Jennie Wood Interview - I Didn't Ask For This

[00:00:00] - [Speaker 0]
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[00:00:11] - [Speaker 1]
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[00:00:55] - [Speaker 2]
Hello, and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I am one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo. I am so excited about tonight's guest. This is their second time on the podcast. They were on previously with Dozer Draws to talk about Paper Planes, which was just one of my favorite graphic novels that I have read that year, and it's still it's still one of my favorites.

[00:01:16] - [Speaker 2]
It's still one that I constantly recommend to people. I just thought I just fell in love with the characters in in paper planes, especially cricket for everyone who has read the book or remembers that episode. But this comic creator, this writer, is back, and we're talking about, their new book from Maverick came out at the end of April, April 28. It's called I didn't ask for this, but please welcome back to the podcast, Jenny Wood. Jenny, how are you doing tonight?

[00:01:48] - [Speaker 3]
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me back. I I love talking to you last time. I'm so happy to be here.

[00:01:54] - [Speaker 2]
No. I'm I'm very excited. I just was I still like I said, in the intro, I still recommend paper planes to people. I just felt like it was just such it's such an incredible graphic novel. And so I was very excited when I saw that you had something else coming out, from Maverick with Josh Cornelian, Michael E.

[00:02:13] - [Speaker 2]
Wiggum, Charles Pritchett. It's called I didn't ask for This. And I I thought this was a fascinating graphic novel mostly because I don't I mean, I'm not, like, an influencer who posts a ton of stuff of my kids, but I I do occasionally post stuff with my kids in it. And, oh my gosh, like, taking a step back and looking at, you know, particular some of the the parents in this and who are influencers, you know, especially they kinda make their living off of doing this. It's not like occasional posting, and it is so cringey to kinda step back and take a look and see how it is affecting these kids because they are kids.

[00:03:01] - [Speaker 2]
They're high school kids who have grown up being under this social media microscope. Basically, their lives, every embarrassing moment and milestone being mined for content. I it it it forced me to reexamine, like, the entire way I interact, in terms of things I post about my kids online. So why don't you tell listeners, though, you know, what I didn't ask for this is all about, and then we'll kinda get into the story.

[00:03:35] - [Speaker 3]
So I didn't ask for this is about a a group of kids, of whose parents are social media influencers and their parents who put them online, as you said, since they were babies their entire lives, and they're at a place in their lives where they're coming of age and they're sick of it. So they farm a group called not your baby anymore. They're all over the the country. So and some are traveling all over the world with their influencer parents. So they meet via Zoom, and they decide to find a way to fight back.

[00:04:09] - [Speaker 3]
They wanna work together to get a law passed in The US, so that, they can protect themselves and their younger siblings and other kids like them from being exploited.

[00:04:21] - [Speaker 2]
Your main character, Daisy, I just, she kind of is the main focus in the beginning, and she's dealing with, you know, a number of things, because she's in high school. She's trying to figure out her own identity, her own sexuality, and what that means. Constantly bombarded by mom who I I think Shane, they they refer to her as as momzilla. And she's also trying to

[00:04:52] - [Speaker 4]
be very protective of her brother Zeke.

[00:04:54] - [Speaker 2]
She has a younger brother, and she knows what it's like to kinda be under that social media microscope. And, you know, then she is kinda Daisy's introduced to the not a baby anymore group, and and things go off from there with what the the group tries to accomplish. I I just, kind of loved Daisy's kinda struggle with everything and how she, approached dealing with it, but it's also very, like, kinda kinda heartbreaking when you really stop to consider, you know, somebody's identity, somebody's whether or it's gender identity or their sexuality, especially in high school trying to figure that stuff out, deal with all those emotions, all those hormones. And then your mother writes a blog post about it. What made you interested in wanting to kinda tell this type of story?

[00:05:48] - [Speaker 3]
Well, actually so I worked on paper planes. The editor the the main editor on that, through that whole project was Erica Schultz. But then towards

[00:06:00] - [Speaker 2]
Erica's awesome.

[00:06:01] - [Speaker 3]
I know. Yeah. Let's pause for a second. Erica is awesome, amazing, and really helped us flush that helped Paper Plays become what it was. But towards the end, Maverick hired a new senior editor, Lauren Heights, Susan, who, came in and and just help us bring paper planes home.

[00:06:26] - [Speaker 3]
She came into with fresh eyes. I loved working with her and and vice versa. So she came to me with, the idea of I didn't ask for this with

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just,

[00:06:37] - [Speaker 3]
you know, just a group of kids whose parents are social media influencers and what happens when they come of age and and want their take their identity into their own hands. So it was her idea. It was her baby, and she asked me if I was interested in flushing out and flushing it out and creating these characters and creating this world. And, you know, my obviously, I grew up I was a kid before the world of social media. Thank goodness.

[00:07:07] - [Speaker 3]
And, I was like, you know, I took a step back. I'm like, can I write this? Where's my in for it? And I found myself able to connect and relate because my mother would read my journal. So I would come home from school, and my mother would have read my journal.

[00:07:28] - [Speaker 3]
So she would know my inner thoughts. And so I felt very exposed. Obviously, a social media, influencer parent is exposing their kids in a totally different way, in a in a larger way, but I knew what it was like to to feel exposed, to feel vulnerable, to feel betrayed. And so I'm like, oh, okay. I can lean into this.

[00:07:52] - [Speaker 3]
And, you know, I grew up working class, and so kind of could could really lean into the the idea that these parents are are doing they're they're it it becomes a trap in a way because they're doing this to pay the mortgage. They're doing this to pay bills. You know, it starts to take off, and they're making money, and it becomes the way they pay the bills. So then they become dependent on it. And and, you know, they need more content, and they're getting brands to, you know, offers, you know, you need if you advertise this this backpack.

[00:08:32] - [Speaker 3]
Right?

[00:08:33] - [Speaker 2]
Right.

[00:08:33] - [Speaker 3]
You gotta take pictures of your kid in the backpack or your kid in a certain dress or so it starts to become a machine almost, and you you have to do it to pay the mortgage. Right? And I'm not excusing this. Right? But it it becomes a trap.

[00:08:49] - [Speaker 3]
And so I really leaned into that with the parents too, and that they they had to do this to because it then afforded their you know, the house that they live in. It pays for the house they live in. It pays for the groceries. So it becomes a way of life.

[00:09:06] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. That element of the story, I I felt was, like, particularly sticky to try and and think about. Because if a parent's posting things in their for lack of a better word, like, exploiting their their kids' childhood for for content, for likes, for clicks, you know, whatever it might be is is one problem. But, yeah, the the the idea or the reality of the situation that some parents use that content and bay and do pay the mortgage. And, there's one point in the book where, you know, the mom wants Daisy to take something down.

[00:09:44] - [Speaker 2]
Daisy wants mom to take down her stuff. And, like, the dad comes in. I'm like, I really wanted dad to fight more for Daisy. And he's basically like like, Daisy, you know, like, that's what pays for the house.

[00:09:56] - [Speaker 3]
Good enough.

[00:09:57] - [Speaker 2]
Just like, ugh. Like, I I I get it, but you've the problem is, like, you've now built this thing, and you need to unwind it. And there's, like, no easy answer when you've basically built the house on top of this Yeah. Very crappy foundation.

[00:10:15] - [Speaker 3]
Right. And the so these kids have the the pressure of, being the breadwinner, right, essentially, because they're the ones who are the content in in almost almost every case, of the kids in this book. Some of them are kind of just along more for the ride. There's a one kid whose parents are extreme sport influencers. The kid's name is buyer.

[00:10:44] - [Speaker 3]
And so they bring him all over the world with them to to film them. So he's filming his parents doing these like sometimes life threatening or dangerous stunts. But for the most part, the kid is the one making the money. And that was another way, again, on a different much lower scale or in a different way. But in high school, my dad had left, and I was working, you know, after school jobs to pay the to help pay the bills.

[00:11:16] - [Speaker 3]
Right?

[00:11:17] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:11:17] - [Speaker 3]
And so I think I I know a little bit of what it's like to be a teenager and have that pressure that you shouldn't have, that only adults should have to worry about paying bills. Right? Yeah. So, again, this is on a different scale, a different time, a different level, but, I could relate to these kids in a lot of ways. It was hard not to totally vilify the parents, and that's why I tried to include the, the reality that, you know, this is how they're paying the bills.

[00:11:56] - [Speaker 3]
This is how they're, you know, gonna saving for the kids' college tuition, things like that.

[00:12:01] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that that aspect of it is is is tough. The reality of that situation is hard. Like, it it seems easy to say, well, you need to stop.

[00:12:11] - [Speaker 2]
You need to unwind. You need to do this. And, like, once you get into it is difficult from the parents' perspective. And but, I mean, I certainly understand the parents had a choice, whereas the kids Right. Never had a choice, which is what is really unfair.

[00:12:27] - [Speaker 2]
And I really liked all of the characters. In it. I mean, all the kid characters. I really like Byron, and, I I liked Casper's story in particular. He's kinda known as the the celiac kid.

[00:12:40] - [Speaker 2]
Like, his parents basically built, like, like, a health brand around the fact that he had celiacs, and I thought his storyline was was was very interesting. Did you have to I mean, I think it's, you know, for other writers or creators who are listening to this, like, it's very smart to even if you don't have a one to one comparison, but try to find something that you can relate to on some level to to dig into your own experience to write about. But did you dig into, like, the real world of, like, parent influencers and TikTok influencers and the horror stories that are out there of parents, like Yes. Really exploiting their children for

[00:13:26] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:13:26] - [Speaker 2]
Clicks and likes and brand sponsorships? Like, what what was that nightmare scenario like?

[00:13:33] - [Speaker 3]
I mean, the one that really got well, I don't wanna say one over the other, but, you know, there was the woman who adopted a boy from China. And she had, like, five kids or something. And then Yes. The kid disappeared or they rehomed him. That one was particularly alarming.

[00:13:56] - [Speaker 3]
I I did go down, some rabbit holes with it because I I didn't I don't follow those people on a reg or I they're just not on my feed, my regular feed. It's comic creators and dogs, basically. So Right. You're

[00:14:13] - [Speaker 2]
for listeners, you're you're very big into rescuing dogs. Right?

[00:14:18] - [Speaker 3]
Yes. Yes. So I yeah. I I did I did do some research. And then, you know, we're just starting to see because the kids who've grown up this way are coming of age and are just starting to get to the place where they they're telling their story.

[00:14:35] - [Speaker 3]
So it's gonna be very interesting to see that, just, the result of or the effect of having been raised online, how that's going to affect them as they go into adulthood.

[00:14:52] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah. It's just I don't know. It's remarkable. It's also terrifying.

[00:14:58] - [Speaker 2]
Mhmm. There is a certain element of the book I didn't ask for this where, one of the characters, I I I think I can't remember which one it is, but is in France. I think it's France

[00:15:11] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:15:11] - [Speaker 2]
Whose parents are amusement park influencers. They basically get paid to go amusement parks, and they find out about a French law where you you can't post any pictures online of of any children without their permission. Permission. And it kinda puts the not, you know, not your baby anymore group into looking at legislation, and that kinda becomes a little bit of the focus of the group. Like, is there something similar that could be passed in their state in The US?

[00:15:38] - [Speaker 2]
Like, how would, that work? Was that always, like, part of the story from the beginning to kinda get to that point and look at, like, real world solutions for these kids and to how, I mean, getting involved in in trying to, bring this issue to the forefront could impact, like, you know, chill like, kids' lives who are impacted by this?

[00:16:02] - [Speaker 3]
Yes. That was always part of it. In my first meeting with Lauren, we talked about the French law, and we wanted to incorporate that. So I saw the the way to do the created the way to do that is Sasha's parents being amusement park.

[00:16:18] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. It's Sasha.

[00:16:20] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. No. It's okay. There's a lot of characters in this book. A lot of kids.

[00:16:24] - [Speaker 3]
And so since they were amusement park influencers, she would be the one who would go to France and and discover that law. And, you know, why doesn't The US have one? And I worked on this script, I think, three years ago. And since then, there has been movement in in legislation. And we mentioned, my dog rescue stuff.

[00:16:54] - [Speaker 3]
I'm also very much, like, animal lobby day, you know, in contact with my state representative. So I understand how that works through my dog rescue, Aure. So it it was easy for me to write. And we also it you know, I didn't ask for as a young adult book, so we wanted it to be, entertaining but also informative for, you know, young people who are learning about how this works or, you know, they can read a story about how this plays out, how these kids go about getting a law passed, or attempting to get a law passed and and the steps that it takes to do that. And then there's a voting guide in the book, and, I mean, just including that element in it, because it's it can be confusing for sure.

[00:17:50] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, yeah. No. Absolutely. I I I found that, like, kind of that the I thought the process as it was laid out in the book was pretty good, like, you know, discovering the the the French law, the kids talking about it, the kids going to figure out, like, how they go about trying to get some piece of legislation voted on. And, you know, I them getting involved in that process, I I really thought came across really well in the book.

[00:18:19] - [Speaker 2]
I thought that was was real really, really well done. So one of the things I I wanted to ask you, also, I wanted to ask you about in terms of Daisy as we see, Daisy plays the guitar. So was was that a little bit of yourself? Because I know that you did you do play guitar. I know you were in the the indie rock band, Heather's Damage.

[00:18:44] - [Speaker 2]
Just I mean, as we record this, there's a Heather's poster directly behind you. So I feel like

[00:18:48] - [Speaker 3]
It's still my favorite movie. Oh my gosh. And I you know, you can't see it because it's off camera, but just, to the side of it is my guitar. It's a, my favorite. My the guitar I still play the most is a Stratocaster.

[00:19:04] - [Speaker 3]
It's a lone star Stratocaster with I mean, I don't wanna become a geek here, but, or another type

[00:19:11] - [Speaker 2]
of geek.

[00:19:11] - [Speaker 3]
I am a geek. Right?

[00:19:13] - [Speaker 2]
You're on a comic interview podcast. I

[00:19:15] - [Speaker 3]
mean Yes. No. But this is comic geeks, and what I meant was I don't wanna be the guitar. I suddenly, we're a guitar center, and I'm talking to you about double humbucker pickups and Stevie Ray Vaughan and playing the pick the other way, you know, upside down because you get if you play guitar with a thicker end of the pick, you get a thicker sound. See, this, you know, this is where we go.

[00:19:38] - [Speaker 3]
But so, obviously, I'm answering your question indirectly. Yes. Daisy is very that very much, me in a lot of ways. And and one of the main ways is the musician, is the guitar. Learning guitar, writing songs in a room as she's coming of age.

[00:20:00] - [Speaker 3]
That was very much my path. And and how I found my voice as a writer, as a person, as a human was through music, through guitar, for sure. And so I gave her that. And I don't think this is a spoiler, but Daisy, to forge ahead on her own identity, comes up with her own name as a performer, and her name as a performer is Betty Whale. And when I was writing this, I was also looking at my DNA, Ancestry DNA, and I went back to great great great great great grandmother in somewhere in England, and her name was Betty Whale.

[00:20:42] - [Speaker 3]
And so Oh. I Yeah. Get eight days of that So I love talking to you because we always delve into these these, you know, personal how, you know, I come at the writing process and and what parts of it are personal and and all of that. That always comes out talking to you. It's great.

[00:21:04] - [Speaker 2]
No. I I think looking back, it's so funny you mentioned that that that Betty Whale and that's where Betty Whale came from because I just happened to be looking at something in terms of my my ancestry. I mean, just last week, I was looking at something because there was some new there was some new information posted. But every once in a while, if you ref like, look at those ancestry sites, like, something else will be new or somebody else will have connected a link somewhere. And I was going back through my mother's side of the family, and I think it would be my great great great maybe three great grandfathers.

[00:21:43] - [Speaker 2]
His name is was, was Elwood Dunlap, and I'm like, I don't know what I'm gonna use that for, but Elwood Dunlap is gonna work his way into a story because

[00:21:53] - [Speaker 3]
You have to. Yes. That has to be your next graphic novel. Yes. Yes.

[00:21:59] - [Speaker 2]
So I was like, yes. I wrote it in my notes. I'm like, Elwood Dunlap is gonna appear somewhere. I just feel like that's a you know? I don't I don't know how I'm gonna use that yet, but, but Betty Whale is fantastic.

[00:22:13] - [Speaker 2]
I thought that was great. I liked her hair. I like Daisy's hair. It goes through a change. It just it's you know, she really, I mean, she's really a strong protagonist, really fights for herself and and and her friends and, her and Shane's dynamic.

[00:22:33] - [Speaker 2]
Her friend Shane is is really great throughout the book as well. And they're they have some real interesting, real emotional moments. I mean, I I really felt the scene where Shane where where Daisy's talking about the not your baby anymore group and, like and and Shane is very honest that they are, like, a little hurt that Daisy has this new group of friends that mean as much to her as as as Shane does. And I just thought that was really honest and really open and kind of, like, shows a really strong friendship that Shane was like, you know Yeah. I just really like that moment in the book.

[00:23:12] - [Speaker 3]
Thank you. It was well, I mean, that I just remember I can still call up, like, being threatened when my, like, best friend in high school found another friend. Like, that's that the feelings were very raw then. Shane is also important because I needed someone to call out kind of the privilege, not kind of, but the privilege part of these kids. You know, like, is these kids are going to France to visit amusement parks or going, all over Europe with their skydiving parents and, you know, some more than there are different levels of the privilege, but Shane calls it out.

[00:23:53] - [Speaker 3]
He he's like or they, Shane is non binary, they are like, you know, I'm supposed to feel sorry for for someone who's, you know, going around France to visiting all the amusement parks. So Yeah. I think that's needed, especially, you know, we're in such a hard time writing a book. Even though these kids are being exploited by their parents, which is a really bad thing, I I did wanna call out the privilege aspect of it. That was important to me.

[00:24:30] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. No. I I mean, I think I really I think Shane does a a great job of being a friend to Daisy and also, you know, kind of calling these things out. And, also, I think Shane is very interesting because there's a moment where something happens where, Daisy is more upset about something that Daisy's mom does that kind of impacts Shane. And although Shane is bothered by it, I think they're also their their their take is Shane seems to be the type that approaches things from a certain sense of of humor almost where I think I think Shane's line about Daisy's mom at that point is, well, at least she was consistent about my pronouns.

[00:25:17] - [Speaker 3]
Right? Yeah.

[00:25:18] - [Speaker 2]
Exactly. That was like Yeah. Like, Shane has a really good head on their shoulders. You know?

[00:25:26] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. And they get their sense of humor in some ways from their parents. It was important to me to have you know, I hate to use the word normal, but to have a a down to earth grounded family. Yeah. And and that's Shane's family.

[00:25:42] - [Speaker 3]
Also, somewhat, you know, a place where Daisy could go. Shane's family is like a second home to her, but it was important that I counter I balance out these social media parents and the kind of their misguided or their messed up priorities with a really healthy functional family, and that's Shane's family.

[00:26:07] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Was there any part of the book, like, in particular, and I that you felt was, you know, a little more difficult to crack, like, in the writing of it than any other?

[00:26:21] - [Speaker 3]
It was hard to the because these kids are all over the place, geographically, they were they had to be on Zoom calls a lot. And I needed to balance that out. Just thinking about the audience, thinking about the readers, that you don't wanna just be reading a bunch of pages that have Zoom boxes all over them. And I also didn't about Josh, the artist, because he's drawing this, and I don't want him to just have to do a bunch of talking heads. Oh, here's another, you know, nine page panel of nine boxes of kids talking to each other.

[00:27:04] - [Speaker 3]
So the hard part was balancing that out with enough action. And the way I did that was to go from a Zoom meeting to Byron's with his parents in Europe, and they're paragliding. And then Sasha's running around France, dodging this amusement park life to try and figure out what's going with the French law. And and Daisy's doing her rock star want you know, wanting to be a rock star in her room and then trying to get a gig. And and and then as the book goes on, it gets easier because they're out trying to get a congressman to cosponsor their law to take their bill proposal seriously.

[00:27:49] - [Speaker 3]
So it it got easier as as I went along, but it was very important to me to balance out those Zoom scenes with with action. And and in doing so not just action for action's sake, but as a as a way to delve into who these characters are and the lives they're living. So I think we got the balance right.

[00:28:14] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I I I definitely think you did. I I really loved I really loved it. Thoroughly enjoyed it. And, yeah, it's a great read.

[00:28:23] - [Speaker 2]
I I love Josh's art. I mean, the whole creative team does a a really nice job. I think Maverick has really been putting out some incredible graphic novels, and my I didn't ask for this is is certainly, you know, as incredible as as the others. I will say I I I do I do still have Paper Planes still has my heart.

[00:28:46] - [Speaker 3]
Well, that yeah. No. I I hear you, and thank you. Yeah. Paper Planes Paper Planes still has my heart too.

[00:28:55] - [Speaker 3]
That well, that's a special book for me. I mean, we talked about this last time I was on the air because it was during the pandemic. I was in this basement where I'm sitting now talking to you and, you you know, get trapped in the house. And I was writing that story, which has a the lead character's nonbinary while I was coming out as nonbinary. So that it has that.

[00:29:18] - [Speaker 3]
And the team, you know I mean, Erica Schulz, along with me, an amazing writer, is has been a longtime friend of mine. So to work with my friend on this during the scary, lonely pandemic was was such a gift. So it's just it's a special book, and I think that comes through in the pages.

[00:29:38] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, yeah. It I mean, it it definitely does. I I wanted to ask because I know that, I I know that where you're from in in North Carolina is the home of Cheerwine. And I noticed, and I didn't I didn't notice it in Paper Plains, but I do notice, and I didn't ask for this, somebody has a Cheerwine shirt on.

[00:29:58] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Byron. Yep.

[00:30:00] - [Speaker 2]
So, yeah, Byron does. So my my my wife was somewhere, and she came across she found Cheer wine and bought it, but everybody drank it before I got a chance to try it. So I I have never had it. What what am I missing out on in terms of Cheer wine?

[00:30:17] - [Speaker 3]
First, I wanna me? We're gonna have to change that. I I I live in Boston. I have some in my fridge, but we're we're gonna we're gonna get you some cheer wine. I'm gonna make this happen.

[00:30:27] - [Speaker 2]
Okay.

[00:30:29] - [Speaker 3]
So cheer wine, the easiest thing is to compare it to Cherry Coke, but it's not. It's better. Everyone who you know, anyone who's ever had Cheerwine will tell you that it's better. It's just, it's just so refreshing. I just grew up with it.

[00:30:44] - [Speaker 3]
It it is a cherry cola. It's more cherry than cherry coke. Now now I'm about to turn into a different kind of geek, like a soda pop. Right?

[00:30:56] - [Speaker 2]
Alright.

[00:30:57] - [Speaker 3]
But, you know, I'm also partial to it because it was made in my hometown. I I just grew up with it. Right? Like, you know, you'd be at the city park playing tennis and you go over to the vending machine and it was a cheer wine vending machine, you know, and you have cheer wine and diet cheer wine and, yeah, it's just, it's just a it's got this really great cherry flavor to it, you know, and it's carbonated and, yeah. I'll just I'm just gonna have to send you some.

[00:31:30] - [Speaker 2]
And anyone I'll I I will have to make sure that next time I have some before it it all disappears. But my Yeah. My wife and my youngest daughter, Penny, really liked it. And Aw. We don't our kids typically don't drink a lot of soda, but Penny got her hands on the cheese wines.

[00:31:47] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. You

[00:31:48] - [Speaker 2]
got cheese. Really enjoyed it.

[00:31:50] - [Speaker 3]
They've started places nationally have started carrying it, like tasty burger, the the cheeseburger chain, and you can find it out there. It's not easy unless you're in, you know, North Carolina and the the those surrounding, like, South Carolina. But, yeah, it's out there.

[00:32:11] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. There was some there there was just some market around here that randomly had it, and I I I don't know which one it was, but she had just come across it. They were selling cheer wine, she got it. So I'm gonna have to make sure that next time it pops up, I get I get my hands on it so I can find out what it's all about. Because I I I don't mind a Cherry Coke, but, I'll certainly check out cheer wine.

[00:32:35] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. I definitely I definitely like that.

[00:32:38] - [Speaker 3]
Well, and to our listeners that don't know it, it it has wine in the title, but it's not alco it's it's not alcohol.

[00:32:44] - [Speaker 2]
Yes. It's Yeah. It's not. I don't I don't want people to think I let my nine year old drink an alcoholic beverage.

[00:32:52] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I always have to step back because there's some people who are like, what is this? Why is wine in the title? Because it's a southern drink. That's why.

[00:33:02] - [Speaker 3]
But it is not there's no alcoholic. Now you can add bourbon. Maker's Mark and Cheerwine go really well together. Also, vanilla cream. So

[00:33:14] - [Speaker 2]
Okay. Now I like Maker's Mark. So Maker's Mark and Cheerwine. I will that's that sounds like my next drink of the summer. Just to diverge a little bit because we've talked about a lot of nerdy topics in terms of comics and guitars and and soda, I guess.

[00:33:32] - [Speaker 2]
But I I wanted to ask you because I don't know if this came up last time because I'm a big musical fan. I don't know if you like musicals, but liking the movie Heathers, have you seen or listened to Heathers the musical?

[00:33:44] - [Speaker 3]
Yes. When it made its first Off Broadway run, I wanna say it's been over a decade. I'm my partner and I met a close friend in New York, and so we saw that version. And since then, they've added a couple songs. They released a different musical version, and I have not seen that one yet.

[00:34:05] - [Speaker 3]
But yes. I have seen Heather's the musical. I love musicals too. So that's another thing we Good. Out on.

[00:34:11] - [Speaker 2]
There we go. Yeah. Yeah. I really like I haven't seen it. I've only listened to Heather's the musical, but, if there are any other comic book musical nerds that are listening for my money, I I our love is god, I think, is one of the not the one of the best, like, most recent musical theater songs.

[00:34:31] - [Speaker 2]
It's just, disturbing, but absolutely incredible. So

[00:34:37] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. I agree.

[00:34:39] - [Speaker 2]
Alright. Well, Jenny, this has been phenomenal. Thank you so much for for coming on the podcast again. I really appreciate it.

[00:34:49] - [Speaker 3]
Thanks for having me.

[00:34:51] - [Speaker 2]
Do you want I'm sorry. Hold on one second. Do you wanna say you wanna say hi?

[00:34:54] - [Speaker 4]
I was just coming back and

[00:34:55] - [Speaker 3]
say goodnight.

[00:34:56] - [Speaker 2]
Okay. You can say goodnight. I'm just on the

[00:34:57] - [Speaker 4]
I'm just recording the podcast.

[00:34:59] - [Speaker 2]
You can come here. This is Jenny. Jenny, this is this is Penny from Penny and the Yeti.

[00:35:03] - [Speaker 3]
This is my daughter. Hi. Oh,

[00:35:05] - [Speaker 2]
here. Let me here. She's here. Can you hear? She's saying you're good?

[00:35:09] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Okay. We were just talking about we were just talking about cheer wine because I said when mom last bought cheer wine, you and mom drank it all before I got any.

[00:35:18] - [Speaker 4]
That's because you're somewhat dudes.

[00:35:20] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, that's because I'm slow at doing stuff.

[00:35:22] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, I'm off

[00:35:23] - [Speaker 4]
work last of the day.

[00:35:25] - [Speaker 2]
I am at work.

[00:35:25] - [Speaker 4]
Else to do?

[00:35:26] - [Speaker 2]
There's nothing else to do but drink cheer wine? Well, Jenny is from Jenny is from the town where they make cheer wine. So that's where they that's where they grew up.

[00:35:36] - [Speaker 3]
Where? Is it?

[00:35:36] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. In North Carolina.

[00:35:38] - [Speaker 3]
Grew up.

[00:35:39] - [Speaker 2]
Okay. Alright. I'll be right up. We're just about done.

[00:35:44] - [Speaker 4]
Okay.

[00:35:45] - [Speaker 2]
Alright?

[00:35:45] - [Speaker 4]
Shall just have an doctor Pepper just to tell you?

[00:35:49] - [Speaker 2]
Okay. Go ahead. You can go. I'll be right up. I gotta put her to bed.

[00:35:53] - [Speaker 2]
That's Penny. She's nine. She's my youngest.

[00:35:55] - [Speaker 3]
Bye. She says bye. So sweet.

[00:36:01] - [Speaker 2]
Well, thank you again. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I I listeners, I didn't ask for this from Maverick, with art by Josh Cornelian is already out. You can get it wherever you get your graphic novels. You can get it right from the Maverick website.

[00:36:16] - [Speaker 2]
I'll put a link in the show notes. If you haven't, go and get Jenny and Dozer Draws paper planes. And, also, I'll put a link so you can follow Jenny. You can follow them on social media. Check out their website, and you can find out what other graphic novels or what other books Jenny is working on.

[00:36:36] - [Speaker 2]
So but, again, Jenny, thank you so much for coming back on the podcast. I really appreciate it. I love talking to you.

[00:36:42] - [Speaker 3]
Thank you for having me. I love talking to you too. This has been great.

[00:36:46] - [Speaker 2]
Awesome. Alright. Well, listeners, rate reviewers, do all the stuff they tell you to do about a a podcast. It really does help. Even if you just a short review saying you you you listened to an episode and you liked it, I would really appreciate it.

[00:36:57] - [Speaker 2]
Shout out to my brother Bobby, the Crypti Creator Corner's number one most dedicated fan. Bobby listens to all my episodes. How are doing, Bob? Hope you're having a good summer. And, yeah, for for Comic Book Eddy, cryptic creator corner, I'm Jimmy Gasparro.

[00:37:10] - [Speaker 2]
My guest today was Jenny Wood. Thank you so much for listening. Good night, and I will see you next time.

[00:37:17] - [Speaker 5]
Jimmy is too humble to do this. So as his stalwart ride or die, I wanted to tell you about his new graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti with artist Amber Aiken. What started as a comic short with his daughter that I've known about for ages now, and it's evolved and has become one of those annoying can't talk about it in comics things for too damn long. Yes, I'm predisposed to be supportive but after reading an advanced copy of it, I have to admit it's way better than I anticipated. No shade, but it's really good, remarkably so.

[00:37:48] - [Speaker 5]
Does it have a yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable? Yeah. But it streak flies in effectively tapping into the all too familiar family dynamics that we all are facing in 2026 and approaching it in a way that doesn't insult the book's target audience, kids.

[00:38:05] - [Speaker 5]
They are way smarter and perceptive than we adults give them credit for. So I really appreciated Jimmy's narrative approach tapping into his own experiences as a dad and a spouse. I can hear his wife saying, get off your phone, Jimmy, through the pages. She's gonna kill me for saying that. It's hitting shelves on April 21, and I dropped the link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today.

[00:38:26] - [Speaker 5]
Getty or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fenton, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent, Yeti. On behalf of us both, we appreciate your support. YOLOLA. This is Byron O'Neill, one of your hosts of the Cryptic Creator Corner brought to you by Comic Book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast.

[00:38:50] - [Speaker 5]
Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve. Thanks for listening.

[00:39:00] - [Speaker 0]
If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast, Into the Comics Cave. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.