Christopher Hastings Interview - Total Party Killers

[00:00:00] - [Speaker 0]
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[00:00:55] - [Speaker 2]
Hello, and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I am one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo, and I am very excited to talk to today's guest. He has a new comic coming out through Dark Horse. It is Dungeons and Dragons Total Party Killers. It has artwork by Dennis Medry, colored by Dan Jackson, lettered by Lucas Gattoni.

[00:01:15] - [Speaker 2]
It is gonna be out July 22, and, we're gonna talk all about it along with, a bunch of other stuff. Please welcome to the podcast, Christopher Hastings.

[00:01:26] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, man. Hello. How you doing? I'm doing great. I am so excited to talk about this book.

[00:01:31] - [Speaker 3]
I've been sitting on it for, like, a year. So, yes, let's talk about total party killers.

[00:01:37] - [Speaker 2]
For listeners, if you haven't seen any of the dark horse announcements yet, this story, like I said, it's coming out July 22. And I instantly, as somebody who played D and D for a number of years and kinda, you know, hasn't been able to play in about a year or so just because the biggest D and D villain as an adult is scheduling.

[00:02:00] - [Speaker 3]
The calendar. Yeah. Dreaded lord calendar.

[00:02:04] - [Speaker 2]
I don't know who who first made that joke, but I saw it, and I stole it because it's the truth. Yep. So, yeah, I just I wanna read, ex from from dark horse, from the announcement, and I just instantly was drawn to this story. And I I'm I'm hard pressed to think of seeing something like exactly like this in the Dungeons and Dragons world. But, basically, the wizard, Kustos, has died.

[00:02:33] - [Speaker 2]
His lair lies ripe for the taking. As adventurers raid the lair for treasure, the monsters enthralled by Kustos, life must protect his domain even after his death. That is unless the creatures can trick someone into releasing them. Thus, a lycanthrope, gelatinous cube, mind flayer, death knight, and baby beholder form their own adventuring party to win their freedom in a hostile world. I mean

[00:02:57] - [Speaker 3]
That sounds good.

[00:03:01] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Dark Horse did a nice job, or if you wrote that, I don't know exactly

[00:03:04] - [Speaker 3]
what I did.

[00:03:06] - [Speaker 2]
Like, I mean, it gives you everything you need to know. I'd and I love the idea of these kind of classic D and D, you know, troublesome bad guys kind of forming their own adventuring party. Absolutely love it. So just dive right in.

[00:03:25] - [Speaker 3]
Like, I wanna hear, like,

[00:03:27] - [Speaker 2]
excited about how this came about.

[00:03:29] - [Speaker 3]
Sure. Well, yeah. I mean, I'm a longtime Dungeons and Dragons player myself. You know, I started in the nineties with second edition. Actually, my first time playing was a very specific Ravenloft spin off, mask of the red death, which is, like, sort of a it's like a '18 late eighteen hundreds, like, Lovecraftian sort of thing where it's like they've reskinned the classes and, like, magic is dangerous.

[00:04:01] - [Speaker 3]
But, you know, also, I was a teenager and I played with a group that, like, very quickly turned that into, like, one of the beloved NPCs were, like, intergalactic cats that, like, drove a a flying convertible, like, which is I think we all have our home games that get ridiculous real fast. Sure. And that's how it went right away. But but yeah. And so, like, playing Dungeons and Dragons forever eventually turned into joining my friends to make the podcast Root Tales of Magic, which is, know, it's a bunch of comedians playing Dungeons and Dragons.

[00:04:37] - [Speaker 3]
And and then from there, a couple of folks at Wizards of the Coast reached out to me, and they were like, oh, like, you are the you're the you're the we know you're the comic writer on Root Tales of Magic, and also you are a cocreator of Gwenpool. We wanna see what you would like to do, like, with our stuff. And my answer was, you have a couple of very specific monsters I'm not allowed to touch in other media because you own their trademarks. So, like, I I gotta do something with beholders. I gotta do something with mind flayers.

[00:05:14] - [Speaker 3]
I don't know if they own the Gelitis Cube or not, but I think they do. And that kind of turned into my mind. I was like, why don't I just take all their coolest stuff and put it in one book? And I sort of pitched them on the idea of it's like, it's the suicide squad of the forgotten realms. Yeah.

[00:05:33] - [Speaker 3]
And Love it. Yeah. So that's that's sort of the the shortest version of how we got here from me being 16 years old at a summer camp playing D and D for the first time.

[00:05:43] - [Speaker 2]
I mean, I just think it's such a fun idea because when you think of all the different D and D stuff that is out there now or, you know, even things that are close to it, like, any type of, like, RPG and and the popularity of it now, the different types of stories that are being told. And there's so many different combinations of, you know, classes and races and all, you know, but to to take the villains or the the the the monsters that you have to fight and kinda create this team. Yeah. I I don't know that I've ever seen anything done quite that way. I just instantly, I yeah.

[00:06:24] - [Speaker 2]
I'm interested, and I I wanna know more. Especially, I love that you you got the gelatinous cube in there because I just think don't I don't think there's any D and D character that, you know, in something like this that is that is more rife for, for comedy Yeah.

[00:06:44] - [Speaker 3]
Than than a gelatinous cube. I I completely agree with you. Heads being like, please let me make one a main character in this book. Yeah. You know, like, that when you're saying, like, you haven't seen anything like this before, to me, I was just like, why hasn't this happened before?

[00:07:05] - [Speaker 3]
These are, like, your coolest guys. Like and, you know, talking with the folks at Wizards of the Coast, and it's like like, yeah. You know, like, usually, like, it's like we do have these really cool villains, but they're they're just there for the players to bounce off of. So it's like they have, like, built up these awesome monsters over years of, you know, the monster manuals and various modules and stuff like that. But it's like like, let's give them let's give them the center.

[00:07:30] - [Speaker 3]
Like, let them be the protagonists for once. I will say there is like a there's a kid's book called Dungeon Dungeon Academy, which is about, like, a little girl who pretends to be a minotaur to, like, infiltrate, like, a school for D and D monsters. And, like, that's an official D and D publication. It's very good, very charming. That sounds awesome.

[00:07:54] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:07:54] - [Speaker 3]
It's great. It yeah. She's teaming with, like, an owlbear, a kobold, and I think a mimic. The mimic is delightful. And but this is I'm doing a more adult version.

[00:08:05] - [Speaker 3]
Okay. People get hacked into in this one. You know, people get dissolved horrifically inside of a gelatinous cube here. As as they should. As they should.

[00:08:17] - [Speaker 3]
Absolutely.

[00:08:20] - [Speaker 2]
I I do wanna talk more about the story, but, one of the things that has interested me and especially with my friends that we've talked about because we're, you know, we we we started playing in 2017, and I've told the story on the podcast before that when the topic of dungeons and dragons has come up. That as a kid, I always wanted to play. Mhmm. It always sounded like something I would be into, but I never really knew anybody that that played. And I, was with some friends, and they they were they had a a Game of Thrones board game, and they wanted to have a board game night.

[00:08:53] - [Speaker 2]
And I was like, oh, yeah. I'll come over. Bring a six pack. I'll play a board game. Why not?

[00:08:58] - [Speaker 2]
And it lasted, like, six or seven hours. But by the end of the night, we started talking about other things. And one of the guys, my friend Dan, who does stuff for comic book yeti and has more board games than anybody I know, asked, did anyone wanna play D and D? Because he had played before. And I said, yeah.

[00:09:15] - [Speaker 2]
I I I always wanted to. I thought it'd be neat. So we started playing in 2017, and we had a good, you know, seven year run

[00:09:23] - [Speaker 3]
or so. That is a good run. Yeah.

[00:09:25] - [Speaker 2]
Of getting together and and playing, and it was everything I thought it would be as a kid. It was awesome. I loved playing. I loved the storytelling, the collaborative storytelling of it. And, you know, but I certainly knew from hearing about it growing up that it it was something that was looked at, like, you know, you have the satanic panic of the employees.

[00:09:49] - [Speaker 3]
And you have

[00:09:50] - [Speaker 2]
I got to experience that

[00:09:51] - [Speaker 3]
firsthand. Yeah.

[00:09:53] - [Speaker 2]
It was not very even when I heard about it, like, was not very cool, which was fine for me because I I was an indoor kid through and through

[00:10:01] - [Speaker 3]
growing up.

[00:10:03] - [Speaker 2]
Are you surprised now, or, like, what do you think of seeing how popular Dungeons and Dragons is in the mainstream and also not just with people playing it and with the movie and with books, but, you know, like podcast, Rue's tales of magic and things like dimension 20 and critical role. Like, did you ever see that when you first started playing that this would be our world one day?

[00:10:28] - [Speaker 3]
I have a horrible embarrassing answer to that question. So whenever I was like I think I was 16. I was mid high school, an assignment for I wanna say an English class was like, we had to write essentially a speech, make an argument. Like, it's basic training on, like, how to, like, make a statement and then have, like how to back it up to be, like, a persuasive like, make a persuasive argument, essentially. And I decided to I decided to, like, use this platform of delivering a speech to my entire class to basically say, stop picking on nerds.

[00:11:11] - [Speaker 3]
And part of my argument was saying, like, I was like, the stereotype that people have of Dungeons and Dragons players as these lonely basement dwelling nerds is completely false. You need, like, five friends to play this game with. People who are into D and D are not like these antisocial creatures you are painting them to be. And I was, like, a very passionate speech about this in class. Clearly, I think showing I had nothing left to lose on the social ladder at that time.

[00:11:50] - [Speaker 3]
But so that's so that's me saying, like, no. I think everybody was gonna catch up eventually that actually this is, a super fun thing to do with your friends. Yeah. And I will say, I think I think the only thing that was, like, slowing down the popularity that it's gotten to at this point is just about, like, accessibility of the rules and the publications of the rules. There it's fifth edition is way friendlier than second or first edition was and certainly friendlier than fourth.

[00:12:25] - [Speaker 3]
Don't get me started on fourth edition. Sorry, Pathfinder But, yeah, it the they've I think they've kind of cracked a way to make it very friendly to new players, and I think we're generally in the time period where a lot of, like, the really fun pop culture stuff that was used to be, like, nerd stuff, like, everybody else caught up. And and, yeah, it's just like, it's way easier to play now, and it's super fun to play. So, like, of course.

[00:12:58] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. It it is super fun to play. And just the chance to I I just like inhabiting a character because I I I like to act like I, you know, I did theater in high school and college, and those role playing elements that I don't, you know, really get to do now. I mean, I I'm a trial lawyer, so every once in a while, I do get to

[00:13:20] - [Speaker 3]
do it.

[00:13:21] - [Speaker 2]
But I I I'm I just I only play the same you know, I pretty much just play the same character. It was nice to branch you out in in D and D. And

[00:13:29] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, it's funny. Yeah. I'll tell you another thing. I'd I'd done another dorky thing I did in high school. I was on the mock trial team.

[00:13:36] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, nice.

[00:13:37] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, yeah. There you go. But I only got cast as witnesses. I was begging the coach to, like, let me be the attorney and, like, let me make my big arguments, but they're like, no. We we we prefer you to stay in character and improvise on the stand.

[00:13:50] - [Speaker 3]
I was I was very good in the cross examination, of dancing around the the cross.

[00:13:57] - [Speaker 2]
Right. Right. Well, it it I mean, I'm sure those skills suited you well for, Rude Tales of Magic.

[00:14:03] - [Speaker 3]
Turns out yeah. No. I I was an improviser without realizing it.

[00:14:07] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Oh, that's too funny. How did you get involved in that initially? Like, how did you go from playing D and D to starting the podcast and and doing all that?

[00:14:19] - [Speaker 3]
So I had I had not played for many years whenever we we got to around, like, I wanna say twenty fourteen or so. And I I started playing with some friends I had made at the improv comedy theater, The Magnet in New York City. And so I had started getting into improv comedy there, and then a group of us started playing Dungeons and Dragons together for a few years. And some of the most fun games of my life, like playing with these other very talented improvisers. And then that group kind of morphed into the group that became the Rude Tales cast, and we played that particular group, we played, like, two times, I think, at home.

[00:15:09] - [Speaker 3]
And then Branson Reese, our dungeon master was like, hey. Why don't we get on mic and do this for money? And my attitude was like, I mean, sure. I like to perform. I don't see this going anywhere, but, like, why not?

[00:15:25] - [Speaker 3]
And, that's that's how we started.

[00:15:27] - [Speaker 2]
Wow. That's, tremendous. Just to take another step back, you know, you mentioned, doing, like, improv comedy. What led you to improv comedy, like, specifically? Like, had it's something you always, you know, considered doing?

[00:15:44] - [Speaker 2]
Or Well, like, as a kid, I loved watching Whose Line Is It Anyway?

[00:15:51] - [Speaker 3]
Mhmm. And then whenever I moved to New York City, you know, we had the UCB theater around, and I was like, oh, wow. Like and just incredible shows at UCB. Just and people who have gone on to be in the office, SNL, everything, like Oh, yeah. You know?

[00:16:10] - [Speaker 3]
That, like, I used to just go see for free on a Thursday night. And so I got really enraptured with the improv comedy scene. And then my wife, Carly, and I started taking classes and just like, you get hooked. You get get sucked in real hard. Yeah.

[00:16:33] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, that's that's funny. Yeah. I was I recently I was listening to a book about the, the making of the Blues Brothers, but part of the book talks about it's a really good book, but part of it talks about John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd and and getting their start, you know, in in comedy, in improv. And it it does like a little bit of the history of, like, the rise of, like, improv comedy and, the second city and Yeah. You know, gets in a little bit.

[00:17:01] - [Speaker 2]
It's it's early days, so it doesn't really

[00:17:03] - [Speaker 3]
They're they're classic Chicago.

[00:17:04] - [Speaker 2]
Groundlings or anything. Yeah. Yeah. But it talks about that and and and some of the the pioneers of improv comedy, and it's just like it's just it's just fascinating to me in in terms of all the different things that that can lead to. And, like, you you mentioned that we see, like, so many wonderful comedy writers and actors have have started from a place of of improv.

[00:17:31] - [Speaker 2]
Going to, like, take classes at improv and even doing with, you know, being on Rude Tales of Magic, what do you think is the best attitude to take into it to have, like, the most to have the the most success in terms of in terms of, an improv class?

[00:17:51] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, gosh. Well, if you're just taking a class, I would say to take the class where it meets you, I suppose, to sound stupidly vague. No. I I just think, like, it's you sort of you have to roll with it. You have to, as Bruce Lee said, be like water.

[00:18:11] - [Speaker 3]
You know, it's and and you have to abandon the idea that you look stupid. You will look stupid. Stupid is funny. And, and then suddenly, this thing that you would have been horrified to do seconds ago, the dumbest possible thing, putting yourself out there looking like the biggest idiot on the planet, that gets laughs. And then suddenly, stupid changes to cool and, like, the best person in class in, like, a second.

[00:18:41] - [Speaker 3]
And, like, I think that's the addictive quality I've I've been talking about. So, yeah, you you, like, you have to put yourself out there, and you have to, like I mean, when you get to a later stage, not that much later, the big thing is just listening. The best thing you can do is, like, stop trying to write a scene in your head as you're going and just, like, react genuinely in the moment to the person that you're acting with. And what you will find is if you're trying to be funny, which I I guess if improv comedy, are. You will find that, like, you have a natural sense of humor that comes out and you don't even realize it just by reacting to someone honestly.

[00:19:26] - [Speaker 3]
And those are the best moments when you're like, wait. I didn't everyone's laughing. I didn't think what I said was funny. And they're like, like, you said that shoes are the tires of feet, and you believe that. That's funny.

[00:19:36] - [Speaker 3]
You know? Like, something like that.

[00:19:38] - [Speaker 2]
Right. Oh, that's great. So how do you think your, like, skills that you've developed with improv with doing Rude tales of magic have impacted, you know, your writing, whether or not it's writing for Marvel or now writing for Dungeons and Dragons with Total Party Killers.

[00:19:57] - [Speaker 3]
So, yeah, I was a comics writer for a long time before I I started improv. And I will say, like, the most useful stuff I took away from it. Well, first off, there's this big idea that most that comes from the UCB theater, which is if if this is true, what else is true? Or if if the more specifically, the improv, if the unusual thing is true, what else is true? So, like, I think the example that they literally use in their textbook is like, okay.

[00:20:31] - [Speaker 3]
So you're improvising a scene that's like, it's a dentist and a patient, and it's going normally. Like, you kinda just react like it's normal. And then, like, the dentist says, like, okay. Well, close your eyes, and I'm gonna take your teeth out with a brick. And you don't use everybody needs to, like, hear that moment and say, oh, that's the unusual thing.

[00:20:50] - [Speaker 3]
We don't need to invent more stuff. His secretary doesn't need to be a dragon. You know? Like, they don't need to be in a dentist office that's in a sewer. The weird thing is he takes teeth out with a brick.

[00:21:02] - [Speaker 3]
Okay. If this dentist takes teeth out with a brick, what else is true? Well, we'd say, he probably went to a pretty weird dental school, or he might not be a dentist. He might be a guy who just put on a coat and wandered into the wrong room and is faking it. Like so that's what that means.

[00:21:21] - [Speaker 3]
And I find that really useful with writing. Because when you invent too many things on top of each other, it gets muddied. But if you, like, kind of just let this kernel blossom from, like, one key thing and you sort of kind of create what's real in your world based off of, like, just, like, one thing, I find it's tremendously useful.

[00:21:43] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, no. That's I I love that. Yeah. I can see in terms of improv how that can be true. Like, you stick with whatever the weird thing is, and you can you know, piling stuff onto it, it you'll get away from what the original intention of the weird thing was.

[00:22:00] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:22:00] - [Speaker 2]
And I can I can see how that is kinda useful in the, in the writing of it?

[00:22:05] - [Speaker 4]
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. 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.

[00:22:36] - [Speaker 4]
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, kids.

[00:22:53] - [Speaker 4]
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. It's hitting shelves on April 21, and I dropped the link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today.

[00:23:14] - [Speaker 4]
Getty 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. YOLOLA.

[00:23:28] - [Speaker 2]
And specifically with you know, to get back into total party killers. Like, once you pitched it and had this idea, how quickly did the the outline of it kinda fall into place for you?

[00:23:45] - [Speaker 3]
Oh gosh. The the gestation period did take a while. I Okay. Well, like, the ideas came very quickly to me, but, like, I pitched them a lot of stuff.

[00:24:02] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, alright.

[00:24:02] - [Speaker 3]
I pitched a lot a lot a lot of stuff. Like, we once we locked in on, like like, monster party that's what we've been calling it internally this entire time. We call it monster party. We we decided to lock in on turtle party killers as, like, the actual title relatively Yeah. Relatively recently.

[00:24:21] - [Speaker 3]
But, like, internally, we've all been calling it monster party.

[00:24:25] - [Speaker 2]
It's a that's a great title too.

[00:24:26] - [Speaker 3]
I like I like it. But, you know, in terms of branding, it sends a different message. But Yeah. But, yeah, once we locked in on the idea of the monster party, I pitched so many plots. And then we kinda locked in on a couple that we thought worked.

[00:24:46] - [Speaker 3]
And then, like and, like, that process maybe took a month, and then I kinda figured out, like, an issue by issue outline, and maybe that took a couple more weeks. But like, I mean, let's see here. They initially approached me in March of last year, and I think I had the issue by issue outline done maybe in June. Okay. Yeah.

[00:25:10] - [Speaker 3]
And but it was nice to have, like, plenty of time to write the actual issues. I've I've never gotten to take so much time to write a couple issues of comic books before. It was really lovely just to, like, make sure I was checking my work as I went and, like, not just, like, throwing down bricks or, you know, or train tracks, I should say, for the artist to catch up with me.

[00:25:30] - [Speaker 2]
One of the things that I always find interesting when when writing a story is when you you have an initial idea and you're you're, you know, you're figuring out who your characters are and you think that there's a one character that you're gonna love writing. And then that changes Yeah. As you write the story that it it turns out maybe a character that you didn't think was going to be integral to it. When you have so many fun, interesting characters that you're familiar with for playing dungeons and dragons over the years, did did you find that at all? Was there a character that you you maybe, knew was gonna be in it but turned out to maybe have like, you enjoyed writing more than you thought initially?

[00:26:11] - [Speaker 3]
Oh gosh. Yeah. This took a lot of restraint. And I know that, like, you know, when we say it's a team with the beholder, the gelatinous cube, the like, and throw up the death knight and the mind flayer. I don't think I missed anybody there.

[00:26:29] - [Speaker 3]
It's it's packing a lot in, so it took a Sure. A lot of restraint to make sure that everybody had their moment without crowding the pages, without overcomplicating. But, like but there were, like so, like, I really wanted Dristo Orden in the book. Yeah. Don't I if you're familiar with the with the the one good elf or dark elf Yeah.

[00:26:52] - [Speaker 2]
I should say. The one good elf.

[00:26:54] - [Speaker 3]
Who was like he was my, you know, my pain fantasy hero for many years. I love those books. I really wanted them to face off against Drist. But Wizards was like, we got plenty of Drist right now. Please think of something else.

[00:27:13] - [Speaker 3]
And then I was like they encouraged me to, and I was very close to putting, Minsk and Boo in the in the in the story as, like, a hero heroes for them to face off against. Minsk is, of course, from the Baldur's Gate series with his, tiny space tiny giant space hamster, who is, like, a a such a fun character I've loved for many years. And it's just like, that was the one where I'm like, this over complicates it. If I try to make them be face off against Minsk, as well as all the other stuff we're trying to do here, I'm gonna have 12 panel pages every single page, and my artist is gonna travel from Italy to New York to shoot me in the face, and the letter is gonna do the same. They're gonna fight for who kills me.

[00:28:05] - [Speaker 3]
So so I did have to make some cuts on some things I really wanna do. However, I mean, listen. If the if the book does well, if we do if we do so well, we gotta do more than four issues. I have a lot of ideas.

[00:28:19] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah. That's that is the good thing. Right? So, you know, save it save it for the next one.

[00:28:26] - [Speaker 3]
I have I have a very long document of things I'm saving for the next one. Oh, good. Yeah. And if it doesn't work out, I'll print it out, and I'll put it on a boat and send it up to sea and shoot a flaming arrow at it.

[00:28:36] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, okay. Well, at least you have a plan.

[00:28:38] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Fighting funeral. Fighting funeral for my precious ideas.

[00:28:43] - [Speaker 2]
So when, when when you are, like, putting this together and, you know, and kind of, constructing this, what was the process, like, working with the the rest of the team? Was it collaborative, or was it more so you write throughout the script and send it in, which sometimes happens with, you know, with publishers where it's a little more separate.

[00:29:06] - [Speaker 3]
Sure. So, yeah, like I said, there was a there was a pretty extensive period of, like, pitching and outlining that was very collaborative with with wizards and with dark horse, where we were all, you know, having a great time, honestly, like, talking about what we wanted to do. And then once it went to script, it was pretty much in my hands at that point. Okay. And yeah.

[00:29:34] - [Speaker 3]
And then once we brought in Denny, our our line artist, he has been so great about, like, showing his, like, his layouts and sketches and stuff all along the way and, like, working with us. Like, he'll he'll bring in a layout, and I'll I'll kinda say, like, oh, you know, you have this moment here, and I'll I'll do a little sketch. I'm like, I think this might communicate it a little bit better. And then he'll be like, okay. No problem.

[00:29:58] - [Speaker 3]
And then sometimes he's like, hey. You wrote this in your script. This will work better, and then he'll show me. I'm like, yeah. You're absolutely right.

[00:30:05] - [Speaker 3]
Like, thank you. Great. So, yeah, we there's you know, there are moments where people go off in their holes and do their thing, and there are moments where we all sort of work it out. And it's been just a lovely experience. It's been so fun working on this book.

[00:30:18] - [Speaker 3]
It's why I'm just thrilled to talk about it all the time.

[00:30:22] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I was thrilled when, you know, Byron, who is the other host of the podcast and the editor in chief of comic book yeti had sent it to me, and he's like, I think you're gonna like this.

[00:30:33] - [Speaker 3]
We

[00:30:34] - [Speaker 2]
should try and get somebody on the podcast. I'm like, oh, yeah. Yeah. Absolute. Yes.

[00:30:37] - [Speaker 2]
Great.

[00:30:38] - [Speaker 3]
This is incredible. I know. I can't wait to, like, start showing off artwork. Like, I've seen a lot of interior artwork, and I'm like, can't can't show it yet.

[00:30:47] - [Speaker 2]
Well, even the stuff that Dark Horse posted in terms of the different covers.

[00:30:50] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, the covers are so cool.

[00:30:52] - [Speaker 2]
All the covers look great. Oh, yeah. There were just some tremendous ones. I really like I I'm not sure which artist did it, but there there is one that looks kind of, like, distressed. Like, it is I know the one you're talking about.

[00:31:06] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:31:07] - [Speaker 2]
Like a monster manual that has been sitting on somebody's shelf and has been, you know, lovingly used aggressively over the years. Like, that, I think, looks like a it's fantastic. I love that type of stuff. When putting something together like this, do you do you, like, have go back in your mind and rely or not rely on, but think of any of the moments that, like, really stand out to you while you were playing to see is there, like, any little Easter eggs you can work in?

[00:31:37] - [Speaker 3]
Well, I mean, so, like, I was I was so into into reading everything D and D as a kid. Like, I subscribed to Dragon and Dungeon magazines, like, you know, was picking up modules, like, in just like in weird corners of, like, comic and hobby shops, you know, as a kid. So I was I'm I'm pretty pretty well steeped in the general lore of the Forgotten Realms, of Faerun, of Toril, if you will. Yeah. You you I and I was very excited.

[00:32:15] - [Speaker 3]
Again, I had to I had to show restraint. I was very excited to, like, really make sure that this book, like, is very grounded in every single piece of the world building that came before me. And I was also really aware of how powerful everybody on the team is and what a problem that makes for, like, dramatic tension if, like, all of them get together can kind of just wipe out a continent continent if they feel like it. So I had to, like, really be careful about them. Like like, okay.

[00:32:53] - [Speaker 3]
Like, let's say they can definitely kill anything that comes across them. Like, what sort of problems can I make that would actually, like, make them have to take a step back and not do things the way they normally would when, you know, facing off against your adventuring party at home? Right. You know? And, like so and it would like, literally, there's stuff where it's like there's a scene where where I have them get in a fight, and I throw everything I can at the death knight character.

[00:33:24] - [Speaker 3]
And I'm looking at his monster manual entry, and I'm like, oh my god. The death knight can, like, ignore saving throw fails, like, three times a day. If if if you if you win in a saving throw off, like, casting a spell at him, he can just say, nah. So I was like, okay. Great.

[00:33:43] - [Speaker 3]
We really need to show how many spells throw at him before he's finally, like, a little bit vulnerable. So, like,

[00:33:51] - [Speaker 2]
that was cool stuff to work

[00:33:52] - [Speaker 3]
in to be like, okay. Let's respect the rules, and let's try to make a story around the rules.

[00:33:58] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, I I love that. I mean, well, I I feel like, you know, you're giving yourself kind of an an added challenge by by doing that, though. Because you, you know, you could have had these characters and bent it a little bit. But

[00:34:13] - [Speaker 3]
There's there's a there's a smidge of bending, but, like, largely, it has been a bit of a gift to have those limitations.

[00:34:22] - [Speaker 2]
Okay.

[00:34:23] - [Speaker 3]
Because, like, you know, I I can say, like, oh, I need I need them to get like, I kinda need them to, like, teleport somewhere, and then I'll go I'll flip to the thing. I'm like, okay. If they cast just this version of teleport, that puts them at this spell caster level. No. That's too high.

[00:34:41] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, but they can do this one. That puts them at the right level. And then I can like like, oh, let's say they can do teleportation circle versus, like, straight up dimension door or whatever. Like, now I know what I'm working with, and, oh, I can make a story based off of them overcoming those limitations. And it's actually it's quite a gift instead of just being like, well, they can do anything.

[00:35:00] - [Speaker 3]
If they can do anything Yeah. Yeah. Who cares?

[00:35:02] - [Speaker 2]
I I get that. That that does, you know, make sense. Like but it is kinda taking what what looks like, I think, a limitation and and using it as a strength in terms of your storytelling.

[00:35:14] - [Speaker 3]
Well, that's that's the secret is, we we we flourish Yeah. Within within boundaries.

[00:35:19] - [Speaker 2]
Sure. Oh, I love that. And so what else are you you know, you said you're excited to talk about the series, and you've been working on Like, what do you really want fans of D and D, or maybe somebody who isn't a fan of of dungeons and dragons necessarily? And they're like, oh, this looks like a cool cover. What is this all about?

[00:35:38] - [Speaker 2]
Like, what do you want folks to know as to when they go into a comic shop?

[00:35:42] - [Speaker 3]
Well, yeah. So for for fans of D and D, I have really made a point of respecting years and years and years of lore. I really make a point of everything that is set, I treat as though it is real. However, I am also doing some twists on a lot of stuff that is sometimes comedic, sometimes badass. You will experience these characters in a way that we have not seen before.

[00:36:19] - [Speaker 3]
I'll give you. I'll spoil one for you. The gelatinous cube is the spell caster of the group. The gelatinous cube has absorbed enough magical, like, crap off of adventurers bodies that the right, you know, electrical things hit each other and made it sentient and turned it into a sorcerer. So, like, that's kinda like the fun we're having where it's like, oh, that's plausible.

[00:36:46] - [Speaker 3]
You know? Like, I think there is literally, like, a similar sentient gelatinous cube in dungeon of the mad mage. This the the the big mega dungeon under mountain, under wanderdeep. So it's like, that's within the rules of the world, but like, we are still having fun with it in a way you maybe haven't seen before. So that's my pitch to the D and D fans.

[00:37:10] - [Speaker 3]
And as for comic book fans who are not so into D and D. Yeah. Please do not worry about everything I've said about how loyal I am to the setting. I know I know that every single thing in here that I set up, I have to pretend I'm explaining it to your grandmother. So, like, we we are very seamlessly bringing you into the world, and it's just like a cool fantasy world where you get to root for the monsters who all look very cool doing their cool things.

[00:37:42] - [Speaker 3]
And, like, you might find that they have some humanity to them as well. And, and, of course, you know, I I can't help but bring a little comedy to it. So we we've we've got our fun there too. I I think it sounds awesome.

[00:37:56] - [Speaker 2]
Thank you. I'm I'm really I'm really excited to read it. I just right from the get go in terms of the premise, I just think it's I think it's really smart. It sounds really fun. It's so, in addition to this, I mean, is there anything else that you're, like, working on currently comics wise that

[00:38:13] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, yeah. All the So, like, my my main job in comics is, I work on, investigators presents agents of suit, which is a series of children's or all ages comics. They are they're, graphic novels that you'll find in the kids graphic novel section at Barnes and Noble. They they are about funny animals who are secret agents. They are called the investigators because they are alligators who wear vests.

[00:38:46] - [Speaker 3]
They are in vests. Vest stands for very exciting spy technology. Suit stands for special undercover investigation teams. And that's what I work on the most. I also work on the Five Nights at Freddy's graphic novels.

[00:39:03] - [Speaker 3]
So we have books to amuse children and then terrify them. But Beth to Beth world. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:39:11] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. So it's funny, like, I I did a I did a signing for Agents of Suit recently, and a parent was like, so so what else are you working on? You're doing these Freddy's books? I was like, how old is your kid? Seven?

[00:39:23] - [Speaker 3]
Mm-mm. No. Don't do it. Wait till they're, like, 12. And even then, like, read it first before you give it to them.

[00:39:34] - [Speaker 2]
That's, that yeah. That's awesome. No. Those the investigators books, they they I mean, I read I have two kids. My kids are, like, eight and 13, and we've always read a ton of books and comics and graphic novels and everything.

[00:39:47] - [Speaker 2]
And, yeah, the investigators

[00:39:49] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, so you're aware. Okay. I I never know when I have to do the pitch or not.

[00:39:54] - [Speaker 2]
Well, listeners aren't. I I I they they hear enough of me, so I just figured, you know, I'd give you an opportunity. But, yeah, I'm familiar with the investigators, books, the agents of suits. They're they're they're wonderful. They're wonderful books.

[00:40:07] - [Speaker 2]
They're they're phenomenal. So

[00:40:09] - [Speaker 3]
Well, you may not know we also have audiobooks.

[00:40:13] - [Speaker 2]
Really?

[00:40:13] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. No. I did not know. Yeah. So I also, I adapt the comics into audiobook scripts.

[00:40:21] - [Speaker 3]
And I also I play several of the characters in the audiobook recordings. They're full cast recordings. We have it's they're so fun. We we we all go into the studio, and we do our silly voices as all the different characters. Yeah.

[00:40:36] - [Speaker 3]
And, they're they're a blast. I think we we we did, like, the first two books as a bit of an experiment, and it seemed to take off. So, like, we're doing the whole series, like, soon.

[00:40:46] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, that's well, that's fantastic. Yeah. I did not know that there were audiobooks.

[00:40:49] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, yeah. You can you can get the first two. They're they're, they're right there on Audible or Spotify or whatever. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.

[00:40:57] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, I love that.

[00:40:57] - [Speaker 2]
Alright. Well, I'll have links to you know, so folks can follow you on social media and and pick up all this stuff, and especially tell their local comic book shop that they want a copy of dungeons and dragons total party killers.

[00:41:09] - [Speaker 3]
Please. Yeah.

[00:41:11] - [Speaker 2]
You have a pull list. So when you go in on July 22, it'll be right there waiting for you. But, yeah, Chris, this has been so great getting to talk to you.

[00:41:22] - [Speaker 3]
Thank you. Likewise. The the time flew by.

[00:41:25] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I really appreciate it. I'm very excited for the book, and it yes. It's been really wonderful to to to chat with you, and I really hope folks check it out. I am so excited for it.

[00:41:37] - [Speaker 2]
I just think it's a phenomenal idea.

[00:41:39] - [Speaker 3]
Well, thank you for helping me get the word out.

[00:41:41] - [Speaker 2]
It's the least I can do. I I'm very it's it's very selfish. It's just because I I wanna read it, and I'd I'd like to read another series.

[00:41:49] - [Speaker 3]
There you go. I can already Yeah. Yeah.

[00:41:51] - [Speaker 2]
Alright. So, listeners, rate and review us. It really does help us in terms of, you know, if you like listening to the podcast, just just put a little review out there. Just you know, that that'd be nice. I really appreciate it.

[00:42:03] - [Speaker 2]
Dungeons and Dragons total party killers will be out July 22 from Dark Horse. I'll have links in the show notes as I just said for you can, follow, Christopher on social media, and I'll have links to where you can find, all of the stuff that we've talked about today. And, yeah, thank you as always, so much for listening. I will, see you next time, and good night.

[00:42:28] - [Speaker 4]
This is Byron O'Neil, 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.

[00:42:47] - [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.