Austin Allen Hamblin talks Big Guns, Stupid Rednecks

[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.

[00:00:11] Y'all Jimmy the Chaos Goblin strikes again

[00:00:14] I should have known better than to mention that was working on my DC Universe meets Ravenloft hybrid D&D campaign on social media

[00:00:21] My bad. He goes and tags a bunch of comics creators

[00:00:24] We know and now I have to get it in gear and whip this campaign into shape so we can start playing

[00:00:29] Another friend chimes in are you gonna make maps?

[00:00:32] It's fair to say it's been a while since I put something together. So I guess question mark

[00:00:37] It was then that I discovered Arkham Forge

[00:00:40] If you don't know who Arkham Forge is they have everything you need to make your TT RPG more fun and immersive

[00:00:46] Allowing you to build play and export animated maps including in-person fog of war capability

[00:00:52] But let your players interact with maps as the adventure unfolds while you the DM get the full picture

[00:00:59] Now I'm set to easily build high res animated maps saving myself precious time and significantly adding nuance to our campaign

[00:01:06] That's a win every day in my book. Check them out at Arkham Forge

[00:01:10] Com and use the discount code Yeti5 to get $5 off

[00:01:14] I'll drop a link in the show notes for you and big thanks to Arkham Forge for partnering with our show

[00:01:19] I think I'm gonna make Jimmy play a goblin warlock just to get even

[00:01:24] Hello and welcome to comic book Yeti's cryptid creator corner

[00:01:28] I'm one of your hosts Jimmy Gasparo and I'm really excited

[00:01:31] We have a first-time guest on the podcast today has a new book coming out through

[00:01:36] Banda Bards, which I'm a big fan of considering I was in one of their anthologies and

[00:01:42] Always excited to have a Banda Bards creator on the podcast

[00:01:46] this

[00:01:47] New comic book is big guns stupid rednecks

[00:01:51] Please welcome right welcome to the podcast writer Austin Allen Hamplin Austin. How you doing man? I am I am doing fantastic

[00:02:01] Okay, so let's let's get into it right now because you you're you were

[00:02:05] My first question right off the bat. You were kind enough to sit over an advanced reader copy of

[00:02:11] Big guns stupid rednecks and I read through the issue great premise

[00:02:16] I don't want to give too much away when we talk about it and we can talk about the creative team as well

[00:02:22] So but I was wondering because I've seen some of the videos you've put out on tick tock kind of getting folks to pre-order

[00:02:29] So is this you know taking

[00:02:32] Literally taking a shot at at at rednecks or is this like these are my people and I I feel I can do this

[00:02:40] Yeah, it's very much. These are my people so I

[00:02:44] Grew up in rural Iowa. I live I literally live four blocks away from the house

[00:02:49] I grew up in I went to a tiny

[00:02:53] Catholic high school where I would say we had 42 in our graduating class and probably 30 of them are farmers now. Oh

[00:03:02] Wow, okay, that's that's rural. Yes, very rural. We had less than 200 people in the whole high school. Oh

[00:03:10] Wow, okay

[00:03:11] But but rednecks. Yeah, like so like I there's a there's a country music song

[00:03:15] That says I'm the son of a third generation farmer and I actually am so my dad farmed

[00:03:21] And he worked at John Deere and for those who don't know what John Deere is

[00:03:24] They make tractors and they make all kinds of heavy machinery

[00:03:27] And so my dad did both of those things and then he popped out a son that said hey, I want to write comics

[00:03:33] Well, okay, wait, what song it's I'm up

[00:03:35] What song is that that I'm the son of a third generation farmer. Oh man

[00:03:39] I could sing the whole song, but it's like I'm the son of a third generation farmer

[00:03:43] I've been married ten years to the farmers daughter. Oh, man. I'm gonna have to look this up now because I don't know

[00:03:48] All right, I'm curious. Yeah, cuz I I

[00:03:51] I'm a big fan of

[00:03:52] I grew up on and I'm I'm from Delaware County Delco right outside of Philly

[00:03:57] But I grew up on on country music. So I

[00:04:02] Still listen I think of more of a fan of like

[00:04:05] 80s into the 90s country was kind of like my wheelhouse like sometimes I'll put on the

[00:04:11] I got this the serious station in my pickup truck

[00:04:14] That's I think it's prime country is the one if you are familiar with serious and I still I still know

[00:04:21] I think the words to I'd say 85% of those songs when they come on

[00:04:27] Especially if it's something in my range, you know like a Randy Travis. I'm all over it

[00:04:33] That's the stuff. So like 80s and 90s country

[00:04:35] That's the stuff I grew up listening to too because that was what my parents listened to

[00:04:39] And so that was like it wasn't until I got older that then I like got into like heavy metal and like slipknot and stuff

[00:04:45] But I grew up on country. So I have like deep like it's funny because I always like when I was younger

[00:04:51] I always wanted to like escape

[00:04:54] the

[00:04:56] Redneck-esque parts of my life like I was like I don't want to be associated with this and then I just like as I got older

[00:05:02] I realized that I couldn't and I was okay with that and like a lot of times so like I love rednecks

[00:05:08] And I think a lot of times people will

[00:05:11] clump rednecks in with closed-minded people and

[00:05:15] That's not necessarily true. I don't like closed-minded people rednecks are the hard-working

[00:05:20] Salt to the earth people that will give you the shirt off of their back

[00:05:24] They are genuine good people that care about it. They're they're a community. There's a big community aspect of that

[00:05:31] I sell a ton of comics to people that don't read comics

[00:05:37] They're just people that know me from the area and want to support me

[00:05:40] Yeah, so I mean you're going back the traditional, you know

[00:05:45] Definition redneck farmer somebody who's out they're working in the field

[00:05:49] They're fixing their tractor. They're doing that whole thing and yeah, I mean over the years the idea of

[00:05:57] Somebody who is a farmer grew up on a farm in a rural area

[00:06:02] Kind of went through a transformation from like a you know, the idea of like a local yokel to

[00:06:08] country bumpkin to

[00:06:10] The idea of a redneck now and then you get all kinds of

[00:06:16] Different pop culture or cultural identity stuff mixed in there

[00:06:21] but you're really kind of taking it from like I know these folks and

[00:06:26] These are good people in terms of the people that are supporting you and that you grew up around and you're you're having a little bit of fun and

[00:06:34] Yeah, I like that. I really like I mean it seems like you're pouring a lot of the I wanted to get away from this area into your character of Clint

[00:06:42] You know right off the bat

[00:06:45] Yeah, absolutely

[00:06:46] It's cool because like you know I used to feel that way and I sense of changed and

[00:06:52] But yeah with that character

[00:06:54] I mean it's like the kind of the little quick rundown

[00:06:58] Yeah of the comic is after a sudden

[00:07:02] string of disappearances in the southern part of the United States retired detective Clint

[00:07:08] has to search for his white trash brother Clay

[00:07:12] and

[00:07:13] After searching for him he ends up getting abducted

[00:07:17] by aliens and

[00:07:19] It turns out his brother is in the ring for big guns stupid rednecks intergalactic cables newest hit show which features

[00:07:27] Rednecks and laser gun gladiatorial combat against each other and his brother is the reigning champion with 27

[00:07:33] You know what I love how fast you kind of like get into everything

[00:07:41] I mean like because it it really

[00:07:44] Has a nice pace to it and then when it takes off it kind of takes off and I I like how I never knew exactly what to

[00:07:52] You know expect was this gonna be a situation was this gonna be a brother against brother fight where they're gonna team up like

[00:08:00] every, you know page turn although I was reading it digitally

[00:08:06] And

[00:08:07] Like you just like ramped up the stakes in terms of oh now it's it's a battle royale now

[00:08:12] It's a television show now. There's like ratings involved now. There's this whole this whole intergalactic

[00:08:19] world

[00:08:21] and it was done in such a way that

[00:08:25] You know the reader never felt lost and

[00:08:28] It was a lot of fun. I mean I really really enjoyed it

[00:08:33] Thank you. I I am a big

[00:08:36] Advocate of there's not enough fun comics. No, don't get me wrong

[00:08:40] I think there's there's like, you know, there should be comics for everything. There should be social commentaries

[00:08:44] There's super heroes. It should be everything

[00:08:46] But I think there's just not enough just fun, you know, like, you know, like, you know

[00:08:51] For every citizen Kane, there's gonna be a Michael Bay movie, right?

[00:08:55] You know and that doesn't mean that the Michael Bay movie has no merit

[00:08:58] It's still enjoyable and I like I love like Ryan Brown's work Kyle Starks like those guys

[00:09:05] They just do fun weird comic and that's kind of stuff that I want to make. Oh

[00:09:10] Yeah, I I agree. There's a place for everything

[00:09:14] I mean, I've said it a million times on this podcast

[00:09:16] This is like a brand new golden age if you're a comic book fan

[00:09:21] Like if you there's no reason by anybody even if you've never read a comic before

[00:09:27] There's no reason why you can't find something you like. I mean there might be some areas where

[00:09:34] There's, you know room to grow, you know, they're like in the 50s and 60s

[00:09:37] There used to be more like romance comics and but we're even seeing some of those and

[00:09:42] In terms of slice of life, you know making a comeback

[00:09:46] But you know, there's there really are comics for you know, just about everything

[00:09:50] And I know you're I think a big fan of professional wrestling

[00:09:54] So I really feel like that love infused in this as well and when you can take something you love like comics professional wrestling and

[00:10:02] Kind of get get those two

[00:10:04] involve together

[00:10:07] It really is a great match. No pun intended actually I didn't tend that pun. I lied I intended that fun

[00:10:13] Yeah, it was a good one. I liked it

[00:10:15] I you know people always say like one of the advice that everyone always gives like new writers is right what you know and

[00:10:22] Like I know rednecks like I know wrestling. I know, you know, like I know weird stuff

[00:10:27] Like let's let's throw all this together and let's let's make something fun. Yeah

[00:10:33] And you did and I really thought it was it was it was a really fun like kind of like wild ride and

[00:10:42] Didn't know what to expect and

[00:10:44] Yeah, really enjoyable like really great like just super fun first issue

[00:10:50] And so tell me about the rest of the creative team in terms of the the art and coloring and lettering

[00:10:56] Yeah, so the artist is a her name is Mariana Maria and she is a Brazilian artist who she's a scat alumni

[00:11:06] Nice. Yeah, and then this was and we kind of met through Twitter and

[00:11:12] Mesh and she did the art and the colors for it and it

[00:11:17] You know, it's funny because a lot of people are like I don't feel like this is like

[00:11:22] Like this with art should fit this story, but it fits perfectly and I like I agree with that

[00:11:28] That's such a weird compliment to say

[00:11:31] But but yeah, she did a fantastic job

[00:11:34] And she was so easy to work with and easy going and she you know

[00:11:39] I'm big in like comics or a collaborative medium. So like working with her

[00:11:44] She's like, you know throwing me suggestions like hey

[00:11:46] How about we do it this way and I'm all for this stuff as long as it makes it better

[00:11:50] And so there's definitely she she made me look very good and I really appreciate that

[00:11:55] What what I really liked about the art style and I kind of see what you're saying because you could

[00:12:00] You know you could do a ton of different things with this like you could definitely have like a more like

[00:12:08] Realistic style you could definitely go, you know darker and gritty

[00:12:11] And it's always interesting to see like how different artists would tackle, you know the type of story like if somebody like, you know

[00:12:18] Martin Simmons

[00:12:20] You know like who's done the artwork for Department of Truth like what would this look like if he were to handle it?

[00:12:27] You know what but what I like is the the element of fun is and the

[00:12:34] The

[00:12:36] There's it takes a little bit of what could be a harder edge off you could definitely push in that direction, but the art style really

[00:12:44] Cartoony is the wrong word

[00:12:46] But there's definitely like an animation style to it that I I really

[00:12:52] appreciated and I just really thought it made sense within the the story itself and

[00:12:58] in particular when

[00:13:01] You know not I don't want to really spoil anything, but there's a part where Clint kind of gets more involved in

[00:13:09] the show of it all and there's almost like a montage of the different things that they are doing and

[00:13:17] It's great and it all works and you're seeing alien creatures and different rednecks fighting

[00:13:23] And I think there were rednecks versus hipsters

[00:13:27] Just it was a really great

[00:13:30] Yeah, I think one of the big the my favorite things that she did was that in the first half of the issue when he's searching for his brother

[00:13:37] The colors are very dark and you know and moody

[00:13:42] But then when we get into the alien stuff it switches to very vibrant and bright and you know to this crazy new world

[00:13:48] It's kind of like the flipping of a coin and she did a fantastic job

[00:13:53] Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah, it's definitely evident they are on the page

[00:13:58] And I also want to give a shout out to the the letterist our word balloon man John Ira Thomas who was a

[00:14:05] Personal friend of mine. He's a he's a local Iowa guy as well

[00:14:09] He has been self-publishing comics since the 90s through

[00:14:13] Their publisher called candlelight press and he learned how to letter out of necessity because you know pre-internet

[00:14:20] You can't just you know put out an ad for somebody so he learned how to letter all of his own

[00:14:25] Comics that he was writing and then I met him at a con and we hit it off

[00:14:30] I kind of say he is the future me

[00:14:33] and so, you know because I'll be doing this in 30 years still and

[00:14:39] He did an awesome job on it and like he he makes all the graphics for like when we we've gotten some quotes

[00:14:46] Or some pros and we've done and it was cool to get to collaborate with them on this and you know

[00:14:51] We're gonna be doing a signing for the first issue together

[00:14:54] So unfortunately, you know, she's off in Brazil, but the two of us are within an hour driving distance

[00:15:00] So what issue one comes out? We'll be signing in Iowa City. Oh, that's awesome

[00:15:04] And when is issue one coming out? It's the end of August, right? Yep

[00:15:10] Yep August 28th, which happens to be Jack Kirby's birthday

[00:15:13] So I will be smoking a big fat cigar to celebrate Jack's birthday and sign in some comics the way

[00:15:19] He would want me to be doing so that's right

[00:15:21] every

[00:15:23] Every August 28th smoke a big cigar punch a Nazi and celebrate Jack

[00:15:31] That's fantastic and so how did the the comic end up how'd you end up like with Banda Bards?

[00:15:37] Did you pitch to them or is this a story that you've been shopping around for a while?

[00:15:42] I'm just kind of curious because I know you crowdfunded some of your comics, you know previously

[00:15:47] Yeah, so like I've been doing comics since 2012 and I have been like kind of everywhere on the indie scene

[00:15:52] And this has been something that I there's been many incarnations of this with different artists different colorists

[00:15:59] And I had pitched at places, you know, there was always like yeah, this isn't quite our thing

[00:16:04] You know got close a couple times didn't happen. I ended up doing a

[00:16:09] seven page lead in

[00:16:11] Short story to this universe that got published in an anthology by Topkow and

[00:16:17] The artist for that was Donnie Tran and

[00:16:21] Chris Northrup did the colors and it was it was awesome

[00:16:24] For whatever reason Topkow did not it was not interested in continuing on with that

[00:16:29] but I had a perfect pitch right there because it ends on a massive cliffhanger and

[00:16:35] I had these copies of the anthology

[00:16:37] And I would go to conventions and I would give them away to people and people would always tell me

[00:16:42] What's stupid to give away your work for free? Well, one of the people I gave this to

[00:16:49] Emails me the day after I give it to him and says do you have more to this story?

[00:16:54] And I go I have a whole pitch written for this and he goes I think

[00:17:00] Of this place that I'm working with band of bars might be interested and the guy's name is Chuck Saturday

[00:17:05] and

[00:17:07] He hooked me up with them and they're like let's do this, you know, I had everything ready

[00:17:12] It was one of those things where it was just like the perfect situation

[00:17:15] Yeah, and then ended up a band of bars and now we got a three issue mini series coming out. Oh, that's fantastic

[00:17:22] Oh, I love it. Yeah, and you know going to cons and doing that making those connections Chuck's been on the podcast before

[00:17:28] You know so I really like Chuck and I like you know a lot of his work

[00:17:33] And he's done a bunch of different things in comics and took a break and then came back and yeah Chuck's awesome

[00:17:40] Yeah, it was it was really cool thing and it's just funny because yeah

[00:17:43] The people are always like don't don't give away your work for free and it's like there

[00:17:46] There's I get where you're coming from but sometimes it pays off you get something the right person's hand and

[00:17:53] Now I'm here, you know, I wouldn't be on your podcast if it wasn't for me handing him this anthology

[00:17:59] Yeah, that's true

[00:18:00] And with this three issue mini series coming out

[00:18:03] Yeah, so you have been doing comics since 2012 like I said you you've kick started some and

[00:18:10] You've done different things in the industry. I think before we started recording

[00:18:14] We had said that you you had an internship

[00:18:17] With a comic book publisher previously and you've had things published with

[00:18:21] The anthology with top cal. I know you've done work with

[00:18:26] You know phil hester who

[00:18:29] That is well known in the very well known in the in the industry

[00:18:35] um, but before we

[00:18:37] Talk about some of the other comics you you've done. I kind of wanted to ask like

[00:18:41] What is it about like comics that

[00:18:44] Drew you to them and has it been like a lifelong passion of yours to to want to write comics?

[00:18:51] I mean since you've been you don't you don't seem as old as I am and and 2012 was 12 years ago

[00:18:56] So it sounds like you started pretty early. Yeah, so I

[00:19:01] My first self-published book came out my senior year of high school. Okay

[00:19:06] Oh, so

[00:19:06] I knew from like eight years old that this is what I wanted to do. Um, I had kind of been tinkering around reading comics

[00:19:15] Walden's books, which no longer exists used to have a spinner rack

[00:19:18] And there was one in the mall and so when I'd have to go to the mall for whatever reason

[00:19:22] I'd make my mom buy me some comics and they'd usually be like

[00:19:25] Bongo titles or sonic the hedgehog and and I was always kind of into comics, but I wasn't fully sold until

[00:19:32] My uncle

[00:19:33] Would give us gift cards to Barnes and Noble every year

[00:19:37] And I was like a reluctant reader and I said, you know what?

[00:19:40] I'm gonna buy comics because that's not real reading and I bought marvel masterworks volume one fantastic four

[00:19:45] In the second I read that it was it it was over. I was hooked. It was sunk into my brain

[00:19:51] I was in love love at first sight eight years old, right?

[00:19:56] Uh and

[00:19:56] And now you're a reader you've also you you've not only found your love of comics, but

[00:20:02] You you you've now you've now become a reader as well

[00:20:06] Absolutely. I will never be able to repay my uncle dean

[00:20:09] For this because he literally by giving me a gift card. He changed the course of my entire life

[00:20:15] for better or for worse

[00:20:17] Um, but the reason that I I wanted to write comics

[00:20:21] um, and I've always been like a really creative person, but uh, I also

[00:20:26] At times in my life. I've had very poor mental health

[00:20:29] That's something that I I constantly struggle with I've got really bad depression and anxiety and I'm very open about that

[00:20:34] Uh, I want people to feel like they're not alone and to know that other people deal with these things because

[00:20:41] When I was 15 years old

[00:20:43] I felt like I was the only person in the world that felt that way when in fact that wasn't true

[00:20:47] right, but

[00:20:49] I would

[00:20:50] You know pick up my comics on wednesday and I could slip away

[00:20:55] Into this universe for 10 minutes and forget about all my problems. I wasn't depressed anymore

[00:21:01] I was just I was I was worried about what frank castle how he was going to get out of this situation or you know

[00:21:06] How was rick grimes going to survive the zombie apocalypse?

[00:21:11] You know, whatever it was

[00:21:12] It pulled me out of my reality and I want to be able to do

[00:21:17] That for other people and that's why I want to write fun comic because I really want them to not even

[00:21:24] You know think anything's that just to just to be able to escape

[00:21:28] And if I can do that for some people then mission accomplished money career

[00:21:32] That's not what's as important to me as helping people escape their reality

[00:21:36] Well, I mean, I I think that's a noble endeavor. You know, I mean especially

[00:21:43] the

[00:21:44] you know issues with mental health

[00:21:47] In the this country in the world, you know at large

[00:21:52] Are not seeming, you know, not getting any better on their own and

[00:21:57] I'm a big proponent of trying to

[00:22:00] destigmatize, you know mental health. I went my

[00:22:03] degree in college was in psychology. It was something I was always interested in and

[00:22:09] Uh, yeah, it's something I talk about a lot and I've dealt with anxiety my entire life

[00:22:14] and um, I was a very good very good at

[00:22:19] Listening to other people and trying to let them know that if you had a broken arm you'd go to the hospital

[00:22:24] If something's not if if something's not clicking if you're dealing with anxiety or depression you could talk to somebody

[00:22:32] There's a million different types of therapy. It's not always medicine. There's talk therapy

[00:22:36] but I was terrible about taking my own advice until you know in my 40s and

[00:22:43] You know, finally started going to counseling and

[00:22:46] You know, and uh, it's it's it's been unreal and uh kicking myself

[00:22:52] That why didn't I just sit down and talk to somebody sooner and it helped immensely?

[00:22:57] um, so I and I think that idea of of being able to present

[00:23:01] even if it's you know, you don't have to write, you know your

[00:23:06] Your your master work that's going to take all those things and solve

[00:23:11] Mental health like you can you can just provide that escape for somebody to not be

[00:23:16] In their own world in their own head for for 10 minutes to be in that arena with clay and clint

[00:23:24] and sitting there

[00:23:26] imagining

[00:23:28] Some fellow, you know intergalactic travelers that they're they're sitting there and enjoying an an earth beer

[00:23:34] And wondering who's going to win and that's great

[00:23:38] Yeah, absolutely. That's that's you know, I uh

[00:23:42] I'm very happy for you that you have uh found something that works because you know

[00:23:46] Not a lot of people do and some people give up because it is hard and you know, it's not easy

[00:23:51] But uh, it's definitely worth this and yeah, if there's anybody listening that feels that way you

[00:23:56] You're not alone. Um, and there's a lot of us out there and and the world is better off with you in it

[00:24:01] Oh, absolutely. Yes for any listeners out there who are

[00:24:06] struggling

[00:24:07] Uh, the world is a better place with you in it

[00:24:10] And you always have a friend here at the cryptic creator corner

[00:24:13] And now that's what we try and do it's why we love comics and you know

[00:24:17] We we try and connect people with the thing that they love, you know, and I think that helped it may be a little but you know, yeah

[00:24:24] All right, let's take a quick break

[00:24:28] Hey comics fam itty comic book publisher band of bars just got a level up and announced it is now a cooperative

[00:24:35] This heralds a new era for them including a partnership with dollah's stories

[00:24:40] And they added several new members to the ownership group

[00:24:43] Marcus Jimenez is now chief operating officer

[00:24:46] Brent Fisher takes on the role of chief diversity officer

[00:24:48] And joey galvez is introduced as head of kickstarter ops and social media manager

[00:24:54] Which is sure to increase their capabilities overall as a publisher

[00:24:58] And it further promotes their mission statement of advancing representation

[00:25:02] inclusion and diversity in the media

[00:25:04] They also established a new board of directors to help chart the new path of their journey

[00:25:09] With new projects in the works like Alaska by dropping in june

[00:25:13] Unbroken soon launching on Kickstarter and pond coming up with dollah's

[00:25:16] Stay tuned to this space for more exciting news from the growing bards family

[00:25:24] Let's get back to the show

[00:25:26] What was it not just your love of comics, but

[00:25:30] When you really started to pursue, you know writing did you

[00:25:35] Where there

[00:25:36] Was it like a school class or where there are writers that you wanted to emulate?

[00:25:41] Did you pick up a book like, you know, Stephen King's on writing or you're just like

[00:25:44] I'm just going to figure this out as I go

[00:25:47] Yeah, so I'm I is very big

[00:25:50] DIY guy and

[00:25:51] I so like I bought some books that were like, you know how to make graphic novels and you know stuff like that

[00:25:57] And then I looked at the book and I looked at who the the authors were some of these

[00:26:01] And i'm like this guy's never made a comic in his life. Why why do I want his advice? Right?

[00:26:05] So when I was 10 years old

[00:26:08] Uh, I

[00:26:10] Saw something online about how there was going to be a store signing at a comic book store for phil hester

[00:26:16] And at the time I didn't know who he was

[00:26:19] But he was the guy that was doing what I wanted to do

[00:26:22] You know, I was so ecstatic and would not shut up four days about how I was going to meet someone

[00:26:28] That makes comic books for a living

[00:26:29] and so I

[00:26:31] went to

[00:26:33] The signing

[00:26:34] You know, I picked up one of his books and i'm like, you know, I want to make comics like

[00:26:38] What do I what do I need to do? I don't know

[00:26:40] You know and he was just like, hey, you know, all you got to do is just just make the comic like all you need is paper

[00:26:47] And pencil and you can make comics and it was it was the simplest answer in the world

[00:26:52] But to me it felt like he had just solved cancer

[00:26:55] um, and then over the years

[00:26:57] I just kept seeing phil at conventions

[00:27:01] And uh at store signings and we eventually became on a first name basis and then I started actually creating comics

[00:27:07] And then we got even closer and I call him my comic book dad because he he has two children

[00:27:15] One is a year older than me and one is a year younger than me and neither of them

[00:27:19] Have anything to do with comics. They don't even read comics and then my dad is farmer joe

[00:27:24] So we kind of fill out the voids in each other's life

[00:27:26] So I like I call him my comics dad because he's uh,

[00:27:30] Been able to help me and teach me and i've been his assistant for probably about the past three years

[00:27:36] Yeah

[00:27:37] well you um, I don't know if it was on your website or

[00:27:41] Something else that I was uh that I read that you had written when I was you know

[00:27:46] Doing my little bit of research before the podcast which I thought was fantastic advice for anybody who's trying to make comics

[00:27:52] And you said phil

[00:27:53] Hester told you

[00:27:55] You know to take one of your scripts and try and draw it out. You're like why can't draw

[00:27:58] But just try and do it and you quick from what I recall from what I read you essentially

[00:28:05] Quickly learned that what you were trying to capture on the panel like either couldn't be done

[00:28:11] Couldn't all fit in

[00:28:13] You know, maybe two actions going at the same time and you were like every writer

[00:28:18] Should try and do this to really understand what a script needs to look like to go into the paneling

[00:28:24] And i'm like that it's absolutely the the best advice

[00:28:28] If you want to try and write comics if you've never done it before

[00:28:32] Just write a short four

[00:28:34] Five six paid some, you know script

[00:28:36] But then try and you stick figures panel it out to see if

[00:28:40] It makes sense and I was like, yeah, that's I mean phil. He knows what he's talking about, you know

[00:28:45] Oh man it it changed the way

[00:28:48] That I I looked at thing, you know, I was I was looking at everything sideways and then this turned my head upright

[00:28:56] And it's cool because like when I

[00:28:59] Write things now in my head. I'm conscious of how will this look on a page?

[00:29:04] And like it's funny because like it kind of like the page gets drawn in my head as I'm writing it

[00:29:10] And it's not always the same as what you know, usually the artist does a much better job than than uh,

[00:29:16] What I come up with

[00:29:18] There have been times where

[00:29:20] I've done pages where i'm like I have a very specific layout and I I do draw it out

[00:29:25] Along with the script and send it to him which sometimes can offend people and it's not meant like that

[00:29:30] it's meant is just to try to help and um

[00:29:32] I remember doing that once and it was for a short story and it was one that phil read one that I had written when I was

[00:29:38] 18 or 17

[00:29:40] And phil was like this page he goes this shouldn't work

[00:29:43] But this works amazing and it draws the eye here in this and it was like it was the greatest feeling in the world because I'm like

[00:29:49] I like I drew that page and then he just drew it better

[00:29:54] You know, and so it was like i'm doing something right

[00:29:58] That's awesome. Yeah, I mean that feeling of

[00:30:02] You know, especially that I that that I it shouldn't work and it does

[00:30:06] But there's something about when that happened

[00:30:09] You know in comics, um

[00:30:11] It's just a great

[00:30:13] It's just a great feeling like when you see it, you know, and it is you said it earlier

[00:30:17] It's such a collaborative medium

[00:30:18] And I I love right writing a script and you get the

[00:30:22] You get it back and the artist will tweak something or change a little thing and you know

[00:30:26] They take your words and you saw it one way in your head and they

[00:30:30] you know

[00:30:32] Put it through their filter and and they put it on the page and it's

[00:30:36] There's no better feeling when you get that art in your inbox

[00:30:40] No, the only the only better feeling is holding the printed copy in your hand. That's the only thing

[00:30:47] um

[00:30:48] So in terms of some of the different things that you you know, you've written uh, whether or not it, uh

[00:30:53] You know, it's for an anthology or some of the comics that you you know self published. Um

[00:30:59] you like uh

[00:31:01] What is it punk and rock the adventures of punk and rock?

[00:31:03] Rock and rock. Yeah, and I saw some of the other stuff you'd kick started

[00:31:06] I was looking at like uh steel wool and um, I know a couple other things that you you've done

[00:31:12] I think you had a comic on uh tapas. Was that sabooru? Yep. Yep. Yeah, sabooru. Yeah

[00:31:17] Sabooru, okay my apologies. No, you're fine. I I don't even know if I'm pronouncing it correctly

[00:31:22] I could be wrong

[00:31:24] So is there like uh, you know, because I haven't gotten to read everything

[00:31:28] I you know looked at little snippets, but do you think there's a through line?

[00:31:32] I mean other than I want to I want fun. I want people to have an escape

[00:31:36] Is there something that you think you gravitate towards in terms of the stories you you know, you like to tell?

[00:31:43] Yeah, absolutely. Uh, uh, the there's one thing that is an element in every story

[00:31:49] That I write and and it's that there's a little bit of humor

[00:31:53] You know, it may not be the main focal point

[00:31:56] But there's just a little bit to you know, take the tension away because that's just the kind of guy that I am

[00:32:01] Me and my closest friends all we do is give each other crap constantly

[00:32:06] You know, I I joke around I'm a prankster

[00:32:09] You know, I pull pranks on my brother-in-law and he pulls them back on me kind of thing

[00:32:15] That's the that's the main thing like it and um, most of my stuff is like it comes from

[00:32:20] Hey, wouldn't it be cool if

[00:32:23] Yeah, which maybe isn't the most you know, that's I don't know

[00:32:26] Stephen king is like thinking if you know, kujo didn't come from that but like big unsteeped red next did so yeah

[00:32:33] I'm sure every once in a while, you know

[00:32:35] Stephen king does wouldn't it be cool if like that's how maximum overdrive got made

[00:32:40] Oh, no kidding. I didn't know that

[00:32:43] I'm oh well if you've seen the movie

[00:32:45] Or read anything about the production

[00:32:52] Um, yeah, that's the one where the comet makes all the electronics and the cars come to life

[00:32:56] um

[00:32:58] I think I think that's the one um

[00:33:01] Yeah, but in any event I I think everybody at one point in time has one thing

[00:33:06] So, uh, I don't I don't there's anything wrong, you know with with taking that approach. Um

[00:33:12] You know other than

[00:33:14] Infusing some things into your character in terms of the point in your life where you're like I wanted to escape

[00:33:20] My my rural upbringing or you know escape small town, Iowa

[00:33:26] Um, do you think like where you grew up has influenced your writing in in other ways?

[00:33:31] Like is that been is that a real focal point of your

[00:33:36] storytelling like being

[00:33:38] The son of a you know

[00:33:40] The third generation farmer

[00:33:43] Yeah, so the

[00:33:44] I think I do look at things a lot differently because essentially my whole life. I've been an outsider

[00:33:52] um in

[00:33:54] Oh, you know in a town so like my high school the most important thing was wrestling and I played the tuba

[00:34:00] You know, I was the only kid

[00:34:03] At my school that was that that was reading manga let alone even knew what manga was

[00:34:09] Uh, and uh, you know pro wrestling. I was the only one sci-fi movies. That was pretty much me

[00:34:16] And and it does and and it's not to say that I I didn't have friends because I absolutely did

[00:34:21] um, but when

[00:34:24] Everyone around you is so much different than you

[00:34:27] It does change the way that you see things and think about things and I'm definitely a people watcher and I think that

[00:34:35] Because of the situation that I had

[00:34:37] you know, uh my mental health also goes on top of this I

[00:34:42] I can understand people and where they're coming from a lot more

[00:34:47] Um, I may not necessarily agree with some of the things they have to say but I can be like no

[00:34:52] I get that or I can get inside that that person's head and I think that's kind of a unique thing that

[00:34:58] Had I been uh more like the people that I

[00:35:03] Grew up around that I probably wouldn't have that

[00:35:06] um, you know, there's

[00:35:09] We've heard stories or seen stories whether or not it's tv movies or or books of

[00:35:14] you know somebody being kind of an outsider and

[00:35:18] You know

[00:35:19] Often in that story they go through a period where they they they do try and fit in or

[00:35:25] They go a different direction unless they have somebody in their life that is kind of like hey comics are cool

[00:35:31] Wrestling is cool. Did you have your you know, you said you had friends

[00:35:34] Did you have your own group of friends that like loved those things? Did you have like a family member who was like

[00:35:39] Sci-fi is great man. Let's go

[00:35:42] Yes, so I had a relative

[00:35:44] um, he would technically be my father's cousin on my grandmother's side, right?

[00:35:51] So my second cousin. I know that's pretty far out there

[00:35:53] Uh, but I had two cousins. They were gary and alan and they were lifelong comic fame

[00:36:01] Oh, okay. They and uh

[00:36:04] I had always like kind of knew them

[00:36:06] But once I started reading comics my grandma was like you need to you need to go talk to gary and alan

[00:36:12] I think you guys would get along real swell

[00:36:15] and

[00:36:17] Turns out they loved pro wrestling too

[00:36:19] and we uh, you know, I have relatives that i'm technically closer to in bloodline

[00:36:27] But I am so much closer to the two of them. Um,

[00:36:30] Unfortunately about five years ago, uh, al passed away

[00:36:34] Oh, sorry to hear that al left me his entire comic collection

[00:36:39] 40 years

[00:36:41] Of collecting uh, he was a single guy

[00:36:44] That was where his money went and I

[00:36:46] So in the past five years have read a lot of comics that I wouldn't have normally bought

[00:36:52] But I was like i'll try this because you know, it's not gonna cost me anything

[00:36:56] Uh, and one of the coolest I had a really cool moment a month ago

[00:37:00] And i'm sorry that it's a little short story

[00:37:03] No, no, please

[00:37:05] About a year after he passed away and I was slowly because there were so many comics

[00:37:09] I mean 40 years of a serious collector. You read marvel dc in horror books

[00:37:12] So he had a ton of stuff

[00:37:13] But I read the jim starlin death of captain marvel about a year after he passed away

[00:37:19] And that really helped me process

[00:37:23] His death

[00:37:24] Um because I was so close to him and his death was a very unexpected thing

[00:37:29] He was in the hospital

[00:37:30] But they told me that he was going to be sent home the next day

[00:37:34] Uh, the next day I get a phone call and said that they're moving him to hospice and then he died about a week later

[00:37:39] Oh, yeah

[00:37:41] last month

[00:37:41] Uh at convention in demoyne. I got to meet jim starlin

[00:37:46] And I got to tell him

[00:37:48] What that story meant to me

[00:37:50] um, and I got to talk about al

[00:37:53] to jim starlin and and and uh, you know at this convention

[00:37:57] My friend actually had a table next to him and he said he's like, you know, everybody's coming up to him

[00:38:01] And they just want to talk about Thanos Thanos Thanos infinity gauntlet

[00:38:05] and

[00:38:05] I got up there and talked to him about that and we had probably a 20 minute conversation

[00:38:10] He told me about its inception how it got made and everything and I got to to shake his hand

[00:38:14] Thank him and take a picture of him

[00:38:16] And that's just one of the magic things in comics that like you would never get that in film

[00:38:21] Like maybe you would get that feeling from a movie

[00:38:23] But it's going to be super hard to meet that director actor

[00:38:26] But in comics, you know the legends of the industry are so accessible that I get to walk right up to this man

[00:38:33] Who made an impact on my life and just

[00:38:36] Just tell him

[00:38:37] And yeah, it was it was awesome

[00:38:40] No, I'm really thank you for sharing that boston. That's I mean that's a really

[00:38:44] It's a terrible sad thing

[00:38:46] But I mean that is it's a really beautiful story though

[00:38:51] It was yeah, it meant a lot and and and Jim was fantastic

[00:38:55] Well, I appreciate you, you know sharing that uh with me and and and with the listeners

[00:39:03] It's kind of an amazing thing that

[00:39:07] Comics can do that and I mean what a wonderful thing that you shared with

[00:39:12] You know with your cousin as well, you know while while he was here

[00:39:17] You know sharing that love of comics and and pro wrestling, you know

[00:39:23] Yeah, most it's funny because we used to always say that if anybody listened to us

[00:39:27] Talk about comics or pro wrestling they would think that we hated them because all we did would be complaining about stuff

[00:39:32] But you're like no, no, you don't get it. We love this stuff more than life itself

[00:39:37] Yeah, I I I get it. I get it. Um

[00:39:42] But yeah, I mean I you know growing up I

[00:39:44] We were fans of my I have a younger brother and and we were fans of you know

[00:39:50] We're pro wrestling and would watch it and we're a fan of comics like, you know

[00:39:55] I my brother Bobby who I shout out every episode because you know, he's the cryptic creator corners number one most dedicated fan

[00:40:01] He listens to all the episodes but

[00:40:04] Bobby and I go to baltimore comic con every year

[00:40:07] bobby reads like a ton of comics

[00:40:09] and I

[00:40:11] You know, we share a pull list at the local shop near me and

[00:40:15] We have a cousin jack who wanted to celebrate his down in florida wanted to celebrate his 40th birthday

[00:40:21] This year and he did that by taking bobby and i to wrestle mania and philly

[00:40:27] Awesome. That is so cool. I'm jealous as hell right now

[00:40:31] And I mean I I liked wrestling when I was younger and I I mean I when I hadn't watched

[00:40:36] I didn't know any of the story lines. I hadn't watched wwe

[00:40:40] In years jack like gave us a quick rundown of what of what to expect but man being there at the link

[00:40:48] Uh at wrestle mania it's an experience man

[00:40:51] Yeah, we went we were the jack went both nights saturday and sunday and we uh with a different cousin and then

[00:40:59] We went with him on sunday

[00:41:02] And um, yeah, it was crazy being there

[00:41:06] That's

[00:41:07] Yeah, and it was I I mean instantly was like like back into it like it was just it's a different thing

[00:41:14] Wow

[00:41:15] And like oh man, it like leaving the place and like driving home, you know back to uh back to delco

[00:41:23] Afterwards and like just all the jokes. I mean, I think we probably said bloodline rules like 40 times

[00:41:31] I acknowledge my tribal chief

[00:41:34] We we just kept making up all these scenarios wherever like there was even a mild annoyance

[00:41:39] You know like somebody's taken too long at line in front of you and you're just like bloodline rules

[00:41:44] and just like

[00:41:49] That's fantastic

[00:41:52] So in any event, uh

[00:41:54] Thank you for this, uh digression. Thank you for allowing this digression listeners. Uh, please hopefully you're still you're still listening or

[00:42:00] You know send me your own

[00:42:04] Uh frustrating scenarios where you just want to yell bloodline rules do whatever you want and hit somebody with a steel chair

[00:42:11] um

[00:42:13] Yeah, so

[00:42:15] um

[00:42:16] When you did you have a lot of like different

[00:42:19] projects going on at once or you the the

[00:42:22] You know the kind of writer that will kind of tackle one thing at a time or do you always have a couple like irons in the fire?

[00:42:28] Yeah, there's a lot going on at once. Um, it's funny because like uh, i'm promoting this i'm on a

[00:42:36] Planning board for an anthology that's gonna launch in a few months

[00:42:40] Uh, I've got a comic being drawn right now that we're gonna pitch around called the celebrity purgatory murders. That's almost finished

[00:42:47] Um, okay, uh, I've got yeah a bunch of short stories being drawn

[00:42:51] I wrote a memoir that my sister is currently editing. Um

[00:42:56] Yeah, it's just you know and like like it's funny because like the memoir I don't expect anybody to read

[00:43:01] But I just wanted to write it for myself. So I did it

[00:43:04] You know, well look, I mean, I don't think it it doesn't matter who you are or how much you've accomplished. Um

[00:43:12] If you were writing something that's you know authentic

[00:43:16] There's a market for it

[00:43:17] You know, I I think that's the case in the matter what like I had a conversation with my friend

[00:43:23] Who is a songwriter and he said he's been stuck

[00:43:26] And he's like telling me all these different songs that he's been trying to do and I'm like

[00:43:31] I'll be honest with you buddy

[00:43:32] The I think the issue is that you keep trying to do something that you think people want to hear

[00:43:38] And he's like well, what what do you mean? Like nobody wants to hear what I have to say

[00:43:42] I'm a 44 year old guy doing this that and the other thing. I'm like, yeah

[00:43:46] You've been an interesting life like right your the problem is that you're not being authentic

[00:43:51] Like you just like, you know, you have a family you have three kids you've

[00:43:55] You've done a million different things every time something bad happened. You were able to pivot and

[00:44:01] Find your way like

[00:44:03] You just not you know

[00:44:05] You need to you needed you need to figure out

[00:44:08] You need to just be authentic and you're gonna find

[00:44:12] Your voice you're trying to force it

[00:44:15] So I think if you're writing something that's a memoir and you're like, I don't think anybody'll read it

[00:44:18] but if if you're putting yourself out there and being authentic in your writing then

[00:44:24] I think people will want to read that

[00:44:28] It's uh, nobody can do you but you know what I mean? That's that's true. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I I agree

[00:44:36] Um, well, that's I like the title celebrity purgatory

[00:44:41] murders. Yeah. Yeah

[00:44:43] All right. Well

[00:44:46] I'm digging it title alone. I'm at least curious

[00:44:51] Apparently I'm good at titles big guns stupid redneck celebrity purgatory murders get out of that's

[00:44:56] Well, I mean big guns stupid rednecks is like you're just like well

[00:45:00] What is that? It could be anything it really could be you could you could open it up and it's just like

[00:45:06] Oh, this is like uh, this is a treatise on

[00:45:09] You know, whatever but uh, you're delivering on the big guns stupid rednecks

[00:45:14] so

[00:45:17] Yeah, it's it's it definitely is

[00:45:20] a lot of fun. Um

[00:45:23] One of the things you said when I was asking you about your through line with your comics you talked about your

[00:45:27] You know sense of humor, uh, having a little bit of humor in there being a bit of a prankster

[00:45:33] um, is is like that

[00:45:36] prank kind of

[00:45:38] Picking all my friends is is that kind of like your wheelhouse in terms of humor?

[00:45:42] Like what what it were those things that really made you laugh growing up that you feel like oh

[00:45:48] This is this is what I gravitate towards like if I want if I want to laugh

[00:45:52] This is what i'm going to put on or this is what i'm going to read or this is what i'm going to do

[00:45:55] This is going to make me sound like such a horrible person. Um, but I and I only do this with close friends

[00:46:01] But like we just we just tear into each other and make fun of each other

[00:46:05] And I don't know why like that it sounds like such a horrible thing, but it's it's fun like uh and like

[00:46:11] I was just actually talking about this person today like

[00:46:14] Norm mcdonald like norm mcdonald is one of my favorite comedians of all time like I love I love stand-up

[00:46:20] I'm very like, you know free speech. Let's push push the line

[00:46:25] I like stuff like that

[00:46:27] No, wait, I mean norm was norm was hilarious and then nobody did it like norm mcdonald did

[00:46:32] And that's that's the proof of nobody can do you but you because ain't nobody

[00:46:36] There can be no other norm mcdonald now

[00:46:38] No, and some of the things he's a perfect example of a comedian who some of the things he did

[00:46:44] Shouldn't have worked and were so funny. I can't remember whose roast it was

[00:46:49] Maybe it was the bob saggett roast. Yeah, they they didn't want him to curse

[00:46:53] So he just came out and did like the jokes from like an old joke book eddick hill

[00:46:59] Yeah, that's the exact one. It's so funny

[00:47:01] I'll sit there and like so go on youtube and watch like two hour norm mcdonald interview

[00:47:07] Compilations and just turn just die

[00:47:09] Oh, yeah, there were some some of his appearances on like on conan conan's was a yeah. Yeah, they were just they were

[00:47:17] Great, you know, so yeah, absolutely

[00:47:20] um

[00:47:21] Well, that's I I mean I get it, you know, I have friends that I went to law school with we still get together for lunch

[00:47:27] We have like a text chain going and my one friend mark and I like that's all we do

[00:47:32] Like mark and I constantly make fun of each other. Right. I mean we say things

[00:47:38] Just terrible awful things people would think you hated each other, but in reality, you really love each other

[00:47:43] Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, love the guy to death. Yeah, and

[00:47:47] We've been doing it for

[00:47:49] I've known mark for 21 years now and we've been doing it for like 20

[00:47:53] 20 of those 21 years

[00:47:56] And if anybody else read the text they'd think like these guys

[00:48:00] They should not be in a room together

[00:48:01] Neither one of us have ever gotten our feelings hurt by anything the other has said. Right. Exactly. Yeah, exactly everybody knows

[00:48:08] You know

[00:48:09] Yeah, mark knows that he could call me up at three in the morning and say I need something and I will be there

[00:48:15] Right, you know, I'll be there by 305, you know

[00:48:19] And uh, yeah, and it still makes we were just we just had lunch

[00:48:25] Uh

[00:48:26] The three of us because one of our friends couldn't make it a few weeks ago and man

[00:48:33] We I hadn't laughed that hard

[00:48:35] Since you know in in in weeks and weeks just constantly cracking up and that's that's awesome

[00:48:42] And if that's what you like to do, you know

[00:48:44] And everyone's on the same page then

[00:48:47] That's a beautiful thing

[00:48:49] It is it's funny because the people who who are hearing this there's two reactions the people who get it are like

[00:48:54] Oh, yeah, people other people are like, I don't understand this at all

[00:48:57] Yeah, great. Oh no

[00:49:00] um

[00:49:02] Austin this has been great. Yeah, this is fun. This is fantastic

[00:49:06] So big guns stupid rednecks coming out through band of bards august 28th

[00:49:12] Um, check your local comic shop listeners. Uh, let them know that you wanted as soon as you hear this

[00:49:17] I'm sure that they could be able to order it

[00:49:20] I think some of band of bards stuff is available on their their website as well. You can get it right through their website as well

[00:49:25] Yeah, so

[00:49:27] You know, even if you even if you you get this and it's past, you know, what we call the final order cut off

[00:49:32] but uh

[00:49:33] You know contact your local shop check the band of bards website

[00:49:37] I put links in the show notes to you know, all those things you can follow austin on social media

[00:49:43] um

[00:49:43] He's doing a series on uh tiktok

[00:49:46] Uh called, uh, I I think it's um

[00:49:51] I iowans and overalls which is really it's wonderful wonderful stuff very avant-garde. You'll love it

[00:49:59] So, uh, i'll put a link to to austin's tiktok as well

[00:50:03] Um, but yeah big guns stupid rednecks august 28th. You're gonna love it. It's a lot of fun and get it

[00:50:12] read it

[00:50:13] escape for a little bit

[00:50:15] Find out what's going on with clint and uh, what happens once he locates his brother clay

[00:50:22] And the shenanigans uh that they get into um, austin. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast

[00:50:28] That was a ton of fun. Thanks man. Thanks everybody who made it this far. You are a real one

[00:50:32] You absolutely are thank you listeners as we we I think we just passed like 250 episodes

[00:50:39] So I definitely want to say congratulations. Thank you to the listeners

[00:50:42] You folks are the reason that you know, I do this

[00:50:47] Um also because I like talking to comic creators. So uh, yeah, I really appreciate it. I absolutely do big guns stupid rednecks august 28th band of bards

[00:50:57] Uh, thank you very much austin alan hamlin really appreciate you coming on

[00:51:01] Uh, see you next time everybody

[00:51:04] This is baron o'neill one of your hosts of the cryptic creative corner brought to you by comic book yeti

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