Kenny Porter & Tyrell Cannon Interview - Operation: Iron Coffin

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[00:00:54] Hello and welcome to Comic Book Yetis Cryptid Creator Corner Podcast. I am one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo. I have two guests on the podcast tonight. We're going to talk about another IDW Dark book that I really am enjoying. It's a book that seems strange to describe as just a whole lot of fun because it can be fairly grotesque at times. But, like, that's how I went into this. It is just a book that is an absolute good time. It's Operation Iron Coffin.

[00:01:24] And as we're recording this, the first two issues are out. The third issue will drop September 30th. But we're going to talk all about it. Please welcome to the podcast. Or welcome back to the podcast, Kenny Porter. And welcome to the podcast, Tyrell Cannon. Kenny, Tyrell, how are the two of you doing today? Doing great, man. Yeah, good. Hot, but good. Yeah, it was a hot day where I am, too, just in North Wilmington, Delaware.

[00:01:52] But thank you guys both for coming on the podcast. I have just been a big fan of what IDW has been doing recently. Not only with, you know, some of their licensed properties, but with the IDW Crime Line, the IDW Dark. And, yeah, I heard the premise for Operation Iron Coffin. And I thought, I really want to know how this came about. And I got into the series.

[00:02:19] And as I said in the intro, I just had, like, so much fun. Reading this comic to me felt like I was a kid again and stumbled upon a Saturday afternoon movie that I might have been a little too young to watch. You know, so. Best kind. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:02:41] So I don't know who wants to start, but can you just tell listeners a little bit about how Operation Iron Coffin, you know, came about and what it's all about. What they can expect when they go and pick up the issues. Sure. I'll start. Yeah. So the book is that let's just cut right to the chase. The British drop Dracula like a bomb on the Nazis. That's the that's the like helicopter, like elevator pitch.

[00:03:08] The real story is that it's about Dracula being resurrected after the events of the novel and being given the chance to have a peaceful afterlife if he can go back and kill every vampire he created. And in the process of that deals with this big emotional baggage, because when he comes back as part of a Faustian bargain, he gets more than he thought he was going to have when he comes back. Not just his powers, but some of his humanity, too.

[00:03:34] So we get to see him fight his way through like a high tech Nazi train as he tries to fight not just for his redemption, but to prevent more pain and suffering from being created because of him. And really, this came together because like, first and foremost, I just wanted to give Tyrell something badass to draw because I love him and I wanted to have something cool. And we've been talking about doing something for a while. Uh, and I'm going to stop talking right now. I'll pass it to you, Tyrell. So you can tell some of the story. So I'm not.

[00:04:03] Yeah, I mean, the, the, the story of course is, is, is a great hook. And, and, uh, I always enjoy working with Kenny. We had a great time on the schlub and we, um, have done some pitches together. Just really wanted to try to get some more stuff together that we could work together on because we seem to have a lot of this, the same interests and the same sort of not just interests as far as like we both like anime and stuff. But more the kinds of stories we like to tell and the way we like to tell them.

[00:04:30] And so, yeah, I was just really, you know, we've been trying to do something together for a while, you know? And so this was just like, this one came together. And once it came together, we were just off to the races because we were so excited to, we'd set all these cool ideas to put in the book. You know, there's so many cool things that we're like, oh man, let's get rolling. And so now here we are.

[00:04:48] I was describing it to, uh, uh, a friend of mine, my coworker, um, when my, my coworker, Rachel, uh, when I was saying like, oh, you know, I have a podcast tonight. She's listened to a couple of episodes and I was describing the book and, uh, she was funny. She was like, those things sound like somebody was like throwing darts at a dartboard and whatever they hit, they tried to see if they could put a story together. And she said like, does it work?

[00:05:17] And I'm like, it's insane how well it works. Like, but it was like the dartboard, like what you hit was okay. Dracula Nazis, a train and like, like a redemption arc. And it's like, can we do that? The Faustian bargain part of it is such a great idea and works so well. Uh, and it comes across so well that moment where we see, you know, where, where Dracula makes that bargain.

[00:05:47] All of those elements I thought were, were fantastic. And in particular Tyrell, I wanted to ask about the design of whatever it is. We don't know right off the bat, but that design of that, I'll just say character or creature that makes the deal with Dracula. I just thought that it was so wonderful how it was like presented. It's, it's almost amorphous, but it has like a definite shape and a menace to it. What kind of went into that?

[00:06:15] Oh, thanks so much for the, for, for like noticing and taking the time to think, think about what, what that entity is. Uh, in the script, I think, you know, that's, that's always where it kind of, well, it starts with some brainstorming, but like, once I have the script, I always look to that for sort of to help me solve all these problems that come up as you're drawing the comic. And, and, you know, Kenny described it in a sort of a cosmic kind of more of a cosmic sort of an entity that was like more formless.

[00:06:43] He, he, he said in the script things he didn't want. Right. Uh, which I didn't want either. You know, when I read them, I was, he's like, we, we don't want like a guy in a cloak with a, you know, a sigh. We don't want, you know, the devil. We don't want, you know, angels. It has to be, you know, something else. And so I think what I was trying to do is just sort of like, uh, I was thinking about it as sort of an ethereal thing that you can't completely nail down its shape at any time. It's maybe kind of always moving.

[00:07:12] Um, but trying to work in little bits of kind of, uh, expression in there that, that kind of evoke a face. Um, so it doesn't look like any specific one thing. And I think that allows people to hopefully project onto it a little bit and sort of, you know, look at where he's at as not like a place that he goes, but like a state, a state of being that he's in. And so I thought about it as like, you know, stars out in space, but also underground at the same time is sort of how I was thinking about it.

[00:07:42] And the thumbnails were pretty rough. It was, it was definitely one where I had to figure it out by just throwing lots of ink and pro-white at the page and just sort of like building on top. Until I sort of figured it out. And then even then, I think the inks, you know, our, our editor, Dave trusted us a lot because I was like, trust me, it's going to work. You know, it's going to work. So I'm glad that it's working because if, if people were interviewing us and saying, man, that was a mess, I'd be like, Dave, I'm sorry. No, no, I didn't think it was a mess at all.

[00:08:11] And like going into, I try not to read too much beforehand, you know, when I go into an issue that I'm going to talk about, I want to kind of just like experience it. Not have any preconceived notions or expectations. And so I had no idea that kind of turn with, with, with Dracula. And I, all I, so all I knew is really the cover work and it's, Oh, it's, it's Dracula versus Nazis. That's enough of a hook right there.

[00:08:37] But yeah, I thought, well, I thought that whole, that whole sequence was just so brilliantly done. You know, in, in terms of the, the whole team, like everything that, that went into it, I really, really love. Uh, and then we get a little bit further into it. Kenny, something you mentioned because I, it didn't occur to me. It's just, Oh, Dracula's back and he's got his powers and he's got this, whatever, whatever.

[00:09:03] The realization that, you know, not, not only is he back, but his, his, some of his like humanity. Yeah. Yeah. Of empathy that he feels were remorse or something for these things he has done really just added another wonderful layer to this story that is like, just could be just blood and guts, the whole, like fighting the whole way through the train.

[00:09:31] And I really thought that brought something else to it. When did that kind of element come into the story or was that there from the beginning? That was always there from the beginning. Cause, um, really the inspiration for the, for the book was that, uh, like I mentioned, it's, it takes place after the events of the novel. So I don't, I don't know that this is necessarily the Canon sequel to it. Might as well be if you want it to be. It's the Canon sequel. That's for sure. It's the Tyrell Kipling sequel.

[00:10:01] But at the end of the novel, there's always been a part that's really captured my attention. I've said this interviews before, like when they kill him, when they, when Quincy stakes him and then Jonathan cuts off his head, Mina, who he's been pursuing the entire book mentions that like his face has like a look of content and almost looks human again. And I was like, that's really interesting. And nobody's ever played with that. Like people have done tons of stories where he's come back and been resurrected.

[00:10:29] And I was like, what if that was like a reset point for him? And when he came back, he was like, Oh, I fucked up. Like I did some bad stuff. Um, and that's, what's great about the deal. Like the Faustian bargain with the entity in purgatory is like, he doesn't know he's going to go back and have his conscience. Um, and that was just as much as an important thing. Like the action and everything was the big visual hook to pull in, but we wanted just as strong of an emotional hook, which is like, I love all of the things.

[00:10:58] All of the action and the crazy violence that, um, that Tyrell like lets loose with in the book. But I also love all of Tyrell's emotional acting, especially, um, the first issue has been out for a while now. So like spoilers, if you haven't picked it up, but please pick it up. There's a very like horrific scene where he first sees what creating other vampires has done and how it's affected people.

[00:11:20] And that emotional moment was such a hinging point to be like, yes, we have this awesome, huge, crazy action horror set piece. But at the core of it, it's all going to be driven by these types of moments where Dracula realizes like, I wasn't just a monster. Like I was absolutely evil. And now I won't just read the world of vampires.

[00:11:42] Like I need to work for whatever life I have left to make up for what I've done for this, not just to read the world of vampires, but to try to read it of the type of evil that I birthed. Um, so that was always there for the beginning and Tyrell, uh, freaking killed it. Yeah. I mean, I had the kind of stuff that I would drew me to do in the book. I mean, Kenny gave me the pitch and I was kind of like, yeah, but we need more, you know, what's the real story, you know?

[00:12:05] Like, and you know, the, the action stuff is great and I love to do it and everything, but those emotional scenes, they're not only like so necessary for like a reader, but even me as an artist, like you want to have that dynamic in the, in the work. You want the work to give you a chance to draw characters doing different kinds of things, you know, being sad, sometimes being triumphant other times and sort of playing with the whole emotional range with the characters. It's really fun.

[00:12:31] Oh, and you get to do quite a bit of it, not just with Dracula, but I mean, even as he goes through and you have these incredible, sometimes grotesque, like action sequences, this, these like bloody gory scenes. But I mean, the level of fear you etch onto like the, the, the, the faces of the, the Nazi soldiers as they, they take him on.

[00:12:58] And then there's a, there's, you know, the, the setup of this is a bit, it's almost like at the end of every train car, there's like a boss level, like a video game.

[00:13:08] And some, some of those, like the, the priest for lack of a better phrase, like that, that there's a big fight scene between he and Dracula that goes on for several panels, but the grit, the determination, the like, you know, use of religious zealotry, like against Dracula. Um, and then you also have some other like wonderful moments where the two of you paired together in the script. And I think Sean Lee is the letterer. Yeah.

[00:13:38] Sean rules. Oh, uh, the sequence where Dracula describes the difference between a monster and a devil, I thought was such like just all of that really worked such a powerful moment. The closeups in that scene, uh, you know, paired with the dialogue, the lettering, it all really worked really well. Yeah.

[00:13:59] The whole team saying on that point, and that was like that, that scene was like the mission statement of the book of like, we're not asking you to forgive Dracula for what he did, but even he like now with his conscience back is like, what you're doing, what y'all doing is fucked up. Like, like I was a monster. I drank people.

[00:14:19] It was like, but you are creating hell on earth and torturing and murdering people in the name of some stupid, uh, some stupid ruler and stupid doctrine. Like this is worse. Like you have to realize like that this is not even, I would have done that.

[00:14:36] Um, so that was, that was a huge part of it and playing into that and also paying respect to the fact that like, this is a fictional take on world war two, obviously, but we wanted to make sure that all the fantastical elements stayed away from the actual tragedies. So that we were like, no fantastical elements will be introduced into the horrible things that happened to the Jewish people or the concentration camps or the real life battles.

[00:15:03] That's why we made this like a very much like a hell boy or metal gear type story where it's tucked away in its own pulpy corner of a history. Well, that, that scene is a good example because, um, it's a moment where we like tell you the stakes, right? We tell you the stakes from a real world perspective and we have the panel of Hitler and stuff. And like you, you, you show the world the stakes in a way that they can understand.

[00:15:27] And then we, we, we snap them right back because, uh, one of the only things I changed in that scene is at the end of the scene, I think in Kenny, in the script, he said something like he breaks his neck or something. But I was like, I just wanted her a slap. I want a big old slap to just bring us all right, like right back. Like we're back in this world now of Dracula, just murdering people that are bad, you know?

[00:15:48] And so like really just kind of like being able to play with that range because I don't know, I like that, that a book, your piece of art can have like a wide range of, of emotional kind of beats in it. You know, there should be scary parts and humorous parts and parts that make you say, man, that is kind of messed up. You know, like I like that Kenny writes stuff like that, that doesn't like just think, oh, we've got to be one tone the whole way, like some or the whole way or something like that. Oh, yeah.

[00:16:15] I mean, there's just some, there are some of those great elements, but like, like I said, I just keep coming back to, there's one page in particular where when Dracula starts fighting, where I think he puts his claws, his hands or, you know, claws like through the back of somebody's skull. Also like the tips of his fingers are coming out toward the page. Yeah.

[00:16:38] And then I think the panel just to the right of that, he may, he may be tearing someone in half or punching like through them to the front of them. And yeah, the, the, the, the special effect that is in there is like one of those great like splorcher scrunch or something along those lines. And I even love like the, like the panel design. It's all like a little off kilter.

[00:17:05] It's all like of a bit of an angle as we follow the trajectory of Dracula fighting and, you know, juxtapose those with like this, these really like emotive flashback scenes of, of Dracula first coming back. It's, it's, it's really tremendous. Yeah. No, I love that. I'm, I'm really glad you're vibing on that, you know? No, I really enjoyed it.

[00:17:32] I want to talk at Tyrell about some of the other design elements in this. Sure. Cause I'm, I'm assuming with the inspiration kind of, you know, there's so many different Dracula stories, but it sounds like most of the inspiration was like from the original, you know, Dracula novel. But in terms of, you know, laying out the, like the design of the train or I was really impressed by like, by Dracula's outfit.

[00:18:00] Like he just looks cool. I mean, he's done terrible things, but we're kind of like, he's killing Nazis. Like how, I guess we're rooting for Dracula, right? In Dracula versus Nazis. What went into those types of things? Because you have somebody who, you know, a character from the 1890s, it's now 1945. You know, we also have like a military kind of operation. Like what, what thought went into how we're going to, how we're going to lay this out? What is it going to look like?

[00:18:29] What's the train going to look like? How are we going to make this, you know, work? Right. Right. Well, a lot of it starts like when, when I get the scripts from Kenny, by that point, we've probably talked a lot. Like before Kenny wrote a script, I started doing some design work because we had talked about sort of what we wanted to do. And so sometimes we talk, when we talk about what we want to do, we talk about like, okay, this is what we want to do with the story. Other times it'll be like, what do I want to draw on? What does Kenny want to write? Right. And so how can we do those things in the book so that we're actually having fun?

[00:18:59] And I had, you know, I love Dracula and vampire stuff. I grew up on horror movies. And so I wanted to, similar to Kenny, go back to some of the original kind of novels descriptions and then also look at stuff like the black and white stuff. I was looking at the Bela Lodosi film a lot.

[00:19:16] And then from there, I wanted to incorporate more like the anime influences I have and the way that there's always these characters in a lot of anime that have sort of an outfit that's sort of it's like looks cool on the outside, but it's also sort of a clue to kind of what they're like as a character. And so with, with Dracula, he's going to be slightly tactical.

[00:19:39] So I wanted his like cloak to be more like a leather coat, but then you want the touches of the red in there to kind of evoke blood, but then you can add some cool straps and stuff to kind of do the military stuff. You had to have the radio and it had to be kind of visible. So I was like, okay, there's like a little, another little touch point for the design. And I put this like, um, like harness thing on him with like pockets on it.

[00:20:02] And I, it's funny cause when I did it, I did it thinking like at some point he would pull something out or put something into the pocket, but I didn't actually get around to doing that until issue like the very end of issue three, he finally uses the pocket. So I was like, Oh, I'm glad I put that there. This is perfect for right now. Um, right. But yeah, we're looking at anime and things like metal gear.

[00:20:24] And so you just take, it was the idea of taking the idea of like what Dracula was and sort of like making it a little bit more extreme, um, and making it a little bit more sharp. Right. So I wanted him to feel tall, sharp, and sort of like, uh, fast. And then I wanted him to have the coat and especially the long, long, long, long hair because long hair automatically sort of denotes time. Right. Like it takes a long time to grow a long, long hair. Right. Dracula has been alive a long time. He's got lots of hair. Right.

[00:20:53] But then when I do the action scenes, it gives me kind of a couple elements to play with visually to lead things to the panel or have like a visual flair. And so whenever you can add things like that, that are going to give you a kind of another thing to make the action scene be a little bit more exciting. It's sort of, um, Kenny and I both like Hong Kong movies and stuff. And I like a lot of the old Shaw brothers stuff. And they have all those fabric sounds, you know, when they're doing the fights and it seems a little extreme, but it adds to sort of the overall sort of chaoticness of the fight. You have this.

[00:21:23] And so if I can add design elements to do that same thing, I try to do that. Beyond that, with things like the train and other stuff, just like with the script, we start with sort of real world ideas like the Nazi gold train or my train is sort of based on one of a train that was never made, but it was designed by the Nazis. And so you start there. And like when I was drawing the whole train, if I was going to draw something that was the radio car, I might, okay, what's a real radio car look like?

[00:21:49] And then I'd say, okay, that's cool, but let's make ours like a cool looking radio car that is pulpy and like fun to draw. And so it was kind of like taking the real world stuff and being like, how can I make this like more fun to draw and like just look cooler than real life? So, yeah. It's like that My Little Pony meme about like, just make it 10% cooler or whatever. 10% cooler. Yeah. Drack should be like 10% taller, 10% darker, 10% sharper. You know, he's just like, he's a little bit up there, you know, and he looks big compared to everyone else.

[00:22:19] Yeah. Oh, that's great. Well, I really like, I really thought all those design elements, you know, really worked well. The two issues I've read in, and I can't wait for the third one. Like it really is just a ton of fun. Kenny, when you're writing this, you know, you're scripting it and you're trying to balance these big action scenes for Tyrell to draw, but you do want to get those emotional scenes.

[00:22:45] And, you know, some of the stuff that you and I have talked about before when you've been on the podcast and whether or not it was, you know, Archie is Mr. Justice. You know, when you're doing something like this, that is like even more action than that. How do you still find that balance in your work so that you're, you know, able to still tell the story that you want to tell and give Tyrell all this absolutely insane stuff to draw? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:23:14] It's, it's something I always really consider, especially when I'm outlining of what the, what the flow of the story is going to be and what the vibe is going to be. And it's always different for everything. Like no two scripts or stories are going to be the same like shape as like Kerr Vonnegut talked about a ton of stuff.

[00:23:31] Like everything's going to have its own ebb and flow, but especially with something really action heavy like this, I think a lot of people forget is like you care more about the crazy balls to walls action when you care about what the characters are going through. So no matter what big action set pieces we have an issue, we also have to make sure that each leg of the journey has an emotional stake of the characters going through something.

[00:23:56] And I didn't mean to use stake on purpose, but you know, Dracula book, but you know, you want to have those stakes and everything. You want to make sure that it always feels like not just that there's awesome action, but you care why there's awesome action. Like I think some people, some people forget that the, like the reason when we love like a really intense action scene or fight scene is like, it's the note behind the note. It's like the reason we love that is because we love what that character is going through.

[00:24:23] And in this moment they're fighting back or they're trying to survive and stuff. So that balance is always in the back of my head. And if I write something and I feel like it doesn't hit that, I will backspace the whole damn thing and start over. Like, I'm not afraid to do that. I'm not afraid to go scorched earth. If I'm done, I'm like, this isn't working. I did on something recently where I was like, this isn't working the way I wanted it to. And usually I can still get under that under deadline.

[00:24:50] Sometimes I have to tell the editor just like, I don't, I think I can do better. Give me an extra day and I'll fix it. But that, that stuff is always in my mind and making sure that like my doctrine has always been like big action, big emotion. Like the, like if you're going to have big action, you got to have the big emotions and back it up. One of the other things I wanted to ask, just, you know, not just the influence and obviously coming directly from the original Dracula.

[00:25:15] But I've always been a big fan of any type of, you know, vampire story. Like no matter what it was, even the some, even the ones that aren't my favorite. I still think there is something about just the idea of the vampire that there are still just like this new stories being created. Have there, other than the original Dracula, have there been other vampire stories that you have like really loved that really spoke to you throughout the years? You go first Tyrell. I'll let you go first.

[00:25:45] Okay. Near Dark, probably. It's a big one for me. I like the idea of like vampires that are kind of in like the real world and a world that I sort of, you know, I lived in a smallish town. You know, it's kind of like, I like that. That was cool. There's one, there's one called Thirst by Park Chan-wook. That's really, really well done as well. That's sort of like, I don't know. I feel like it gets into the psychology of it a lot, which is really cool. I don't know.

[00:26:14] Those are the first two that came to my mind. Yeah. I really love Near Dark too. That's a great one. It's really good. It's a classic. Love from Dusk Till Dawn. Oh yeah. I'll second that. One of my all time favorite ones. I love too that I was part of the people who like didn't know what the twist was going to be because they didn't advertise it as that. It was just like crime movie and I'm young and I'm like, all right, I know vaguely who Tarantino is and stuff and I'll watch it. Then it's like, it's vampires.

[00:26:44] Yeah. I was like, man, I miss the days where we did a social media where you could just do that with a movie. But I love that. I really loved Snyder and Albuquerque's American Vampire when that book came out. Like read the crap out of that. Love the unique. I was like when someone adds like a cool, unique thing to the lore and stuff, which I thought that was a unique twist on that. But vampire stories in general, I've always Fright Night was always fun. Oh yeah, man. I love that movie.

[00:27:14] Yeah. Actually, I like Fright Night. Like when she turns like, oh man, so cool. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I've always loved vampire stories that are like novels and stuff. Like as a kid, I saw an interview with the vampire because the Anne Rice stuff was huge at the time. Like it's always just been a really fun, cool monster and you're able to do a ton of different stuff with it.

[00:27:33] Like whether it's the really haunting type horror stuff, like the old, like the old hammer films, or if it's the techno sword slashing, you know, version of blade. I was going to say blade. I should have said blade. Blade 2 specifically would be like my favorite probably. God. Yeah. Blade 2. So Blade, seeing Blade 2 in the theater, that's one of the ones where like I'm back and I'm like, I'm glad I saw that in the theater. Yeah. That's good.

[00:27:59] I still can't get over just Dracula versus Nazis like that. Was that, was that alone enough for ICW to green light it or? It's pretty close. I mean, like, yeah. Like when, when Tyrell drew the sample pages, it was just like the bomber dropping the metal coffin as the bomb in the green smashing the Nazis and Dracula gets out. I was just like, I mean, like, I promise you there's a story, but what about this?

[00:28:25] As the, like the teaser and narrowed and our editor, Dave was like, hell and yes. Like, tell me more, please. So that was. I had had those two pages in my, in my portfolio for a while. We had pitched it other places, you know? Yeah. And I had them in my portfolio at shows. And every single time people looked at my portfolio, they're like, what's this? When is this coming out? You know? And they didn't even know anything about it. Yeah. I was like, it's vampires killing Nazis. They're like, sign me up.

[00:28:54] I was like, well, I hope so. You know? Yeah. And so when we got the chance to get to work on an IDW and do it the way we wanted to, where it was like these, you know, I like that it's these thicker issues. And then I got to color it and, you know, we got to do a lot of stuff that was, you know, really nice to have the freedom to do some of that stuff there. Yeah, totally.

[00:29:15] I think too, before, was it before the book was even announced, you had drawn a lot of issue one and we were at C2E2 and people saw it and were just like, they kept seeing you first and then coming to me. Yeah. Because our tables were in different alleys, the artist alley. And they were like, it's like, what the fuck is this Dracula book that you said that you wrote? I was just like, hey, best thing you can do is preorder it, my guy. Yeah. When it gets announced. Yeah.

[00:29:43] That is always the things you have to tell everyone. Like preorder it. Make sure those preorders are important. You know, so listeners, it's always a good reminder that if there's something you love, make sure you preorder it. Totally. And same thing for this. If you haven't gotten on board yet, make sure you pick up issue three and. And preorder the trade. The trade is available. I can't say the trade is available. Yeah. It's great. Yeah. You can preorder it from booksellers and stuff.

[00:30:12] So go out there, get the operation iron coffin. We just saw the design. It has a bunch of like design on my design sketches and stuff in the back. So it's got some extra cool stuff in there. Yes. I mean, I'm excited to see it all in one nice volume. Can't wait. I can't wait for people to get their hands on it for people who got the issues to get it for people who had missed the issues. Like to get the collection, then go hunt down. You still get the issues though. Yeah.

[00:30:39] You still need to get the issues though, because there's spreads all over in there and they always look better in the singles. The spreads do. So I think we have a double page spread in every issue. I think. Oh yeah. There's multiple. Yeah. Because that was one of the best things about having an oversight issues was I was like, we can go. Yeah. Like we have more pages. Okay. More spreads. More spreads. More. In particular, I really liked the, like the beginning of, uh, of issue two.

[00:31:09] We kind of see the continuation of the, the first like big fight that Dracula is in. But yeah, I mentioned this before in terms of your, your paneling Tyrell, but I, I, I really love like with those fights, like the things you do, the off, off kilter panels, the inset panels. Um, and then like the culminate, then there's a flashback and then we get into it, like a culmination of the fight and it just kind of, it's almost borderless. It's really open.

[00:31:37] Um, I just thought all of that really looks great. It really brings the reader into like, you're, you're almost up against the wall of the train watching this take place when you open it up like that. I just, I thought that was excellent. Thank you. That was, that's very astute of you to catch all that stuff. And that makes me feel good. I, I, one of the things I like about the way I make comics, the reason I make them the way I make them is because I really do think there's a lot of comic.

[00:32:06] Like fans and readers and other artists that really just understand the medium. Like, like there's a high level of like understanding of how it works. And so people appreciate those things when they see them. I think that so many artists aren't given the time to do those things. And I'm glad that we had a little more time because doing all those kinds of things, like thinking about what is an action scene look like compared to a more dramatic scene, but how can we tie those two together?

[00:32:31] And what kind of paneling is going to make the people sort of feel these emotions, whether it be a scared Nazi soldier or like a sad mother? You know, these are things that, you know, that's what the magic of comic is, is like using all those little tricks that you just mentioned or techniques and sort of crafting them into this thing that can kind of have like a big emotional swing. So I'm really, it makes me feel good that you, you mentioned all that and I feel very flattered. Thank you. Sorry, Kenny. I'm, I'm still talking to Tyrell.

[00:33:00] Give him the spotlight because without him, this book does not exist. No, no, no. No, because we didn't really talk about it and we're, you know, I, I don't want to, I don't want to keep you guys too long for this, this episode, but we didn't really, we haven't talked about the color work because Tyrell, you colored it as well. Right.

[00:33:19] And one of the things I liked about it is, especially as we go from issue one to issue two, but you know, I, I think anyone who I'm 47. So anyone my age or like in that area who has, you know, maybe grown up when they were younger and seeing world war two films and there, there's definitely a certain look to that period.

[00:33:45] You know, maybe it's because of the color of the uniforms or those, you know, there were black and white films. And then even with the color films, it tends to be more of like, it's, it's about a war. Like it's very, it's very drab at times. Um, even some of the movies can be like, you know, too saturated, but your color work in this, especially in a lot of the fight sequences, like your, your backgrounds are oranges and yellows.

[00:34:10] And, um, there's like this, not just the, the blood red from all of the, the viscera. Um, but you, you, you use almost like a, a, a mauve or magenta at times as well. Um, especially around like Dracula's like outfit, or that's like some of the, the special effects are colored in that as well.

[00:34:33] And it just gives such a different look to this book that, you know, um, I, I feel just really sets it apart from, you know, any other type of book that would be set in the same 1945 time period. Just feel like it's really well done. Thanks. I, I, you know, I'm sort of, I still feel sort of new to coloring.

[00:34:55] Sometimes I, I, I've colored stuff before, but everything I've colored in the past has been my own stuff that I also, um, wrote, you know, just like my own independently published things. And for years and years and years, like, I guess a lot of people are just meeting me now, but I've been making comics for a long, long time, but everything that I was doing in the past was a lot of black and white, you know, small mini comics, things like that. And so when I started, uh, coloring, it was very foreign to me.

[00:35:23] And I think my, my original impulse was to do sort of what you're talking about and color it like, you know, a desaturated world war two movie or something. Right. But, you know, once we sort of set the tone to be more of a little more fantastical, it just, it opens up a lot of doors to just kind of let the colors be really, really bold so that it separates it from reality a little bit more. Um, and then in the scenes where you want to feel a little bit more grounded, you can ground the colors a little bit more. And so that was sort of just my guiding two principles right there.

[00:35:52] And then beyond that, I just want big contrast on, on a, on an action scene. Right. So if something big is happening, I want it, I want it to feel like a, like a punch when that happens, you know, and, and the color can really accentuate that. Whereas if you color everything really naturalistic, it kind of deadens some of those punches and stuff or those. Viscera coming out and like blood, there's so much blood in the book. So I had to change the color here because it just is like, you know, I'm a horror fan.

[00:36:22] And, and I remember in, in evil dead too, on the commentary, I was listening to it. They were just like, we just had to have more colors of blood. Cause it was just so much blood that we knew we were going to get a bad rating if we had, you know, all red blood everywhere. So it was green blood and black blood. And, you know, so I kind of did the same thing there. I was like, well, how can we make this a little more interesting? And, and then you give each character their own colors, right? So like Dracula has his colors. And, you know, when you go into the car with the priests, the spear, he's kind of got his colors.

[00:36:50] And then you can kind of just make them fight. It was pretty fun. So I'm, thank you. I'm very flattered, but I had a lot of fun doing it. Yeah. It's, it seems like it. I mean, I had a lot of fun reading it. So that's, you know, for listeners that have, you know, followed along and read issue with one and two, is there anything without, you know, without spoiling it? Any, any teases for issue three, that's going to be out September 30th. Ooh, big teases that won't spoil anything.

[00:37:19] Um, we definitely don't let up on the brutality. So it's going to, it's going to keep rationed up to 11. We're going to, we're going to get some more big, like some of my favorite emotional big moments are in this, in this issue, even wrapped up in the climax. And I think that we, like, we set out to make a book that was like high octane the entire time, both action and emotion. And I think that this perfectly does that.

[00:37:48] Uh, and, and I, I am so happy with it and I can't wait for people to read it. It feels like, um, you know, I was thinking about, I didn't say this to Kenny, but I was thinking about this the other day, uh, talking to a friend of mine, how obviously like, I'm not saying this is what we are. Right. But like, it feels like a Mad Max movie, right? You're just like, you're like the, the end is like this crazy final big chase battle, whatever, you know? And, and, and so there's explosions and there's everything. Here's a non-spoilery teaser.

[00:38:18] That cool guy hanging up in the double page spread in the first issue, we get to see him again. So there's a little, a little teaser. Oh, okay. The vivisected vampire. Yeah. The vivisected vampire. Yeah. Yeah. He's coming back. I don't know what. He's coming back. I don't. If you use a lot of reference photos, Tyrell, I don't want to know what your search history is like. Yeah. Yeah. Right. I mean, when you're a comic artist, your search history is pretty, it's very odd.

[00:38:50] Before I let the two of you go, is there anything else that you have coming out that you want to, or, or anything that's been out before that you want to let listeners check, you know, tell listeners to check out? Sure. Um, on my end, uh, I've also got the Superman series coming out, Superman father tomorrow. Um, I think we're on issue four just dropped where we introduced like our new Batman and Robin, which is really fun. And issue five is coming up next month.

[00:39:17] And then power Rangers unlimited too, which I think is on issue three coming up as a recording of this. That's a, that's a heist, like a fun heist issue where they steal a Zord from a evil auctioneer. So I got those coming out and then I'll be at New York comic-con this year. Tyrell too, we'll be there. So we'll be get to rep iron coffin in New York city. Um, or taking it over, man. Where'd they're dropping us from iron coffins right to the heart of the city. They didn't tell us there's any padding in there though.

[00:39:46] So I don't know if we're going to survive the trip, but, uh, you know, just wash your head, walk it into New York comic-con to the Javits center in case they're doing a publicity stunt with us. Um, but yeah, those are, those are the big things I got going on. Awesome. Um, I, uh, mostly want people to go to my website and, uh, tyrell cannon.com and anything you want from my back catalog that's still available is there. And there is original art there from operation iron coffin. There's variants there.

[00:40:14] Um, but there's also all of my old work, a book I did recently called Eris, which is, um, if you like all the violence in, um, operation iron coffin, you'll really like Eris. Um, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's like iron coffin and that there's action, but there's scenes with probably, I don't know more characters on a page than I've ever drawn anytime before or since. Um, so check that out. I'll be at New York city comic-con. We're going to be doing sign in IDW booth, but I'll also have a table there all weekend.

[00:40:42] So people can come by and grab stuff from me there. And then, um, I sporadically maybe once a month, twice a month, I do YouTube streams, um, on my YouTube channel. So if you go to YouTube, you search for Tyrell cannon, you'll find me there. And, um, the last one I just did is a page by page walkthrough of the original art from issue two. I did one for issue one as well. So if you want to see what the original art looks like and hear me talk about kind of the process of making it, um, you can go check out my YouTube channel. Awesome. Yeah.

[00:41:10] I'll make sure there's links in, uh, for everything in the show notes so they can check all that out. And, uh, yeah, and I'll, I'll be at New York comic-con, uh, too. Oh, cool. So this is my, my first time going to New York comic-con. So I'll, yeah, I'll have to track you guys down and, uh, and, and say hello. Um, well, uh, Kenny, uh, Tyrell, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I just loved operation iron call from, I cannot wait for this third issue and, and see how this all ends and listeners. Yeah.

[00:41:39] I mean, this is it. I mean, it's everything I said. It is, it is so much fun, but it is a very interesting take on the Dracula mythos. And I really think you're going to love it. So there'll be links in the show notes. As I said, you can, uh, order the trade if you hadn't had a chance to get the issues yet, but I'm sure you're going to be able to track down the issues. And yeah, if you're at New York comic-con, go track down, uh, Kenny and Tyrell at the IDW, uh, booth.

[00:42:08] And, um, yeah, shout out to my brother, Bobby, the cryptic creator corners. Number one, most dedicated fan Bobby listens to all my episodes. Uh, Hey Bob, how you doing? And, uh, yeah, thank you guys so much for comic book Yeti. I am Jimmy Gasparo and, uh, thank you so much for listening. Uh, good night and I'll see you next time. Jimmy is too humble to do this. So as his stalwart ride or die, I wanted to tell you about his new graphic novel,

[00:42:36] Penny and the Yeti with artist Amber Aiken. What started as a comic short with his daughter that I've known about for ages now, and it's evolved and has become one of those annoying can't talk about it in comics things for too damn long. Yes, I'm predisposed to be supportive, but after reading an advanced copy of it, I have to admit it's way better than I anticipated. No shade, but it's really good. Remarkably so. Does it have a Yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable? Yeah.

[00:43:05] But its strength lies in effectively tapping into the all too familiar family dynamics that we all are facing in 2026 and approaching it in a way that doesn't insult the book's target audience. Kids! They are way smarter and perceptive than we adults give them credit for. So I really appreciated Jimmy's narrative approach tapping into his own experiences as a dad and a spouse. I can hear his wife saying, get off your phone, Jimmy, through the pages. She's going to kill me for saying that.

[00:43:33] It's hitting shelves on April 21st, and I dropped a link in the show notes where you can preorder a copy today. Yeti or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fenton, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent Yeti. On behalf of us both, we appreciate your support. Yuhu-wuh-wuh-wuh! This is Byron O'Neill, one of your hosts of the Cryptid Creator Corner, brought to you by Comic Book Yeti. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast.

[00:44:03] Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff. It lets us know how we're doing, and more importantly, how we can improve. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast, Into the Comics Cave. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.