James Ferguson and Mario Candelaria Interview - Feed Them to the Crows

[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 cryptic creator corner. I'm one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo, and I have two guests on tonight's episode.

[00:01:03] - [Speaker 1]
Returning guests, they've been on the podcast before, and they're back. They got a new book. We're gonna talk about it. We're gonna talk about whatever else they've been up to and, and what they have going on. But, you know, their new comic, they're going to be crowdfunding.

[00:01:18] - [Speaker 1]
It's gonna be on Kickstarter on April 20. It's, feed them to the crows issue number one. I got to see a preview of it, which is the best part of doing this podcast, and I really liked it. We're gonna talk all about, all about it. But please welcome to the podcast, James Ferguson and Mario Candelaria Candelaria.

[00:01:39] - [Speaker 1]
See, I did it wrong anyway. I practiced it, like, eight times.

[00:01:42] - [Speaker 2]
Practice. Practice. Thank you for having us, Jimmy. We're excited. We're we're happy to be

[00:01:46] - [Speaker 3]
Yes. Thank you for having both Marios on here.

[00:01:49] - [Speaker 1]
Yes. Mario Mario. I I apologize. No. Thanks for reaching out, and thanks for coming back on to talk about this this new book.

[00:02:02] - [Speaker 1]
And, also, when I haven't gotten the stuff that I've backed that from from creators, it'll it always gives me a chance to make sure that I've read what I've backed from them when they're gonna come on the podcast. So because some you know, I back stuff, and then sometimes it comes in, and I'm like, oh, I'll get to this. And it just gets, like, added to the to be read pile. But I'm like, oh. And sometimes if I've I'll read something right away, and then it just I just I read it so fast that sometimes I don't, like, retain it very well if we're gonna talk about it again.

[00:02:35] - [Speaker 1]
But but have no fear. I did just make sure that I read today my copy of one true love. I did make sure I had that and read that and read that again. No. Don't don't apologize.

[00:02:46] - [Speaker 1]
I I really liked it.

[00:02:48] - [Speaker 3]
Thank you.

[00:02:48] - [Speaker 1]
I don't you don't apologize for that. I I love the work that that you and Jay, that you and Jay did. And James. Yeah.

[00:02:56] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I did edit James.

[00:02:58] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, yeah. That James edited as well.

[00:03:00] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. That's right.

[00:03:00] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So I was just reminding myself about about that one, which I did really enjoy. Yeah. But let's, let's kinda catch up first. What have you two been up to?

[00:03:10] - [Speaker 1]
Who wants to go first? James, how about you start?

[00:03:13] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. So I think the last time we spoke, we we had we had slices of life in the works. That's our our I just call it the pizza book, but but it's a crowd of

[00:03:24] - [Speaker 1]
without pizza.

[00:03:25] - [Speaker 2]
World without

[00:03:25] - [Speaker 3]
pizza. We're getting closer and closer every day.

[00:03:28] - [Speaker 2]
It becomes, yeah, it becomes more and more probable, every day now, unfortunately. But, yeah, that was the last time we were on, and that was that was a lot of fun. That book is is just a a perfect example of, like, the fun stuff you can do with comics and friends. Like, that's really of, like well, that exists because of a fun story that we kicked around in a group chat. And in many ways, feed them to the crows, our new show, was our new show, our new book is, very similar.

[00:03:55] - [Speaker 2]
Right? Like, this is something that Murray and I had kinda kicked around in a group chat, and we're like, hey. What about this? What about this? And how writers kinda pick stuff up, and that's how it came along.

[00:04:03] - [Speaker 2]
But, but since then too, I've, I've I released the second issue of a real slobberknocker, my pro wrestling comic. The third and final issue will be out, later this year with Dan Bucksa. So really excited for that. It's, you know, everything gearing up for, like, the a giant slugfest steel cage match, and it's, like, pulling from every pro wrestling, you know, dream that we have or or memory that we have to fuel that book. And that's the the next that's the finale.

[00:04:30] - [Speaker 2]
And then I've got feed them for the crows, and I have an another book called cleanup crew that I just finished the artwork on, and we just moved to letters on. That'll come in between, I think. So we'll do crows one. I'll probably do cleanup crew one, and then probably crows two, and then slobber knocker. Like, it's gonna be a big Kickstarter year for me.

[00:04:47] - [Speaker 2]
I'm excited.

[00:04:48] - [Speaker 1]
Alright. Alright. Mario, what have you been up to?

[00:04:52] - [Speaker 3]
Not as much as James. He's getting on that Kirkman schedule.

[00:04:56] - [Speaker 2]
You haven't heard my manifesto yet, Mario.

[00:04:58] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, jeez.

[00:05:00] - [Speaker 3]
I've been I've been around. Not really as much comic stuff. I'm on the creative for a pro wrestler friend, Sidney, who wrestles for AEW and TNA and a few other wrestling companies. I'm just on there helping him develop his new characters as well as, like, some promos and pitching on ideas when he has, like, different indie shows just to help him, like, kinda say what he's gonna say or help build up and beat social media or ideas he might have for storylines to other wrestlers. I've my main job is I have a comedian friend, Tara Kanastrasi, who is blowing up, and I'm on her creative.

[00:05:35] - [Speaker 3]
We have a pilot for a movie. Sorry. We have a movie spec script that we're working on for the past year and a half called Sunday Gravy, and we're gonna start working on a pilot that her manager asked us to start developing for a sitcom after that.

[00:05:51] - [Speaker 2]
But, yeah, I I I wish I

[00:05:52] - [Speaker 3]
had more comics work. Unfortunately, this is just the the road that I'm on

[00:05:56] - [Speaker 2]
right now. Yeah. And well and look.

[00:05:58] - [Speaker 1]
I mean but all that stuff's awesome. I mean, that's, like, incredible working with somebody who's, you know, wrestling and trying to build that character is pretty great. And I think I saw that your your friend that you just mentioned, is it her first name Tara?

[00:06:12] - [Speaker 2]
Yes.

[00:06:12] - [Speaker 1]
That she's gonna be opening like, she's gonna be traveling around touring or opening for Joe Coy?

[00:06:18] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I was just hanging out with them this past weekend. She did two nights in a row at Radio City Music Hall, sold out shows Friday and Saturday. I forgot what the next stop is, but, I mean, I've seen her pictures of her going to, like, the TD Garden and sold out arenas, and she's saying these jokes and just hearing the crowd respond to these jokes that we're just workshopping. You know?

[00:06:36] - [Speaker 3]
It's, like, the funniest thing. She gets a little dirty with it too live in the audience, which is a fun surprise, especially for me. But, yeah. No. It's you know, I I feel like I'm moving away from the spotlight by just helping other people develop their voices, and that's a comfortable position for me right now.

[00:06:53] - [Speaker 1]
Okay. Yeah. Because I know you did stand up before.

[00:06:56] - [Speaker 3]
I did. That's how I met her.

[00:06:57] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. But does does working in close proximity to it I mean, I know you you did just say that you you kinda like helping other people develop, but does being does being close to it ever, like, make you wanna scratch that itch to to to get up on stage again?

[00:07:16] - [Speaker 3]
That's a great question. I always want to, and I tell my wife, like, oh, I think I wanna do it, but it's just for me just finding finding the actual place to go to. And it's not a place where it's like, oh, you have to bring five people to get a minimum of two minutes on stage, things like that. Like, oh, probably not. Right.

[00:07:32] - [Speaker 3]
But yeah. No. I always want to. Some that's one of those things, like, one day I will. You know?

[00:07:36] - [Speaker 3]
And I hope I do before, you know, I kick the bucket. But, you know, it's it's fun to get up there and just talk to people. Sometimes I have a set sometimes I just riff what's on my mind. You know? You just go with the crowd.

[00:07:47] - [Speaker 3]
It's kinda like wrestling at that point. You either have a script that you go by or you just kinda see what the crowd is feeling and kinda hit those time mark marks with them.

[00:07:55] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, yeah. And are you pretty comfortable doing that in terms of just kind of, like, not quite improv, but just kind of being able to to to go with it?

[00:08:05] - [Speaker 3]
It depends how many drinks I had. My old gimmick oh, jeez. My old gimmick, I was, someone said I looked like the bad guy from Caddicheck because I always had a cardigan and a martini in my hand. I just go up there and just talk and then just sip. Yeah.

[00:08:21] - [Speaker 3]
That that was not a gimmick. That was just that was a real drink. Yeah, it just depends. It depends on how I'm feeling that day, what's on my mind, if the crowd feels good, you know, if the location's good. I have, like, prewritten stuff.

[00:08:32] - [Speaker 3]
Sometimes I'll just riff and see what's happening out there.

[00:08:35] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. I've always was such a huge fan of, like, stand up comedy

[00:08:42] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:08:42] - [Speaker 1]
In general, and I I still am. It's something I've never done. I don't I don't know that I I I don't know that I could. I think,

[00:08:53] - [Speaker 2]
I

[00:08:53] - [Speaker 3]
mean,

[00:08:53] - [Speaker 1]
I I think I I think there's different kinds of funny. Like, I think I'm I'm really good, like, in a in a room with, like, friends and other people, and I I I can make my friends laugh and and do that stuff. But I don't know how that would translate to, like, actually trying to write, like, jokes, to write, like, a tight five minute set or I mean, I I think I I would love to find out one day if I could hold my own, like, pitching jokes, like, in a writer's room. You know? But I I don't know how I'd how I'd do it stand up, but I've always always thought about it just because I've always been such a fan of of stand up comedy from, like, the moment, you know, I was a kid.

[00:09:34] - [Speaker 1]
I mean, I I would used to I think I probably told this story on the podcast before, but my my parents, my dad had a pool table, and, like, my brother and I would shoot pool. Shout out to Bobby, Cryptic Creator Corner's number one most dedicated fan. Bobby, listen

[00:09:47] - [Speaker 2]
to all your episodes.

[00:09:49] - [Speaker 1]
We'll get we'll get that in now. We'll get that in now. Hi, Bob. What's Bobby? And I would shoot pool, and we'd listen to Steve Martin's wild and crazy guy to the to the point where well, by the time I was, like, 13 or 14, like, I had it memorized.

[00:10:02] - [Speaker 1]
You know? And even to people now, like, Chris Fleming's HBO special, I thought was incredible. That was wild. I just thought, yeah. Like, I hadn't quite seen anybody quite like that, and I kinda missed the whole Chris Fleming's been doing stuff for, like, a decade on YouTube and whatnot, and I I just kinda missed the whole Chris Fleming thing.

[00:10:22] - [Speaker 1]
He's blowing up now into more of the mainstream, but his HBO special was bonkers. I loved it. You know? So I've always thought about it, but, yeah. But just think of it like this.

[00:10:32] - [Speaker 3]
It's a bigger room with more friends in it. Yeah.

[00:10:36] - [Speaker 2]
I mean, that that that's it it's there's still time, Jimmy. I mean, I I thought I thought that way about, I did karaoke for the first time last year, and I was, like, terrified of doing it. And Oh. It wasn't it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be. But it was at a work event, so it's, like, the most comfortable, like, audience I could have hoped for.

[00:10:54] - [Speaker 2]
So it's just like, yeah. Alright. And then the way I looked at it is I got I got a ton of cred at work for, like, at least six months. Like, you know, it's like Yeah.

[00:11:03] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I am not I love to sing. I am I am not a good singer, but I've never been afraid to get up and do, to to do karaoke. Oh, I guess there was one time there's a bar in Philly that used to do it, like, McGillan's maybe, and I heard that McGillan's, like like, McGill yeah.

[00:11:25] - [Speaker 1]
Think it's I think it was McGillan's Ale House. I heard that they are pretty rough of a crowd. Like, they they would they would do. Apologies if it wasn't actually McGillans. It was somewhere else because, like

[00:11:37] - [Speaker 2]
If it's just do, you're good. Batteries. Yeah.

[00:11:40] - [Speaker 1]
Batteries are bad. Booze are okay. Batteries are bad. But yeah. So wait.

[00:11:46] - [Speaker 1]
Well, James, now I wanna ask you. So what was that experience like? What finally I mean, because karaoke is you know, bars have been having karaoke nights forever. What finally compelled you to get up there and do it?

[00:11:56] - [Speaker 2]
We do this my job does this work conference, every year, and and somewhere along the line, karaoke got added into it, as, like, one of, like, the, like, the evening activities. And it's one of these things where it's like a bunch of, like, middle aged white dudes who are just like they they all jump up there, and it's like vanilla ice, Biggie, all these things where it's like, they're all doing it. And it's like, well, I after seeing that for, like, two or three years running, I'm like, I could probably do this. I know every single word to Bizmarquis just a friend. I could do that.

[00:12:23] - [Speaker 2]
And, I got out there Is that what you did? I did. Yeah. There's also it was also, like, strategic because there's no gaps in that song. He doesn't stop throughout the entirety of the song.

[00:12:34] - [Speaker 2]
So there's never that awkward moment where you're just waiting for, like, the reprieve or whatever. So Yeah. Did that, and everyone was like, holy shit. Like, he did it. Look at that.

[00:12:42] - [Speaker 2]
Like, that was amazing. And then, like, again, tons of street cred for the like, at least, I'm riding that for probably until the next year.

[00:12:48] - [Speaker 3]
You know? It's like Babe Ruth pointing his shot and just hitting it.

[00:12:51] - [Speaker 2]
That was it. It was like, oh, what's this guy gonna do? Like yeah. Or like that one Simpsons episode where it's like, gotta see what that little guy is gonna do. Like, he's gonna do something.

[00:12:58] - [Speaker 2]
You know? That's funny.

[00:12:59] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Well, now the pressure's on for the next for for this year. I know. You know? You gotta have you gotta have something good.

[00:13:06] - [Speaker 2]
You gotta think about it. Yeah.

[00:13:12] - [Speaker 1]
Alright. Well, let's talk a little bit about, feed them to the crows number one. It's the two of you working on it, and it's art by Daniel, Cavill who, he worked on from parts unknown.

[00:13:28] - [Speaker 2]
Yep.

[00:13:29] - [Speaker 1]
Which we we had, I wanna say the writer. Is

[00:13:32] - [Speaker 2]
that Adriano?

[00:13:33] - [Speaker 1]
Adriano Aragonella. Oh, yeah. Well, he's been on the podcast before talking about from parts unknown. I really enjoyed that. Colorist is Colin Johnson.

[00:13:42] - [Speaker 1]
Letter, Tony Riga. Yeah. So I really like this, and I think I think James and, like, the information you sent me in the email, it even mentioned this. But it it it did instantly gave me a sense of, like, the supernatural vibes a little bit, you know, because the whole show starts out with Sam and Dean, and they're trying to find the demon that killed their mom. But I I really liked how the dynamic was kinda flipped.

[00:14:11] - [Speaker 1]
I think the the difference in age between Mitch and Jake, made it, kind of like a a more interesting narrative. And, also, you know, the thing about supernatural is, like, even though, you know, Jeffrey Dean Morgan who played their dad, was, like, not in the first season a lot, but they had his book with all, like, the lore and information. Yet, like, Mitch doesn't know shit. He he he's got he's got nothing to go on. And that I I really like that that too because he it's just he's kinda floundering, And you Yeah.

[00:14:50] - [Speaker 1]
Can see, you know, in this in the six years, from when his mother died until, you know, we kinda see him, he's just been obsessed with this idea. One, that there is a vampire in a in a world unlike supernatural where, like, nobody else really believes in him or believes in this this supernatural. And, also, he has no idea. They like, in terms of there's there's nothing in terms of lore. Like, where do vampires hang out?

[00:15:20] - [Speaker 1]
Like, how do I kill him? Like, he has none of that. Like and and also not a great detective in general either. Like, we don't know what he's

[00:15:28] - [Speaker 2]
failed by the system. Like, that's really what and, you know, it's a whole lot that's going wrong with this poor kid's life. And I

[00:15:34] - [Speaker 1]
also Yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:36] - [Speaker 2]
All he has is his core memory. Right? This thing that, like, imprinted on him at a young age, and that's what he's built his entire life around. Right? And, like, you think about, like, your own childhood and, like, those kind of, like, memories that stick out.

[00:15:49] - [Speaker 2]
Sometimes it's just, like, whatever VHS tape of the whatever weird ass movie you had as a kid and when it's like, I'm gonna remember this forever. Right? In this case, it's this horrible night, right, where his mother dies. And Mhmm. And show that that we're not hiding that.

[00:16:05] - [Speaker 2]
That's, like, on very, very much the first few pages of the book where this horrible event, and he from from Mitch's perspective, a vampire killed his mother. No one believes him, but a vampire killed his mom. And, like, that's all that has consumed him all this time. It's caused all these troubles in school, in in life, and all this stuff, but that's still what's driving him forward.

[00:16:29] - [Speaker 3]
What's the thing from Spider Man? A milestone moment or a cornerstone moment? It was from Into the Spider Verse where they said it's a

[00:16:36] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, yeah. I'm I'm thinking of Inside Out with the core memories. I don't know. I can't remember what they called the, Spider Verse.

[00:16:44] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. This is his cornerstone. This is the this is this is the fuel. This is the thing that drives him and fuels him. His anger just points him towards.

[00:16:53] - [Speaker 3]
He's I mean, he's like a baby cobra right now where he just doesn't know how much venom to unleash. Right? He's just pure anger, and that drives him into the, it's funny that you mentioned he's floundering because we do see a little bit of his process in the second issue. But, it it's I feel that if he had something to point his rage, he would either be an instrument of great progress or great destruction. Destruction.

[00:17:18] - [Speaker 3]
But right now, as just a teenager, it's just it's just all flames. From his perspective and as we see it as the story goes, he has nothing. He has one thing else in his brother, and but that's really it. Yeah. This is this is his drive.

[00:17:35] - [Speaker 3]
This is his goal. This is all he has. Man, it's it's really funny that you mentioned he's just floundering out there. I was just thinking about that. I was like, damn.

[00:17:42] - [Speaker 3]
You really hit that right on the head. That's that's amazing. And I think the

[00:17:46] - [Speaker 2]
brother the brother's also important because I think we also made a conscious decision in terms of the, like, the the colors that are used that Colin did a great job with in that, like, when in the scenes where Jake shows up, it is brighter. It's like the one bright spot in Mitch's life, whereas otherwise, it's like Gotham City. You know? It's like it's the sun doesn't shine. It's not and I think I described it in a recent newsletter.

[00:18:08] - [Speaker 2]
Like, the sun hasn't shined on Mitch's life since his mother died. But Jake is that one bright spot in his life that it's like the one piece of normalcy in everything else that's chaos.

[00:18:19] - [Speaker 3]
Even the art style is indicative of that. It kinda looks like a Michael A. Von Oming book in terms of, like, it looks with crisp clean lines, but it's just these dark undertones that the colors sell even further.

[00:18:31] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. That's I that's a good, that's a good shout out in terms of, in terms of, Michael's work. But, yeah, Daniel really captured something in terms of, even the look of Mitch when he gets with his brother, which so I think if we if we compare it to, you know, something like supernatural, the things that you have done to separate your story have only made it, like, more interesting. And I say that as somebody who, like, loved supernatural. I've watched my brother and I watched, like, every episode together.

[00:19:02] - [Speaker 1]
It was just, like, a the thing that we did. But, yeah, I I love that Mitch is on the outside of all of this. I love that he really doesn't even have, like, his his his brother to confide in.

[00:19:15] - [Speaker 2]
Mhmm.

[00:19:15] - [Speaker 1]
Like, he has told him about what he saw. Like, Jake knows that, but it's not like they're out doing it together. Mitch feels like he has to do it, you know, on his on his own. Mhmm. But I love that idea of when it comes to, like, supernatural stuff like the outsider, you're trying to trying to to figure it out and find their way in.

[00:19:37] - [Speaker 1]
Not the not this I wasn't not the Stephen King book.

[00:19:39] - [Speaker 3]
I saw a steakhouse of Hollywood.

[00:19:41] - [Speaker 1]
Show the outs the outsider, or the SC Hidden book, the outsiders, just that somebody from the outside of of what if there is something supernatural, like, what's going on. Yeah.

[00:19:52] - [Speaker 2]
Or or the or the NDNWO, the outsiders, Scott Hall.

[00:19:56] - [Speaker 1]
Correct. Or that. We're not we're we're yes. I for another wrestling connection, but I didn't

[00:20:03] - [Speaker 2]
mean that. What I what I think is also important with it is that, like, that comparison to supernatural was something that that was part of the fuel when when Mario and I started kicking around this idea in that from an outside perspective, the show supernatural is freaking weird. Right? Like, think about, like, you're you're some you're you live in some small town. Your neighbor starts acting weird.

[00:20:23] - [Speaker 2]
These two strangers show up. Your neighbor dies, and then these folks leave. Like, that's that's, like, really suspicious. Right?

[00:20:32] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So, like, from an

[00:20:33] - [Speaker 2]
outside perspective, like, that was this, like, question that we kind of asked ourselves as we started down in creating the story about, like, well, what if what if everyone believed what if this guy believed it wholeheartedly, but everyone else thought he was full of it or either didn't believe him or made fun of him about it. So he spent his entire life convinced this is real, but yet no there's no one aside from his little brother who believes him.

[00:20:56] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, yeah. That that's what I I think is, like, is is really interesting about it because you can see even a little bit that Mitch has, like, obsessed over this for the past six years. And, you know, that idea of obsession, one, when it's it's bad enough someone close to you, like a parent, is killed, and you wanna get justice for them. You wanna find out who did it. But, also, that added element of nobody nobody believes you.

[00:21:24] - [Speaker 1]
And it is see it seems like we don't know much yet, but it seems like in the past six years, there has been a less than stellar police investigation into the mother's death. They

[00:21:36] - [Speaker 2]
think they're all even up for we leave a left up for interpretation there as to, like, you know, eagle eyed readers will point out, oh, well, it's probably this. Right? But is it, though? Is it? You know?

[00:21:48] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. I so I I I really thought from, like, that the starting ground of the the weird thing about supernatural that you just said, James, and, like, coming up with this story. You know, I I really I really enjoyed it. I I I really wanna see you know, looking forward to see where it goes. How did the two of you work together in terms of, you know, your collaboration with writing it?

[00:22:15] - [Speaker 3]
This one, James, can I take over this one? Yeah. Go for it. This specific story was awesome because we really broke it down page by page. We said I think we said, okay.

[00:22:25] - [Speaker 3]
We wanna do three issues, and then we looked at it, you know, in three act structure. And then from there, we broke down the issue further, knowing, of course, to keep in mind a page flip on the odd number pages. So then we we had a a Word document just a listicle of, like, we want this to happen, this to happen, this to happen. And it almost looked like a brew breaker script where it just like like, he just says, hey. I want this to happen on this page, and you just fill in the dialogue.

[00:22:47] - [Speaker 3]
And then I think we took turns back and forth who did the issue and who did the dialogue. Mhmm. Is that correct?

[00:22:52] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. It's been a little while, but yeah.

[00:22:54] - [Speaker 3]
It's been a while. I think, like, we just wrote out the actions for the panels, and then we went in and just filled in the dialogue. I like to do that first so that way I can pace myself out and say, okay. I know I wanna hit the page flip on this panel, so I wanna try to build up to this one beat and then just fill in the dialogue from there.

[00:23:11] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I think we're at a point now. Okay. Yeah. I I can't I don't we're we're a few years out from when we actually wrote this thing, so I couldn't point to you and say, well, I wrote this line or or this panel and and Mario wrote that.

[00:23:24] - [Speaker 2]
It was very seamless and kind of going back and forth with it. But that outline idea, I I I got from a a Brian K. Vaughan in a back of a issue, a letters column in Saga about he writes a list of all the page numbers on the page on a on a on a piece of paper, like one through 20 or whatever, and he writes just what happens on each page. So you look at it say, alright. Well, did I fill the issue or not?

[00:23:44] - [Speaker 2]
Right? Or, oh, I there's there's I'm missing. I know I need to finish here, how do I fill in each one of those gaps? And it kinda serves as a road map to get you to the destination. If you get stuck and like, what was I supposed to do next?

[00:23:54] - [Speaker 2]
Or is this enough room? And inevitably, you end up kind of like, some stuff will get bigger, some stuff will get smaller. We had one when we actually finished the script, realized we're at 21 pages. Well, we can't finish it on an odd number. How did we do this?

[00:24:05] - [Speaker 2]
And I looked through it, and I'm like, we had one page that had eight panels on it. Like, well, we'll just cut that one in half. Like, done. We're that wasn't easy one. But it was just somehow we crammed it all into that one page.

[00:24:14] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, that's that's funny.

[00:24:16] - [Speaker 3]
When you're working with someone else too, that that helps keep things structured on the same page. When you're by yourself, you have all your thoughts in your own head. Right? So you can just go at your own pace, but have cluing in someone else. James might not always know what I'm thinking, I don't know what he's thinking.

[00:24:28] - [Speaker 3]
So we're just being making sure to make sure, okay. This is exactly what I'm feeling for this. That way, it's just open communication at that point. It's like a marriage almost. You know?

[00:24:37] - [Speaker 3]
You just gotta make sure you're on the same page, the literal page. Mhmm.

[00:24:40] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So there's definitely debate against

[00:24:42] - [Speaker 2]
them because we'll we'll find it like, well no. And and this really you know, there's you pick your battles certainly as to what you feel needs to be in there, and and this was this is important because and, you know, we need to make sure this has more impact because and kind of kind of going through that like that. And and that's what what I think made this work so well.

[00:25:01] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, yeah. That I that's that's interesting in terms of, like, how you guys did it for this one. But I've I've done that same thing in terms of writing the page numbers and just jotting down, like, what like, I I think that really helps in terms of making sure you you have it all in and and have the the page count right. And I've done the same thing where I'm like, what was I supposed to be writing? What was I supposed to be writing now?

[00:25:27] - [Speaker 1]
And go back and and look. I think it's a kind of a helpful technique.

[00:25:33] - [Speaker 4]
Jimmy is too humble to do this. So as his stalwart ride or die, I wanted to tell you about his new graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti with artist Amber Aiken. What started as a comic short with his daughter that I've known about for ages now, and it's evolved and has become one of those annoying can't talk about it in comics things for too damn long. Yes, I'm predisposed to be supportive but after reading an advanced copy of it, I have to admit it's way better than I anticipated. No shade but it's really good, remarkably so.

[00:26:04] - [Speaker 4]
Does it have a yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable? Yeah. But it streak lies in effectively tapping into the all too familiar family dynamics that we all are facing in 2026 and approaching it in a way that doesn't insult the book's target audience.

[00:26:19] - [Speaker 4]
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.

[00:26:36] - [Speaker 4]
It's hitting shelves on April 21, and I dropped the link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today. Getty or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fenton, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent Yeti. On behalf of us both, we appreciate your

[00:26:52] - [Speaker 1]
support. YOLOLA. I also like I think you did a good job in terms of laying the story out because there's a moment or two where we flash back to, you know, before before Mitch and Jake's mom is killed. Mhmm. And I I think those moments really broke up, like, the main narrative, like, really well.

[00:27:14] - [Speaker 1]
Like, they hit it just the right times. I think they had a did a really good job of of of pacing that out. And, also, from the beginning and and from something Dalton says that we we we just learned that, you know, mom had a lot of issues according to Dalton.

[00:27:27] - [Speaker 3]
But You did.

[00:27:28] - [Speaker 1]
You get to see she's not a one dimensional character either. We kind of see Yeah. You know, a lot of some some other layers to her in, these flashback scenes that that Mitch has. Yeah. I thought you did a nice job of kind of picking the right moments for when they broke up the the main story.

[00:27:47] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, thank you. Thank you.

[00:27:49] - [Speaker 1]
I was really curious. I I I don't know if this is, like, gonna play a part in later issues. I don't wanna say exactly what it, was if you guys don't don't want to, but I was really I I thought the song choice was very curious. And I was like you know, because I think the it opens in '87, and then the rest of it takes place in, like, '93. And I think that song is, you know, at least 20 years old at that point.

[00:28:16] - [Speaker 1]
But I thought that was a very, very, very interesting it just surprised me that that that was, that that would be something Mitch was listening to. But, yeah, I it it it was very made me curious more more about about Mitch. I thought it was very interesting choice.

[00:28:34] - [Speaker 3]
It it comes in. He grew up in a house that was full of music, and that was just prevalent through his life. So this is, for him, an anchor that helps keep that spark in that memory alive. Otherwise, it's just a sea of anger. You know?

[00:28:50] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Thank you. James, is that my choice or

[00:28:53] - [Speaker 1]
your choice for this song?

[00:28:54] - [Speaker 2]
I think I think you led with that one. We we I feel like we could talk about it. What yeah. It's American Pie, for it, but it's in but you'll notice that when that when he pulls that out I mean, I guess we we could say that to an extent because I don't wanna get sued. But, I mean, we, he pulled it out at key times.

[00:29:11] - [Speaker 2]
Right? Like, these times of, like, big emotion where it's like, you know, if he was if if it was, like, present day, he might have, like, a a stress ball or something he would be squeezing or, like, really, like, about to lose it, but those are times where he needs it the most, and it's, his his, like, emotional support song.

[00:29:27] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Like, he's just in his bunk at his foster home. He's in his car, the beater of a car. You know? Mhmm.

[00:29:35] - [Speaker 3]
It comes back a few times. We'll say that throughout the series. It definitely is prevalent to his journey as he gets on.

[00:29:44] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Okay. Cool. Cool. Was there any thought, or any, I guess, specific reasoning behind, the the guy that Mitch thinks is a a vampire, which I think early on, like, what's his name?

[00:29:59] - [Speaker 1]
Buster. Buster. Yeah. But behind behind his car, was there any I mean, because you could have picked anything. Was there any I think I when I I think does it I think somebody says it's like a what?

[00:30:09] - [Speaker 1]
A like a 71 firebird or something. Yeah.

[00:30:12] - [Speaker 2]
That's exactly what it is. Yeah. Mario is very specific when it comes to the cars in this

[00:30:17] - [Speaker 1]
boat. I know. Okay. Okay.

[00:30:18] - [Speaker 3]
I'm in a different car every other week because of my job, so I'm very much into, like, okay. It's this type of car, that car. On my on my free time, I have Gran Turismo in VR. I'll just put that on and just drive random cars around just to get the feel for, like, how it looks inside. Yeah.

[00:30:31] - [Speaker 3]
I just I just love cars. Okay. You'll you'll catch me doing a 100 on three zero nine over here all the time between certain points. I don't wanna get pulled over, but I know where the cops hang out.

[00:30:42] - [Speaker 1]
I'm not gonna catch you because, I drive a pickup truck, and I'm not reaching that speed. Oh, they can

[00:30:48] - [Speaker 3]
go. If you if you hit it right, those guys can go.

[00:30:51] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. One of the things I've learned from working with Mario on on only this, but then on things like Killchella and One True Love is that, he's he's got a very specific eye for certain things, and cars is are definitely one of them. And that, like, you know, even in the script that, you know, he had a picture ready to go linked up for us. Like, this is the car we're gonna use for it. But he he's a very visual storyteller in that regard.

[00:31:13] - [Speaker 2]
So there's a like, you know, cinematic might be another way to look at it as to, like Yeah. How he how he, puts together some of the pictures the the, his scripts.

[00:31:21] - [Speaker 1]
Same with One True Love.

[00:31:23] - [Speaker 3]
Mhmm. One Same with that.

[00:31:24] - [Speaker 1]
Sorry. I was gonna say one one true love, it opens with Pete and Paul. They they're driving a sweet car in in one true love.

[00:31:37] - [Speaker 3]
It opens and ends in cars. I don't know if you picked that up. I

[00:31:42] - [Speaker 1]
was sitting I I don't smoke. I was sitting there smoking a cigarette, Jay. Like, gotta put him in a coupe de ville.

[00:31:50] - [Speaker 2]
Your your your stand up persona came back for that one.

[00:31:53] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Pretty much. No. I just love automobiles. I didn't really grow up with cars.

[00:31:58] - [Speaker 3]
Like, I grew up in Brooklyn, and we didn't really drive. I didn't get my license until was, like, 21, but it's one of those things that's like, you know, as I grew and got older, grew to appreciate, you know, the ins and out of automobiles and just the funds of just, you know, breaking speed limits and safely breaking speed limits and, you know, just enjoying, you know, the open road. I had a convertible for, like, six months last year, and it's one of the best six months of my life, I think. Mhmm. Just driving up and down the coast with, you know, this Mustang.

[00:32:24] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, that's awesome.

[00:32:25] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:32:26] - [Speaker 1]
I've only ever I think for the most part, I've I've I've not I'm not really a car guy. I've only ever driven pickup trucks. I do have I mean, I I do if I could ever afford to restore one, and I don't know why, but I saw this car when a younger age and, like, fell in love with it, and I can't get the idea. Like, I I do I do one day want to, like, restore and own a 1956 Chevy Bel Air. Oh, that's

[00:32:57] - [Speaker 3]
a boat. Right? That's like the giant one. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:33:01] - [Speaker 1]
I I don't know why. I saw once I saw one one time, and it was red, and the fins were you, like, had, like, a bit of silver on the side. And I was just like, yeah. I just I love the look of this thing. I just I one day, I want I wanna I wanna have So

[00:33:17] - [Speaker 2]
But that that'll be what you do after you celebrate your, your stand up opening is what is is get that car.

[00:33:23] - [Speaker 3]
Your next book, you're gonna use that money. You're gonna you're gonna patrol on the first Fridays around where we live, right, and just find the old cars. I wanna buy this from you.

[00:33:32] - [Speaker 1]
There are some really weird car dealerships that specialize in older cars, like, especially in the Midwest. Like, you can I remember driving out West and just came across one that had some of the most amazing cars I had ever seen? None of them were in, like, amazing shape, but, yeah, there are still folks out there that that do that, that sell cars that are in need of some work. And Mhmm. You know, you can find some interesting some interesting stuff.

[00:33:58] - [Speaker 3]
But No.

[00:33:59] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. The '56 Chevy, I don't know why. I've always just loved how it looked. To get back to, talking about, you know, feed them to the crows, how did, how did Daniel, come into the project, and what was it about Daniel's art style that you liked for feed them to the crows?

[00:34:21] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. We we we had a few stops and starts with feed them to the crows. I mean, we we wrote this, I I mean, several years ago, and it it kinda it it started. We we had a couple of pitch pages together. We pitched it to some publishers, and we were really excited about about pitching it to one publisher.

[00:34:39] - [Speaker 2]
And then I think everyone got fired from the publisher. And it was it was like, I really, like Oh. Really put a damper on everything.

[00:34:45] - [Speaker 1]
And I was

[00:34:46] - [Speaker 2]
like, well, this sucks. And then, it kinda just sat on the shelf for a while. And every so often, either me or Mario would would find an artist and go, hey.

[00:34:53] - [Speaker 1]
What what about this person for for crows?

[00:34:55] - [Speaker 2]
I mean, like, I don't know. Or this person was too expensive or they weren't available or, like Mhmm. Wasn't quite right. And it just kinda, like, sat there in the in the, you know, in the Google Drive folder somewhere. Right?

[00:35:06] - [Speaker 2]
And then someone had shared Daniel's work on Blue Sky and said, hey. You know, sharing this for a friend. I don't even think he's on Blue Sky, but he he was like, hey. You know, Daniel's looking for for work. You know, this is about what his rates are.

[00:35:19] - [Speaker 2]
This is some of his work. And you notice he did from parts unknown, and I'm I'm friends with with Adriano over there, and and I've I've loved all his stuff. And that book is actually coming out in the direct market from Prana Direct soon. But, you know, I I reached out to Adriana. I said, hey.

[00:35:36] - [Speaker 2]
You know, can you tell me about Daniel? Like, what's you know, how do think? And he had nothing but great things to say about him. So I said, oh, why don't I reach out to him? We'll see if he would be up for this.

[00:35:43] - [Speaker 2]
And he jumped in. We're like, you know, we kinda talked about it. He he sent over more samples of his work. We said, yeah. We could do this.

[00:35:49] - [Speaker 2]
Like, this this makes sense. And as as Mario pointed out, he he has a style that's kinda res res like, reminding us of of people like Michael A Avon Obing that, you know, certainly not a bad person to MLIze, when you look at as work there. So, we reached out. We you know, he was he was happy to jump in. I thought he was gonna take him a little bit more time to to get settled, and all of a sudden, he just sort of, like like, shotgunning pages at us.

[00:36:16] - [Speaker 2]
And we're like, all of a sudden, like, we're like, we're like almost done. Like, I I I couldn't believe how quickly he had turned these pages in for us. And a couple of things we had him change just like, you know, some of the characters, I think, like, the I had him change Dalton a little bit because, like, frankly, I think the initial pass was like, there's too many white people in this book. Like, can we have, like, literally anybody else in this? So, like, we we had him change up Dalton's ethnicity, some of the styling in terms of how, like, Mitch looked or some of the panel layouts.

[00:36:46] - [Speaker 2]
But, like, he took feedback incredibly well and then just kept turning in things so quickly. He would send me a sketch and then, like, hey. Is this cool? And then if I if I gave it a thumbs up within, like, a day or two, he had the inked page in. And then, like but he would send them in batches, so I'd get, like, four, six at a time.

[00:37:02] - [Speaker 2]
I'm like, this is crazy. The book's only, like, 22 pages long. Like, alright. We're almost done. So, you know, before long, we were, you know, pretty pretty through the, the whole process there.

[00:37:12] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, wow. Yeah. The last the last page, the perspective on it, incredible. Like, it is a it is a fantastic last page. Really, really, really liked how how that ended and how it looks like.

[00:37:29] - [Speaker 1]
Nice nice way to end this the story on.

[00:37:31] - [Speaker 2]
Well, I think we we did a we have a splash page ending for each of the issues, and that was a that was a Mario thing about who wanted that. Because I think you I think that you cribbed that from Kirkman, wasn't it?

[00:37:41] - [Speaker 3]
I did. Every single Kirkman book ends in a splash page. So, but this specific one, I don't wanna give spoilers what the last page is, but that is the literal point of no return in the three act structure. Like, we're good. This is this is the there's no going back for him now.

[00:37:58] - [Speaker 1]
Mhmm. Yeah.

[00:38:00] - [Speaker 3]
But, yes, I stole that from Kirkwood.

[00:38:02] - [Speaker 1]
Well, I I mean, not a bad person to steal from in terms of in terms of comics. Yeah. But it's a it's a it's a really good last page. I

[00:38:14] - [Speaker 2]
I Thank you.

[00:38:15] - [Speaker 1]
Really, really, really liked it. I I thought it it ends really nicely. I mean, the lay the last two pages in particular, I I kinda really, really enjoyed.

[00:38:24] - [Speaker 2]
And that that feeling, Jimmy, is like why we didn't really give up on book. Right? Like, so many I've I've had a whole bunch of ideas that haven't gone anywhere. Right? And there's all these different and I'm sure every writer has a folder full of stuff that's like, oh, it'd be really great if I could do this.

[00:38:39] - [Speaker 2]
Right? But we didn't wanna let this die, so we we felt really strongly about this. I I remember when we were pitching it of, like, every we're we're gonna pitch this, and it's gonna get picked up, and we're gonna be we're gonna just be making money like crazy. Like That's the confidence we used to. We were, like, within reason.

[00:38:55] - [Speaker 2]
But, like, the idea was, we were we felt so confident in what we had with this book that, like, we were gonna make it through hell or high water, and that that was really it.

[00:39:02] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Well, I'm I'm glad you did. I I mean, I think you've taken you've taken, you know, something that, you know, like supernatural, and you've you've the the changes that you have made are all for the better in terms of this story that you are telling. And I think you've made a much more compelling, you know, narrative and and and premise. I, yeah, I I just can't get enough.

[00:39:23] - [Speaker 1]
I love that idea of the person. Like, he has no tools. He has, like, no resources really. And taking a character and putting him in that posture and making them, like, obsessed with this idea that no one believes them, making them desperate to kind of avenge his mother and protect his brother. Yeah.

[00:39:44] - [Speaker 1]
You've really set up a very, a very compelling story, that I can't wait to see what happens in issues two and and three. You've done a very good job of laying out all these pieces in issue one.

[00:39:59] - [Speaker 2]
Awesome. Yeah. And and I think he gets Mitch gets some, ingenuity certainly as he as he goes to complete this task. Because, like, if you were a 17 year old, like, what would you do to commit murder, basically?

[00:40:10] - [Speaker 3]
In 1993.

[00:40:11] - [Speaker 2]
In 1993. Like so you didn't have the Internet. Right? Like, so what would what are the steps you would take in order to, like, figure that out and and and do something? So he has to he has to get a little creative with some of that stuff, and that's what, you know, we build up.

[00:40:23] - [Speaker 2]
It's only three issues with this whole the whole series, so we get right into it. I think to to Mario has a term he uses all the time. I've heard him say, you get right into the prestige. Right? That's the thing he said.

[00:40:33] - [Speaker 2]
That's why I learned I learned, how to how to really pace my short stories by saying that you get right to the prestige. So, that's what we get to with this. We get right into it. I say a lot of

[00:40:43] - [Speaker 3]
random stuff, though, and I almost curse. Sorry.

[00:40:47] - [Speaker 1]
Well, you can you you can curse if if you have to. It it's okay. You can curse. But, well, whatever random stuff you say, it seems like James is picking it up. James is listening.

[00:40:56] - [Speaker 1]
And so it makes for makes for a much more compelling comic, I guess. Because, yeah, this is a really great first issue. So it'll be on Kickstarter starting April 20.

[00:41:11] - [Speaker 2]
Yep. Right? And and we're excited for it. We the main cover there is by Daniel, which we kinda did a bit of kinda like a Brubaker Phillips homage to think books like reckless is really the the inspiration for that and kinda pulling on a few different pieces. And then we just shared today, actually, Roberto Roberto Duke's cover for the variant, which is a tales from the crypt homage.

[00:41:32] - [Speaker 2]
And another guy who I gave him a couple of ideas. Like, this is kinda what we're looking for, and the the detail he put into it was off the charts. Like, he even asked me, like, what do we put in this little circle that goes right here? I'm like, I didn't even think about that. I mean, like, I I don't know.

[00:41:47] - [Speaker 2]
Like, it says, like, know, e EC Comics or, something like a horror comic book. I'm like, I don't I don't think that far. Like, what should we put in here? I think we ended up with a a a crowdfunded comic for it. Like, we're doing this through Kickstarter.

[00:41:59] - [Speaker 2]
And then the the the group that we we had with, with Mario and I and then our our buddy, Matsumo and and Phil Butohorn was we called it four horsemen. Right? Another wrestling reference. So when we made slices of life, we put it under four horsemen press as a thing. We don't have I guess we should probably, like, copyright that somewhere.

[00:42:16] - [Speaker 2]
But, no please no one steal that. We you did that. You're a lawyer. Right, Jimmy? You can help us out.

[00:42:23] - [Speaker 1]
I mean, I I am a lawyer. That's not the type of law that I do, but we'll we'll figure something out. So when

[00:42:29] - [Speaker 3]
we bring a cease and desist,

[00:42:30] - [Speaker 2]
we put that in the little bubbles for it, because but he the attention to detail was really great. And, like, we argued a little bit on some of the little, like, the other icons that should be on there. He's like, no. I feel really strongly. Like, this is what it should be.

[00:42:42] - [Speaker 2]
And, like, he had, like, such a sound argument for it, and

[00:42:44] - [Speaker 1]
I'm like, I I'm like, yeah.

[00:42:45] - [Speaker 2]
Let's go with what you had. Like, you're the artist. I'm not I'm just the, you know, keyboard junkie or, you know, Jackie. What is it?

[00:42:52] - [Speaker 1]
Key keyboard junkie. That could work,

[00:42:54] - [Speaker 3]
I guess.

[00:42:54] - [Speaker 2]
Work your ass.

[00:42:55] - [Speaker 1]
You know? Depends. It depends. Hey. Can you just tell me, James, because you mentioned some of the other stuff you have coming out this year.

[00:43:04] - [Speaker 1]
You said so the third issue of a real slobber knocker. Yeah. And then what's the what's the other comic you have coming out? Are you able to, like, kinda tease that at all?

[00:43:12] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Cleanup crew is a a book. You wanna talk about stuff that's been kind of working for years. I've had this idea for a story for over twenty years. I and it's about it's basically home alone in a hardware store with vampires is the the logline for it.

[00:43:26] - [Speaker 2]
And that it's about these two clerks who are working at a hardware store. They're forced to stay late to help the overnight janitorial crew clean up the store before a big visit, moved by a district manager the next day, and the janitors are vampires. So the janitors, they work at night. Right? They're they're vampires.

[00:43:43] - [Speaker 2]
They don't have to work during the day, so they work at night. They have this janitor job, and they're not used to working with humans. So, something happens to kinda set them on the prowl, and they spend the night the these two idiot clerks are essentially spending the night trying to save themselves or keep themselves alive by using all the stuff in the store to do that. So it's everything from you know, I I literally have walked through Home Depot to look at this and go like, oh, I can use that here. And, like, oh, we really got I gotta make sure I bring them to lawn and garden or the paint supplies or stuff like that.

[00:44:11] - [Speaker 2]
But that book, we're completely fully illustrated for the first issue. It's gonna be five issues altogether. And Samir Samau, I think I'm pronouncing his name right now. Should confirm that. Yeah.

[00:44:22] - [Speaker 2]
He did he worked with Adam Barnhart on shit show, I wanna say. Mhmm. But I he had him actually introduced me to Samir, and I was, like, blown away by his work. And he's been so awesome to work with. And Colin actually Colin Johnson, who colored crows, colored cleanup crew.

[00:44:39] - [Speaker 2]
That was how I had met him first, was I had I was already working with him on cleanup crew, and I thought cleanup crew was gonna finish first. And then Daniel, like, again, shotgun approach for the rest of his pages. Like, hey. Do you wanna color this one too? And so Colin jumped on on crows as well.

[00:44:55] - [Speaker 2]
So that's we're going into letters for that now. Micah Myers is gonna letter the the book, so I just sent him everything literally yesterday. So Micah paused. According to that. So really excited for that because that's, like, that's a book that, again, it's it's been so, like, in my head and my heart for years that to see it all come together as better than I could have imagined in all this.

[00:45:16] - [Speaker 2]
So I really am so pumped for that. So that'll be in in the mix in the in the middle there, for it. And what we're gonna do, Roberto's actually gonna do variants for that one too. We're gonna do movie variant movie poster variants. So I'm still deciding on which ones to do for that, but, we're gonna do a whole set of those for the, for the book.

[00:45:33] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, that's fantastic. Yeah. Well, plenty of good movies to choose from. Yeah. So I I just love the idea, though.

[00:45:40] - [Speaker 1]
Have you been banned from any local Home Depots

[00:45:43] - [Speaker 2]
or Lowe's

[00:45:44] - [Speaker 1]
from asking the employees, like, could you kill a human with this? Like, I love the idea of of James walk walking around the Home Depot, like, Yeah.

[00:45:52] - [Speaker 2]
Like, taking notes about, like, yes. I could murder someone with that. But no. But it helps really funny.

[00:45:58] - [Speaker 1]
You think you think you could kill a human with this? It's like

[00:46:01] - [Speaker 2]
putting up your poster. What I did learn though is when Sameer started working on the book, he's like, hey, man. He's in Brazil. So he's like, we don't have Home Depots here. Can you, like, give me some more examples?

[00:46:11] - [Speaker 2]
So was like, oh, shit. I'm sorry. Alright. Fortunately, there's a weird there's a weird amount of, like, pictures of the insides of Home Depots that you could find online, including, like, virtual tours. So sent all this reference material.

[00:46:24] - [Speaker 2]
Like, this is what the shelf looks like. This is, you know, the this is what these, sections of the of the store should look like. So he had plenty to pull from, and and he added in a whole bunch of really cool stuff.

[00:46:33] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, that's That's funny.

[00:46:35] - [Speaker 1]
That that is. That is that is funny. Yeah. Great idea, though. I mean, great concept because it's one of those things, like, you know, if you play any of those games where you get to kill monsters or zombies or whatever, there's there's always like that weird melee weapon that shows up.

[00:46:54] - [Speaker 1]
Mhmm. And it's you know, as a kid, it's one of like, look at this. Look. Like, like, I got a weed whacker. I'm I'm killing things with a weed whacker.

[00:47:01] - [Speaker 1]
Like, the idea that, you know, you now have all of these things at your disposal, a great great idea. So I can't wait to see it. And, yeah, if I think Samir did work on shit show or maybe some of the shorts, but I I was a big fan of of shit show that Adam Adam wrote. I thought that was a really fun series.

[00:47:22] - [Speaker 2]
So He started it on issue two already for that too. So he's he's finished up that, and we're we're gonna get a head start on issue two. So the my my goal is to really just get a, you know, ahead of those things. In that way, you know, we're we go right into print. So that's why, like, crows one is done.

[00:47:35] - [Speaker 2]
So when we finish the campaign, we will immediately go to print and really reduce that fulfillment time on backers.

[00:47:43] - [Speaker 1]
Awesome. Well, this has been fantastic. So I, really thank both of you for coming on the podcast. Mario, is there anything else that you wanna mention you've coming up?

[00:47:53] - [Speaker 3]
Or I have this. I mean, I'm I'm working with Scripps on his wrestling. I'm working with Tara on her comedy and movie and sitcom. I love comics. I hope to come back to it, but right now, I have nothing.

[00:48:04] - [Speaker 3]
So I'm just, you know, finishing up my commitments right now. I I kinda wanna do a sequel, The One True Love, though. Jay and I have been talking about that, and I started, like, half a script for it. But Okay. It it does have a definitive ending as you guys know.

[00:48:19] - [Speaker 3]
So

[00:48:20] - [Speaker 1]
It does.

[00:48:21] - [Speaker 3]
It's a really good idea. I won't really get into it here. Maybe maybe one day soon, maybe next year so we could talk more about it.

[00:48:30] - [Speaker 1]
Alright. Well, come back anytime. I'd love to talk to you again. I really enjoyed one true love. And Thank you.

[00:48:38] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So Mario, we'll figure

[00:48:40] - [Speaker 2]
out a sequel to crows too, so don't worry. Like, we're already kicking around ideas for that.

[00:48:44] - [Speaker 3]
I sent you a text message about that.

[00:48:46] - [Speaker 2]
I know.

[00:48:49] - [Speaker 3]
There's a reason it takes place in 1993. We'll say that.

[00:48:53] - [Speaker 1]
Okay. Alright. That that and another

[00:48:55] - [Speaker 2]
pizza book. Think I think we could do we could do more stories and slices. That'll be fun. And then open it up to people, I think, is the other idea.

[00:49:03] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Oh, that would be fun. That that was really that I mean, that was a really fun anthology. So

[00:49:07] - [Speaker 3]
Thank you.

[00:49:08] - [Speaker 1]
Then that's just such a fun idea. And, yeah, you can do almost anything with it and work in any type of genre, you know, with that that concept in mind. Like Yeah. What do you do a world without a pizza? So yeah.

[00:49:23] - [Speaker 1]
Alright. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I'll put links in the show notes. So listeners, you can follow James and Mario that you can go and back, feed them to the crows. And, yeah, you can check out, some of their other books.

[00:49:41] - [Speaker 1]
And, you know, if you do end up backing, feed them to the crows, let me know. And once it comes out, we can talk about it. I would love that. I thank you so much for listening, and, yeah, I think that's everything. I'll see you next time, everybody.

[00:49:59] - [Speaker 1]
Good night.

[00:50:00] - [Speaker 2]
Bye, guys. Please.

[00:50:02] - [Speaker 4]
This is Byron O'Neil, one of your hosts of the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you by Comic Book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast. Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve. Thanks for listening.

[00:50:21] - [Speaker 0]
If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast, Into the Comics Cave. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:50:33] - [Speaker 5]
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