Dillon Gilbertson, Jason Piperberg, and Luca Romano talk My Neighborhood Necromancer

[00:00:00] Your ears do not deceive you. You've just entered the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you by your friends at Comic Book Yeti.

[00:00:07] So without further ado, let's get on to the interview.

[00:00:11] Y'all Jimmy the Chaos Goblin strikes again

[00:00:14] I should have known better than to mention I was working on my DC Universe meets Ravenloft hybrid D&D campaign on social media

[00:00:21] My bad. He goes and tags a bunch of comics creators

[00:00:24] We know and now I have to get it in gear and whip this campaign into shape so we could start playing

[00:00:29] Another friend chimes in are you gonna make maps?

[00:00:32] It's fair to say it's been a while since I put something together. So I guess question mark

[00:00:37] It was then that I discovered Arkham Forge

[00:00:40] If you don't know who Arkham Forge is they have everything you need to make your TT RPG more fun and immersive

[00:00:46] Allowing you to build play and export animated maps including in-person fog of war capability

[00:00:52] But let your players interact with maps as the adventure unfolds while you the DM get the full picture

[00:00:59] Now I'm set to easily build high res animated maps saving myself precious time and significantly adding nuance to our campaign

[00:01:06] That's a win every day in my book. Check them out at Arkham Forge

[00:01:10] Dot-com and use the discount code Yeti 5 to get $5 off

[00:01:14] I'll drop a link in the show notes for you and big thanks to Arkham Forge for partnering with our show

[00:01:19] I think I'm gonna make Jimmy play a Goblin warlock just to get even

[00:01:24] Hello, and welcome to comic book Yeti's cryptid creator corner

[00:01:27] I am one of your hosts Jimmy Gisbarro and I have a trio of guests on today's episode and we are here to talk about

[00:01:36] their

[00:01:38] crowdfunding campaign their Kickstarter campaign for my neighbor Necromancer number two which if you're listening to this when an episode came out

[00:01:45] That campaign is going to go live on September 3rd in just a few days

[00:01:48] But you can click the link and sign up for the pre-launch page

[00:01:51] But we have writer artist and letterer and colorist

[00:01:55] Please welcome Dylan Gilbertson Jason Piperberg and Luca Romano to the podcast

[00:02:01] Welcome everybody

[00:02:03] Hey, thanks so much for having us. Yeah, we're so excited

[00:02:07] We were so excited that Luca could not sleep and stayed up all the way

[00:02:13] So it's a treat to be present at these events. It's so rare. I'm so happy to be

[00:02:18] Yeah, I'm super excited. I think it's like three in the morning where where Luca is so I'm

[00:02:25] Very happy that he is joining us

[00:02:28] so

[00:02:30] my neighbor Necromancer and I mean you've all done

[00:02:35] Various things in comics. So there's plenty we could talk about but right now

[00:02:38] My neighbor Necromancer number two is the Kickstarter campaign is

[00:02:44] About to go live in just a few weeks as we are recording this I

[00:02:50] Love the first issue and so for anyone who isn't familiar

[00:02:55] essentially, I think a young girl is kind of

[00:02:59] chasing her pet

[00:03:00] flying lizard through the woods and stumbles across the the house of

[00:03:06] Necromancer who I think has kind of like been

[00:03:09] kind of protecting his house for I don't know over a hundred years and

[00:03:16] Just as this young girl arrives so does I guess the

[00:03:22] antagonist of the story with a bevy of

[00:03:26] gelatin creatures and

[00:03:28] shenanigans happen from there and there's a lot of a lot of different things I want to talk about

[00:03:34] And I saw some of the I guess thumbnails and the preview aren't for issue two

[00:03:39] So I'm very excited and you're kind enough to share the script with me

[00:03:43] So I got a sense of where issue two goes and I'm very excited for folks to

[00:03:48] To get a chance to to read it. So I was Dylan I let me start with you. I mean was this kind of

[00:03:56] Your project was everybody in on it together

[00:03:59] Why don't you tell me kind of like what was the genesis of my neighbor Necromancer?

[00:04:06] The the the genesis of my neighbor Necromancer sort of came about I

[00:04:12] I don't know where the idea popped in from I remember distinctly being in the backseat of a car

[00:04:18] On our way to karaoke with some friends in San Diego one night

[00:04:22] And at the beginning the story was going to be about a young boy

[00:04:28] Whose dog goes missing and then he finds out that the dog had wandered into the house of Necromancer and the

[00:04:34] Necromancer that he meets was originally gonna be the villain

[00:04:38] And then I went through a lot of different iterations. I workshopped it a lot and then it sort of became what it is

[00:04:44] Jason well, let's look I guess Luca and I had known each other since my first days in comic

[00:04:51] So when I first started out the very first project I tried to do

[00:04:55] needed a colorist I found Luca

[00:04:58] on DeviantArt

[00:05:00] Back in the days where I thought was still a reliable side

[00:05:04] Yeah

[00:05:06] I

[00:05:06] Reached out and he was he was kind enough to lend me his his skills

[00:05:13] I was a beginner too so it was a mutual

[00:05:15] It did not show I would not address you were a beginner

[00:05:18] The art that you had on that page where it is still incredible. It's still so good

[00:05:24] But yeah, then and then Luca and I

[00:05:27] Kind of more or less lost touch for a little bit. We didn't talk too much and then I met Jason

[00:05:32] When we both worked on a book called Yule

[00:05:36] That was a Christmas horror anthology with Grant Stoy who is the curator for that one

[00:05:40] We got nominated for a Ringo for that one, which was super awesome

[00:05:44] And then we all kind of got Jason and I were in a group chat with the rest of the Yule people

[00:05:51] And then the the story for Necromancer

[00:05:55] Sort of kept chugging along in in my script

[00:05:58] And then eventually I was like I need this is at the stage where I should start assembling

[00:06:03] We're asking people if they're interested in it and I showed to Jason and Jason immediately jumped on board

[00:06:11] I read Jason's

[00:06:13] His star set delivery books at the time were called

[00:06:19] Spaceman and bloater

[00:06:21] And I really liked the way I think I told him I like the way his story brain work

[00:06:25] And we agreed on a lot of things Jason

[00:06:27] I've added a lot of things back and forth and enough for him to kind of become a co-creator on it a lot of the ideas

[00:06:34] in the book are partially jason's and and I mean

[00:06:38] The book wouldn't exist without him

[00:06:41] Um, and then uh, and then I was like hey, I know this guy

[00:06:46] Who was really good?

[00:06:47] His name is luka ramano

[00:06:50] Jason's like

[00:06:51] I think jason was like, oh you mean this guy and he was already working with him on a different project called binary c

[00:07:05] Um, I think I was it that was it that way around? No, it was reverse

[00:07:09] I got yeah, I got everything is correct except for I pulled luka to binary c after we had already done the first

[00:07:16] sample pages for

[00:07:18] Necromancer number one, right? All right. So so anyway, the long winded answer is that and the short answer is uh

[00:07:25] It was yeah, I thought of this some several years ago and then it gestated for a while

[00:07:30] Um, and I reached out to jason and luka and now here we are

[00:07:35] I really like that, uh, you know it in my neighbor necromancer, you know a title like that it could go a lot of different ways

[00:07:43] um, I like that it still seems friendlier to a younger

[00:07:49] audience I guess but um, you have a very likable

[00:07:52] protagonist, but it doesn't shy away from some of the the darker elements, you know the um,

[00:07:58] the the the conjuring of

[00:08:00] The skeletons and then in this the first issue. What is it like a bear skeleton that uh, the the

[00:08:08] The name of the main character the the necromancer just like left my head. Yeah sit in

[00:08:13] Serial yeah, um like kind of conjures like a

[00:08:16] A skeleton bear the action sequences all of that are are great

[00:08:20] but I

[00:08:21] I really like how it doesn't kind of you know, uh, it walks a really fine line between

[00:08:28] um

[00:08:29] being geared towards the younger audience and still having some of those darker elements, which I I feel like

[00:08:35] We don't see a lot of anymore. I mean, I feel like when I I'm 45 right?

[00:08:40] So I feel like like everything was darker when I was a kid

[00:08:43] I watched a lot of the stuff that my kids who are

[00:08:46] Seven and 11 now and it seems a lot kid friendlier than

[00:08:50] Then stuff that I was watching when I was between the ages of like seven and 11

[00:08:54] So I really like the tone. I think you kind of nailed that

[00:08:58] Amazing. I love hearing that we we have a lot of conversations about trying to walk that really fine line

[00:09:04] Yeah

[00:09:06] Yeah, and then there's a couple of things I want to point out in particular with issue one that I thought were

[00:09:11] Amazing and I know jason in addition to the art

[00:09:15] Um

[00:09:16] Did the lettering and and luke with your coloring there's

[00:09:19] I'm just curious about a couple of things because when the necromancers like do the spell

[00:09:23] I don't know if that's

[00:09:25] Like just widgets or that is designed but the different the different coloring symbols that are kind of used for

[00:09:34] the the magic

[00:09:36] Is awesome

[00:09:38] Like that that works so so well and the other thing that I like kind of it's a real simple thing

[00:09:44] But kind of blew my mind a little bit because I like

[00:09:48] love

[00:09:48] lettering and always try and pay attention with it one of the things I've done with comic book yeti is

[00:09:53] I feel like letters don't kind of get enough credit the door opening you like an open door. Oh, yeah

[00:09:59] The creek the word

[00:10:02] Cree in like a in like a semi circle from like showing the direction the door opening is

[00:10:09] Awesome like that. I saw that and I just like holy

[00:10:13] You should have seen the chat

[00:10:17] Yeah

[00:10:18] Every time the jason came up with it with one of the snippets

[00:10:21] He was he went while he was working on it and he was showing us in the chat. It was standing ovation every time for

[00:10:28] Just brilliant

[00:10:30] That's probably one of the best ones I've seen ever

[00:10:33] It's just so communicative and so I

[00:10:37] Yeah, I uh, I'm very glad that the lettering got appreciation because I've spent

[00:10:43] especially with the with the magic symbols

[00:10:47] Dylan and I went back and forth on some of those

[00:10:50] for like

[00:10:52] I don't know couple hours

[00:10:56] While for a single symbol we were going like yeah, the eyes are kind of not this or this is yeah

[00:11:01] that

[00:11:02] There's there's one. I think uh, there's a scene in issue one

[00:11:06] In the fight when when siren oh summons the like the tree golem thing

[00:11:12] Uh, there's like a plant he does like a plant spell

[00:11:16] and uh

[00:11:18] Dylan and I I think had a placeholder

[00:11:21] symbol

[00:11:22] And I and I kept like trying different iterations. I did like 15 of them before we we like the right one

[00:11:30] Um, were they symbols there that you had like bounds? No, I drew them. I had yeah designed it

[00:11:35] Yeah, so basically what I did is I I made the word balloon and then I had a separate layer

[00:11:42] That I just drew I was like drawing

[00:11:45] Most of the sound effects, uh, I hand letter

[00:11:49] Uh, because it's easier for me than trying to find the right font most of the time

[00:11:57] Um, I just have like a I have

[00:11:59] Different like texture brushes and stuff that I'll use um to kind of get the right effect

[00:12:06] The the creek sound effect, uh

[00:12:09] Was inspired by um

[00:12:13] I haven't read the whole thing but the first issue of uh righteous there's for vengeance

[00:12:17] No, okay. I can't remember can't remember the creative team. I know it's um

[00:12:23] It's andre lemma there's I I'm gonna butcher it but uh righteous there's for vengeance

[00:12:27] The person who lettered that

[00:12:31] Uh, there was a sound effect trail that was like going to I think like a teapot or something on on a stove

[00:12:37] And I was like that's really cool. And then like and then when I was doing the creek I

[00:12:43] I pulled inspiration from that

[00:12:45] Good ideas need to be stolen. That's not the correct version. Yeah, feel it. Feel it. That's right. You got it

[00:12:52] Uh, yeah, I'm excited. We have uh, we've got more we've got a couple an issue too that we got a workshop

[00:12:59] Yes

[00:12:59] A couple really cool ones that i'm very excited about for issue two if you should workshop

[00:13:04] Yeah, yeah, well, I mean you you already did them were great

[00:13:08] Yeah, you already started reading in uh esoteric just to have the more

[00:13:12] Correct versions possible to for the someone in symbols and etc

[00:13:20] If something weird happens while you're reading the book we are not responsible

[00:13:25] If this actually someone that's dead we are legally not reliable or really responsible for that

[00:13:31] Yeah, yeah, that's what I was wondering. Um, I just I also was just looking it up. Uh, russ wooten

[00:13:38] Letter a register for vengeance. Um, so I mean

[00:13:42] You're gonna borrow or find inspiration from from somebody russ russ is a good letter

[00:13:47] But uh, yeah, there were there were just some things in it that I thought were

[00:13:53] I mean just some really really excellent fun

[00:13:58] inventive

[00:13:59] storytelling, um, especially when you have a kid

[00:14:03] protagonist who has a pet uh bibbets right? Yeah, um, I love it everybody loves it. Yeah bibbets is great. Um

[00:14:13] Yeah, but like to just do not have everything like so in panel like having

[00:14:18] Having some of the scenes be a little more open and kind of like showing the movement

[00:14:23] Another like brilliant panel. I thought not only in the art

[00:14:29] But like but the coloring design as well and it seems so simple, but um

[00:14:34] The jesse is the main character, right? Yes. Um, yeah when when jesse is looking for bibbets in the opening

[00:14:41] And we see jesse going like in all the different places and there's like the little dotted trail

[00:14:46] It's like it's just it's very

[00:14:49] Like you could have broken that down into like several panels

[00:14:52] But to really kind of open it up and show all that action and the directions

[00:14:56] That jesse was traveling in it was just really, you know, really smart really fun

[00:15:02] Just made for a much more

[00:15:05] interesting

[00:15:05] kinetic

[00:15:07] Read

[00:15:08] Um, I just something I loved about it. Thank you

[00:15:12] Yeah, I love that page. That's like one of your it's such a good page. I love that one too

[00:15:16] That that deluca effect is so cool. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um

[00:15:21] But it's not easy to to find a good synthesis synthesis

[00:15:25] I think synthesis is right

[00:15:30] Yeah, the proper synthesis for uh

[00:15:33] An action scene

[00:15:35] So you don't delay too much in very different panels just to drag it on

[00:15:40] Yeah, yes

[00:15:40] I think it's easy to do minimal things and it's actually the opposite. Yeah

[00:15:45] I'm

[00:15:48] That's right. That's one of the things I always

[00:15:50] uh command jessem for because he has a very

[00:15:54] uh knowledgeable understanding not only of

[00:15:58] Human physiology so he can express the emotion very well in his in his faces

[00:16:04] But he also has a good eye for

[00:16:07] Building the scene in a way that communicates what's happening even without

[00:16:12] The balloons explaining further

[00:16:19] That's

[00:16:20] Luca what's like the challenge for you and um, I mean I've read I've read all of nodding them. Um, I think I I interviewed david

[00:16:29] Hazan not that long ago. So I've even already read issues my favorite

[00:16:36] Now having read my neighbor necromancer and I I back

[00:16:40] Zou I backed binary c on zoop and I've I've read that as well and I'm

[00:16:45] You know thinking about all these these different things and all like the different

[00:16:50] For anyone who's not familiar with binary c. It's um, I mean it's it's essentially like uh

[00:16:55] Think it's takes place in what the late 1700s early. Yes, like early. I think it's like 1803

[00:17:02] 1803 1808 something yeah, and it's like a high seas

[00:17:07] adventure kind of um

[00:17:10] I mean the very the beginning of it is more like, uh, it's you know, the

[00:17:14] British navy up against pirates and so it's on you know, it's on a ship the hms pontis and

[00:17:20] Um, then by the end by the I won't spoil it but by the end of issue one it's seems to be in very different

[00:17:28] territory it goes places. Yes places, you know, um

[00:17:32] Yeah, and nodding them, um, you know set in what like the

[00:17:38] 1100s uh, and

[00:17:40] Seems, you know much darker in tone and and look a lot of the time. So

[00:17:45] You know, what is the challenge for you when you have?

[00:17:48] You know switching between different projects, which to me seem like they're all coming out at

[00:17:54] You know relatively the same time. I'm not sure exactly when you worked on all of them

[00:17:58] But but like how do you approach that? You know, you're just not

[00:18:02] plopping in like

[00:18:03] You know the same colors every time you show a lot of thought and care into your your color design. Thank you

[00:18:10] Yeah, that

[00:18:12] there's uh

[00:18:14] We were discussing this with jesem back a couple weeks back

[00:18:17] We were talking about finding your own style

[00:18:21] And jesem was concerned about uh

[00:18:23] He's expressing himself enough if he's recognizable enough and I mentioned

[00:18:28] As a colorist that's not my problem. I actually have to do the opposite most of the time because

[00:18:32] I have to match the line art first and the mood

[00:18:37] So with shane, I use uh very textured brushes

[00:18:42] It's everything gritty

[00:18:45] Which meets his uh very sketchy rough inking

[00:18:50] While jason has a really clean line art very readable and um

[00:18:56] so

[00:18:57] To set the tone is not even just uh the main goal. It's also making sure that the colors

[00:19:05] Uh don't clash with the result with the final look

[00:19:09] Because otherwise you could letray ruin a page

[00:19:14] If I over extend with uh with the rendering we went through a

[00:19:18] Bump into a phase and the actually first

[00:19:21] Uh preview of the pages were more rendered not only in the line art phase

[00:19:26] but also in the coloring and the final look is uh way more

[00:19:32] Softer all around so the

[00:19:37] It's it's challenging because I always want to do my

[00:19:44] Is not

[00:19:46] How can I express it you have that feeling that you want to do your best

[00:19:50] And making your best sometimes feels like you have to fill in details everywhere you can possibly imagine

[00:19:56] And try to paint everything

[00:19:59] And sometimes that's detrimental to the final look. Yeah, it takes uh I imagine it takes a lot of uh

[00:20:07] Uh like qualitative know-how like like a lot of like an inner feeling kind of a thing to to to adjust

[00:20:14] A coloring style to lines that that fit the lines, right?

[00:20:19] Like if you're gonna try and

[00:20:21] Fill in all the blanks and stuff like you would on every other every single art style

[00:20:26] You end up washing out the art style that was there to begin with kind of right

[00:20:30] It's a balancing act and uh, I've been lucky because I've always worked with really good

[00:20:35] Pencillors and inkers in this case since most of the work I've done is by a single line artist

[00:20:41] So that helps

[00:20:45] I hope I get better

[00:20:48] Because I still have that feeling of I should be rendering every detail

[00:20:53] Because otherwise I'm not working hard enough

[00:20:56] Yeah

[00:20:57] Yeah, I have that too. I have to like I uh

[00:21:01] That again like also like with between so we had a little bit of a gap between

[00:21:06] When I completed the original sample pages for number one and then

[00:21:10] Finished all the actual pages for number one

[00:21:13] And there is because of the fact that I'd done work in between and I'd taken like a little bit of a break

[00:21:20] Uh for health issues at one point

[00:21:22] like

[00:21:24] Once we actually saw the pages colored

[00:21:26] I had to like go back in to kind of add textures

[00:21:30] In certain areas to like because I was doing more. I was like adding more lines and textures and and trying to uh

[00:21:37] Like earlier on when I first did the samples I was adding like so much detail

[00:21:41] um, and then I had kind of a

[00:21:44] Realization when I was when I was doing the other pages of like no

[00:21:47] I need to I should like pull it back a little like I should I should like, you know, not render every

[00:21:53] brick on a wall so to speak

[00:21:56] And what was the when you when you see that and you have that

[00:22:00] Like space to go back and look at something. Um

[00:22:03] What is the effect you're trying to go for by kind of like removing some of that rendering?

[00:22:08] Is it just so it shows up better in terms of the the color or what is the overall

[00:22:14] Effect that you're trying to accomplish when you when you do that I think so

[00:22:21] There's

[00:22:22] sometimes too much detail can can

[00:22:27] uh

[00:22:28] Hurt focus right so if you have

[00:22:32] Uh, if you have too much detail

[00:22:36] Your eye doesn't even know where to look

[00:22:38] Half the time because it's like there's too many lines, right?

[00:22:41] And and so like luka did a good job in the colors, especially in the preview pages of kind of separating those things

[00:22:48] um

[00:22:49] When I had too much detail going on but as I was working I was I

[00:22:54] I was trying to

[00:22:56] make things

[00:22:58] More focused of like, okay. What's the actual focus of the panel? I don't need to

[00:23:02] You know, I don't not everything needs to be an hd, right? Like you want to create some atmospheric perspective I can have

[00:23:09] uh

[00:23:09] You know like on the ground. I don't need to draw every single leaf on the ground

[00:23:14] I can you know have them kind of more defined in the front and then

[00:23:18] Have the lines more scattered in the back to

[00:23:21] Basically nothing and that creates more depth versus if I try to draw all of the detail on the ground it'll

[00:23:28] It'll flatten it. You don't you don't want the

[00:23:31] On tv, it's called the soap opera effect when everything is yeah super high resolution

[00:23:35] Like you don't want the soap opera effect on the on the page

[00:23:38] Yeah, yeah now that makes sense

[00:23:41] All right, let's take a quick break

[00:23:44] Hey comics fam itty comic book publisher band of bars just got a level up and announced it is now a cooperative

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[00:23:55] And they added several new members to the ownership group

[00:23:58] Marcus Jimenez is now chief operating officer

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[00:24:10] Which is sure to increase their capabilities overall as a publisher

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[00:24:20] They also established a new board of directors to help chart the new path of their journey

[00:24:25] With new projects in the works like Alaska by dropping in june

[00:24:29] Unbroken soon launching on Kickstarter and pond coming up with thoughtless

[00:24:32] Stay tuned to this space for more exciting news from the growing bards family

[00:24:40] Let's get back to the show

[00:24:42] So Jason having you know since I

[00:24:46] Revis just recently revisited in preparation for this binary sea and now you've

[00:24:51] You know drawn um

[00:24:54] Uh people fighting and now skeletons fighting you have give a preference. Is it is it more? Is it more difficult like?

[00:25:02] uh rendering

[00:25:04] Like muscle or or bone in terms of uh making it look fluid and and and and alive

[00:25:11] Uh

[00:25:14] Bone

[00:25:17] I think bone skeletons definitely uh because i'm less i don't have as much practice

[00:25:23] Okay, um

[00:25:25] I mean I will and I have much more but I like you brought up the bare skeleton. Yeah, um

[00:25:31] I had to like

[00:25:33] Look up what a bare skeleton and I had to find like

[00:25:37] What to even look for it?

[00:25:38] So I went and I looked up. I found like like uh 3d model scans of like an actual grizzly bare skeleton

[00:25:46] And I was like turning it around and looking at it. I think at one point. I even was just like i'm going to

[00:25:51] Loosely sketch over this to get the right proportions because there's too much happening

[00:25:55] Like I because I drew like every single rib on you know, I was like counting

[00:26:00] I was like how many like how many ribs does the bare skeleton?

[00:26:03] Um, and then it was also it's like that that skeleton is also merged with like human

[00:26:07] Bones at the same time like it technically goes into a

[00:26:11] Like a human half. Yeah, it's like so so yeah, that's that's definitely hard. Uh

[00:26:18] Because I want to

[00:26:20] It's the high def thing again, right? Like I want to be like I want to be anatomically accurate or whatever

[00:26:25] right

[00:26:26] And I don't have the I didn't have the the memory that I have it's hard to cheat with bones because

[00:26:33] With with muscle and flesh you have more or less a round shape

[00:26:37] And if you do not go too much in detail where the muscle muscle is showing you can more or less make it

[00:26:45] Look like proper arm

[00:26:48] But bones. It's just a solid structure. You cannot cheat much there

[00:26:53] Yeah, that makes it

[00:26:56] Far more challenging to uh represent properly. Yeah

[00:27:00] Dylan when you're um, you know for issue one and we can talk a little bit more about

[00:27:04] You know if you want to tease some of this stuff in issue two

[00:27:07] But for issue one when you're putting these like

[00:27:10] Fight scenes together like how um, I guess in your

[00:27:14] Scripting and I was just curious after looking at the you know going through the script for two

[00:27:19] Are you pretty?

[00:27:20] um

[00:27:21] specific in terms of the fight

[00:27:24] choreography like in your writing and in your scripting or what was that kind of discussion between you and jason

[00:27:31] Um, you know for that that paneling because there is like a lot going on it all flows really well

[00:27:37] Before dylan answers. I do want to say the scene where the the evil

[00:27:42] uh, like

[00:27:44] I don't know if I think it's the evil neck romance or the kind of like

[00:27:48] Unwinds the the body that oh yeah on him. Yeah, that's another really great panel. Yeah

[00:27:55] Greats that thing. Yeah, but at any event. Yeah, so dylan like how

[00:27:59] What is that conversation like between you and jason or how much you know?

[00:28:03] How do you go through to kind of choreograph a fight like that?

[00:28:07] um, I've always I've always kind of aired on the side of being very specific in my scripts

[00:28:14] um, I now that I've now that jason I have worked together a lot

[00:28:19] I feel like my descriptions will eventually start to loosen up a lot

[00:28:24] Um, but generally I try and air on the side of being very specific and then making sure that jason knows

[00:28:31] Um, that this is not set in stone and that like if there is a better way to do this then by all means do it

[00:28:38] Jason is notorious for adding

[00:28:42] So many more panels to a script and I've written

[00:28:46] I'll write of like a four or five panel page and he's like here's the nine panel layout that I

[00:28:55] But then but then I look at it and he was like, yeah, I just thought I could use more panels for pacing and I was like you're

[00:29:01] You're right. You're absolutely right. It looks amazing and it reads better and it's great

[00:29:06] um

[00:29:07] But yeah, it's it becomes very difficult

[00:29:10] especially when you're trying to like

[00:29:12] Try and not make it the same shot every time when you're trying to describe different camera

[00:29:22] And with something as complicated as like the bear fight

[00:29:27] Um, you just kind of have to

[00:29:30] Do

[00:29:31] Reference a panel but then say that so like

[00:29:34] I can't remember specifically which page it was or which panels it was but

[00:29:38] Like the the the bear will come out

[00:29:41] um, and we're like so

[00:29:43] An over-the-shoulder shot from behind seer and oh we see the bear approaching

[00:29:47] And so that's that's a fairly specific panel. Um, but then not much changes between one panel and the next

[00:29:54] So you just say similar to this panel, but maybe we pulled back a little bit to give more scale to the bear

[00:30:01] Um, and so I try to I try to be very specific with the fight scenes just because I know that that's a lot to figure out

[00:30:08] um

[00:30:08] But uh, but the truth is jason sometimes knows better than I do

[00:30:12] So he'll he'll he'll mix it up and make it a little more dynamic a little more fun if I've written it a little too stiff

[00:30:19] Okay, I yeah, I mean well it certainly came out, you know on the the page as a lot of fun

[00:30:25] So I mean that was that's that's the good thing. Um

[00:30:29] I wanted to ask about bibbets we talked about bibbets everybody loves busy bibbets. I don't know what exactly what type of lizard

[00:30:35] Bibbets is but he's a southern flying lizard

[00:30:38] How did that do bibbets as a southern flying lizard like become the pet?

[00:30:44] And I mean, I know you said that it started out maybe being something else when you first thought of it like a boy and his dog

[00:30:50] but

[00:30:50] Yeah, how did

[00:30:52] yeah, what was

[00:30:54] Why bibbets and why why bibbets? I have a very so also so with bibbets being a flying lizard

[00:31:02] I don't remember how I came to the conclusion of him being a lizard that might have been something that I decided with jason maybe

[00:31:10] um

[00:31:11] I wanted it to be something small

[00:31:13] um

[00:31:14] Something unusual. Um, I learned through researching

[00:31:19] Blind lizards that they're apparently notoriously difficult to take care of

[00:31:24] Which I think works great

[00:31:27] Yeah

[00:31:29] Yeah, yeah, you'll see an issue one how difficult they are to take care of

[00:31:33] Yeah

[00:31:35] But I but I think that lends itself very well to jesse's character as well because

[00:31:41] Bibbets is the most important thing in the world to jesse

[00:31:45] And so if for whatever reason you're familiar with how difficult flying lizards are to take care of like you'll understand just how much jesse cares

[00:31:55] Um, we'll see in several issues. She's like i i'm not going to do this and then she realized it needs to be done for bibbets

[00:32:02] She's like I have to do this. She'll do it

[00:32:05] um that's uh in in bibbets sort of

[00:32:09] Uh is is in many ways the lynch pin to everything in this story

[00:32:14] um

[00:32:15] I uh, I don't know how it became a lizard

[00:32:18] But I it worked out perfectly in terms of who bibbets is as a character

[00:32:24] um

[00:32:25] The name bibbets

[00:32:27] I have a very specific answer for

[00:32:30] um my

[00:32:31] Mother-in-law

[00:32:33] Once told me a story about a pet duck that her neighbor had when she was a kid

[00:32:39] named bibbets

[00:32:40] And I was like that is a perfect name. I like after hearing the name bibbets. You're like, I will die for this duck

[00:32:49] It's so cute and I like I I immediately am attached to this duck right now

[00:32:54] um, and that I heard that story

[00:32:57] years and years before

[00:33:00] Necromancer was even born

[00:33:02] Uh, and then I just remembered it and was like this has to be the name there can be no other name

[00:33:09] Nice I like it. Uh, I like uh, I mean that's great

[00:33:13] You you take inspiration wherever you can

[00:33:16] You know, um

[00:33:18] I actually told I told them that story

[00:33:22] Recently, I think I told because they didn't they didn't know a lot about the book

[00:33:26] As it was being made and then I think several weeks ago

[00:33:28] I was at the house and I told them about it in my my wife's grandmother was also there my wife's grandmother also knew

[00:33:35] Um, the the the original bibbets the duck

[00:33:38] Right and I mentioned bibbets. She's like bibbets

[00:33:41] Like she remembered the duck and I told her oh, that's so cute. That's so

[00:33:47] Anyway, sorry

[00:33:49] The main character after

[00:33:51] Yeah, real life as well. Yeah

[00:33:55] Um, so what can you I guess tell us tell listeners about

[00:33:59] What teases can you give us, you know without without spoiling anything about issue two? Well

[00:34:07] Fungus the fungus. There's fungus. Yeah, there's a there's plant necromancy in issue two

[00:34:13] um

[00:34:15] I'm I might spoil the end of issue one

[00:34:18] Because like the the resolution for what happens at the end of issue one

[00:34:23] I feel like is in the name of the book, right? Um, so like

[00:34:27] spoilers if you don't want spoilers for issue one tune out now

[00:34:31] Uh, but otherwise I'm gonna spoil it right now

[00:34:35] Lower my hand when you can listen again

[00:34:37] Yeah, great. Thank you, Luca. Just a pause

[00:34:42] When luke lowers his hand you can listen again. Yeah

[00:34:49] Um, so at the end of issue one

[00:34:51] bibbets die

[00:34:52] Okay

[00:34:53] The book is called my neighbor necromancer necromancy is in the name of the book

[00:34:58] Things that die will come back to life, right?

[00:35:01] In the first couple of pages we even preview it in the kickstarter

[00:35:05] preview page

[00:35:07] That bibbets will come back to life

[00:35:10] However, when bibbets comes back he's not quite the brave

[00:35:15] fearless

[00:35:17] bibbets that he once was and that becomes sort of a

[00:35:20] problem

[00:35:22] Jesse draws a lot of her strength from bibbets. She draws a lot of her bravery from bibbets

[00:35:26] And so without bibbets urging her to do bigger better braver things

[00:35:31] She doesn't feel like she can do them

[00:35:34] Um, and so when siren oh recognizes this he immediately thinks i know somebody who can help us

[00:35:41] And so he sends her off to visit a new character in the series

[00:35:47] named morta the gardener who is going to

[00:35:50] um sort of help help bibbets be

[00:35:53] What uh what jesse needs him to be?

[00:35:56] Is sort of where issue two is going

[00:35:59] All right, I think you can lower it. There you go

[00:36:04] The end is lowered

[00:36:05] Welcome back everyone

[00:36:07] Yeah, I mean from looking at the preview pages and then like reading the script and there

[00:36:11] I was excited by some other new characters. I was uh, I liked the idea of plant necromancy

[00:36:17] um

[00:36:18] I like that

[00:36:20] um

[00:36:22] Siren oh it's a little a little bit funny in a way that I wasn't like I can't wait to just from seeing it in the

[00:36:28] Script I can't wait to see it on the page

[00:36:30] But funny in a way that I don't know if he's intentionally being funny or just comes across that way

[00:36:36] Yeah, he's just gonna go out for really gloomy vague weirdo

[00:36:39] Um, we're a quirky guy. Let's yeah quirky is a good a good way to describe it but

[00:36:46] Yeah, I'm really looking forward to uh to to issue two

[00:36:50] to the introduction of some new characters and to

[00:36:54] See how how jesse, you know navigates

[00:37:00] What she's facing an issue too

[00:37:02] um and and and to say I mean you've you've you know clearly built from the first issue a lot of

[00:37:08] lore with this uh, the name just escaped me but the the the necromancer or the the

[00:37:16] The person who's trying yeah

[00:37:18] Who's trying to go after siren oh and get the map to the the hand of death

[00:37:23] Yeah, yeah the literal hand of death is what she's after

[00:37:27] So there's a lot of fun lore already that has been teased and I I can't wait to see how

[00:37:33] That gets um developed further the preview pages though the ones that are done

[00:37:38] For the Kickstarter campaign look great

[00:37:41] So a lot of I I see I see some more fun inventive stuff happening. So

[00:37:47] Really excited about that. Um, is there anything in particular that you're excited about being able to

[00:37:52] The offer I know you were still kind of I think working on

[00:37:56] You know some of the rewards and stuff as we record this

[00:38:00] um, yeah, we um

[00:38:03] One of the things I'm super excited about that I that

[00:38:08] I think jason and I are both realizing is a really large undertaking is the map

[00:38:13] Um, that is you see uh sort of in the preview pages for issue two

[00:38:18] So in in the previous of issue two

[00:38:20] You sort of see this map and uh sort of jesse's path that she takes on her way to mortis house

[00:38:27] Um, we have we're we're gonna offer that as a print

[00:38:31] In the Kickstarter

[00:38:34] And what we're hoping to do

[00:38:36] Is throughout subsequent issues there will be three other maps

[00:38:41] That will look similar to that page. And so there'll be other other paths that they travel

[00:38:47] And then in the end we will be able to put all four of these prints together

[00:38:51] To make one large map of the forest and the world that they sort of live in and have adventures

[00:38:57] Oh, I like that. That's awesome. Yeah, I'm very excited about that and then I'm I'm uh

[00:39:03] Gavin is another exciting character that I'm excited for yes another another new character gavin. I

[00:39:10] Looks uh looks pretty cool

[00:39:12] Yeah, Gavin Gavin for anyone unfamiliar is the is the cat the the skeletal cat that you see in the preview pages

[00:39:19] Um keeping out for him. He's he's also a favorite of everyone who's seen him so far

[00:39:25] Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. I love that. Um, so uh, is there I mean

[00:39:32] In terms of like balancing projects, uh, you know dylan or jason lucca

[00:39:37] Whoever is there anything else that you guys have, you know coming out while you're

[00:39:41] You're you're on here that you want to plug

[00:39:44] Uh, I am it's sort of new. Uh, I have a

[00:39:48] Dylan mentioned earlier uh spaceman and broder

[00:39:51] Sorry, I feel like I feel like I sort of spoiled that in the beginning. I don't know. It's fine. It's fine. Uh, it's it's good. Um

[00:39:59] Spaceman and bloater is the thing I've I've been working on on and off since college

[00:40:03] And at one point I think in 2018 or 2019 I released

[00:40:09] uh spaceman and bloater volume one

[00:40:12] and

[00:40:13] I haven't done a lot with it. It's kind of been sitting there and after

[00:40:17] Thinking about it and trying to figure out like what I wanted to do moving forward with those characters because I do

[00:40:23] Uh, want to keep using them and telling stories in there in that world

[00:40:27] uh

[00:40:28] which is uh, I'm I'm

[00:40:31] Kind of doing a rerelease of that volume

[00:40:33] Uh, and just like quick pitch because most people probably have no idea what it is. Uh star set. I'm changing the name to star set delivery

[00:40:41] uh

[00:40:42] which is a

[00:40:45] sci-fi slice of life

[00:40:48] story um

[00:40:50] And

[00:40:52] The characters are spaceman and bloater are

[00:40:55] couriers black to couriers

[00:40:57] um making dangerous and

[00:41:01] weird deliveries throughout the cosmos. Um

[00:41:06] And so I'm I'm doing a rerelease of that with a new cover and some new behind the scenes stuff. Um

[00:41:13] And uh dylan and I will be tabling at baltimore comic con in september and i'll have i'll have copies of that

[00:41:19] So yeah, awesome. I go to baltimore every year. I love baltimore comic con

[00:41:24] So i'll be there with my brother with bobby the cryptid creator corners number one most dedicated fan bobby

[00:41:29] Listened all my episodes. I always shout out my brother every podcast that I record for

[00:41:34] I didn't I didn't start doing it but since I started doing it

[00:41:37] I've been doing it since but bobby and I are going as press for comic book yeti

[00:41:41] So we'll be there at baltimore

[00:41:43] But jason you were kind enough to send over um star set delivery

[00:41:47] And um, I know you when we were hanging out in in philly. I think you had mentioned it and showed

[00:41:52] Yeah, some some pages from it, but I read it um after you sent it and

[00:41:57] I mean, it's it's super fun and uh in addition to that like the the first um

[00:42:04] I'm gonna say the name wrong. But is it like lutec cavern or uh bell took? Yeah, it's it's a weird

[00:42:11] Say how you want it doesn't

[00:42:14] People would mispronounce in rosa l gul for how however long like that. Yeah, I've never said I've never said that

[00:42:22] Batman villain's name right

[00:42:24] but um

[00:42:25] I really I really I really liked all the stories in it, but especially that first one. Um, but essentially

[00:42:32] spaceman and and bloater are

[00:42:35] Just hanging out and the guy that they're with says that you know, there's like a ghost in this cavern and

[00:42:41] spaceman doesn't believe and

[00:42:42] They go all through it's like

[00:42:44] It's like super fun action like again

[00:42:47] You're you're lettering on it as well like the sound effects are

[00:42:51] A lot of fun

[00:42:52] And then has like a really

[00:42:56] Really great kind of like

[00:42:59] um

[00:43:00] A

[00:43:01] Profound ending

[00:43:03] Like a bit of a surprise and I just thought it was very

[00:43:06] Thanks a little bit

[00:43:08] Yeah, a little bit whimsical. I I really I really liked it

[00:43:13] Thank you. I appreciate that I because writing is definitely not like i'm i'm working on it

[00:43:17] But it's i'm always like I don't know. I'm good at this

[00:43:21] So I like spaceman's little i'm in trouble catchphrase whenever he's just like

[00:43:26] ragged

[00:43:26] Yeah

[00:43:29] Yeah, I think I I tried to work that into like one of at least wants a story

[00:43:33] I think isn't that I don't know if i'm gonna keep that up going forward

[00:43:36] But it is it's

[00:43:38] One I mean, yeah, I like little things like that, you know how like

[00:43:44] Uh every cold open of quantum leap ended with say i'm saying

[00:43:48] Oh, yeah, that's that's true. Yeah, I love quantum leap

[00:43:53] I love those. Uh, I love a little a little tag like that and so you know

[00:43:58] I thought I I thought it was a lot of fun. I thought it was really cool

[00:44:03] Like yeah whimsical at times. I really yeah, I really enjoyed so yeah, that's that's kind of uh fun

[00:44:10] so luca

[00:44:11] um, you know with binary c being out and my neighbor necromancer and

[00:44:16] issue 15 of

[00:44:18] Nottingham

[00:44:20] Yeah, yeah, that's happening too

[00:44:24] Oh, oh kind of

[00:44:26] Do you have a lot of stuff going on?

[00:44:28] I kind uh

[00:44:30] The most is done

[00:44:32] The biggest was finishing nothing. Yeah, i'm main story

[00:44:38] and now i'm

[00:44:39] Uh

[00:44:41] Talking the bear behind the scenes we could say with uh

[00:44:45] fellow creators most of which you are very familiar with

[00:44:50] So we'll see what comes out of it and I cannot say more because otherwise I would be sued

[00:44:57] Okay, well, we don't want that

[00:44:59] We don't want to get anybody sued. Um, but I appreciate you looking forward

[00:45:05] regardless

[00:45:07] And is there going to be more? Do you know if there's going to be more binary c in the writer that at gram?

[00:45:12] um

[00:45:12] Blackaby who I think is like captain the captain midnight youtube channel

[00:45:16] Like there should be a thousand or something. Yeah, but I really I I hope there is a number two because yes

[00:45:24] We're number one ended. I was just like

[00:45:26] Oh, there will definitely be a number two there will definitely be a number two

[00:45:30] Nice, we'll have to look for that

[00:45:33] um

[00:45:35] Well, I mean this has been uh fantastic. Oh luka before we go. I did want to ask you because you

[00:45:40] You have an all your bio that you're like a tt

[00:45:44] rpg

[00:45:45] Enthusiast and i'm a big I my have a friend dan who um

[00:45:49] It's like our local game master who brings over

[00:45:51] Like a huge duffel bag full of board games and we we I have a I don't know if you're familiar with unmatched

[00:45:58] But I I have an unmatched tournament at my my house the past two januaries. It's uh, it's like a card based

[00:46:07] I might gain with little fighters by restoration games

[00:46:11] um

[00:46:12] But any of them I was just curious what what are you are you able to still you know find some time to play anything

[00:46:18] And what are you playing right now? Yeah? Yeah

[00:46:19] I used to be even more active than I am at the moment actually

[00:46:26] Because I um

[00:46:27] Sort of still collaborating with a website called uh, no dice enrolled

[00:46:33] And they review the table

[00:46:36] role playing taking a

[00:46:38] Table top run playing games. Okay, so uh, I get

[00:46:43] Still the opportunity to play test and be invited to sit around the table and play with fun people

[00:46:50] Uh

[00:46:51] Plus we have a dedicated game

[00:46:55] every

[00:46:56] Monday Tuesday

[00:46:58] once every two

[00:47:01] Tuesday

[00:47:02] If that's all so that's around

[00:47:06] three to four games

[00:47:08] are we

[00:47:09] That's awesome

[00:47:11] Has there been anything going well on the outside? I must say I'm pretty pretty happy

[00:47:17] One of my greatest achieve

[00:47:18] I think one of my greatest achievements with this band of miscreants is making them cosplay in game

[00:47:25] There's no reason

[00:47:27] Actually started just just for the fun because we're we're old enough to be goofy and

[00:47:32] just

[00:47:34] If up every pretense we add of uh having shame and

[00:47:37] A purification if that's what matters

[00:47:41] So I'm glad I'm pulling them with me on the dark side and that

[00:47:46] That's fantastic. Well, I love that. All right. Thank you. Thank you very kind

[00:47:50] um

[00:47:51] Yeah, I was just curious um because I like I said

[00:47:55] It's nice to get together and have a game night with friends

[00:47:58] Actually a couple hours ago. I was just getting my party almost tpk'd in the

[00:48:04] uh, what's the name in English?

[00:48:06] um

[00:48:09] It's a pathfinder module and I don't recall exactly how it's called an

[00:48:15] English version

[00:48:16] Tomb of abominations if I correct

[00:48:20] Okay, well anyway

[00:48:22] For listeners tpk is that total party kill? Yes. Yes. I am sorry for my inappropriate vernacular for normies

[00:48:33] Well, we have enough folks here that can translate

[00:48:37] Yeah, I I'm so I'm sorry

[00:48:39] I hope I'm not I've not mispronounced too much things tonight. I am slightly asleep

[00:48:46] Yeah, I would know luke. I really appreciate you you being here, but um

[00:48:51] I appreciate all of you you being here. So um, yeah listeners it is going to go live

[00:48:57] September 3rd

[00:48:58] It's my neighbor necromancer number two and I'm sure there'll be an opportunity for you to get caught off on issue one

[00:49:05] If you haven't yet

[00:49:06] And uh when you back issue two

[00:49:09] But I will have a link in the show note. So wherever you're listening

[00:49:13] Whatever platform you use to listen to this podcast you will be able to go and click the link

[00:49:17] It'll take you right to the Kickstarter page and you'll have links so you can find out more about dylan and jason and luke

[00:49:23] And the other projects that they are

[00:49:25] Involved in and especially if if you are in the area and can go baltimore comic con is such a fantastic show

[00:49:33] They usually have great

[00:49:35] comic guests and

[00:49:37] A fantastic artist alley and um dylan and jason are going to be there. So I don't know what what my brother and I

[00:49:44] So I really don't don't know what more what more reason you need

[00:49:49] But dylan jason luke, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I really appreciate it

[00:49:54] Thank you so much for having me

[00:49:57] All right listeners, so be sure to click that link and sign up

[00:50:02] And pledge for my neighbor necromancer number two and um, I will see you next time. Thanks

[00:50:07] This is biron o'neill one of your hosts of the cryptid creator corner brought to you by comic book yeti

[00:50:13] We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast

[00:50:16] Please rate review subscribe all that good stuff

[00:50:20] It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly how we can improve

[00:50:25] Thanks for listening

[00:50:27] If you enjoyed this episode of the cryptid creator corner

[00:50:30] Maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast into the comics kate listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

[00:50:43] The great visionary leader of india

[00:50:46] Mahatma gandhi said

[00:50:48] It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver

[00:50:53] Listen to the healthy grocer radio show on your favorite podcast platform

[00:50:58] We know that health is our greatest wealth and we will be discussing all aspects of natural healing

[00:51:03] Explore everything from supplements superfoods and healthy lifestyle choices to help conquer stress and boost productivity

[00:51:10] Top industry experts and natural health professionals. Join us for a deep dive into our healing journey

[00:51:16] You can find the healthy grocer radio show on demand every day wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts

[00:51:22] And remember health is your greatest wealth