Jim Krueger talks Hiroquest: Genesis and Double Helix

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

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

[00:00:10] Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner.

[00:00:14] I'm Byron O'Neill, your host for today's chat, and I'm joined today by a new guest on our show.

[00:00:18] He's an actor, was a creative director at Marvel, has worked on many a comics property including Star Wars,

[00:00:24] Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Batman, Superman, the Earth X trilogy, and recently is collaborating on a hybrid prose slash graphic novel with Grammy nominated EDM icon Steve Aoki.

[00:00:36] Jim Krueger, welcome to the show. How's things? How you doing?

[00:00:39] Oh, it's good. I'm glad I just started working on book two. So all is good.

[00:00:44] Good. Well, I just finished up reading all of book one really, really enjoyed it.

[00:00:49] Um, thought the book two was coming so excited to see that too.

[00:00:53] There's there's a lot to unpack with with your request because it encompasses kind of so many different things right?

[00:00:59] So it's Steve Aoki seven studio album. It's trading card game. It's a graphic novel.

[00:01:04] You know, a couple of nights ago I listened to the album while cooking dinner and after you know, I finished up the book.

[00:01:10] I read a few reviews on the album and they were kind of somewhat mixed.

[00:01:13] I spent 15 years in the music business myself on the tech side of things and the criticisms I think just hadn't bought into the concept, you know, the journey that that it takes you on.

[00:01:24] And there's some synchronicity across of that journey across all these different platforms.

[00:01:30] You know, it flows through all these different genres, you know, eras, you know, like Quick Breakdown, you know, starts with like 90s EDM beats from like prodigy influenced stuff moving into a Latin infused track with trumpets.

[00:01:43] Like something with a Kylie Minogue feel country pop straight up country at 32nd to Mars anthem. So it's kind of all over the place and it feels like it's basically this musical journey of what's influencing Steve musically or has been at the time.

[00:01:57] So I guess first of all, are you an EDM fan? Like when you got into this or?

[00:02:02] You know what? I wasn't, but I've gone to a lot of these shows and I started what I was a fan of. So I already kind of knew it was I'm a giant fan of Per Ostellar, the Belgium electro jazz.

[00:02:19] Um, this and so I was into that and I had gone to those shows. And then when I first went to a show of Steve's because I was working on the future at the time, I was like, Oh, I get it.

[00:02:32] Um, but you know, I mean, and this certainly shows up in my writing. You know, I think I think I'm very like minded to Steve in the sense that I'm constantly grabbing from other genres and trying to combine them to form to form like a new type of story or a new approach to storytelling.

[00:02:53] Well, I've kind of always thought of Steve as a collaborator, as a fan of his music. So it's the first thing that pops to mind when I think about his totality of body of work. Um, so how did you two meet and sort of kick this whole thing off?

[00:03:08] Well, it was really funny. I mean, years ago, a couple of years ago, I worked with Tom Bill you to help him launch, I guess what would be considered Steve's first comic neon future.

[00:03:19] Okay. And so that's how Steve and I became friends. That's how we started talking and you know, that kind of thing. And then every once in a while, I love to go down to Solana Beach, which is like, I want to say 20 minutes, 25 minutes north of San Diego.

[00:03:36] Okay. Um,

[00:03:38] And so I was there and there's a little music place there and they were advertising that Steve was going to come and perform there. And I was like, Oh, all right. So I went down, um, went to the green room, said hi to Steve and Steve was like, Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. I'm putting out this card game and I needed the story. And I'm like, who am I going to get to write the story? And then Jim, you just walked in.

[00:04:01] So it was like that. Okay. Um, and you know, Steve has been a fan of my comics for a long time and the way I approach things and

[00:04:09] And he's like, I just need you to step in and write this. And he's like, and then we started talking about it and talking about all the various different worlds that the story would cover and go to and how it all needs to work together.

[00:04:32] So I'm trying to get my bearings because we did live actually in San Diego for a year while my wife was getting her postdoc. Um, is Solano Beach, is that north of Encinitas a little bit?

[00:04:43] I want to say it's west.

[00:04:46] Oh, okay. Okay.

[00:04:48] But it's still, it's still below like, um, I don't know where's Lego land.

[00:04:56] Okay. Yeah.

[00:04:57] Like it's not as far north as Lego land.

[00:04:59] Okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah, it's okay. I've got now. All right.

[00:05:03] It's this beautiful little town.

[00:05:05] Yeah, there are lots of little beautiful towns getting north of San Diego before you get to the army.

[00:05:12] Anyway, not about geography. You know, comics are a collaborative medium and you've made your share of them. So was there a difference in approach to kind of working with someone coming from another creative medium entirely?

[00:05:26] Yeah, you know, no, no, it really wasn't all that different at all. It was well, I guess the difference would be would be this when I'm working when I've worked, you know, with people like Alex Ross or, you know, even smaller things like smaller projects like Wilson Kavich or stuff like that.

[00:05:51] You know, we're all in our home offices or a club, you know, in, in this case, if I'm getting notes or Steve has a new idea, you know, I may be getting a FaceTime call from Paraguay and then the next day, you know, it's Canada.

[00:06:09] And then the next day, it's Norway. And it's like, you know, so many times it's in the back of a cab or it's a, hey, Jim, I got this idea.

[00:06:19] You need to use this in. Oh, I was thinking about this moment from my childhood. I really want that emotional thing for a hero in the midst of this part. So there's that part.

[00:06:30] Insane. Well, listen to give people kind of a lay the land if you will, of what the graphic novels about we're following teen hero, which is spelled H I R O of a pronounced hero, a genetically augmented human who is bouncing around the multiverse for 400 years into the future to save planet Earth from impending doom.

[00:06:52] He's looking for 10 rings from 10 separate worlds, and he's got a set of superpowers to help him out. Hercy have a group of doctors that augmented him. You got flight and super strength and a sort of a ESP or special insight from the third eye.

[00:07:05] You know, and as, as I mentioned, it's presented both with pros and in a comic format and the.

[00:07:11] The pros details kind of what he's doing more present tense and the comic bits provide more of a like an origin background as we kind of move through the book.

[00:07:19] I had no idea until I got the book in my hands about about the pros element. I was thinking, you know, it's full graphic novel just assuming it was like that.

[00:07:28] But why did you want to set it up in that way?

[00:07:31] I don't know if there's a single good answer to that other than it just seemed like the best way.

[00:07:44] OK, the best way to set up everything and you know, I mean, in so much of it, we're on a hero's journey with hero, which by the way, H I R O that hero that's Steve's middle name.

[00:07:57] And so, you know, it just felt like it was a very personal, very perspective.

[00:08:04] Like we're we have heroes perspective through the entire thing and it felt like getting into heroes mind and seeing the things he's commenting on and being there every bit of the way with him was the best way to tell the story.

[00:08:20] And in so many ways.

[00:08:22] I'm always trying to figure out what's the best way to tell a story.

[00:08:27] Yeah, and we we visit each of the 10 worlds looking for the rings of power and these kind of shorter narrative bits right you get short paragraph break short paragraph break, you know, first few four short pages and then a character visual that kind of helps establish an anchor, you know, for that segment.

[00:08:45] To me it read more akin to like a terrible or kind of a sequential group of sort of fairy tales, you know, then say a traditional novel, you know.

[00:08:54] It took me a little bit to get into the format, but I quickly bought in and kind of gotten to the rhythm of this kind of creative iteration of storytelling.

[00:09:03] And it really is a rhythm right that the comic interludes cap off the ends kind of like a musical standard and you you get ready for that next beat drop the next, you know, explanation bet.

[00:09:14] So.

[00:09:15] This could be all me kind of reading more into the format and there is that's how it hit me anyway so how did that structure emerge to that that creative collaboration that that you're doing.

[00:09:26] It sounds like he was feeding you bits sort of over time in a way is that yeah yeah no no I mean there were there were bits like I wrote.

[00:09:36] Well one it's really one of the things we did is we made that we made sure that each chapter in it was named after one of Steve's hero quest song yeah yeah I noticed that and.

[00:09:49] Hidden with in each of the chapters is a lyric or part of the lyric from that song okay so I have to go back and.

[00:09:59] Yeah I think they should have a contest who can find it first.

[00:10:03] Sure yeah.

[00:10:05] But but that was part of it and at all points as I was in the midst of writing this and then rewriting it working it through it was so like it had to feel like it had to be like it had to touch on some of the things it had to touch on things that were important.

[00:10:26] And I think that's one of the reasons I'm I've had some success at least being a collaborator because I really listen to the people I work with.

[00:10:38] And I wanted I wanted it to be like a spiritual fairy tale of life you know in all these different worlds like like this conversation started at the beginning talking about.

[00:10:50] You doing this type of music or this type of music and this type of music and so it's no surprise to me at all that this is a journey that goes to multiple different worlds each of which have you know completely different things going on in the world.

[00:11:06] Yeah so how did how did you go about kind of flushing out and doing the world building for that because.

[00:11:16] As I'm going through this at first I wanted more world building right because I'm so used to either a novel format or you know graphic novel right.

[00:11:28] So you get so much more a lot more information I realized by ring to I think that there is just never supposed to be anywhere for that long and maybe that that is.

[00:11:37] Any picture entirely of like Steve bouncing around everywhere all over the globe.

[00:11:43] You know there's just enough to kind of paint the picture in your mind topographically of what here is up to you but it's a bit of a bare bones approach like I'm a visual artist you know first and foremost but.

[00:11:54] I'm trying to work on my own script writing you know especially in comics so this kind of would scare the shit out of me to pare it down like this much you know but my wife says I'm really worthy so so how did you find your footing I guess and in that kind of writing style.

[00:12:09] As someone who you know some people have been like when Jim wrote earth acts he just there he just wrote and wrote and wrote it's nice to have at least one project out there that people are like oh yeah that's pretty paired out yeah okay so thanks.

[00:12:28] Thanks for that first.

[00:12:29] Then.

[00:12:32] Part of that reason was it's you know it's a 50,000 word.

[00:12:37] Now with some graphic novel elements in at the manga sections with a bunch of these kind of almost addendums to each chapter that have some images to to kind of give us a sense of the world.

[00:12:52] The idea is that what's going on in hero is more important than what's going on in the world in every case.

[00:13:00] In every case how these worlds are affecting hero how his journey from world to world to collect the ring from that world how that's changing hero is more important than the world.

[00:13:13] Okay visiting in every case and so the choice wasn't too necessarily.

[00:13:21] Like those worlds are always there for us to go back to and explore and the consequences and I say that very cryptically because of I don't want to give away how the story ends but the consequences of what happens in book one we begin to see in book two.

[00:13:40] Of course we experience you know what happens when a ring is taken from one world and ends up then and ends up on heroes hand what you know what happens to that world and that's all the play out.

[00:13:53] And we're not just bouncing around between I guess fun rules which is goblins robot you know it's all very topical really irrelevant to a lot of social issues were dealing with right now culturally right did you did you cut kind of start out with a list you know okay I need to touch on AI

[00:14:11] and climate change and like it gratification fear of the other there's a lot in here.

[00:14:17] Yeah thanks in fact a lot of people have commented how much how much depth it has compared to what they expected to have yet so I totally appreciate that and it wasn't it wasn't just it wasn't like there was a list of things to deal with.

[00:14:36] But.

[00:14:39] You know it's just it's kind of how I think and so you know that's that's why.

[00:14:46] On the AI world I'm like well what about those robots that haven't achieved artificial intelligence.

[00:14:53] You know and are they slaves to the AIs who have which made me think about things like HG Wells and the more locks in the e-loy and it made me think about you know what it means to serve in the world and what it means to not be served in the world and so I just started thinking about those things.

[00:15:18] I know you know there's lots of people on both sides of the spectrum of AI and on that world I wasn't particularly thinking who AI has got to be bad.

[00:15:32] Because I also allowed AI to love to have the experience of love it's actually a broken AI in that world that's that's really the problem and yet you know.

[00:15:46] It just felt right and in a lot of cases you know it wasn't like who let me do a fairy tale or let me do a morality tale it was more like.

[00:15:59] Hey Steve.

[00:16:01] What if we showed the consequences of this.

[00:16:06] You know and like one of the things that that came out like there's a goblin world and you know everyone was talking about goblin mode in the midst of COVID and I was like oh that's cool okay and then that made me think about how much shorter all of our attention spans are now and I'm like.

[00:16:26] Oh so on that world it would be a world where everything is not finished.

[00:16:32] We're not completely leveled it's it's a world where where you where everyone these creatures live by their whim and then and then I was like okay so if hero comes to this world on a quest that he has to stay to and keep to what he even find anyone to help him for a long.

[00:16:52] Even if he could find someone to help him how long would they be with him before they went off to do something else like burn their neighbor's house down or.

[00:17:02] Eat someone this is a goblin world I mean I can't be all all metaphor but you know it was like that and then I would have Steve about it and I would go through Steve's lyrics of the songs say what do these this collection of songs that are going to be on this world what how do these songs.

[00:17:20] This and all that kind of thing yeah I think the the grim bold world was actually the one that was my favorite even though it's probably the most diabolical I guess yeah that's terrible yeah but it was but I love the guy with the eye patch and I don't want to give away but I love the iPad.

[00:17:38] Yeah yeah that was a really good was there a particular kind of a world of the 10 that was more challenging or you had a whole lot more fun with than any other.

[00:17:48] They all brought they all brought different struggles I think when I got to the robot world.

[00:17:57] Because I wanted to hide into the world we visit in in the kind of the first thing I think there was a little more challenge there because I already said things about the robots and their relationship with the AI in that one.

[00:18:11] With the AI thing that was based on Steve's love brain creations like in so many of these cases you know the creatures that show up here in the monster that they were all created by Steve and see is like okay figure this out figure this out.

[00:18:27] You have a sure you know it was it was in the fun because then and the way I collaborate is really just talking out with people yeah and so it's like well what if we did this what if we did this you like that.

[00:18:42] You know like like he and I just figured out the end of book to the other day and you know there was this idea Steve was bringing into it and that was a challenge I think.

[00:18:55] I think if I could read if I think I really loved the fairy world.

[00:19:02] Especially with the queen princess at the end like that whole back and forth and the terrible conclusion that that comes from that I just loved it so much.

[00:19:17] Yeah I think the big thing for me coming in with all these different worlds and trying to establish that thread and the thing that was beautiful and I think you did really really well was.

[00:19:27] It starting with the AI and humanizing because I just I did not anticipate that you know we tend to think of AI functioning in this very robotic manner right.

[00:19:39] And that was such a great buy in to kind of set a tone or hero and then kind of his own personal development throughout the rest of the story so well enjoy thank you so much in fact.

[00:19:52] Jacob who's this awesome by the worst thieves team and that's his favorite that's his favorite world like I love that world and I so appreciate you liking the Grembo world.

[00:20:05] So much I really like the witch and wizards world because I felt like I came up with a new way to do it.

[00:20:11] It's tough yeah that's the top you know I was I was really happy with everyone being really polite.

[00:20:19] And words being power.

[00:20:21] Alright let's take a quick break.

[00:20:23] Hey comics fam.

[00:20:24] It the comic book publisher Banda bars just got a level up and announced it is now a cooperative.

[00:20:30] This heralds a new era for them including a partnership with Dallas stories and they added several new members to the ownership group.

[00:20:38] Marcus Jimenez is now chief operating officer Brent Fisher takes on the role of chief diversity officer and Joey Galvez is introduced as head of Kickstarter ops and social media manager.

[00:20:49] Which is sure to increase their capabilities overall as a publisher and it further promotes their mission statement of advancing representation inclusion and diversity in the media.

[00:21:00] They also established a new board of directors to help chart the new path of their journey with new projects in the works like Alaska by dropping in June unbroken soon launching on Kickstarter and Paul and coming up with Dauntless stay tuned to this space for more exciting news from the growing bards family.

[00:21:20] Let's get back to the show.

[00:21:22] There's a really personal element in this for all of you.

[00:21:26] Hero and his family are being a natural disaster and you know there are two important state landmarks that come up Florida and Wisconsin you grew up in Wisconsin right.

[00:21:36] And unless the Internet is completely failing me here here you had a bit of a transformative trip to Magic Kingdom as a child that included a hurricane no less.

[00:21:45] I did it did amazing I was.

[00:21:49] My my parents got on a got on a train from Wisconsin went down to Chicago it's definitely what was so interesting on that trip to Chicago that train trip to Chicago is.

[00:22:01] My dad bought yeah and my brother us he bought me a Superman comic my brother of Batman comic and I was so jealous of my brother getting the Batman comic and so almost resentful and upset about the Superman comic.

[00:22:16] But I didn't even know that that journey was going to turn me into the biggest Superman fan.

[00:22:21] Okay.

[00:22:22] Like I have this giant Superman story I so hope I get to tell one day.

[00:22:28] So hope it's it's on my it's on my like I don't have bucket list of things I want to go visit or anything like that I bucket list of stories I still need to write.

[00:22:39] This is based on jealousy then.

[00:22:42] No no not at all.

[00:22:43] Okay.

[00:22:44] Anyhow so the train and I mean this was a time when traveled by train was was pretty reasonable at least but but we were going down so we had our own apartment sleeping compartments like it was really really nice beautiful.

[00:23:02] So.

[00:23:04] We get there and I think we're like still a day away when we find out that Florida has been hit by a hurricane.

[00:23:09] And in the midst of the hurricane you know my mom saying things like my mom saying things similar to well you know it's Disney World there have to be things we can do inside.

[00:23:22] You know and my dad saying well when I was in the military here you know the weather can change just like that.

[00:23:28] Just like that.

[00:23:29] Let's not fear but there we are you know in front of Disney World and we're all in our our yellow poncho rain ponchos and that kind of thing and the world's slightly different than Disneyland in the sense that there's it's like there's a look longer.

[00:23:47] The train goes around and there's a longer tunnel you have to go in because they have all their locker inside underneath the tunnel but in the time of going.

[00:23:57] Through that into that tunnel and the tunnel would come out into you know you're in the Magic Kingdom you're on Main Street you can see the castle all this stuff in the midst of entering and coming out on the other side the hurricane broke.

[00:24:11] And it was like entered.

[00:24:13] From darkness and came out into light and there you have all the clouds shifting with the sun with the sunshine through when the rays of the sun cascading off the puddles that were already beginning to disappear on the ground.

[00:24:28] Yeah.

[00:24:29] Reflections of the castle and the streets and balloons you know in the puddles and stuff like that it was the most miraculous thing is a six year old face I look at my dad and he said now you know why they call it the Magic Kingdom.

[00:24:43] There you go and that in itself fucked me up forever.

[00:24:47] You know I'm tortured by that that's why even so many of my story begin in darkness and move towards the light.

[00:24:57] Even though hero quest might not be that yeah I guess we'll see who knows right exactly so well how much of this is is the life of Jim then you know kind of aside from you know bouncing around around the metaverse grabbing magic rings to save the planet although I don't know you well.

[00:25:09] Oh no no yeah I mean there's there's a lot of me in it there aren't any Jim Krueger Easter eggs except for maybe Wisconsin.

[00:25:18] Okay.

[00:25:19] And if I remember correctly I think he was born in Miami.

[00:25:24] Yeah so that's that's a Florida that's a Florida thing.

[00:25:27] Yeah and so you know there's a lot in this story.

[00:25:33] Yeah.

[00:26:03] And I haven't always been right.

[00:26:06] And you know we live in a world right now where you know who knows which politician is telling the truth who knows if any politician is telling the truth.

[00:26:16] You know here things about big fireball here thing about pollution and business and there's a lot that all of us just assume is okay only to discover that maybe it's not.

[00:26:33] And that's really interesting to put hero well he's a teen right.

[00:26:39] I have a job myself and you know yeah it's applicable to all of us going through that experience what is what is real what is the truth what are we being bad that's reality you know now.

[00:26:50] Okay very interesting yeah well I won't give anything but the only Easter egg that that I caught this kind of my personal favorite it won't give anything away but there's a source code or each of the ten ring and right.

[00:27:07] So the last one the cumulative power is unlocked with dim mock right.

[00:27:12] Yeah.

[00:27:13] For people who don't know what that is right it's a secret pressure point technique in martial arts said to ink incapacitate or potentially even cause death to an opponent but it's also Steve's rare label so yeah.

[00:27:24] Yep yep yep yep nope and that was there from the beginning he was like okay you know what this has to be one of one of those source code all outs that that brings on all the power.

[00:27:37] Well let's talk about inspirations for a minute cause you know structurally there's a lot of Joseph Candle you know a hero with the house and faces twelve stages of the hero's journey yeah you're sort of revisiting that multiple times sort of and you know in the act two of of that.

[00:27:55] That structure of the Monolith so how much of that blueprint were you consciously using and your request.

[00:28:02] I don't know I don't know if I ever consciously use anything.

[00:28:09] I kind of just enter into it and think structure and think.

[00:28:19] What's what's the coolest thing I could possibly do.

[00:28:22] In this world in the story I have this Peter Pan project which is another one of the bucket list things which would be like three little novellas and that started with this.

[00:28:38] Great great moment of Captain Hook doing something terrible and awesome at a piece of dialogue that would go with it but just maybe go oh now I have to write this project.

[00:28:48] And a lot of times because my background was advertising before I got the chance to be writing and that kind of thing I.

[00:28:59] Because of that I just I.

[00:29:03] A lot of time it'll be a line that comes to me.

[00:29:07] In the midst of all the stories you know.

[00:29:10] In the midst of all the stories you know that unlike oh that's the moment of dialogue.

[00:29:18] That everything has to serve like what I when I teach writing courses or I teach online things and stuff like that I always talk about how.

[00:29:29] When you approach a story you have to be really fluid you have to let it go in slight different directions you have to be open to you know.

[00:29:38] Killing your babies which is that phrase you know that they always use for writers and you know I.

[00:29:47] I once had to apply this this notion of tech.

[00:29:55] Of writing technique at a church where they wanted me to talk about people telling their own faith dirty stories.

[00:30:03] Okay and I think I lost my audience when I said it you know I've killed more babies than Herod.

[00:30:08] That was that was the end okay but it was fun but all that is to say I'm like when you approach a story there has to be that thing that you love so much about the story or about to tell that no matter what.

[00:30:25] You don't get rid of that thing that's the reason you're telling the story and so.

[00:30:30] You don't get rid of that thing that's the reason you're telling the story and so.

[00:30:36] You know a lot of times a writer will say like I just like to sit down and start writing and see where it goes and I'm like.

[00:30:46] That never works for me like I always have to have at least some sort of plan because that's what I'm building towards or if that's it the thing I'm building towards isn't the end that's the thing that's going to pivot the story to.

[00:31:02] The correct conclusion or something like that.

[00:31:06] Well what about this unique project suck you in you know what was that that thing that made you wanted to commit when you heard about it.

[00:31:16] I.

[00:31:19] Answer that okay fair enough only because only because it's the end okay.

[00:31:26] And in so many ways.

[00:31:28] Are you know if you look back at the at the book and hopefully there's enough guts there and enough things there that people will want to read it again after the first time but.

[00:31:42] You can see in the conclusion that I was hinting at it from the very beginning.

[00:31:48] Yeah.

[00:31:49] Some of the things that says and hero says and some of the things that wondering and some some of the ways doubts himself or pushes himself forward because if he doesn't do this his parents are dead you know all those sorts of things.

[00:32:05] Yeah there's a really interesting element I want to ask questions about but I don't want to give anything away about the double helix thing so we'll we'll save that that's a tease for people but there is there is development.

[00:32:17] Clearly.

[00:32:20] Beyond this book that is super saying to me but again we don't want to get away for folks.

[00:32:27] So is there after working in so many different kinds of entertainment mediums you know books video games comics is there is there a secret sauce to writing across all these these multiple genres or is it just to keep keep that germ first and foremost.

[00:32:42] Well it's definitely keeping the germ and but but then the other thing is I feel like.

[00:32:48] You really have to respect and enjoy.

[00:32:54] All these different versions of storytelling and see them as like really unique versions of unique ways of telling a story and and respect even like people talk about while there are certain rules for genre.

[00:33:08] And if you don't respect those those rules for the genre even if you're going to push them or bend them it's going to not be in that genre anymore.

[00:33:18] And then it'll kind of be rejected as a form of that genre so that kind of even applies to video games or film or TV or book or anything you really have to like if you're going to be a writer you really in all these different areas we really have to respect.

[00:33:37] And see where each way of telling a story can can excel.

[00:33:45] Yeah I mean it applies across all creative mediums you know as a visual artist you have to know the rules in order to properly break the rule.

[00:33:53] Yeah and technically.

[00:33:56] It's not even like you break the rules it's like do you break it's more like there's the illusion of breaking the rules but you're not actually break.

[00:34:05] Yeah.

[00:34:07] Yeah well what else you got cooking right now obviously we've got book two.

[00:34:12] Yeah book two is going to take up my next three four months and then there's always like six months after that you know for all the for the art to come in or extra cards to be written for all that sort of thing I wrote a lot of cards for for this for this first book.

[00:34:29] But in addition to that you know it's it's a big year and there's some things I can talk about some things I can't but but there's a certain project that.

[00:34:39] I've been working on for years and I'm so excited that book one comes out at the end of this year and then book two comes out.

[00:34:46] A year later but it's called Oh haunted night and basically a holiday advent calendar or it's an advent calendar of holiday horror.

[00:34:56] So the idea is that everyone can read a new haunted holiday short story from December 1st to December 25th.

[00:35:05] And you know it's.

[00:35:09] It's definitely Christmasy in all the ways it can be even though that's not the only holiday it deals with in some cases the stories are really sweet and nice and in other stories in other ways they're not like poison cooking.

[00:35:26] While maybe being the funniest story in there is also maybe one of the most terrible as far as consequences go for others.

[00:35:36] You know but then there's you know there's a story about how Santa got his wife from a family of evil coal miners.

[00:35:44] You know that begins like you know with the word sometimes monsters come in human form you know and then it goes on from there or there's a prequel to a Christmas Carol in there.

[00:35:54] I think one of my favorite stories in it is this thing called evil elf in which a elf is just pissed off about the whole Christmas thing and working on toys and he knows that Santa's probably got some sort of special food that keeps everyone all the elves small when they could grow larger.

[00:36:13] You know the songs he hates all of it and so he decides he's going to feel Santa's Santa's list.

[00:36:24] Naughty less news gonna feel all the best of toys and deliver them to all the naughty kids and that will propel evil around the world and then you know the story goes out from there.

[00:36:36] So are you working with individual artists on each of these no no no this is another pros book.

[00:36:43] But one of the guys that I've been working with almost my entire career is this artist named Don K Schneider.

[00:36:52] Don K Schneider the third and John is I don't know maybe he's best known for the story arc he did under in John Ostrinder Suicide Squad which of course led to our suicide Suicide Squad movies and that kind of thing but John's been with me since like the days of foot soldiers when he did some covers foot soldiers.

[00:37:14] And so he's doing cover he's doing the two covers for book one and book two and those will fit together into one whole like haunted holiday house image and he's also doing a small piece of art for each for each of the chapters and hopefully.

[00:37:35] Hopefully that full piece and those pieces and that small art will be turned into its own advent calendar because I grew up with that.

[00:37:45] I would tape them to the window and every morning we have to go and you know open that was before they put chocolate in them you know when they were old German you know things like that so that's coming out and I should probably also mention that at some point this year there will be a kick starter.

[00:38:03] For a foot soldiers omnibus coming out which would will include all kinds of new stories as well as all the ones that people may or may not know.

[00:38:13] Nice okay very cool yeah I want to circle to the trading card game to you like that was the first time you'd ever worked on trading cards this the hero is like sixty six trading cards kind of Pokemon sort of style yeah yeah you're doing more those two coming up.

[00:38:30] I expect so I expect okay I never want to I would never want to you know step in for sure net but I think everyone I what's what's great and what's awesome is.

[00:38:42] I think even his team are really glad and happy with what I've been able to bring to this.

[00:38:49] So that's really you know you you hope people like it but then you also hope that the people you're working with like it.

[00:38:57] Yeah always I mean it's a it's a it struck me as this is.

[00:39:02] Just amazingly unique collaborative Ross medium platform I mean it's it's ambitious you know I don't I can't say I've seen anything quite like it before that's cool yeah yeah well where can people find you online.

[00:39:17] Where can people find you online.

[00:39:19] I probably best on my Graham which is.

[00:39:23] I'm Jim Krueger just the letter I the letter M and then G I am K R U.

[00:39:28] Yeah and that's where I announced new things and promote things and that kind of thing one of these days I'll get around to a website again but I had one for a long time but you know right now Instagram is fine yeah and that's a place to find me okay yeah the websites are a lot to keep up with you guys.

[00:39:46] A lot to keep up with you gotta update everybody expects a newsletter to so yeah yeah.

[00:39:51] Make sure the beast right can't write because you have to keep up with social media but yeah well here request is out in stores now I'll be honest it was not at all what I expected when I decided I want to cover it but I found it to be like as I said this incredibly bold

[00:40:06] In a benefit approach to different modes of storytelling through both auditory and visual means and I love it when people take risks and you know swing for the fences it's a whole lot of fun having spent a decade and a half on the road myself is kind of this.

[00:40:20] You know refreshing reflective approach from you both that has this you know engaging fabric that all these seemingly disparate elements that you take you can take together and mash them and is a typical John to the monomyth so.

[00:40:34] I really really dug it it was a lot of fun make sure to snag yourself a copy Jim thanks so much for hanging out with me today on the show yeah we do it again sometimes sounds like you got some great stuff coming up.

[00:40:43] Yeah please I'd love that this was black okay awesome well this is Byron O'Neill and behalf all of us at comic book yeti thanks for listening for the for the Crypto Creator Corner and we'll see you next time take care everybody.

[00:40:56] This is Byron O'Neill one of your hosts of the Crypto Creator Corner brought to you by Comic Book Yeti.

[00:41:01] We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast please rate review subscribe all that good stuff it lets us know how we are doing and more importantly how we can improve thanks for listening.

[00:41:15] If you enjoyed this episode of the Crypto Creator Corner maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast into the comics cave listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:41:26] Hey what's up everybody this is Joey Calves I want to tell you guys a little bit about the Department of Meta Human Affairs this one is a story about a team led by a retired sidekick two felons a failed actor from Broadway and a reprogrammed cyborg.

[00:41:44] But their first mission is to stop the criminals who have robbed a bank and they will have to set the world at ease you're going to get 180 pages of entertainment action packed awesomeness right here in the first six issues in a collected hardcover volume one.

[00:42:03] All you got to do is head on over to kickstarter.com and type in the Department of Meta Human Affairs or DMA and check it out right now.