Dave Wielgosz Interview - Showdown

[00:00:00] - [Speaker 0]
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[00:00:11] - [Speaker 1]
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[00:00:55] - [Speaker 2]
Hello, and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo, and I'm really excited to talk to tonight's guest. I I think it's his first time on the the podcast. At least it's his first time talking with me. He has done quite a number of things in comic books, including working as an editor at DC and IDW.

[00:01:17] - [Speaker 2]
He has written a new series from Ignition Press called showdown, which gonna be talking which we're gonna be talking about, and he has a story come up coming up in the 2026, detective comics annual. But please, welcome to the podcast, Dave Wilgus. Dave, how are you doing today? I'm doing good, Jimmy. Thank you so much for having me.

[00:01:36] - [Speaker 3]
It is my first time here and my first time talking to you. Awesome.

[00:01:40] - [Speaker 2]
Well, welcome to the podcast, and I'm glad we could have you on. I'm certainly familiar with your name, familiar with your work. I really enjoyed I think it was the man bat series that you had done.

[00:01:52] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, thank you.

[00:01:54] - [Speaker 2]
I really like when DC does,

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like, kind

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of like a villain or, like, focus type of series. And, yeah, any anytime DC brings out, like, a weird character or a character that I feel like doesn't get enough attention and lets some lets, like, a really good creative team kinda have a run at it, like like the man bat series. I thought I thought that was great. So I was a

[00:02:16] - [Speaker 3]
big fan. Thank you. That was my first ever full miniseries. I loved doing it. And, yeah, it's it's the book is out of print right now, so it's a bit of a lost piece of media.

[00:02:27] - [Speaker 3]
So anytime I hear about it, I'm I'm delighted.

[00:02:30] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, yeah. I was very excited for it. And like I said, I just love when DC allows kinda creative teams to do something like that and kinda take a chance on something, you know, a little different. And, yeah, I thought it was great. I really enjoyed it.

[00:02:44] - [Speaker 2]
So but I wanna just kinda, like, jump right into your new series with Ignition Press, and I'm sure we're gonna touch on a lot of different things. But you were kind enough to send over the first three issues of showdown. Yes. I've really been enjoying a number of of things that I've read so far from Ignition Press. The first issue came out May 14.

[00:03:03] - [Speaker 2]
I really liked it. I was I got to the end of issue three, and I was like, shit. How long do I have to wait for issue four? Because it listeners, let me set this up for for for what showdown is. It it kind of, we've we've two characters at the center of this showdown.

[00:03:23] - [Speaker 2]
We have a fantastic opening where, as a reader, you're just kinda thrown into some kind of crazy intense high action stuff. And then we take a step back to see, like, how do these two characters, Trish and, oh, is it is it Harvey? Harvey. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:43] - [Speaker 2]
How Trish and Harvey came came to this very intense showdown for you know, to use the title of the book. And, yeah, just I got so wrapped up in it. I just flew through issues one, two, and three. And, where issue three ends is just like, what are those perfect comic cliffhangers that, like, they tell you about when you start, you know, writing comics, when they go through, like, comics by the numbers, you know, about, like, the page turn and and don't don't have more than two actions in a panel. And it's like, oh, always always leave them so that they wanna buy the next issue.

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And I was like, son of a bitch.

[00:04:25] - [Speaker 3]
They got me. Well, I'm thrilled to hear that, man. Thank you so much. Yeah. Like, that is that's definitely the hope.

[00:04:31] - [Speaker 3]
There was a review of number two last week where somebody said, wow. I'm really enjoying reading this book. I'm very nervous for everyone involved. So that seems like it's been the gen general vibe, and I'll happily take it.

[00:04:44] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I I feel the exact same way. But you know what? So why don't you just tell listeners a little bit? You know, I kinda gave them a little bit about getting into it, but really kinda Good.

[00:04:56] - [Speaker 2]
You know, as much as you wanna share about the story of of showdown, and then I have a couple of things I I wanted to talk about in particular. But go ahead. Why don't you

[00:05:05] - [Speaker 3]
take it away? Absolutely. So showdown is a five issue miniseries from Ignition Press written and cocreated by me and drawn and cocreated by artist Tad Galucha. Our colors are by Tiawina Farrell, and our letters are by Clayton Coles, who's all those people are brilliant. And the book follows Trish Sullivan who was kind of the person who oversaw and protected her younger brother, Michael, and she lets her brother Michael out of her sight so she can go on her college orientation.

[00:05:33] - [Speaker 3]
Michael goes to a high school party where he encounters Harvey Harlow, who is the town star, the son of the sheriff, the star football player, and Harvey convinces Michael to drink and drink and drink, and Michael dies of alcohol poisoning. So the first time Trish left her brother out of her sight, he dies. Trish is devastated. She leaves town to go to college and try to, like, get over it, and she can't. In the meantime, Harvey's own life falls apart.

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Everybody in town blames him for the death of Michael. His dad dies. He loses his football scholarship because of an injury. Everything goes wrong for him. And around Christmas time, Frisch goes back to town to find this version of Harvey being very much down on his left, defeated, his life is basically already ruined.

[00:06:17] - [Speaker 3]
So instead of doing the traditional thing where she's just coming back for revenge, she says to him, I think we should fight because I wanna hurt you, but if I can't hurt you, I want you to hurt me. So the book is a revenge story, but it's a revenge story that offers this this opportunity of like, hey. I wanna hurt you, but if you can't if I can't do that, you could hurt me because somebody needs to get over this. Somebody needs to move on. So that's kind of the thing that makes us a little bit different than other revenge stories.

[00:06:46] - [Speaker 3]
Otherwise, the book would be called kill that guy, which is not as fun a title as showdown. In the first issue, we they meet up. They agreed to this showdown, and then Trish gives herself and Harvey forty eight hours before their big final fight to kinda settle their affairs, go through their lives, and see if they have anything worth living for. The second issue follows Harvey on his first day, and the third issue follows Trish on her first day. Issue two came out last week.

[00:07:15] - [Speaker 3]
Issue three, as of the recording of this, comes out at the start of August. So that's the structure of the book so far.

[00:07:22] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I really like the structure of it. I I like how it's set up, because it is it's such an intense scene in those opening panels, and then you kind of pull back and, you know, kinda start to reveal some of the layers of the story and what hap happened to Trish's brother. And then you kind of you know, this town that they're in, you know, you have filled it with some very interesting characters for them to, you know, play off of. There's Harvey's, I guess, somewhat recent, it seems, ex girlfriend Laura who had had the party, and there's his buddy and, I guess, people he played football with, like big Tim who tries to

[00:08:02] - [Speaker 3]
kind get him out

[00:08:03] - [Speaker 2]
of out of his phone. Yeah. Love love love big Tim. And but the same thing with Trish. We see Trish, you know, where she was at school before she comes back, and she has somebody who is kind of, like, in her life, and and Trish's parents are are still around.

[00:08:22] - [Speaker 2]
And and we learn a little bit more about Harvey's dad who had been, like, the sheriff and kind of a big deal. But, yeah, it's it's it's surprising with a story like this where, you know, it it's tough in comics a lot of times to have something that isn't always, high, you know, action or, like, you know, typical big two cape stuff to really squeeze so much character development for all these people. And you and Tad really do, like, a fantastic job of in terms of, like, the economy of telling this story to kinda really ring out as much as you can in the writing and the art as to who these people are in this town, what's their relationship to Trish or Harvey, and and what is the role they play in this larger conflict and what happened with Trish's brother. It's very impressive. Thank you so much.

[00:09:19] - [Speaker 2]
I mean, so much of that credit, goes to Tad who, like, I don't think this book could

[00:09:24] - [Speaker 3]
have existed with a different artist. Tad draws everything so beautifully. Everybody, every character, every location has history, and, like, I don't know how he pulls off that magic trick. Like, he really makes you believe this stuff has existed for a long time. All these

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people have lived full lives,

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full of, like, difficulty and and trauma and problems and, like, everything feels so lived in. And, you know, I'm just so lucky to have him as a collaborator. And and shout out to our editor, Jamie Rich, who paired us together because, like, you know, I wrote that in the script, but if Tad doesn't embrace that magic and put it into his pencil when he's working, it kinda falls apart. You know? Oh, a 100%.

[00:10:02] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I I also

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wanna give a shout out to you, the colorist you mentioned to Triona because

[00:10:09] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:10:10] - [Speaker 2]
Too glossy, too bright. This this doesn't work. It's so effective in terms of the coloring of it that, it's almost like a muted color palette that really makes sense, which with the story that you're you're telling, and it really does a ton of work for the to play into the character's emotion, emotions and the mood of the book. It really works on that level as well.

[00:10:40] - [Speaker 3]
Completely agreed, and we are so lefty that we got, Trey. You mentioned earlier that, like, I I I worked at DC for a long time. On Batman specifically. And when I left DC, I was worried I wasn't gonna like Batman comics anymore, and I was gonna become, like, a snob. I'm glad to report that wasn't true mainly because last year, they did an amazing Batman book called Batman Dark Patterns by Dan Waters.

[00:11:03] - [Speaker 3]
Hayden Sherman. Phenomenal book. And Well, know. It's so colored it. Yes.

[00:11:08] - [Speaker 3]
Excellent. And Triona colored it. So when we were talking about who should color this book, I was like, you know, Triona really knocks me out this year. Like, let's see if we can get her. Thankfully, she said yes.

[00:11:18] - [Speaker 3]
He just turned in the colors for our penultimate issue last week. And every issue, there's a couple pages where you're right. The the color palette is needed, but there's always a page or two where where she'll do something really special where I'm like, that's incredible. Like, how do you how do you do that with this muted palette without, like, going overboard or going over the top? Like, in issue two, there's two pages that that feel that way for me.

[00:11:40] - [Speaker 3]
The first one is when Harvey goes back to his his football field, his kingdom, if you will, you know, his empire. And then, when when things when things start to go poorly at the bar and, like, she intensifies the heat and everyone's face is in a little bit more red, and you're like, oh, it's something bad is about to here. And and in issue four, there's a page with Harvey I won't spoil that just made me go, man, we are so unbelievably fortunate to have her on our team. She's she's a brilliant colorist and a brilliant storyteller.

[00:12:11] - [Speaker 2]
I a 100% agree. Not to I can talk about it without spoiling anything, but just so listeners It it book book three, opens up with we see a little bit of Trish kind of Yeah. Before she came back to town. And the color transition for those couple of, you know, panels and pages with Harris to when it goes to just to Trish, like, in bed thinking about what is, you know, what she is going to do and what is coming up, I thought was very, very effective, that that that switch.

[00:12:48] - [Speaker 3]
It's incredible. And, yeah, to to talk about that a little bit, so, you know, we see a little bit of what Trish's life has been like before she comes back to town. And she's in college, and she's having a good time. She's met a guy, and they're, like, kinda falling in love. And, you know, Tad draws this beautiful scene of them kinda taking in Christmas in the big city, but Priyanna, like, makes both the the the young romance and the the Christmas in the big city thing, like, come to life.

[00:13:14] - [Speaker 3]
Like, it's really beautifully illuminated, and, like, I'm really proud of that opening sequence. I think people are gonna love it they see it. Yeah. That was also important because, like, you know, through issues one and two, Trish is, like, a scary person who's gonna kill you. And in issue three, it's like, hey.

[00:13:29] - [Speaker 3]
We need to show, like, she's a person. And, you know, like, in terms of character arcs, like, you know, in issue one, they both accept their, showdown invitation. But, you know, Hardy is not sure about it. And over the course of the Maze years, he has to become like, I'm a 100% doing it this time. No doubt that I'm doing it.

[00:13:46] - [Speaker 3]
And Trish has to go, is this the right thing to do? And those those those, you know, div dividing arcs are kinda what the whole story is built on.

[00:13:55] - [Speaker 2]
And just to to take a step back as well to talk a little bit more about issue two and, to talk about the the artwork in issue two.

[00:14:08] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:14:08] - [Speaker 2]
One of the the sequences that I really liked is Harvey kinda gets into it when he runs into Laura. Yeah. He's outside the bar that they were in, and I I thought all of that was very good. Especially as Laura goes to go back in the bar, there's, like, a a panel where it's it's just Harvey, and there's kind of, like, one of those outdoor lights that is on him and his shadow like, he cast the shadow. He's downtrodden.

[00:14:38] - [Speaker 2]
His shoulders are slumped. But then, like, the the very next page, it it's really just four panels. It's all kind of focused on, Harvey. You know, he kind of pinches the the bridge of his nose in panel two. He kind of, like, takes a a breath in three.

[00:14:55] - [Speaker 2]
And then there's just, like, a kind of an intense close-up of his eyes in the fourth panel. Like, that whole progression is so, so good. Like, Tad crushed it in that.

[00:15:09] - [Speaker 3]
He did. And that whole page was his idea. So he got the script. Oh, wow. He he was doing the layouts, and he called me.

[00:15:15] - [Speaker 3]
This is the really fun thing about collaborations, so I'm happy to tell the story. He called me and said, hey. Here's how we're gonna do the page. And he was like he was like he was like, here's how we're gonna do it, and here's how you're gonna place the dialogue. It's gonna be amazing.

[00:15:27] - [Speaker 3]
And I was like, okay. I was like, alright. I was like, alright. Let's do it, man. And we did it, and, like, it's it is one of the best pages in the series.

[00:15:35] - [Speaker 3]
I do think it's the best page in that issue. And, again, that all came from collaboration. That came from Tad reading the script and being a brilliant visual storyteller and being like, I think we should do it this way, and me being like, let's go. And I'm so proud that we that we did that page because that's that's the page where doctor Jackal becomes mister Hyde. Right?

[00:15:55] - [Speaker 3]
It's like, oh, he is he is embracing the like, if you if you if you're if you keep telling him I'm a bad guy, I'm gonna go be

[00:16:01] - [Speaker 2]
a bad guy. And, yeah, Tad sells it perfectly. I love that page too. When it carries on from there with Harvey, one like, in terms of your dialogue and the scripting of it, as we get towards the end of of issue two and, you know, there's kind of a little bit of a a scuffle, let's just say, between Harvey and and and big Tim. But the the the transition and the dialogue when, like, it's a close-up on Harvey, and he goes, it's going to hit you all so much harder.

[00:16:36] - [Speaker 2]
And go fuck yourself, beat Tiff. Yeah. What is this thought? Like,

[00:16:40] - [Speaker 3]
that Yeah. It was it was it was so good. And we and, again, to Tadman Sherrill's credit, like, I cut a lot of dialogue out of those pages. Like, a there like, originally, that page those that sequence was, like, almost like our town, the play where it was like, oh, we're all talking about our past, and now we went swell together. And once Tad Okay.

[00:16:59] - [Speaker 3]
Printed the pages, I was like, we don't need any of this stuff. Like, we we we just need a couple nappy remarks, and then we just need Harvey to embrace like, the whole arc of the issue is in the opening, we see how Harvey's dad tries to tell him, like, you don't need to follow the rules. You're better than everybody else. And by the end of the issue, she's like, I am better than everybody else. Fuck these people, and I'm gonna live that way now until I die.

[00:17:23] - [Speaker 3]
And you're like, well, this sucks for everybody involved. So no. Yeah. Like, the the, you know, the the biggest lesson with me on Showdown creatively is that, like, when the art comes in, I just go, I don't need all this dialogue. And we have Clayton Coles, who's one of the best letterers in the business on this book.

[00:17:40] - [Speaker 3]
He letters so many great books from Marvel, DC, and Image. And quite frankly, I don't wanna waste his time giving him a bunch of notes, so I'm aggressive before he letters. I go through the script, and I'm like, cut this. Cut this. Move this.

[00:17:52] - [Speaker 3]
Like, it's been a really, really interesting process, like, you know, figuring out what word end up

[00:17:57] - [Speaker 2]
on the page at the end. Yeah. Clayton's a phenomenal phenomenal letterer. With your work as as an editor, whether or not it's stuff that you've done for IDW or or, you know, for for DC, and then, you know, still doing your own writing projects, whether or not it's an anthology or a miniseries or this or or or a showdown.

[00:18:20] - [Speaker 3]
What do you think

[00:18:20] - [Speaker 2]
is, like, the biggest lesson that you've taken away as an editor when you are then approaching your own writing? Is it that ability to, like, cut and cut and cut, or is it something else?

[00:18:33] - [Speaker 3]
I think that's one of them is just, like, being passionate but not precious and knowing when it's time to defend something and when it's time to let something go. This is an editor. You know, you are kind of you're project managing. You're giving creative direction, and sometimes you're also officiating. Sometimes two people will have different ideas.

[00:18:53] - [Speaker 3]
You have to go, I think today this person's right, but tomorrow the other person might be right. You know? And it's about making those decisions. When I when I left being an editor or or being an editor full time, excuse me, to write more, it was really important to me that, like, I wasn't the final say on my project of a writer where I was as an editor. Like, as an editor, you're like, I get the last say, and this thing's going out the door.

[00:19:19] - [Speaker 3]
I didn't want that as a creator. I didn't wanna be bossing people around, and, like, I didn't want people to take my word over others. I wanted it to be like, the best idea wins because that's what makes the best comics. Even recently, on issue four of showdown on the last page, I won't spoil anything. We had a lot of discourse about the last panel, which I was thrilled by because it meant people still care.

[00:19:42] - [Speaker 3]
We're not just running to the end. We're like, no. Like, we wanna make sure we do everything right. We had all four of us, me, Tad, our editor Jamie, and our assistant Nora, Hornstein, we're all arguing about the last beat of the issue, and we couldn't decide who was right. And, like, you know, ultimately, we we gave you a conclusion, like, it was, like, two days of back and forth.

[00:20:02] - [Speaker 3]
And at one point, you know, somebody goes, well, you know, Dave came up with the story, so it's, you know, like, he's shot in I'm like, no, man. It's all of our story now. Like, I wrote it, but, like, Tad brought it to life. You guys are ending it. Like, this, like, writer as god king bullshit, like, is not gonna happen with me.

[00:20:20] - [Speaker 3]
Like, the best idea needs to win. And having been the editor and seeing the best writers the best writers and the best creators are the people who always take notes even when you think they're ingeniences. Even people who have, like, academy awards. They're like, oh, hey. Thank you for the good idea.

[00:20:35] - [Speaker 3]
I'm gonna use that. They're not precious about the process. They're precious about the final result, which is what you should be.

[00:20:41] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, yeah. I I 100% agree. I mean, it's, you know, it's tough, though. You do sometimes. I'm sure you've you've faced the situation where somebody is like, I wrote it.

[00:20:52] - [Speaker 2]
It's my story, and I'm sure you've had to navigate that before, and that can be difficult. But, yeah, you're you're right. The the mentality in comics of collaboration, the the best idea wins is, I think, makes for the best comics. Yeah.

[00:21:08] - [Speaker 3]
And, like, I think this is true in comics and music and movies, but, like, when when you know, obviously, in comics, like, I think people all all also love when one person writes and draws something. Right? We all love, like, Daniel Warren Johnson's work or, you know, people like that. But, like, you know, me, I can't draw, so I have to collaborate with artists, which I love to do. That means I need to get you equally invested in the project we're doing.

[00:21:31] - [Speaker 3]
And that means that, like, sometimes we're gonna argue, sometimes we're gonna disagree. But at the end of the day, this this work has to belong to both of us. And nothing is more sad, right, than when two people you stop working together. And you're like, can't you guys get over it? Don't you know, like, from our perspective, like, you guys working together is the most magical thing in the world?

[00:21:49] - [Speaker 3]
And then they never they never work together again. It breaks your heart. Like, you know, I think about how how much work, like, Ed Rubegger and Sean Phillips must do to, like, keep their relationship going because for fifteen years, they've been making, like, three graphic novels a year. And that's not just creativity. That's, like, trust and compassion and, like Right.

[00:22:09] - [Speaker 3]
Working on a relationship. Yeah. Absolutely.

[00:22:13] - [Speaker 2]
And and they're good. You know? Like, the reckless series is is it's not like they're turning out crap. Like No. The reckless the reckless series is one of my favorite graphic novel series of all time.

[00:22:25] - [Speaker 2]
I mean

[00:22:25] - [Speaker 3]
I agree. It's it's so good. And I thought the most recent criminal book, which I have on my desk here, five years in reverse, was, like, one of the best things they've ever done. And that's that's what I mean. It's like, you have to both, like you have to push yourself creative, and you also have to, like, be open and, like, keep a relationship going with somebody to to make something that good.

[00:22:44] - [Speaker 3]
I'm

[00:22:45] - [Speaker 2]
just I'm kinda I'm just kinda curious. Like, when you work for, like, a a big company, like, when you work for DC and you're editing in, you know, in terms of Batman books, Like Yeah. When you start doing that, how was the is I have to imagine, like, there's just, like, a ton of nerves in terms of coming into that. Like, was that the case for you, or were you like how do and if it was, how do you get through that? You know?

[00:23:13] - [Speaker 2]
Because you're you could be editing on

[00:23:17] - [Speaker 3]
a book

[00:23:17] - [Speaker 2]
that is a writer who has been doing it for years and years and years when you start out doing stuff like that. How how do you how do you get or how did you find, like, the confidence to, I know what I'm doing, and we're gonna may put out the best book that we can? Because I think I I would be crippled by anxiety and Yeah. Impostor syndrome with a job like that. But what was that experience like for you?

[00:23:45] - [Speaker 2]
I was. I was crippled by anxiety. They did have

[00:23:47] - [Speaker 3]
a lot of impostor syndrome. And, like, you know, I started editing in DC when I was 21 years old. I was a month out of college. Like, I was a I was a little boy. You know?

[00:23:59] - [Speaker 3]
Like and, you know, the first year was hard because, ironically, we're also talking about the day that Marvel announced their moving out to Burbank. But I worked for DC the year. They announced their moving out to Burbank, and I got that job becau yeah. I got that job because folks were leaving DC because they didn't wanna go to LA, and they needed people to be on staff. So they reached out to all the most recent editors at the or I'm sorry, interns at the time because we had some editorial training, and they were like, would you come and work in New York for a year?

[00:24:30] - [Speaker 3]
Kind of the the last year that we're here. So and I had great teachers. My bosses were Mark Doyle and Chris Conroy. I also worked for Rachel Buckstern. He was great.

[00:24:40] - [Speaker 3]
And I learned so much from all three of them, but, like, that first year was hard because there was a lot of, like, hey. Like, you're here to, like, make sure stuff gets done. So it's a lot of learning as it was a lot of learning as you go, like, learning on the fly, going home, and being like, am I good at anything? And because it was not really an environment where we had a lot of time to slow down and teach. Then once I I kept the job and I moved to Burbank, I started working with more editors like Rebecca Taylor and Alex Antone and and and and also Chris Conroy and Mark Doyle also had more time to slow down and teach me because we weren't, like, both making books and moving to another part of the country at the same time anymore.

[00:25:19] - [Speaker 3]
But I also had to do a lot of work on myself and be like, you belong here. You're talented. You got here for a reason. And, you know, I had a lot of insecurities. I was a very, like, angry person.

[00:25:30] - [Speaker 3]
I was a very intimidating person. And then never came out with the other with with creators. Like, with creators, I was always, like, very jovial and very, like, polite. I was very excited to be working with them. Both my peers and with other editors, like, I felt deeply insecure.

[00:25:44] - [Speaker 3]
And it took years to kind of overcome that and get myself on track. But, thankfully, I did, and I really enjoyed editing. In the last couple years in particular, Like, I'd say from from '20 this is good, but I'm terrible because we've all been during the pandemic, one of worst times of all of our lives. Like, really from, like, 2020 to 2023, I got to do some of the best editorial work I ever did. So when I decided to leave DC and become a writer or or spend more time writing, I left going I did the best work I could do, and I'm leaving with my head held back, which most people don't get to do.

[00:26:17] - [Speaker 3]
So I went from, like, deeply insecure to, like, I couldn't have been more proud of myself, which is something I look back on a lot of fondness. But, yeah, I mean, you just have to you have to know that you belong there, that you're there for a reason. Also, thankfully, like, the people I worked with as writers, they couldn't have been nicer people. Like, guys like Pete Tomasi, who himself had been an editor. So I think he was kinda like, I'm gonna, like, quietly mister Miyagi this kid when I talk to him.

[00:26:43] - [Speaker 3]
I'm gonna, like, teach him stuff, but he's not gonna know I'm teaching him shit. You know what I mean? And then as well, like, when I worked on projects with people like Scott Snyder or James Tynan, Simsili, these guys were all very polite and very patient. They would be, what do you think? And they would give me a minute to have them before and, like, say what I think.

[00:27:01] - [Speaker 3]
That's true of many people I worked with. So I'm lucky that I work with good people, and, ultimately, I learned to trust myself. Well, there's only a minute there where I was like, I think I'm gonna get I think I'm gonna get fired. Thankfully, I I didn't get fired.

[00:27:13] - [Speaker 2]
Ugh. Yeah. Thankfully. That's a lot. No.

[00:27:15] - [Speaker 2]
I mean, that's it's an incredible journey. It's like Yeah. It's it's it's a it's a pretty cool comics origin story you have, Dave. Yeah. Thank you.

[00:27:25] - [Speaker 2]
And I just wanna I wanna talk about the Batman detective comics, but I I just since we're talking about editing things, I do just wanna touch on some of the work that you've you're doing now, over at IDW. Yeah. And so is there anything in particular that you I I because I thought correct me if I'm wrong. I thought are are you doing the operation iron coffin? Are you editing on that?

[00:27:49] - [Speaker 2]
Because that's Kenny Kenny Porter's been on the the podcast twice. I love I love Kenny's stuff, and I think it's Terrell Cannon doing the

[00:27:56] - [Speaker 3]
That's right.

[00:27:57] - [Speaker 2]
As well. And just yeah. Yeah. Dracula plus, you know, Nazis in world

[00:28:03] - [Speaker 3]
war two.

[00:28:04] - [Speaker 2]
And I love the stuff that ID stuff IDW is doing with their, like, dark imprint, I guess they're calling it. But, yeah, they've been putting out some great, great

[00:28:12] - [Speaker 3]
books. I agree. They've been doing great work lately. I'm so lucky to be there as a freelance editor. And, yeah, two of the books I'm ending right now that I'm most proud of are Operation Iron Talk by Kenny Porter and Tyrone Cannon.

[00:28:24] - [Speaker 3]
Excellent pulpy horror action book about Dracula trying to stop a Nazi train from carrying a vampiric virus across Europe. And then another book I'm deeply proud of is this crime book we're doing called killer influences by Joey Esposito and Valeria Berzo. Yeah. It's it's a really awesome book. Yeah.

[00:28:43] - [Speaker 3]
Awesome book. I'm super proud of it. And, also, like, those books both came out in the last couple weeks, and they both performed very well critically. And I was also very stoked because I love Kenny and Joey. They're two great writers, two great guys.

[00:28:56] - [Speaker 3]
So Killer Angelouces came out one week. Then the Power Rangers book they co wrote, which is the sick book, comes out the week after. And then Operation Iron Coffin comes out the week after the Power Rangers book. So there's just three weeks when those guys are at the top of comicbookgroundup.com in terms of reviews. I was just sitting there as as their editor, as their peers, and just going, man, I'm just really proud of those guys.

[00:29:18] - [Speaker 3]
They just they're hard workers. They're good dudes. They do great work. And between Iron Coffin, killer influencers, Iron News, which I'm not involved with, but I'm just a big fan of, those guys are having a great year.

[00:29:30] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. That's that I'm I'm so excited for them, but I've met Joey before. He he's been on the podcast with Byron, but I've met Joey before at Baltimore Comic Con. But I loved the pedestrian that he did with Sean Von Gorman.

[00:29:45] - [Speaker 3]
So good. He's so good. And,

[00:29:47] - [Speaker 2]
yeah, Kenny's book that he did with Mike Becker, the new space age. Great. Awesome. Really, really enjoyed. It was just Yeah.

[00:29:57] - [Speaker 2]
I felt like Kenny was and and Mike were that was, like, speaking directly to my, you know, flight of the navigator loving childhood.

[00:30:07] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. That book rules. I also gotta say, like, shout out to Mike Becker. I think Mike is one of the most interesting artists right now. Like, he's he does a ton of, like, just superhero redesigns and sketches for fun.

[00:30:19] - [Speaker 3]
And, like, I got I you know, like, I'd like to work with a lot of people, but, like, I'm just gonna put out there in the universe like, hey, Mike. Like, if we ever get to work together, I'd be very excited. You're a very talented artist. Very, very talented guy. I

[00:30:32] - [Speaker 2]
I I just had a colleague of mine at work come into my office and say, just totally out of the blue. Like, they know I I'm into comics and and write comics and do the podcast. And they just came in and sat down. They're like, oh, do you know Mike Becker? Because I think he's in the area.

[00:30:48] - [Speaker 2]
And I'm like, I'm like, yeah. I know I I know of him. I wanted to get him on the podcast. And and, one of my coworkers was just like, oh, yeah. I know him.

[00:30:57] - [Speaker 2]
I'm like, so so I'll let Mike know, Dave, because I'm trying

[00:31:00] - [Speaker 3]
to get Mike on the podcast. What a small world. I love that. Yeah. That's fantastic.

[00:31:06] - [Speaker 2]
I I I apparently, he's I mean, I'm I live in Delaware now, but I'm from Delco. And then I went to and worked in Philly. And I and I heard I hear Mike's a local guy, so I'll I'll carry your message to Mike.

[00:31:17] - [Speaker 3]
Okay. Alright. From your lips to his ears. Alright.

[00:31:22] - [Speaker 2]
So yeah. But operation iron coffin, killer influences. If listeners, if you haven't checked them out yet, I mean, the pedigree of everybody that are is working on on those two books, you should definitely, check them out. So now let's talk, about the detective comics annual. And, I mean, you've we've we've talked about it.

[00:31:45] - [Speaker 2]
You've written stuff for for DC before, you know, the man bat, miniseries. So but what's it like getting to come back and and work on, you know, something like that? Because, you know, these detective comics annual, there's usually, like, a main story and a couple other stories, and I I

[00:32:03] - [Speaker 3]
think Tom

[00:32:03] - [Speaker 2]
Taylor is is doing doing one of them. Correct. Right? Yeah. So what's what's that experience like?

[00:32:10] - [Speaker 2]
And then tell us about tell us about your story.

[00:32:13] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. So, yeah, the main story is by Tom Taylor and Nicholas Scott. Great team by many excellent comics. Their main story is gonna be about Batman and Lobo, everyone's favorite, cigar chopping, cosar of the film Supergirl. I have not read the their story yet, but I have no doubt it's gonna be amazing because those people only do amazing work.

[00:32:34] - [Speaker 3]
And then in the fall of last year, I was reached out to by the editors Ben Mears and Jess Burbay, and they were like, hey. We have 10 pages. Like, do you wanna do a Batman short story? And I was like, of course. Like, I I love I love the decent characters.

[00:32:51] - [Speaker 3]
I love getting to work on them, and Ben and Jess are two of the best editors in comics. So it's such an easy thing to say yes to. I pitched them too many ideas. I pitched them, like, 10 ideas of of varying quality and of of different types of genres. Like, I pitched, like, I pitched, like, the Denny O'Neil kung fu batman.

[00:33:13] - [Speaker 3]
I pitched, like, the the Greg Weka, Edward Baker, no That man. I pitched all these different types of Batman that I love. But we landed on the story that was inspired by, you know, my my YouTube algorithm as a as a man's early fair news is mostly garbage. It's mostly sports, comic books, movie trailers, people talking about movies, video essays about cartoons from the February. Not a lot of stuff of, like, substance supposed to be made forward as a person, quite frankly.

[00:33:46] - [Speaker 3]
But one day, there was a documentary about, like, this this art studio in New York, and it just felt to me like a place that should no longer exist because of, like, late stage capitalism and how much the world sucks. And it's like, wow. How is this massive building only full of artists who produce work, support each other's work, they sell work out of the building, and there's there isn't, like, a TD Bank in the basement. There's no coffee shop. There's no, like, there's not even an ATM connected to the building outside.

[00:34:15] - [Speaker 3]
Like, it felt like something either out of Sesame Street or Wes Anderson's New York. And it was like, this is nagging pole. So I was like so I, of course, was like, oh, what if this art studio was in Gotham and a gross creepy villain ruined it for everybody? And that became the simple pitch of the story. So the story is about this place called Carroll Street Studio.

[00:34:38] - [Speaker 3]
These artists all work there. They all have studios there. It's a very supportive community. And then one day, this very off putting, disgusting guy comes in, and he takes up a studio, and he's obsessed with Batman. He just wants to make art about Batman, and slowly he, like, pushes everybody out of the building.

[00:35:00] - [Speaker 3]
And what we found out was, like, this guy is actually a bad guy. He is he has terrible intentions. He wants to hurt Batman, and I won't go too deep past that. So these artists who really love the place have to kinda stop them from ruining their studio. So it it was it's an interesting type of Batman story.

[00:35:18] - [Speaker 3]
It it it feels a little bit like legend of the dark knight or a little bit like an episode of Batman, the animated series. It's it's illustrated by a new artist's decent friend, Mariscal. He's absolutely brilliant. I loved working with him. And, you know, I was nervous about coming back to DC to write Batman.

[00:35:35] - [Speaker 3]
Like, usually when I write for DC, it's characters I didn't edit, but I love. So it's characters like Green Lantern or Green Arrow or Frankenstein. Like, you get characters that I love, but, like, I didn't edit them, so I didn't like I don't have, like, a deep publishing relationship with them. Batman, all I did for ten years was Batman. So it's like Yeah.

[00:35:56] - [Speaker 3]
Wow. What if Dave doesn't know how to write Batman? Like, it would be embarrassing. You know? But, thankfully, I think we pulled it out, and, like, I'm very proud of the story.

[00:36:05] - [Speaker 3]
I'm so excited for people to see it and read it. I hope they dig it. Hope they dig all the little surprises from there. I think for a 10 page story, it's very dense in a good way. But, also, like, I just think Fran knocked it out of the park, and I think he might be people's new favorite comic book artist.

[00:36:19] - [Speaker 2]
But, yeah, I thought the story was great, and I did I I'd love the I I love the art.

[00:36:23] - [Speaker 3]
I Yeah.

[00:36:24] - [Speaker 2]
Was not not familiar with with the the work with the, Fran, you said beforehand and just I also liked it because I thought it it it a little bit didn't really look like what I what I typically think of when I pick up DC Comics, which I which I love. I was just like, oh, this is fantastic. Yeah.

[00:36:46] - [Speaker 3]
And I thought it I thought

[00:36:47] - [Speaker 2]
it looked great. I thought it was a great story. I I'd really, really well done. Thank you. And because I

[00:36:52] - [Speaker 3]
put out that thing about Mike Becker, I'll put this out about Fran Bristle. We would love for DC to hire us again. We have told we have told multiple editors we would love to do a 10 page Superman story that goes along with this 10 page Batman story. So perhaps, you know, in the weeks or months ahead, some people will be like, oh, we should let those guys do a little Superman story. Again, probably won't happen, but, you know, if you sneak it into being, sometimes it does.

[00:37:16] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. You keep messing your hey.

[00:37:20] - [Speaker 3]
It it can hurt. Right? I mean, it could. Somebody could text me after this interview goes up and goes, stop pitching on the Internet. Don't do that anymore.

[00:37:30] - [Speaker 3]
But I think they'll be okay. They'll be fine. They they think I'm charming. Alright.

[00:37:34] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Well, okay. You're right. I guess I I guess in that regard, it it could hurt. So Yeah.

[00:37:40] - [Speaker 3]
So hopefully, it it won't in in this in this case. Yeah. Just to kinda turn it before I

[00:37:48] - [Speaker 2]
let you go, just to kinda turn it back to to showdown, just in case any listeners are are are not too familiar yet with with Ignition Press, what has been your experience like working

[00:38:01] - [Speaker 3]
with Ignition Press? I could not be more lucky and fortunate to work with Ignition Press. They like I said, my editor and the editor in chief over there is Jamie S. Rich, who's one of the best editors comics we've ever had. And I can say that because he's been part of great comics at Dark Horse, Omni Press, Vertigo, DC, IDW, and now Ignition.

[00:38:23] - [Speaker 3]
He is his body of work is stellar. He's also a great writer. He just wrote a book for Ignition as well called the Dom Center with Medi eleven, which is a brilliant rom com. But Ignition Press, they're still relatively new. They're celebrating their first anniversary this year at Saint Jude and Comic Con.

[00:38:39] - [Speaker 3]
I'll be celebrating with them at their pavilion, so people should come on by and check us out and come get a showdown if they haven't yet. But, like, they they're just people who deeply believe comics. They're publishing all different types of comics, sci fi, crime, horror, romance, all this amazing stuff. And, like, they've they've told creators and they told me, like, we want the story that you're afraid to publish and that other people are afraid to publish. And showdown was not an easy sell.

[00:39:04] - [Speaker 3]
You know? It's a grounded crime cop by me, a guy, like, you you maybe kind of were you know, you maybe kind of knew from Batman comics. You're like, oh, I've seen this name, like, a 100 times. You know? But, like, you may not have known my writing.

[00:39:18] - [Speaker 3]
So they gave me they've given me the biggest opportunity of my career, and they let me write a deeply personal book I couldn't be more proud of. They paired me with Tad Volition, who is a phenomenal creator, and now we're friends, which is one of the best parts of the comic. And next week, I'm going with them to San Diego, and they've been so supportive and kind. And it's just an amazing staff of people who really every single person at that company knows everything about all of their books, They all have everybody's back, and it's just so supportive. And they've made great books.

[00:39:48] - [Speaker 3]
They just announced a bunch of new books. They're announcing new books constantly as part of San Diego press. And, you know, I obviously hope they continue to succeed because I'm working with them and having a great time. Also, they're just doing everything that most people say they wanna do. They're doing different genres.

[00:40:04] - [Speaker 3]
They're working with a wide variety of creators. They're working with new creators. They're working with with established creators. And, like, the editors really care about the books. They give good thoughtful notes, and I just feel like I'm doing my best work so far when I've worked with them.

[00:40:20] - [Speaker 3]
And I hope I get to work with them again in the future. We'll see we'll see what the next couple months and the next year holds for me in that regard.

[00:40:28] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Well, I hope so. I mean, the the three issues I ran a showdown, I I thought were phenomenal.

[00:40:33] - [Speaker 3]
Thank you.

[00:40:34] - [Speaker 2]
I've trying to cover more of the ignition press stuff. I think last year when I was at Baltimore, they had a booth there, and I was Mhmm. Talking to some of the I think I I said hi to to Jeremy Hawn. Breakout. But, yeah, I I had Jim McCann and Joe Eisema on to talk about the other half, which I think I've been reading has been phenomenal.

[00:40:55] - [Speaker 2]
I haven't had anybody on about this yet, but I really am enjoying everyone loves, a jewel thief. I had Cullen yeah. When I had Cullen Bunn on, we talked about deluge.

[00:41:07] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:41:08] - [Speaker 2]
And, yeah, there there's I think there are one or two others that that I've been reading that I really like. No. Just brutal.

[00:41:16] - [Speaker 3]
It's brutal is good.

[00:41:18] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:41:19] - [Speaker 3]
They have a book they have a book coming up that I think, like, is gonna really knock people out. It's called Prima Apparatta by a writer named Olivia Dufault and drawn by the legendary Rebecca Isaacs. And it's kind of a sci fi mecca book. It's about these, like, ballerinas who are craning aggressively to pilot giant robots. Yes.

[00:41:46] - [Speaker 3]
It looks extraordinary. Yeah. It it does.

[00:41:49] - [Speaker 2]
It looks really good. I I think I just recently added that to my to my my pull list when I saw that. But yeah. The pre prima apparatta ballerina ballerina's battle in, in mechs. And Yeah.

[00:42:05] - [Speaker 2]
Yes. So that looks that does look really, really good. And I, I I don't think I've seen anything recently that, Rebecca Isaacs has done, and I've read some of her other work. I'm just a huge fan of Rebecca Isaacs, and this He's brilliant. Yeah.

[00:42:20] - [Speaker 2]
It looks great. So yeah. Absolutely. That's a good shout. So awesome.

[00:42:26] - [Speaker 2]
Well well, Dave, this has been such a pleasure to have you on and talk about comics. I cannot believe we've been talking for,

[00:42:33] - [Speaker 3]
like, over forty minutes. That went way too fast. Dude, we're both we're both good at talking. What can we say? You know?

[00:42:39] - [Speaker 3]
Like, I I had a really lovely time, man. I really appreciate you having me on the show. I really appreciate you reading all the stuff I sent over and letting people know to check it out. It means a lot to me, especially with Showdown. You know?

[00:42:50] - [Speaker 3]
We're a smaller book, and I'm a newer writer. So all the all the kind words we can get about the book truly, I think, makes a world of difference. So thank you for having me on, and I would I would be happy to come back anytime and talk to you again.

[00:43:02] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I would love to have you back. But, yeah, listeners, showdown, Ignition Press issues one and two are out already. Issue three is going to be out in August, but I'll put links in the show notes so you can go and make sure you get this. And check out some of the other Ignition Press stuff.

[00:43:19] - [Speaker 2]
I'm I'm sure they're gonna be probably announcing more things at San Diego Comic Con and

[00:43:25] - [Speaker 3]
Same.

[00:43:27] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yes. But yeah. Pick up detective comics annual. And, yeah, if if you can, if I Dave said it's out of print.

[00:43:35] - [Speaker 2]
But if you can track down Dave's man bat, I really, really liked it. I think it was, what, three issue miniseries?

[00:43:43] - [Speaker 3]
Five issues me. Oh, was it five? Okay. Yeah. Me and artist Sumit Kumar, who is brilliant.

[00:43:49] - [Speaker 3]
Again, I love to work with him again. That guy rules. And, yeah, if you guys can find it, it's it's it's awesome. But, hey. Who knows?

[00:43:56] - [Speaker 3]
Maybe someday, man Matt will show up in a movie or a TV show, and they'll put the book back in print. You know? Anything's possible. Yeah.

[00:44:03] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I thought it was I I really enjoyed it. So and then check out some of the stuff that Dave is editing over at IDW, operation iron coffin and killer influences. IDW has been doing a lot of great stuff with their dark imprint. But, Dave, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

[00:44:22] - [Speaker 2]
Shout out as always to my brother Bobby, the cryptic creator corner's number one most dedicated fan. Bobby listens to, all my episodes. Don't worry, Bob. I'll make sure that you get showdown because I think you're you're really gonna like it. And, yeah, listeners, rate reviewers do all the stuff they tell you to do for podcasts.

[00:44:39] - [Speaker 2]
It really does help even just a a very brief review, is is very nice. And, yeah, you can find me on Blue Sky or TikTok. Let me know what it is you're reading, especially if you're reading Showdown, any of Dave's work. I would love to talk to you about it. But, yeah, thank you so much for listening.

[00:44:54] - [Speaker 2]
Good night, and I'll see you next time.

[00:44:57] - [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.

[00:45:28] - [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.

[00:45:45] - [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 a link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today.

[00:46:06] - [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.

[00:46:17] - [Speaker 3]
YOLOLA. This

[00:46:21] - [Speaker 4]
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.

[00:46:40] - [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.