Frank Barbiere Interview - The Author Immortal

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

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

[00:00:35] - [Speaker 1]
Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10. Head to 2,000 AD and click on subscribe now or download the 2,000 AD app and start reading today. Hello, and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I'm one of your host, Jimmy Gasparo, and I'm here with a first time guest.

[00:01:02] - [Speaker 1]
And I can't believe this is this, individual's first time on the podcast, but I am very excited to talk to him tonight, because, he has a new comic book that's out, with Morgan Beam. It's fantastic. It it has a lot of stuff in it that I really wanna talk about. It's called the author immortal. Please welcome to the podcast, Frank Barbary.

[00:01:24] - [Speaker 1]
Frank, how are doing today?

[00:01:26] - [Speaker 2]
So happy to be here. Doing well. Can't believe it's March already, and that's my vibe.

[00:01:33] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I I time moves way way too fast anymore, but, you know, what do you

[00:01:40] - [Speaker 2]
have what are gonna do? I feel like I saw someone in town when they were coming through with their band back in, like, November, and I was like they told me they were gonna be back in March, and I was like, that's so far away. And I'm like, look at the calendar. I'm like, damn. That's next week.

[00:01:53] - [Speaker 2]
So, know, here I am. Old old man talking about time and the weather is who I've become. Weather's beside you. Live in Austin, Texas, so weather's been fine. I I've been talking to my friends on the East Coast, and they're like, it's snowing again.

[00:02:05] - [Speaker 2]
I'm like, I forget how that goes. But

[00:02:07] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Just got back from a trip. I was out for work in San Diego, which was beautiful. And then we my wife and I took our two kids to Disneyland for for two days and missed the the snowstorm here on the the East Coast. I mean, my my wife, my wife's from New Jersey.

[00:02:28] - [Speaker 1]
She's from Cherry Hill. And her mother was watching her mother was watching our dog, and I think they got, like, 14 inches while we were away in sunny California. So I was kinda happy to be away, away for that. But, yeah, I, I I too am an old man, unfortunately, that talks about the weather and how quickly time passes. And my wife just said the other day we were talking about the early days of the pandemic.

[00:02:56] - [Speaker 1]
And she said, do you remember when it first started? And we were sitting here thinking, like, five years from now, what are we gonna what are what are we gonna remember? And it's been five years. And I said, hon, it's been six.

[00:03:10] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I mean yeah. Because I I've been in Austin, and we moved down here in May 2019, and it blows my mind that's about to be seven years now in two months as, it does not feel like that. But we also locked down pretty hard for, like, two years, so that feels like it's weird. Yeah.

[00:03:28] - [Speaker 2]
But alas, I I did get inspired to make some comic books while I was down here to segue. So,

[00:03:34] - [Speaker 1]
No. That's a a perfect segue, to, the author immortal because, you know, I I I want you to talk about the story, you know, what it's what it's about a little bit. But when I first saw it, it had a lot of things in it that I thought, that that I like, that kinda spoke to me the idea of, because we meet Hector Ramirez, and he there's this it's about the this series of books that he read as a kid that meant a lot to him. And that's something that, you know, I instantly connected to because I was the type of kid who was a voracious reader. I I mean, I still am, but I would, you know, escape into books.

[00:04:21] - [Speaker 1]
I think there was a period of time in grade school where Madeleine Lengal had a stranglehold on me. I read a wrinkle in time and a swiftly tilting planet and many waters. There's there's a fourth book I can't remember. But in any event, I totally understood that, and I was very curious about some of the other themes of it and was, you know, excited to to talk about it. So

[00:04:48] - [Speaker 2]
So I thank you for checking out. I mean, it was a very hard book to reduce to a simple logline because, obviously, there's a lot more going on than just, like, the portal fantasy slash, like, kind of meta fantasy element of it. But it it it's interesting because, like, it grew out of just take it back. I had moved down to Austin to work at a game company down here as I I was a full time comic writer for, like, five or six years. I can't remember.

[00:05:15] - [Speaker 2]
But around 2017, I was super burnt out, freelance life killing me. Like, I hated not having health insurance because America is an insane country with that. And Yeah. Just like no income and knowing not knowing where my money was gonna come from. I didn't get exclusive at Marvel or DC.

[00:05:34] - [Speaker 2]
I had done some stuff at both, and I was just like, man, I went to school to be a teacher. So I was like, shit. Do I have to be a teacher again? Like, should I go teach? And I won't rattle on as I told the story many other places, but through some friends, they're like, oh, you could write video games.

[00:05:48] - [Speaker 2]
I was like, really? They're like, yeah. You have a strong enough resume and you know the space. And, basically, I spent, like, a year networking and getting to know people and applying and learning and managed to get a job in 2017, but then we came to Austin in 2019. And I I think violent love was wrapping up while I was at Activision, But then I really didn't do a lot.

[00:06:09] - [Speaker 2]
I I co wrote some books and just kinda, like, had some, like, slow projects that would take a while to come out, but I I was really just kinda tired of constantly pitching miniseries. And I've had a career where I've been very fortunate that I got to do a lot of my own stuff, which is great, but it started to really it was just wear on me of like, oh my gosh. I'm putting out a four or five issue miniseries. Like, people like it. I like it.

[00:06:32] - [Speaker 2]
It just doesn't do well enough. It doesn't blow up. It doesn't break through. Like, what am I gonna do? Like and it really burned me out, long story short.

[00:06:38] - [Speaker 2]
And really with author immortal, like, I had wanted to do a much more kind of, like, pseudo literary fiction, like, love letter to the unwritten, which is one of my favorite books of all time by Mike Perry and Mike Carey and Peter Gross. But I didn't wanna just do, like, a crappy version of their story. Like, I needed to find something to say. And the, like, framing sequence with, like, the author with Bostler and, like, kind of this idea that he's using storytelling to I mean, light spoilers, but basically keep his his dying daughter alive, which we find out pretty soon in the series, was the, like, thing I knew I wanted to do, but I didn't have my own in. And then just as I thought about it and, like, unfortunately, more and more kinda happened with, like, JK Rowling and, like, just and then Neil Gaiman as well, but that was way later after the fact these people getting canceled for just terrible views, monstrous behavior.

[00:07:31] - [Speaker 2]
I started thinking like, oh, well, what if like that? Like, the fact that we're still grappling with the wounds of people who wrote things we cared about really falling out of the public space, becoming straight up villains and people we do not want to associate with, and what happens to the books that we really cared about, which again is is very classic death of the author thing. But, obviously, the name, the author, immortal is a even play on that. And then the first arc is called death of the author. But but, really, that's what got me thinking, got me excited about it.

[00:08:01] - [Speaker 2]
And then I had met Morgan as well, and her art is phenomenal and and a great co creator and just started kind of talking to her about it because the minute I saw her stuff, I was like, oh, that's the person I need to do this. Because I feel like that, like, she will get the vibe of this. She'll be able to make it more interesting than just kind of I I don't know. Collaborating with artists is really interesting process, and it is obviously, the work comes out, and it it feels like a combination of both your efforts. But, obviously, you never know what you're gonna get.

[00:08:33] - [Speaker 2]
But I I was really just struck by her work because I had seen it. I had read swamp thing twin branches, which she had done, and we had started emailing. And Morgan had a bunch of projects kind of lined up because she did crashing at IDW with Matthew Klein and Trina Farrell, which is a great book. And then she was wrapping up a graphic novel that came out called told you belong here with Sarah Miller that came out on for a second. That's a great book.

[00:08:58] - [Speaker 2]
But we had just been talking about this working on it. And finally, like, gosh, I think it was, like, maybe, like, two years ago, we really started working on it. Our issue one is, like, a long 40 page issue, and, again, Morgan hand watercolors every page. So it took a little to get into the swing of it, but she is an absolute workhorse and was able to do it, like, kind of on a monthly a generous monthly comic schedule, which is about five weeks, which is still insane per issue. So once we hit the ground rolling, we're just kind of going, and the book was the book.

[00:09:28] - [Speaker 2]
But as I said, I I and then I was also really excited to collaborate with a few other people, Hassan, Atsme, and Elhao, who did lettering I'd want to work with forever, and he did a great job. Sasha Head, who did all our design, I had worked with in passing a few times, and she does a lot of three worlds, three moons. And I I worked there with Mike Mike, John Hickman, Dick Spencer, and I would see a lot of the signs she did there. And I was like, oh, Sasha, you should work on my new book. And luckily, her schedule was open too.

[00:09:58] - [Speaker 2]
And then an editor named Arden Ripley joined us who was fantastic, and they were someone I kind of was introduced to from games. But it was nice to just kind of have another person to kind of read the scripts and and talk through and make sure it was all on the up and up. Because one thing people always tell me is like, oh, like, what did you bring from from working in video games so long now? And I'm like, honestly, like, having good editorial and other people to trust because, again, I've always, like, self edited a lot of my books, and I know what I am good at. But I feel like sometimes when you're assigned an editor at company, you kinda get what you get.

[00:10:35] - [Speaker 2]
You don't know if they share your taste, if they are just gonna note you to death. But for me, finding really kind of competent editors whom I align with to edit my own work now has really helped me a lot because no one is perfect and you could always kinda use an extra set of eyes. So Arden's been fantastic with that and and helped shape the book. Now that's wandered away from the question, but long story short, it all kinda came together and this was like the one book that I had still wanted to do. And it's fascinating.

[00:11:05] - [Speaker 2]
So we finally shipped it in October 2025, which was a few months ago. We just finished our first five issues, and we'll have the trade out, I think, in April for comic shops and then May bookstores. But it it's weird to talk about I'm past tense already because that stuff had all been going on for so long, and it's all just kind of whoosh. But it it it's killing me because, I mean, the comic market has been up and down. And when you do stuff at Image, it is an independent project.

[00:11:39] - [Speaker 2]
And obviously, we've had a lot of really good, like, excitement with the TC stuff in the market, and those are great books. New people come in stores, but there are so much product on the shelf. It has been so hard to kind of capture monthly interest when you basically have a week, and and we're glad for the people reading our book. The people who read it like it. We love it.

[00:11:58] - [Speaker 2]
We're super excited, but we are really hoping that we can kinda get the trade pushed a little harder to people who maybe have missed it in the flurry of the fall that again, it's you have, like, a week on comic book shelves, and it is Yeah. Very cruel to be like, oh, well, we were there. Did you not see it? And as I said, the trade is a nice opportunity to go and to get the bookstores because of the content of this book too. I think, like, I'm hoping, like, as well as comic book fans, I'm hoping some more kind of book readers can discover it and people who are maybe aging out of You a little bit or just, like, kind of interested in the bigger discourse around kind of both fantasy and kind of death of the author.

[00:12:40] - [Speaker 2]
Like, oh, what does it mean to kinda leave stories behind? Can you and and how does it affect you? Blah blah blah. So it is

[00:12:48] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. You you pack a lot into that to talk about the first issue. Like, you really do pack a lot, into the first issue, and I I have to imagine that, like, that was that I would think that that would be one of the the toughest things to really, like you know, between you and and and Morgan and and Arden, the editor to really kinda, streamline and figure out the pacing and everything you wanna have in there because, you know, very you know, you have to acclimate the reader to, you know, who the characters are. And and you you have, there's a bunch of different things that you've talked about that, you know, that are at play, not just, the the death of the the author, but you are also dealing with this, the Deb Luckwell character who hires Hector and is very problematic. You have, you know, Hector's relationship with his kid.

[00:13:45] - [Speaker 1]
So there's there is a a ton in there. The issue never feels weighed down. I I I love Morgan's art, especially because

[00:13:54] - [Speaker 2]
Getting so much of it up front is beautiful. And and Yeah. He really drew a lot of pain in the butt stuff. Like, she did a lot of establishing shots of, like, the house, the libraries, and I was like, damn. I think, unfortunately, I gave her, like, a cityscape too when we shoot so show that little, like, interstitial scene with the demons attacking someone.

[00:14:10] - [Speaker 2]
I was just like Right. Sorry. There was so much here. But, no, she is amazing. And truly, like I said, it's been a gift to collaborate with her and see those pages come in because they look so, so good.

[00:14:20] - [Speaker 1]
I the in terms of, like because in the in kind of, like, the the very well, once you get past, like, the London nineteen fifty three cold open, which you we see the Bostler, the the the the author that that Hector admires, you see that, Al, I guess, Al's mom is is reading a story, and the book kind of leaks. And you have these, you know, creatures in it that I feel like Morgan's art, because it is, like, finished in watercolor, like, did the watercolor, you know, really shape that type of design because it really works so well together when you you really have stories bleeding into each other, and you kind of have the same thing, like, literally with the art.

[00:15:13] - [Speaker 2]
As I said, I mean, I I try to pick my collaborators pretty carefully and people I know are gonna do something cool. So I'm very, like, free with my, like, design work. Like, again, it is the artist who's doing a lot visual design. And with those, I literally just described them like like ink angels, I call them. Like, they weep out of, like like, the book as ink, and then they should look like kind of horrific angels.

[00:15:37] - [Speaker 2]
And just Morgan went to town with that. It's funny because Yeah. Those first five pages were the pitch of the book, and Morgan actually redrew them. So there was a different design. They used to have Oh, wow.

[00:15:47] - [Speaker 2]
But when she redid it, she was like, oh, no. No. I I really wanna redo the design, and and she really nailed it. And, again, it was one of those things where as I I just knew because she had told me because she had come off drawing drawing you belong here, which is a very, like, slice of life, like, kind of, like, teen romance story that mainly takes place in, like, a school. She's like, I just wanna draw some creepy, crazy stuff.

[00:16:11] - [Speaker 2]
And I was like, well, we will have an opportunity. And and she really has done just a great job with the creature design. Because as I said, I I feel like I'll I write, like, full scripts, so I'll write, like, panel descriptions, like page one, panel one, two, three, four, right, and, like, what's there. But, like, with visual design, I really just like to give my collaborators only as much as they need. And as I said, she definitely has a talent and a passion for for cool monster and world design, and that's the trickiest thing for me.

[00:16:38] - [Speaker 2]
The biggest thing was, like because there are obviously some generic elements to our story with, like, a portal fantasy. Like, we do not invent that. It's a very tropey thing, but I was like, oh, well, our big thing is one, like, the main world of these books, which is called, like, Grindel for the world of the mage's apprentice is our kind of in world made up old kind of fantasy novel. I was like, it'll clearly, like, have some staples of fantasy, but I want it to look unique. And then also when we go there in the present, it is a ruined world.

[00:17:11] - [Speaker 2]
So, like, there's weird shit happening here, and Morgan really delivered on that. Because, again, as a writer, like, I am very much like, I know what I wanna do. I doing this twenty years, I know how to do it, but there still is always, like, discovery and then, like, a little bit of, like, anxiety of, like, oh, I hope people get what we're doing here. But issue one came out really fast for me. Like, I think I just sat down and wrote it in, like, a stream of consciousness, like, excited bit.

[00:17:40] - [Speaker 2]
And, obviously, we edited it a bit after, but after Morgan agreed to do the book. And I am even though we start ours with a frame with technically a a little bit of a flashback, but I'm very adamant about beginnings and so many comics, and I've done it a million times. I know why people do it. It's because especially creator owned books, the first five pages of the pitch, so people want to have an action scene most of the time. Like, I hate every story that does, like, we're gonna show you the most exciting part and then jump back to the beginning.

[00:18:08] - [Speaker 2]
I'm like, no stories begin at the beginning. Like, let's start. Like, pick the moment. And with us, it's Hector going to pitch Deb, basically. Like, that is a moment that I felt like that is a moment where we can establish who he is, what's happening, where he's going, what he wants, what he's trying to do.

[00:18:22] - [Speaker 2]
And to me, that is so, so important because I feel like the stuff we hit on in issue five and, like, where the arc goes, like, if you do not properly set it up and give the reader, like, a breath to just, like, take it in, it's not gonna land. And there's a lot of talk about, like, monthly comics versus, like, trades and, like, writing towards a trade, trying to write monthly comics. And really, like, I tried to write this book as, like, monthly issues feeling like solid units, but, like, I sort of can't end up helping myself to try to give each one at least a little bit of a distinct feel and and then ultimately a cliffhanger, but it it's just so hard to please everyone. Ultimately, I think it will reinvest in the trade, but we do things like, again, we put the backup stories in two, three, and four as well, which was great to work with Kate Case now and Lauren Affey, another team who came in and basically did our in world stories. It's basically pages from the mage's apprentice, but also we have the character kind of being a little bit self aware as we discover what's going on there.

[00:19:23] - [Speaker 2]
But but, anyway, it's a fascinating thing. And for me with this book, I'm very clear about, like, what I'm trying to do with it, where it's going, and obviously what it explores. So it the other big thing that I've learned to push on, especially with my creator owned work, is to try to keep it, like, very unique and very outside genre. And and it's so funny because, like, I I saw someone say, like, an issue too, like, I know where this is going. And I was just like, buddy, like, I can't tell you you have no clue where this is going because I've, like, really sat down, and I know what the obvious version of this book is.

[00:20:00] - [Speaker 2]
This is why I say too, like, taking our time. Like, there's a version and and, again, editorializing, there's a bad version of this book where they get to the fantasy world on page five where, like, oh, you start with Hector and he just, like, stumbles in, and then he's there. And that's not the version I was excited by. That's not the version I want to tell. Like and, again, I I feel like there was a small it it was really fascinating because I could talk about it a little past tense.

[00:20:23] - [Speaker 2]
And I I look at, like, what people are saying because I think it's important. I like getting the feedback of monthly comics to seeing what monthly readers say. But, like, there was a weird like, people were like, issue one was really cool, but, like, not a lot happened. Then people were like, woah. Too much action in issue two in which I found baffling.

[00:20:39] - [Speaker 2]
And then issue three, like, people came back around, and then I I actually didn't see a lot of people talking about issue four and five. The people I saw, like, liked it. But, like, it is interesting because I wrote one and two, like, almost in one big piece because we do so much front loading of kind of the necessary character work and most real world world building. Two, I really wanted to have action in and show also Alethia, the barbarian character comes in, and we want to do, like, fights in there. But I don't know.

[00:21:08] - [Speaker 2]
I'm I'm rambling about it. But it's just always fascinating to me because, like, I am a very, like, meticulous, like, craft oriented writer. And, like, I swear to you, like, I looked at the shape of every one of these issues and made sure, like, there is stuff happening. There's, like, units of storytelling being doled out. So it's it's really fascinating to me to hear when someone's like, I don't think anything really happened to this issue.

[00:21:32] - [Speaker 2]
And I'm like, you sure? Like, it did. And, again, I I say that self critically too. I'm not perfect. Like, I know sometimes, like, if I wanna do one thing and the audience is getting that, I'm like, okay.

[00:21:42] - [Speaker 2]
Maybe we didn't deliver it. But I'm super happy with the work we've done here. And and, again, it is just very much what it is, and I I've I don't know. I I I don't wanna speak to, like, things like, oh, who I think this book is for, who I don't think this book is for, but obviously, like, is heavily influenced by by the unwritten, by kind of some more literary comics. And Morgan style definitely leans more towards indie comics.

[00:22:06] - [Speaker 2]
So and this is when I get to just, like, stuff with the market. It's like, yes. I I love that people are in there, but I just don't think there's a direct line from, like, very traditional superheroes to our book yet. I would love that line to exist, but, again, I'm very sensitive to, like, oh, yeah. Like and and with our trade is I've been very adamant.

[00:22:24] - [Speaker 2]
Like, please don't, like, rack this next to iron man in the book store. Like, please put it in the more, like, indie graphic novel section if you can because, like, it is a very different audience. And and, again, I don't mean that in any kind of elitist or weird way, but it's stuff that I I want to explore outside of kind of other genre conventions. Like, I love superhero comics. I love Marvel and DC.

[00:22:45] - [Speaker 2]
Like, I've written a bunch. I've written a lot of action comics. But with this, like, really, I wanted to explore some of my more, like, literary interests as well as modern relevant interests with kind of exploring, again, just what it means to have to deal with a collaborator or writer who has basically done, like, a heel turn on culture and their readers. And, again, not shy to say, like, obviously, Deborah Luckwell is heavily referential to J. K.

[00:23:17] - [Speaker 2]
Rowling. Like, did a lot of research about this.

[00:23:21] - [Speaker 1]
Hector's I loved I loved Al's re I love Al's reaction when Al when when they find out that, that, you know, when, Hector tells Al, like, oh, we gotta go to we gotta go to England. And and Al's like, who's paying for it? And he tells them.

[00:23:40] - [Speaker 2]
It's it's just so funny to me because, I mean, I know, like, a lot of people who this is, like, an issue with now, like, who will have, like, kind of teenage kids who can either identify as trans or nonbinary and, like, have grown up in a world where they don't have the attachment to some of the material their parents have, especially in the world of Harry Potter. And, like, we'll be like, what the fuck, dad? Like, why do you read that? Like, why do you really care? And and, again, it's very valid, but there is, like, a difficulty there.

[00:24:07] - [Speaker 2]
And and I don't see people grappling with this in in work, which is so interesting. There's no one really putting this into storytelling right now. And when I say, like, the book engages with death of the author, I'm not gonna solve it for you. I'm not gonna tell you, like, hey. This is what you should do.

[00:24:22] - [Speaker 2]
Go burn your books and and never think about it again. But thematically, I I really did find an angle that I am happy with and something to say that I think is additive to a little bit of a practical level, but also a character level that works with kind of identity, that works with kind of grappling with what you love. And and, again, I'm not gonna sit here and explain it all, but ultimately, that's where the story goes and and what it's for. And I was really happy to find a way to basically use kind of this conversation as a way to engage with it and awfully and hopefully help people feel seen in grappling with it rather than me telling them what to think, but just understand, like, this is difficult for a lot of different people from a lot of different angles. Yeah.

[00:25:04] - [Speaker 2]
And it it isn't something that is easily, like it has that's my big fear. I didn't want people to think I'm telling you how to engage with this, but I just wanna acknowledge, like, hey. This is a again, the fanciest way we'll say is, like, a cultural wound. Like, I know a lot of people, like, who had a fucking Harry Potter excuse me. I don't know.

[00:25:22] - [Speaker 2]
Can I swear here? I'm

[00:25:23] - [Speaker 1]
Sure. You can swear.

[00:25:24] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. That's fine. But Alright. I know people who have Harry Potter tattoos who have different gender identity and now have grown up and see, like, oh, wow. Like, great.

[00:25:32] - [Speaker 2]
This is my life now. This thing that I loved so much Right. Is now here. And and it's it it it's in in the generational bit of it too is is funny. I knew new people who, like, named their kids after Game of Thrones characters and stuff, and then Game of Thrones ended up being the TV show ended up being badly.

[00:25:47] - [Speaker 2]
So so there was a lot there. And that's why I I love that Hector basically named his kid after the main character from the novels he loved, which I find such silly.

[00:25:56] - [Speaker 1]
I mean, my wife will deny it, but but my my oldest daughter is named after a literary character. No. No. My wife says that's not why she agreed to the name, but but my my oldest daughter is Charlotte because one of my favorite books is Charlotte's Web. I I haven't heard anything bad about E.

[00:26:13] - [Speaker 1]
B.

[00:26:13] - [Speaker 2]
White. I think I'll speak like a pretty seems like a pretty safe one at least. Yeah. Yeah. So

[00:26:19] - [Speaker 1]
but it is something, like, in the conversation that people struggle with. And on on the one hand, it's like, well, look. That is whether or not you have some type of, like, parasocial relationship with this author or, you know, whatever the the the situation might be. I think some folks are like, well, it's it's easy to solve. You read it, then, like, that's fine.

[00:26:43] - [Speaker 1]
You don't have to buy their stuff anymore. You don't have to, you know, listen to to that author who wrote the thing you loved. But I do feel like there are people that struggle with it because there's a part of it that's like, well, they wrote this thing. And or, like, she wrote this thing that I loved, and it meant a lot to me. And, well, what does that mean that I love this thing that is now written by this person who I I disagree with on such a fundamental level about of a very about the the right of other people to, like, live their life?

[00:27:17] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. And and that is the bigger question because there's a very reductive view of death of the author that I think, like because, again, it comes from an old old essay like that. I think it's Bartles. I can't remember what his name is. But, like, the Internet kind of misunderstood it a bit, and I think the rolling stuff, like, also futz with that.

[00:27:36] - [Speaker 2]
But just the idea that, like, hey. You can completely separate an author from their work. It's like, that is not what death of the author is saying, like, that in any way, shape, or form. Like, that is a weirdly extrapolized view. It's just this idea of, like, what happens when you engage with the work and escapes the author's intention, blah blah blah.

[00:27:52] - [Speaker 2]
And that is the fascinating part to me that I think that actually merited, like, exploration in a in a work. And ultimately, as I said, I think there's, like, a a positive thematic outcome in our story. It does not happen in issue five. Sorry. There's a huge cliffhanger at issue five in the volume one.

[00:28:09] - [Speaker 2]
But because and that's also why I said, like, this is a story that I want to have space to grow and very much also a love letter to those, like, late nineties, early two thousand vertigo, like, 60 issue series that had space to kind of tell a full story that kind of went for something because, again, the bad version of the story five issues in, like, oh, like Hector kinda changes and isn't messed up anymore now forgives him and everyone's happy and and that's not where the story goes. The story is not about redeeming Hector. Like, it is about him living with the choices he's made. And, again, a flawed character, but I'm not also trying to assassinate the guy. He has value too.

[00:28:48] - [Speaker 2]
Like, he cares about his kid. He's just trying to like, he loves things, and it's been fascinating too. I've I've had a lot of people be like, oh, these characters are unlikable. And I'm just like, sorry. They're not perfect.

[00:28:59] - [Speaker 2]
Like, they they all have shit going on, and the story is about them growing and changing that place, so we'll see what happens. But

[00:29:07] - [Speaker 1]
The word protagonist doesn't doesn't mean likable guys. I'm sorry.

[00:29:11] - [Speaker 2]
And I mean, like, the other thing in Morgan made me laugh when we're out saying, like, we are not looking to defend or paint the Luckwell character in a positive light. She is a villain in our book and clearly wrong. And issue six, when we get to it, like, is very much her backstory, which, again, is interesting, but really supposed to be an exercise on how someone can end up like this. And it's not, like, a huge, like, oh, it's because, like, they fell down a well. It's like, no.

[00:29:43] - [Speaker 2]
Some people just have terrible opinions and wanna tell you about this and feel empowered. And what do you do past that versus just trying to explain or redeem Yeah. Anyone who is awful. And it is the it's the kind of thing where I I again, I did a lot of research on this. I think it's fascinating.

[00:30:00] - [Speaker 2]
I mean, the end result is horrible, but just that that whole thing of, like, author shape, what it means to put yourself out there. And and, again, I am I teach a lot of writing, and I am a big advocate of, like, I would rather your work say something and maybe be a little sloppy or be a little on the nose, but have, like, thematic value and something you believe in than not, and not everyone thinks that. I think it's been a very popular move in modern fiction to be like, let me just be entertained. I don't wanna take my medicine, what I'm reading, but I am very not for that. So I do think that, like, work is very much an expression of the author of who they are and what they care about, and you can't separate that as much as some people want.

[00:30:40] - [Speaker 2]
It's not to say you can't take something from it they didn't intend, but, that's stuff that I grapple with. And and really, as I said, I I'm here to kind of paint a perspective on it. And sorry if you don't like it, but I wrote the book, so you're getting my opinion whether you like it or not.

[00:30:57] - [Speaker 1]
You you mentioned the unwritten, you know, twice so far, which is a vertigo vertigo book. Mike, you you already said Mike Carey and and, I think it's Peter Gross.

[00:31:07] - [Speaker 2]
Peter Gross. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:31:09] - [Speaker 1]
And so what what was it about the unwritten that and I I and I've I have not read all of the unwritten, which I I do wanna, go and do. I've been playing catch up since I got back in the comics a number of years ago, so I haven't hit all of the the vertigo series. I've read volume one, though. And you did not just make a a a bad version of that. So don't worry.

[00:31:35] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah.

[00:31:36] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I mean but for for listeners, if you also have not, you know, read the unwritten, the long and short of the ideas, like, I think Tom Tommy Taylor, it was basically like the inspiration for a a children's book. I think Mike had said before that he was thinking of AA Milne's son. And and and it's it's it starts with that idea and, like, goes on from there.

[00:32:06] - [Speaker 2]
And and it branches a lot more into, like, a treat treatise on, like, almost all of literature and, like, kinda like, oh, like, kinda places where, like, the literary touches the real world and what does it mean? Like, they they do their own thing, but just the the whole, like, idea of, like, an author infusing power into his child, as I said, was very much to, like, Bosler angle. And then not spoil the unwritten, but the titular unwritten is a cabal that kinda controls the world through stories. And we have our kind of own villains, but they are not a cabal who controls the world through stories as that was the big thing of, like, literally don't wanna do, like, the titular villains of that. And as I said, it's fascinating because, like, it's it's an exercise in when you're writing anything that has, like, layers to peel back or mystery.

[00:32:52] - [Speaker 2]
Like, I think it rewards rereading, but people will have questions upfront. And really, by the end of issue five, you get basically introduced to a new, like, proper antagonist who is not Luckwell, someone in the story as well who was not visible. And then we also have these people who have appeared in shadow speaking to Luckwell in the real world who seem almost a little more, like, fantasy esque as well. And then we also have the the ink angels who we've not really dove into. But, like, trust me.

[00:33:20] - [Speaker 2]
Like, we have very solid lore and explanations for all these things. It's just gonna take some time because ultimately, what arc one becomes is the story of Hector and Al being pulled into the story and discovering Alethia who again, I was just very inspired by this idea of, like, the portal fantasy of it all. It's like, oh, again, imagine you got pulled into your favorite book and you expected to see basically Hermione, but you got a barbarian instead. Like, that, like, whiplash, I thought was very interesting, especially considering Hector named his own kid after this character that sees them, and they are completely unexpected and and different. And we really peel a lot of that back, I think, in four.

[00:34:04] - [Speaker 2]
It's funny. The one who didn't read, like, he literally gets a a beat to be like, Alethia, what is going on with this world? And she at least speaks from her perspective about what she thinks is going on and what is happening. But but as I said, it's something like it's a book I've definitely done the most, like, prewriting for, like and really just thought about, like, hey. Like, if we did this as a macro series, what should we plan right now?

[00:34:26] - [Speaker 2]
What should we do here? And I I will say very publicly, we are unfortunately taking a pause after issue one. Morgan has some other stuff that she has on her plate, and we are just kinda giving the trade some time to hip. But we are Yeah. Hope we're going to be back with volume two much sooner than later.

[00:34:43] - [Speaker 2]
But we had wanted to just kinda roll right into it, but looking at, like, the climate, looking at just kind of where we're at with our monthlies, were like, let's just take a breath. Like, I really believe we can find an audience with the trade. But, again, trade ends on a huge cliffhanger, so I'm sorry if you have to wait. But I think it's still worth getting on board. And certainly, if you wanna tweet at me about it and tell me you enjoyed it and are waiting from war, maybe we'll get there sooner than later.

[00:35:06] - [Speaker 2]
But it is the kind of thing where, as I said, I came in and I'm like, we want to do 60 issues of this. In a perfect world where we had sold, like, hundreds of thousands of copies of the first issue, we could have built a support to do it immediately, but Book did what we thought it would do. So we're kind of just taking a moment and being like, okay. Let's be smart. Let's not kill ourselves.

[00:35:26] - [Speaker 2]
Let's not just rush it out for the sake of having it out because it's it's also one of those things when we're talking about, oh my gosh. Should we just go right into issue six? What should we do? Like, we needed a little bit of a break as well. And I'm like, well, the book will live forever in collections, and I would much rather retake our time and do it right because it's a story we care about than just try to, like, oh my god.

[00:35:44] - [Speaker 2]
Need to stay visible on the shelf or else we're gonna lose momentum. So it's one of those things

[00:35:49] - [Speaker 1]
that we

[00:35:49] - [Speaker 2]
we wanna do it right rather than fast, if that makes sense.

[00:35:52] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. No. It does. And I I mean, I've said it before on the podcast, like, just talking to different creators that, you know, I, I I don't see and and we don't see a lot of longer running, you know, series anymore. I mean, outside of, like, the big two, like, just the continues the numbering of things.

[00:36:11] - [Speaker 1]
But, you know, very few series get more than than than one arc, which, you know, so if they so you you have a a series that you really like, and it follows a very, you know, consistent pattern. It doesn't mean you can't tell a great story in five or six issues, but there was something about, you know, letting letting a series breathe. And and also, sometimes you would when you you you just get, like, a really wild, like like, issue or have a guest artist come in, like, you you know? And very few series right now are, I think, even, like, it it create around, especially into the the thirties. I mean, I can think of like, something is killing the children right now, I think, is in the forties, and that's the first one that that comes to mind, which I like it.

[00:36:59] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. My my buddy Will's book, ice cream man has done

[00:37:03] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, ice cream man.

[00:37:04] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah.

[00:37:05] - [Speaker 1]
They've done they've they've done a lot.

[00:37:07] - [Speaker 2]
W Maxwell Prince, my roommate in college. I've known him forever. So

[00:37:11] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, okay.

[00:37:12] - [Speaker 2]
Seen him doing that. So that's my manager. Well, it and, again, I won't get too much into the business of it, but, like, truly and I knew this coming in. It the game has been for a long time because we did five ghosts back in 2013. Was very thankful.

[00:37:25] - [Speaker 2]
We did 17 issues of that. And by the time 17 was rolling around, we were really just, like, not doing a lot monthly. I I mean, we all now wish we had stuck with it and gotten a few more trades, but it was our first book. We were very tired. It was a lot of almost, like, three or four years worth of work despite only being 17 issues.

[00:37:45] - [Speaker 2]
But and then I went to Vinyl and Love. We did 10, but, like, the, like, age old thing is, like, you try to just hit so hard with issue one so you can kinda build your war chest of money, especially at image d. You kinda make what you earn there. Like, if you sold 2,000,000,000 copies, you would make a lot of money. But Yeah.

[00:38:04] - [Speaker 2]
You kinda put that into the war chest to, like, support the book going on, like, to pay for the to pay for the production of the book, basically. Pay the people drawing it and everyone, maybe the writer one day too. Who could say? But it is just one of those those self perpetuating things where, like, it gets to a point where there's not monthly income coming in from the book. And this is the hardest thing to tell people because so many people are like, oh, we I checked out issue one.

[00:38:27] - [Speaker 2]
I'm gonna buy the trade. I'm like, really wish you would have bought the issues because that is money in our pocket to do more. But Yeah. Again, I it's it's I can't force the economic truth of the film. And as I said, I this is not our first series.

[00:38:39] - [Speaker 2]
We knew it was gonna go like this. We knew what was happening. And as I said, I was hoping that maybe there's a chance we would get, like, such a hard spike that we would have so much that we could just barrel through. But, again, the book did well, but not so well that we became invincible saying, like, not the book invincible. I mean, financially invincible and saying, hey.

[00:38:58] - [Speaker 2]
We can do this as long as we need to do. Like Yeah.

[00:39:01] - [Speaker 1]
It is a it is a there

[00:39:02] - [Speaker 2]
is a plan for it. And volume two, I'm hoping I'm hoping by the end of the year, we're back to it. But as I said, Morgan has some cool new stuff she's doing as well. And and then, again, I I've started working on a few new books too, which is cool. So but this is this is a book we deeply care about.

[00:39:19] - [Speaker 2]
And if anything, as I said, the trade window is very interesting. I I really have a plan to, like, push the trade, like, in ways that I normally wouldn't if we were just doing comic book stores and just, like, get the story out there. Because I think there are a lot of people who it could resonate with who weren't necessarily weekly comic book store customers. And I love weekly comic book store customers, but that is a very specific customer right now. It's not necessarily the same as someone who's in a bookstore, the same as someone who's online, and I I put a lot of thought into thinking about how can we capture maybe more of an audience.

[00:39:52] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I mean, I think that's

[00:39:53] - [Speaker 1]
a good idea. I think that's that's you know, folks sometimes don't think about that, you know, in terms of the not only the economics of it, but who are the people that you know? What is the Venn diagram of people that go to a comic book shop, people that will back a crowdfunder, people that will go into, you know, get they they're still going into the bookstore. They're still ordering online from, you know, from Bookshop or Books A Million or whatever whatever it might be.

[00:40:23] - [Speaker 3]
Jimmy is too humble to do this. So as his stalwart ride or die, I wanted to tell you about his new graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti with artist Amber Aiken. What started as a comic short with his daughter that I've known about for ages now and it's evolved and has become one of those annoying can't talk about it in 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.

[00:40:51] - [Speaker 3]
No shade, but it's really good, remarkably so. Does it have a yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable? Yeah.

[00:40:58] - [Speaker 3]
But it streak flies in effectively tapping into the all too familiar family dynamics that we all are facing in 2026 and approaching it in a way that doesn't insult the book's target audience, kids. They are way smarter and perceptive than we adults give them credit for, So I really appreciated Jimmy's narrative approach tapping into his own experiences as a dad and a spouse. I can hear his wife saying, get off your phone, Jimmy, through the pages. She's gonna kill me for saying that. It's hitting shelves on April 21, and I dropped the link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today.

[00:41:32] - [Speaker 3]
Getty or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fintan, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent, Yeti. On behalf of us both, we appreciate your support. Yahawala.

[00:41:46] - [Speaker 1]
It's funny something you said earlier that you had seen or someone said something to you or you saw something online about the characters be some of the characters or all the characters being unlikely. Unlikable. Yeah. Yeah. I I I mean, I like Hector.

[00:42:00] - [Speaker 1]
I mean, I'm three No.

[00:42:01] - [Speaker 2]
Please. I'm glad. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you I

[00:42:03] - [Speaker 1]
like Hector.

[00:42:04] - [Speaker 2]
He's I mean He has redeeming qualities.

[00:42:06] - [Speaker 1]
But he's not I mean, he's he's clearly not perfect. I mean, we see right away from the and it's I just I love those I love little moments in a comic where you learn so much about a character. And because it's a visual medium, like, you you know, as writers, sometimes it's like, well, we gotta have it, like, on the page. But, like, when you can do something like he he he gets a text from, I don't know, one of his college students. And, like, you know, you know right away, like, that he is talking to somebody who is his fiancee, and he gets a text from somebody else about his office hours, and it is you you know from seeing that, a a a great deal of things about about Hector.

[00:42:52] - [Speaker 1]
I love little little moments like that.

[00:42:55] - [Speaker 2]
And it's the kind of thing where, like and and it's funny. Like, this is not like a one off. Like, there is a moment in issue five that pays off on that as well. Like, we're not just Oh, okay. Moment.

[00:43:06] - [Speaker 2]
Like, the book is written with a lot of intentionality. But at the same time, like, it was really fascinating talking about issue one with a few people because I some people I talked to were like, what an absolute fucking horrid piece of shit, like, worst dude on the planet. I'm like, a valid reaction. But, like, yes, he is cheating on his spouse. But, also, this fictional character is not the first person who has ever cheated on their spouse before.

[00:43:26] - [Speaker 2]
Like, I I know I don't condone it, but I know people who have done that in the real world. And, like, it is a Right. Part of life that is difficult. But that as I said, that that's the kind thing of, like, texturing to me where, like, clearly, I'm not condoning this, but, like, I'm also not trying to, like, bury him. It's just like this is commentary on the times.

[00:43:45] - [Speaker 2]
There's people who and and especially when we get to issue three, it's not an excusing of who he is, but I was glad and that that's why I was laughing when someone was like, oh, clearly, is gonna be a redemption arc reactor. This is not a redemption arc reactor. That's not what issue one is. I'm not trying to show that this man can be great and do bad things, but also just create some actual texture of like, hey. Like, maybe he acts out because of how he was raised.

[00:44:08] - [Speaker 2]
If something that happened to him does what are his values? How did you end up this way? And I think there's just, like, a lot more interest there to look at in terms of, oh, it's not just that they're unlikable. It's that they're flawed. And I hope, like, the again, the kind of reader I hope who is engaging with the work, like, is intrigued by that.

[00:44:29] - [Speaker 2]
And, again, I'm not asking him to excuse his behavior or condone it, but, like, again, he's not Goody McGooderson who's gonna save a cat from the tree and just, like, be out there. And and as I become older in my life, I'm more interested in telling stories about people who feel a little more conflicted and real than just, like, Captain America. Like

[00:44:50] - [Speaker 1]
Well, I mean, you you write something, and you and Morgan create this thing, and like you said, with a lot of intentionality. And so it's there for a reason. It's not there for, like, just a gag or as a throwaway. And so, you know, I'll I'll wait until I read issues four and five to, you know, completely make up my mind about

[00:45:08] - [Speaker 2]
I'm thinking of it. Frank, you dipshit. You're wrong. No.

[00:45:12] - [Speaker 1]
For me, in terms of the first issue and especially when we see how Hector reacts when I I think his fiancee Sheila tells him about this meeting with with Lookwell, and it's probably not really with her. Like, you know, who knows what she wants. He you know? But to me, it it came across as, like, another little personality detail. Like, Hector instantly conjured in my mind to try and, like, flesh out the character of of Hector as somebody who is is is probably engaging in behavior with a student because he seems like somebody who can't believe that a student would wanna engage with with him a little bit.

[00:45:53] - [Speaker 1]
There's there's some weird type of because you think of the the traditional picture of an author as somebody like Luckwell, somebody with, like, an ego. And Hector seems like a a bit of a mess for a lot of reasons, which is one of the reasons I liked him because, you know, I like messes.

[00:46:14] - [Speaker 2]
Guess things where, like, people don't understand power dynamics sometimes, like because there are people who manipulate power dynamics, but then there's people who suddenly are like, oh, wait. Like, why am I getting this attention? Like, oh, I feel and that is definitely more of the he's not meant to be, like, some malicious, like, philanderer, but, like

[00:46:32] - [Speaker 1]
Right.

[00:46:32] - [Speaker 2]
Obviously has some judgment issues, but it is one of those things where, like, that is a thing. And, again, I mean, I've known a lot of professors. I've known a lot of people who've gotten famous in different mediums. And I I Right. It it really is supposed to be a little bit of a foil to Luckwell, who is someone who became extremely famous author, and her decision was like, okay.

[00:46:53] - [Speaker 2]
I'm going to, one, like, put my dangerous, like, anti trans platform out into the world because I think I'm right about everything. And two, I'm going to pursue immortality because that is, like, again, the fictional part of our story and and Yeah. Spoil it, but we see her clearly dealing with some kind of weird ethereal Yeah. Cult as well. And something going on.

[00:47:17] - [Speaker 2]
It's the different kind of levers of power that people use. And as I said, that's what interests me as a writer in 2026. Like and, again, if it is off putting to you as a reader, your choice. You don't have to engage with it, but it's not something that is meant to, like as I said, we're not trying to condone a behavior, but I'm not leaning away from it. Like, this is we live in a pretty complicated world, and this book is about, like, grounded in a sense where we're trying to engage with that stuff, not just pretend like, oh, like, a story is just this perfect little fun space where everyone is perfect, and we wanna see the good guys beat the bad.

[00:47:51] - [Speaker 2]
I I joke about it a lot, and I hate using it as a pejorative. But, again, I I grew up in the eighties. And, like, when I see just, like, a good guys beat bad guy story, I'd I'd say it feels like a Saturday morning cartoon. And, like, yeah, there's value there. It's escapism.

[00:48:03] - [Speaker 2]
It's fun. Like, sometimes we need that, but, like, really where I've leaned towards is I don't want just, like, clean endings like that. I I don't wanna just do, like, story of the week. Like, we beat the bad guy. Let's go home.

[00:48:15] - [Speaker 2]
And I think the industry at large has kinda moved away from that, like, in terms of well, not everywhere. But I'm saying, like, I think that's when stuff can get a little more interesting. And for me, that's when I really started reading comics intensity around 2000 in, like because I grew up reading comics, like, passively, but around 2000 was really when I had, like, a weekly comic shop that I was going to. And, like, I finally, like, read, like, watchmen. Like, I was reading, like, Ultimate Spider Man and and powers from Bendis and just, like, Orson's run on X Men and stuff was all starting.

[00:48:46] - [Speaker 2]
Like, I feel like it was people pushing past those boundaries a little bit. And, I mean, watchmen was obviously eighties and different, but for me, it was new because I just read more traditional superhero comics and just seeing people like I mean, people. Alan Moore, one of a a great writers of our medium, but, like, seeing Yeah. What you could do in the space where you don't wanna just, like, play with the toys was always very appealing to me, and that's the stuff that kinda made me wanna be a writer and actually work in the medium. So

[00:49:13] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I I mean, I think there is value to just you know, sometimes I do just wanna see the bad guys get defeated and the good guys win.

[00:49:22] - [Speaker 2]
And as I said, I I don't put that off. Like, sometimes, like, again, I

[00:49:25] - [Speaker 1]
Right.

[00:49:25] - [Speaker 2]
Love stuff like that too. It's not

[00:49:28] - [Speaker 1]
I I just I worry when

[00:49:30] - [Speaker 2]
But I and you get it.

[00:49:30] - [Speaker 1]
I I also do enjoy more complex storytelling, complex characters. You know? And and I I I like thematically, exploring the idea of what stories meant to us when we were younger and the hold they have on us. And I also think there's something interesting here just because of as a dad, you know, with two kids and trying to get my kids into some of the stuff that I liked because there is a part of it, where, and I I I because I so I find that kind of interesting with Hector and Al engaging the the story on that level as well because, you know, I there's stuff that I loved as a kid that meant, like, a ton to me that I wanted to share with my kids. Like, know, before they were even born, I'm like, one day when I have kids, I'm gonna sit here.

[00:50:23] - [Speaker 1]
We're gonna watch back to the future, or whatever it it might be. And, and they're just some things they are just not interested in, and I never wanted to be, like, the sports dad who was like Yeah. Well, I I played football. I'm gonna make my kids, like, play football, and I did not I didn't play sports. So I I I don't I but I didn't wanna have that mentality with, like like, my my nerd stuff.

[00:50:49] - [Speaker 1]
You know? Like No. And but in that So There

[00:50:53] - [Speaker 2]
is, like, a, like, heartwarming value when it does hit in a certain way of like, oh, I love this thing, and I wanna see how you will love it because that is a but, again, then the the I don't wanna say dark side, but then, unfortunately, one of the other features is they don't care or more actively they actively dislike it and try to explain to you why especially some of friends who have teenagers. It's it's very funny. But but that's and that really is my goal, like, not to sound like such a nerd, but, like, with the lenses of this story, we have the writer, Vossler, who had his own child, his own relationship with with literature and magic, basically, and how that works. We have Hector and Al as a more modern foil, and then we have Luckwell. We changed her name a few times, so forgive me.

[00:51:42] - [Speaker 2]
I cannot Luckwell is what we ran with. And we have Luckwell in her relationship with literature and no children, but her book is her children, and she wants to be immortal through writing and other means. And it it was really fascinating to me as I started putting this stuff down and planning around it because it they are all lenses for how I think people engage with literature, how they engage with legacy. And and as it's it's rewarding for me to discover this stuff on the page, but, like, as I said, I I I really hope people can give it a shot and check out the first rate. Our our cover also is by Yuko Shimizu whose work I first encountered through the unwritten covers.

[00:52:18] - [Speaker 2]
She did unwritten covers. So one of my favorite covers, I was she's the sweetest person. I was so glad to get her to do it was a variant for number one, and then we did it as the trade as well. And, Morgan also has amazing covers, but we both were like, oh, we really wanna do Yuko's cover as our our trade cover as it just fits and and feels good. And, again, I my my big goal is to have her do all the trades as we go forward, so I'm hoping we could keep on keeping on.

[00:52:43] - [Speaker 2]
But I, yeah, I I think it'll be March, early May. I think it'll be out for free comic book day, which will be great. And Oh, nice. Great. We're gonna keep on keeping on.

[00:52:52] - [Speaker 2]
And it's funny. I see we're getting to the wire, so I don't mean to go into plug mode. I I'm also exploring Yeah. Go right ahead. Plug plug away.

[00:52:59] - [Speaker 2]
Plug away. Go ahead. A lot of stuff. I'm I'm hoping in 2026, we have an announcement about new five ghosts. Like, Chris and I are really trying to get back to that as we left it hanging, and it was a passion project we wanted to do for a long time.

[00:53:11] - [Speaker 2]
And then just, like, a few other things that I'm still working on. And this is it. I I I feel like I had a moment of, like, where I pulled back from telling stories because I didn't know what I cared about anymore or what I really wanted, and I've kinda come back now with a new focus of, oh, okay. Like, how can I leave it on the field, so to speak? Like, what are the things that I really feel like I wanna say?

[00:53:34] - [Speaker 2]
And it's been really great for me to to do that. And as I said, hopefully, for readers who are discovering my work or jumping in and yeah. I I know I really hope we can put violent love back into print, a book I did with Victor Santos at Image that I was a huge fan of. I say that, but I love his artwork. So that's why I read not a fan.

[00:53:53] - [Speaker 1]
I I like Victor's.

[00:53:55] - [Speaker 2]
But I'm collaborating with his work as well. He is tremendous, and and I really love the work he did on that book. I'm hoping we can do that as just like a solid tennis shoe collection back in print soon as well because that is book that was near and dear to my heart, and I hope I can wrangle him to do some new stuff soon too. But, yeah, I'm just out here in author immortal. I will be beating that drum endlessly.

[00:54:17] - [Speaker 2]
So follow me on socials. I apologize if I post about it a lot, but, again, it's a book we deeply care about, and we wanna get back to it ASAP. So

[00:54:26] - [Speaker 1]
Look. I tell I tell, like, newer creators who come on here and, you know, like because I I I'll interview anybody from, you know, from you, Frank, and who's been in the industry for a while, you know, to Phil Hester's been on to, Jason Aaron, and also guys who it's their, you know, it's their first Kickstarter. And I said, look. You you have to at least believe in yourself enough to be a little bit annoying about this stuff. The hardest part is making something.

[00:54:57] - [Speaker 1]
The second hardest part is getting somebody else to read it.

[00:55:00] - [Speaker 2]
Listen. So The retention economy is real, man. There's so much stuff in out there. And as I said, with a monthly comic too, you're basically on the shelf for a week. Like, don't be embarrassed about beating that drum.

[00:55:10] - [Speaker 2]
And as I said, hopefully, your work is something that's boring to you. I I'd never be mad at you for being excited about something you wrote humans of Earth, so get out there. Yeah. Right. But no.

[00:55:20] - [Speaker 2]
And and truly, though, it's it's so great to be here with you because to get a chance to actually talk about it as well too and not just turn things into bullet points or, like, solicits is fantastic. And and, again, thank you for checking it out and and having good questions. It's a book that, as I said, I know there's a lot there, but I hope that's exciting to people. It rewards rereads that you can think about it and talk about it and and be intrigued. And, again, just absolutely beautiful.

[00:55:43] - [Speaker 2]
Morgan is a god tier artist. I hope she has nothing to blame for fortune for her.

[00:55:48] - [Speaker 1]
Phenomenal. Yeah. I I've read the first issue twice already. I I really and I and I'm excited to get into four and five. And then I'll I'll I'll help beat the drum with you because I wanna read it.

[00:56:00] - [Speaker 1]
I I like to read stuff as a as a, you know, as a trade as well. And, yeah, I I I love the mixing of real world and and fantasy. Like, when those two things kind of combine and I really like the interesting questions that you're asking because I think, like, recently, something like Tom King and and Bilquis Eaveli's Helen of Windhorn kind of, like, played in that sandbox a little bit.

[00:56:25] - [Speaker 2]
I was so worried it was gonna be too close when it came out when he announced that because we already read this. Oh, no. Thank you. It a beautiful great book.

[00:56:32] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I loved Helen of Windhorn, but I think it does you know, it there's some similar ground, but thematically, it's doing something different. And Bilquis Evely's art is is gorgeous. But

[00:56:47] - [Speaker 2]
and on the other hand The colors there are so good. Yeah.

[00:56:50] - [Speaker 1]
But more Morgan's artwork in the author immortal is is very you know, is different from Bilquis', but it's it's also gorgeous, and it works so well with the the type of story you are telling and the way the the the two different worlds in terms of the portal fantasy are kind of, like, melding together. But, yeah, I think you're dealing with different things thematically. They they don't really even feel like two books that are in conversation with each other. They felt it sounds like it feels like you're at a, like, a, like, an old fashioned salon, and everyone's kinda talking about the same thing a little bit, but very different. As I said,

[00:57:27] - [Speaker 2]
that's why that's why this book was so hard to pitch because, again, we pitched it as the portal fantasy, and everyone's like, oh, yeah. I mean and again, Kieran Gillen's doing die, which is also a portal fantasy, but about gaming. And I was like, well, I don't wanna, like, just, like, totally unload on you in a solicit for a shop. But, again, it's it's again, I think all writers are nerds who like writing about writing, so we all have our own angle on that. And as I said, that's why we were so careful to approach this and make sure, like, hey.

[00:57:53] - [Speaker 2]
What do we wanna say with this? Is it so it's not just our crappy version of some other story.

[00:57:57] - [Speaker 1]
So Yeah. And it doesn't feel like that at all. Like, I I really liked it. And I I'm really kind of invested at this point after, you know, that we're really after the first issue, but now definitely after three in terms of the relationship of of and Al. And and you you've you've given it just enough so far in terms of one, two, and three, and I'm really curious to see what happens in in four and five.

[00:58:21] - [Speaker 1]
So even if, like, you're listening to this and you're like, portal fantasies and these other themes, I don't know. Like, there there's there's something here in terms of this character relationship that I also think is really worthy of of diving in and and checking it out. And I think it will read beautifully in a in a trade. And I just checked. It looks like according to Image's website, it'll be out, April 8.

[00:58:46] - [Speaker 2]
Okay. Cool.

[00:58:47] - [Speaker 1]
So well, Frank, thank you very much for coming on the podcast and talking with me about author immortal. I I would love to have you, you know, back when, you know, to talk more author immortal.

[00:59:00] - [Speaker 2]
And I'm sitting here more Kevin Morgan too, as I said. I know Yeah. You would love to come out. I'm sorry. We've been all over scheduling, but heck yeah.

[00:59:07] - [Speaker 2]
Would love to do any time. Thank you so much. And, again, thank you for doing the show. It's a you do have a great selection of different guests, which is awesome to see. Because, again, we don't need to see more podcasts with Tom King.

[00:59:17] - [Speaker 2]
Just kidding.

[00:59:20] - [Speaker 1]
Have I have that I have that Tom on, but, you know, it's not it's not just all Tom. So but thank you, Frank. I really appreciate it. I and I I'd love the book. So I I will send you

[00:59:32] - [Speaker 2]
I will send you a digital trade as soon as we're wrapped up too so you can check it out. Thank you. I got you. We just made the PDF proof. So Oh,

[00:59:39] - [Speaker 1]
awesome. Well, listeners, there's gonna be links in the show notes so you can follow Frank on social media so you can check out some of Frank's other work, but also let your local comic book shop know that you want a copy of the author immortal, the the trade. I know it's past final order cutoff when this comes out, but you can still let your local shop know where there's still gonna be plenty of places that you're gonna be able to order the trade because it's a it's it's an image book. And, yeah, thank you so much for listening. Shout out to my brother Bobby, the Crypty creator corner's number one most dedicated fan.

[01:00:13] - [Speaker 1]
Bobby listens to all my episodes. And hey, Bob. Yeah. So, thank you so much for listening. I really appreciate it, and I'll see you next time.

[01:00:24] - [Speaker 1]
Good night.

[01:00:25] - [Speaker 3]
This is Byron O'Neil, one of your hosts of the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you by Comic Book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast. Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve. Thanks for

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