Marcus and stuff and

[00:38:25] That's kind of what led me here

[00:38:27] The biggest side thing the other pillar of my existence

[00:38:31] Is michelle abinator in partnering with michelle

[00:38:34] on

[00:38:35] making the color of oas and

[00:38:38] um her really taking the reins and making sure the book happened

[00:38:42] Examine it. I don't know logistics very well and and anything at all

[00:38:46] And through her vision and her ability to you know, show me what was how did all this works and you know

[00:38:51] In the hurling along the way as we weren't together, but she knew way more than I ever did even from the jump

[00:38:56] um

[00:38:57] It would be it was in she was instrumental in making those books happen

[00:39:00] And then sharp wit which is her baby is you know more than anything

[00:39:03] But i'm happy to have wrote it along for the ride to get a story in there with rachel again

[00:39:07] but um because of those books and raising

[00:39:10] um lgbt voices and having that passion for trying to give more opportunity for independent creators

[00:39:16] Who I think because of who they are and what they want the stories they want to tell

[00:39:21] Don't get that opportunity as often as they should they just don't queer stories

[00:39:25] They hit a wall, you know, we got our quota for the day. We don't need more. We don't need any more gay for right now

[00:39:30] uh or or trans or whatever and uh, and I just I want to push back on that because there's audiences

[00:39:35] Or that want to see themselves. They're willing to pay for it not only not only commercially but spiritually

[00:39:40] I don't know physically emotionally

[00:39:43] You know they want those things because the people want to understand their vulnerability because they are valid

[00:39:48] And I'll I will fight until the end to make sure that happens

[00:39:52] And that's where I am now. Yeah

[00:39:55] That's awesome. Um

[00:39:58] A couple of things I wanted to to ask you about uh

[00:40:01] with with all of that um

[00:40:04] that you just went through uh

[00:40:06] but

[00:40:07] First with getting back into reading comics and you you mentioned it briefly and and I I've seen a lot of the things that you've

[00:40:15] You know posted on twitter in terms of carol danvers, you know

[00:40:19] Miss captain marvel. Um

[00:40:22] Was that really what got you

[00:40:24] Back into reading was it seeing something about?

[00:40:28] Yeah

[00:40:29] And what what do you know like what it was in particular?

[00:40:32] I know you mentioned your own gender identity journey

[00:40:34] But was there anything in particular about those stories that you're like that?

[00:40:39] Character still captured either your imagination or spoke to you in some way

[00:40:44] I just think it was I think it was her trajectory of becoming the new captain marvel

[00:40:49] um

[00:40:51] and

[00:40:52] The the skepticism I guess to her taking on that role

[00:40:56] And the journey she took because I don't know if you recall they had to set the stage

[00:41:01] I mean kelly's studio kind of had a huge

[00:41:04] job

[00:41:05] And she she hit it out of the park

[00:41:08] We you had to set the stage for carol to become part of the greater the greater marvel

[00:41:15] Lexicon of lore right because I think it's a foregone conclusion now that she is the head of

[00:41:20] Or at least at the table at the head of the table of the heroes that represent the brand

[00:41:25] You know people can hem and ha about there's not enough to do that. She deserves more toys

[00:41:28] I think there's still gender bias there, but speaking holistically carol danvers is marvel is the marvel universe

[00:41:35] figurehead along with steve and a handful of others

[00:41:38] Right, uh, and she wasn't necessarily there. I don't believe until

[00:41:42] um margaret stowe and and and kelly and

[00:41:46] Kind of like you know life of captain marvel with the retcon a little bit and giving her more agency

[00:41:51] And all those creators did that

[00:41:53] Um because that's a journey as well and as i'm beholding all of this from around like 2012 to 2014 and i'm reading

[00:42:00] and and and

[00:42:01] And this is going to be one of those inexplicable things and I think if I did very common with

[00:42:05] People going through you know gender identity journey and gender queer people

[00:42:09] Generally at least the form what I've seen in popular culture

[00:42:12] You latch on to a character or to a or to a thing within that that has a process and a journey of their own

[00:42:18] And you see an element of yourself in the character

[00:42:21] uh and something about this

[00:42:24] and

[00:42:25] confident over zealous self-righteous pain in the ass

[00:42:30] Do a good or blonde, you know air force pilot that just

[00:42:34] Tries her best even when she screws up and then gets back up and tries again

[00:42:38] Hit me square in the face in terms of both who I realized I was actually inside and as well as

[00:42:44] My passion for what storytelling is

[00:42:47] And it not kind of explodes from there because once you open that door

[00:42:50] I can appreciate the x-men journey or

[00:42:54] Or or any other kind of allegorical

[00:42:56] Structure where there's a group being othered

[00:42:59] Or just a straight up, you know horror story or an adventure book where there where there's no other agenda other than just trying to entertain

[00:43:06] There's merit in all of it

[00:43:07] But that was the key that got me there to really understand

[00:43:11] How compelling and necessary storytelling is we need these stories

[00:43:15] to keep ourselves

[00:43:17] You know saying to to be to know that there's a there's a modicum of the fantastic in all of us

[00:43:23] You know, we we're capable of doing these things. We may not get where we want to go

[00:43:27] But everyone is capable of embracing these and telling their own tales

[00:43:31] You know that if the fire was not gate kept

[00:43:34] The fire the fires of antiquity when we sat around together

[00:43:38] To stave off the cold and the dark and the things that we didn't understand

[00:43:42] We were afraid of we gave them names at that fire

[00:43:45] We learned understanding at that fire

[00:43:47] We built community at that fire and there wasn't a gate keeping element to that fire

[00:43:52] You know, and I know as we get into modernity

[00:43:54] We're understanding more about who we are and we didn't people didn't have the luxury of

[00:43:59] You know their gender identity exploration, but we're still fighting those battles even now

[00:44:02] Even if we're allowed to exist

[00:44:04] We're still fighting that ability to exist

[00:44:06] But that is something storytelling is something that's a gift to all of us

[00:44:12] It really is and that's kind of where I came from

[00:44:15] And yeah, in that turning that key with carol danvers

[00:44:18] To almost 10 years ago for some reason was that

[00:44:21] um catalytic moment for me

[00:44:24] Were you active

[00:44:27] In online communities in terms of comics at that time or now that came later?

[00:44:31] No, I think I told you earlier when we were recording

[00:44:34] We're you and I are old enough, but I think we've lived a few different lives. Oh, yeah

[00:44:38] I've had a couple

[00:44:40] Yeah, exactly right. I mean we you know, I wish Jared was here. I'm sure we could all

[00:44:45] But uh, but no I uh from the mid 2010s. I was actually on a podcast

[00:44:51] Uh for league of legends

[00:44:53] Uh, and I was in video games. I still am. I'm a video gamer. I have been since the beginning

[00:44:58] But that's where I hung my hat for most of that. Yeah, okay. All right

[00:45:03] um

[00:45:04] It's just a fast forward a little bit to touch on some of the other things you you you mentioned and uh

[00:45:09] The color of all ways listeners if you're for some reason not familiar with it or you know, uh, just say a fantastic anthology

[00:45:17] Absolutely wonderful

[00:45:19] were you

[00:45:21] I just talked about this the in a in another episode

[00:45:24] Someone crowdfunding something and you know you can plan for failure in terms of how you might be able to pivot

[00:45:29] But also plan for success in terms of all the work that goes along with crowdfunding something and with

[00:45:35] Putting a book out there in the world. I I still think

[00:45:38] There's there are probably you know

[00:45:41] Every time every once in a while you'll see discourse on online on on twitter in particular

[00:45:46] And I still makes me think that there are some folks who love comics, but don't necessarily know

[00:45:51] All the work that that goes into it. But was something like no idea

[00:45:55] Yeah, there's something like color of always where you prepared for the reception that it got which I thought was

[00:46:00] You know excellent. It was well received. Uh, I I credit that to a variety of reasons

[00:46:06] The community I built prior the fact that I'm very loud

[00:46:10] Um, again, I don't think I can under store. I'm gonna underscore Michelle's involvement

[00:46:15] Probably one of the best editors project managers

[00:46:18] people

[00:46:20] I've ever met. Um, it wouldn't have happened if Michelle wasn't helping me

[00:46:24] And and and just showing me how to do everything properly to be honest with you

[00:46:28] Um, and it was not prepared for the logistics of it. Um

[00:46:32] Uh, the one thing I was prepared for was taking the risk

[00:46:35] Uh, I know it sounds trite

[00:46:37] But uh, I was tired. There was there the book bandings were just starting not to the point

[00:46:42] They are now now is just a that was a freaking nightmare

[00:46:44] But I'm glad the color of always is here now

[00:46:47] I'm glad because you know because fuck those people

[00:46:50] but like I

[00:46:52] It was just starting and I wanted to put another

[00:46:54] LGBTQI plus book on the shelf

[00:46:56] I wanted to put something on there that

[00:46:59] Well, you know that people can see themselves in it pick it up the shelf read

[00:47:02] I wanted I wanted a father to be able to understand his trans daughter

[00:47:05] I wanted a mother to be able to understand her gay daughter. I wanted I wanted siblings to understand each other

[00:47:11] I wanted intergenerational people to have I wanted an instrument of facilitation

[00:47:15] Because we don't always get that, you know, and I think what is the best way of building understanding

[00:47:21] Is someone else's story that reminds you of what you're going through

[00:47:25] You know, this is something that a kid could take to their parents say that's me in there

[00:47:28] And that's what they're doing

[00:47:29] Right, you know, it's it's both a separation and an intimacy at the same time

[00:47:33] You know and it provides context and I have a love affair with context. I can never have enough of it

[00:47:39] um

[00:47:40] And and that's kind of

[00:47:41] Where I came from and I wanted to take that step. I go, you know what? I'm going to do it

[00:47:45] I'm going to take I'm going to I'm going to create a kickstarter and I did I I hired lucas

[00:47:49] For the logo. The first thing I did and then I got the logo design and the aesthetic

[00:47:53] I go, okay. I have a logo and

[00:47:56] And then I went to michelle and I go michelle

[00:47:58] I have no idea what i'm doing want to make a book and like yeah, and so

[00:48:01] Uh, and that was the second I was the first book in the second

[00:48:04] You know, and yeah, I in logistics. I wasn't aware of but now I do. I mean I cut my teeth

[00:48:09] I I'm still not an expert. That's why I'm the chief diversity officer. Not the operations officer, but

[00:48:15] But uh, I I know enough that to be stupid about it

[00:48:17] I understand the realities of the costs implied

[00:48:20] But no, I wasn't prepared it's just a lot to it

[00:48:22] And I think more people need to understand that and I don't want to scare people

[00:48:26] just what I would recommend is

[00:48:29] Um, don't just go on reddit and shop around for who's willing to make a book with you

[00:48:34] Try to get into conversations with independent creators that have already been there

[00:48:38] I guarantee people want to talk to you

[00:48:40] I mean my door is always open to anybody. I'll give you whatever insights I can I can render

[00:48:45] But just a little far smarter and more organized than me that have done books on kickstarter

[00:48:49] And I guarantee this i'm talking to others listening

[00:48:52] Reach out make friendships forge those alliances because

[00:48:56] That is when you start the kickstarter not before

[00:48:59] Uh, because then you understand like oh, yeah, I had a huge problem with printing this

[00:49:04] You should put it on this hundred

[00:49:05] You should put it on 100 pound cover stock not the 80 and you should probably print with that printer because they do a digital for that

[00:49:10] Much of you only sold 500 books do a digital run

[00:49:12] You're gonna want to go to that printer not that printer because they're offset and things like that

[00:49:16] You know if you don't and I had the advantage of working in marketing for a day job

[00:49:20] For for years. So I was able to at least keep up on the lingo

[00:49:24] But I mean there's a lot to it and and it's but don't don't let that scare you just make friendships ask questions

[00:49:31] And then make the book

[00:49:32] You can do it

[00:49:34] I have found that there are so many uh indie creators and folks that are willing to um

[00:49:40] You know get involved or just answer questions. I mean somebody just starting out

[00:49:44] You don't know what you don't know, you know, you don't sometimes you you don't know

[00:49:49] You might know the mechanics of it, but you don't even know the right, you know questions to ask and um, there are so many

[00:49:55] I've found one of the things I

[00:49:58] Love about the indie comics community

[00:50:01] There are so many folks that are willing to you know answer your questions and lend a hand where they can

[00:50:07] I think really

[00:50:09] Wonderful community

[00:50:12] Despite every once in a while some character getting into some discourse

[00:50:16] Uh, you know capital D discourse

[00:50:18] marked

[00:50:20] When that I I I stay away from any all of that

[00:50:23] I'm not a

[00:50:24] I'm not I have to shout my opinions on the internet person

[00:50:27] I never have been maybe because I you know came up it felt like before the internet

[00:50:33] I feel like that old

[00:50:34] but

[00:50:35] You know everyone's a lot there's some nonsense

[00:50:38] I think it's a feather in our cap to be honest with you because we straddle a divide

[00:50:42] That's true. Elder millennials

[00:50:45] We can we can keep up, but we also have a certain pragmaticism to us

[00:50:49] That doesn't frighten doesn't frighten the boomers as much

[00:50:52] I I tell people I someone said that earlier about

[00:50:56] today at work about

[00:50:59] If I was a millennial and I'm like well, um, um, I technically I was born in the 70s

[00:51:03] I think I'm like I'm like the last gen X

[00:51:06] You are but I'm willing to adopt you

[00:51:09] Yeah, because we both don't belong to anything

[00:51:12] You're you're you're as much of a gen X for as I am a millennial. Yeah

[00:51:16] And you know and it's it's an awkward face

[00:51:18] It really I'd say like 79 to like 81. We're just horribly boned

[00:51:23] Not yeah, I I agree that that is it right there 79 to 81 is like tough as to where where they put us

[00:51:31] There's like three or four years

[00:51:33] And our little micro generation is

[00:51:36] You know

[00:51:38] Very I like to think I like to think it makes us amiable to everyone

[00:51:41] Yeah

[00:51:44] Yeah, that's a great way looking at it brent. Um

[00:51:47] Well, uh, brent I wanted to ask you um

[00:51:51] Because we talked a lot about you know paying the bar and don't listen all the awesome stuff that our listeners have to look forward to

[00:51:59] You know, but I interact with you a lot on twitter in terms of you know, liking tweets or retweeting things or

[00:52:07] commenting on

[00:52:08] stuff that you have posted but um

[00:52:11] You know since I have you here like what other stuff are you into other than

[00:52:15] other than comic

[00:52:18] honestly

[00:52:20] I'm really in the comics. Uh

[00:52:24] I I I I I still play video games when I can um

[00:52:28] I did recently adopt an eight year old boy named joshua

[00:52:32] And i'm sure everyone who follows me is kind of peripherally aware of that

[00:52:36] And that takes up a lot of my time now. I'm a just add water parent

[00:52:41] um, but

[00:52:43] It's rewarding and I love it

[00:52:45] He I shared one of his he's very observant and uh, he has a lot to he has a lot of

[00:52:51] He's a journey ahead of him like any child that's been through kind of what he's been through

[00:52:55] And i'm here for him every step of the way

[00:52:57] But as he grows and knew himself

[00:52:59] Uh, he's very sharp and he watches the comic stuff

[00:53:03] And he picked up on the whole writer artist dynamic thing

[00:53:07] And he created this whole like two page spread story about

[00:53:10] protecting the earth

[00:53:12] And he asked me to like write like a little header

[00:53:15] You know for it that he that he came up with and I helped him paraphrase the header and everything

[00:53:19] And it's even wrote in the corner and I didn't realize until later

[00:53:22] That it said art by joshua fisher words words by brand fisher

[00:53:27] And i'm like, where did it he is just yeah, he gets it and so I go

[00:53:31] I think i'm in trouble if he actually kind of you know really chases down this art thing

[00:53:35] I'll have my own artist running around but uh, yeah

[00:53:38] That's been that's been my other angle of and then and then um video games when I can i'm playing a lot of hell divers to

[00:53:44] Uh, yeah right now and that's been that's been eminently rewarding

[00:53:48] awesome, um

[00:53:51] so uh

[00:53:54] In what I was going to ask in in terms of um

[00:54:00] Josh uh, it's josh right um, yeah

[00:54:03] I josh uh josh isn't interchangeable. Okay. Um

[00:54:08] Uh

[00:54:09] Does he like I mean does he read comics is he into it like in terms of that aspect of it?

[00:54:15] Is that something you could do to go do you go to the lcs and

[00:54:19] I took him once

[00:54:21] um, he grabbed a whole bunch of sonic

[00:54:23] Uh, idw sonic books got a lot of torque. He liked those

[00:54:28] Um, but he's much more. He's uh, he's a he's a tech kid tech kid. He's minecraft

[00:54:35] To the max uh legos to the max

[00:54:38] I I I I don't know where he lands um on any given day, uh

[00:54:43] But I do know that he's actually more of a math lego engineer type

[00:54:47] Oh awesome. He just likes to draw on the side

[00:54:51] Yeah

[00:54:52] Well, that's fantastic. I mean kids are uh kids are the best. I mean kid they can be a real pain

[00:54:56] I have two of them, but they're they're also the best. They're like the stuff that it's true

[00:55:01] It's like like one of the you know, those cliches like kids say the darndest things and whatnot

[00:55:06] But kids are always more observant than you think they are

[00:55:10] Um, my kids are 11 and penny will be charlotte's 11 and penny will be seven

[00:55:16] Next month and the stuff

[00:55:18] Penny comes up with just yeah is wild. Um, I don't I don't think she's paying attention at all and then she'll say

[00:55:26] Like just something utterly profound and I'm like, man kids kids are kids or something

[00:55:32] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know what? I don't mind talking about it like

[00:55:36] Uh, because I know it's it's kind of those things. I'm a huge

[00:55:40] carolin jess shipper

[00:55:42] You know and and and so and I have it kind of all over the place here

[00:55:46] They know just you know romantic stuff on occasion from one of my commissions

[00:55:50] I think I got carol holding jessiner arms right over there

[00:55:54] Oh, okay. I know

[00:55:56] Yeah, but like and I go to she had to have that you know that conversation

[00:56:00] Is it well, you know, are they in love? I go. Yeah, I'll in my imagination there

[00:56:05] And so yeah, and so I and I said, you know, yes, you know, I had to do the talk

[00:56:09] You know sometimes girls like girls and sometimes boys like boys

[00:56:13] Sometimes girls and boys like boys and girls and you know, and he's like, yeah, there's like a half second thought

[00:56:18] Okay

[00:56:20] Yeah

[00:56:21] You know, I freaking love kids. They're just like no don't

[00:56:26] No judgment just learning. Oh, yeah, all together, you know

[00:56:30] I think it's we we said I went to catholic school and

[00:56:35] Like great catholic great great school. I went to catholic great school high school in college

[00:56:38] So I went to a lot of catholic school. Um, we send our kids to catholic school now

[00:56:43] so I felt very strong desire

[00:56:47] to

[00:56:48] Like push back against some of the stuff that I knew they were

[00:56:52] Learning catholic school. Sometimes my wife is just he was not raised like did not go to catholic schools

[00:56:57] She's like, why are we sending them to catholic school? And I'm like, I really like the school

[00:57:01] But um, I'm catholic school straight through by the way

[00:57:05] Okay

[00:57:06] Up until college. Yeah, so yeah, I get it

[00:57:09] so

[00:57:11] But we but early on we would have those, you know conversations because I was like well

[00:57:15] it's not going to be

[00:57:18] Different or strange or odd or weird or whatever words kids would use if they're

[00:57:23] If they're, you know aware of it

[00:57:26] um

[00:57:26] But you never know like how much sinks in like if if kids say something in terms of, you know adult

[00:57:32] You know, see you seeing adults together and you're like, oh, well, this is my friend and

[00:57:36] You know, they have a kid and you know, they have two dads and then things along those lines, but um

[00:57:42] that never was I more

[00:57:44] Uh surprised and proud than to hear

[00:57:47] Charlotte when she was like

[00:57:49] nine

[00:57:50] explaining to my mother

[00:57:53] Who's in her six like mid to late 60s all of the different gender identities

[00:57:58] Yes, for a nine-year-old doing like a really good job. I was like good job charlotte

[00:58:04] I love that. No josh latched on to the gender identity

[00:58:07] Just the full spectrum literally of it very easily and that seems the same thing the one thing that I think uh, josh got stuck on was

[00:58:15] You know air air romantic

[00:58:17] You know kind of like the element there aerosexuals and I think that's that you know for when you're eight

[00:58:22] Everyone loves everybody and everything has us, you know

[00:58:25] The pieces fit together in one form or another, you know

[00:58:28] And the spectrum element there is difficult to explain and I think there's some people just you know

[00:58:33] The level of who they're attracted to and how they're attracted

[00:58:35] Yeah, it has the backs as a little men as it all over the place

[00:58:38] There's green there's colors and all and it's like, okay. Yeah, I get it

[00:58:41] Is you know, so he wanted to just kind of understand a bit more about it

[00:58:45] That's what we had that because I work at my volunteer time at cliDiscope

[00:58:48] We had like the gender

[00:58:50] The umbrella for gender identity and the gender unicorn and and so being able to have those kind of conversations

[00:58:56] You know when they're ready and when they come up organically has been very, you know

[00:59:00] Interesting but rewarding too. Yeah, I mean, I you know

[00:59:04] Sometimes it can be tough. I mean, I think kids are very receptive to a lot of different things

[00:59:09] But you know, you don't

[00:59:11] I try not to

[00:59:13] I have a tendency maybe it's because I'm a lawyer generally in terms of explaining any concept like

[00:59:20] explaining things to a kid that

[00:59:22] um

[00:59:24] That I get to like

[00:59:27] Technical I get technical

[00:59:29] And my wife I'm not talking about like gender concepts or anything just like anything

[00:59:34] Like anything. No literally like how does this work? And I'm like

[00:59:37] Wait, you know, we're we're in the weeds on the internal combustion engine and that is not what the kid asked, you know

[00:59:45] and uh

[00:59:46] but you know to uh

[00:59:48] There there are ways and when kids are ready, they'll let you know and you know, most kids are just

[00:59:54] Curious and they just are much more accepting than I think

[00:59:59] You know people give them credit for but um, yeah kids are great

[01:00:04] They are great. And I think the one just to point a capstone on it like josh, um

[01:00:09] understands

[01:00:10] My personal binary identity

[01:00:12] Which I thought was surprising. I guess because you know, this is your eight

[01:00:15] I don't I don't impose or expect anyone

[01:00:19] And I don't and I don't ever impose beliefs. It's always this is what this is. This is what that is

[01:00:26] This is how we don't know and I leave it to you, you know

[01:00:28] to kind of interpret the information as you see fit and

[01:00:31] Uh, he's done a really amazing job. You know accepting me if you know, you know as parent, you know, so it's kind of cool

[01:00:37] But uh, but no and I have been in similar situations where I try to explain like

[01:00:42] How a lock works because we're changing locks on the doors and I got way too technical and my wife's like hey, he's eight

[01:00:48] Yeah

[01:00:49] And I was like, okay, okay, but he loves mechanical things though. So it's like I get too excited

[01:00:53] He just got done completing a

[01:00:55] A buggy a lego technique buggy with like a working just an engine and stuff. So it's kind of

[01:01:00] Well, that's awesome. Legos are amazing aren't they?

[01:01:03] We we like we we watch that show lego masters a lot. Um,

[01:01:07] That's the the lego building competition show

[01:01:10] Uh, my kids love it

[01:01:14] but

[01:01:15] Well, uh, brun I I said a week record about like 40 or 45 minutes and we're like an hour into it now

[01:01:20] So I apologize. No, I don't find I'm good. Um, but look I uh,

[01:01:26] so excited to talk to you I

[01:01:28] can't wait to read more stories that

[01:01:31] You are involved with I'm very excited for your roles both at Dauntless and Banda Bards

[01:01:36] And I'll put links to all of those things in the show notes for this

[01:01:40] And so folks can go and find you

[01:01:43] If they want to follow you on social media and check out Dauntless check out Banda Bards sign up for the newsletters

[01:01:48] It's the best thing you can do. Yes, if you find a person an artist a writer

[01:01:55] A publisher an editor or whatever it might be listeners

[01:01:59] Uh, if they have a newsletter sign up for it. It's the number

[01:02:03] It's the best thing with social media being wonky at times to make sure that you are finding out about the stuff that you

[01:02:09] Want to know about especially with books coming out final order cutoffs for things that are in the direct market

[01:02:15] Uh, you know, so you don't miss any crowdfunding campaigns

[01:02:18] And I'll be sure to send everybody your way for unbroken because I cannot wait to check out all the different lore

[01:02:25] That you and the creative team are are establishing for that. That sounds fantastic. She's a great. She's a great character

[01:02:30] I think it's something for a lot of

[01:02:33] Kids especially girls will look up to we'll see uh

[01:02:37] I think it's going to be a very compelling story. I hope it gets more attention

[01:02:40] And I just want to say as an epilogue to all this. Um, I'm not I'm not

[01:02:44] Obviously, I'm not perfect

[01:02:45] And then my my goal is always do better and I'm sure there's things I said too much

[01:02:50] And I'm sure there's places where I've said too little

[01:02:52] But I'm sure there's places where I've said the right thing and the wrong thing and I

[01:02:56] I like to say is I always do my best and if you want someone wants to take me aside and slap me around later

[01:03:01] To tell me anything I may have said incorrectly or not enough of please do so

[01:03:06] Uh, because I always want to do better and that's really the goal

[01:03:09] Um, of not only the chief diversity officer, but also as a human being

[01:03:14] Um, but I only believe in trying to do better and trying to be kind

[01:03:18] It's gotten me this far

[01:03:20] And I think look and I I advise everybody to embrace kindness. It'll take you places

[01:03:26] Yeah, I I agree. I tell my kids they can be anything they want but just be kind

[01:03:32] Um, well brand I think that's a fantastic way to uh

[01:03:36] In this episode, I really appreciate you coming on the podcast and please come back anytime you want

[01:03:42] Oh always man. You see the word. I'll be there. Oh fantastic fantastic listeners. Oh almost forgot

[01:03:49] Every I'm I'm I'm forgetting to shout out my brother Bobby the cryptic creator corner number one most dedicated listener bobby

[01:03:55] Listens all my episodes and I told him I would do this every episode and

[01:03:59] I I'm starting to forget but uh, I'm keeping the big

[01:04:06] But listeners listeners if you like the podcast let us know

[01:04:10] Remember i'm irish italian and uh half golden retriever puppies. So I like to be told when I do a good job

[01:04:15] and um, please check out dauntless and band of bards and uh make sure to check out the campaign for unbroken once it goes live and um

[01:04:25] Yeah, thank you very much for listening to the podcast and uh as long as you keep listening

[01:04:30] I'll I'll keep doing it and finding different creators to uh to talk to about comics and whatever else comes up

[01:04:36] So thank you very much and I will see you next time. Good night

[01:04:40] This is Byron O'Neill one of your hosts of the cryptic creator corner brought to you by comic book yeti

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