Christopher Cantwell Interview - Star Trek

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[00:00:54] Hello and welcome to Comic Book Yetis Cryptid Creator Corner Podcast. I am one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo. And I have a returning guest today. This is their third time on the podcast. And I was always surprised because this just wasn't planned this way. But the last time they were on was almost exactly a year ago as we record this when we were talking about things like Kid Maroon and Out of Alcatraz.

[00:01:21] And I think Red Shirts hadn't even come out yet. But he is back for a third time. He is writing the new IDW Star Trek number one artist Dennis Meneer and Jody Troutman lettering. And I am very excited. I got to see issue one already, which will be out September 23rd. Final order cutoff is August 17th. So you'll still have a few days if you're listening to this episode when it first comes out.

[00:01:51] But please welcome back to the podcast Christopher Cantwell. Chris, how you doing? Hey, I can't believe it's I've been on three times. That's awesome. I feel like I want to be that I want to be the Alec Baldwin of comic book Yeti where I have the most hosting, you know, record I've been on. I've been on the most ice fap. I'm sure I have a long ways to go. Like there'll be somebody crazy. You tell me that's been on 10 times and it'll be like, no one has been on 10 times. We have I do know this.

[00:02:19] We have three people that have been on five times. So you will have two more appearances to match those. The winner, though, right now, Steve Fox has been on like seven times. Seven times. OK, with all with Byron. I have never I have never. I have never interviewed Steve Fox. He's always been on Byron's episodes. But but yeah, we don't have that many more to go. We just do like five episodes in a row right now about whatever we want. And like we'll do Star Trek and then we'll just riff for the next four.

[00:02:48] We'll just do we'll just crank out two and a half hours of audio content. And then I'll be like, I did it. Yeah, I'll just break them up and I'll I'll like release them, you know, every couple of weeks. And by the end of the year, Chris is getting closer to the record. And then congrats to Chris on his eighth appearance. That'd be awesome. He's done it. He did it. Yeah, it's a while. And it was also a year ago. Yeah. So we hadn't done red shirts. And then we were out of Alcatraz out of Alcatraz.

[00:03:17] I think was out. But we were we were it was in between and the hard cover was going to come out in the. Yeah. Yeah. And I think red shirts had like red. I don't think red shirts that actually come out yet. But yeah, your episode aired last year, August 12th. Oh, my God. You know, almost a year. Wow. Yeah. But you're no stranger to to writing Star Trek. Obviously red shirts. You did, I think, what, four volumes of the Defiant series. You've written other.

[00:03:45] Yeah, I think it was actually I was trying to think of this the other day. It was like if I can think I can name the art because we're I was in comic at Comic-Con. I was I think on the panel. I was like, how long did we do that? And Jackson and Colin were like, I think it was we did it for like three and a half years. They started before me, but I came on a few months after that. So like, even though my book didn't come out, I think it was like a year after there. No, they did. They did a shit. I don't even remember now. But yeah, I went for 27 issues.

[00:04:15] So it was the first volume. And then and then we did the day of blood crossover. And then we did another piece of the action with Mike Fian. And then we did Hell is Only a Word, which was the Parasite arc with on Helen Zaweta who came back. And then, yeah, I guess you're right. And then I did the last one was no old warriors. And then we did lore war. It was crazy. Yeah. Years of my life given to Star Trek. Yes. Handed over. And red shirts, which I thought was fantastic.

[00:04:44] And now now you're taking over with a brand new number one issue that sees seven of nine captaining the newly christened enterprise, the USS NC 701 G. G. G. Oh, G. Oh, G. Is it still the enterprise? Yeah, she's doing it.

[00:05:08] But I will say our show, our show, our comic book, our comic book, our grand comic book follows season three of the card, you know, which was helmed by Terry Metallus and was wonderful. But we I wanted to make sure that we're Terry to ever come back or whoever to come back and do more of that, that this isn't the next day after the card season three.

[00:05:33] It's not like the morning after we're like, what now it's it's they're five years in. So we this allows us to honor what they did in Picard season three, but also change it up a little bit just to make it our own, make it a comic book story and then leave room in case they wanted to go do something else with those characters, which I would be wonderful if that ever happened.

[00:05:53] But yeah, so we find seven on the five year anniversary of her taking over the enterprise and really going what's next and wondering what her legacy.

[00:06:04] No pun intended will be when it comes to this ship and how many names she's followed and what that means for her and and that that that first issue really hands her a lot on her plate where it's careful what you wish for because she gets an insane assignment from Starfleet to leave the known galaxy and go to this previously unexplored area of space.

[00:06:29] It's it's not even previously unexplored. It was literally hidden. They whose sensors couldn't detect it. Probes were sent off 200 years ago under Archer and all of that stuff, you know, for colonization to go look for class M worlds. And there were there were some probes that were thought lost. And then five years ago, so right as Picard was ending, these probes came back and they've been studying these probes for five years in terms of where they've been.

[00:06:53] And they've been in a dilated part of space beyond the Alpha Quadrant that they've dubbed Starfleet has dubbed the Epsilon Corridor. So this is a special new area of space, at least new to the Federation. And they're sending the Enterprise in to explore and perhaps consider colonizing said space time dilated corridor. Corridor. But it's very fun. And I'm I'm I'm I'm super stoked for it.

[00:07:23] And we we got the first issue shared around with some folks. And, you know, you always worry about that initial reaction. But I am getting anxious about everything doing anything. And the response has been very positive so far. So I hope people really dig it because this is no longer me. I got to I feel like I got to safely hide in Jackson and Collins shadow with Defiant for a few years and do, you know, blood sport.

[00:07:51] But with Worf, you know, like I feel like and then over here in Red Shirts is a little bit like, what about these guys that you've never heard of? And they die, you know? Yeah. This is like the full thing. So I've really tried to own and honor that as much as possible. And then what Denny is doing with the book is is incredible. Just I can't believe that I'll put it this way.

[00:08:13] I'm so happy that Paramount has moved, has evolved from photorealism, you know, in the days of the 80s books, you know, at D.C. to art that really is almost impressionistic in the way that it embraces the comet medium. And and it's it's really special what he's doing with the with the art. It's fantastic. Yeah, I love the first issue.

[00:08:36] My relationship, I guess, with Star Trek and we probably mentioned this a little bit before when you were on last year and we started to talk about Red Shirts. I was a huge, you know, next generation fan, like loved it every episode. And the other series since then, I have not watched all of them. But I did watch Picard when it was on because that was my thing, you know, the next generation.

[00:09:01] And I was so I had that background going into this issue. I still found the issue, even if I had it pretty approachable, like kind of lay the groundwork as to who everybody is. Mm hmm. I will say, though, I talked to Dennis before. He's been on the podcast when him and Anasa Abdul Haq did Etherus. And I love the art.

[00:09:25] And I mean, whether or not it's Paramount IDW, but the art for The Last Starship and now this series with Dennis, I just feel like is totally unexpected in like what I would think of a typical Star Trek comic. It is fantastic. Oh, that's good to hear. I'm glad you like it. Oh, I love it too. Heather Antos brought Dennis in and it's it's so cool because I did.

[00:09:51] I knew I knew Etherus and I was like, we're getting this guy. This is going to be incredible. And it is like I just feel like what he's doing lends itself to what I'm trying to do on the story side of it is is craft something that just feels completely new for a property that is 60 years old this year. Right. And so how do you do that?

[00:10:15] And I think the number one answer before you even get to any of my wacko ideas is you get Denny Mnere to do this, you know, and I and to draw this and color it and let him just go. And I mean, even with the scripts, I'm like, man, they're all yours. You know, I'm seeing stuff from issue two and the subsequent issues. And he's like, I hope you don't mind if I change this around. I'm like, this looks way better than anything I could have fathomed in my dumb Microsoft Word brain.

[00:10:43] You know, it's so it's so good. I'm just so happy that he's he's on this thing. And then, you know, I worked with Jody Troutman on red shirts in terms of lettering. And she's she's one of the best I've ever worked with. And especially when it comes to Trek lettering, because Trek lettering can the lettering can be dense. Right. It just the Star Trek lends itself to it's less.

[00:11:08] I feel like if you're just doing like pew, pew, pew Star Trek, you're kind of messing up. But listen, I mean, so that's the trick of the comic, right? It's like how to do that, but also make it readable and let it be art forward and all that stuff. But Jody is so good at crafting the way people speak in Star Trek from different civilizations or species and really giving it a unique tone and feel for each kind of person.

[00:11:33] I mean, she's really in there just delicately touching certain things like how the board telepathy between Jack and seven looks and feels and reads on the page. Right. How our new kind of big bad comes across in terms of their narration of this story and what it suggests about them. It's just all of us are working together in such great sync that it's amazing. Yeah, I love the lettering in it. I love the opening of it.

[00:12:02] The opening of this comic I thought was, you know, fantastic in terms of what's going on, the whole look of it. I just thought it was a great way to kind of like get in and then you're you kind of then you get centered into like the first mission that we see them on before they're called to talk about the Epsilon corridor.

[00:12:26] One of the things I really wanted to compliment you on just like thinking about the three seasons of Picard that I watched. And, you know, you're five years later now. There are some familiar characters. So fans of Picard are going to get that. But it's this is something that if you didn't watch that, it's very approachable. It is very Star Trek.

[00:12:49] You have some big concepts, but you also have really character driven storytelling with everyone on the ship. I really thought in terms of the character that we saw of Seven of Nine in that that third season of Trek and taking over the ship from Shaw, I really thought you captured. Oh, that's good. Her voice really, really well.

[00:13:13] I mean, it was she's because she's somebody who I think it's a bit surprising when we see it in Picard that that she's going to be sitting in like in that captain's chair. But there's also as that character has grown and developed from Voyager and from Picard and other things we've seen her in there. She has like a real attitude. I don't know if I'd go so far as to say like sense of humor, but it's definitely there. And we saw it in Picard.

[00:13:41] And I thought you really captured that as well. There's a particular line where she's, you know, says something along the lines of I'm not looking forward to signing up for Voyager times 10. And I felt I thought it worked very well on the page. It was very it felt very familiar. It really worked. I just I thought it was great. Yeah, that's really good to hear.

[00:14:01] I think, you know, that what Jerry Ryan did with that character, I thought was so impressive in Picard, where the way that's a character where you have 35 years of history, you know, with, you know, I mean, it's it's wild like that of story history, too. Right. Where you're starting in Voyager and how how she has to reacclimate to where she is in Picard as a as a Henry Ranger and and then aboard with Shaw.

[00:14:27] Like, it's such an incredible evolution that all those writers tracked and and Jerry built. I mean, I guess it's an incredible it's become I think like that seven was already so great in Voyager. But then what Jerry Ryan did in Picard with that performance, it just it created my favorite characters in Star Trek and so many of the best characters in Trek are people of two worlds or multiple worlds.

[00:14:52] Right. If you look at Spock being half human, half Vulcan or Worf being raised by human parents and it goes on and on. But like to see Jerry wrestle with that or seven wrestle with that as a human that is now an XB reclaimed board, whatever you want to call it.

[00:15:08] Right. Like is so fascinating. And to see her say, you know, I've been decoupled from the the the board longer than I ever was when I was assimilated and attached to it. But but she still sleeps standing up and things like that that we do in our book. But I think we couldn't get there without what she was able to do on screen. And I it was that was a it was a tall order because of what we're trying to do in this is speak to all of it.

[00:15:36] Right. And yet have her feel like a character you can just jump on with if you're not familiar with all this stuff that we're familiar with and just go. Right. Like really just go and go forward and go boldly. That was that was what Heather and I talked about when building the premise for this book. So and she had to be at the center of that. And it felt like what we owed most from Picard season three was her in the chair and what that actually is like Jack Crusher and what that's actually like with him in Star Trek.

[00:16:05] Right. The son of of Beverly Crusher and Jean-Luc Picard. But then also, again, to speak to that distance, that five years. Right. I wanted to do something new with the relationship between Seven and Rafi. And that's something I worked on with with Charlie Jane Anders a lot, who's writing zero point where it just felt like Rafi was such an important character and such an eye opening experience.

[00:16:31] And Picard that it felt like years in she's so senior and has done so much as kind of almost pseudo legendary like the rest of them, that she would be given her own command. Right. And I think that she was going to be Seven's XO as Picard start as Picard ended. Right. But I was also like, well, the romantic relationship to me is so important.

[00:16:55] It was going to be do we ride the dynamic of them on the bridge together while also being in a romantic relationship was like, well, that'll be that'll be interesting. But then it was like, I just I needed to get a little bit of distance from the show in order to feel like it was not a direct sequel. And so that people would pick it up who hadn't seen it. And but that that from that was born, the idea that Rafi would would be given her own command and and, you know, with IEW her own book, which is what's fun.

[00:17:21] But they're together through it. And so like that to us was the way that the books will speak to each other. And that's how we were able to do the last Star Trek series, which was if Benjamin Sisko is the lead of, you know, Jackson and Collins Star Trek that they that they began with Ramon Rosanas. Worf, his kind of adversarial friend from D Space Nine was going to run in my book and and be in command.

[00:17:45] And so it felt like who could our biggest signposts be our trailheads be. And so it just made sense for these two people who are deeply connected to be driving two stories.

[00:17:59] But we still can write that story and that that will allow us to actually literally cross over once we get down the road with the two of them and actually and have the books speak to each other, I think, in a very unique way that hasn't been done in kind of companion Star Trek shows before or comics, you know, it's really it's really fun. Yeah, I mean, I think that makes it really exciting. And also like fast forwarding five.

[00:18:23] I mean, I know you said about it's five years after the end of Picard season three, because if they ever do something with, you know, that, you know, Paramount does anything with the show. But also it allows you to, you know, kind of work in character development for some of the characters that we saw from Picard and kind of build a little bit more character into them in terms of the story you're telling. But it also allows you to introduce, you know, some new characters. There also are new characters on the Enterprise, which is, you know, pretty exciting to kind of get to learn.

[00:18:53] Yeah, that was part of it, too. It was it was how do I, again, not make it a direct sequel? Right. Leave room for that if they're going to do that, but also make this make this story its own thing in the Star Trek universe. And so it was it's part of Picard and part of where we left the story off into the future. Obviously, Jackson and Colin are also touching the far future.

[00:19:17] Right. So we're both books are really looking looking forward in terms of of what's happening and zero point will as well. But I also wanted to speak to the comic runs we had done and feel make these feel unified with those. So there are two characters from the first Star Trek run that Jackson and Colin did and that they wrote.

[00:19:36] And the the Defiant run, which is the one I wrote, which is we have Lily Sato, who is older, who has gone away from Starfleet for a while and come back because that's how she knows seven is through the Fenrir Rangers, something that Jackson and Colin wrote to over the course of their run. And and and then I have I have Alexander Worf's son, who I went to great lengths to redeem in the eyes of of all Star Trek fans. Poor Alexander. I wanted to give him something awesome.

[00:20:04] And it was actually fun to take a character that, you know, felt a little derided in the fan community for good reason. And some also like, you know, I get it. Also, Worf's not a great dad is like a big flaw in Worf's character that's kind of left out there and and build out a. But here's how here's how Alexander became a man and it was a rocky road. And here's how he repaired with his father, all of which speaks to where we find him on our enterprise, which is now he's in his mid or late 40s.

[00:20:32] And he's the first Klingon chief medical officer. He's gone from warrior to healer in the book. And if you go back and read Defiant, it's even richer. But also you just go, is that Alexander? That's a worse kid, you know, or just a cool Klingon. And you're like, what I know about Klingons is they kill, kill people and get angry. And you're like, that's the doctor, you know, like that. It's just those kinds of questions you can ask and then create some new characters that we could just say these are brand new. And you had you know nothing about them.

[00:21:01] You're going to learn about them along with the rest of us as we create them. And it will be yours to kind of own if this is your first entry point into Star Trek. It was like, oh, I'm getting to know the, you know, a Romulan chief engineer who is a prodigy. You know, I'm getting to know a Bajoran counselor who's also a chaplain, which we've never seen on the show,

[00:21:22] which is a return to respect for spirituality within the Federation because of all of the ways that Deep Space Nine and other stories have touched on religion and spirituality across the galaxy. So all of that stuff goes into the pot and it's really fun. Yeah, it's a really fun. It's a really fun crew. I had a great time trying to learn who everybody is. I thought you also did some very interesting things because you have there's like what is it?

[00:21:49] The hollow psych that we see seven on the holodeck. Yeah. And she's actually going through. Yeah. She's going through the holodeck on intensive psychotherapy that is actually based on real stuff that is used today. But it's extrapolated to the holodeck where you can actually now relive certain things that you've experienced in your life. But seven is not interested in that. The whole book is a big comment on that, which is also kind of the meta comment of this moment in Trek history at 60 years,

[00:22:17] which is we can't ignore the past and just leave it behind. You have to kind of take it and process it in order to move forward and survive. And I think that's the big challenge ahead of our crew aboard the Enterprise and the other ships in the story. There's multiple ships. And then also the challenge to Star Trek as a whole. That's the creative artistic challenges to say, OK, what can we take from what came before in terms of theme,

[00:22:45] in terms of motif, in terms of story and see that kind of thrust forward into something brand new? And that's what we're trying to do in this book and Zero Point. It's fun. It's hard, but it's fun. Well, I also liked it just in terms of like a comic book storytelling device, because like you have somebody reliving something on the holodeck and you can like you can learn about the character, learn about the past. You can actually see it.

[00:23:11] And so it's just a very good comic booky way to kind of like learn about your characters. Yes. And listen, it's like if you are just coming into Star Trek, if you start to talk about what Star Trek is, people are like, I'm going to jump off this cliff, you know, because there's so much. Right. Oh, yeah. Because you're really over it. Star Trek has this reputation of having this high bar of entry, which I think some fans and I wasn't even include myself in that,

[00:23:40] like you kind of pride yourself and be like, you don't get it, you know, like, but you have to be careful because then you end up playing to a room of five people and they all argue with you. They're like, that's not how it is, you know, and you're like, shut up, you know, then it's not fun. So I think with this, it's like, how do you how do you find those ways that are to your point, like entertaining and surprising and have you leaning forward and flipping the page, but are also telling you, hey, here's how this works. You know what I mean?

[00:24:09] There's a ship called the Enterprise and we're going through space and there's a person who used to be kind of a robot, I guess, who is messed up from that, but she's in charge. And but she's kind of dealing with a lot because there are all these awesome people before her. She's talking about like you can get there, you know, without. Yeah, we can't go like, why is it a G? I don't know. We'll just let's don't worry about that. You know, we'll just keep going. You know, like we're not going to spend time. Like, we'll get to that when we talk about the H, you know, like, who cares? Right.

[00:24:37] I do think it's funny that the Federation for 200 years or so, like 150 at this point or whatever it is, they keep just lettering it. It feels kind of like a government system where it's just bureaucratic, where there's the one guy where someone like you can tell, like there's like some president or politician, like the president of the Federation is like, we should just call it the Enterprise. Why are we? And there's some rules and regulations guy, Utopia Planitia, where they build the ships.

[00:25:05] It's like, no, according to the manifest and the charter, like we we have to continue the alpha, the alphabetical ordering of our vessels just for transponder signal clearance and clarity across international or interstellar borders with our friends and adversaries. So, gee, it is. Gee, it is. And you can see the person just be like, forget it. Fine. Put the fucking G on the top of it.

[00:25:32] I want to know when they're going to run out of like the actual like class of ship because I'm like, because every designation and letter is like a different class. And I'm like, I used to know all of these. And I'm like, I know. And then it's like, I was kind of like, yeah, I was like, wait, what happened to the E? What happened to the F? I'm trying to, why were we, why remember? That's covered in Picard. It's crazy. And it's like, E was the one, like Picard and Data were in charge of the E. And then it's like, you know, F is like, hey, God. And then they're just, yeah, immediately history.

[00:26:01] Like, I think it's, it's kind of fun to play with that. And you've got to remember this too, as we're laughing through it. But it's like, I have to, you can't, Star Trek is supposed to be fun. Like it, it's got to be fun. And because it's a story and it's like any other story, you've got to, you can't, you can't take your fun too seriously. Like I tell my kids. Right. And so I've got to find ways to make myself laugh. The editors laugh. Denny laugh. Jody laugh.

[00:26:30] Like, because I'm, but it's coming from a place. I'm not laughing at, it's like laughing from a place of profound love, which is what I think Mike McMahon did so incredibly in Lower Decks where you can see this is a person who loves this. Yeah. But it's also very funny and can bring that tone to Star Trek. It was like, it felt like an impossible task. And then it's iconic now forever. Like it's to the point where we got to incorporate another, like in zero point, you know, Tendi

[00:26:59] is the XL and she's older and like, you get to continue that story. And Mike is so stoked to have those characters live on in these different ways. You know, we get to do things like Shaq's best day and Shaq's worst day in the last run. It's just, it's just, and, and, and I will say that even though this is forward, something that I took like from the original stuff, like, you know, those, those first seasons of original series is we're still doing stuff.

[00:27:25] That's like, and then there's a ray and it makes everyone angry, you know, like, like, you know, like, cause he, you can get super deep and super pseudo sciencey and jargony and that's fun. And that can even be funny. But then you can also do stories where it's like, we're going to cut off all of everyone's senses and including the ships and then everyone's blind, deaf and dumb and they have to work together, right? Like you just keep the story simple, even as you layer a bunch of crazy stuff on top of it.

[00:27:55] It just keeps the audience, you know, dancing through the book with you, which is fun. Yeah. I mean, I, I think back to, you know, episodes of the next generation that I watched and loved. And there were some episodes that I thought were unbelievably profound, like the inner light or. Yeah. That's my favorite. Yeah. Yeah. Mine too. Are, um, I don't know if I just wanted to Darmok and Jalada. Yeah. It's, I think it's just called Darmok, isn't it?

[00:28:24] I think it's just called Darmok. Yeah, I think so. But yeah. But then there's also, what was the episode? The naked now where that was the third episode out. Everybody gets horny. Yeah. It's like everyone just gets horny. I mean, but it's like, but again, it's funny. You, you get to like take all of that, whether you, because it's also, those are shows that went into syndication right away and they're like, we're going to do a 24 episode season order, you know? Yeah. It's like, so you just, you're, I'm sure the writers are sitting there going, I don't know.

[00:28:53] They go camping, you know, like it's just shoot it like it. And that's, and comics kind of share that DNA from their history as well. And there's a fun in that, like in the kind of serial nature of it. Yes. But also you can drop in and go, whoa. And I think that like Charlie Jane is doing this, I think to great effect in zero point. What I've seen so far is those first few issues feel like episodes, you know, and, and we do it. We do it too in our book through the first arc.

[00:29:23] It's, it's, um, it's all connected, but you can drop in and go, oh, I get it. Like they're facing this problem right now. And I'm going to watch them deal with this problem or read them deal with this problem. Um, there's bigger stuff going on in the background, obviously, but we'll get to that later. Like right now it's these two people are wrestling on the transporter pad. Like you can do, you can do that stuff or like in Charlie's first issue, it's like,

[00:29:49] you know, they're going into an eyeball planet and they've got to get in and get out alive. It's like, cool. You know, like that's, that's some really fun stuff. And Trek lends itself to that kind of modular storytelling as well. So you want the issues to stand on their own. Um, just like the episodes did, you know, cause you know, you never watched them. No one ever watched them in order back then. I mean, I, I was watching it, you know, as it went, but like in syndication, they'd be like all over the place. They're like, here's this.

[00:30:15] And you're like, you know, and it's kind of like a little telenovela, you know, and you're like, oh, you know, like data built a daughter, you know, like that kind of stuff. Yeah. Um, it's really fun. Yeah. Um, before I let you go, I just wanted to ask a couple of, you know, we talk about, it's a big high concept in terms of Trek and the crew that you have on it and where we're set. But I wanted to ask like, just from a, you having written Star Trek, being a fan of it,

[00:30:43] you know, you've mentioned it, it's the 60th anniversary of Star Trek. Um, were there things that either you, you had done before that in terms of Defiant or things that you just really love about Star Trek that you were excited about incorporating into this series that you can talk about, you know, whether or not it's, um, you know,

[00:31:04] what does, uh, what does seven say, you know, when, uh, she tells LaForge to put it into warp or like, Oh yeah. Yeah. Or very Star Trek-y that you are like, I'm very excited that I'm going to get to do something like with this. Yes. I mean, I, so there's, I think both of those things, right? Like I, I will say like, I, I think we've talked about this before and other stuff. I'd like, uh, I'll be like, uh, doing something with DC and I'll be like, I really want to do

[00:31:34] plastic man, you know? And they're like, what? You know, like, but I, I'm like all about it, you know, like, and that, like, so doing something like that and writing a character, getting to see Alexander as a chief medical officer is like, it's very fun for me just as like, that's stuff I worked on for years in defiant to build that character out as an adult and really put him through the ringer with Jackson and Colin. So to see, to keep that going is awesome to keep their character, Lily Sato going, who

[00:32:02] I think is one of the best characters created in track, those guys in Ramon creating her that she's so special to see her story continue. But then, yeah, I mean, you know, Terry and, and that show, they, they cut out before you see what seven says to warp. So I was like, I, I just went right into it. I was like, we got to say some, she can't, we can't keep, we can't keep cutting. We don't have that trick. We can't like go to a black panel and then the story continues because she's, they're literally warping all over the place.

[00:32:32] So I don't have her saying all the time, but I did pick something for her. That is to your point in our discussion about her, it feels like seven went, um, she reached into her humanity and pulled something out. That is, it sounds good. It sounds like seasoned Jerry Ryan, I think from season three, maybe even a little older. Um, but also it is a, it's a reference to something in earth past, you know, and in

[00:33:00] humanity's past that if anybody picks it up, I'll be amazed. But I think it's, it's just a fun, it's like, we got to give her something. So you get to choose that and you get to do it on the 60th anniversary year of the creation of Star Trek as really fun. And, and that's very special. And I feel very privileged and honored to do that. So it's, it's really cool. Awesome. Yeah. Uh, well, uh, Chris, I really appreciate you, you coming back on. Uh, and, uh, yeah, we'll, we'll, we'll, uh, we'll, we'll court some more later so we can,

[00:33:27] you can, you can blow past the, uh, the couple of creators that have been on five times. And then, um, I'm looking forward to our, our additional, my additional five appearances. I think we should just get into the eye cal of it after this and just set it up, you know, and just get them, get them on the books. So lock it out. Yeah, exactly. And just keep going. You know what I mean? Like maybe just once a week. What's this? We'll just meet. I'll become an unofficial co-host of comic book. You guys will be like, ah, can't what wants to be on again. Get this guy out of here.

[00:33:57] You know, it's like, I just want the number. I want the record. I want the belt. And look, it's fine. That's not a problem. We can, we can do it. Um, but listeners star Trek issue. Number one from IDW final water cutoff is August 17th. The issue will be out September 23rd. It is seven of nine captaining the enterprise. It is a fantastic first issue. Dennis has been on the podcast before a tremendous artist, uh, Jody Troutman lettering.

[00:34:27] Um, it is just such a fantastic issue. And look, if you're someone that likes Trek, you haven't seen, you know, all of Picard or DS nine was your Trek or Voyager or what strange new worlds, whatever it might be. Or even if you're just like a lower decks fan, I'm telling you, this is just a fantastic comic. If you're even a little bit interested in star Trek, you are really going to like it. And if you haven't checked anything star Trek related out and you just stumbled upon this episode, I'm telling you, give it a chance.

[00:34:55] It's, it was a really fantastic number one issue. Um, yeah. Buy it for the art. Just try to flip through it. Like Pete, you know, I used to do, and I'm sure you did too, Jimmy, when we were kids, it's like, you know, you're reading, it's like, I don't know all the stuff about this person, but I'm going to look at this incredible work done by Eric Larson, you know, or like, or Marie Severin. Stare at it, you know, and then figure out the rest later, you know? Yeah. Fun. Absolutely. It's, it's just, it's just one of those things that it does not look like what you would

[00:35:25] expect a star Trek comic to look, but it, it works and it, it looks phenomenal. And so, uh, yeah. Come for the cowl neck uniforms. Stay for the ray that makes everyone angry. Yeah. Do that. Exactly. So, uh, so listeners, uh, rate and review us to all the stuff they tell you to do about podcasts. Shout out to my brother, Bobby, the cryptic creator corners. Number one, most dedicated fan. So Bobby listens to, uh, all my episodes. So to shout out to Bobby and, uh, shout out my, my coworker.

[00:35:54] Uh, I refer to her as my business husband, uh, Rachel at work, who has started listening to the podcast, which I'm absolutely shocked that another attorney is listening to my comic book podcast, but she likes it. So, um, hi Rachel. If you listen to this episode, she's also a big star Trek fan. So Chris, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I thought it was a phenomenal first issue and, um, I'll see you next week. That sounds great. Thanks so much, Jimmy. Thanks for having me. All right. Bye. All right. All right, listeners. Uh, thanks for listening.

[00:36:24] I'll see you next time. And good night. Jimmy is too humble to do this. So as his stalwart writer, I, I wanted to tell you about his new graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti with artist Amber Akin. 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. Yes, I'm predisposed to be supportive, but after reading an advanced copy of it, I have

[00:36:51] 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 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. They're way smarter and perceptive than we adults give them credit for.

[00:37:18] 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 pre-order a copy today. Yeti or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fenton, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent Yeti. On behalf of us both, we appreciate your support. Woohoo!

[00:37:47] Yahoo! Wah-wah! This is Byron O'Neill, 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. If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast, Into the Comics Kate.

[00:38:16] Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Bye. Bye.