Chris Condon Interview - The Peril of the Brutal Dark

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[00:00:54] Hello and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I am one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo. And I am very excited for today's guest coming back to the podcast. He has been on quite a tear recently, it seems like. He's everywhere in comics, including the new DC Vertigo series, The Pearl of the Brutal Dark and Ezra Kane Mystery.

[00:01:23] I mean, he's been on writing Wolverine and Green Arrow and a bunch of other stuff. And he also has a new image series coming out called Of the Earth that's out May 20th. Far down below, news from the fallout. So we have plenty to talk about. But please welcome back to the podcast, Chris Condon. Chris, how are you doing today? I'm good. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I mean, it's always great to be back on chatting with you.

[00:01:51] I mean, I feel like I should say congratulations to you as well for your Kickstarter release. I received my Kickstarter, my reward, I suppose you would say, not too long ago. And it's great. So congratulations. Thank you. I really appreciate you. I appreciate your support for Made in Delco, the anthology that I kickstarted of short comics that I wrote and worked with a bunch of different collaborators. I really appreciate the support.

[00:02:21] Of course. Yeah. I hope you liked your... Everybody got a random trading card that I found from my old trading cards from when I was a kid. They were all personally selected. I really appreciate it.

[00:02:40] Although somebody who I know who they write for comic book Yeti, they got an ALF card, which was like ALF did Melmac baseball cards. And I don't think Luke appreciated the card that I selected for them. But I think everybody else was happy. No, I'm a happy camper. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. So, yeah, you...

[00:03:09] I mean, that Texas blood was excellent. And you followed that up, the Enfield Gang Massacre, you and Jacob Phillips. And you've done a couple of different series since then with... You know, I mentioned them early on, but far down below, you did with Mad Cave, News of the Fallout, which was that an image series? Yeah, News of the Fallout was image. Yeah.

[00:03:36] And so now you are like one of the first books with The Pearl of the Brutal Dark and Ezra Kane Mystery. And back with Jacob, back with Jacob Phillips. And it's like, I mean, really the first new release of The Vertigo. I mean, I guess technically I think it was A Nice House by the Sea number seven is now like under the Vertigo imprint.

[00:04:04] But yeah, this is like the first, I think, brand new Vertigo book that just came out at the end of February. I think February 25th was the release date. And I went into it. I love going into things not having like any idea. Like I had seen the Vertigo news, but I kind of stayed away from like what everything was about.

[00:04:26] Well, I read the first issue of The Pearl of the Brutal Dark and just it's got so many things that I like absolutely love about it. It starts, you know, with this this dig in Egypt. And then we we we go to what is it? 1941. And we got, you know, a private detective that used to be a cop. And there's so many interesting elements of it. And of course, I mean, Jacob's artwork is just, you know, fantastic.

[00:04:55] And it feels I don't know, it feels very different than that Texas blood, although you could say, well, we're still kind of in, you know, we have a mystery to solve. We have a detective, not really a sheriff. But it feels like it could have been written and drawn by a completely different creative team. It's it's very odd. But it just I loved the first issue.

[00:05:20] So, I mean, can you just tell listeners first off and explain what is The Pearl of the Brutal Dark about and kind of how did it come that you and Jacob were really relaunching Vertigo? Yeah. So The Pearl of the Brutal Dark and Ezra Kane Mystery is it's sort of what would happen if you took Sam Spade and you mashed him with Indiana Jones. It's what I call the hard boiled adventure story.

[00:05:47] And it's sort of what, you know, I took all these things I loved in my youth, like things like Indiana Jones and noir storytelling and things like them in the animated series. And I just threw them all into, you know, the cauldron and I just boiled it down and I came up with, you know, this idea.

[00:06:06] And it is about a private detective named Ezra Kane, who is he he is following two cases that may or may not be intertwined and may or may not have, you know, the fate of America in the crosshairs. So that's sort of the pitch, you know, a very rough pitch.

[00:06:35] But, you know, it's it's set 1941, November of 1941. So it's right before Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, which was on purpose. It's also one month after the Maltese Falcon was released in theaters in October of 1941. The great John Huston film starring Humphrey Bogart and Sidney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre. And and yes, I it's just it's a love letter to the things that we love. I mean, it is different than then Texas blood.

[00:07:04] It's not as slow and, you know, methodical and sort of, you know, you know, it's got character moments, but it's very much about the action, very much about the adventure, very much about the mystery. And how this came about was when I was in high school, I actually was writing and drawing it as a comic book myself, which is a funny thing to say now, considering I'm only associated with writing. But I was writing and drawing it as a comic myself.

[00:07:34] And I have a few of those pages still. And in fact, I've shown Jake some of them just and it's kind of funny seeing how some of them are similar and some of them are different. But yeah, this was an idea that I just really loved and kind of stuck around. I first was, like I said, doing it as a comic in high school and then in college, I took a screenplay screenplay class and decided to try and work on it as a screenplay for that class.

[00:08:04] It was almost just like, well, I have this thing. Why not, you know, try to work it out a little bit and get a credit for it? And maybe come out with some work on the other end, too. So, you know, so that I tried to do that and then that didn't really end up panning out. And then I finished the course and I think got a fine grade in it, but it just, you know, never ended up going anywhere.

[00:08:30] And then in 2020, when Jake and I were coming out with that text's blood, we were actually put on hold because of the pandemic. So we decided to start a Patreon account and start releasing a digital comic. And that digital comic was called Brutal Dark.

[00:09:16] Brutal Dark. Kind of all these things that I love. And same thing for Jake. I think Jake loves all these things as well. And we had started it in 2020 and we had kept saying to ourselves, we'll finish it one day. We'll finish it one day. We'll finish it one day. And the thing with Antelage is that, like, you don't get a page rate necessarily. And so we were working on the for the back end on that text's blood, the NFL Gang Massacre.

[00:09:42] And so we kind of thought once we're finished with that text's blood, we'll come back to doing Brutal Dark. But then Chris Conroy came knocking and offered to, you know, to do it at Vertigo, which was really exciting. He didn't know that we had this project. It kind of worked out that he wanted us to do a kind of Indiana Jones style story and adventure noirish story. And I was like, well, I got that already.

[00:10:11] So it was kind of just, you know, putting together a pitch and DC really liked it. And yeah, it's yeah, it's just it's a dream come true for, you know, for real. So just because I'm not familiar with the Patreon, like at least that part of it, was it the same type of story or was it just something in that kind of universe? It was it was.

[00:10:38] So there was so we started the comic and the comic was this story, but it was different. So there was no opening prologue set in 1913 in Greece. There was no there was some other stuff that was similar in it, but it's kind of fun looking back now and kind of seeing how we improved. It's kind of a similar in a similar vein, but we didn't really get that far with it.

[00:11:05] OK, at a different point, I did decide to start doing serialized short stories. That was a different story. I forget what the it was like the cold dead or something like that is what it was called. And it was like a different story. And I started doing that at a certain point. But yeah, brutal dark as it as it is.

[00:11:33] The same story was, yeah, there was in both of those comics. But again, we didn't really get that far. I think we maybe got into the second issue. But didn't get much further than that. I think the interesting thing is the Pearl, the brutal dark. It feels more like a first series. What I mean by that, not that it feels like amateurish. It's not by any stretch of the imagination. Like it is an excellent issue.

[00:11:58] But because it does feel like a love letter to all these things, like it feels like the first thing a creator does. Whereas that Texas blood. I mean, you said earlier like that it's a little slower, but I mean, the pacing is different. But that Texas blood just feels it feels deeper. It feels like something that has been you've been you and Jacob were like working on and gestating and like churning over and over. Like it feels so realized.

[00:12:30] It's just like it feels that Texas, the Pearl, the brutal dark feels like the first thing. Like I love all these things. I love I love Egyptian archaeology. I love pulp stories. I love Indiana Jones. I like the Maltese Falcon. You know, it's just very it's very interesting. Well, I mean, it kind of was. You have kind of and that I'm not surprised that to hear you say then that it was something you had worked on earlier, came up with in high school and college.

[00:12:55] But, you know, but now you've you've gotten to this point where you have done that Texas blood. You have done the Enfield gang massacre. And, you know, you know how you're not drawing it yourself. Jacob Phillips is now working on it. It's very I would love to see like how that story changed and evolved, especially once Jacob started working on it, you know, over the years to get to this.

[00:13:19] This first issue we have now because there's like there's so much in this first issue, like the opening in Egypt is one thing. But yeah, even when we first meet Ezra Kane, I mean, it is like action after action after like all that stuff with the first guy that he's kind of going after like with the car and like hanging out the door with.

[00:13:45] I don't know if he has a Tommy gun or something, you know, something along those lines like. Yeah, like you like it just keeps going and keeps going. Yeah. In the very the very first pages when we like our introduction to Ezra Kane is a lot because it is it is just one thing after another. Yeah. I mean, it was, you know, it was on purpose. I mean, that's, you know, that's sort of the cold open of a James Bond film. You know, you want to kind of open with a big bang, you know? Yeah.

[00:14:14] And so that was kind of where that came from. You know, I it's it's funny because I agree with you that it definitely has that that feel of like a I just want to get all my, you know, get all my interests out there. But I do think that it is interesting is I do think that there is a there is sort of an onion like quality to Ezra where there's, you know, we'll start to get into it in further issues.

[00:14:43] But, you know, you start to peel the onion back. You start to reveal this character a little bit more and a little bit more and a little bit more. And there's there is a lot to him. And that's one of my favorite things about him is that he's, you know, I mean, I love Joe Bob. And I mean, he's one of my favorite characters of all time. And, you know, we're working on the next volume of that Texas blood right now. Yeah. And it's like going home. And it's I mean, it truly is just like going home.

[00:15:08] I mean, it's like it's it's one of the easiest things to write just because I feel like I can get into his head at any point. At the same time, Joe Bob is a fairly simple character. He doesn't really have. I mean, he's not like simple, simple. You know, I'm not like saying like he's he's an idiot or anything like that. But well, yeah, I mean, there's a I mean, you wrote him. Yeah, he he he has. He has very plain interests.

[00:15:34] Like it's more so like like Joe Bob. And I'm not telling you anything you don't know because you wrote him. But for listeners, like he knows what he's about. Like there's not a ton of like I think like inner turmoil and complexity like there is some. But he's a man who who knows like where his heart lies, what his interests are, like his moral compass.

[00:15:58] Those things, I think, are all very well defined in the comic, but also like like well defined about the character of Joe Bob. Whereas Ezra Kane, you know, it's not just a mystery series. There are some things about him that we're not, you know, we've gotten little glimpses of it in terms of, you know, he was I think he he flew in World War One. It looks like we don't know too much else about him yet.

[00:16:24] Like he has some interesting characters that he knows that we haven't really, you know, we've seen little glimpses of some of the other people in his life. And yeah, so yeah, very, very interesting things about him versus with Joe. But so with Joe Bob, it's kind of like right out the gate. You kind of know who he is. Yeah. And vice versa with Ezra. I feel like it's that onion quality again.

[00:16:50] Not to, you know, keep going back to a Shrek metaphor, but, you know, he is it's like you slowly are like peeling back these layers and you sort of get more and more out of him. And that goes into because we're working on a sequel right now. I mean, we're just in a proposal stage at this point, you know, looking to get approvals from DC just because, you know, the way that we set up the series is that we take a break. Like we do that Texas blood.

[00:17:16] So we have a little bit more time to play than, you know, a series like End of Life or or Bleeding Heart where the Bleeding Hearts where they are, you know, ongoing continuing series. We are a continuing series that has gaps in between. So we have a little bit more time to play with things. And, you know, so we're working on the sequel, what it you know, what it can be, what we hope it will be.

[00:17:42] And, you know, it's just kind of fun getting to play even more with that with that character and with those, you know, with what their likes, what their dislikes, what you know, what their past is, what, you know, what their relationship with with history is, you know, with the relationship with the city is or with a city, you know, what do these things mean to them?

[00:18:08] So, yeah, it's a different kind of story, but it's, you know, it's satisfying in its own way. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And I mean, Jacob's like the action sequences were, you know, like incredible. I mean, it's just so much fun on top of all that.

[00:18:28] I was thinking about that, like, as I was reading it, I was like, man, like, I feel like, I feel like Chris is really putting Jacob through his paces on this one. But I was curious. Just wait, it gets much bigger too. Good, good. Good. I was curious because I just I have very limited knowledge of, I guess, ancient Egyptian artifacts.

[00:18:55] But, you know, it says in the solicit and we see in the very opening of it that the thing that they're looking for is this anvil of Hephaestus. Is that like something? It is Greek, not Egyptian. Oh, it's Greek. You're right. Sorry. I said Egyptian earlier and you're right because they speak Greek at one point and I had to look it up to see what it was they were saying. So, yes. Which which we got actual Greek approved by Danny, you know, one of our one of our varying cover artists.

[00:19:24] So that was that was the thing I'm always like trying to get right is that I don't speak Greek. So I'm like, I'll look it up. But I don't you know, I don't have 100 percent approval on it, you know, from anybody who speaks the language. So it's nice to at least have some, you know, another creator and kind of looking and go. And this is actually what people would say. They wouldn't say that would say that, you know, things like that, because like sometimes when you look up translation, it's like a little bit more proper or whatever. So, yeah, she was a great asset for us for that.

[00:19:54] Oh, that's fantastic. And Danny's a phenomenal artist as well. So to have, you know, a variant cover. But yeah, the is is that like, is that a rumored object? Is that that something you created whole cloth? Like the idea of the anvil of Hephaestus? I mean, it's like it's a thing in.

[00:20:16] In in myths, it doesn't exist per se, but it's you know, I mean, this is, you know, Hephaestus would have, according to me, this have, you know, crafted the the the weapons of the gods on the sandville and would have, you know, made his own automatons and things like that on the sandville. So that's sort of like the story. You know, there is no physical anvil.

[00:20:45] But, you know, we were sort of presupposing that this anvil existed and that, you know, that there was this cult, which is true. There was a real, you know, cult of Hephaestus. This was a real thing. And it really was on Lemnos. So there's like certain things. Oh, OK. That we're kind of pulling from. Oh, wow. Oh, that's pretty cool. Yeah.

[00:21:08] So that's kind of been the fun thing about this is kind of, you know, outside of, you know, because obviously Indiana Jones, they kind of do like the Judeo-Christian thing all the time. I mean, it's like, you know, let's, you know, look at something outside and play with history. But also, like, you know, myths and and, you know, parts of history, because, I mean, like I said, like, I mean, there was a real cult of Hephaestus and there there was a real, you know, this really existed on this in this particular place.

[00:21:37] But the artifact itself, as far as we know, did not exist. So it's kind of fun to play with fiction and reality in that way, which is, you know, what better in a book like this than to kind of, you know, toe that line and, you know, hopefully have people believe that it exists, which is one of the things about doing the Enfield Gang massacre.

[00:21:58] I remember I had a lot of people saying to me after they read the back matter and they were like, I started looking it up on Google because I thought it was a real story, which I was like, I was impressed that they thought that that was true because I was, you know, I'm sitting here making it. Yeah, that's that's funny. Well, I mean, you know, that's a pretty high compliment.

[00:22:20] I think that you had, you know, that would have been some really great like guerrilla marketing, like to create, you know, the Enfield Gang massacre, like Wikipedia entry, like to start. Well, so where that is something I would have done in high school. So it's it's really funny. I don't I don't know if I would recommend, you know, anybody who is of high school age doing this.

[00:22:44] But in high school, I had a research project and I also wouldn't recommend this because I actually think it was more work than everybody else's project. But I did a research project in which I made up the subject. So I had to do I had to make up all my own research. So I made up fake articles from CNN, from the BBC. Like I made all these fake articles and like this was like before you could just like post. I don't even know. Like I just had that.

[00:23:09] I would print out because you had to like print out the articles, you could staple them to the back of your research paper. So I had these articles that I printed out and they had URLs that looked authentic. They went nowhere. But like the URLs looked authentic, like everything about it looked authentic. Like I literally went to such lengths to make this thing look real and got it like an A plus on it, the whole thing. And I was like, I have no idea if this teacher knows if this is real or not. But I was sitting there laughing.

[00:23:38] Like I thought it was great. Like I had so much fun doing it. And that's kind of, you know, it's like definitely played into my career at this point because that's what I do. I do back matter all the time. And the back matter is always kind of playing with like reality and fiction and, you know, kind of making these things feel as real as possible. Yeah, I definitely do think you probably did more work than than anybody else. But it was fun. And, you know, that's the thing.

[00:24:04] It's like, you know, why just do like a boring old research paper when you can have some fun and do something interesting? You know, I did the same thing in college. I had a class. I had two classes. So I went to film school for like a minute. And I had a film production course and I had a stop motion course. And to complicate things for myself, I went to both teachers and I said, what if I have the same final but for two different classes? So I have a stop motion course.

[00:24:30] And I do what if I do like a live action film with stop motion effects in it? And they both agreed to it. And then I had to do it. And how did that go? It's difficult when you're a student. You have no money to do it and you're doing it all yourself. But I did it, you know, and it was like it was successful in that it, you know, existed. I mean, I'm proud of it. And then it's like I did it. I don't know if I would do it again.

[00:24:57] Like I was like sleeping for like three hours in the studio doing the stop motion because it was this brain that would sit on a window. So it was it was a, you know, silly student film. So it was about a guy who had brain. He had a writer's block and his brain was sitting on a window sill talking to him. And he wouldn't listen to his brain because he had writers. And eventually whatever he knocks his brain out of the window. He goes insane.

[00:25:27] But it was like this idea of this guy in this brain having a conversation. And that was kind of what it was. Yeah. So did you have to set? Did you have to be the guy, too? Or did you have like somebody? No, I cast an actor for that. Yeah. OK. You cast an actor for that. But all the brain stuff was all the stop motion stuff. Oh, wow. Yeah. So, yeah. It was fun. But it was it was a lot of work. But, you know, at the end of the day, like for me, I'm always kind of thinking about like what would be the most fun. And sometimes the easiest thing is the most fun thing.

[00:25:56] So it's like I'd rather give myself a little extra work and come out with something at the end of the day that I feel really proud of. And then I feel was worth the time, you know, not just. Yeah. You know, not just phoning it in or something like that. Well, it certainly seems after reading issue one, it certainly seems like you and Jacob are having a lot of fun with the Pearl of the Booty Bar. I mean, I had a great time reading it, but it felt that way.

[00:26:20] You know, it felt like you guys were having a lot of fun making it like it's a fantastic first issue. So thank you. Yeah. No, I mean, I feel like it's it's one of those things where it's like I really love the first issue, but I do feel like it just gets better and better as it goes along. And I think I may have three or four issues completed off to send them to you. And that way, you know, when you talk about the book, you can go, I've read the rest of them. And the first one's great. And the rest.

[00:26:50] No, I'm really proud of the book as a whole. And so is Jake. And like I said, it's just like the idea of doing the book and the way that we're doing it. And I think that you would want to do this in any book of this kind, but you want to go big, you know, and I feel like this book goes so big. And especially for a book of this kind that feels like like a really, you know, close quarters or a pulpy detective story at the start.

[00:27:19] And then it starts opening. And and that's like the fun thing about the book is it keeps going along is that it opens up and it gets big and it gets big and it gets bigger. And then you're like, how big is this going to get? And I guess super big. And it's it's just so fun to get to do that with Jake and just get to see the art coming in. And again, I, you know, I've said this a million times, but it's his best artwork, I think, to this point. Yeah, it it looks awesome.

[00:27:47] And, you know, it's it's a lot, I think, in terms of, you know, not to not to say like, you know, to mention the pressure, but people have been looking forward to Vertigo coming back and like for it to be one of the, you know, 10 Vertigo series and one of the first issues out of the gate. I think it shows that DC has a lot of faith in the work that you have done. And I mean, I, I, I think it's phenomenal.

[00:28:12] So I'm looking forward to a lot more issues and I'm looking forward to the rest of the Vertigo line, too. I mean, DC's been, you know, they've been doing great. The absolute line seems to be doing really well. And yeah, I'm looking at the Vertigo lineup that they've announced sounds awesome. So and this first issue was fantastic. So thank you. Yeah, like I said, it's been great fun.

[00:28:38] So, you know, at the end of the day, that's that's what matters to us is just are we having a good time? You know, and we are. So Jimmy is too humble to do this. So as his stalwart ride or die, I wanted to tell you about his new graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti with artist Amber Aiken. What started as a comic short with his daughter that I've known about for ages now, and it's evolved and has become one of those annoying can't talk about it in comics things for too damn long.

[00:29:07] Yes, I'm predisposed to be supportive. But after reading an advanced copy of it, I have to admit, it's way better than I anticipated. No shade, but it's really good. Remarkably so. Does it have a Yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable? Yeah. But it's straight flies in effectively tapping into the all too familiar family dynamics that we all are facing in 2026 and approaching it in a way that doesn't insult the book's target audience. Kids. Kids.

[00:29:35] They are way smarter and perceptive than we adults give them credit for. So I really appreciated Jimmy's narrative approach tapping into his own experiences as a dad and a spouse. I can hear his wife saying, get off your phone, Jimmy, through the pages. She's going to kill me for saying that. It's hitting shelves on April 21st, and I dropped a link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today. Getty or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fenton, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent Yeti.

[00:30:04] On behalf of us both, we appreciate your support. Yahoo! And so I will turn and I want to talk about the image series that you have coming out of the Earth, which issue number one is out May 20th. It's you and you're co-writing this one with Andrew Eric and artwork by Charlie Adlard.

[00:30:32] Yeah, a little known artist. Folks may have heard of him. Now, I think you worked with Charlie before on one of the EC shorts. Oh, twice before on some of the EC stuff. Yeah, so we did an epitaph from the Abyss story. Yeah, that's what I thought. Which is called, I believe it was called Crossroads. I don't remember. I think it was called Crossroads.

[00:31:01] And then the other one was Death and Pickaxes, which was a joke on the death and taxes. All this EC stuff, like Epitaph of the Abyss, the Cruel Kingdom, Cruel Universe. They have just been jam-packed with so much talent. And all of those books have been wonderful.

[00:31:26] Sometimes I'll just go in and I haven't been getting all of them, but I'm just like, if I know somebody or if I, you know, somebody whose work I liked, I'll just grab a random issue. And the best thing is that, you know, there's three, four, however many stories in there. And I'm always discovering something else like that's wonderful in those books. But yeah, so now you're co-writing this. Charlie Adlard on the artwork. So you sent me issue one and two.

[00:31:55] And yeah. Pretty intense, right? Oh my God. It is so, like, it is so disturbing. I mean, like, that, I never want to spoil things, but there's the, it basically starts with your, this woman, Tabby, is leaving.

[00:32:20] And you, you know, you kind of, you overhear, you know, hear a conversation that she's having. You don't, it's how it, you know, you don't really get, like, what's going on at first. But then it's clear. She is leaving someone. She is striking out on her own. And there's this scene with an animal in the road that I think is probably just, talk about setting up a comic with a feeling of, I don't know, like anxiety, helplessness.

[00:32:48] There's just something, there's, it's like one emotion, like, after another that I felt like I went through it. I went through what, what Tabby did, like, as a reader. It was just, what a way to kind of, like, start off, like, her journey. And then you have, with what's going on, you have basically a car behind her because she's on the road.

[00:33:14] And the sound effect is going on as if the car is just blaring the horn. And I think it's, it's, Hassan lettered it. And, yeah, just, why? That's what, that's my question. It's my question, Chris. Why is this comic? Why did you do this to me on a Tuesday?

[00:33:39] So, that particular scene was actually the impetus for the whole story, was I kind of had this idea and I was like, dang, that's, that's really intense. Like, that's like, you know, I love, I love a good thriller. I really love a good suspenseful scene. And I couldn't think of anything more suspenseful than this scene. It just, there was something about it that I just kept coming back to. And I kind of built a story around that was like, who, okay, who is this woman? Why is she here? Like, what is happening?

[00:34:07] Why, why is she reacting in the ways that she's reacting? And that kind of became the impetus for the, for the whole story. And why, why do anything? I mean, no, so listeners, you don't know exactly what we're talking about in terms of this scene. You just know that Tabby's driving to get away from somebody and this, something happens with an animal.

[00:34:34] And it is, without a doubt, it is one of the most, like, stressful. It, I think, I, I can't think of another comic that I've read in, in, in recent memory that made me so stressed out reading it. Like, that's, that seemed to be the, the desired effect. And just, I mean, Charlie's artwork's incredible. I believe Pip Martin colored it. All of that is so well done.

[00:35:02] And the, the, the special effects in terms of the car horn behind Tabby, her expression, just the way that the paneling is kind of paced out as we kind of see it go from one moment to the next. It is, it, it is so stressful. And like, this book has such a weird thing where, because then like you get past that moment and you find out Tabby's going to her grandma's. Which I, I think that's in the solicit, so I'm not really giving anything away.

[00:35:31] But she's going to visit her grandma. She needs to get away. She needs to, she needs to escape. And, and she's going to see grandma who she hasn't seen in a while. And we have like a little bit of a down moment. And then it goes back up. And then it gets even crazier. And then it goes down again. And then it's just right back up. Like, it is, it is such, it is so, it feels so different. Again, it feels so different than anything you've done. And like, it's so different than the Pearl of the Brutal Dark. It's different than that.

[00:36:00] Even though I think it's set in Texas. It is set in Texas. Yeah. So, so different than, than that Texas blood. It just has a very different feel to it. Yeah. I mean, that, that, those first two issues are something else. What was it like? You work with Charlie on the shorts. What was it like working with Charlie for a series now? Oh, I mean, he's the best. He's, he's so easy and he's so quick.

[00:36:30] Um, and everything is, bless you. Um, everything he does is just like. No, everything he does is just like. So it's, it's really interesting. So doing the, the, you know, seeing the inks come in, you're like, dang, this is Charlie Adler. Like this is, he's knocking it out of the park. And then Pip adds her colors to it. And then she just like elevates it. And I think that again, not to, you know, I'm not.

[00:36:59] There's no hyperbole, but you know, she, this, I think is some of the career best work from her, especially in subsequent issues. There's some really beautiful colors that she's bringing into it, especially as you know, the series sort of starts in the morning on one day. And then you get to the evening and then it goes through the night and then into the morning of the next day. So you're getting to see these wonderful changes in the color and the sun and the moon and certainly the different, you know, and, you know, no spoilers.

[00:37:29] But at a certain point there's, there's a lot of darkness in the comic and how she handled that. It's just a brilliant. So it's, you know, between her and Charlie, I just think that we have a beautiful visual comic. And, you know, I'm, and I'm really fortunate to be paired with Andrew, my co-writer on this, as well as his son who brings our, you know, our words to life and, and really makes them feel, you know, part of the page.

[00:37:59] But yeah, I mean, to work with Charlie, I mean, I don't know how to describe it. I mean, it's just, you know, I feel really fortunate. I mean, it's, it's crazy because sure, I would always dream of working with him, but it was kind of, I was really fortunate was that he really loved that Texas blood. We had met each other briefly in, in 2021 and he liked me and he had wanted to work together. And we had done these shorts at ECN, he liked working with me on those.

[00:38:28] And we just kind of were like, well, let's find something to do together. And I had this idea, which I was initially trying to work with Jeffy Allen Love on, which is great. The artist from news from the fallout. Yeah. And it would have been a totally different comic, obviously, a different approach, the whole thing. But, you know, I was like, I think this would be really great for Charlie.

[00:38:52] And in working with Andrew, so Andrew is obviously, he's an unknown commodity to the industry. And he's here with me now. Hi, everyone. Andrew is an old pal of mine. If you would have pulled up some type of puppet, that would have been amazing. No wonder these comics are so unhinged. Chris is not well, everybody.

[00:39:20] Unfortunately, I think most of the unwell things came from my mind. And he just, he knows how to work them. But, you know, Andrew and I got to know each other. We worked for Joe Dante, who made Gremlins and Inner Space and the Burbs. We both were working for him when we were in L.A. He's still in L.A. And Andrew is this guy that, you know, we kind of hit it off immediately when we met. And just kind of were like, oh, we're into the same thing.

[00:39:48] And, you know, almost immediately we started working on things together. And so I was working on this project. And, you know, I've obviously been doing all this work solo up to this point. I mean, outside of, you know, adapting Barry Gifford's novel, Night People, or things like that, where I'm like working in front of people's material. But I'd never co-written something in this way. And I knew I had co-written stuff with Andrew before.

[00:40:15] And I love his mind for these kinds of stories. And I thought he'd be perfect for it. So I reached out to him and just said, hey, you know, do you maybe want to do this thing? And the reason I reached out to him about it in the first place was that, you know, I don't know if, you know, some people might say that it might not have been the smartest thing. You know, just like as my career is kind of taking off a little bit to, you know, share the credit with somebody.

[00:40:41] But the thing is, like, for me, I'm like, okay, I have the, I have a little bit of clout now where, you know, people want to read my stuff. And so I, you know, so I have that going into this. And I know that. And I know Charlie is on this book. And I, you know, from the start, I kind of thought I might like to do it with Andrew. And I asked him, like, would you be interested in doing this? I think it'd be really great for you. Because he is a great writer.

[00:41:09] And he hasn't really had an opportunity to get his foot in the door. You know. And so I wanted to give him that chance. Because he's, you know, he was working, you know, he was working in the legal department at Paramount until recently. Okay. And I just, you know, I was like. Yeah. So I was like, let's try to find you something creative. You know, which is something he's been striving to do and wanting to do and has been working at but just hasn't been able to get anything out there.

[00:41:39] And this is the perfect kind of story for him. So I, you know, we approached it with, you know, it's my story. I wrote the outline. Pretty lengthy outline. And then we split the issue so that I wrote issue one. He wrote issue two. I wrote issue three. He wrote issue four. But we would revise together so that every issue would feel cohesive in a whole. And it wouldn't feel like one writer did this one and one writer did this one. Yeah.

[00:42:06] And if we did our work right, I would hope that issue one and two felt the same. They didn't feel different. Yeah. And I mean, they're very consistent in terms of like tone, pacing, like everything, like what one and two. They feel very cohesive. Yeah. Yeah. Both very disturbing. That's all I got. That's all. I mean, I don't know whether solicit. Yeah.

[00:42:34] When you go to like images website, it's like of the earth, eco horror, blood simple meets. I don't know, tremors or meets the thing. Yeah, we said tremors. It's a little bit of tremors. It's a little bit of the thing. But it's also another. There's another horror film, which is I don't know if it's technically a horror film that I consider it a horror film. It's an Australian horror film. It's called Wake in Fright. And it's one of the most intense films I think I've ever seen.

[00:43:00] And it's, you know, if you want to kind of get the vibe of whatever the earth is, I would ask people to seek that out. It's very intense. It's about a guy who basically he misses his transportation back home. So he's stuck in this podunk town in Australia in the middle of nowhere in the outback.

[00:43:22] And he spends a night that turns into a drunken, just insane, you know, horror tinged. But it's just more so just like the depravity of humanity and just like what people do, you know, when left to their own devices. And that was kind of what, you know, we wanted to kind of get at with, you know, with the earth to a certain point.

[00:43:48] But, yeah, I mean, there's definitely the eco horror element of it, which we get into in later issues. And, you know, it's just such a great joy to get to, you know, how lucky am I to get to collaborate with, you know, not just these great people like Charlie Adler, but also with my some of my best friends like Andrew and Michael Tivey, who's doing the design on the book as well.

[00:44:14] And, you know, obviously, Pip is somebody who got her start in the industry working with me and Jake on that type of split doing, you know, the flats for Jake. So it's just, you know, it's great. It's great fun to be able to do that and kind of get to do different things and and try to not have every project feel the same, which is, you know, I was really honored to hear you say that because, I mean, I would hope that everything I do feels a little different.

[00:44:42] And maybe that's a little frustrating for some people is that, you know, one project feels one way and another project feels another. But that's how I would want my career. You know, I want to be trying different things, pushing myself into different situations and see if I can get myself out of them. You know, I love that. That's one of the best things about being creative. I mean, I just that Texas blood was, you know, I got into it a little late. I didn't I didn't jump on as soon as it came out.

[00:45:10] But I think I think you guys were into like the second arc by the time I had picked it up and started reading it. And I just I just thought it was like I thought it was wonderful. And I would so, you know, there's certain writers that I, you know, I mean, I love comics. I love the art of it. But, you know, I I always tend to follow writers more so than I have a tendency to pick up a comic book more so for a writer than an artist.

[00:45:36] I know other people are different because it is a visual medium, but no, no shade to whatever it is like you do. But yeah, I mean, I just I've loved the stuff that that you've done, like far down below felt like it was written like specifically with me in mind. You know, I was just like, oh, this is exactly. Thank you. Thank you. I sat down and I said, I want to read. What would Jimmy want? You got nailed it. Ten out of ten. Now, but I was I saw a lot.

[00:46:05] I mean, I was excited for you to be on Green Arrow. I saw a lot, you know, I really liked it. I saw a lot of other people were talking about. They like really enjoyed your run. And yeah, so of the earth. I'm that you listeners look, even if you don't even if you're listening to this episode and you don't like anything Chris has done, which I don't know why you'd be listening like this far in. We're like 45 minutes in. So I think that's kind of that's that's nutty. But thanks for listening, even if you don't like Chris.

[00:46:35] But even if this doesn't sound like anything up your alley, you have to at least get issue one of the earth. Yeah, it has just the ending. The ending is is worth is worth it. Where what issue one is just it's it's just something else. I think you read an earlier copy of it.

[00:46:59] So one of the things that we did that I think is interesting and I kind of was toying with the idea of it. And I kind of ran the idea around with some friends like Alex Packnittle and a couple of other friends that are, you know, comics lore. I was like, I don't know if I've really seen this before, but we actually moved the back matter to the front. We actually open with prose now, which is something that I've never really seen.

[00:47:25] I mean, Alan Moore kind of did it and yeah, Providence, but that was diegetic. And the way that it feels now, because I mean, you read an earlier version of so the way that it feels now with the back matter in the front is like in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. We have the opening crawl and you have the voiceover. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You know, it sort of like foreboding to it. And you were expecting this one thing.

[00:47:55] And then when you turn the pages to the comic and all of a sudden you're reading this neo-noir, neo-western, and you're like, what is this? And then you get to the end of the book and you're like, OK. What's happening? And it's yeah. It's really interesting kind of thing to just play with and just get to play with, you know, where you put things in a book is why does it just have to be in the back? Why can't you put it in the front and things like that? So, I mean, I'm sure we'll turn some people away when they pick up the book and they flip it open. They go, I got to read, you know?

[00:48:24] Oh, no, I know. There were I was thinking of I like that. I like I mean, I just I want the story presented to me. And however, the creators want want to present it. I like to read. I don't mind reading.

[00:48:39] I but I like when we have that mix of it when when Lonnie Nadler and Zach Thompson and was it Sammy Cavella when they did Undone by Blood and kind of mixed, you know, the comics with like some of the the pro stories and that I thought I thought that was that was tremendous. Yeah, I just thought of the earth is like I it was it was great.

[00:49:08] Thank you because there's it's very disturbing, but in a way that it's that's not I think there's plenty of things you could do with like body horror and other things that I would find like very disturbing. Like, you know, like you don't have like visceral all over the place and let's get really gross with it. And sometimes that's that's fun. And but there there's there's there's something else about of the earth that that is like the the unknown of it all.

[00:49:37] Yeah, it's another big ask. First issue. So this is a big ask, but I would hope that people would stick around for at least three issues. Because like you said, there's this unknown factor in the book and there's some things that are, you know, revealed in issue three that I'm like, I really hope people get to this point because it is this like, you know, the scale of just like. Right. What the hell is happening here?

[00:50:06] And then you get to this thing that happened, then it's just like a whoa. Oh, and I'm really excited for people to see it. I I'm so excited by what Charlie did and have Pip nailed the colors and just and it's like a and it's, you know, Haas is is doing the work without even being on the page because he's so present on the page and it's a silent page. And that's like and that's when, you know, it's like, OK, this is this is, you know, everybody's working.

[00:50:35] And so I'm just really excited for people to read it. And I'm really glad you reacted so well to those first two issues. But I really hope people pick up one, two and three. And I know, you know, I have a feeling we'll probably, you know, alienate some people that first issue. I mean, I do hope that people stick around. And yeah, it's just there's there's yeah, there's just so there's so much there's so many things in that that that first issue.

[00:51:03] Like, I mean, it was yeah, it's very tough to describe like without like saying, oh, this happens and then this and then this. But you stressful is is the way that I felt. But but not in a bad way and not like in a way that it turns me off that, oh, this this comic stressed me out. I didn't I wanted to put it down and didn't want to like like I didn't want to pick it back up. It was I felt very stressed out.

[00:51:30] But I one of those things that like I had to to keep going almost like I was tabby. Like I can't stop on a road in the middle of nowhere in Texas. Like that's all I want to do. Like I want I want to stop. I want everything. I want everything to be fine and to be OK. But I have to keep going. I have to. And it and boy, am I glad that I did. So, yeah, of the year, May 20th.

[00:51:59] One of the other things I wanted to ask you, just a fun thing before. Sure. Before I let you go, I saw on social media and I think you said you mentioned a Tyvee. The is it Michael, Mike, Michael. Yeah. Michael Tyvee. You mentioned him. And I think that you had posted about something where I don't know if you were doing a signing at a brewery in New Jersey and they had brews from the fallout and they had two different beers that were we had two beers. Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

[00:52:29] That's like that's the dream. Everybody. I had an old Joe's Pilsner tonight. No, it's it was so cool. It was such a great night. You know, it was just, you know, if people are in the area, I reckon you go over to Blair Snort Brewery and pick up. It's four packs. They have two. So we have a sour, which is the red snow sour.

[00:52:57] And that's the one that is literally brews from the fallout. And then the second one is an in universe kind of idea. And it's called old Joe's Pils. And Mike has this great slogan, which was crisp, cold, Nevada gold. And it's just like, you know, perfect. It's just I I could just drink that beer in to infinity and beyond. But it's just so delicious.

[00:53:24] But yeah, it was just such a cool event, such a cool idea for an event. And I really owe that all to Mike because it was it was all his idea. And he kind of proposed it to me and Jeff and me and Jeff kind of were both like, like, like we could tie it in with a signing. But like, you know, whatever you want to do, let's do, you know, we're very hands off. Like, we're very cool with it. Like, whatever you want to do. And he designed the labels, you know, the one he did use Jeff's artwork, but it was all Mike designing it all.

[00:53:50] So and then the brewery had a great time coming up with the flavors and and what they were going to do. And and it was just such a great, fun thing to get to do and like to get to do something like this. That's like pretty unique, I think, in terms of like, you know, promotion and a tie in for a book. I mean, you know, you don't see something like this that often. So it was really good, really fun to do. And I think it was fun for everybody that was there to kind of get to spend time with

[00:54:20] the creators and get to hang out with them. And one of my good buddies in the industry, Dan Waters, came out and I was hanging out with Dan and he had a great time, too. So it's just like so fun. But yeah, it's just so, so cool. They have a, you know, a beer connected to our book. And I recommend it. I think that's I recommend it for your next book. Bolero Snort is the name of the brewery. Bolero Snort. Yeah. OK, yeah.

[00:54:48] I just thought that was such a neat idea. And also, you're kind of like you're doing something fun and you're connecting with a crowd that maybe maybe isn't going into, you know, a comic shop and maybe they don't know, like what comics are like now. You know, if there are people that aren't familiar with like modern comics, so you're kind of exposing them to that. And yeah, I think that's I think it's a great idea. I thought it was absolutely awesome. So, yeah, pretty cool. Yeah.

[00:55:17] I say thank you, but I really had very little to do with it. I just I approved things and went to go taste the beer and I was like, dang, this is a good Pilsnick. I mean, the sour was great, too, but I'm not so much a sour man. I'm a Pilsner. Yeah. I like a simple beer. And so we're already talking with them about doing more. So, I mean, this is, you know, it's a great, great opportunity, great fun to get to do. We're talking about doing something for Texas Blood later in the year.

[00:55:47] And, you know, if you know the book, you can intuit what we might be thinking. Mm hmm. And yeah, if you're going to be at New York Comic Con, there may or may not be something around that time. So. All right. Well, I actually might maybe going to my I have I've never been to New York Comic Con before, but I'm I'm I'm very because I'm not that far away and I could just drive up. I'm I'm I'm thinking about going to New York this year. So I'm like, I. Well, I just I think I just gave you another reason.

[00:56:16] Yeah, you did actually. So, yeah, I I'm thinking about going to New York. So hopefully that'll work out because I'd love to I'd love to actually go and and check out your comic con. I do want to tell you, I do think that it would also be great for you as a creator. You know, just I really think that New York Comic Con is one of those. I think any con really is great for connecting with other creative.

[00:56:44] But I do think your comic con is is really unique in that their artist alley is is genuinely you know, it's it's amazing. But yeah, San Diego has a has an artist alley that sort of, you know, San Diego, San Diego is this huge thing. And so is New York Comic Con. But New York Comic Con still has this amazing artist alley. And there's so many people to get to meet and get to talk to and get to connect with. And I mean, you get to connect with people on the podcast, but a connection with people in

[00:57:13] person and especially in their kind of, you know, having your book with you and like sharing it with people is I imagine this is it's the best place to do it. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's that's what I'm that's what I'm thinking. So plus, if I get a mad cave, they tell you like what where they'll be. And I don't know the idea of like, if they're able to set up a signing for my all ages book that comes out next month that, you know, to be like to do a signing at New York Comic

[00:57:41] Con would be like insane. I mean, so fingers crossed they do it. I mean, that would be amazing. Yeah, that would be a lot of fun. But but but Chris, thank you so much for coming back on the podcast. Listeners, the Pearl of the Brutal Dark and Ezra Kane Mystery Issue One is already out. Came out February 25th. So make sure you're picking up a copy. You're checking it out. It is so much fun. I just absolutely loved it.

[00:58:11] And yeah, just tell your local comic shop. Just add of the earth to your pull list now. And you can thank me later. You know, just send me a message at like three in the morning when you can't sleep after you read it. That's fine. That's fine. It is a horror book. It is. There's no doubt about it.

[00:58:37] Now, it weirdly it kind of makes sense, though, that you meant that I've never seen Wake in Fright, but I did just look it up that it's a you know, you said it was an Australian film, but from 1971.

[00:58:49] There is there is kind of like a kind of like a throwback feel to the tension of of the earth that feels like, you know, an earlier era like those like you mentioned Texas Chainsaw Massacre, like, you know, those types of films that were very popular and like in the early 70s. So, yeah. Of the earth. I love that style of storytelling. It was very it was very much like that Texas blood. It was very slow, deliberate.

[00:59:20] Yeah. Allowed things to breathe. And and that's, you know, the films that I still see today that I love often have a little bit of that in them. Things like Michael Clayton or, you know, I mean, that's already 20 some years old, but like things like that. Phenomenal film. So, but I'm just, you know, I'm just like, you know, films like that that allow things to kind of breathe and kind of have a little bit of mystery to them. You know, I still gravitate towards those things.

[00:59:49] And you're absolutely right. That is definitely the vibe we're going for. Well, nailed it. So, yeah, listeners, check it out. Like perils of the the peril of the brutal dark as we came mystery of the earth. And if for some reason you've not yet read that Texas blood or the Enfield gang massacre or Chris's run on Green Arrow, all worth checking out.

[01:00:14] I know he also did Ultimate Wolverine, but I don't read a lot of Marvel books. There's nothing against it. That's OK. There's nothing against it. That's OK. I didn't read that one because Bobby. Shout out to my brother, Bobby, the cryptic creator corners. Number one most dedicated fan. Bobby listens to all my episodes. Bobby loves Marvel, loves Wolverine. He he got mad at me because I almost forgot to get him a first printing of ultimate Wolverine. But I did it. Save the day. So he's got it.

[01:00:43] So we're all set. He was very happy with it. Well, I will tell you, I will tell you there is a Marvel book that is coming. It has been announced. I can talk about it. It's not. OK. Reborn ultimate impact, which has been announced, which I am excited about. I don't know how people read. And with Stefano Caselli and I love him. He's fantastic. But yeah, I'm doing a Darth Vader one shot for Rogue One. And if you like my stuff, I think you'll like it. It's very intense.

[01:01:12] And it just kind of, you know, takes that scene from Rogue One and just kind of, you know, zeroes in on that. And I'm like, OK, let's do an entire comic. That's just that because that's what everybody wanted to see Darth Vader doing, you know. Yeah. For 40 years. And then they did it. And it's like, OK, well, you know, what do you do with Darth Vader and Rogue One setting? Well, you do that. You know, you do more of that. People want that. So, you know, I'm really excited for people to see it. That's awesome.

[01:01:41] All right. Well, we'll be looking forward for that, too, because that sounds incredible. All right, Chris. Well, I wish you continued success. Thank you so much for coming on and chatting with me. And yeah, hopefully I'll be able to get to New York this year. And if you're there, we'll be able to say hi in person. So yeah, hopefully we'll grab a beer in person. All right. Definitely. All right, listeners. Rate, review us to all the things they tell you to do about podcasts.

[01:02:11] Thank you so much for listening. You can find me on Blue Sky. I think I'm on I post sometimes on TikTok. But let me know what it is you're reading, especially if you've read any of Chris's books or any, you know, Chris and Jacob's books as well. Just some phenomenal stuff. But yeah, definitely tell your shop you want of the earth. Like, no doubt about it. Chris and Andrew and Charlie. I mean, are crushing it. So thank you. All right.

[01:02:41] Thank you. And thanks for listening. I'll see you next time. Good night. All right. This is Byron O’Neal, one of your hosts of the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you by Comic Book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast. Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve. Thanks for listening.

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