John Harris Dunning Interview - Ripperland

[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. So without further ado, let's get on to the interview.

[00:00:10] Hey everyone, this is...

[00:00:13] Hi Byron.

[00:00:14] Who is this?

[00:00:15] I'm your fairy godmother.

[00:00:17] I have a fairy godmother?

[00:00:18] Of course you do.

[00:00:19] I'm 50 years old, why haven't you shown up before?

[00:00:22] I appear when I'm needed.

[00:00:24] And I didn't need you in all these years?

[00:00:27] Do you want my help or not?

[00:00:29] Um...

[00:00:30] Sure.

[00:00:31] Exactly.

[00:00:32] I was just about to pitch our Patreon. Why would I need help with that?

[00:00:36] Because you're an idiot sometimes.

[00:00:38] That's hurtful.

[00:00:40] What were you going to put on there?

[00:00:42] We do comic stuff? So something along those lines?

[00:00:45] And this is why I'm here. You do know what people put on Patreon most of the time, right?

[00:00:52] Honestly, no.

[00:00:54] People need something a little bit spicy to entice them to support you.

[00:00:59] Nobody wants to see me shirtless.

[00:01:01] I doubt that's true. You are in pretty good shape considering your age.

[00:01:06] Thank you. Let's see. A little spicy. I've been bugging Jimmy to figure out what he's going to do.

[00:01:12] I know lately he's been playing around with his **** all the time.

[00:01:16] He loves to take it out and show it off. There's even a specific TikTok channel now. How's that sound?

[00:01:21] Not a bad start. People like Jimmy. What else you got?

[00:01:24] I told a story recently about being in a strip club with some of the four horsemen when I was working for WCW back in the day.

[00:01:30] I picked up an infection on my-

[00:01:32] WOOOOO!

[00:01:33] From the experience? I hate strip clubs. Is that better?

[00:01:37] Getting there? But maybe spicy shouldn't include infections you get in strip clubs.

[00:01:42] That's not sexy. We'll workshop it.

[00:01:46] Like I need more meating.

[00:01:47] At least tell them where to find it while we figure this out. Mother goddess, help this poor man.

[00:01:53] You can find us on Patreon at cryptidcreatorcornerpod. I'll put it in the show notes.

[00:01:58] Anything else you'd like to remind me that I'm bad at?

[00:02:01] How much time do you have?

[00:02:03] Why do you look like Rosario Dawson anyway?

[00:02:05] I appear the way you want me to look.

[00:02:07] Okay, that's disturbing.

[00:02:09] Wait, have you been showing up in my dreams?

[00:02:12] I'll never tell.

[00:02:14] And we're done here.

[00:02:16] Y'all, Jimmy the Chaos Goblin strikes again.

[00:02:20] I should have known better than to mention I was working on my DC Universe meets Ravenloft hybrid D&D campaign on social media.

[00:02:27] My bad.

[00:02:28] He goes and tags a bunch of comics creators we know, and now I have to get it in gear

[00:02:32] and whip this campaign into shape so we can start playing.

[00:02:35] Another friend chimes in, are you going to make maps?

[00:02:38] It's fair to say it's been a while since I put something together, so I guess?

[00:02:43] It was then that I discovered Arkhamforge.

[00:02:45] If you don't know who Arkhamforge is, they have everything you need to make your TTRPG more fun and immersive.

[00:02:52] Allowing you to build, play, and export animated maps, including in-person Fog of War capability that lets your players interact with maps as the adventure unfolds while you, the DM, get the full picture.

[00:03:04] Now I'm set to easily build high-res animated maps, saving myself precious time and significantly adding nuance to our campaign.

[00:03:12] That's a win every day in my book.

[00:03:14] Check them out at arkhamforge.com and use the discount code YETI5 to get $5 off.

[00:03:20] I'll drop a link in the show notes for you, and big thanks to Arkhamforge for partnering with our show.

[00:03:25] I think I'm going to make Jimmy play a goblin warlock just to get even.

[00:03:29] Hello everybody and welcome to the Cryptic Creator Corner.

[00:03:32] I'm Byron O'Neill, your host for today's Comics Creator Chat.

[00:03:35] Joining me today is my globetrotting friend John Harris Dunning.

[00:03:38] John was on in October as a part of our Dark Horse Comics Halloween movie recommendation show, telling me a little bit about his new horror project, Ripperland, co-written by Steve Orlando.

[00:03:48] And I wanted to know more, so he's back on to discuss it.

[00:03:51] John, where are you now?

[00:03:52] I never know if you're hiding out in Greece or back in the UK.

[00:03:56] I'm back in the UK now.

[00:03:57] Good.

[00:03:59] Well, I'll speak for myself that I didn't get through half of the movies I wanted to for Spooky Season, but I did manage to catch a few good things.

[00:04:06] Your recommendation, Saint Maude, is on my watch list when I get a little more time.

[00:04:11] Did you happen to find anything that you found particularly memorable that you got a chance to watch?

[00:04:17] No, actually.

[00:04:19] It's been quite a busy time in terms of, you know, just conventions and stuff.

[00:04:25] Obviously, I did New York and then there's another big one here called Thought Bubble in the UK.

[00:04:30] Yeah.

[00:04:31] So I just feel, you know, and then also trying to get some pictures out.

[00:04:34] I feel like I've actually been working quite quickly, you know, quite hard just to get things out this side of Christmas and, you know, hoping to be able to down tools soon and just get to the serious business of eating too much and opening presents.

[00:04:48] Well, did you make some good connections and at least enjoy the cons and stuff?

[00:04:51] Always.

[00:04:52] Always.

[00:04:52] So much.

[00:04:53] So much.

[00:04:53] Absolutely incredible.

[00:04:54] You know, you always, I think, you always discover new material and it's just really nice to spend some time with fellow creators and journalists and lovers of comics and readers.

[00:05:07] And it's just, it always really jazzes you up seriously.

[00:05:09] But, you know, I think we said this the last time we got together, you know, I just, there's an awful lot maybe not to be too optimistic about in the world right now, but it feels like comics are really exciting.

[00:05:22] You know, it just, there's just so much, I kind of can't really read everything I want to read at the moment.

[00:05:29] So just in terms of contemporary comics and I've definitely been through phases where I'm reading, you know, comics from the past only, but it just feels like there's just things are spiking right now and there's just so many amazing creators working.

[00:05:40] So it's a good place to be.

[00:05:43] Yeah, I totally agree.

[00:05:44] I'm pretty hype about things.

[00:05:45] I mean, obviously we don't quite know yet how the production and supply chain stuff will work with the potential tariff stuff, but I mean, hopefully it's not too bad.

[00:05:57] Yeah.

[00:05:58] Yeah.

[00:05:59] It's hoping.

[00:06:00] Yeah.

[00:06:00] Well, I'll, I'll put the link for the, the horror movie recommendation show in the show notes for anyone going back interested in listening to that.

[00:06:08] It was a lot of fun.

[00:06:09] Yeah.

[00:06:09] There was so many great ideas.

[00:06:11] I mean, it was absolutely fascinating to hear everybody's ideas.

[00:06:13] It's a really nice cheat sheet.

[00:06:15] Actually, there were very cool recommendations.

[00:06:17] Yeah.

[00:06:17] Yeah.

[00:06:18] I got to a few things.

[00:06:19] I finally got to, to bone Tomahawk, which I don't know if you've seen it, but that was pretty intense.

[00:06:25] It, it, it ramped up to that, that point and then wow.

[00:06:29] So yeah.

[00:06:31] Yeah.

[00:06:31] Yeah.

[00:06:31] Okay.

[00:06:31] I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll up that on my list and it's on my list.

[00:06:34] I haven't seen it yet, but I'll, I'll bring it up for a bit of a bit of shock horror.

[00:06:38] Nice.

[00:06:39] Well, moving on to Ripperland.

[00:06:41] I read issue one that you sent over.

[00:06:43] So let me set the stage.

[00:06:45] This is a return to Victorian England in a sort of very unlikely way.

[00:06:49] It's a 2188.

[00:06:51] A post-Brexit England finds itself vulnerable as the rest of the UK rejoins the European

[00:06:55] Union.

[00:06:56] Who do they seek to help them out at this most vulnerable time?

[00:06:59] The colonists, of course.

[00:07:02] So America.

[00:07:02] In exchange for financial and militaristic protections, England becomes a big Victorian theme park for

[00:07:08] the American tourists.

[00:07:10] And it is indeed a true return.

[00:07:12] There's no modern technological conveniences.

[00:07:15] And so when, when a Randy American tech, well, grandson is killed, an American detective,

[00:07:22] Agent Holden is sent over to investigate with his English counterpart, detective Edwin Fogg.

[00:07:28] All right.

[00:07:28] All right.

[00:07:29] So I think that sets things pretty well.

[00:07:31] Very nicely.

[00:07:32] All right.

[00:07:33] So let's go ahead.

[00:07:35] Yeah.

[00:07:35] It's, it's interesting, right?

[00:07:37] How, how one would explain the sort of Victorian-ness of the space.

[00:07:41] And, um, I think you, you put it really well in that, you know, it's, I guess the crucial

[00:07:47] thing is, you know, the UK goes to the US and says, you know, how's about our special

[00:07:52] relationship, which is such a tragic thing, which the English keep saying, but like nobody

[00:07:56] in America knows there is a special relationship, but everyone in England thinks there is one.

[00:07:59] So it comes down to this crucial moment in my, in, in, in the series where, you know,

[00:08:04] the UK says to the US, can you help us?

[00:08:07] We don't have a military capacity or any industrial capacity since post Brexit, we've given up

[00:08:12] our ability to earn money.

[00:08:14] And America says, well, you've got nothing to offer us except history.

[00:08:17] So if you become a theme park for us, um, then that's great.

[00:08:21] So it's sort of joking, uh, for now, uh, let's see what happened in the next couple

[00:08:25] of years, but, um, you know, it, it, it, it, it, it's playing on, it's

[00:08:29] playing on these ideas.

[00:08:30] And I guess in terms of the world building, what this means is that, you know, it's been

[00:08:34] over a century of British people living like this.

[00:08:37] So as you say, this is no longer like a kind of cosplay enactments, you know, people

[00:08:42] have lived now for generations without any technology, um, in a truly Victorian fashion.

[00:08:48] So, you know, they, they believe it completely that they're innovative.

[00:08:51] I mean, they know that the outside world is different, but that's their reality.

[00:08:55] So there's a truly living in a Victorian space.

[00:08:57] And, and I think that's how we want, that's how me and Steve wanted it to feel.

[00:09:01] You know, it's that, that they, they're not just acting.

[00:09:04] They believe they almost, well, their experience is of living in a Victorian period, even though

[00:09:09] it's in the future.

[00:09:10] Well, how did you and Steve cook this up exactly?

[00:09:14] Well, uh, we got chatting.

[00:09:18] Uh, we hadn't met in person actually, um, yet, but we, we got chatting online.

[00:09:23] It was just before, um, I, I went over to New York a couple of years ago.

[00:09:28] And, uh, then we, then we hung out and we, you know, we, we met properly and we, you

[00:09:32] know, we sort of progressed it, but we just, we just started off with a little zoom call

[00:09:35] just to, because I really admired him and I reached out to him and we chatted and he just

[00:09:40] threw the gauntlet down in the first conversation saying, it would be so cool if we collaborated

[00:09:45] on something.

[00:09:45] And, and his idea was to set it in the UK and to do something sort of British flavored

[00:09:50] cause he's a big Anglophile.

[00:09:52] And so he sort of threw the gauntlet, uh, down and was just like, let's do something

[00:09:56] in the UK.

[00:09:57] And, um, I thought about a little bit and, you know, we were both talking about, you

[00:10:01] know, the various political issues in both of our countries and how we felt about it and

[00:10:06] stuff.

[00:10:06] And, and it just felt like this story would allow us to explore that a little bit and be,

[00:10:11] and I was going to say be critical, but it's not actually being critical of our countries.

[00:10:15] It's, it's critiquing our countries, which I think is a different thing, which is just

[00:10:19] sort of exploring what other perceptions, what are the perceptions that can be dangerous to

[00:10:23] us?

[00:10:24] Um, you know, both in terms of sort of British arrogance and American arrogance, and what are

[00:10:29] these cultural tropes that we're living by and how useful are those or how unuseful are

[00:10:34] those.

[00:10:34] So that's the sort of very high eyebrow concept, uh, at the root of this, but you know, hopefully

[00:10:40] it's a bit of fun as well.

[00:10:41] Uh, yeah, absolutely.

[00:10:43] I thought it was a lot of fun.

[00:10:44] And, and of course you have the, the overlay of Ripper land.

[00:10:49] So we're obviously have Jack the Ripper echoes there.

[00:10:52] So what interests you personally about the Jack the Ripper story that you kind of wanted

[00:10:58] to put that in there?

[00:10:59] Well, um, he's one of the sort of foundational myths, uh, you know, of, I mean, he's very important,

[00:11:06] I think to British culture.

[00:11:08] Um, a few things, uh, one is that, you know, one could sort of argue that he is the same as

[00:11:16] the serial killer became in America in the eighties and nineties, this idea of it's like

[00:11:20] the ultimate urban man.

[00:11:22] Um, you know, in other words, a creature that is created by the cities, um, for the cities

[00:11:29] and can only operate in that kind of world in a way.

[00:11:32] Um, I think that's what I felt about Jack the Ripper.

[00:11:35] This is a man that could only be spawned post the industrial revolution where you have these

[00:11:41] huge amounts of people who are displaced, not in their family units, living in terrible

[00:11:46] squalor, um, you know, drifting.

[00:11:48] So there's no, nobody's got any roots down.

[00:11:50] It feels like that is a sort of, um, nightmarish view of urban living, which was also true.

[00:11:57] And, you know, there's always that element of urban living as a utopianism and that this

[00:12:01] is the sort of nightmare aspect.

[00:12:03] And so I think it's sort of almost like a, it's like a foundation for modernity and it's

[00:12:08] sort of looking at that.

[00:12:09] So I think that's quite interesting.

[00:12:11] I think the other sort of maybe kind of satirical humorous thing, uh, if one can say that about

[00:12:17] Jack the Ripper was just, you know, I think in many ways the UK is an American colony

[00:12:23] already and, you know, culturally, you know, as an artist, one has to appeal to an American

[00:12:28] audience or you can't make a living ready.

[00:12:30] Um, England isn't big enough anymore.

[00:12:32] So, uh, so, so, you know, so, and, and, and, and we, we, we depend on American products.

[00:12:37] So writing a story from England, you kind of have to, you have to, you have to make it

[00:12:43] presentable for an American audience.

[00:12:45] You need to put on a bonnet.

[00:12:46] You need to make it like Sherlock Holmes.

[00:12:48] You need to sort of British it up a bit, sort of, you know, but if so, Jim Crow performance,

[00:12:53] um, you know, white, do a bit of white face.

[00:12:55] Um, and so, and so basically, you know, Jack the Ripper was that, and it was a kind of playful

[00:13:01] way of us being like, okay, well, I mean, what's more British than Jack the Ripper?

[00:13:04] Sure.

[00:13:04] And the big talking period.

[00:13:06] Um, so, so, so being a little bit playful with that as well.

[00:13:08] Okay.

[00:13:09] Well, I went back and did a little background research myself on the Ripper case.

[00:13:14] So the chief inspector.

[00:13:14] Oh my God, who is he?

[00:13:15] Who is he?

[00:13:16] Yeah.

[00:13:17] So the chief.

[00:13:17] Did you find him?

[00:13:18] I did, I did.

[00:13:19] Yeah.

[00:13:19] The chief inspector in charge was one Frederick Aberlane.

[00:13:23] And interesting bit of background here.

[00:13:25] He was assigned to the case as an investigator because he had previously been a beat cop in

[00:13:30] the area.

[00:13:31] So his subsequent case to the Ripper was the Cleveland street scandal.

[00:13:36] Now this was allegedly where his superiors covered up that the Duke of Clarence or Queen

[00:13:41] Victoria's grandson, along with other aristocrats were discovered, frequenting a male brothel.

[00:13:47] So given the, the predilections of, of Kenny Fitzpatrick, the tech mogul's grandson in the

[00:13:52] story, I'm curious, there is a, seems like a mixing of history here from where I'm sitting.

[00:13:59] So there's definitely, and I'm really pleased you spotted that Byron, because look, the thing

[00:14:03] is, you know, you get total Jack the Ripper nuts, you know?

[00:14:07] I mean, the most incredible, like people who've done the most incredible research and deep dives.

[00:14:12] And you know, it is extraordinary.

[00:14:14] So I felt it was one of those things as well.

[00:14:18] It's like you pitch the idea and then you have to write it and you're like, uh, oh, because

[00:14:21] you know, you could literally spend 10 years researching this thing and not even scratch

[00:14:25] the surface.

[00:14:26] So, so what I tried to do was I, I read around quite a lot.

[00:14:30] I mean, I, I knew quite a lot, but I mean, I'm not like a major Jack the Ripper authority.

[00:14:34] So I read as much as I could.

[00:14:36] And then what I tried to do is I cannot pretend to be comprehensive in my knowledge, but what

[00:14:41] I try to do is give little cookies, uh, in the story.

[00:14:44] And there are a number of things that I think if people are really serious, Jack the Ripper

[00:14:48] nuts, they'll be able to find a few things where their resonances that they, that they

[00:14:54] realize I'm giving them a little bit of a wink.

[00:14:56] Um, in including something like that, where yes, I'd read that and it was really interesting

[00:15:00] actually.

[00:15:01] And that was quite crucial to the investigation.

[00:15:04] And also it's crucial to how we read that investigation now, because it was obviously like, there were

[00:15:11] certain people that could never be, I think it could never be pointed at.

[00:15:14] So if it was ever going to be pointed at them, then, then they would be able to get away, which,

[00:15:18] you know, is a possibility that might've happened because, um, there's another really good book called,

[00:15:23] um, Everybody Loves Jack, um, which was, uh, which is a giant tome on Jack the Ripper.

[00:15:29] And, um, and that also looks at the fact that really, if it was somebody noble or kind of high up in the

[00:15:37] social, uh, in the social sort of hierarchy of England at the time, they're simply

[00:15:41] could not have been arrested or accused because the, the, the, it would have been too dangerous

[00:15:46] socially to believe that anybody high born could do something like that.

[00:15:50] So it's, it's interesting to look at that.

[00:15:53] And, um, and, and I think we've got some resonances of that in, in, in, in the story, you know, I mean,

[00:15:58] in our story, there's something quite, uh, you know, uh, it's not a plot spoiler or anything, but it's

[00:16:03] like, there's something quite performative about this murder that is murder is done for a reason.

[00:16:08] And, and the, you know, the purse, the personal peoples who, who enact this murder are very aware of the history of this murder.

[00:16:15] So that, that opens up another whole sort of layer of, of, of, you know, sort of meta, uh, meta reflection on, on, on the, on the killings.

[00:16:24] Yeah. It's an interesting lens to look at modern privilege as well.

[00:16:28] You have the association with historical risk, your aristocratic parallels there.

[00:16:32] So that's in Ripper land.

[00:16:34] And you are, you are those, you are those hierarchies now, you know, as you say, uh, how would you identify them?

[00:16:40] And, you know, for me, it's a sort of Fitzpatrick's where this sort of like Murdoch kind of family

[00:16:45] who are very, very powerful and very, very able to control the media and narratives, uh, you know, across the media internationally.

[00:16:53] And, and, and how, how does that play out?

[00:16:56] Yeah. Serial killers are fascinating to me because they hold a mysticism and we almost elevate them.

[00:17:03] Maybe elevates not the right word, but it it's, we have ours in America, you know, there's Dahmer and et cetera.

[00:17:10] You know, you have Jack the Ripper, uh, in Britain.

[00:17:13] And, and I've always wondered why we do that. You know, we, we put them on a pedestal a little bit.

[00:17:18] I would, so, so, so I would, um, say that Jack the Ripper, I would, I would say more as like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees

[00:17:28] because Jack the Ripper doesn't necessarily exist. You know?

[00:17:32] And when, when I say that, I mean, if you really, really dig down into the murders, it may not have even been the same person doing these murders.

[00:17:39] And certainly the letters that would be sent to the newspapers are almost like 90%, uh, were from a journalist creating the story of Jack the Ripper and trying to produce this character to sell papers and create a story.

[00:17:51] So, so the fact that there was such an incredible response to this character, um, you know, I think is in a direct lineage to why there was a succession with serial killers in the eighties, seventies, eighties and nineties in America.

[00:18:05] And, and I would argue that it's something quite psychological. It's quite Jungian. It's something to do with this sort of shadow side of humanity and our dark side, but kind of invulnerables.

[00:18:16] I mean, these are characters who are not afraid of anything. You know, they, they, they, they are, they are, they're impervious and they're impermeable and they just, they're completely, um, like, you know, you're saying, why do we almost worship them in some ways?

[00:18:31] It's like, there's, I guess what's attractive about them if one could say that, um, is that, you know, they are completely, um, they are completely, um, they are completely, um, they are completely, um, they're completely in tune with their impulses, however monstrous those are.

[00:18:46] And I think, you know, that, that, that, that is something which is something that we don't, you know, feel necessarily. We're, we're trying to control those. We're trying to understand our dark side, whereas they're just, they're not having that struggle.

[00:18:57] They're just, they're submitting to that and just getting on with it, which is interesting.

[00:19:00] Yeah. I've never quite thought about it that way, but it does encapsulate in ways the American idea of freedom.

[00:19:08] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:19:11] Exactly. And, and, and, you know, and, and also they are, you know, and that's another biggest story. They're monsters and, you know, monsters have always got this kind of weird attraction and, you know, on the one hand you're attracted to them and they're fascinating by how brutal they are and how scary they are.

[00:19:24] On the other hand, they're sort of, you know, they're hideous and you're terrified. And it's a way of exploring all of those things out, you know, maybe in a more mythological, uh, way.

[00:19:33] And, and, but, but it's interesting because obviously Jack the Ripper, those murders happened, but Jack the Ripper is, is a mythological confection, I would say.

[00:19:41] Um, you know, uh, certainly the way he, he, he's come to be presented and how we understand him now.

[00:19:48] And you've kind of laid it out. Jack doesn't exist without the environment, without London.

[00:19:54] And you described it in the book as kind of a theater of crime and that the, the architecture provides the perfect stage.

[00:20:01] I've, I've been to London a few fair times myself, you know, but as, as a tourist, that's an interesting illustration.

[00:20:07] And granted, I was not exploring the sex trade, but there's, there's like a Shakespearean echo, if you will, to kind of the way you lay that out.

[00:20:15] All the world's a stage. Okay.

[00:20:17] So yeah, totally.

[00:20:19] And, and London is this notoriously heavily surveilled place.

[00:20:23] So is, is crime a current problem or did you kind of have to take it back to Victorian England to do that?

[00:20:29] Yeah. No, it really isn't.

[00:20:31] You know, it's incredibly safe.

[00:20:32] I'm always quite amazed actually, uh, uh, when Americans come to the UK, how, you know, I mean,

[00:20:38] I'm from South Africa originally and I also had this thing where I took that post-traumatic stress disorder of living in a country with guns, um, expecting that level of violence all the time.

[00:20:48] It just doesn't exist in the UK.

[00:20:50] I mean, it's not like there's no crime, but I mean, if you walk home at night, you know, the chances of being attacked is, is absolutely minimal.

[00:20:57] And if you are attacked at some crazy jumping out at you, you know, I mean, if they have a knife, it'd be a miracle, but they never would have a gun or something.

[00:21:06] So it's, it's very, very rare.

[00:21:08] So, so I, so, so I did have to go back to this idea of the Victorian period where it really was, you know, pretty brutal and pretty terrifying, you know, and, and, and really, you know, if you were on the streets and you were at a certain level, I mean, you know, I mean, nobody cared anyway to you.

[00:21:22] So if you lived or died, it didn't, and whether you were a child or an adult, I mean, nobody really cared, um, you know, so, so, so it was, it was also interesting to sort of think about, you know, what would it be going back into such a place?

[00:21:35] Because societies do slide.

[00:21:38] And, and I think that's something that's important because I think, you know, there's this idea in the West, like, you know, particularly in, in arrogant countries like America and England, that, you know, it will always go forward.

[00:21:51] And there's an expectation, everything will always improve because they haven't really been through that, like collapse, like many countries have, like, you know, even countries like Spain, Portugal, you know, some of the richest countries in the world who then had these collapses and they've come back from them very successfully.

[00:22:06] But it's just like, you know, they've had decades in some cases, you know, maybe sort of a century of really, you know, poverty and, and social upheaval that I don't think we've really seen yet, but, you know, might be about to.

[00:22:19] Yeah.

[00:22:20] Well, yeah, we'll see.

[00:22:24] All right, let's take a quick break.

[00:22:33] After a string of unexplained disappearances in the southern parts of the United States, retired Detective Clint searches for his white trash brother.

[00:22:41] While searching for him, he ends up being abducted by aliens.

[00:22:45] He is now in the arena for Big Gun's Stupid Rednecks, an intergalactic cable's newest hit show, which puts him and other humans in laser gun gladiatorial combat.

[00:22:56] And his brother is the reigning champion with 27 kills.

[00:23:01] That's the premise for a new book from Band of Bards, Big Gun's Stupid Rednecks.

[00:23:06] I got a chance to see an advanced preview of this book and being from the south, honestly, I was a bit skeptical going in.

[00:23:12] But they won me over and nothing is more powerful than an initially skeptic convert in my book.

[00:23:17] In Jimmy's words, Big Gun's Stupid Rednecks is many things, but it isn't subtle.

[00:23:22] It tells you exactly what it is up front.

[00:23:24] Then it delivers with a great premise, fantastic art, and a whole mess of fun.

[00:23:28] I had a great time reading Big Gun's Stupid Rednecks, and what I thought was going to be an indictment of redneck culture quickly showed it was actually a love letter.

[00:23:36] A family mystery, brother pitted against brother, aliens, fighting for profit in a big arena.

[00:23:41] This truly has it all.

[00:23:43] Issue one is out already, but you can still pick up a copy on the Band of Bards website, and current issues are available via your previews or lunar order form.

[00:23:51] Or just ask your LCS.

[00:23:52] Don't miss it.

[00:23:53] Let's get back to the show.

[00:23:55] It's fascinating to me because...

[00:23:58] From the outside perspective, sort of looking in over there, Americans maintain this very idyllic perception of things, right?

[00:24:07] So despite being founded in 1776, you know, with now hundreds of years of our own history, admittedly, there's certain charm, right, of older cultures.

[00:24:17] And everyone wants to go visit somewhere with cobblestone streets and a quaint historic appeal until they have to walk several miles on those cobblestone streets.

[00:24:26] Or they're in lodging without a private bath and no king-sized bed, right?

[00:24:32] It's funny because both...

[00:24:33] I've had different family members who had those experiences this past summer when visiting Italy and Sweden.

[00:24:39] So there's a bit of a...

[00:24:42] I don't know if you've seen the TV show, but there was a bit of a death in paradise feel without the beautiful island going on here.

[00:24:47] Oh, absolutely.

[00:24:49] Absolutely.

[00:24:49] And look, the grass is always greener, you know?

[00:24:51] And there's always...

[00:24:52] There's this kind of balance.

[00:24:53] But I guess...

[00:24:54] I guess that's...

[00:24:56] That's a really, really good segue back to Rippeland, which is basically what Steve and I were both doing at the beginning of this.

[00:25:03] You know, Steve Orlando, who I've co-written this with, who's just been an incredible collaborator.

[00:25:08] We could not have had more fun.

[00:25:11] And it was really about that.

[00:25:13] It was like, what are our perceptions of our own countries?

[00:25:18] What do other people perceive?

[00:25:20] How do we critique and criticize them, you know, as people living there?

[00:25:24] What do we think about the other person's society?

[00:25:27] How can we wind them up?

[00:25:29] So that was really fun.

[00:25:31] And we played that out between our two lead characters.

[00:25:34] Who's this kind of FBI agent, Jesse Holden, who comes over with a bit of swagger.

[00:25:38] And, you know, he's from the future in inverted commas in terms of, you know, he's got technology.

[00:25:42] He's got all these things.

[00:25:43] And he's forced to team up with this basically Victorian detective, who's Detective Edward Fogg, who doesn't...

[00:25:51] You know, he's never seen a mobile phone.

[00:25:53] Yeah.

[00:25:54] And forensics.

[00:25:55] And it's just absolutely ludicrous to Jesse initially.

[00:25:58] And then how these two come to respect each other and come to see, you know, the positives and the negatives of each other and each other's backgrounds.

[00:26:09] And I think that's really important is to reintroduce this concept of nuance.

[00:26:12] It's not about like America's terrible and England's amazing or England's terrible and America's...

[00:26:17] It's like actually these are all very complicated situations and we can learn things from each other.

[00:26:22] And that's what the conversation should really be about.

[00:26:25] So, are Fogg and Holden as characters going to, as we move through, because to some extent they do in issue one, but are they sort of the embodiment of their countries?

[00:26:40] Well, you shall see.

[00:26:41] Okay.

[00:26:41] I mean, you know, this is a really good...

[00:26:43] I mean, you know, is...

[00:26:47] Yeah.

[00:26:48] I mean, I don't even want to say the names.

[00:26:49] No, that's fine.

[00:26:49] Yeah.

[00:26:50] You could, you know, you could argue like who is an embodiment of America right now and who is not an embodiment of America right now.

[00:26:58] You know, it's like it's...

[00:26:59] They are embodiments of their country, but they are...

[00:27:03] That doesn't mean that they are not critical of their countries or that they don't feel like outsiders or that, you know...

[00:27:10] So, it becomes complicated basically.

[00:27:12] But yes, you know, we definitely use them as mouthpieces as, you know, two men who are living in, you know, America and England.

[00:27:20] And we use them as quite playful, satirical mouthpieces.

[00:27:24] Did you and Steve ever consider inverting sort of the roles of the countries here?

[00:27:30] Well, well, you know, in terms of who was writing what or inverting how?

[00:27:36] In terms of, well, what if America had become the UK's playground, for instance?

[00:27:44] Yeah, I didn't want to give England that because I was so pissed off with it post-Brexit.

[00:27:48] But I wanted to look at how catastrophic, you know, so I think both of us actually were coming with quite a lot of good...

[00:27:54] It's a good question.

[00:27:56] We were both coming with a lot of righteous anger that we wanted the therapy of being able to sort of say,

[00:28:02] you know, I definitely was not going to be giving England the ability to be like this had worked

[00:28:07] and that something had actually good had come of it.

[00:28:09] And I think, you know, and I think for Steve, it was interesting to explore the sort of high-handedness sometimes of the US

[00:28:16] and the sort of colonial leanings without really acknowledging what those are necessarily.

[00:28:22] There can be something quite disingenuous sometimes about America's helpfulness in the rest of the world,

[00:28:27] which is actually just doing exactly what they want to do

[00:28:29] and then pretending that everyone should be grateful for it.

[00:28:32] Right.

[00:28:34] So I think that's why that particular thing happened.

[00:28:37] But having said that, it definitely wasn't as basic as we both kept to our characters.

[00:28:42] I mean, you know, by the time we were halfway to the issue for the first script,

[00:28:45] we were both writing each other's characters and playing.

[00:28:48] And, you know, in a really good collaboration like this,

[00:28:51] you actually can't quite remember or know who did what, actually,

[00:28:56] because it was just we started this project and it was like a bobsled going down the hill.

[00:29:00] It happened so fast.

[00:29:02] We were so excited.

[00:29:03] It was really energetic process.

[00:29:06] I was thinking about it.

[00:29:07] It's a very unique story in that it pulls on very different threads depending where the reader is,

[00:29:14] you know, because I'd imagine somebody from the UK has an entirely different experience than I would, right?

[00:29:20] Yeah.

[00:29:21] Yeah.

[00:29:21] That's exactly it.

[00:29:22] And, you know, and hopefully that works both ways.

[00:29:25] Like, I think that makes it quite interesting is that, you know, I think because I have Steve, you know,

[00:29:32] covering my back, I think, you know, I think, you know, an American would really get the book

[00:29:37] and understand exactly what's being said.

[00:29:38] But then I've got his back as somebody living in the UK and understanding that whole culture.

[00:29:43] So I've really got his back.

[00:29:44] And so, yeah, it's nice to feel confident that it sort of reads in both territories,

[00:29:49] which is kind of what we were aiming for.

[00:29:52] Yeah.

[00:29:52] I was cackling about the underwater Atlantic Bullock train that connects England and the U.S.

[00:29:57] being called the Hole and all the fumes.

[00:30:00] So that supposedly, you know, they're used as a description as you leave it or exit it.

[00:30:07] That's definitely a condemnation of U.S.-British, you know, foreign relations right there for sure.

[00:30:13] I don't know.

[00:30:14] Excellent.

[00:30:15] Good.

[00:30:15] Yeah.

[00:30:16] Job done.

[00:30:17] All right.

[00:30:17] Well, touching on the visuals of the book, the rest of the creative team is Alessandro

[00:30:22] Oliveri doing the artwork, Francesca Vivaldi on colors, and Fabio Emilia handling the lettering duties.

[00:30:28] And the artwork itself is very throwback to me.

[00:30:32] There's a lot of, like, wide marker work to fill in the details.

[00:30:37] Like, I went back and looked, and it definitely reminded me of, like, newspaper drawings from the

[00:30:42] graphic or the illustrated London news back in the day.

[00:30:46] Because classically, classic Victorian artwork is like a young maiden in oil, you know, strongly influenced by the

[00:30:54] Renaissance.

[00:30:55] This is definitely not that.

[00:30:56] That's a little bit more of what I expected.

[00:30:58] So how did you connect with Alessandro and work on laying out the presentation?

[00:31:05] So he was a total revelation to both me and Steve, to be honest.

[00:31:09] I mean, we looked at a few artists when we were going in, and they were very, very different.

[00:31:15] So there were some that were very realist.

[00:31:16] There were some that were very, you know, very pretty.

[00:31:19] There were some that were very, you know, all sorts of different options.

[00:31:22] And the thing that sort of jumped out about Alessandro was this kind of incredible dynamic energy.

[00:31:28] I think one of the first things he drew is actually one of the first panels in issue one,

[00:31:34] which is that sort of skew panel of a London street with people walking and carriages.

[00:31:41] And I don't know, I just felt such a, I felt such an energy in that panel.

[00:31:46] It's just like, wow, that really feels cool.

[00:31:47] And I really, I feel like I'm walking on that street and I could turn the corner.

[00:31:51] And so we went with him.

[00:31:54] But I think what I didn't really understand about what he would bring is the kind of depth

[00:31:59] of world building, because his design in terms of both fashion and in terms of architecture,

[00:32:05] I mean, obviously characterization as well.

[00:32:07] He's got great characterization, but it's a really bold piece of world building.

[00:32:12] And that kind of blew my mind because we weren't relying on that.

[00:32:16] But, you know, it just completely blew our minds when he started doing it.

[00:32:19] And he goes for it.

[00:32:21] And, you know, you'll see each issue just gets crazier and crazier.

[00:32:23] And that was really exciting to see.

[00:32:26] And so he absolutely brought that to the comic.

[00:32:30] And he's an artist who's really kind of exploding.

[00:32:35] Like he's really coming into his talent.

[00:32:37] And so it's just, it is a very exciting thing to see.

[00:32:40] You know, I just can't wait for people to see his artwork over this story,

[00:32:45] because it just, it really goes places.

[00:32:47] Yeah, I mean, I enjoyed it.

[00:32:48] It's for a story riddled with crime, it's fairly bright, even with the color work.

[00:32:54] You know, you don't have these deep shadows like you might expect with something that's

[00:32:59] more of a slasher.

[00:33:01] Yeah.

[00:33:02] That's right.

[00:33:02] That's right.

[00:33:02] But, you know, it's interesting.

[00:33:04] And I'm interested to see what you think.

[00:33:05] I mean, it's in the first issue and it certainly sort of continues, which is we try to sort of go there

[00:33:12] in terms of with something like Jack the Ripper.

[00:33:15] You know, it's, I think people reading a book about Jack the Ripper expect a bit of gall

[00:33:21] and blood and guts.

[00:33:22] And it's quite funny because this isn't directly related, but I'm going to do what I hate people

[00:33:28] doing on a podcast, which is bringing something up and not knowing what the bloody name of the

[00:33:31] bust is.

[00:33:32] But anyway, I was listening to a podcast on BBC recently and they call him the Elizabethan

[00:33:38] Tarantino.

[00:33:39] And there's this, there was this playwright.

[00:33:41] He was kind of, you know, the same sort of period as Shakespeare, but he's doing these

[00:33:44] like incredibly mean-spirited, disgusting kind of crime, crime plays with sort of people

[00:33:51] being bludgeoned to death on stage and lots of blood and, you know, fake blood stuff.

[00:33:55] And it was just this quite cool idea of that sort of grand dignal, you know, theater of

[00:34:01] kind of horror.

[00:34:02] And, and that was something that I want, that we wanted to be in this book.

[00:34:07] You know, after all, it is a Jack, it's a Jack the Ripper story.

[00:34:09] It's a slasher story.

[00:34:10] There's going to be some gall.

[00:34:12] So, you know, it's playful, it's fun, it's sexy, I hope.

[00:34:15] But, um, it, it, you know, there's also some gall and a bit of horror.

[00:34:19] I mean, more than a bit of horror in there.

[00:34:22] Yeah.

[00:34:22] I mean, previously, uh, with the movie recommendation show, you talked about Steve pulling you back

[00:34:28] and providing a little bit of grounding, uh, away from kind of the minutia of creating

[00:34:32] this, this reality.

[00:34:34] And if it feels really fleshed out to me, it doesn't feel like anything's missing.

[00:34:37] Was, was there anything that you wish had not gotten cut, uh, in terms of like details

[00:34:43] or something like that?

[00:34:44] No, no, no, in fact, no, no.

[00:34:47] And that's, that's a great question, but, but really to qualify that, you know, it's

[00:34:51] almost more like I'd gone down a total rabbit hole of, um, of exploration of this period

[00:34:57] and of the, uh, situation.

[00:35:00] And actually that's only helpful to a certain degree.

[00:35:02] Cause you know, at a point you got to let it go and just get into the world and just

[00:35:05] write the story and just get into your story.

[00:35:07] So it was more like I could have gone on and on and on and, you know, done an endless

[00:35:11] piece of work, uh, you know, which we, you know, who knows?

[00:35:14] I mean, we will, we definitely want to do a sequel.

[00:35:17] Um, so, so we'll definitely go there, but you know, what was good, what was good about

[00:35:21] Steve is he was just like, we got this, you know, let's go.

[00:35:24] And, uh, and, and that was, that was huge fun and really, really valuable.

[00:35:28] Yeah.

[00:35:29] You're both obviously jazzed about it.

[00:35:31] Are you finding that writing with somebody else is surprising?

[00:35:36] Is it a lot of fun for you?

[00:35:38] Surprising.

[00:35:38] I mean, because I've never done it before in comics and I am somebody who's extremely

[00:35:45] specific about what I do and really, um, know my own mind and, and, and, you know, and, and,

[00:35:51] and, and, you know, and, and, and if I, if I dare use the term for myself, it's like a

[00:35:55] little bit of an auteur.

[00:35:57] Um, you know, it's like, I, you know, I, it's, it's taken me a while even to sort of be

[00:36:01] able to get into the space, which, you know, I'd like to do more of in terms of sort of

[00:36:05] commercial American comics, you know, I've come from a completely different place, like

[00:36:09] self-published and then graphic novels.

[00:36:11] And then, you know, uh, you know, getting a bit of a readership in France and then, and

[00:36:15] then, and then, and then all the way through that coming to the U S.

[00:36:17] So, um, you know, that, that's been a slightly different process, but, um, but just, but,

[00:36:22] you know, but just loving it.

[00:36:24] And, and that's Steve's background, you know, he comes from this background of having worked

[00:36:28] at the big two and being really, really focused.

[00:36:30] And, um, I really felt I could learn a lot from him, you know, because of that.

[00:36:34] And it was, it was very cool, uh, seeing those two, you know, our two minds come together

[00:36:40] and, and just what fun it was.

[00:36:42] I mean, I was expecting it to be much more difficult and sort of for that at least to be some moments

[00:36:47] where it's like, I totally disagree with you or I'm really butt heads about something,

[00:36:51] but we actually never did.

[00:36:52] You know, we, we were just always, we always had just too many ideas.

[00:36:56] It was just like, but what about this?

[00:36:57] What about that?

[00:36:58] And like, there was more, oh God, we got it.

[00:37:00] We can't do all of these, you know, as opposed to like, I don't like your idea.

[00:37:03] I don't like your idea.

[00:37:05] Sulk.

[00:37:06] Um, so no, it was, it was great fun.

[00:37:07] And I was quite surprised by that.

[00:37:09] I must say.

[00:37:10] I, I really enjoy the, the writing process of working with somebody else.

[00:37:15] Um, my, my co-host and I, we, we wrote a story together and absolutely loved being able

[00:37:22] to bounce ideas off of somebody.

[00:37:24] Cause I think, I think you create a better world doing it.

[00:37:27] Yeah.

[00:37:28] Yeah.

[00:37:28] I mean, I do too.

[00:37:29] And I think, and I think if I really look at it, like if we're talking like comics,

[00:37:34] comics, uh, uh, craft, uh, you know, basically what I've probably, where I've got that from

[00:37:40] before is probably being from the artist.

[00:37:43] Um, you know, because that's your partner and you, you do have a very intensive relationship

[00:37:48] and they're reading your script as it's coming in.

[00:37:50] You're having these endless conversations.

[00:37:51] So it's not like I've never had any input before, but this is just so much more specific.

[00:37:56] And, you know, and then to be able to just, you know, I think as a writer, you always have

[00:38:01] a moment where you're like, oh God, this is a really good idea, but I'm not quite sure

[00:38:04] how to get to the next part.

[00:38:06] Whereas if there's two of you, you literally don't even get to think that thought because

[00:38:10] by the time you finished your idea, they're already done the next thing.

[00:38:13] And then you've got the next thing.

[00:38:14] You've sort of got this double, double energy, uh, to, to utilize creative energy.

[00:38:19] So it just moves very swiftly.

[00:38:21] I mean, that's if it's working, you know, if it's not working, I'm sure it's the exact

[00:38:25] opposite and it just, you know, it would fall apart.

[00:38:27] But, um, that was my experience of it.

[00:38:29] So I totally get where you're coming from with your writing part.

[00:38:31] It's, it's great if it works.

[00:38:33] Yeah.

[00:38:34] And, and I think doing it in the writing phase is also critical because once you get

[00:38:40] to the artist, then the input of time to be able to produce something and then go back

[00:38:46] and look at another iteration is, yeah.

[00:38:49] I mean, again, if it's a little craft, I just, I cannot believe, I can't believe because I,

[00:38:54] you know, I think I'm somebody who understands comics and whatever, but it is just so bizarre

[00:38:58] that every time you lay the words onto the artwork, that edit is so crucial, you know,

[00:39:05] and it's, and it's about taking words out inevitably.

[00:39:08] You know, sometimes it's adding something here and there, but it's mostly just, it's so weird.

[00:39:12] Like even now I still put too many words on the page.

[00:39:16] And then in that final edit, I find myself just letting go of quite a lot of stuff, just

[00:39:21] being like, no, it's, it's clear.

[00:39:23] The art says it like I can afford to pull back one stage.

[00:39:26] It's, it's strange that when, you know, there's, there's always, I don't know that, that still

[00:39:30] goes on, I think, you know, and I think it's quite common for writers is that you just,

[00:39:34] you know, at that final point, you just realize it can just, you can just do that little edit

[00:39:38] that really tightens things up, like throwing sandbags off a, off an air balloon, just lets

[00:39:43] it lift and go.

[00:39:45] Yeah.

[00:39:46] I know that I had a big leap in terms of just understanding structure a little bit better

[00:39:51] from the writing end of things.

[00:39:52] Cause I feel like I'm a good storyteller, but not necessarily the best writer.

[00:39:58] And in terms of getting one thing more concise.

[00:40:01] And I think from a visual perspective, from the perspective of somebody as an artist, um,

[00:40:08] natively.

[00:40:09] So I've, I've been really, really lucky to be able to go back and see progressive edits

[00:40:15] for certain books now when people send me stuff.

[00:40:17] So, and it really was like light bulb clicking when, once you see all the notes and everything,

[00:40:23] I was like, Oh, okay.

[00:40:24] Okay.

[00:40:24] Now I'm getting it down.

[00:40:27] Absolutely.

[00:40:28] Absolutely.

[00:40:28] And I, and I think it's, you know, it's, it's a, it's a team effort massively.

[00:40:32] And, you know, you know, we, we've, we've had incredible editors, uh, you know, at

[00:40:37] Dark Horse.

[00:40:38] And then, you know, we've, we've been working with this, uh, studio called Arancia

[00:40:42] studio.

[00:40:43] Who've been, um, involved, um, you know, who, who are very involved with Steve.

[00:40:47] And then it's been me and Steve has been the artist in the colorist in the letter.

[00:40:50] It's kind of, you, you really need all of those brains on it.

[00:40:54] Like, even so you always feel like you just about get it in and just about get it right.

[00:40:58] And that's a lot of different heads, you know, but it's just, it's, it's a comic is more complex

[00:41:04] than you realize.

[00:41:05] Actually, there's a lot of components and you, you know, you, you, you stop seeing them after

[00:41:12] a while, you know, so, so it's, it's, it's really, it's really fantastic having those different

[00:41:16] sets of eyes on it and, uh, and those brains engaged.

[00:41:20] Yeah, for sure.

[00:41:22] Well, Ripperland drops on January 22nd, according to the current release schedule.

[00:41:26] That's right.

[00:41:27] Yeah, that's right.

[00:41:29] All right.

[00:41:29] Make sure to get your orders in everybody.

[00:41:30] I love this book.

[00:41:32] I have no reason to back my claim here aside from a hunch.

[00:41:35] So I don't have any, any, any additional knowledge, but given the theory that the Ripper was a

[00:41:40] woman, I'm going to pay super close attention to Holden's escort.

[00:41:45] That that's my take.

[00:41:47] John says nothing.

[00:41:48] So, so we'll, we'll leave that at what is, um, what else you got cooking that you can talk

[00:41:53] about at the moment?

[00:41:54] Um, that's it at the moment.

[00:41:56] Um, I've got some stuff which I'm going to be able to talk about very soon and you will

[00:42:00] be the first to hear.

[00:42:01] I'll be right back on here blabbing about it as soon as possible.

[00:42:04] Awesome.

[00:42:04] But also just to say, uh, the last issue of Summer Shadows, which, you know, you've, you've

[00:42:10] discussed before is actually out on, in January as well.

[00:42:13] So, um, you know, uh, so if, if anybody wants to pick that up, that's great.

[00:42:17] And, uh, that's then going to be collected in April, um, as a trade paperback.

[00:42:22] Um, you know, so, so, so you can grab it then too.

[00:42:24] Yeah.

[00:42:25] I've got that checked.

[00:42:25] My trade is ordered.

[00:42:27] So we're good.

[00:42:28] Love, love it.

[00:42:30] One sale right there.

[00:42:31] There you go.

[00:42:32] One sale does, does not make a sequel.

[00:42:35] I think that that's a quote, isn't it?

[00:42:37] Uh, but a number of one sales make a sequel.

[00:42:40] So they're all important.

[00:42:41] Exactly.

[00:42:41] Well, where can people find you online and why aren't you on Blue Sky yet?

[00:42:46] I am on Blue Sky.

[00:42:47] I didn't see you there.

[00:42:48] I'll have to find you.

[00:42:49] No, no.

[00:42:49] I think, I think I might have actually friended you.

[00:42:53] Oh no.

[00:42:54] I'm being called out.

[00:42:56] No, no, no, no.

[00:42:56] You're not being called out because I haven't been at all active on it and I'm totally being

[00:43:00] active on it now.

[00:43:02] So it's just, it's basically, uh, John Harris Dunning across the board.

[00:43:06] So, uh, you know, you'll find me on Instagram and you'll find me on Blue Sky and you'll find

[00:43:11] my sort of withered corpse on X, but you know, it just feels like this.

[00:43:15] It's funny.

[00:43:16] It just feels that the comics community has just really moved away from that in a very

[00:43:20] big way.

[00:43:20] And for obvious reasons, but it really, it doesn't feel like it has the traction that

[00:43:25] it always had, but it feels like Blue Sky is absolutely getting that traction.

[00:43:28] And it's a, you know, it feels like the community is kind of resettling there.

[00:43:30] So great.

[00:43:31] Yeah.

[00:43:32] Everybody's sort of hit the reset button.

[00:43:34] I anticipated it happening much sooner than it did, but when it did happen, it's been,

[00:43:40] it's been a true crunch trying to stay on top of not just my personal account.

[00:43:46] I've sort of let go, but just trying to stay on top of the comic book Yeti account has been.

[00:43:50] Well, that's why, but that's why I say, I mean, you're saying, Oh God, you're being

[00:43:53] called.

[00:43:53] It's, it's definitely not being called because I'm also just finding like the, it's kind

[00:43:57] of extraordinary, just the movement that's happening there now from follows to messages

[00:44:01] to it's just suddenly like everybody seems to be there and supportive and going.

[00:44:06] So it's, it's quite, it's quite weird.

[00:44:07] I haven't sort of been in that space for ages where you feel it's, you know, there's

[00:44:11] so much going on.

[00:44:12] So, so that's great.

[00:44:13] Yeah.

[00:44:14] And you know, it's funny.

[00:44:15] The other thing I just wanted to mention is just, you know, I think because of this,

[00:44:19] um, upheaval that's happening on social media at the moment, one way or the other, you know,

[00:44:23] your podcast becomes more important than ever before.

[00:44:26] And, and, and, and comics journalists become incredibly crucial as they always have been,

[00:44:31] but actually more crucial because, you know, people trust you, you have your, you have your

[00:44:36] listenership.

[00:44:37] And, and I actually think that, um, as creators, I know that it's never been more important for

[00:44:41] me to be on your show because, you know, I'm not relying on you in a way that, you know,

[00:44:46] we've always liked each other and, you know, I've always listened to you and I've always been

[00:44:49] very interested.

[00:44:50] Um, but it's like, I'm just realizing like, it's absolutely crucial.

[00:44:54] And I'm really pleased about that because you guys deserve that focus and energy.

[00:44:58] And I think if, you know, something good can come with the bad, I think that's something,

[00:45:01] you know, that's one of the elements that will.

[00:45:03] Thank you.

[00:45:04] Yeah.

[00:45:04] We're trying.

[00:45:05] We're a group of dedicated people, um, and everybody covers different things, which I

[00:45:09] think is, is also really fantastic.

[00:45:11] You know, we have now I'm pitching us, but you know, we, we have games covers now.

[00:45:16] You should be pitching yourself.

[00:45:18] Yeah.

[00:45:18] I mean, two, two great people working on game stuff that are, that are going to packs,

[00:45:23] uh, the big gaming convention this weekend even and doing some coverage on that.

[00:45:27] So we have, you know, a manga representation and web comics recommendation.

[00:45:31] It's, it feels good.

[00:45:32] I mean, I feel like we're in a, we're in a good place as, as a little, little journalism,

[00:45:36] uh, unit.

[00:45:37] And it's a hub.

[00:45:38] I mean, you know, people rely on it, you know, and, and this is, and this is, and

[00:45:41] this is really, it's very satisfying.

[00:45:43] You know, this is your passion and people rely on it.

[00:45:46] And, and, and I think they will more so actually.

[00:45:49] Let's hope so.

[00:45:51] But the reason we're here is to actually solicit books here and to help you sell stuff.

[00:45:57] That's why I'm here.

[00:45:58] That's why I do it.

[00:45:59] If I wanted people to tell me I'm cool, I'd definitely be doing like a, uh, a football

[00:46:04] slash soccer, uh, podcast or something like that.

[00:46:08] So, but anyway, it's always a pleasure to have you on, John.

[00:46:12] Um, who knows where you will be next time we chat?

[00:46:14] So that'll be fun to try to track you.

[00:46:16] I need to put a, an Apple, uh, tag on you or something like that.

[00:46:20] See where you're going.

[00:46:21] Excellent.

[00:46:21] Excellent.

[00:46:21] And listen, it's such a pleasure talking to you always.

[00:46:24] And I can't wait to do it next time.

[00:46:26] All right, man.

[00:46:26] Well, this is Byron O'Neill on behalf of all of us at Comic Book Yeti.

[00:46:29] Thanks for tuning in and we will see you next time.

[00:46:31] Take care, everybody.

[00:46:32] This is Byron O'Neill, one of your hosts of the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you

[00:46:37] by Comic Book Yeti.

[00:46:38] We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast.

[00:46:42] Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff.

[00:46:45] It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve.

[00:46:50] Thanks for listening.

[00:46:52] If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister

[00:46:57] podcast, Into the Comics Cave.

[00:46:59] Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.