Froggy Autumn Antics - Paige Walshe on Her Cozy All-Ages Comic

[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. So without further ado, let's get on to the interview. The future is calling! 2000AD is the galaxy's greatest comic with new issues published every single week. Every 32-page issue of 2000AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more.

[00:00:28] Get a print subscription to 2000AD and it'll arrive to your mailbox every week. And your first issue is free. 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 2000AD and click on subscribe now. Or download the 2000AD app and start reading today.

[00:00:54] I do not have what you call, in the classic sense anyway, a normal fairy godmother. No, Henrietta Grant was the kind of lady you did not cross. She was like superimposing. I guess that's what you kind of expect from a high school guidance counselor, but she also simultaneously radiated warmth like an ovener. There are three things that I will always remember about her.

[00:01:18] One, she had a smile like an absolute beacon and was the first adult outside my family that I felt actually truly safe around. Two, she immediately became my blueprint for what a strong black woman looks like. And three, probably the most important here, just like any fairy good godmother, she bestowed presence with conditions, of course. In my case, that was always some sort of frog trinket with a promise that I'd stay out of trouble.

[00:01:46] I didn't always do that. But that was the first one I ever got. It was like this fist-sized ceramic one with this extra large, like wide open mouth. And that found an immediate home in my aquarium when I got it. And I knew frog collecting as my first collectible passion. So that's a personal touch of background story there to say I love frogs and I've got a fellow frog lover. Okay, when you say that out loud, it maybe doesn't sound so good.

[00:02:11] But we're going to go with it on the show today to talk with me about her delightful all-ages project, Froggy Autumn Antics. Paige Walsh, thanks for coming on the show and hanging out with me today. Thank you for having me, Byron. I'm really excited to talk about some frogs. I also have all of my frog trinkets here. Yay! And so many frog trinkets around the house. But yeah, love frogs. Oh, very cool. So I went first. So give me your like frog fidelity origin story.

[00:02:38] So it's kind of like everything comes back to frogs, I guess. So I could go in so many different directions because both of my parents really, really love frogs. My dad's like online mascot thing was a frog for the longest time. And like most of the frog trinkets I get are from them. So I'm just like inheriting frogs left and right. Oh, cool. But then the frogs really started, started drawing more and more of them kind of because of this project.

[00:03:04] And it started because going back to 2020, I was stuck in lockdown and I was so, so bored and like looking for anything fun to do. And I decided to make an online profile for a frog just to randomly start talking to people. And then long story short, six years later, now I have a partner. And we're like technically married in the state of Quebec or province of Quebec.

[00:03:30] So yeah, frogs led to a book and me having two cats with my partner. And so I'm just kind of like spiraled. Oh, wow. That's crazy. So do you have like a favorite frog species or anything like that? I think the, is it the desert rain frog? It's like the really round one. And he just looks so cartoony and the little itty bitty legs. Cause like usually frogs have the really long legs and this one just looks so fake.

[00:03:59] And then classic bullfrog, just like big old guy, lovely little big frog. Yeah. I love the tiny ones. I love tree frogs. So like one of the good memories I actually have from living in Florida was listening to their song. It's abs, it's just so beautiful. I, you know, we live next door to this small green space. And during the summer months I'd set out on the veranda at night and just kind of soak in the chorus. Cause it, and it got really loud, but I loved it. It was fantastic. So, um, and I'll give you, yeah, yeah, for sure.

[00:04:29] I'll give you a small, uh, weird peek into the, the weirdness that is my brain. Um, so I read this, you know, over the weekend to prepare for the interview. Are you familiar with Reacher? Have you ever watched Reacher, the TV show? I think I watched a few episodes, but I don't remember it much. Okay. Were you aware that the actor who plays Reacher, Alan Richson can sing? No. Okay. All right. So the almighty algorithm has decided that I love to watch videos of him singing.

[00:04:58] Cause I discovered that he could actually sing. And, um, it's kind of a marvel. And honestly, it's absolutely not fair that somebody like that looks like that can sing. And is that talented. But after reading these, I did my weekly, like, uh, methotrexate injection Saturday night for, because I have lupus, um, which always makes my dreams, like, especially sort of vivid and strange.

[00:05:21] And behold, lo and behold, worlds collide here as like a muscle bound Alan Richson inspired frog leaps onto a lily pad and starts belting out Johnny Cash's hurt, like Kermit style. If you've ever seen that. Oh my goodness. In front of all his little friends. Um, so it was wild. And I have you to thank for that. So thank you very much, Paige. There, there was a very buff frog that I had to draw at some point because of a talk with my editor. So he was just like Jim Maxxing. He was absolutely gigantic.

[00:05:50] So that's probably what he would have looked like, but amazing. I bet. Well, now that I've like completely gotten us off, off, uh, topic of random targets, but you know, let's pull this in. So it's, it's, it's such a lovely book series page. You know, what I love most about it is that so many people actually have trouble finding their way into stories and like how, how to make that stuff knit. And this feels so universally relatable from the jump pun intended.

[00:06:20] You know, there, there aren't any new characters here. It's the same cast you're likely to see in any woodland setting, but they're just so adorable. You know, it's, it's like heartwarming and it's sweet and it's frankly a well, a welcome palate cleanser from the direction. A lot of comics are going in right now, kind of focusing on trauma, like even once designed for kids. So tell me how all this started. Let's keep it happy. So it's kind of like the same thing with the frogs.

[00:06:47] And I think that's how it ended up being thankfully very relatable was I didn't really set out to make a kid's book. It was just because I was again stuck in the pandemic and I was, I was doing school. So I just graduated from four years. I was drawing all the time. I was doing my own comic set side of that. And then I got a job in animation. And so I was drawing constantly and I couldn't even remember why I liked it anymore. Cause it wasn't fun anymore.

[00:07:15] So I'm just kind of like, ah man, this is a lot of drawing and not a lot of joy out of it. And so, oh, there's one in the back. So, um, yeah, I kind of took a really long break and I started to miss it again. I thought I need to get back into drawing, but I want to do it some way that's completely different. I'm going to draw basically a potato with webbed feet and I'm not going to give it any kind of like, like hard effort.

[00:07:44] I'm just going to draw like very, very loose. This is, here's a frog and okay. He needs a mouse friend. I'm just going to draw a mouse. There we go. And there's kind of just like a brainstorm directly onto the paper. There was not a lot of revision and stuff. So it was just whatever I was thinking about at the time. Like, oh, I'm, I'm in the big city now and I'm kind of missing nature. I'm going to draw some nature. Uh, I'm missing, seeing my family and friends from back home. I'm going to kind of put them into the comic in little critter form.

[00:08:13] And so it's kind of just stream of consciousness into the pond, all the things that I wanted to see. So I was missing them. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. The, uh, that universal relatability pulled me in, you know, in a, a, a pond full of pals immediately. I connected with it as I just sent my own son off to college and I was chatting with him over the weekend and he was expressing frustration about not getting into like Halloween parties as a freshman.

[00:08:40] And it very much connected with froggy getting brushed off from a group of snails. It hit absolutely similar. So I think there's a lot of connectivity anybody can find in this book. Yeah. It's, it's very, very relatable. I think so, so kind of hoping for, uh, like kind of the, the Kiki's delivery service energy of like you watched as a kid and think, wow, like I felt that. And then you grow up and you're like, oh, I'm feeling it again. Like there's, there's always a time where you're going to feel like a little frog going

[00:09:08] out into the world and it's going to bring back the same emotions every single time. Like when you're going for your first day of school as a five-year-old or going into university, it's like, oh, I'm right back in it. I'm, oh, I'm feeling all the same things all over again. So, well, probably as a, as a protagonist, like he feels a bit like Dory to me from finding Nemo, you know, just keep swimming, you know? So how did you find your way into him as a character? Um, I guess that like he kind of just like rolls with everything.

[00:09:36] I'm very much not that kind of person. So like if something bad happens, like one of the first things that happens in the webcomic that the series is based off of and it carried into the books as his best friend, his fish friend, fish to fur, just gets yanked right out of the pond, disappears. And he's like, well, just gotta keep swimming because like, what else are you going to do? You're in like a pond world. That's probably going to happen again. And like, it really sucks,

[00:10:03] but he has to keep going. And then like, sometimes a giant monster comes out of nowhere and you're like, well, this is also going to happen. And I'm just going to have to keep going. And it's kind of a, sorry, now they're trying to eat the door. The page's cats are invading. That's for people who are listening to the audio only. Oh yeah. There's all just like, oh, the monster that I was just talking about can and start eating the door. I've got three cats circling. Um, but, um, where was I? Sorry. Um,

[00:10:33] Well, you were talking about Fistopher and how froggy is not actually really channeling you. So who do you, who do you see yourself as the most in this series then? If you're not Mr. Confident frog. Oh, I'm buzzed or just like a pile of stress and like, uh, just kind of like sweating the whole way through the stores. Like, okay, things better work. And like, I hope things are going to work. And if they don't like, oh no. Uh, you know,

[00:11:00] that's, that's what that one's probably the closest, I guess. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Well, I'm picking up a bit of like dungeons and dragons coding too, in a couple of places that froggy has like plus two plus three, at least false teeth, you know? And I, uh, cackle with the, uh, the defeated human party loop drop, you know? And of course you have a wizard in the story. So are you a gamer as well or? Uh, very much not. I really want to get into it. It's just, uh, I, I struggle

[00:11:29] learning new games and dungeons and dragons is always like, okay, got to find a group to play it with. And then I got to figure out how to play it. I'm just going to grab him and put him on my lap because then he's going to calm down. Yeah, sure. Here's Goose. Okay. Oh, Goose. That's his name? Goose. Like a silly goose. Goose. Silly goose trying to eat the apartment while we're recording. I'm surprised you don't have a goose in the books then. He kind of finds his way in, in all the characters. Uh, they're just

[00:11:57] all very chaotic, all very silly. And it's kind of the same thing. I'm, I'm witnessing them being very chaotic while I'm working. So I just, instead of having like an actual goose, I just, don't bite me. Oh my goodness. Okay. No, he's getting worse. Um, Oh, that's quite all right. Yeah. So they make their, their way in. The other cat is named Gator. So they, they all kind of have their animal energies going into the book.

[00:12:24] Nice. Well, how'd you end up with a snarky narrator? They aren't quite parental, you know, it's more like a, an aunt or an uncle, you know, a caring, watchful guardian, but not with the weight of trying to launch a successful amphibian into the big wide world. I was thinking of an older sibling kind of vibe, um, where like the older sibling will kind of walk into Froggy's room, be like, Hey, what's going on here? Poking my head in, just see what's going on. Okay.

[00:12:52] Kind of bully you a little bit and then come back and just leave. Uh, so sometimes there's like, uh, like helpful advice coming from the narrator and then equal parts. They will be very, very snarky and kind of make fun of Froggy and not be helpful at all. Kind of like an older sibling, but like, you, you know that they are caring for each other and helping each other throughout the story. So what did you want? A little bit of nature documentary if I have like, watching over.

[00:13:18] Oh, okay. So, uh, let's, I'm trying to get like a David Attenborough crossed with, I'm trying to figure this out. Uh, who's really snarky? Um, Alan Rickman. So like, I think everyone imagines like a different voice for a chunk of time. I was imagining, uh, the coach from Glee, which is probably like too aggressive, but yeah, there's just Sue Sylvester coming from the sky with a megaphone.

[00:13:46] Nice. Oh, I heard Glee's coming back. Somebody, I saw that somewhere. Yep. We're, we're getting the Glee boot. Are you excited about the Glee reboot? Oh, it cannot be good in any form, but I will watch it. It'll be awful and I will be sad. Yeah. I'm always skeptical when they try to reboot properties like that. We're going to see stuff like Friends and it's inevitable. Uh, Thanos is preaching. Friends is going to come back.

[00:14:15] Uh, well, we are covering, we're covering more books in 2026 focused on younger readers. You know, I'm old. So any, anyone under 20 feels like a younger reader, you know, but there are of course, levels and you've worked in, in different ones, you know, we're with an all ages project. You need to have some stakes. Things need to be challenges, but you also want problems to feel more manageable,

[00:14:40] you know, big feelings, you know, being left out and lonely are at the heart of Froggy's experience in the stories. So how did you give them real weight without making them scary? Because I know you love monsters. I do love monsters. That was something my, my editor had to help with a lot, like, Ooh, tone that one down a little bit there. There will be some kids reading, uh, because, uh,

[00:15:04] I wasn't sure like exactly how young I wanted to go because, um, since the start as web, webcomic, I could see that most of the people who were reading were like 18 to 30. And so, okay, I've got to tone down some of these things to be more relatable to kids, but like, we all kind of like the same things at the end of the day. We like making potions. It's just when you're a kid, it's made of grass and clover and stuff. And then when you're adults, it's soup. So, uh, yeah,

[00:15:34] it was kind of just figuring out like what could kind of carry through. Um, yep. Yeah. It was really interesting with the cryptids in this story because I think they, uh, I'm always thinking about angle of approach, you know, kind of in a cinematic way. And they have, when I, when I look at a lot of all ages books, I think that's a really important key to making,

[00:16:01] because you can make a monster visually approachable, but you can use how they enter a space and how they're looking in a space to kind of create just a little bit of that, that, that's very, that scary nugget, I guess, if you will, um, to kind of help. That's kind of what I was going for with like the, the big blue monsters entry where, uh, uh, they're coming in like just big looming, like as if probably he's about to get eaten, but like he doesn't like, so there's, there's, um, like stakes that come in every now and then in

[00:16:29] the story, but it's just like a little, a little touch. So you can get like, I think about, oh, uh, like, right. This is the forest. This is nature and like scary things can happen, but like, it always comes back. Nothing, nothing bad happens for too long. So where did you land on your test for this is too much? You talked about, you know, the, you, the people who are reading in a web comics, you know, and an editor wanting you to pull it

[00:16:55] back, you know, how do, how do you, you know, dial that in so it's comfortable for, for somebody? Uh, it was actually more of like the emotional weight and a lot of things that ended up being too much. The monster designs ended up being like too scary, but for just in general, like, things being too much for the age group, I wanted to focus more on why froggy was going on this big

[00:17:20] adventure and be more explicit that like, he's trying to find some place where in the big world where he doesn't feel so small. And I think it came through with everything that he was going on and finding his new friends that he can like find his family or like expand his family. He can find another home, uh, in addition to his old one. But, um, it's not like so heavy that like froggy's on his own on a log and just like kind of being sad and talking to the narrator one-on-one. Cause like,

[00:17:50] we don't, we didn't need that for, for the kids book. It was fine. Um, yeah, at times it felt like a, uh, a hobbit look from Lord of the Rings kind of scenario with, uh, with Bilbo saying, we're going on an adventure. Well, that was froggy to me in a nutshell. Yeah. He's going on a little adventure. Uh, like sometimes it was just like to get a snack and sometimes like, oh, he's got to go

[00:18:18] stop a wizard. So where did the, the wizard come from? I'm getting like Smurf gargamel vibes only. He's not a bad guy. Uh, I just wanted to put some magic in the story and kind of like gradually add it's like, it's not an unrecognizable world. Like you can go into any forest and you'll see any kinds of things, um, that you would see in the story. So I just wanted to bring in little bits to play with. So I added the wizard, added the monsters, um, added a little bit of the

[00:18:48] ghosts that come more in book two, uh, just to have more stuff going on and make it more like a unique forest, more special place for, for them to explore. Well, between the two projects, uh, Automantics and A Palm Full of Pals, what, what did you focus on wanting to improve? What did you see as your biggest kind of jump as a creator? Um, between the two, um,

[00:19:15] I just like building up the, the backgrounds more with the first one. I was like, so focused on trying to make like the whole thing very, very visually interesting. And I think I got like very too focused on the details. And so I was planning more carefully with book two and uh, hmm. What else was that? I, I'm, I'm so like in the, the book three brain.

[00:19:42] And so we're trying to look like, what was I doing with book one? It'll feel so long ago. Um, but yeah, and just trying to make it also brighter. I was like more informed about how it would look from screen to print. So we go, okay, we gotta make it look extra pretty for fall is all about the colors and they're doing all sorts of things like the, the circus and all sorts of, uh, crystal underground scenes. So that had to, to come through and be more interesting. Like I wanted to make a,

[00:20:11] a different view of the world. So it's not just the same, uh, place that they're exploring over again. And, uh, a lot of stuff I read, it's more, uh, like exploring unique worlds. And I really wanted to do a bit more of that. Okay. Yeah. I really noticed an elevation in your shading and with the color work, you know, with dappled light, that was the big thing that I noticed between book one and book two is how much

[00:20:38] more nuance there was to creating sort of that dappled forest light that you, you might expect. So it was like the, the, the fall sun and like all the, the colors coming through. It was like, hopefully like this, this all was coming through and not just like turning into orange mud. So it was a lot of focus on color this time. Well, you were talking about inspirations a little, what informed the books? What informs

[00:21:08] you as a creator? It kind of changes, uh, like months to month, year to year, especially because I wasn't starting out with kids books. So I hadn't, uh, seen like what kids books are kind of popular these days. It was like from, uh, things that I was reading when I was a kid. So it was a lot of, uh, I was reading a lot of toot and puddle books. I don't know how popular those were. Okay. Awesome.

[00:21:34] Uh, and, uh, you watched studio Ghibli movies way too young. Uh, so that was, that's where I was getting a lot of inspiration, like how to, how to draw like very, very full nature scenes. I'm like, Princess Mononoke. That's what kids want to explore. Yeah. I mean, they do. I mean, they may not be ready for it, but that form maybe a couple of years,

[00:21:58] but yeah, yeah, probably. So well, yeah, I think it's a really interesting time for a reader since you've kind of worked at these multiple levels. I want to dig into that a little bit more, you know, transitioning from a pictures first approach to absorbing a story and transitioning into interpreting it with the addition of words. And so how do you design a page? So a pre-reader,

[00:22:24] you know, can follow the emotion from the art alone? Uh, I do it mostly. I think with the expressions, uh, I always try to aim for like, you can kind of get at least the emotion of a scene without the words and then the words will kind of just add to it. Usually some jokes or something, but, uh, if, if a kid is reading along, um, then they will at least see the pictures,

[00:22:49] even if they don't totally understand, uh, the story going on. Um, I think also I was just thinking, like, um, during, um, during story times with a comic, like, it's kind of hard to follow all the bubbles and the narration if you're not the one who's actually reading. So kind of extra, like, okay, these expressions have to pop. They have to be very, very big. That'll just make them very, very fun to draw. Like when he's got the, the mouth that he takes up his whole face and the eyes are

[00:23:18] popping out and everything. Um, and then, so, uh, I don't know where I was going with that. Oh, it's okay. There's just a lot to be conscious of when you're kind of working in this space, because it's, I would think there's that aspect of it that we just got into about the transitioning from looking at just pictures to, to words, but also that you, you have to be conscious on some

[00:23:48] level that there's also somebody who's going to be probably reading this to kids. So, you know, whoever that is. And I know from reading to my son, you got to have different voices for the characters. So it's, you know, creating that space for the, you know, a narrator to be sort of a, uh, a vocal departure, um, to, to be able to, to make those spaces in the book. And I really find that fascinating. I'm just curious how y'all juggle all that. Uh, they, they sort of have very

[00:24:18] similar voices that I have to go and correct it because all the characters are kind of just like my own inner voice talking to itself as I'm writing. And then I kind of have to remember like, okay, no, this character is a little bit more anxious. This one's a bit more, um, like watching over everyone with a narrator and yeah, to keep track, make sure that they all sound a little bit different at least. Yeah. Although it's just my, my word vomit.

[00:24:47] That's really funny. So it's just like pages internal monologue on the page. That, that's all there was, there was a drop to this book when like my editor had to like stop with all the words, like that's enough words. Like I can't stop. It's just all going. So what's, what's that like, you know, working with an editor as an experience, you're coming from web comics, you're kind of doing your own thing. And now it's like, uh, okay.

[00:25:10] It was really scary to show, uh, another person that the rough stage and it's like, Oh, like, here's all the ideas and just like the form where you normally, I'm like, no, no one else look at this. This is for my eyes until I fix it. And like, let me fix it. And then, but like, it's who my editor is going to fix it and then going to fix it different than I would.

[00:25:33] And that has been really amazing to see, um, someone else's ideas kind of like influence where things could go. Cause like, I will just, I will end up with a giant block of text on a page. And so my editor added so many things that made the story the way it is now, like the, the, the background to gags, like the bugs, I never would have added most of those. Cause I,

[00:25:59] I wasn't thinking about adding something like that. And so, um, just the book is so much richer and more, um, like just like more of a treat to read because someone, uh, uh, made notes about like how to make it prettier, how to make it more fun, how to make it something that you can reread and look at for much longer. And so that's amazing. It's really interesting because I'm thinking about what you're exposed to in art school,

[00:26:27] you know, and in a way it sounds like it was almost another, you know, teacher kind of role that the editor was playing in your book. For sure. And it was also like very, uh, helpful for like for those critique sections for like, just to have someone who will point out like, this is not working. You can get rid of it. Yeah. No, in fact, like, get rid of it, get it out of here. Like, oh, she wouldn't say it like that.

[00:26:55] Aside from inserting a cute little lovely bug vignettes into backgrounds. Um, the, the second book just, it makes so much sense because of, because of her, her name is Neve and she was, uh, helping me out with, um, the plot of the second book because I didn't, uh, have a second book in mind when I made the first. And my nightmare was that someone reading the second book would feel that.

[00:27:21] And that was just kind of like added on at the end of like, no, that's, that's my least favorite thing when I read a sequel. And so I, because they like, do not do that to your own books. And she really helped me make it feel like they were all intentional, especially because it's also very episodic structure. Like it feels a lot more concise and also very, very whimsical because I was

[00:27:47] stuck. I'm like, what are these guys going to do for a whole season? You know, let's do something different. But like, no one wants to read a book about someone raking leaves. Like, what do we do in the fall? And so she, she helps a lot with that. We get cottage core in the fall. That's what we do. Animals start knitting. That's, I've got so many friends right now who are doing knitting. It's like all scarves and blankets and everything. And that just must be where we're at in our lives. We start knitting. So I'm not, I'm not going to knit.

[00:28:15] I'm going to take up cross stitch, I think. Hopefully for the winter. Oh, cross stitch is fun too. That would be my hibernation. I crochet because I will drop things and I will not notice until I've got half of my scarf missing. So what is your, aside from art, what is your creative endeavor for your fall, your winter hibernation this year?

[00:28:37] Um, I'm usually a crochet person, but I, I have no ideas there. And so I'm trying to get into sewing perhaps. Okay. It is a lot more precise. So we'll see how that goes. And I think my machine like shakes the floor a little bit. So maybe, maybe I'm going to quit and say it's because I'm a good neighbor and I don't want to shake the apartment. So am I seeing like handmade clothes in the future? Like,

[00:29:06] what are you going to do with sewing? Um, possibilities are endless. Uh, I would like to make sewing, um, make clothes. I've tried before and you could really tell that they were homemade. So, um, if I can get past that and have them look nice and like seams are not like the lines are just doing this. And yeah, I can get past that. And then, then I'll go, okay, this is a hobby that I

[00:29:33] can keep going with. I'm not going to take up sewing that. That one scares me. There's something about it. I don't know. I've still got my, uh, my grandmother's old, uh, sewing wheel. And I think it was her grandmother's old sewing wheel. It's got to be 150 years old now with the, the, the foot pump. Yeah. Those are, I love those. It's just a beautiful piece of machinery period. Yeah. All right. Well, let me rein it back in here. So kids comics are, uh, are booming in bookstores and

[00:30:01] libraries, but a lot of, you know, I guess big comics conversation skips them. You know, we just don't pay a lot of attention to it. So what do you wish adult comic fans understood about the all ages space? Um, I guess that like it's all ages because like it is not just for kids. It's for everyone. There's still a lot of beautiful stories that are like, I guess, um, not more intended for kids, but that they are acceptable for kids to read. Like there's beautiful lessons to be learned from

[00:30:31] them. And there's amazing art to see all the way through like the amount of care that goes into making kids comics. Cause like the, like, since kids are going to be reading them, there's like so many, like, there's so much color. There's so many like lively, um, panels and they're so amazing. I love them so much. My whole shelf is, uh, kids in middle grade, uh, comics and just give them a shot right there. They're sort of fun. There's so many to discover. Do you see yourself staying in

[00:31:00] that space as, as a professional, as your career continues to blossom? I'm so torn on it because I, I love, I love my puns and I love my goofy little creatures, but I, I love monsters. And well, um, the, the next ones I have planned are more, uh, like aged up, but then even when I'm making those, I'm like, but what if I don't make it too scary? So then like some, some kids can read

[00:31:30] it. Cause then every time I meet kids who have read my books and they're like, they're looking for more things. I'm like, I gotta make something for them. But like, I don't have any, anything planned beyond Frankie for kids yet. So who knows? Cause you know, inspiration strikes random. There's clearly space for all of it though, because look at Sarah Anderson's success and for sure. She, she has so many monsters and things she does. She has an entire book that's just,

[00:31:57] just monsters. So it's cryptic club, I think. Yeah. So very fitting. Exactly. Podcast. Yeah. We talked about it. So I'm waiting for the inspiration to strike and then who knows, maybe I'll have another three books and maybe about another animal, but so far, I don't know. Uh, yeah, you can see some more monsters coming up. I'm seeing a newt. I love newt.

[00:32:26] Yeah. Well, you work. Go ahead. What? Oh, I was just thinking like, is there, is there a mutant? Like there's so many different like random little animals that I draw. Like I don't think there's a mutant yet, but there should have been. They're so sweet. I just see a newt as a really nice cross section of everything. You're kind of illustrating that you love because you've got the forest thing going on, but there's a little bit of magic. You know, we have fire newts and you know, newts are always associated with witches. So I think, I think newt, newts would be a great one for

[00:32:55] you. Okay. I might steal this. I'm gonna. No, you have my permission. Go for it. Awesome. I'll log in that for later. Well, you've worked on webtoons and tapas, and I'm hearing much griping about the middle ground sort of disappearing in comics, narrowing the focus to just recommending, you know, the big draws in that, that web comic space, the platforms prioritizing those.

[00:33:21] So how does that landscape, how did it all, is that a COVID change? You know, what's happened? Cause I'm kind of hearing that is sort of your end was that timeframe to start really getting into it and putting your stuff out there as a creator. So I'm just curious about how that's transitioned. Uh, I wasn't like reading too much online. There was a couple that I was always coming back to, but I wasn't exploring the space as much as I could have, especially cause I

[00:33:50] was using the internet to find things to read on paper. I don't really like reading on a screen, which really sucks cause there's so many things to read. Yeah. But then there's a problem. Like you go onto webtoon and it's all like someone killed me and I've been reborn and it's all a lot, very similar. Um, and that's not the type of story that I

[00:34:14] typically read. So I think there's a lot of stories to find. You just have to find them on their own individual websites. And once you do just keep a folder, I have a now growing folder of all the individual websites for individual web comics that I'm going to read. So it's just a little bit more organization instead of relying on the website. Sometimes like Topless, it shuts down and now all your stories are gone.

[00:34:44] Yeah. It just seems like an incredible amount of work and extremely difficult, you know, like, cause a lot of people from your generation are experiencing comics for the first time via web comics, you know? And that's why I'm, I'm curious, you know, are we kind of in danger where finding them starts to be less accessible, you know, in a, in a weird way, because we also have more out there than ever before. And it's, it's very easy to build a website, but how do you get

[00:35:12] people to find it? You know, what, what have you found that works? Um, a lot of it is just word of mouth. If people really like, uh, uh, a comic they will share. And like, that's what I do with mine. I, I have my, my people who I know read web comics. I'm like, here's one, here's two, go, go, go read. And then come back to me and tell me about it. And then you will spread the good news that there is a good web comic and there's a lot to, to dig through or a lot to, to find. Um, but then on the

[00:35:41] other hand, since there's so many of them and they're so accessible and like a lot of people are making them, I see an unfortunate amount of people just like not recognize how much work goes into them, I guess, because they're online. So there's a lot of people who are like really enjoying that. There's so much to read nowadays. And then, and then especially because the platforms don't really value the, the work that is being put into them. Like I, I've never seen a contract with like how

[00:36:10] webtoon original creators are, um, compensated, but yeah, with the rate that they are publishing episodes and everything like it, that cannot be enough. And just, man, their arms must hurt. So just, if you, if you see a nice web comic, share it with, uh, the people that, you know, will read it for everyone who says something, because I think that's the best way. Cause also personally, if I see like

[00:36:40] an ad, I might remember it for a story, but if my friend tells me, Hey, this is amazing. You need to read it now. I'm going to go read it right now. Cause I know she's going to fight me if I don't read it and I need to go back with info. So is there a community that's really good? I don't, it's not something I really keep track of. So I don't know if people talking about web comics on TikTok is a big thing, but you know, you're a creator kind of early on in, in your career.

[00:37:06] Um, so I'm just curious what's worked for you and just sort of amplifying and kind of leveraging social media as it is today. And it's challenging of course, with the, the attention economy to get people to just notice things. So what's working for you? I don't know. It was a lot of just like shouting into the void and just kind of hoping like, Hey, can anyone hear me please? Um,

[00:37:32] yeah. Um, but you know, for in general, I see, well, for platforms like Webtoon, it's a lot happening in the comment section that people are talking back and forth and hyping, uh, each other up to read more and like, uh, and giving encouragement to the author, which is really, really nice. And you're reading something and there's like thousands of people in the comments saying, yeah, yeah, we have theories, but what's going on. And it's so fun to like, to read the

[00:37:58] story and then read so much like thought going into it. Um, but yeah, I think there's, uh, probably a lot of like book clubs and just like, just people talking about them in their own friend groups. Um, hopefully, uh, I think usually what people tell me is that they, they found the books on online, um, sometimes through libraries or their schools, but usually online through their parents.

[00:38:28] Okay. I mean, it's a good, good connection point. I'm always curious. Uh, I feel like we're entering into, we are in this space now where everybody is sort of reading the same things and we fall prey to this in comics of just covering the, the absolute universe or now the midnight universe stuff. And I get why people do it because everybody likes a little bit of positive reinforcement and that's

[00:38:55] the kind of thing that's going to get the likes. But I do think there's a shift that we're starting to see happening where people are looking for truly curated, you know, content and people talking about the things that aren't, the things that everybody's talking about. And I think that's exciting. Hopefully that's, that's a trend that will continue. Are you seeing, seeing that yourself or? I'm seeing it with like a lot of different, uh, industries. I'm seeing a lot of that look with

[00:39:23] animation and video games. And so comics kind of go in with that where everyone's looking for like, like as niche as they can go. And it's great. And, uh, I do a lot of, uh, I go to a lot of like local markets and the, um, amount of like small comics. I see that people are self printing. It is really amazing and people really love to explore them. It's, uh, yeah. So it's like,

[00:39:51] hopefully see that like, that's still an option because the, that's so exciting. Zines are back. Yay. Zines are back. Uh, I see a lot of, uh, other authors online too. Like there's like sharing each other's work and that's another like way that I find new things to read and seeing a lot of like zine events, comic events, uh, to get into it and to share like things you've already laid or

[00:40:15] learn how to make them. It seems like a lot more smaller events like that are popping up as big cons seem to be getting less affordable, less approachable, you know, for a lot of people that local events are a good way to, to meet people, to introduce people, you know, other people, new readers to your work, you know, to just get your, your stuff out there and to engage with people about

[00:40:42] it. It seems like it's, uh, becoming more viable again. And I really like, that's really nice to hear. It's nice to hear. Uh, and I see them and like, ah, man, just like, it's the kind of things that we've been missing for a long time. And like people miss them in their comics. They miss them in their, their social lives, just places to go to be inspired, to create. And they're, you can see them for like any kind of craft. Now I see a lot in Montreal for making ceramics or, uh, doing sewing.

[00:41:10] And it's like, there's something for everyone. And we just gotta, we just gotta find them. Yay. That makes me happy. It's like, well, I'll pull back to Froggy. Yay. Um, both Froggy books are absolutely fantastic. They get my stamp of approval. I'll throw this in there too. They make a great gift for, you know, younger readers if you're shopping for the holidays, but we will reemphasize they are not just for kids.

[00:41:37] I always hate that assumption about all ages books. You know, all ages means all ages. I'm a fully grown adult who got all misty over a snail snub for, for my son for Halloween. So there's no ID check at the door. So feel free to buy them for yourself too. That's my, uh, my favorite joke. When people, uh, come by my tables at events where like they, they ask for no signature because they're like, well, I'm getting the book for me as an adult. And then we're, we're all going to read it.

[00:42:05] And then we'll get kids because everyone wants to get, everyone wants to get a look at the frog. So I'm like, yes, spread the frog. Everyone read the frog. Thank you. Very cool. Well, all right, Paige around here, we always like to end on a positive note. So we do a shout out. So this can be something that inspired you recently or someone you'd like to thank. And if you say your editor, which maybe you should in this case, that's fine, but I'll make you to go again to come up with something else. Cause that's cheat code. And I'll give you,

[00:42:32] go first to give you a second to think about it. Uh, mine is obvious in America today. You know, the people have spoken out as a rebuke to how the Republicans have been doing things. You know, my son, uh, put in his first absentee ballot and I'm so proud in this moment that things look a little bit brighter and we can go do things like, I don't know, push science research again. Uh, and I can't recall a morning. I've been so happy and maybe y'all Canadians won't think we're all

[00:43:01] crazy. So that's my shout out. Thank you people for voting. Yeah. Um, see, I had something in mind. I'm like, okay, that's a very different route. Um, well, first of all, Nev, if you're listening, thank you so much for everything you do for, uh, editing the books and, um, in terms of

[00:43:26] inspiration, I've been rewatching and being puppy cat and I just finished, um, the, the light fall series or it looks the three that are out now. And Tim's amazing. I love those books. I'm see. Like those, the, the rendering in those panels. Amazing. Goose, could you calm down for two seconds, please? Um, uh, so when I mentioned earlier, just, um, people creating really unique worlds and like,

[00:43:53] I would love to do a story like that someday. They're both doing amazing work in that area. Uh, Tim Prober and Natasha Likery is doing Ian puppy cat, um, animation and comics goose. You are killing me right now. Yeah, baby. Um, and then just in general inspiration,

[00:44:17] um, Maggie Ram has, um, uh, all ages comic series called fat cat that is being turned into a musical. What? Okay. And I think that is the coolest thing because besides comics, I really love, uh, uh, musicals for like what they get across and like the differences of communication with a, like a regular book versus a standard movies. When you add singing and dancing or when you add

[00:44:42] pictures is like, so amazing. So it's like the crossover of comic and musical is so exciting. And also just that, that it's happening at all. Like this collaboration, like of, of worlds, like, wow, amazing to see things like that happening in this day and age. That's cool. So bat cat, I'm not familiar with that one. It's, um, another little world about, uh, a creature named bat cat and they are neither a cat nor bat.

[00:45:08] Um, but they're just going around a little island trying to explain to the other creatures, um, like that they are bat. They are neither bat nor cat. And that is exactly, um, like what they are. And like, it's not supposed to be confusing. Are you trying to climb the door?

[00:45:31] Um, I, I, I see it yet to read the whole series, but the, the first one was really heartwarming about like trying to find other creatures that feel like they don't really belong on. It's called spooky Island. So it's like the fun, um, addition of like, it's kind of spooky, but it's also very funny. It's for, for everyone. There's a little bit of everything. I love that. So it sounds like it's about identity. Yes. For sure. Very cool. I have to check that out. I'll put a, I'll find it for the link in the show notes.

[00:46:01] So everybody can check that out too. Sounds great. Looking forward to the musical. Woo. Yeah. All right. Well, Paige, I'm also looking forward to the next chapter of Froggy. I'm glad to hear that that's going to be coming out and seeing who his new friends are. Cause there's always somebody that's introduced in all the books. So thanks for hanging out with me today and talking about it. It's been a lot of fun. Thank you. I really had fun too. And thanks for having me on the show.

[00:46:25] And there's a lot of new creatures coming in the next one. It's the highest stakes, biggest adventure, most new friends yet. So Gary. Sweet. We'll be looking for the Yeti. All right. You have lots of cryptid type creatures. Yay. Well, that was inevitable. You had to introduce some more. Two's not enough. No, I need, I won't stop until it's like all cryptids.

[00:46:53] There you go. And then you can change the title and it'll be a whole new series. Yeah. Froggy's taken a potion and become like a whole new thing. Ah, I like this. Very cool. All right. Well, this is Byron O'Neill. And on behalf of all of us at Comic Book Yeti, thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next time. Take care, everybody. Peace. This is Byron O'Neill, one of your hosts of the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you by Comic Book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast.

[00:47:22] Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast, Into the Comics Cave. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.