James Ferguson Interview - Clean Up Crew

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[00:00:54] Hello and welcome to Comic Book Yetis Cryptid Creator Corner. I am one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo, and I'm very excited for today's guest. This is their third, I can't believe it, their third appearance on the podcast. And they are back. They have a new comic that they just launched on Kickstarter with artist Samir Samal. And I got a chance to look at it. And it's great. It's going to be on Kickstarter all month.

[00:01:18] It's part of Kickstarter's Witchstarter Spooky Comics for October. And, yeah, it's called Cleanup Crew, if I didn't say that already. And it's great. I'm excited to talk about it. So, please, welcome back to the podcast, James Ferguson. James, how are you doing? I'm good, Jimmy. Thank you very much for having me. I think this is my third appearance, but I think this is my first solo appearance. Because every other time I've been with other collaborators and stuff.

[00:01:46] So, it's exciting to have you go to my stuff today. This is great. Yeah. No, no. The first time you were on was for Slices of Light with Matt and Phil and Mario. And then you were on with Mario for, what is it, Feed Them to the Crows? Yeah. That's it. Good memory. This is great. And so, yeah. So, Cleanup Crew. I feel like Cleanup Crew, and I'll let you explain it to listeners.

[00:02:11] But Cleanup Crew is, to me, and I really like the first issue. Thank you for sending it over. It is the, like, the runaway imagination of everybody that has had, like, kind of a crappy job. And they're working late or long hours. And they're like, what if there was something terrible was happening right now? Like, what if I was trapped in the store?

[00:02:42] What if there was, what if terrorists came in and tried to take it over? What if there were monsters? Like, could I defend myself in the store? Like, it's that kind of, like, fun thing of, what am I going to do? How do I survive? And you've turned it into a really wonderful kind of comic. So, tell listeners what Cleanup Crew is about. Yeah. So, Cleanup Crew, and you really hit the nail on the head, Jimmy, because that's,

[00:03:10] this idea came when I was pushing a broom around a drugstore chain 20 years ago is really where it came out. Like, yeah, what if vampires were here? It followed two clerks, Miles and Roger, who are just kind of like idiot, you know, clerks working at a big box hardware store. And they're forced to stay late to help the overnight janitors clean up the store before a big visit from the district manager tomorrow morning. And the janitors are vampires.

[00:03:38] So, basically, chaos ensues and they're forced to use the items in the store to try to survive the night and fight off these vampires. But, yeah, it very much came from, well, what would happen if, you know, vampires are here? Hey, that janitor, that would be a great store, a great job for a vampire to have because they work at night. Right. So, it's like they're coming, they're only going to be there during night. There's few people around. But that's really the catalyst for it. But I think the, that's like the fun part of it.

[00:04:05] The, in its heart, it's this idea of Miles being this recent college graduate. He's worked retail his life. He's at this crossroads where he's supposed to start his, you know, quote unquote, real job is adult life. And he doesn't know what to do. Right. He's at this complete crossroads. And that was something that I really felt when I was finishing up college and that I was working retail. I was happy with that job. It was good, but it was also the same job I had coming into college. So, if I could have done this, like why bother going to school in the first place if I could have just done this the whole time?

[00:04:35] And what am I really looking to do? And I had no idea at all. I don't think, I think there's a lot of folks that don't have any idea what the heck they're going to do right away. So that was what kind of fueled the energy for that main character and putting him in this position where he's forced to make a decision. He, if he could, you know, walk out the doors and just leave. Right. But if that happens, then his whole career that he's built here is going to go away and he doesn't have anything else to go on.

[00:05:03] And I, or Miles is an orphan. He's got nothing else out there. So he's also, I guess, an easy target for these vampires in that regard. Uh, yeah, I, and I, I totally related to this. Um, my first job out of college, I was a juvenile probation officer. I did that for a year and then I left that job and went to law school.

[00:05:23] But after law school, I did not know what I wanted to do. And so I graduated law school and I was working at, um, Best Buy during the day. And then I'd work at, uh, Borders at night. And I did that for like a couple of months until I quote unquote got my act together. Because also I worked in like Delaware, uh, near where I live now, but near where I grew up in Delco.

[00:05:50] And, um, I, I knew so many people that would come in there and they'd just be like, didn't you go to law school? Like, why are you working at Best Buy? And I'm like, I, I'm, I, I like it here. Um, but yeah, that's why I, I did that for a number of months where I just worked those two kind of, um, retail jobs.

[00:06:08] And what would often, you know, let my mind wander, especially at Best Buy. Cause I worked law loss prevention. So I just like stood there at the front and, and checked receipts, you know, with my two degrees with my, you were very qualified to do that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very, very qualified. But yeah, I often thought about like, you know, what here could I use as a weapon? I mean, but in a fun way, I wasn't a danger to any of the customers.

[00:06:36] Um, well, that's what making this book was so fun because I've literally took trips to Home Depot and looked around at the aisles. Okay. There could be a scene here. There could be a scene there, which can I, you know, spread it out. So I'm not using the same stuff in every issue and every chapter of the book. Um, you know, they go through a whole lot of different spots and an issue too. There's actually a really fun gear up montage that Samir has already drawn. And it's just like, you know, they're grabbing all this other stuff from like lawn and garden.

[00:07:04] And, you know, you know, the paint supplies and, and power tools and stuff and really like suiting up to, to prepare and, and, and fight these vampires. Oh yeah. I mean, uh, you know, if you are trapped somewhere and have to fight vampires, uh, Home Depot or Lowe's is definitely the store, you know, I want to get, I want to get stuck in, you know, it's also like that video game thing, you know, where you, you, you're all out of guns.

[00:07:31] And you have to pick up a fun melee weapon, you know, it's, it's, it's very melee weapon time. What was also fun with this is that when I first started working with Samir, he read through the script, he's like, all right, I'm in. And then he said, Hey, we don't have Home Depots here. Can you send me some like reference material? Oh crap. Like I didn't even think about that. He's, he's in Brazil. So I was like, Oh man.

[00:07:52] Um, yeah, quickly. There's a weird amount of pictures of interiors of Home Depot and even people that do like walkalongs as they go through and like, you know, record themselves going through different aisles. Oh, so yeah. The internet has everything.

[00:08:07] And, uh, the perfect, the one good thing for comic writers and artists with the rise of like Tik TOK and influencers is now you can basically find the inside of like any store, any restaurant that somebody has, has gone through and taken a video of themselves, like showing a product or showing what something looks like.

[00:08:30] Uh, yeah, absolutely. Um, yeah, that was a, that was a fun, uh, change challenge, I guess that I didn't think about when we were there, but he was a real trooper with it. And I provided him a bunch of reference material and he just knocked it out of the park. There's even like little things that he adds into the, into the artwork that I didn't ask, but he put in like, he put in this weird little, like kind of mascot in some areas for it. That's like, you know, a display model that you'd have there. And it's just fun that like, I didn't think about, but he added it and really, you know, it's just,

[00:09:00] the one of the real, real great parts about making comics is when you get that artwork back and you see, Oh, like you took this idea that I had in my head and I saw it as an image like this. And now you made it a million times better by bringing it to life that way. So it's, it's always a blast. Oh yeah. We, we, I mean, we talk about it all the time on the podcast, like when, when that happens, when I was just talking about it the other day, when you, when you write something in a script and you see it one way and then you see how the artist kind of interprets it because, you know, maybe they have a more visual,

[00:09:29] brain or maybe they just see things differently and you get that art back and it's like, Oh yeah, that's yeah. Way, way better. Or that's incredible. Or that's even better laid out than I pictured it. Like that, that collaboration is what is, um, you know, what is amazing. Um, and, and I love Samir's work. Uh, I don't know. I think we talked about it before I started recording, but you know, I was a huge fan of Adam Barnhart and, and Samir's, uh, shit show.

[00:09:56] Like, I just love that comic was a lot of fun. And yeah, I, I thought Samir did a fantastic job. I mean, especially when, uh, there's a, there's a scene where one of the vampires kind of, they, they, they, they, in cleanup crew, they don't start out as being like, like bloodthirsty. Like they, they have a job and something happens that, um, you know, it's like the, um, it's like the scene in finding Nemo where, uh,

[00:10:25] uh, where the, the shark, uh, smells blood. Um, Coincidentally, that shark and the vampire both named Bruce. All right. Yeah, I know. I, I noticed that. Um, uh, but I just really loved it. Like really loved the turn. Uh, really liked miles and Roger and they're kind of, you know, we, we kind of get a sense early on of their,

[00:10:51] their friendship and I really enjoyed that. You know, I'm as a big fan of, uh, Kevin Smith's clerks when it first came out. And I, I saw that a Roberto Duke is doing like a, um, uh, clerks homage cover is one of the covers for this, which is really good. You have a couple of different like, uh, covers options for, for Kickstarter. I, if you think Joe, Joe Mulvey, who I'm a big fan of Joe's doing a cover too.

[00:11:15] Yeah. So we got, uh, I always like to get first and foremost, a kind of the standard cover with the interior artists. So Samir did an awesome cover with the vampires kind of looming over miles and Roger. Um, and then Roberto, I talked to him cause he did a variant cover for feed them to the crows. Um, that was like a tales from the crypt homage. And we're talking more about different things. And I said, I kind of want to go through this movie poster, uh, series and do that for the whole, there's going to be five issues altogether.

[00:11:41] And I said, the first one has to do clerks. Are you cool with that? And he was like, absolutely. And what's great with Roberto too, is he, he gives you all these options that he really is so meticulous on the details about, he said, so I have a version of it. It's actually black and white and a version of it in color because he said, well, the original posters in black and white. I said, you're right. But I kind of want this like a full color comic book. So I think we got to have color for it.

[00:12:03] So I have both versions that I'm, I'm, you know, might pull out as needed. Um, but yeah, he did that. And then we will do other different movie posters for, uh, the remaining issues for it. I'm kicking around ideas for it. I'm certainly open to suggestions, but when I compare, when I talk about the book, I say it's clerks and fright night. So fright night will definitely be another one. Um, and then Joe, I had approached for doing more of like a, a, you know, an incentive kind of cover. And, uh, he did one and it will be foil embossed.

[00:12:28] And he did it really from the perspective of the vampire's mouth. So you see the teeth kind of on the top and the bottom and miles and Roger, you know, being, uh, you know, fearful in the, in the middle there. Um, and that will be foil embossed. So like the teeth will be a little shiny and that kind of, um, version of it. And we'll, we're also doing a virgin version, version, version, version. There we go. Of that cover that will be on metal.

[00:12:53] So it will be a special limited only to this Kickstarter. I'm not going to reprint it there. So very, very limited in that case. Uh, so no cover, no cover dress, no logo. Um, and then I don't want to leave out a Darren vote design the, um, logo for the book. And really, he gave me a few different options and really amazing, amazing work. So I'm doing a sketch cover for that too. So, um, if you want to get a sketch cover, just have anyone draw on that too. Um, that's there. And Darren designed the cover to like put together the cover dress and everything for Samir's cover.

[00:13:24] Um, cannot praise his work enough to really, he's incredibly talented artist. Oh yeah. I mean, the, the, the covers in the Kickstarter page all look fantastic. There's a lot of options for, you know, backers to, um, to choose from. Uh, so when you're putting together, you know, something like this and you had an idea for the, for, you know, a long time, like certainly something that's been like gestating for a while.

[00:13:46] And then you eventually do go to sit down and to start scripting it. I mean, has it been changing in your, your head over time where there are elements that you were in it and then you took out or things you wanted to add to it? And what, like, what does that process look like for you when you're kind of developing a story, especially one that you've been kicking around for a while?

[00:14:09] Yeah. So it has gone through a lot of iterations. The first time I wrote it was more of a one shot and it was way too condensed. Uh, but I got some good feedback on it and I started to developing it. And when I was looking for whatever I wanted to do next, after Slobber knocker, after a real Slobber knocker, my first series got moving.

[00:14:27] I, I went back to clean up crew and I reread that one shot. I said, there's some good stuff in here. So there's a lot that's in that first original script that is still in this, but now it's, it's given a lot more room to breathe. And I, I really struggled with it for a while because, you know, everyone kind of wrestles with imposter syndrome. Right. And I was still like, is this good enough? Is this, will this live up to the idea that I have had in my head for 20 years?

[00:14:55] You know, is anything going to be good enough for that? And it's, it's scary. So, um, I had spoken with, uh, with like James Powell and editor, um, uh, and I spoke to other people and I really wrestled with it a lot. And I found that some of the things that I was trying to incorporate to make it fit something else were not what I wanted in it. And I got to a point where there was a version of the story that would have been fine.

[00:15:23] It would have checked the boxes and whatnot, but it wasn't what I wanted to tell. And I went back to a lot of the original materials. I said, no, it's, it's going to all be in the all one night. It's all going to be in the hardware store. I need reasons for them to stay there. I need reasons for them to kind of pop around, but ultimately I need to have these kinds of points that will develop the, these characters. And it came back to that. And so I threw out some of those other pieces. I could still revisit those for another kind of story, but it was just too generic.

[00:15:52] It wasn't what I wanted to do. It wasn't what I had in my heart for it. And I'm really, really happy with how it turned out. I'm glad that I kind of stuck my guns in some part. Yes. I still listen to feedback. It's important to listen to editors and not saying the folks that I spoke to were wrong. It was more just, well, what if I did it this way? And kind of taking their feedback in, in a way that made the story better and not, and it's still something I wanted to tell versus something that would kind of be more generic.

[00:16:16] Okay. Yeah. And I mean, there's certainly a version of this, I'm sure that is, you know, more straight horror because, you know, when you reference stuff like clerks and, you know, reading through it and especially in the dialogue with, with Miles and Roger, you know, I think of things that are, you know, more along the lines of like horror comedy, which I really like, you know, you lean into it a little bit of something like Shaun of the Dead and something along those lines.

[00:16:46] Um, was that, were there things like that that you were thinking of to kind of keep that, that kind of humor element to it a little bit, at least in terms of the relationship with Miles and Roger? Yeah. I think there, I was a big fan and there's definitely a lot of inspiration of the, um, from the show Reaper. That was a very short lived show that was on the CW that was, was set in like a, you know, a retail setting, but it was like a kid who had to, um, heal back souls for the devil.

[00:17:13] It had Ray Wise. It had, um, Tyler Levine in it. And it was just, it was a fun show. Um, but it very short lived, like no one, no one remembers it, but it's this thing where like, oh, like there's some of that kind of relationship. Like Roger is very reminiscent of Tyler Levine in that regard. Um, and that's the kind of like spirit and energy of it. I, I like that fun setting. I mean, you know, you look at things like Evil Dead and whatnot, where the line between horror and comedy is very thin.

[00:17:43] Really kind of like spin it both ways. And I like having both in there and that you could have a serious moment. You could have something where they really feel like they're in danger, but then you could also have a joke that kind of released some of that tension. Um, and what I've learned in, in writing comedic stuff in comics is that it's, it's giving that room to breathe. It's, it's like pausing on a moment there for a second. There's, there's a really fun bit that's early on where they're, they're starting to fight this, the, the, the big vampire Bruce.

[00:18:11] Bruce. And they're in a, the wood aisle. And Roger has this great idea of like, what wooden stakes kill vampires. And he hurls a two by four at the, at Bruce. And it's a, it's a two by four. It's not a wooden stake. It's a piece of wood. And honks hollowly up this guy's chest. And it's like, what the hell, man? Yeah. How stupid are you for this? But I had this whole thought about like, no, we've got to hurt. It's got to be like epic moment where he's like throwing a javelin kind of thing.

[00:18:40] It's just like funk. Nope. Yeah. No, I like, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I, I listen, um, I listened to the, uh, Lonely Island and Seth Meyers podcast. I was a big, big fan of the Lonely Island. I really like the podcast that they do where they kind of go through the digital shorts from SNL and they kind of break it down and talk about it. But the most recent episode, uh, they started talking about the movie obsession.

[00:19:06] And, um, I haven't seen that yet, but, but Seth was talking about it and said that, you know, he thinks that there's a lot of similarities with writing horror and writing comedy. Like they follow a lot of, of the same beats in terms of like heightening things.

[00:19:24] And so it is interesting how well I, I think, I think they're both kind of difficult to write, uh, but, um, how they do kind of follow the same beats. And I think when you can really do it well and incorporate both so that you are kind of heightening the, the, the humor in it, heightening the comedy, heightening the horror of it. Um, you know, I, I do like when those things work, you know, really well.

[00:19:53] Cause then you can, you can lean into one or pull back, you know, evil dead, which you mentioned one is more horror. Evil dead two starts to bring in some comedic elements and then they go just way too far to the right. Maybe not, but not too far. I love it. But army of darkness is just, you know, campy and delightful. And I'd say way more comedy than it is, you know, that it is hard. But I feel like you found a right balance with issue one of, of cleanup crew.

[00:20:22] Thank you. And that's, that's really what I'm looking for, for it. And I think establishing that early on was the key and I'm planning this now for five issues that are all written. And Samir has already, uh, he's got a few pages left to finish up for issue two. So we're very much like ahead of things. So as, as this gets wrapped up and, uh, the, uh, the Kickstarter is done and printed will, the second issue will follow, uh, shortly after.

[00:20:48] Okay, nice. Um, what do you do in terms of your, you know, day to day life and, you know, writing and especially kickstarting? Like, how do you find that, that balance for you as somebody who enjoys writing, wants to write, right? This is, I mean, you've done some other things and been a part of anthologies, but this is, um, your third, you know, series, right.

[00:21:15] That you've, you've crowdfunded. So how do you kind of find that balance to make sure you're, you know, carving out time to write? I said, I, I, I look, try to look at it like, um, you're never going to find the time. Like you do have to make a conscious effort to make the time. How do you do that? Uh, scheduling is, is, uh, certainly helpful. I literally have every day on my calendar at 6 PM, uh, reminder that says comics work.

[00:21:41] Let's do something every day that has to do with comics. So that could be, you know, rewriting a script, you know, getting into actual writing. It could be updating Kickstarter or is doing something like that, or, or reaching out to artists, doing anything like that. Um, trying to do a little bit, you can't do it all at once. I think sometimes it can really be really intimidating to sit down and like, all right, page one, panel one. And then you're, you're kind of, well, I got to fill 20 something pages of this now. Right.

[00:22:09] So setting that goal about, well, this week I want to do half of this, or I want to complete the panel breakdowns of six pages, right? That's more manageable and easy to kind of digest. So that way I know I could do that in maybe a half hour, 45 minutes. So I'm not going to stress out about, oh my gosh, I didn't finish that script this week. Well, I didn't set out to finish this script this week. I'm okay with that. I'm going to try to pace myself a little bit.

[00:22:33] And right now I understand that I'm in the midst of a Kickstarter, right? So that is a marathon. So that's something where I am resisting the urge to refresh that Kickstarter page every 30 seconds right now. That's, that's taking a big amount of my strength and willpower to do. So if I can take my mind off of that by trying to focus in on some of those other elements, um, and, and other projects or things to kind of get going, that'll help.

[00:22:58] So it'll help my own mental health in that regard. Um, but yeah, still have the day jobs, you know, still have to balance that. Although I do, I'm a big believer in sharing what you do in the comic space with the day job. And I think you'll have your mileage may vary, but you know, I've posted about my, uh, comics work on LinkedIn and gotten great responses from it. I've gotten backers from it. Um, but I've also, I love the fact that it cuts out small talk, right?

[00:23:24] Like how many meetings have you been in where you meet someone and go, Oh, like what highway did you take to get to the office today? Or what, how there is really warm today? Oh, okay. You know what I would rather talk about my comic books. All right. I would love to talk about it. Cause that tends to be like the first question that people ask now is go, Hey, I saw that you, you may come back.

[00:23:45] Tell me about that. Cause it is such a boring concept for people that they need to know about it. And you're like, Oh yes. And then you'll, you'll create a fan. I've sold comic books from my desk at my office because I keep like a little dinner on it. And I'm like, you know, like, what is this? And I talk about it. Oh, this is, can I have one? Like, yeah. Okay. It costs 10 bucks. Like, okay, cool. You pick it up right there. I don't post a lot on LinkedIn and I was for the longest time I didn't. I mean, before I even started like writing comics,

[00:24:14] I kept, I didn't even tell people that I like read or liked comics. It just wasn't something that I ever brought up. And so once I started writing comics and then like, and doing the podcast and talking about comics and like posting things online about comics, I still kept that like very separate.

[00:24:33] I mean, to the point where, I mean, you know, for the podcast, I'm Jimmy and like, you know, my comics all have Jimmy on it, but nobody at work calls me that everybody, everyone that knows me as an attorney calls me Jim. It's like, I am too. It's like the Bruce, Bruce Banner and Hulk. Um, I, I'm wondering, what's the first time Hulk in this scenario, Jimmy? Yeah. Well, the comic book writer or the lawyer, it changes.

[00:25:01] But, uh, but yeah, with like, with, with, uh, I didn't even do it with my, with the kit when I kickstarted made in Delco, the anthology. I don't think I posted about that on LinkedIn. It wasn't until like Penny and the Yeti and I posted on LinkedIn and I'm like, you know, oh, great. And I could always tell when people had, had seen that because they would like, I'd be in a deposition and someone would call me, another attorney would call me Jimmy. I'm like, uh, it was like, it was a comic.

[00:25:28] Just as long as a comic isn't showing up in court, right? It was so, but it's so sounds so silly, but it was like, so jarring to me. Like another attorney sending me an email with, with Jimmy, you know, and I would be like, don't do that. Yeah. I got to live to that. I mean, I'm very much a James like through and through and I could tell how interactions going to go. If they're like, Hey Jim, what's up? I'm like, Oh no, no. Like timeout. Like we're not friends. We're not, we're not doing this.

[00:25:58] And even friends don't call me Jim. Like this is, this is James. Like I could already see that, you know, I'm not going to want to talk to you anymore. Yeah. I also liked the joke when people see it and they're like, Oh, do you know, you do go by Jimmy? And I'm like, yeah, my, my, you know, online with comic book stuff and my friends, my close friends, my wife call me Jimmy. And I'm like, you can call me Jim. We're not on that. I know.

[00:26:24] I know that's shitty, but, um, no, but when I did start posting about like Penny and the Yeti, that it was coming out on LinkedIn. And then like in June, uh, there's a big, there's a convention that I go to the DTLA, the Delaware trial lawyers association. They have their convention in June down the, down the Delaware beaches. And I had had a couple copies of Penny and the Yeti with me. Someone had, had, had sought me out and asked for one. And then somebody saw it.

[00:26:54] And I, I just had like five with me, but I like sold them all. Like people had seen it and came up to me and I sold the, the books that I had with me and they wanted me to sign it. And it was not as bad as I, I thought it was going to be like my two, my two halves coming together. All right. Are you going to table at this lawyer conference next year? Is that, is that funny?

[00:27:18] You should say that they've actually, somebody else reached out to me and asked me to be part of a CLE of Delaware attorneys that are also lawyers. So we're going to do in, I think December, we're going to do a CLE, a continuing legal education, like the classes that we have to take about like, about like everything from like copyright issues to other, which is not the area of law I practice. So I'll be talking about something else.

[00:27:44] And then we're going to do it at a local bookstore in Wilmington called Huxley and Hero, which is fantastic. And then we're going to have like a little table to sell our stuff afterwards. So, uh, yeah, I guess it's, I got the ball rolling. I'm, I'm in it. I'm in it now. Depending on the Yeti sequel will be, they, they, they, they had to face legal issues and then you could really just bring them all together. That, well, yeah, yeah, that would, that's, I should explore that.

[00:28:13] The legalities of Yeti's world. Um, no, but, but back to more about the cleanup crew. I always like talking about this whenever there's something monster related or especially like vampires. Like what are your kind of go-to stories when it comes to vampires? Uh, well, I mean, I mentioned, I mentioned Fright Night. I mean, that's definitely part of this. I think Buffy is, is just, even though I haven't watched it as much as some, um, it was something that made a real big impression on my wife.

[00:28:41] And then when we got together, she's like, you have to watch Buffy. And I really just got into that, that whole mythos and actually read a lot of the comic books that spun out of those. And that mentality where, you know, people are living with being a vampire, right? Like with, with angel in particular, right? He's living at, yes, he has a soul. So he has this kind of like balance. So I like the idea of, well, they're not a complete monster, right? There's still some humanity in there with them.

[00:29:07] And when you look at how a vampire would need to exist in the present day, or, you know, it's not a matter of like the old school Dracula in Transylvania, where it's like, you, you hypnotize some dude and he went and got you food or brought peasants in for you. Right. There's security cameras everywhere. You, you, if you want to use the internet, you kind of need a credit card. Like, how do you exist in that and bringing it into the modern day for it? Those are the things that I, I really just fascinated me.

[00:29:34] And I wanted to figure out the ways to kind of pull out. So, so kind of starting with how Buffy and Angel existed and then extrapolating now into more of which, oh, geez, it's like 30 years ago at this point when that show started. So, uh, okay. Yeah. I felt my bone turned to dust a little bit there. Uh, so that, um, yeah. So kind of pulling it more into like a present day with things like, you know, all the surveillance that's out there, all the internet.

[00:30:01] Like there was a joke in an early version of the script again, because of how long I've, uh, working on this was they, they wanted to use money to pay for like, you know, the Xbox live subscription or something like that. Cause like I had just gotten an Xbox and I'm like, oh yeah, people, how would, how would, how would a, how would a vampire pay for this when they need a credit card? They can't do that, but they want to enjoy the modern luxuries. It's not like they're just sitting there going, well, I need, I need blood. All I do is blood. Right. They got, they got nuances. What we're talking about, like Jimmy, you're a lawyer and a writer, right? Like we've got different things going on.

[00:30:28] And vampires can do more than just drink blood all the time. They got 23 other hours in the day. What else would they got to do? Oh yeah. Yeah. I mean, it is interesting to, you know, think about, um, I always think about it in terms of like, uh, like when like supernatural would always have Sam and Dean, like basically commit like credit card, credit card fraud for like several seasons. And then they, I think they did a whole storyline where somebody was trying to track them down through like the credit card fraud.

[00:30:57] And I'm like, I don't, this show just needs to do away with this and get back to monster hunting. Like, what are we doing? We're talking, are we, is this just become like a white collar crime? Um, but yeah, it is interesting. You know, the, the thing that when you try to include those like practical real world implications and then be like, all right, well, it also has to be fun and interesting. You know, for the reader. Like I like the idea of the vampires like are trying to, you know, they don't want too much heat on them.

[00:31:26] They don't want anyone investigating them. They, they, they know that there are risks to being kind of in the open. So they're, they're working a nighttime job and, and trying to hold it down. And also it creates an interesting dynamic and conflict within your own little, you know, vampire group as well. So yeah, I got a lot of fun elements going on. Yeah. We have a mix of personalities on the vampire side. There's three vampires.

[00:31:55] There's two clerks, but there's a Bruce we mentioned before. It was this kind of like burly vampire. He believes vampires are the top of the food chain. He's going to, you know, why, why do we have to bow down and do this? Why are we going to clean toilets and we could be eating people? Right. Um, Maxwell is the leader of the group. He's the one who's kind of organized this. He's more like conservative in nature and that he wants to be under the radar. He doesn't want to, you know, be in the limelight or anything like that. I imply that there's some definitely some things in his past, but he's been around for a few hundred years.

[00:32:24] So it's this thing where he might've seen, you know, torches and pitchforks coming after. I mean, he doesn't want that kind of stress. Um, and in the middle, we have Victoria, who's a newly converted vampire. She hasn't really sampled human blood yet. So she's really unsure of herself and, uh, we reveal that she has a connection to miles and that they went to high school together. So it's this piece where, all right, now you've got this immediate connection between these two, um, both coming from very different, um, perspectives or very different spaces.

[00:32:53] Although, you know, they, again, they started in the same spot, but they kind of are in different parts of their lives. And yet there's like, there's a connection there. So that, that dynamic and there's shifting alliances that will go through the book, you know, it starts out certainly very much clerks versus vampires, but then as the, as the night goes on and different conflicts arise as, as, you know, not to spoil the end of the book, but the end of the first issue, but, um, there's some pieces that will, some of those players

[00:33:20] will shift around the board a little bit, which is fun, uh, to make for a lot of conflict, a lot of drama, certainly as we go through everything. Oh yeah. I really liked where the, the issue ended and, uh, yeah, I mean, it's fantastic. Um, our work, as we've talked about some years, work is incredible. And just to mention the, um, the rest of the creative team, it's, uh, colored by, uh, Colin Johnson and lettered by Micah Myers. I, I, I love Micah.

[00:33:48] Micah's in fantastic letterer. So yeah, you got a wonderful creative team on it and, um, uh, it's all written. And so, yeah, it looked, it was a really great first issue all done. First issue is completed. So it's like, you know, as you read the whole, the whole thing, like we're ready to go for this thing. Uh, really cool to have this all done in the can and, uh, ready to go. So now it's just a matter of getting this, getting this over the finish line for the Kickstarter project. Nice.

[00:34:15] And what's going on with, um, are you working on, you know, any of the other series still? Yeah, very much so. So, uh, feed them to the crows. I actually just reviewed a lettering pass for the second issue. So that one is just about ready to go. We're, we're getting the covers together, but that one is, um, in a good spot for the second issue. And, uh, Daniel Cavill is working on the third issue now. Um, and then, uh, real slobber knocker is still going through, uh, that, uh, Dan

[00:34:44] bucks that had, uh, you know, just a couple of delays on some stuff, but he has already thumbnailed, uh, the whole issue and he's, uh, starting in on the, um, pencils and inks for the, for that to wrap up that three issue series. So feed them to the crows was three issues. Slobber knockers, three issues. And then as I mentioned before, cleanup crew is, uh, we're almost done with the initial artwork for the second issue. So it's really exciting to have like all these different pieces in the air.

[00:35:10] And then I have a, a fourth series, um, that tentatively called special delivery, although I'm not really sold on the name, uh, yet, but that I just worked, uh, connected with an artist and we're going to start production on that in, uh, later this month. So we'll have them all. Kickstarter is going to be a little busy for me, I think, which is exciting. But, uh, you know, as I said before, marathon, not a sprint, but I'm, I'm excited to have all these kind of lined up and I'll have a bit of a, like a publishing schedule essentially

[00:35:37] as we kind of pivot to that, that, that new series is more of an action comedy in the vein of like a pineapple express kind of thing. Awesome. Okay. Well, I can't wait to see what you do with that. That sounds fun. And, um, and then, and then what, by like 20, 28 is, is we'll have the big crossover. But you mentioned that I have, I do have an idea already for a sequel for cleanup crew and I have an idea for other monsters in the present day. Like this could be a kind of thing where, all right, we kind of explore how other creatures

[00:36:07] are living in, in today's day and age. And miles and, uh, and Roger could be this, they're like the Archie Andrews of sorts of this, of kind of like fumbling into different spots because, you know, when working in this kind of environment, that's something that they can kind of, you know, pop up in, in different scenarios, even if it's just a cameo for it. So I could, I definitely have an ideas for some shared universe. Nice. All right. Well, uh, somewhat prophetic, I guess.

[00:36:32] Um, well, thank you, James, for coming back on the podcast, you know, for your, your third time. I really appreciate it. Uh, listeners, the cleanup crew is on Kickstarter right now. Uh, it'll be on, you know, all of October. So make sure you click on the link. It'll be in the show notes. You can back it. I'm sure you're also going to be able to check out some of James's other work. If any of these series sounded interesting to you, so feed them to the crows or, um, a real slobber knocker.

[00:37:02] And, uh, yeah, uh, check it all out. Um, if you want interesting, fun, you know, really good artwork. If you want these types of stories to be told, the best thing to do is you got to back them. Um, you have to support them and folks will know that they'll, you know, they'll be able to keep making them. So, uh, I really appreciate it. And, uh, shout out to my brother, Bobby, the cryptic creator corners, number one, most dedicated fan. Bobby listens to all my episodes, Bob.

[00:37:28] I think you're going to like cleanup crew, so you should back it, uh, as well. And, uh, yeah, uh, James, thanks. Like I said, thanks for coming back on listeners. Thank you so much for listening. Uh, good night. And I'll see you next time. 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

[00:37:57] 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. Does it have a Yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable? Yeah. But it's strength lies in effectively tapping into the all too familiar family dynamics that

[00:38:22] we all are facing in 2026 and approaching it in a way that doesn't insult the book's target audience. Kids! They're 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 going to kill me for saying that. It's hitting shelves on April 21st, and I dropped a link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today.

[00:38:50] Yeti or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fenton, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent, Yeti. On behalf of us both, we appreciate your support. Yahoo! This is Byron O'Neal, 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.

[00:39:18] 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.