Christian Colbert Interview - Secret S.T.E.A.M. Society and Star Wars

[00:00:00] - [Speaker 0]
Your ears do not deceive you. You have just entered the cryptid creator corner brought to you by your friends at Comic Book Yeti. So without further ado, let's get on to the interview.

[00:00:11] - [Speaker 1]
The future is calling. 2,000 AD is the galaxy's greatest comic with new issues published every single week. Every 32 page issue of 2,000 AD brings you the best in sci fi and horror featuring characters like judge dread, rogue trooper, and more. Get a print subscription in 2,000 AD, and it'll arrive to your mailbox every week. And your first issue is free.

[00:00:35] - [Speaker 1]
Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10. Head to 2,000 AD and click on subscribe now or download the 2,000 AD app and start reading today. Hello, and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I am one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo, and I have a first time guest on with me today who, I as I I just said before we started recording, he's gonna have a busy 2026.

[00:01:09] - [Speaker 1]
He corrected me that the busy part was 2025, and he's right because he has a lot of stuff that is coming out this year, through paper cuts, the secret steam society, the music issue, and also he's going to be, drawing the paper cuts, smugglers and scoundrels book that's coming out later this year that's written by Kevin Scott and a couple of, other projects that haven't quite been announced yet. But don't worry. We'll still have plenty to talk about, in terms of his journey to get to where he is today in comics. So please welcome to the podcast, Christian Colbert. Christian, how are you doing today?

[00:01:48] - [Speaker 2]
I'm pretty pretty good. How how about yourself?

[00:01:50] - [Speaker 1]
I'm doing alright. You know? No complaints.

[00:01:54] - [Speaker 2]
Good. Me neither.

[00:01:55] - [Speaker 1]
As we record this, it's Saint Patrick's Day, so I had a nice I had a nice Saint Patrick's Day. I've I've had my daily allotment of Guinness, so I'm ready to go.

[00:02:04] - [Speaker 2]
I haven't had any Guinness yet today. I'm gonna wait till afterwards.

[00:02:07] - [Speaker 1]
Okay. Yeah. So why don't we we I I mentioned, you know, you, you have a bunch of stuff coming out this year. So, Secret Steam Society, the paper cut series. I've I've spoken, and had all the podcast Trevor Mueller

[00:02:27] - [Speaker 2]
Mhmm.

[00:02:27] - [Speaker 1]
Who is writing the music one, and then he's he's the I've done another one about horses, but you illustrated the music one. Yep. And then it was recently announced that Papercuts is doing, like, two original kinda star wars graphic novels. One, I think it's smugglers and scoundrels, and then the second one, tales, from the outer rim. But you're going to be illustrating the smugglers and scoundrels that I believe Kevin Scott is writing.

[00:02:56] - [Speaker 1]
Yep. And you have a couple other projects coming out. So, I wanna start kinda with your, you know, the beginnings of your work in comics. So when when did your work in comics, kinda start? When did did you think of that, you know, that that was something that you'd be interested in, pursuing as an illustrator?

[00:03:19] - [Speaker 2]
Professionally, oh, I'd really started maybe in fourth grade. I that's when I made my first novel. I still got it in the basement. It's about a a brontosaurus and a dinosaur and a and their pet fly that go on an adventure. It makes absolutely no sense, but that's that's where I got my start.

[00:03:37] - [Speaker 1]
That's awesome that you still have it. That's fantastic.

[00:03:40] - [Speaker 2]
But yeah. I've What drew you Yeah. I've I've had, you know, smaller projects here and there over the years trying to, you know, string together some things. But over the past, it's a year and a half or so, Papercuts has given me given me the opportunity to do things full time. So Yeah.

[00:03:56] - [Speaker 2]
I'm a been chained to this drawing board with that iPad for probably the past eighteen months.

[00:04:02] - [Speaker 1]
Wow. Yeah. Yeah. It's I I'm not an artist, myself, but, yeah, I I do understand that having to draw not one, but several graphic novels is, yeah, quite an accomplishment to have three, you know, two that have been announced, one that hasn't yet, but to have three projects being released all in one year, because it you know, for listeners who don't really you know, who don't, aren't sure about how it works, like, you have to get everything done by a certain date to get it out so that the books can be made and distributed and get to all the stores on time. So if you have three books out in a year and the the the release dates are separated by three months, That means you're just like when you're actually making the books, you're bumping up on deadline after deadline after deadline, like

[00:04:54] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:04:55] - [Speaker 1]
Three in a row. Right?

[00:04:56] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. It it was pretty tough, but, luckily, my party days are behind me, and I I stay in most of the time. So I just, make the best use of my time. I feel like I finally, you know, got the right workflow down. I finally got the work right work ethic down.

[00:05:12] - [Speaker 2]
So it just really just kind of all took off from there.

[00:05:16] - [Speaker 1]
Wow. Well, let's let's start maybe in the fourth grade or or shortly thereafter. What first drew you to comics that you you wanted to make your own? Was it just a love of drawing and visual storytelling at a young age, or did you like, you know, comic books from an early age?

[00:05:33] - [Speaker 2]
It started with comic strips mostly, like the Sunday paper, things like that. And, my grandmother was a big fan of Garfield, so I just started drawing with pictures of Garfield from my grandma. And, after that, I had to read every Garfield strip. And then I discovered that every Sunday, there was a color version of all these different characters showing up on on my parents' doorstep. So that's where I really got hooked.

[00:05:56] - [Speaker 2]
And then I got a little bit older and I started being able to ride my bike downtown Oberlin and, you know, hit the drugstores. I'm showing my age because I got my comics at a drugstore. And there was just all these adventures. There was stuff that, you know, there were GI Joe comics. There were Ninja Turtles comics, you know, stuff that I was seeing on TV.

[00:06:15] - [Speaker 2]
And they're like, I could take this copy of this GI Joe comic and bring it home. So it it really all started from there. The spinner rack and, you know, digging my 2 to $3 allowance and and and buying comics.

[00:06:29] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, wow. And did did that, you know, love of comics, like, stay with you and follow through to to high school and and thereafter?

[00:06:39] - [Speaker 2]
It never really left. When I was young, I wasn't really quite I knew I was gonna be an artist of some kind. I wasn't really sure what I was gonna do for a little bit there. I thought I might go into animation or something like that. And that was maybe early high school, but then I picked up a couple copies of Uncanny X Men that Joe Maderrero was drawing and I was just, you know, hooked right back in.

[00:07:01] - [Speaker 2]
This the dude had just so much energy and and style to his to his artwork that wasn't like what was really what else was going on in the nineties. But after that, yeah, was like, yes, this is this is what I'm doing. I'm gonna make comic books even if I wasn't very good at it at the time. I I just kept at it.

[00:07:19] - [Speaker 1]
And so you've you've worked on you said, like like, some comics projects, you know, throughout the years. Mhmm. But I I think you said, like, never anything at this, you know, scale where I mean, you have three, you know, graphic novels with one right after the other. Is that right?

[00:07:38] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I did a I did I I guess the biggest thing I did before this, I did some Spider Man's children's books. That's maybe ten, twelve years ago. And those are those are actually still available. The Spider Man storybook collection, you can check that out.

[00:07:54] - [Speaker 2]
I look at the article and I'm like, did how did I get hired? Even though it was only like twelve years ago or so. But then thought after I got that gig that, you know, it's all starting. This is what I'm gonna keep doing. But then editors shake up, people come and go from publishers and things like that.

[00:08:12] - [Speaker 2]
And, you know, the email stop coming. So you gotta you gotta make ends meet. So I've I've done all kinds of different things, all kinds of different jobs in the in the art world of running a print shop to graphic design. And For a little while there, worked at a marketing company for that marketed cannabis here in Michigan, so that was pretty cool. But yeah.

[00:08:34] - [Speaker 2]
But but comics was always what I came back to, and I was always making comics of my own. And then one day, I got an email from Adam Walenta at Papercuts asking me to, you know, if I was be interested in working on something with him. So it all it all started from there.

[00:08:48] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, wow. So, yeah, that's fine. I just I just interviewed Adam's episode hasn't come out yet, but I just interviewed Adam last week. I had Adam on the podcast. Yeah.

[00:09:00] - [Speaker 1]
I I really like punk taco, which, listeners, when you get to Adam's episode, you'll you know, if I'm not sure which is gonna come out first, but if you haven't listened to it yet, can go back and listen to it. Adam talks about punk taco, talks about his work at paper cuts. So what was the biggest, you know, having worked on some comics projects before and done other things in the in the art world, whether or not it's, you know, marketing or graphic design or, you know, illustrating other, like like, children's books, jumping into doing, you know, a graphic novel and, like, something, you know, of that length. Mhmm. And then not just one, but three.

[00:09:43] - [Speaker 1]
What was the the toughest challenge for you? You mentioned something earlier about you you kinda found the right work ethic or workflow. And so I'm just curious. Was, like, the time management of it all? Was there something else unique about the the, the process of illustrating the graphic novels?

[00:10:01] - [Speaker 1]
What would you think the was the biggest challenge, you know, for your twenty twenty five?

[00:10:08] - [Speaker 2]
I would say it's just time management, getting enough work done, you know, with your with your it's basically it's your job that I spend, you know, forty, fifty hours a week on getting enough work done to where I feel like I'm, you know, not falling behind. And luckily enough working with graphic novels, they work so far ahead, you know, rather than, you know, floppies that basically it goes to print like two days after the book is done. With graphic novels, you have a bit more lead time. So that's that's Yeah. Comforting.

[00:10:36] - [Speaker 2]
But yeah, I would say I'd say though, digital workflow really helped me out a lot. If it weren't for computers and iPads and and Photoshop and all of that, I don't think I would be able to make comic books full time. That's I I do not know how, you know, the greats before me managed to do it with just, you know, pencil and paper and ink and faxing pages and FedExing things. If I

[00:10:59] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I I think I think some some some bit of magic is involved. Yeah. Well, let's talk about some of the the the projects in particular that you're working on. I kinda wanna wanted to start with Star Wars because I noticed, I don't know if it was somewhere in social media or somewhere online, you know, when it talks about some of the things that you've done before.

[00:11:22] - [Speaker 1]
And then it also mentions rebel scum, which made me think like, okay. So was that there in terms of in your bio before star wars came along? Is this something that you've been a fan of that you got to now draw?

[00:11:35] - [Speaker 2]
Well, I I've always been a star wars fan since I was a kid. Okay. I saw the first movie in the theater with my parents as an infant in the drive in, so that that counts. And I just I I've always kind of aligned with the rebels. I just identified with them, so I I I kinda put that out in on all of my handles for social media, things like that.

[00:11:55] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, I love that. Yes. So, I mean, something as beloved as Star Wars, and I don't I don't know how nerdy you you were about it or or how how how deep your love of Star Wars goes. But, I mean, I was, you know and still am a huge Star Wars fan.

[00:12:10] - [Speaker 3]
Of course.

[00:12:11] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So when you get to do something like that and and and draw a project, do you get an opportunity to, like, either bring in characters that you would want to to draw, or was there anything in particular that you can kinda tease about this issue that you were excited about getting to actually illustrate for the graphic novel?

[00:12:32] - [Speaker 2]
Well, the whole thing, like, I it almost didn't feel real for a second there, because it's like getting drafted into the NBA or something. Star Wars is huge. It's arguable arguably the the biggest IP on the planet, and getting to work on it even if it's just, you know, a a kid's graphic novel, it's like, yeah, sign me up. But as far as characters and stuff goes, it stars Jax, the the green rabbit who I had I had never heard of this character before honestly, until they showed me the script and I looked up, you know, some of the some YouTube videos about him. But there are some new species showing up that I got to work on.

[00:13:10] - [Speaker 2]
I got to create. There's a couple of new spaceships that I got to design. I I don't

[00:13:16] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, that's awesome.

[00:13:18] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. There's a there's two spaceships that I get to that are completely my design, which is awesome. One of which is for a very popular yet somewhat maligned character. I don't know if I can say the name just yet, but you guys will see it when it comes out. And there's Jax's ship, the rabbit's foot.

[00:13:36] - [Speaker 2]
I got to really just kinda dive in. I made a whole schematic drawing of of the ship that that was pretty cool. When I was younger, I used to kind of shy away from things I wasn't good at drawing. And now that I'm older, I really just lean into it because I'm just gonna get better as an artist. And, like, I hadn't drawn many spaceships before, but, you know, it was an opportunity to get better as an artist.

[00:13:56] - [Speaker 2]
So I I took it. And I I think you guys are gonna like this ship for the for the one character. I wish I could say his name, but I can't.

[00:14:08] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I I I read that in the when the in the announcement about some of the characters that were going to be involved. Yeah. I'm I'm familiar with Jax, but, I mean, I think only because, like, I had I mean, I wanna think he I'm not positive. People will correct me when they listen to this, but I thought he had started like, his origin was in the Star Wars comics from, you know, the, I guess, the the late seventies or eighties.

[00:14:38] - [Speaker 1]
I thought he initially was a comic book character, but

[00:14:41] - [Speaker 2]
I believe that is the case. Yeah. I think from the from what I read about it and with the videos I watched, once they did the adaptations of all the movies that were out, their Lucasfilm was basically to Marvel, like, okay, do whatever you want. And then then they made Jax a a big anthropomorphic rabbit. And I don't know if this is true or not, but he's he's also called the character that George Lucas hates.

[00:15:05] - [Speaker 2]
Like, he does not like Jax for some reason. I don't don't know if there's any truth to that. So, George, if you're listening, hopefully, I'm not, you know, hit by the bus.

[00:15:17] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I mean, but I just that still is so cool to get to do something that you are, you know, a fan of. Because when you I I think when you you first learn about these things and you first, you know, see Star Wars or Star Trek or Lord of the Rings, like, whatever your favorite thing is and to think that you get to play in that universe and be a part of it. I just have to imagine it's so cool. And, yeah, I mean, this is a big deal, though.

[00:15:44] - [Speaker 1]
Paper cuts moving in in into having star wars books and kind of to trying to, you know, attract a new audience with these younger, graphic novels and, preview pages that are out there that I've seen. It looks fantastic. I mean, you know, you get to, you know, you get to do Han and Chewy, and it's Yeah. I mean, you don't have to say anything if you don't want, but it's called, smugglers and scoundrels. So, you know, I'm assuming we might see some other bounty hunters and things along those lines.

[00:16:15] - [Speaker 1]
So just just me guessing. Just

[00:16:18] - [Speaker 2]
me guessing. Floating around out there, you can already see the on on the marketing stuff, there are Boba Fett's in it, and I get to draw Boba Fett, which is awesome. He plays a a decent sized, you know, role in the story. Yeah. Burrito's in it.

[00:16:33] - [Speaker 2]
Who else is in it? Bask is in it. Dengar the demolisher or is it Dengar the destroyer? Oh, Dengar is in it. He's he's really fun to draw.

[00:16:43] - [Speaker 2]
There's a few other ones drawing Java's is always really fun. But yeah, it's it's also it's a it's an action book. Kevin is so good at writing this type of story. Like it's a kid's story, but it doesn't, you know, it doesn't talk down to anyone. It's such and it's a well constructed story and it's funny.

[00:17:03] - [Speaker 2]
And he dude just really knows how to write a comic book, and I'm I'm very lucky to be able to work off of one of his scripts.

[00:17:10] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I mean, I've I've had Kevin on the podcast to talk about some of his work before. He's fantastic to interview. I'm a big fan of a lot of his work, whether or not it's his comic book work or his prose work. And he's somebody who has got to play in a, you know, a a ton of different fandoms with some of the stuff that he's done, and, that has to even you know, it has to make the experience, I think, even sweeter to think like, oh, wow.

[00:17:36] - [Speaker 1]
I'm coming in. I'm drawing this book. I'm drawing these characters that I grew up watching. And and, I'm working with, you know, Kevin Scott who's done a bunch of stuff, you know, in the universe as well, and you know he's somebody that is, you know, gonna do an amazing job in terms of telling the story. How much interaction with or and collaboration did you have with him?

[00:17:59] - [Speaker 1]
Or was it more of a collaborative process, or was it more of, like, here's the script. You know, Christian, get to work.

[00:18:06] - [Speaker 2]
It's it's it's mainly, you know, here's the script. There's there wasn't a lot of changes. Lucasfilm had a couple of changes that you know, because they're they're Lucasfilm, and they're very protective of their their IP. Most of it, you know, if I come across a panel that's gonna work a page that's gonna work better a little bit differently than the way Kevin wrote it, I just, you know, send out email and he's he's so cool about everything. He's like, oh, yeah, it makes total sense.

[00:18:34] - [Speaker 2]
Go for it. But yeah, we have a we have a thread going with, myself and Kevin and the editor. We, you know, we talk a couple times a week on email and we we try to get on a Zoom call about once a month, but everybody's super busy, so it might, you know, fall through the cracks every now and again. But he's he's always available. He always responds to emails really quickly, and he's he's really excited about my drawings and and what I'm doing on the book, so I couldn't ask for more.

[00:19:01] - [Speaker 1]
No. That's awesome. Love love love to hear that. Yeah. I've been really excited by a lot of the stuff that that paper cuts is, putting out this year.

[00:19:14] - [Speaker 1]
They really, I I feel like, are just really taking chances on books and also really trying to expand their their library, not just with original stuff, but with, you know, different intellectual property like star wars and even things like, Trevor. When I interviewed Trevor, he's on the writing, like, the bat pad books, which is an adaptation of, I believe, said an an Italian cartoon. Okay. So that's pretty cool. Well, let's talk about the next in lie let let's go, I guess, work, closer in time to to where when we are now.

[00:19:51] - [Speaker 1]
But the first thing that you have coming out through paper cuts is volume two of the secret steam society books music Mhmm. Which, Trevor wrote. You illustrated it.

[00:20:02] - [Speaker 2]
Mhmm.

[00:20:03] - [Speaker 1]
I mean, it this the stuff I've seen about it, it looks absolutely tremendous. So if for listeners, if you didn't hear Trevor's episode when they talk about the secret steam society, it's these series of books that Papercuss is putting out. I mean, they they kind of remind me of a somewhat of a a a newer version of, like, the magic school bus where it's it's big, it's fun, colorful, but there there are, like, some real knowledge being imparted to you as you're going through it. The horses one was was pretty neat. The music one, though, looks amazing.

[00:20:43] - [Speaker 1]
I say that not that horses was less than. It's just the horses aren't my thing. But people love them. And so if you like horses, that looked great. But the music one looks amazing.

[00:20:55] - [Speaker 2]
Adam actually offered me the horse book before the music one, and I was like, man, I can't I'm not drawing that many horses there. I'll I'll do the cover, but I'm not drawing that many horses. So I I I took up the music one, and that was a much better

[00:21:10] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I mean, the worst I I read most of it. I mean, worst one was it's great. You know? And I can imagine if that's something you're really interested in, like, you'd gravitate right towards it, and it's it's it's there's a ton of facts and and, you know, in it.

[00:21:27] - [Speaker 1]
But it is also a lot of fun, and there's, a story built around it. Mhmm. The same thing with this music one now. It's there's basically the lead singer of the band loses her voice one week before the big show. The students of the London Academy of Ideas and Ingenuity must quickly find, a replacement is kind of, I guess, how the story, kicks off, but it just looks tremendous.

[00:21:52] - [Speaker 1]
Thanks. So what was that kinda like, being involved in that project? And what else can you tell listeners about the, about the volume two of the secret steam society?

[00:22:04] - [Speaker 2]
Well, it's a it's a pretty dense book. Adam and Trevor really they they went on a deep dive for musical history and facts. So if you're ready to learn something, pick that book up. I I learned, you know, way more about music than I ever thought I would by drawing this book and it's, it's just a fun adventure story. It's got an alien, it's got, you know, a diverse cast of kids.

[00:22:27] - [Speaker 2]
So if you're, you know, the I like to make books that you can pick them up and anybody can open it up and see someone in it that looks like them. So this book has that. That's one of the things that, you know, I I really like to include in my work. I drew a lot of pianos, a lot of guitars. Those are really hard to draw, man.

[00:22:48] - [Speaker 1]
Do do you have a musical background at all? I mean, other than, like, liking to listen to music?

[00:22:54] - [Speaker 2]
No. I don't. I have GarageBand. Okay. It kind of makes me feel like doctor Dre because I can put something together really simple, and it sounds okay.

[00:23:01] - [Speaker 2]
But I am I'm not musical at all at all. I know I know where my talents lie, and I I let the musicians take care of that.

[00:23:08] - [Speaker 1]
Just because we're on the topic of music, I'm kinda curious. Like, what what what genre of music or, you know, flavor of music is do you like to listen to?

[00:23:17] - [Speaker 2]
I'm really all over the map. I grew up listening to hip hop and and rock and grunge. Those are probably my two main when I'm not when I'm just not working or out having fun or or relaxing around the house, that's what I listen to. While I'm working, I listen to a lot of movie scores, just because they're not distracting. So I I really like the Godzilla scores, the original ones and the newer ones.

[00:23:45] - [Speaker 2]
There's, an anime series on Netflix called, Terminator Zero, and that movie score I've probably listened to about 30 times. If if you haven't checked it out, if you're into that sort of thing, it it's amazing. It's just like haunting. It's it's incredible. But I really listen to Epstein.

[00:24:00] - [Speaker 1]
I've never heard I yeah. I haven't heard of that. I'll have to check that out. Terminator zero.

[00:24:05] - [Speaker 2]
Mhmm. Yeah. I Cool. I love hip hop. I love I love rock music.

[00:24:09] - [Speaker 2]
I I love all kinds of stuff that normally people would make fun of. Like, I'm I like Creed. I like Nickelback, but I also like Wu Tang Clan and Gangstar. So I I you can't really put me into a can into a specific category.

[00:24:23] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. That that that's tough to do. I'm not I don't know what the Venn diagram looks like of Wu Tang and Nickelback fans. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:24:34] - [Speaker 1]
It's just it's just Christian. Yeah.

[00:24:37] - [Speaker 2]
Just just one person.

[00:24:39] - [Speaker 1]
There might be somebody else out there. No. I I mean, I look. Nickelback Nickelback, it it got has and Creed really has gotten, like, a bad rap over the years, But, like, I I, you know, I I can admit that there have been plenty of times where I have been having a great time listening to, you know, Nickelback when the song came on the radio. Like, it's not like something I turned off.

[00:25:02] - [Speaker 1]
So they they've they've kind of been a bit of a, you know, punching bag in recent years for, like, bad music, but I think that they have plenty of great songs. So, know

[00:25:13] - [Speaker 2]
Millions and millions of albums and and there's plenty other people out there alone. So, I mean Yeah. I love all kinds of stuff. Like, I love Rob Liefeld's work if you if you wanna compare it to comics. He gets a bad rap all the time.

[00:25:26] - [Speaker 2]
I love his books, man. He knows how to make a fun comic. He'll tell you he'll probably tell you himself he might not be the best illustrator on on the the planet, but he knows how to make a a good fun comic and then sell the heck out of it. So there's something to be said for that too.

[00:25:41] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. No doubt about it.

[00:25:44] - [Speaker 3]
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 comic things for too damn long. 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.

[00:26:15] - [Speaker 3]
Does it have a yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable? Yeah. But it streak lies 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.

[00:26:31] - [Speaker 3]
Kids. 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 gonna kill me for saying that.

[00:26:47] - [Speaker 3]
It's hitting shelves on April 21, and I dropped the 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.

[00:27:17] - [Speaker 1]
And getting to do that was drawing these characters you love, getting to design a ship, what was there anything special, you know, in terms of your enjoyment of doing the work about the music issue?

[00:27:30] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. There were a couple of scenes in there that I really I really love. There's a double page spread of the kids flying through this portal, like through time, and it starts like from the first radio broadcast and goes from, you know, old blues all the way up into current time. So it's got, you know, it's got a big montage of of musical, you know, legends like it's got Blondie and Elvis and Chuck D and Kurt Cobain and all kinds of hip hop legends, Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles. If you guys pick up the book and open up, it's a big double page splash.

[00:28:09] - [Speaker 2]
And I think you'll you can tell, like, I had a really good time drawing it. And another page I had a real a lot of fun drawing was the hip hop page. So it's got a DJ. It's got an MC. It's got graffiti in the background.

[00:28:21] - [Speaker 2]
It's got a little alien break dancing. So it was just it was just fun. Like, the day I drew that page, I just remember sitting there just smiling.

[00:28:30] - [Speaker 1]
When you're doing something like this, and there are a lot of, historical references as well. Is that something that you that you're kind of given as part of the script, or is a lot of that on you if it's like, hey. We need you to you know, we're gonna do this montage. We wanna show, like, actual people. We like, we we wanna have, you know, what Robert Johnson looked like if we're doing the blues or things along those lines.

[00:28:57] - [Speaker 1]
Like, are you googling and finding references yourself for all of these, like, things for historical accuracy, or how does that aspect of it work?

[00:29:06] - [Speaker 2]
Well, the way Trevor writes his scripts, he he builds a lot of reference right into the script. So the file I get has some images and stuff already. So that's really helpful. But at the same time, I I go through a deep dive and and find stuff. Like if I need to know, you know, need reference for Jimi Hendrix, there's, you know, all kinds of photos out there and I need a certain type reference for that one shot.

[00:29:28] - [Speaker 2]
So a lot of it, I hunt down myself. If I need assistance with anything, I can just hit up Adam or Trevor and they always jump in and and put recommendations or or what they think about, you know, what kind of reference to use.

[00:29:40] - [Speaker 1]
One of the things I I was curious about in, you know, in terms of, your style from what I've seen so far with the music issue and some of the stuff that I the little bit of things that I I I've kinda seen from the smugglers and scoundrels. You you have a style that seems, like, perfect for, like, paper cuts books. Like, they're your illustrations are are lively or fun. Did yours like, is that just you happen to draw this way and you've met the right moment in terms of Papercuts is looking to put these books out, or, you know, has your did your style change at all or adapt in terms of to some of the stuff Papercuts was looking for?

[00:30:27] - [Speaker 2]
I would say I adapt a little bit for Papercuts. I already have a pretty cartoony style. I like to it's not quite anime or manga, and it's not quite like Disney style. It's kind of like a mix of all of that stuff with a little bit of American comic books thrown in. But like with the the music book, it's it skews younger to a younger audience, so people are gonna be smiling a little bit more.

[00:30:50] - [Speaker 2]
There's gonna be a little more sunshine, and, you know, people are gonna be upbeat. I'd really like to do a horror book at some point soon here. That would be really cool. I'd really like to take my style and darken it up a little bit and that dichotomy of, you know, blood splatter with an animated looking character, I think would be really cool. So that that's it might be something in in my future.

[00:31:10] - [Speaker 1]
I I agree. That would be really cool. I hope I hope that is in your future. When you thought about doing more comics work, I'm kind of curious if the you know, sometimes what we think we're going to be doing and what the work's going to be what the work's going to look like doesn't always match up with, like, you know, the jobs we get or or the opportunity. So how did your idea of what drawing comics full time compare to actually drawing comics full time?

[00:31:40] - [Speaker 2]
I don't know. It's it's been an an idea in my head for so long. Like, when I was in college, I was sure I was gonna get hired by Marvel directly out of college, which is not the case. And that Right. I mean

[00:31:50] - [Speaker 1]
It's it's it's it's not the case for yeah. You're not alone.

[00:31:54] - [Speaker 2]
It's not

[00:31:54] - [Speaker 1]
the case for a lot of people. Right?

[00:31:56] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. So I I just kept at it. I kept working at it and, you know, kept trying to get better and better at what I do. So I've I would pick up gigs doing, you know, covers, lettering, inking, pre press stuff. I even worked at a comic book printer for a while, so I've worked in pretty much every aspect of comics.

[00:32:16] - [Speaker 2]
But what I really want to do is be drawing them and coloring them. But yeah, it's it's been a challenge. It's been a challenge. It's been a long road. I didn't get hired to draw my first graphic novel until I was 46 years old.

[00:32:28] - [Speaker 2]
So Yeah. It just shows you if you if you keep at it, it can happen.

[00:32:32] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Well, look. I never thought ever about being a writer. I'm a lawyer, but I don't in case, you know, listeners my listeners know, but I'm a lawyer by by trade. But my first graphic novel that I wrote is coming out with paper cuts on April 21, the same day as volume two, and I just turned 47 on Saturday.

[00:32:55] - [Speaker 1]
So

[00:32:56] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, wow. Happy birthday, and we're release date buddies. How how cool is that, man?

[00:33:00] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Yeah. So they're thank you for the birthday wishes, and yeah. So secret steam's your first both of our first paper cuts books coming out on April 21. Right?

[00:33:10] - [Speaker 2]
Same day. Wow. That's awesome. I'm I will definitely have to give you as a preorder.

[00:33:15] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, well, thank you. Yeah. I'm I'm already excited for the music, and I I I gotta get star wars when that comes out. So Yeah. I think they look really cool.

[00:33:26] - [Speaker 1]
I don't care if they're for a younger audience or not. I wanna see Han and Chewy, and I have this weird love of Dengar. So you you you got me excited when you said Dengar is in it.

[00:33:37] - [Speaker 2]
You'll like this story then. There's a there's a couple of cool little Dengar beats in this story that you will love.

[00:33:43] - [Speaker 1]
That's fantastic. So let let's talk about some of your influences whether or not in in terms of artistic influence and whether or not it's comic book artists or, you know, who whomever it might be. The impressionists, children's, illus book illustrators. I'm just kinda curious. Like, when you're work you know, when you're working on whatever it might be, whether or not it's graphic design or other comic books or anything artistic, were

[00:34:12] - [Speaker 2]
there Mhmm.

[00:34:13] - [Speaker 1]
You know, any artists in particular that had the biggest impact or on you in in terms of the development of your craft?

[00:34:23] - [Speaker 2]
Well, growing up, like I said earlier, Joe Matararo, I found him I discovered him in high school. And from there, I was just inspired to make comics again. So that dude is, like, one of the greats to me, if not one of my favorite artists. I really like Humberto Ramos's work. His Spider Man is hands down, maybe only second to Michael Ringo's Spider Man, who was also a big influence on my style.

[00:34:46] - [Speaker 2]
Ringo had a such a cartoony and fun and bouncy style. I really tried to emulate that when I was younger and I think some of it might have crept into my work. I love Arthur Adam Arthur Adam stuff. He's always, you know, his old his X Men classics were some of the first comics that I read when I was a kid. But yeah.

[00:35:04] - [Speaker 2]
I but I also love, I love Frank Miller's stuff. I love Dave Mezzekeli's stuff. I love classic stuff. Walt Simonson, funny story about him. His nephew grew up in the same hometown as me and my high school girlfriend.

[00:35:18] - [Speaker 2]
Her brother was, like, friends with him, so they organized this sit down meeting for me with Walt Simonson and Weasy Simonson when I was, like, 16. So I was sitting with a with a legend, and I didn't even really know it at the time.

[00:35:31] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, yeah. Oh, that I yeah. That's that's wild to think like, you know, oh, hey.

[00:35:36] - [Speaker 2]
Gonna set

[00:35:37] - [Speaker 1]
up this meeting for you with Walt Walt and Wheezy Simonson. But

[00:35:41] - [Speaker 2]
they were they could they I still remember it very well. They could not have been nicer people and Wheezy Simons, he printed off a Superman script for me to try to illustrate and I know I I was 16. I didn't, you know, know anything from anything at that time, but just them being that cool to me, a young fan and a young artist was amazing.

[00:36:00] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. That is pretty cool.

[00:36:04] - [Speaker 1]
I would love to I would love to have them on the podcast. I've only I ran into them. I've seen them at Baltimore, like, just to get stuff signed. I don't I do not know, you know, Walt or, Weasy Louise Simonson, but, yeah, talk about a couple of legends in the comic book industry and Walt Walt's work on, Orion, I just absolutely love and

[00:36:30] - [Speaker 2]
Mhmm.

[00:36:30] - [Speaker 1]
So many other things. Luis Simonson's work on the Superman on man of steel is just, you know, incredible. So that's pretty that's that's pretty funny story

[00:36:42] - [Speaker 2]
to Yeah. Yeah.

[00:36:42] - [Speaker 1]
To think you were sitting down with them. I'm pretty sure he

[00:36:45] - [Speaker 2]
that they get Pretty sure he probably does not remember this or remember who I am, but if he does remember it, Walt, that was me. If you're listening, that was me. Thanks.

[00:36:55] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. And so, there's another book you've coming out with paper cuts that hasn't been announced yet, but it sounds like like, listeners, if you Google it, you'll you'll you'll find it. You'll figure it out. It sounds like a yeah. You can find it.

[00:37:10] - [Speaker 1]
Sounds like a really great project.

[00:37:12] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:37:13] - [Speaker 1]
Sounds like it's more what's the action and adventure, oriented. Yeah.

[00:37:20] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. And that was

[00:37:21] - [Speaker 1]
the So you've had.

[00:37:22] - [Speaker 2]
That was the first book that I worked on with the editor Charles Beacham, and we liked we enjoyed working together so much that when Star Wars came around, he he texted me. We we don't really text that much, so I was like, oh, okay. Yeah. He asked me if I could get on a on a call real quick. I'm like, okay.

[00:37:40] - [Speaker 2]
What's this about? Am I getting tired or something? But, he asked me if I wanted to work on Star Wars and my reaction was, I I don't know your profanity, you know, levels on this show, but it was f f yeah.

[00:37:55] - [Speaker 1]
Go ahead. Stay with It

[00:37:56] - [Speaker 2]
was it was a fuck yes.

[00:37:57] - [Speaker 1]
Okay. Yeah.

[00:37:58] - [Speaker 2]
Fuck you all in Oracle's Star Wars. Kidding me?

[00:38:02] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. That's that's so cool. I just I I just I I love that. You know? And to see it is remarkable, to see, you know, you've wanted to do comics for so long, and and you have worked on comics, you know, but, get get to this level, you know, and to have so much stuff coming out in one year is is pretty pretty pretty rare to have three graphic novels coming out in one year.

[00:38:32] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I've been busy.

[00:38:34] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So do you is there, like, a a break in between? Is there a a slowdown at all, or do you just roll right into, you know, the next thing?

[00:38:49] - [Speaker 2]
Well, ideally, I like to try to roll right into the next thing, but that doesn't always happen. There was probably about two and a half months in between my last project and then Star Wars and I was fortunate enough to pick up a couple of gigs to, you know, keep going smaller gigs

[00:39:06] - [Speaker 1]
Right.

[00:39:06] - [Speaker 2]
That were still equally as enjoyable, but less of a time commitment. So I was very fortunate to have those. If they'll have me on for another Star Wars book, would love to roll it on, you know, just kinda tacking on to the end of this one if possible, but I also really wanna do some creator own stuff. I wanna tell some of my own stories, and I think I'll probably do my best work under those circumstances. Like, Star Wars is the is the best thing I've ever drawn, hands down.

[00:39:32] - [Speaker 2]
And the project I did before that to date was the best thing that I had ever drawn. So I feel like I'm just getting better at the time.

[00:39:40] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah.

[00:39:40] - [Speaker 2]
Whereas I sometimes artists will have a drop off when they get older, but they've also been maybe working in the industry a lot longer and more consistently than I have. So I don't know. Maybe I'll maybe I'll burn out real fast and and just start being terrible in a couple of years, but I hope not.

[00:39:56] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, I I don't think that's gonna be the case. I feel like you're just getting you're just getting started, which might sound strange to you to say because you're like, well, I've been here. I've been I've been doing stuff for, you know, however many years, you know, since I was in the fourth grade. But, yeah. It's I don't know.

[00:40:15] - [Speaker 1]
It sound sounds sounds like the wheels of fate are are turning for you, mister Yeah.

[00:40:24] - [Speaker 2]
I I think it's working out pretty well. And I'm I'm very grateful to be where I am. Like, you know, I got a great team around me supporting me, both people I work with and people in my personal life that are always been, you know, you know, had my back and believed in me and and doing what I'm doing. They never once told me to give it up. You're not gonna make it any situation like that.

[00:40:43] - [Speaker 2]
They just said, you know, keep going. It'll happen. Well, that's, I mean, it's tough

[00:40:49] - [Speaker 1]
to do anything without a good support system.

[00:40:51] - [Speaker 2]
So That's true.

[00:40:52] - [Speaker 1]
You know, that's fantastic. Real before I let you go, you know, you talk about creator owned stuff and some other stuff. I I'm curious. You already mentioned you would like to see your style in, like, a horror book. Is there is there anything else?

[00:41:08] - [Speaker 1]
You know? Just just in terms of, like, genre or, like, a flavor of the story. I'm not asking you to, like, you know, reveal all your pitches or anything. But other than, like, a horror book, is there anything else that you're like, you know what I really wanna do? I would love to do something like this.

[00:41:24] - [Speaker 2]
I'm You know,

[00:41:25] - [Speaker 1]
just in case there's somebody out there listening that's like, oh, hey. Some writer out there that's like Christian, you'd be perfect for it.

[00:41:31] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Well, I've well, the one thing I've had at the horror project, it it's been kind of slow brewing over the past, like, twenty years, a bunch of ideas that I just have rolling around in my head. So once that gets going, sure I'll let you know. I have a I have a stoner comedy that I'm working on kind of in the vein of Dazed and Confused or Pineapple Express kinda like that. That's something I wanna work on.

[00:41:52] - [Speaker 2]
I also have some other, you know, stuff aimed for younger readers that I'm developing also just because it's such a fun just a fun area to to work in. And I like the idea of some kid picking up a comic, you know, kind of the way I picked one up and saw John Burns artwork. Some kid might pick that pick up my comic and feel the same way about my drawings and it might help them, you know, become an artist. So part of the that would just be amazing to me. That's part of the reason why I do it.

[00:42:20] - [Speaker 1]
Awesome. Well, that's fantastic. Yeah. I I wish you the best of luck. I'd love to see your your style in a horror comic as well, and, I do enjoy a good a good stoner comedy.

[00:42:32] - [Speaker 1]
So, that sounds great too. So, listeners, secret steam society volume two, the music volume the music issue is gonna be out 04/21/2026. You can get it from, the Papercuts website. There, I'll put a link in the show notes. You can also get it wherever you get your graphic novels or, you know, let your local, comic shop know as soon as possible, so that they can order it for you, and it'll be right there in your pull box or wherever they keep your your comics.

[00:43:08] - [Speaker 1]
Star Wars smugglers and scoundrels volume one race for Jabba's bounty. That is gonna be out 09/15/2026, and same thing. You can preorder it, I think, right now from the, Papercuts website or let your local comic shop know. You can get it wherever you get your graphic novels. The other Papercuts book that we've kind of, mentioned but hasn't officially been announced yet is actually going to be out between those two.

[00:43:36] - [Speaker 1]
So I think sometime in June, you're gonna see an announcement soon probably for another book that Christian has illustrated from paper cuts that really sounds great. And I I I think it's gonna be a a probably a big action adventure book. And it's There it is. Yeah. So same thing.

[00:43:59] - [Speaker 1]
We'll put a link in the show notes to it. You can let Papercuts know that you'd like a copy of it. You can preorder it from them. And, yeah. And I'll have a link so you can follow, Christian, online.

[00:44:12] - [Speaker 1]
So when he gets that horror book or stoner comedy or whatever it is he's gonna do next, you'll be able to to pick it up. But, Christian, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. This has been great, and I'm, you know, really excited for you in terms of the work that you've put in and all the stuff that you have coming out through paper cuts. And, yeah, I wish you the, you know, success of the future. And you ever wanna come back on and deep dive into some of these books or some other stuff you have coming out, please feel free to to to reach out.

[00:44:48] - [Speaker 2]
Awesome. Well, thank you for having me. It's been a fun experience. I haven't been on a podcast in a in a few years, and I'm I'm trying to up my social media presence a little bit. So you might see a little bit more of me in front of the camera somewhat soon.

[00:45:01] - [Speaker 2]
So keep an eye out for that too.

[00:45:03] - [Speaker 1]
Awesome. Yeah. Alright. Well, listeners, you know what to do. Check out these books.

[00:45:08] - [Speaker 1]
Even if you're not into all ages stuff and you're you're still listening to to, to this you know, you're still listening to the episode up to this point, Graphic I said it before, but graphic novels make a great gift. You're gonna have to go to some friend's kids or a niece or nephew's birthday party, and, these paper cuts graphic novels are wonderful. I've never had anybody, you know, complain or be upset that they got a really cool graphic novel as a present. So, but thank you so much for listening. Rate, review us, do all the things they tell you to do for podcasts.

[00:45:42] - [Speaker 1]
It really does help. If you if you rate the podcast, it does help. And, yeah, thank you so much for listening, and, happy Saint Patrick's Day, and I'll see you next time.

[00:45:55] - [Speaker 2]
Be Saint Patrick's Day. Thanks.

[00:45:57] - [Speaker 3]
This is Byron O'Neil, one of your hosts of the Cryptic 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.

[00:46:17] - [Speaker 0]
If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast, Into the Comics Cave. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:46:28] - [Speaker 4]
You can't reason with the sun. Trust us. We've tried. This summer, it's time to put that angry ball of fire on mute. Columbia's Omnishade technology is engineered to protect you from the sun's harsh rays that can burn and damage your skin.

[00:46:43] - [Speaker 4]
The sun is relentless, but so is our gear. Level up your summer at Columbia dot com to spend more time outside and less time slathering on aloe lotion. You're welcome. Columbia, engineered for whatever.