Jason Loo talks Dazzler and Werewolf by Night

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

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

[00:00:13] When we started this podcast, we knew inclusion and diversity were going to be at the forefront of what we wanted to do with it.

[00:00:20] Now two and a half years in that mission hits home for me.

[00:00:24] Being disabled myself, I know the likelihood of me getting to a con or doing frankly most of the other things that can bring

[00:00:30] the comics community together is

[00:00:32] not likely in the cards, but this podcast is connected to me with people in ways I never would have imagined possible.

[00:00:39] I know the similar challenges disabled creators face trying to get their work seen.

[00:00:43] So it should come as no surprise that I'm excited about the new unseen, unheard,

[00:00:48] disability and neurodivergence anthology on Kickstarter. This 64 page 12 story anthology covers a wide range of genres

[00:00:56] including slice of life, horror, sci-fi,

[00:00:59] fantasy and romance and features at least 50% of each creative team being comprised of people who are neurodivergent or

[00:01:07] have a disability. I know that editors and can assure you it's in good hands and after having seen a few sample pages myself

[00:01:15] I'm excited to see the rest of what all these amazing creators have cooked up.

[00:01:19] If they do a second one, you best believe I'm subvitting.

[00:01:22] I'll drop a link in the show notes for you or you can find them on Kickstarter search for unseen, unheard.

[00:01:29] Please consider supporting it and our community. Everyone deserves to be seen. Thanks.

[00:01:38] Y'all Jimmy the chaos goblin strikes again.

[00:01:42] I should have known better than to mention that was working on my DC universe meets Ravenloft hybrid D&D campaign on social media.

[00:01:48] My bad. He goes and tags a bunch of comics creators

[00:01:51] We know and now I have to get it in gear and whip this campaign into shape so we could start playing

[00:01:56] Another friend chimes in are you gonna make maps?

[00:01:59] It's fair to say it's been a while since I put something together. So I guess question mark

[00:02:04] It was then that I discovered Arkham Forge

[00:02:06] If you don't know who Arkham Forge is they have everything you need to make your TT RPG more fun and immersive

[00:02:13] allowing you to build play and export animated maps including in-person fog of war capability

[00:02:19] But let your players interact with maps as the adventure unfolds while you the DM get the full picture

[00:02:25] Now I'm set to easily build high res animated maps saving myself precious time and significantly adding nuance to our campaign

[00:02:33] That's a win every day in my book

[00:02:35] Check them out at Arkham Forge comm and use the discount code yeti five to get five dollars off

[00:02:41] I'll drop a link in the show notes for you and big thanks to Arkham Forge for partnering with our show

[00:02:45] I think I'm gonna make Jimmy play a goblin warlock just to get even

[00:02:51] Hello everybody and welcome to today's episode of the cryptic creator corner

[00:02:54] I'm Byron O'Neill your host for today's comics creator chat

[00:02:57] I'm joined by a new guest on the show hanging out with me today Jason Lowe

[00:03:01] Jason is an Eisner award winner and a Harvey award nominee with credits on both sides of the aisle as an artist and a writer

[00:03:07] With projects the pitiful human lizard afterlif and the all-nighter although. He's no newcomer to Marvel

[00:03:12] He's tackling not one but two series out this fall with werewolf by night and the Dazzler mini series creating a new soundtrack for

[00:03:19] Everyone's favorite disco queen which will be a part of the from the ash storyline

[00:03:23] Redefining the X universe post-brakoa so Jason house things. How you doing?

[00:03:29] I'm doing well pretty good. Yeah, just just

[00:03:32] Finished my shift that my day job at the library. Oh cool and and and about to tackle on

[00:03:41] Some scripts for for werewolf by night. Oh very cool

[00:03:45] Well, I saw in the socials that you did a couple of recent signings with fellow Toronto

[00:03:49] Commerce creator and friend of our Yeti crew here fellhound. Did you know each other previously or?

[00:03:55] we

[00:03:57] Have mutually followed each other

[00:04:00] through social media, but

[00:04:02] We had our first signing together at wayside comics a few

[00:04:08] Several months ago and then and then we did another signing and it just it was just a coincidence that that okay

[00:04:14] we had books out at the same week and

[00:04:18] And we live around the same area

[00:04:20] That's cool. Yeah, Toronto is pretty happening comic scene as I understand it so it is

[00:04:26] It's it's it's it's where cartoonists can kind of make a living and have very decent health care

[00:04:33] Oh, okay, so it's the Portland of Canada is that is that a fairly accurate? That's it

[00:04:38] Okay, well, I want to jump into Dazzler and start off there

[00:04:42] This is a next character of my own generation, you know having first appeared in the early 80s

[00:04:47] She's she was a bit out of my orbit in the early days

[00:04:50] I got pulled into following her when Paul Chadrick took over the artistic duties kind of toward the end of her

[00:04:56] Solo run during that time primarily because I didn't have like a local gas station

[00:05:00] That's where I bought all my books back then as a kid

[00:05:02] But I soon discovered there was an LCS in the next town over and I incessantly bugged my mom to drive me

[00:05:08] And that's where I discovered St. Kevich's covers while looking for like back issues

[00:05:12] And I've been in love with her ever since so what was your introduction to the character?

[00:05:17] It was the bill St. Kevich covers really

[00:05:20] I think it was like over a decade ago. I was just browsing through the back issues

[00:05:25] Like I knew of Dazzler through the X-Men. Yeah

[00:05:29] but

[00:05:30] like

[00:05:31] Like over a decade ago what one is like got back into

[00:05:35] comics again and

[00:05:37] And just just going through the dollar bins. I was like

[00:05:41] that that's where one I just took a chance on on

[00:05:45] the Dazzler back issues just by the cover alone and

[00:05:49] Looking at the stories I was uh, I

[00:05:56] Here's this thing because because I

[00:05:59] before

[00:06:01] my love is superhero comics during

[00:06:04] My college years I was into reading atreantum and a and

[00:06:09] crosswear and

[00:06:11] Daniel Klaus like just just books about ordinary people in ordinary life and and Dazzler brought like

[00:06:19] This new angle within the superhero realm where she's

[00:06:23] Just trying to make a living in the music industry and it's it's full of drama and

[00:06:31] and

[00:06:32] I just love the illustrations

[00:06:35] Frank Springer was one of the early

[00:06:39] comic artists and and I just I just fell in love with his style because it

[00:06:44] Kind of was close to what I was reading in terms of alternative comics. Okay, okay

[00:06:50] Yeah, I mean this is in cabbage covers pulled me in because they were almost like album covers

[00:06:55] You know like record album covers at that time, you know and and Dazzler is synonymous with music

[00:07:00] You know, I worked in the music business for over a decade and a half on the the tech and the production end of things

[00:07:05] Have high expectations for the series no pressure

[00:07:08] You know, but you know, I'm standing behind a very long line of folks as she is pretty widely adored

[00:07:12] I'm a bit upset

[00:07:14] I gotta admit you didn't call me Jason because I was available as a consultant

[00:07:17] You know about the music industry and behind the scenes but now get over that

[00:07:22] To get a feel for kind of where you're taking this project

[00:07:25] What's in your own kind of found out foundational music background?

[00:07:30] um

[00:07:31] That help for the Dazzler series or just in general just in general

[00:07:36] Like I played the drums back in in high school

[00:07:41] um

[00:07:45] What's your like an emo phase punk phase

[00:07:49] and then you know

[00:07:52] listening to stuff like

[00:07:54] Elvis Costello cat Stevens

[00:07:59] the zombies

[00:08:01] And then just just went all over the place really

[00:08:06] LCD sound system

[00:08:08] Like right now

[00:08:11] Well, actually leading up to like but before I got accepted into

[00:08:18] The Dazzler series. I was already listening to some Taylor Swift

[00:08:23] Okay, thanks to my partner and and and do a leap and

[00:08:29] And then while I was working on a project I was diving more into like

[00:08:35] Phoebe Bridgers boy genius

[00:08:38] Um, what else have I lost? Uh, I've just been going all over the place man. Okay, but

[00:08:46] Out of that DNA that you're coming from in the background. It sounds like at least Taylor

[00:08:51] Probably played somewhat of a significant role, you know in terms of kind of what you wanted to mirror in the characters

[00:08:57] That sound about right or oh for sure

[00:09:00] I guess to be frank

[00:09:03] Uh

[00:09:05] When when when Martin bureau when Martin burrow the editor reached out to me about this project

[00:09:15] We were like we were in the dark of what's actually gonna happen with

[00:09:19] Deadpool versus Wolverine, but we took a gamble

[00:09:23] What with the hype and rumors of Taylor Swift?

[00:09:29] Might be casted as as Dazzler and so we wanted to have a series ready

[00:09:34] for that time like after the movie came out and

[00:09:38] And since I was already read I was you know, I watched that era's tour and was listening to some Taylor Swift

[00:09:44] I was like that this is uh, I mean like I kind of liked the parallels that that Taylor Swift has gone through in your career

[00:09:52] almost similar to Dazzler and

[00:09:54] You know it was it was just kind of easy to

[00:09:58] Make some of these references and and fit them in Dazzler's new story

[00:10:03] Sure. Did you come up with?

[00:10:06] Original songs for this or oh, yes

[00:10:10] Okay, okay, and it was it was all my idea mainly because I thought I was in competition with

[00:10:17] maybe more suitable writers so I was like

[00:10:21] I'm gonna go big here. Yeah

[00:10:24] So yeah, I wanted to ensure my spot in

[00:10:29] The X-Men's new era from the ashes. So I was like alright like

[00:10:34] Like I don't think Dazzler has

[00:10:37] Like any original songs made

[00:10:40] So I'm gonna go up that extra step and I'm gonna like I think you can write a song for each issue and

[00:10:48] And it turned out I like for the first issue I wrote too. Oh nice. Okay

[00:10:53] Yeah, I know there's a fair bit of cross pollination

[00:10:55] Which was normal between all the X titles and an NYX

[00:10:59] There's a scene with prodigy sitting in his apartment with his boyfriend and there's a there's music playing in the background

[00:11:04] Um, is is that a Dazzler song? That that's a sample from a Dazzler track that I wrote nice. Okay. Yeah

[00:11:13] what so what when I

[00:11:16] joined the X-Men team I

[00:11:19] Became part of the X-Men writers discord

[00:11:21] So that's where we get to share ideas and future plans and and see where we could like

[00:11:27] you know add some synergy within our books and

[00:11:33] So well, you know, I'll share all all my all the lyrics I would come up with

[00:11:39] Okay, and

[00:11:40] And Jackson like thought it would be cool that you know like like well

[00:11:45] Everyone thought this was cool that like these are songs that we don't have to worry about the license for because it's it's all

[00:11:51] It's Marvel owns it now exactly exactly

[00:11:55] and

[00:11:56] Yeah, so so so Jackson and Colin

[00:12:00] fit that a little excerpt of

[00:12:04] rich angel

[00:12:06] Dazzler original

[00:12:08] In NYX station number one. Okay, cool. So my spotting was correct. I feel I feel proud of myself

[00:12:14] Yeah, yeah, well in that first NYX issue Jackson had an interesting question in the letter section

[00:12:19] So it's like how do you build a community in diaspora?

[00:12:23] And it's it's something every writer contributing to from the ashes will confront in some way

[00:12:28] I've been on the road personally myself although. I don't know how much of this project will contend with that aspect particularly of being music

[00:12:34] It's tough being disconnected from friends and family at home

[00:12:38] So especially for the artists themselves it could be extremely isolating despite being in front of

[00:12:43] Eventually 40,000 people every night. So how are you kind of overcoming that challenge with the book and in building that community?

[00:12:52] Of something that potentially could be inherently on the road

[00:12:55] So like there's a lot of pressure on Dazzler since she's like one of the very few mutants that is

[00:13:02] Out there out and proud right

[00:13:05] while at the same time she's trying to

[00:13:07] Please both her human friend fans and her her muted fans. So she's just trying to ride that

[00:13:14] fine line with without

[00:13:18] displeasuring either the fan base and

[00:13:22] and

[00:13:22] You know, she says in her concert and it initially number one like this is the place

[00:13:27] Where everyone's gonna feel safe. This is a place where you can be yourself

[00:13:34] And and then she and you know, she this is where she's going to protect everyone and

[00:13:43] Sorry my lost my train of thought here but

[00:13:49] But yeah, there's a lot right riding on this like she's got she knows like the responsibility that that she's

[00:13:58] That that's

[00:14:01] That that that she has to

[00:14:05] That she's riding with because it's

[00:14:08] Not not every mutant can can go out there and like celebrate who they are. Yeah, and

[00:14:16] and so yeah, like

[00:14:19] The Dazzler concerts are the like are the few places where people can

[00:14:26] Can celebrate their own identity

[00:14:29] Yeah, it's a really interesting place because normal humans must kind of

[00:14:33] Confront their adoration of her as a pop star and reconcile with her also being a mutant and

[00:14:39] Potentially dangerous, you know

[00:14:41] So in this heavy heavily polarized time where musicians must contend with the ramifications of everything they do and say in real time

[00:14:48] It's it can harm their lives and livelihoods. What was appealing to you specifically about putting her in that?

[00:14:55] Situation where confrontation is almost a foregone conclusion. Oh, yeah, it's you know, it's it's I

[00:15:03] Think it's like an interesting story to tell. I mean, this is something that we we've seen

[00:15:08] With with all pop stars went one Wendy decide to take stands on things and right, you know

[00:15:14] Like like do a liba like taking the stand on on like, you know believing in a free Palestine and and for Taylor Swift

[00:15:24] like back in and I guess

[00:15:27] In the 2016 election of no or was it to a 2014 election with miss americano and she had to

[00:15:35] You know take his like tell her fans that she's not going to support Trump

[00:15:42] and

[00:15:43] You know what went when you when you have like a bold belief like that like

[00:15:47] You know that there's gonna be some some backlash of from from other fans

[00:15:53] But you know like these are

[00:15:56] the risks that you just have to take to to stand up for what you believe in like like you

[00:16:04] Both like if you want if you have like these strong beliefs like there should not be that compromise like he and

[00:16:11] You have to let everyone know like what your true intentions are and that's what Dowsler is doing

[00:16:18] about taking a stand and and

[00:16:20] You know wanting

[00:16:25] Protection and safety of her fellow mutants amongst

[00:16:31] Anti-mutant protests going on

[00:16:34] outside her for her concerts and all around the world

[00:16:37] Yeah, it's an interesting opportunity to kind of play with

[00:16:41] Assimilation versus acculturation right even society attempts to eliminate the mutant influence Dowsler is in that I feel like

[00:16:49] Unique position to have a significant role in shifting the perceptions through the music as entertainer and crowd are

[00:16:56] Have to interact right where where those cultures don't necessarily clash, you know immediately everybody is much more receptive when they're in an audience

[00:17:05] Exactly and like her

[00:17:07] You know her initial attention was like hoping to unite

[00:17:13] All the fans through her music, but you know

[00:17:16] She's gonna learn the hard way that she can't please she can't make everyone love lover

[00:17:21] Right so and and yeah, there's gonna be some backlashin and also that's going to harm her tour

[00:17:28] throughout the series

[00:17:30] So is it going to be?

[00:17:33] Trying to get a feel for tone here

[00:17:35] Is it gonna be more of a gem in the holograms kind of thing where the focus is more

[00:17:38] Music slash road life and not experience

[00:17:41] you know

[00:17:43] And it's kind of that impact on how you know the mutant population is viewed or are we gonna actually throw down with some bad guys too

[00:17:50] Because it could be intimate. She's gone all the way to galactic right with the beyonder and galactus before so just

[00:17:58] Kind of what we we can expect generally

[00:18:01] I

[00:18:02] Think I was able to get a

[00:18:05] I was able to fit a good balance of 50 50

[00:18:09] Pretty much like it like you'll have a good share of

[00:18:12] the drama backstage of like

[00:18:15] you know that the whole

[00:18:18] PR strategy of

[00:18:21] Behind like how we should pivot her career while at the same time like there are these evil threats

[00:18:28] That have made themselves known to shut her down

[00:18:32] some of them are

[00:18:35] Friends of humanity some of them are all your like typical

[00:18:39] Super villains in the Marvel Universe. So it's a good bag and good mixed bag and and you know

[00:18:46] I like to surprise my fans when you're reading it because because there are a lot of

[00:18:52] Neat things I threw in there that people will just be shocked and excitement

[00:18:58] Well, you've talked about already her creating a safer space because you know music has always been that safer space to explore

[00:19:05] the concept of sexuality gender identity and all these things music tends to be ahead of its time and she means so much to

[00:19:12] The queer community specific where specifically where being a mutant is an allegory for their own struggle for acceptance

[00:19:18] You know, she's pretty much as you said embodying

[00:19:21] You know being out at the moment in the from the ash's storyline and I'll be honest

[00:19:25] I have no idea what the culture wars look like in Canada right now

[00:19:29] Maybe I should be you know more worldly aware

[00:19:31] But kind of given the climate where seemingly half of America is currently scared of pronouns

[00:19:36] How how are we writing Allison to kind of pay respect to that we are fan base specifically? Oh

[00:19:45] It's it's uh

[00:19:49] Yeah, cuz it's like, you know like you have like

[00:19:56] The real struggles of what

[00:19:59] People within the LGBT community

[00:20:01] Community are going through and everyday lives and then you have like the fictional the fictional struggle of mutants and

[00:20:10] You know like I

[00:20:12] I try to

[00:20:15] put it in a nice umbrella

[00:20:18] Okay in a way

[00:20:21] Because they I feel like they are one of the same and and like and the real struggles of the

[00:20:27] LGBTQ

[00:20:29] Is what keeps the themes grounded of?

[00:20:33] What of the whole anti mutant sentiment in this book?

[00:20:40] It makes it it makes the bigotry feel real and it makes representation of

[00:20:47] These minority groups feel real as well. So

[00:20:52] Yeah, that's how I've been approaching this. It's yeah, it's it's a

[00:20:58] It's like I also feel like I like Dazzar mice because so for it's like, you know, like you

[00:21:05] Like I'm writing her like she's

[00:21:08] She's this messy character that

[00:21:11] Has good intentions but and you know, she hasn't made the best decisions, but hopefully

[00:21:18] Those good intentions shine

[00:21:21] Okay. Okay. Yeah, I'm joining shield. I

[00:21:25] Mean you it's tough because you're writing

[00:21:29] In a time where everything can be a catalyst, right? Taylor Swift's a great example

[00:21:33] Yes, she's taken some political stances in the past

[00:21:36] But she's also shown up at a football game and kissed her boyfriend and that people are incensed about that

[00:21:41] So on one hand you can't wait you can't win. Oh

[00:21:47] Well, I'm working on a music focus project myself and even with my extensive background that the translation of it into comics

[00:21:55] Can be kind of tricky. So has there been any specific challenges for you or the artist Raphael?

[00:22:01] I'm gonna probably butcher this. I know we remember it, but the railroad am I Loreio Loreio? Okay

[00:22:09] Ro Loreiro Loreiro, okay. Okay, yeah, Loreiro. Yeah, got it. All right. Well, I apologize to Raphael for butchering that

[00:22:19] Anyway trying to present music on a page the the challenges of it

[00:22:23] Is there any thing specifically you've run up against that was particularly tricky?

[00:22:27] Well, we're writing her songs has been like

[00:22:35] Solving the most advanced

[00:22:39] Word game on the New York Times app like

[00:22:44] Like

[00:22:46] So so like how I go about writing her songs like like I study a lot of like

[00:22:53] Taylor Swift and duly but songs and and and just just studying the

[00:23:01] The amount of syllables in each verse that the rhythmic patterns

[00:23:08] Then so so so we know it's like a haiku in a way

[00:23:12] Yeah, I would kind of like count the many syllables and then I would jot down

[00:23:19] Um

[00:23:21] Dazzlers story notes and try to like, you know write them poetically within these verses while fitting them in

[00:23:30] the right amount of verses and

[00:23:34] Then the rhyming part is another thing like you

[00:23:39] You know the last word of every verse like trying to

[00:23:44] I'm using the thesaurus or or right. Oh calm as my best friend that to

[00:23:51] to yeah, make the rhymes flow together and

[00:23:55] And it'll be hours of like me just you know

[00:24:02] Doing this with words just just

[00:24:04] just mashing

[00:24:07] Like Rubik's cubes to make sure they work fine until like

[00:24:13] you know, I step back and then like read it again and

[00:24:17] And then feel like yeah, okay

[00:24:20] I feel like this is a song that I could like sing along to like gotcha. Okay

[00:24:26] So it passes the ear test

[00:24:27] Exactly. Yeah, okay. Well, no judgment on my part

[00:24:31] There's a reason I was backstage and working in production and that end of things because I there's no way I could I could write a song to save my life

[00:24:39] It's not possible, but I used to like I used to love writing poetry in high school

[00:24:45] like thanks to English and and writers craft and

[00:24:49] Yeah, that that was that was a I mean not that like I

[00:24:56] Did much about it like after school, but here I am now like using those skills again for this book

[00:25:03] Maybe maybe I'll go back and take a stab at it because I used to really love haiku as a format

[00:25:09] I'm a huge fan of Bosho. I'll go back at night and just read Bosho's haiku haiku's and stuff

[00:25:15] Just kind of chill me out sometimes

[00:25:17] so

[00:25:18] But I really like the balance of creators that are kind of working on the from the ashes launch

[00:25:23] There seems to be a nice harmony kind of a

[00:25:25] Established folks and some newer faces that they're bringing in to work on the X titles

[00:25:29] So how did you kind of get recruited into this from the job?

[00:25:35] You kind of mentioned the that you had a pitch essentially and you went all in on that

[00:25:42] Well, I mean for Dazzler actually it just came out of nowhere for Dazzle. Okay. I

[00:25:48] like you know like

[00:25:50] When I when I saw some of the X men from the ashes announcements and

[00:25:55] Like I was feeling so like up so much fellow like I wanted to be part of this saga

[00:26:00] It's like oh looks like they've already like listed all all the essential titles and then

[00:26:06] Martin the editor reached out to me about Dazzler and and I was like, okay. I gotta be I I

[00:26:14] Got a killing on to this opportunity like and

[00:26:19] I

[00:26:21] So like I but before this era I was working on

[00:26:26] Some X men unlimited issues during the Krakow era and I felt like

[00:26:32] It was like an experimental phase. Okay, because originally what when I first got into that into X men unlimited

[00:26:40] Lauren emmer Amaro

[00:26:43] The editor she she gave me the opportunity to like write five issues

[00:26:48] I can pick any X men I want and

[00:26:51] and and and just tell

[00:26:54] The most fun stories and that's what I did

[00:26:58] Instead of overrain my crawler rogue and we're all the big heavy hitters out. I went with my favorite

[00:27:05] Character the master

[00:27:07] Multi-tasker multiple man sure so and I can totally relate to as a cartoonist who you know does it all

[00:27:13] While working in full-time job at the library

[00:27:18] So yeah, I I told some fun stories with them. I told some fun stories with that

[00:27:25] Lila chinny

[00:27:27] which also featured when dancer as her as your touring manager and and

[00:27:34] Sharp girl as her drummer

[00:27:37] Yeah, that was

[00:27:40] That was just an interesting concept like just putting a little chinny in this

[00:27:47] Reality TV show like a dating show where the contestant doesn't know that they're actually dating a pop star

[00:27:55] Yeah

[00:27:56] Seeing the popster for their true self and the contestant happens be a

[00:28:03] Bigoted friends of humanity

[00:28:05] member

[00:28:08] so it might have been like an issue like that that

[00:28:12] might that a

[00:28:15] That convinced Martin to think that I was the right approach for Dazzler because

[00:28:20] Because he knew that I was gonna deliver just something fun

[00:28:24] And he wanted like just a fun series with Dazzler and and I was like alright

[00:28:28] You know what like how about some fun and how about some mystery since I just came off of writing the century

[00:28:35] And and I was kind of on this bit of this mystery kicks

[00:28:39] It's I was binge watching lots of law and order and cold case

[00:28:44] So just wanted to like while I had that in my blood. I was like, well, let's just pour it on these pages of

[00:28:52] Dazzler

[00:28:53] Did the Marvel unlimited stuff allow you to flex?

[00:28:57] Kind of your your writing muscles in a new way then then some of your other projects just

[00:29:03] You get you've worked on indie stuff where you get that freedom

[00:29:07] But in terms of freedom at the big two, you don't hear a lot of yeah go for it

[00:29:13] Do you know?

[00:29:14] What do you throw it throw it against the wall see what sticks? What do you love to do?

[00:29:18] You know, who do you want to write? You know constraints

[00:29:21] because

[00:29:23] You know, I think with

[00:29:26] With X men unlimited

[00:29:29] And I think other people have kind of caught on and and I've noticed this myself like earlier was

[00:29:35] Like this is like the training ground for like new talent

[00:29:39] So like this just tell some bold stories that are very unconventional from from the superhero genre and and

[00:29:47] You know Lauren

[00:29:49] loved

[00:29:52] How I write my dialogue for characters like it just feels so heartfelt and just so wholesome it and

[00:29:58] and very grounded

[00:30:02] So and that's

[00:30:05] Yeah, that's what I did with with the with strong guy and multiple men like they're having like a genuine heart-to-heart

[00:30:12] reunion hanging out with each other and

[00:30:15] And

[00:30:17] Yeah, like I created that like these are the

[00:30:22] Abbot and Costello of X med like this this like i'm playing with this

[00:30:26] Little corner in the X-Men universe where like I get this little

[00:30:31] comedy slash action and drama

[00:30:33] Okay, just to explore

[00:30:37] All right, let's take a quick break

[00:30:47] After a string of unexplained disappearances in the southern parts of the united states

[00:30:51] Retired detective Clint searches for his white trash brother while searching for him. He ends up being abducted by aliens

[00:30:59] He is now in the arena for big guns stupid rednecks

[00:31:03] An intergalactic cable's newest hit show which puts him and other humans in laser gun gladiatorial combat

[00:31:09] And his brother is the reigning champion with 27 kills

[00:31:14] That's the premise for a new book from banda barns big guns stupid rednecks

[00:31:19] I got a chance to see an advanced preview of this book and being from the south honestly

[00:31:23] I was a bit skeptical going in but they won me over and nothing is more powerful than an initially skeptic convert in my book

[00:31:30] In jimmy's words big guns stupid rednecks is many things, but it isn't subtle

[00:31:35] It tells you exactly what it is up front then it delivers with a great premise fantastic art and a whole mess of fun

[00:31:41] I had a great time reading big guns stupid rednecks

[00:31:44] And what I thought was going to be an indictment of redneck culture quickly showed it was actually a love letter

[00:31:49] A family mystery brother pitted against brother aliens fighting for profit in a big arena

[00:31:54] This truly has it all issue one is out already

[00:31:58] But you can still pick up a copy on the banda barns website

[00:32:00] And current issues are available via your previews or lunar order form or just ask your lcs. Don't miss

[00:32:06] Let's get back to the show

[00:32:08] I don't normally solicit outside input for questions, but given how much people love dazzler

[00:32:14] I threw it out there on reddit just in the x-men group to see what people might ask if they had the chance

[00:32:19] There's some good questions in there and it's it's interesting because it wasn't the direction

[00:32:23] I anticipated I anticipated a lot of dazzler questions, but people wanted to know about everybody else

[00:32:28] So one that stood out was beside the history of dazzler and mad rocks

[00:32:32] What was the reason we're blessed with more strong guy in the book?

[00:32:35] What is what is it about guido that appeals to you so much as a writer?

[00:32:40] Um, well, okay. So the funny thing is he was already initially in

[00:32:47] the

[00:32:48] The startup package when when mark and approached me

[00:32:52] He was like like I want like he says I want to see like a dazzler series starring

[00:32:57] domino as head of security and a strong guy as

[00:33:03] As uh like a roadie and

[00:33:06] And the thing was like multiple man

[00:33:09] Was not originally part of the package. That's the perfect roadie

[00:33:13] Yeah, I do everything one man production team. Right. It's a one man security team

[00:33:19] Oh

[00:33:20] No, like I was like you can't have strong guy without multiple man like especially like

[00:33:26] Since I'm writing this like I want like there to be continuity within what I've been working on and

[00:33:33] And

[00:33:34] So this so the stuff that I've been working on I want I want that to build up within

[00:33:40] Uh, the dazzler series. Yeah strong guy. He's he's great. He

[00:33:46] I mean like I I've brought him

[00:33:50] My my goal within x-men limited was to like kind of like bring him back into just uh

[00:33:57] the wise cracking

[00:33:59] Wanted like a spy uh

[00:34:01] aspiring stand-up comedian

[00:34:03] Um in the early peter david days before he became the lord of hell

[00:34:09] um, uh, again, it's just bringing a lighter tone to him

[00:34:12] um

[00:34:14] alongside

[00:34:15] multiple man

[00:34:16] Oh, and yeah, like he's a guy from

[00:34:22] He's a guy with a very thick new york accent. It's just fun to write

[00:34:27] Yeah, yeah, I bet

[00:34:28] Well before we take up all the time on dazzler

[00:34:31] I want to to give you other project where we'll find out a little attention as well

[00:34:33] So jack russell is a character emerged in the medium when it was under a big transition point in the early 1970s as the

[00:34:40] commerce code authority had

[00:34:42] suppressed monsters in the mainstream marketplace for over 15 years at least with respect to marvel dc

[00:34:47] You had vampires werewolves ghouls walking dead

[00:34:50] You got no approval and it feels like a bit of a marketing homage of sorts to to that era with the red band additions

[00:34:57] And you know kind of that promise of extra carnage. I picked up the first issue recently and from a marvel standpoint

[00:35:03] It's it's fairly visceral and a great jumping off point for the character in in the

[00:35:07] darker recesses of the marvel comics universe

[00:35:10] So what what attracted you to working on that project specifically?

[00:35:15] um

[00:35:17] so

[00:35:19] Yeah, to be honest like this was like another thing or like I did I didn't I've never pitched for this

[00:35:25] Oh wow, okay

[00:35:26] it was uh

[00:35:29] But I I slowly became more in love with it

[00:35:33] um, so

[00:35:35] It was

[00:35:36] It was maybe the week after new york comic con

[00:35:40] um, and I I was

[00:35:44] Um, just getting I caught covet at last year's new york comic con

[00:35:49] The same was some of the people at the marvel party. Yeah, and uh, devon louis

[00:35:54] uh, who I worked on on

[00:35:58] spider verse and venom verse

[00:36:01] um

[00:36:02] It might have been the venom verse story the extreme venom verse stories that I worked with them where I wrote this

[00:36:09] um

[00:36:11] This revenge story of

[00:36:13] kingpin

[00:36:15] venomized

[00:36:16] And he calls himself king pain and he he finally gets his revenge on peter parker

[00:36:22] And it was my first dark story

[00:36:25] under the the marvel

[00:36:27] umbrella

[00:36:28] So it maybe it might have been that that convinced him that I was perfect for

[00:36:34] A a dark title like werewolf by night

[00:36:38] um

[00:36:39] Because yeah, like he he he already had like all these big plans like he wanted this to be like

[00:36:45] uh a tennis shoe maxi series hopefully an ongoing

[00:36:49] if it's successful and

[00:36:52] at that time I was um

[00:36:55] What when I was recovering from covet?

[00:36:58] post your comic con I was

[00:37:01] watched lots of I was already watching some horror films

[00:37:05] uh in bed like

[00:37:07] uh

[00:37:09] Werewolf in lond American werewolf in london the howling one two and three

[00:37:14] uh

[00:37:16] A bunch of other stuff that you can find on to be uh pretty much uh

[00:37:22] and

[00:37:24] So yeah, he he he called me at the right time about

[00:37:28] You know the the werewolf by night pitch and that's when I I just dove into

[00:37:33] reading werewolf by night. I was already reading

[00:37:38] um

[00:37:38] I was already a fan of some of the the marvel horror magazines like vampire tales

[00:37:44] um draggula lives

[00:37:46] and in legion of of monsters so

[00:37:50] That was a a tone that I wanted to bring back into

[00:37:55] This contemporary era, um, but with with a more modern edge

[00:38:02] Okay, yeah

[00:38:03] Reading through it myself. It's one of those funny things that that always sort of bothers me right um

[00:38:09] You have people ripped apart, but there's no curse words, you know

[00:38:12] That's still no. No, I I know you have absolutely nothing to do

[00:38:16] But it's always struck me as strange

[00:38:18] I was recently reading a

[00:38:19] Batman black label book where he's traversing a bunch of impaled bodies in this underground

[00:38:24] Grotto, right? But but no swearing that that's not that's that's too far

[00:38:28] You know, it's it's it's funny because like

[00:38:31] When I was writing um werewolf by night blood hunt and I thought that was going to be uh a red band

[00:38:39] But okay, I thought that I thought they're all gonna be a red band books

[00:38:42] so I

[00:38:43] like there was like maybe like

[00:38:46] the fourth draft and that like or the

[00:38:48] This the fourth draft where it was like the second lettering pass where I uh

[00:38:55] forgot what the inflict like what what the rules were for for red band

[00:38:59] And so I was like, what if I just fill in all the swear words?

[00:39:03] Like this is what these are all the words that were meant to be said and I just put an asterisk

[00:39:09] To them so like in case if

[00:39:11] We don't allow swear words like at least

[00:39:13] The letter the letter can easily track all the swear words and just

[00:39:19] But brawlicks instead, but uh

[00:39:22] Yeah, I mean it's a pretty cool opportunity that you got to do the the bloodhound version and now

[00:39:27] The the older version of werewolf by night

[00:39:29] So um both both both generations is that's pretty cool within just a couple of months really

[00:39:35] And they're all connected too. They're all connected. But we do have a big picture

[00:39:40] In mind that what were these characters are going to eventually intertwine

[00:39:46] That's really cool

[00:39:47] Well, we know at some point in this after reading that first issue that elsa bloodstone is helping jack deal with

[00:39:53] What is seemingly a very out of control condition at this point?

[00:39:56] I've always loved werewolf stories

[00:39:58] But after my own personal lupus diagnosis and you factor in the the latin genus species, you know being canis lupus for wolf

[00:40:06] And the nature of a virus or similar that periodically just causes your body to do terrible random awful things

[00:40:14] And and that result in feeling of completely losing control. I understand jack

[00:40:19] I love the that exploration between them and how vital it can be

[00:40:23] You know as it strongly mirrors my own experience, you know without my family's support

[00:40:27] I would not be standing here today. I don't know how much editorial gave you in the remit

[00:40:32] But it's a wonderful way to kind of humanize

[00:40:34] And ground jack's new journey, you know from the jump in that first issue

[00:40:38] Were there any limitations that they they put on it when you started this in terms of here's the red van

[00:40:45] Go full out, you know with respect to anything aside from the swear words

[00:40:49] No, not at all. Look, um

[00:40:52] You know the

[00:40:53] Read it writing this series felt like

[00:40:57] being in my

[00:40:59] own smash box where I can just like

[00:41:03] I don't know if uh, if

[00:41:06] The smash boxes are ubiquitous, but like, you know, these are little

[00:41:10] Rooms where we can just like

[00:41:12] Grab a bat and just smash all the appliances or like, you know computer

[00:41:17] old computer equipment stuff like that, uh

[00:41:22] And and that's that yeah the smash room. That's that's what the series

[00:41:27] is to me and

[00:41:29] Devin and Lauren were so encouraging when

[00:41:32] When they were reading all these violent scenes, they're like, yeah, keep it up

[00:41:37] Like we want you to earn this red band like or like this is a great waiter to earn the red band

[00:41:44] Um, and it just made me want to think of more sadistic

[00:41:49] Scenes or moments to add

[00:41:52] um

[00:41:54] Yes, it's it's it's a lot of fun actually

[00:41:58] Uh, there's there's actually been been no hold back

[00:42:01] but at the same time like I want to try to ground it with uh with

[00:42:06] Jack's humanity because you know like

[00:42:10] Like his that madness is not in his control and and he's he's

[00:42:15] Him and Elsa are trying to find a way to

[00:42:19] To solve that um or or fix it somehow

[00:42:23] Well, I have a topographical question. Um

[00:42:26] Where in the hell is charmington, colorado based off of because I lived in colorado and I was a landscape photographer

[00:42:32] I explored lots of recesses of the state. I'm fine with creative license

[00:42:36] That's not a problem

[00:42:37] But I just want to hear about the inspiration for kind of creating that locale in the book

[00:42:42] I um

[00:42:43] Yeah, like I

[00:42:44] I uh, I definitely wanted to um set it in a small town in the rockies in the colorado rockies, especially since um

[00:42:57] The castle that they're in was already established in um

[00:43:02] The previous werewolf by night one shot

[00:43:06] um

[00:43:07] And so I

[00:43:09] I wanted to just just honor that story like as a continuation, but they were very vague with the

[00:43:18] Location details. They just called it the rockies and I was like all right. Well, like I want to you know, like

[00:43:24] set it in

[00:43:25] A small town like there is a small town across the river

[00:43:29] um

[00:43:30] And I

[00:43:32] And I also wanted to give Sergio some creative freedom that this is an average small town because

[00:43:39] I

[00:43:40] I guess in my earliest drafts, I do have like

[00:43:45] I did have big plans for this town and you know, I I didn't want to have it set in an actual town where

[00:43:54] Like the whole village will come after me if

[00:43:58] Right. They don't like what they're they're rating. So yeah

[00:44:02] Yeah, yeah, well, I mean in a book like that

[00:44:05] You you might have some angry villagers with you know torches coming after you nobody wants that. Have you ever heard of bishops castle?

[00:44:13] No, where is that set? So you should check this out

[00:44:17] You know one guy spent 60 years constructing this castle in the middle of nowhere in southern colorado

[00:44:22] That was what made me think about this. It's in a little town called rye

[00:44:25] Which butts up against kind of the lower

[00:44:27] Range of the rocky chain the great sand dunes national park is right on the west side of the mountains as well as the

[00:44:33] UFO watch tower, which is just outside of hooper

[00:44:35] There's a little town called crest stone which has become this weird little spiritual mecca too that I when I was shooting at

[00:44:42] Great sand dunes doing workshop stuff. Um, I got a chance to get out to crest on a couple of times

[00:44:47] So there's a bunch of retreat centers where the land was freely given to these different religious groups and it sets and

[00:44:53] Supposedly a converges point for a bunch of lay lines

[00:44:57] It's not my bag, but it's really interesting background stuff

[00:45:00] Yeah, yeah, so they would make for a little bit of an intro

[00:45:04] I guess some additional topography to the book if you're not done scripting yet. But my my my uncle

[00:45:12] My uncle is bavarian and uh when

[00:45:17] uh one time when I went to visit my my aunt and uncle, uh and um

[00:45:24] um

[00:45:25] They live in wiesbaden

[00:45:27] in germany

[00:45:29] Um, basically well like there's there's castles everywhere

[00:45:34] Yeah, there's just castles everywhere and and and

[00:45:38] It's funny because like yeah not all of them are that significant. They're just

[00:45:44] Like family castles at the time and and it was just interesting that just looking at a castle like thinking oh, is that like

[00:45:52] We're like a king state or something but no, it's like one of the noblemen or

[00:45:58] Whatever, but I mean

[00:46:02] They were

[00:46:04] I've a feeling that they were like

[00:46:07] consciously

[00:46:08] There was subconscious

[00:46:10] Inspiration to me. Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure

[00:46:13] Well, I'll throw in a prognostication that you'd need not confirm or deny

[00:46:17] But I would really personally like to see ghost writer make an appearance death watch showed up in the first issue

[00:46:22] Right and so I'm really hoping given that connection in the background that ghost writer will show up

[00:46:28] But we'll leave it there. You don't have to you don't have to confirm or deny that

[00:46:32] But yeah, there's there's a lot of really cool things you can explore with man thing or

[00:46:37] I haven't personally maybe he has but I haven't seen damien helstram in a while either so

[00:46:44] It's you know, it's it's funny. Uh

[00:46:47] me

[00:46:48] like in my bag I got a

[00:46:51] Hellstorm issue number two here. Yes

[00:46:55] That's a good series. That's was like that was the 90s wasn't it? It is it is. Yeah, it's funny because yeah, um

[00:47:03] Yeah, I've been reading lots of like

[00:47:05] The marvel horror from the 70s, but also like there's a lot of good stuff in in the 90s because like

[00:47:12] They were like trying to launch their own like vertigo line like yeah the dark hold

[00:47:17] Um with vicky montezza

[00:47:20] um the whole

[00:47:23] um

[00:47:25] road to vengeance and

[00:47:27] um

[00:47:29] Midnight massacre like all like all those dark events like that was so cool and and

[00:47:36] you know

[00:47:37] I like to pull little things here and there uh things that

[00:47:42] Were that might have been forgotten and and bring them into this series

[00:47:47] Yeah, well, that's awesome. I'm here for that journey

[00:47:50] But I know you're super busy with everything you've got going on at the moment

[00:47:53] There's a lot of stuff coming out

[00:47:54] It feels like it's been a really big year for you already anything else that's coming out soon

[00:47:58] We should be aware of it's on the horizon. Um, yeah, you know in october. I also have uh this book that I illustrated

[00:48:07] um

[00:48:08] Called hulk not smash. It's the marvel way

[00:48:12] or self care

[00:48:14] Okay, and it's it's written by amy ripeliff. She's written tons of

[00:48:21] Star wars essential guides and and

[00:48:25] And um, yeah, she she also wrote a

[00:48:28] Star Wars version

[00:48:30] Of of self care, but now this is her marvel

[00:48:34] Uh book in that same approach

[00:48:38] And yeah, I I got to illustrate all these

[00:48:41] Popular characters. I didn't get a chance to draw yet in the six white six

[00:48:46] Do you want some you know meditation and and yoga and and

[00:48:52] All the all those and lights and exercises

[00:48:56] That's really cool any but well you probably can't give it away

[00:49:00] But is there a character that you've tackled that has given you fits? I'm just curious about that

[00:49:07] Uh, that has given me fits. Yeah the way we were

[00:49:14] Hmm

[00:49:16] thinking

[00:49:18] Oh, you know what? I mean

[00:49:21] I mean

[00:49:23] I mean, uh, I I I did write iron fist 50th anniversary

[00:49:29] That just came out a couple weeks ago

[00:49:31] And and I am planning a follow-up

[00:49:34] uh

[00:49:35] to

[00:49:37] Danny rance next chapter

[00:49:40] um

[00:49:41] so

[00:49:42] I had to read a lot of iron fist

[00:49:46] Just to just to make sure I got his his

[00:49:51] Uh lord right because there's a lot of of backstory to that one character

[00:49:56] Compared to everyone else. It's it's funny because like like he's got so much

[00:50:02] History, I mean well his origins of power has so much history

[00:50:07] um

[00:50:09] That that don't affect with

[00:50:12] most of the the marvel universe like it's

[00:50:15] It's mostly isolated in cuddledon and um

[00:50:19] Yeah, so I've been reading lots of that and it's something that I spent weeks on maybe over like maybe over a month

[00:50:25] And it's like something that I can't even talk about

[00:50:27] Or share of like what I've learned from his origin because it's also something to keep a secret as well

[00:50:33] of what his next

[00:50:36] What what uh his future holds

[00:50:39] We are well used to I cannot talk about that right now. So that's not a problem. Where can people find you online?

[00:50:45] Uh, you can mainly find me on instagram jason low makes comics

[00:50:50] Uh instagram you can find me on twitter

[00:50:53] at rubble underscore l o l

[00:50:57] um

[00:50:58] Yeah, I mean those are the most active places i'm at

[00:51:02] And yeah, I'm sure you can you can find me by name anywhere else

[00:51:07] I'll put the all the links in the show notes. So it's easy to find you give jason to follow everybody

[00:51:11] I'm really hype on the dazzler series and where you were taking this it sounds like a lot of fun

[00:51:15] And totally up my alley and the werewolf by night could not get more medieval

[00:51:18] I mean if if people have not had enough already this summer with blood hunt

[00:51:23] You got more werewolves and by in vampires and this if the itch isn't tickled so get in and hang on

[00:51:29] That's all I can say, you know

[00:51:31] And and now that we've seen this this cheeky disco cover for the werewolf issue

[00:51:36] That was from jeremy wilson. I think that connects the two. I want one of those

[00:51:41] Yeah, werewolf by night with a disco ball. It looks so cool. How did that come about?

[00:51:46] That was a surprise. I

[00:51:49] Found out at the same time everyone else found out like I just went on my

[00:51:53] Instagram and I saw this whole disco dazzler variant campaign

[00:51:58] Yeah, it was like wow. This is this is awesome like that. They're uh, they're really campaigning for

[00:52:05] For this series debut success. So

[00:52:08] hopefully

[00:52:09] You know that this will drive lots of sales numbers for for this series to

[00:52:14] Continue on and be maybe an ongoing. We'll see that'd be awesome

[00:52:19] Well, I actually just spoke to terry dodson on tuesday this week

[00:52:22] Shameless plug you can listen to that episode with porn sack, but you know, he's doing all the primary a covers for dazzler

[00:52:28] Is that correct? That's yeah, that's oh my gosh like

[00:52:33] I I never thought I would I would get

[00:52:37] terry dodson and rachel dahls and tindy grace

[00:52:39] Uh, there are what on on my book on on a monthly basis since it's

[00:52:46] It's surreal man. Like I didn't think I'd reach that kind of point

[00:52:49] I mean it was also surreal for me to like partner up with someone like a talent like wilson passio on iron fist too

[00:52:57] I'm just so lucky. I'm just

[00:52:58] I love to see that and it makes me really happy when people

[00:53:04] Love love the medium and love what they do and clearly you do so that it makes me happy to see you happy

[00:53:11] Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, like yeah

[00:53:14] I'm hoping it shines through with with all of all of the fans and yeah

[00:53:18] It's gonna be a hell of a ride for a werewolf by night

[00:53:21] And yeah people are gonna have a ball with the nice

[00:53:25] That's good

[00:53:26] And dazzler hits september 18th is that as we understand it now september 18th and I am hosting uh an early

[00:53:35] comic launch party in toronto if you if you're for those that are in toronto

[00:53:39] um

[00:53:41] At off rim bar. It's toronto sci-fi immersive bar

[00:53:46] I am hosting yeah to dazzler

[00:53:48] Early release launch party will have uh drag performances by divine darlin and baby bell bell

[00:53:55] They're gonna be dressed up as storm

[00:53:59] Disco storm and dazzler. Okay, they're gonna be ripping up the dance floor and I'll be signing

[00:54:05] Uh all the comics and and variants

[00:54:08] That's really cool. I can't wait to to hear about murwe was uh reaction to the the storm drag version

[00:54:15] That'll be that'll be really really interesting

[00:54:17] Oh, I can't wait. I just heard the news like all my emails like oh man

[00:54:22] I can't wait to see how how they're gonna look

[00:54:25] Yeah, that's awesome. Well make sure to call your shop and let them know you want dazzler and werewolf by night in your pullbox

[00:54:30] Jason thanks so much for coming out and chatting with me today. It's been fun. Yeah. Thanks for having me

[00:54:35] Yeah, well, this is biron o'neill on behalf of all of us at comic book yeti

[00:54:39] Thanks for tuning in everyone and we will see you next time take everybody

[00:54:42] Cheers

[00:54:44] This is biron o'neill one of your hosts of the cryptic creator corner brought to you by comic book yeti

[00:54:49] We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast

[00:54:53] Please rate review subscribe all that good stuff

[00:54:56] It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly how we can improve

[00:55:01] Thanks for listening

[00:55:03] If you enjoyed this episode of the cryptic creator corner

[00:55:06] Maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast into the comics kate listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts

[00:55:20] The great visionary leader of india

[00:55:22] Mahatma Gandhi said

[00:55:24] It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver

[00:55:29] Listen to the healthy grocer radio show on your favorite podcast platform

[00:55:34] We know that health is our greatest wealth and we will be discussing all aspects of natural healing

[00:55:39] Explore everything from supplements superfoods and healthy lifestyle choices to help conquer stress and boost productivity

[00:55:47] Top industry expert and natural health professionals join us for a deep dive into our healing journey

[00:55:53] You can find the healthy grocer radio show on demand every day wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts

[00:55:59] And remember health is your greatest wealth