Luis Godoy II Interview - This Eternal Coil

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[00:01:29] Head to 2000AD.com and click on subscribe now or download the 2000AD app and why wait? Start reading today. I'll put links in the show notes for you. Hello and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I'm one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo. And I have a very special guest on the podcast today. You know, I say that a lot that I have a very special guest. I feel like all my guests are very special, but this this guest is very, very special.

[00:01:55] He's been doing work for Comic Book Yeti, which we always appreciate when folks want to come on board and talk about indie comics. But we've kind of been in the same circles on social media for a while now. And it's so nice to get to talk to him on the podcast and especially about his upcoming Kickstarter campaign for this eternal coil. So please welcome to the podcast, Louis Godoy. Louis, how are you doing today?

[00:02:25] Doing pretty good. Thanks, Jimmy. Yeah, I really appreciate you. You coming on the podcast as always. I appreciate the stuff you've been doing for for Comic Book Yeti. You know, like I said, we've kind of been in the same circles in on on social media for a while now. So, yeah, I was excited to see this eternal coil is is going to be on Kickstarter.

[00:02:50] It's you, Julio Suarez, Michael Myers, Ian Mondrick, who is lettering it. And then you got covers by Marcus Jimenez and Amalus Rosa. Yeah. If I said that last name correctly. I think so. OK, so let's just jump jump right into it.

[00:03:09] And, you know, we'll we'll we'll I want to make our way to like why comics and, you know, that to get into like why you love this so much, because I assume that everybody loves it. Who has to want to make comics because it's really hard. So talk to tell listeners about this eternal coil, which will be a link in the show notes. Your Kickstarter will go live May 4th. Um, so what is this eternal coil like all about?

[00:03:38] Well, it's a story about a guy, a father who's grieving his wife who died a few years prior to the start of the story and the struggle he went through grieving, trying to process the grief where he it caused him to be have a rough relationship with his daughter, who's now an adult.

[00:03:59] Um, and but part of what adds to that is that when his wife died mysteriously, the world became immortal. Nobody could have babies and nobody could heal from anything at the same exact time. So it's it's a big mystery miss with some family grief and stuff like that. Okay. So from the moment, uh, and Abraham's your main character, right? Yes. Okay.

[00:04:27] So from the moment, Abraham's wife dies for whatever reason, death does not become is no longer, I guess, a going concern. But also there's also like, like, uh, children of men that there's no babies being born as well. So we have a real, like whatever, whomever is on the planet. Like this is it. That is it. Yep. That's it. Okay.

[00:04:52] And so as Abraham's trying to process this, I mean, is he also going to be digging into the, like the mystery as to what is actually taking place? Yeah, that's, that's where we start the story where he's, he's still, it's been a couple of years. He's still trying to figure it out. Nobody in the world has figured out why, but he's still investigating going to where stuff happened.

[00:05:14] He's investigating, he has this little, uh, conspiracy board, uh, that he, he, uh, puts his information on and it just caused him, but he, but it came at the detriment of his relationship with his daughter. Yeah. So that's what. Yeah. I saw the preview that you sent me and, you know, it's, it's, I really found it interesting, you know, cause you kind of open up with his daughter and I'm assuming her like husband or partner.

[00:05:42] Um, it seemed like at the, the, the, the mom's grave site to, you know, like they're there. It's clear. It's the anniversary. This is what they do on the anniversary of, of mom's passing. And, you know, dad's nowhere to be seen. And then we kind of go over to see what, what dad's doing. And, um, yeah, very evident that he is not doing well.

[00:06:05] And, um, I'm a big fan of Julio Suarez's work on like the twin blades, um, that he did with, uh, Jared Lujan. Uh, and really love the work that I've seen so far from the preview of this eternal coil. Uh, you know, it, it's, it's really great. And you, he does a very good job in terms of kind of, you know, you don't need a lot of, um, there doesn't need to be a lot of expedite exposition to see that Abraham is.

[00:06:34] He's, he's going through it. Yeah, no, it definitely, uh, Julio pulls all of that off really well. The emotion, the setting the scene and everything. He, it's great what he's done so far and stuff that you, not everybody has seen yet. Yeah. And I, I mean, I also want to bring up and you can talk about it to whatever extent you want to, but it does seem like a story. Like this is a very personal story.

[00:06:57] And you, I think are very upfront in terms of like the, the Kickstarter page itself and, you know, the preview page and talking about this is kind of born a lot out of you processing the loss of your father in 2021. And also you had, I think it was your sister-in-law tragically passed away back in, or in, in 2015 and unbelievably tragic circumstances. Yeah. That, um, is definitely a big influence on it.

[00:07:23] Uh, it, I didn't fully realize until I finished the story. And then I was rereading the outline and I was like, Oh crap, that's what this is about. Like it just, it came out naturally through the writing it. Right. Like almost subconsciously you're processing these things and it comes out in your writing. And it is interesting sometimes when you think a story is about one thing and you get to the end of it and you're like, Oh no, this is about something else.

[00:07:49] Um, so when you didn't set out to make a story that was kind of processing those things when, when you first started to, to write, you know, this, this eternal coil. Well, yeah, go ahead. No, no, I definitely didn't. Yeah, no, initially the, the idea I came up with was more of a battle of the underworld kind of story.

[00:08:10] It was like a more like a tournament based, like maybe like Dragon Ball where it was a bunch of, a bunch of different, uh, uh, afterlife underworld type were fighting for the last living soul or on earth. It was the last person that was going to die. There was nobody left. It was the last person they're all fine. Okay. Well, who, who gets the soul basically? And then, uh, after I had that down, uh, kind of a plot out, set out. And I, I saw that Ian, uh, Mondrick was, um, saying, Hey, I'm offering editing services.

[00:08:40] Well, how soon can I reach out? Like I've only got basically just a plot, nothing else, no script, no real set, anything set in stone. He's all at any time. So, uh, I reached out, he checked out what I written down and he asked a couple of questions. And then after, after I was like, okay, well, let me look at these questions. And I kind of rewrote. I was like, Oh, you know what? This doesn't work with what I want to do. And so I rewrote, rewrote, and then came up with something that ended up at least the basis of this. Yeah.

[00:09:06] At the time it was called this immortal coil, but now it's this eternal coil. So, and then, so from, for over a course of about six months or so, we went back and forth, like edits and he asked questions and I expanded stuff and everything. And then by December started in June, 20, 23, 22, 23, June, 23 to December, 23.

[00:09:31] We worked on the script for, and the whole outline, uh, for about six months and then, uh, reached out to Julio February 24. And so he's been working on it since. Oh, wow. And so what, what, um, what's the total length for, for the comic for this? Uh, this one is 20 pages. Okay. Uh, I believe if, um, the way I have it set right now, it should be about total, total of four issues. Okay. Yeah. So, but that's what I, right now I already have the second issue written.

[00:10:01] Um, who hasn't started that yet, but I'm still working on the first, the finishing up first one. Yeah. Um, but that's where it is right now. Oh, great. Yeah. I, I, like I said, I, I think I first came into contact with Julio's work on, uh, twin blades. And then I think he'd also did the work for the followup twin blades of blood and obsidian, right? Yeah. Uh, which are, you know, fantastic comics. So that's, that's pretty exciting. Um, to have the two of you, you know, working together on this.

[00:10:29] Um, I'm excited to see, see more from, from Julio. So, well, there, there's definitely, um, cause obviously that has a lot of Hispanic, Mexican, Aztec influence on his, this term, uh, sorry, twin blades. Yeah. Uh, that was part of the reason I reached out to him just specifically because of that. Cause there are elements that are coming later in the story that have a lot of that influence. There's especially near the end. If you, I don't know if you saw on the Kickstarter page, one of the sticker kind of reveals a character who shows up later named Slater.

[00:10:58] And, but I haven't mentioned any, anywhere other than a teaser about him. Oh, nice. Yeah. I was, I was going, I was going back through, through that and looking at all the things. I love all the covers by the way. Um, they're, they're all really good. Uh, Marcus's cover in particular is. That, that green is just so vibrant. Yes. Yeah. And again, though, that if I'm not mistaken, seems to betray a little bit of that Aztec influence. Yes. Yeah. Okay.

[00:11:28] He based it, uh, his, uh, cover. I gave him some of the, um, the work, uh, mockups, not mockups, um, preliminary designs of characters. So I sent it to him. He, that's what he pulled from there. And he used that one as a, is the, the character in the background is the same one you see in the first page two and three. Okay. Yeah. That guy, uh, in the, in the cage. Yeah. And the kid, the one who's kind of like, yeah, you don't get it. You don't have too good. Uh, of a look, you know, by design, but, um, yeah.

[00:11:58] Yeah. So you'll see a more in, uh, I, for what I see issue three right now. Oh, cool. All right. Um, one of the things that I thought was, was interesting, um, you know, be in terms of processing grief and like everybody has like their own way to do that. Um, including not, you know, including not processing it, which it wasn't, isn't the

[00:12:22] healthiest of ways, but you, you had said in the Kickstarter was like kind of, you got to a point with the passing of your father. Uh, and at some point in time had set up, uh, an ofrenda, which is something we see Abraham's daughter. Is it Elena? Yes. Yes. Oh, okay. Yeah. We see her doing, um, and you said you had never had set one up and had never done that before.

[00:12:50] And I was thinking about that in terms of, you know, because whether or not it's individually or, or culturally how folks process grief, was that, was that a custom like that you had grown up with and had gotten away from, or was it something you came to later? Later. I had never done it before. Um, I've heard of it and seen it. Like my, my wife's mother has always done it.

[00:13:17] She has a, her little, uh, ofrenda with her pictures of her family members. She actually has Kobe on there out of every Kobe Bryant. Yeah. Yeah. Really? I figured that's the event. I was just, Oh, he has Kobe on there. Yeah. She has Kobe Bryant, including with all her, her brother, her father and all the other people, but Kobe there too. Okay. Um, so she, yeah, she's had it for years, but then after my dad passed, like, I kind of like got more interested in what the significance of, of it was.

[00:13:45] It is more of a Hispanic Mexican, more specifically Mexican, um, cultural thing. Yeah. Um, so I looked into it more and I was like, okay, let me do this. So like this, this seems like something that would be appropriate for me to do. Yeah. Um, so I, I set it up, uh, what two years ago now or three, I can't remember now. Uh, but I did it right. We've, I think yeah, 2023. So this will be the third year if I do it again. Okay. Um, so I set it up, have my, my dad there, my uncle, my sister-in-law, my grandma and,

[00:14:15] um, I think one of the person I can't remember off the top of my head right now. Um, set it up, my wife helped me and got it up. So I've been doing since for the last two years now going to, and I'm going to continue doing it this year. And do you think it's, I mean, not just helpful or, you know, in terms of a reminder of those, those folks in your life that have passed on, but having, having a kid, right.

[00:14:40] Do you think it is helpful is not the right word that I'm looking for, but, but, you know, in, in terms of having that connection and like, you know, cause as kids get older, you know, especially when they're little, they don't, you don't know to ask a lot of questions, but when you have something like that set up and I have to think like, oh, that's kind of a, like a, almost a, a daily reminder or how often it is there of the other people

[00:15:06] that are missing from your life, but can spark memory conversations to your, your kid as they get older. Like, is that happen a lot? Like, have, is it, is it more of a reminder? Is it, is it easier to process when you kind of have something like that set up in the house? I think so. Um, it does, um, not necessarily need a reminder, but like, it does help when, um, you have your child ask like, oh, who's that?

[00:15:35] Like, cause they, like my son, he never met my dad. Right. He was, he was, uh, six months old when he, sorry, six months old when he passed. So, um, for him to ask and it's, um, definitely a meaningful to, to have him like, so I can explain to him who he was. Yeah. That has to be really tough to have basically your son born and your, your dad pass like in, in that, that same timeframe.

[00:16:00] I mean, unless your dad's like a real piece of crap, but you know, it doesn't seem like that was the case. It was. Yeah. No, uh, no. But at the time, uh, my dad had been, it was in Mexico. So, and it was during COVID when everything was strictly kind of before the vaccine was out. So it was still everything. You can't go, you're not supposed to go anywhere. Oh yeah. We, we didn't make the trip to Mexico where he was. And so that's why he never met him. And all of a sudden he passed. I was like, oh, there's now he will never. So it's like, it definitely was a hard thing.

[00:16:30] That's what it, uh, after I wrote the story and the ending definitely, um, reflects this, that situation. Had your dad lived in Mexico like all his life? Uh, no, actually, uh, from 20, let's see, 2005. Yeah. So 2005, he, uh, he got deported. So. Oh, real? Oh, geez. Yeah. I'm sorry. No, it's, it's, it is what it is.

[00:16:57] I mean, I'll stay, I'll stay out of the political part of that part of it. But yeah. I mean, you don't have to, but we can, we can go wherever you want. Uh, but no, I mean, that's. And so from 2005, he had, he had lived in Mexico. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. What was your relationship like with your dad? Oh, we were always close. Like, um, we, uh, I grew up with my dad. Um, uh, after my, my parents split when I was really young, like eight, nine years old.

[00:17:25] But we, after that, we lived with my, my dad the whole time, um, through high school, college and part of college. And then all of a sudden he got deported then. Yeah. Oh, wow. No, we were always close. Like, yeah. And there's still stuff that, uh, um, we always had like Star Trek in common. Okay. We watched every Star Trek series and like cartoons. And yeah, my dad was always, we're always together. Okay. I have two other, uh, two brothers and a sister also, but I'm specifically me. Yeah.

[00:17:55] Um, where are you in the, the sibling pecking order? Uh, second out of four. Okay. Okay. I have a, I have a sister who's, uh, about nine years older than I am, uh, brother four years younger and then another one six years younger than me. Okay. Yeah. All right. So you and your dad had, so Star Trek in common, I'm assuming was that something that he introduced to you that he had liked and introduced to you when you were little? Yeah.

[00:18:21] I remember, I mean, or like watching the next generation, which I think started in the late eighties or early nineties. I'm not sure. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So I only know that cause I just got done listening to Patrick Stewart's, uh, memoir. Oh God. I was like, dude, that was really specific. Uh, yeah. So we watched it pretty much the Star Trek onto D face nine Voyager enterprise and so on. And then nothing for you until recently. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:18:50] Well, um, I, as a Star Trek fan myself, I'm always kind of curious, um, you know, especially with, uh, the, the, the generation that, you know, was familiar with the original series and then a next generation, but like, you know, um, what was it, do you think about Star Trek that captured both like your and your father's imagination? It has to be the, the, the, the tech, like obviously it's the future, but it's like, it

[00:19:18] seems, I wouldn't say realistic. Cause obviously there's some of the stuff that not realistic at the moment, but, um, it seemed that something that could happen like in the future, like you'd be traveling in spaceships and, uh, and people living in space and born in space. And the technology is people have everyday life. Yeah. I think we're a big star sci-fi fans. Okay. Definitely. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.

[00:19:43] I, um, my dad, um, I mean, he, he, I, I'm the oldest of, of three and, um, my dad's I guess 68 now. Um, but, uh, yeah, my growing up the things that I think his biggest influence on my brother and I in particular, maybe not so much. My sister was my, my father's love of two things, uh, Bruce Lee and the three stooges. And so I always like, um, I always think of like, uh, I haven't probably watched a Bruce

[00:20:12] Lee film or three stooges in years, but, um, I feel like I know those movies and those three stooges shorts like so well. And every once in a while, like my dad will do something that reminds me of, uh, you know, one of those things. And I'm like, what, what, what a profoundly weird kind of thing to pass on. Yeah. Especially in the three stooges. Almost completely opposite things. Yeah. Uh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:20:42] The fighting and then the slapstick. I guess maybe there's, there's some type of common thread there. So, but I'm always curious with like parents and, and kids, especially, you know, fathers and sons kind of what, um, the things that, you know, they, they pass on to us and that we'll pass on to, to, to our kids. I try and get my, my two daughters to watch like anything that I was remotely interested in and they just have no desire. Yeah. Zero. Zero.

[00:21:10] It's my, I have a 12 year old daughter. She's the same way. I try to show her stuff and she walks, she'll get five minutes. This is boring. Like it hasn't even started. I know there's movies must move. I like at such a much faster pace or attention spans are less. I don't, I'm not smart enough to know what, which it is, but, um, yeah, I had to make a deal with my oldest, uh, with Charlotte who was also 12. My kids are 12 and seven. And I really wanted Charlotte to watch, like, I think back to the future was like a huge

[00:21:40] movie for me as a kid. It was like, I just thought it was such a great movie. Although there might be some by today's standards, some, some, some issues with it, but I basically had to make a deal with her and she wanted something. And I said, I only, if you agree to watch backs of the future with me, I was like, I feel like a terrible. That's what it takes. Yeah. That's what it takes sometimes. She still hasn't watched it yet, but she said she will. So fingers, fingers crossed. It's, it's, it's going to happen. All right, everybody.

[00:22:09] We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. Let's face it. The comics landscape is a mess right now. I'm the editor in chief of a comics journalism outlet, and I can't even keep track of it all. If you are as passionate as I am about indie comics and its creators, you should check out the Lantern guide created on the premise of creating light in the dark. It's going to be the go-to resource to keep you up to date on the projects and the creators that you love. Don't take my word for it. I reached out to my friend, Brian Lovell, Poison Ivy artist and indie comics creator to get his take.

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[00:24:59] I'll drop a link in the show notes for you, and big thanks to Arkenforge for partnering with our show. I think I'm going to make Jimmy play a goblin warlock just to get even. Welcome back. To get back to this Eternal Coil, and you start out to write one story, it kind of becomes something else. When you get to what it is you're actually writing about, like you work with Ian editing, and you kind of get to that place to tell the story.

[00:25:31] How long had you been trying to write and put this together? Did you and your father, in addition to Star Trek, share writing or comics in common? Not exactly. It's funny that that one you bring up. He had this one story he talked about for decades. Never actually, he wrote it down several times. He talked about it, but never, beyond just talking about it and writing it in a couple

[00:26:01] pages here and there, never did anything with it. Just so happened, my sister was cleaning out some paperwork recently, found a 15 pages of a story he wrote, and I'm going to, the plan is to make it happen, actually make it into a comic, because that's what I want to do. Really? Yes. Lewis, that's awesome. Yeah. What a phenomenal opportunity. Yeah.

[00:26:30] He did have, he was definitely creative in different ways. He, randomly sometimes he would, in one wall of our house, he'd paint a mural of something. It was always random. One time he painted Spider-Man, a big Spider-Man mural, but he did something funny. He purposely put the spider on Spider-Man's chest upside down, because he said, anybody who sees it, if they're a real fan, they're going to notice that.

[00:26:58] So, he painted a Spider-Man mural, but like, not necessarily an Easter egg, but intentionally did something just for, so he could like, like a test as to who were the real fan. Yeah. Oh, wow. He definitely, yeah, he loved painting on the walls, but it was never just too, it was just for fun. He just did it. He would paint a wall, something he had like, he had like when an asset princess,

[00:27:25] or something on one wall, or an eagle flying over a lake. Like, he would just paint it, and then that's it. He didn't have it on his wall for months, years. Wow. What was he, like, I mean, did he ever take a class, or trained, or was it just all self-taught? Just self-taught, as far as I know. He never took a class that I was aware of. Oh, wow. Yeah. So, he had his own thing, but he just did it just because. Yeah.

[00:27:51] Just writing, like the writing though, he just did everything by hand. Just so he had a little notebook or whatever. Not a, just, actually not even a notebook, just spare pieces of paper, just stacked together. It wasn't even a set, like a notebook you would have a notepad or anything. But yeah, so I do have that, those pages. I mean, I've, it's, he wrote, he wrote in cursive, and his cursive, plus he had poor spelling. Okay. So, it's kind of tough to, you're like, okay, what word is he trying to write there?

[00:28:22] Okay, let me, because I'm retyping it right now, so I can read it easier later. Yeah. So, but it's, it's, I've been working out little by little here and there with a few minutes of straight time. And so, I'm sorry, I just, was this, I know you said you had, you know, had come across it again. But was this like a thing he had ever talked about to you before? Yeah. He talked about it for decades. Oh, he did talk, okay. He mentioned it. He's, oh, I got this, this. He tells the story. It was called Hologram Man.

[00:28:52] It was basically like an undercover spy with, he'd have like these, I don't know if it's sensors or machines that would make him either appear however he'd want to or go invisible. And so he would, that was, he was, that was at least the general story that he told the guy who was a random scientist, found this guy. He, he made him, he made him a secret agent. And yeah, it was a funny story.

[00:29:19] But yeah, it is, this is the most extensive version I've ever seen that he's written. Cause he had like three pages here, but he, every year, every night of the year, every time we'd find it, it'd be like the different pages. Not the exact same like paper is, but the, the, the story was like 90% the exact same. Oh, wow. So, um, I do have that. And I'm, that, that is a plan probably in the next year or two to, uh, do that all a hundred percent myself with the exception of maybe colors.

[00:29:49] Um, cause I don't, I don't feel comfortable doing digital colors at all. Okay. I could, I've done it and, but I never liked what I come out with. Inking I'm okay with the digital and, but not, uh, not coloring and lettering is okay. Yeah. So do you have a, like an art background as well? Yeah, I do. I do actually have drawn my own stuff before my own pages. I did have a, uh, a one page short in a, an anthology during COVID.

[00:30:17] It was a homebound anthology. Uh, actually have it on my wall right here. One, the one page I did and actually was going to be in the smash anthology from, um, foreign press. Yeah. Kyler Merrill. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I was going to be in that and then just, it didn't get off the ground. And so I still have all the pages I did. I had about eight pages. I did actually with Jared. Um, he was the writer on that. I ended up getting paired with him, but I have those pages, but I never, they never went anywhere.

[00:30:47] Cause I know where to go. Yeah. Wow. So, I mean, I think they're decent and at least for someone relatively new, but I'm definitely going to, whatever they come out with, that's, that's what the comic will be. Awesome. Yeah. It's interesting that you kind of found, you know, Ian to work on, you know, as an editor for this eternal coil, because, you know, Ian was on the podcast in Mondrick was on the

[00:31:12] podcast recently to talk about, he put an art book together of his, his, his father's work and a lot of times I think his father would just like doodle these pages and just leave them all over. And like Ian, I think Ian and his mom kind of gathered them all up and they put out mongoose, you know, recently. Um, yeah. It's a great book. Oh yeah. I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's wonderful. His, his dad's drawings that the art book, you know, is, uh, amazing.

[00:31:41] Um, I, I think it's funny that, that I think it was Ian that said he didn't think his, his, his dad would be, I don't know if he used the words like too impressed or his dad would like the fact that they were putting like an art book out because he just did it, you know, to do it. But, um, it's great stuff. And it just to kind of think that, you know, you're, you know, someone else here who has, has found this writing that their, their dad did and is going to kind of, you know,

[00:32:10] get it out there in the world. I just think it's beautiful, you know, it's, it's, cause like, it's, like I said, this is the most pages I've ever seen of the exact same story. Cause most of the time it was like two, three pages like here and there. And then this one is, it was 15 pages or 14, 14 or 15. I was like, Oh, I got to do something with that much to work off of. Yeah. No, there's no way. Cause I mean, it'd be tough to do something off of two pages or three pages, but like 14,

[00:32:37] you can definitely, most of it will be stay intact, obviously with some, maybe some parts expanded to fill out a comic page. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I, uh, in addition to sci-fi was, was, was your dad like a comic fan? A comic book or? He never, not as far as I'm where, I mean, he, he actually was the first person to buy me, the first comics I ever had, which was back in like, I think second grade. He wasn't too much into comics specifically.

[00:33:04] Like I was, he was a fan of superhero, but like he never read comics as far as I know. Yeah. And so where does your, like, uh, where does your interest in comics, uh, come from then? It started with the animated series, X-Men, the animated series. That's where it came in. And then, uh, then it became, I got my comics and I had comics pretty much for a few years. And then I took a big break and then in, I don't remember when it was. Yeah.

[00:33:32] So it was that, so I took a long break and then, um, from comics. And then when X-Men forever was coming out, I, with, uh, by Claremont, when he came back to Marvel for, I guess, an extended break. Yeah. And then that was, I started collecting that. And then from that point on, I pretty much been collecting ever since. And, um, which is now going on what? 14 years or so straight. Yeah. Something like that. What got you into indie comic?

[00:33:59] It, uh, I've, I've had, uh, interest in it for a while, but I never took the leap until, um, it was 2021 or 22 when, um, the Mad Cave was doing their talent search. Okay. So I, I thought, okay, maybe let me try doing this. So I, I put something together and then Jared again, uh, he said, Hey, uh, anybody who wants to, um, I'll check out your script and give you some feedback. I said, Oh, okay.

[00:34:29] And so he did. And so everything, but basically since then, like since 2021, 2020, or sorry, but 2019, 2020. Sorry. That's what, that's when it was right before COVID. Yeah. Uh, it was, came out and shut everything down. So I, that's when I, um, been working on stuff, but it, this is the first time like a full comic, uh, that I wrote will be coming out for other people to read besides a couple of people. Right.

[00:34:55] I did make a, uh, a short comic, uh, in 2021 called soy para zero. It was a four page story about an ice cream man who, uh, he's competing with another new ice cream man to the neighborhood. Yes. I remember that. Yes. Yeah. That, that one is, is, uh, the first book thing that ever got printed that I ever wrote.

[00:35:23] Cause my first comic I did, it was only a one page, but it was only digital only. And then, uh, this one was the four pager that I actually got printed. I printed it out and sold it to a couple of family members for two bucks. Uh huh. Yeah. So something tiny. Yeah. Was it, I, I, I remember, I mean, was it also online? Did you post it? Yeah. Yeah. I posted online. It was online first. That must have been where I saw it. Cause I remember that. Yeah. Yeah. It was online. It's a funny little short, but yeah. Oh yeah.

[00:35:52] Uh, that's awesome. I, I mean, I, I, I got started the, you know, writing or trying to was, you know, the 2020 mad cave talent search. I was the, you know, I was just, I just interviewed this past week, Mark London. And I was telling him hit Mark. I was just like, yeah, I've spent five years now that I've been writing, you know, trying to write some short comics. And it was all because of, of mad caves talent search. Um, had you been at your, you have your book out right now and kickstart. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:36:20] That, and then, you know, more, more to come that I can't, I can't talk about right now, but, but you know, there'll be, there'll be more, you know, down the pike, but, um, it's awesome. Thank you. Um, yeah. So, uh, had you been a fan of, I mean, I'm assuming being in like online in the circles to being in the place where you would see about the mad cave talent search, like, were you reading a lot of indie comics then, or was, were you still more Marvel or what were you,

[00:36:50] where, where did your taste lie? It was mostly Marvel. Uh, I, it was almost exclusively like 80% of it. But then as at that time when I started to see other books out, okay, let me like, I was actually looking for other stuff. And, um, I, that's when I started buying any indie image, uh, mad cave, most, a lot of that, a dark horse ahead in there. I mean, there's all sorts of stuff now. I can't even name all the published different publishers I buy from.

[00:37:20] Um, but sometimes too much as I look over at my, my read pile over here. Right. We all have one of those, uh, an embarrassingly big to be read pile. Um, yeah. Yeah. So, but I, I do now make a point that Kickstarter books get priority and they get read first and then everything else afterwards. So, no, I think that's a good practice.

[00:37:45] I, yeah, I try to do the same way because I, I like, you know, not, not that I have like a big following on, on social media, but you know, if there's anything I can do to like help, you know, get somebody's book out there that I really like or, you know, especially with crowdfunding and, and, you know, and, and kickstarting comics, it can be, you know, really tough. Yeah. And there's nothing, you know, now having done the Kickstarter, which is almost done

[00:38:13] as we record this for made in Delco, you know, yeah, there is just something about somebody reading something you've done and saying like, I really liked it. Or I like, you know, just, it's, it's fantastic. It's a wonderful feeling to feel like, oh, I've made something, you know? Yep. Yeah. No, like, uh, it's definitely, it's definitely, uh, I liked it. That's why I try to at least, if I get a book, I try at least post it when I receive it. Sometimes if I make it like extra attempt, like, oh, I'll write something about it.

[00:38:42] But generally for sure, like, Hey, I got this. This is your book or kind of thing. Like I just posted that yesterday. Cause I got the last week or so or two weeks had been really hectic. So I've been, uh, didn't open any of them. So, okay. I had like five to open. I'm like, Oh, like, like, like, yeah, this one right here. Yeah. Oh, the, uh, slices of life. Lices of life. Right. They banned, they banned pizza. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:39:07] Like by, um, my brother, Bobby, uh, shout out to Bobby, the cryptid creator corners. Number one, most dedicated fan. Bobby listens to all my episodes and Bobby actually just, uh, FaceTimed me when his copy came in because you can put your name in the book, I guess is like, you know, the thank you section. Um, so, uh, if you take a look at that and it says Jimmy's brother, that's, that's, yeah. Bobby, Bobby put his name in there as Jimmy's brother.

[00:39:37] Is it, is it back here? Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think he's somewhere in there. It'll say Jimmy's brother. But, uh, he, he said that, yeah. So he, he, uh, he listened to that episode. Yeah. And all four of them on one for that one or four or five people. Yeah. I, I, I'd fill up games, Mario and Matt. Right. Yeah. I think that's, yeah. Yeah. They were, they were all on and then, and Bobby back slices of life. Uh, so, yeah. Yeah.

[00:40:05] It's, it's, I, it's a really awesome. I, I think in the comics community, you know, um, I, I feel folks are very supportive, very willing to, to help. Um, even if it's just, you know, moral support or as a cheerleader or some folks that really, you know, will, you know, do what they can to kind of help newer creators, you know, kind of find their way. Um, we, I'm Jared's name has come up a few times, but like Jared's done a ton for a lot

[00:40:35] of folks in the, in the community. Oh yeah. Yeah. And he, I mean, like he did for, um, Sparrow, Sparrow, it was the book, I think. Yeah. Yeah. For Kara. Yeah, absolutely. He had the, uh, yeah, she did the, the, uh, fulfillment. Yeah. Yeah. Make sure that. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Absolutely. Um, well to get back in to a little bit more talk about this eternal coil. Mm-hmm. And, um, what do you hope, you know, people who are going to back the book and read it,

[00:41:04] like, do you have any hopes about, you know, what they get out of it? Like if somebody reads it and, you know, you're one day at a convention and they're like, oh, Lewis, I, I, I, I back this eternal coil. And this is, what do you hope the response is? Do you, have you thought about that? Uh, no, but I'm thinking of, but like, I couldn't imagine what, cause like, like for me, when I wrote, like I said, when I wrote it, I didn't have the intention of writing what I did. Yeah.

[00:41:34] But then it came through. So you, I, you can never know what somebody will pull from whatever you wrote. Like, even if something you didn't intend to be like, oh, these, they, uh, I, uh, I didn't intend for that, but that's awesome. Um, I, I hope it, it helps other people possibly with the grief. Uh, I mean, if, if it does anything, um, I mean, there's, it's not, obviously it's not strictly a grief story.

[00:41:59] There are, will be some action and there's in later there's a, but that, that's a, the through line throughout the book is, it's kind of in the back, not the background, but like kind of almost like a twin narrative kind of thing. Yeah. So, cause it, it, well, going back to the story, it, uh, Abraham, uh, does take a journey. As I say in the, I think on the Kickstarter, he takes a journey literally through the underworld, but his, his daughter does not. So that there, it'll have both stories going on.

[00:42:28] Abraham and Elena have their own kind of, it'll go back and forth between their stories. So it's not solely about Abraham. It's also about Elena's, uh, way of process, way of processing the grief. Right. What did, um, what was it like trying to, you know, whenever you have a story with a dual narrative, which I always find interesting, or even stories where, you know, you have

[00:42:52] a big cast of characters, like one of the more difficult things is to kind of like find that balance. Um, was that something that you had a good sense of early on or that you really worked with through like the revision and editing process to kind of get that balance right? It was through the revision. Um, it helped that, uh, this, um, Ian suggested that each character have someone to play off of.

[00:43:19] So they had to have, um, someone to talk to, otherwise they're just talking to themselves. And it's, so when you have that, that, the banter helps, um, the story. So they each have their own small cast, uh, of characters, generally just two of each. It, that's what, that's where, uh, Slater came from. Okay. With that talk. Yeah. He came because of that. Okay. I need some, something to, uh, to someone to go with him. And so that's where Slater came from. Okay. Yeah.

[00:43:46] Although I did like in, in the, the, the early, I don't think it's on the Kickstarter page, but in the, um, early pages from the preview you sent me when Abraham is kind of talking to himself and looking through the fridge, like, uh, what a very human moment where he's just, you know, saying out loud, like nothing in, you know, fridge door open, nothing in here, but I'm still looking. Wonder if these leftovers were going bad. I'm like, yeah, we've all been there, buddy. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

[00:44:13] That was, uh, I think in the script, I told Julio, um, that, that very next panel, he should, he's got to look like he's a meerkat. He's a who? Yeah. So that was, um, that was a close part to add in. Yeah. Do you find like when you're writing, um, you know, I, I think this is talked about in a negative way a lot with like big two books when you'll, you'll hear somebody complain

[00:44:41] or someone will unfortunately go viral with like, Oh, all these writers nowadays are just doing self inserts for my superheroes. And I'm like, well, I don't, I just think that's a way of complaining that you don't like the story, which is fine. Not everything's for everybody, but no, I do think it's true. Like they say, write what you know. And I feel like a lot of writers will put a little bit of themselves in either certain characters or certain situations, or even if it's just a matter of like, you know, um, perspective.

[00:45:12] Um, did you, do you feel like that's the case or is this a story that you've, you've kind of wholly separated yourself from? I think that there's elements in depending on the character. So it's not full, it's not like I'm, I'm Abraham. There's maybe elements of me there, but there's also LME and Elena too. And also, um, uh, mainly the, obviously both of them, but like my part of me is there, but it's not solely me.

[00:45:39] It's that me and another story that I know or someone, someone else's story kind of mixed blended as well. Okay. Um, so it's, there's, it's correct to a degree. It is self insert for, for, for this story, but, um, it's not like a hundred percent. It's, it's, I'm writing myself. Yeah. All right. A lot of it came from whatever the character, how I wrote it and all of a sudden how he would react to that situation.

[00:46:05] And then, you know, for, because I do hear from, you know, a number of other creators are people starting out that, that listened to the podcast from time to time. And I, I just, you know, because this is, uh, I guess, well, it's the eternal coils first time on Kickstarter, but it was like the immortal coil. Um, you know, rejection is like a huge part of starting out, like writing comics, whether or not you try to get into an anthology or like the mad cave talents or, you know, and

[00:46:33] it's, it's tough trying to do stuff on your own and, and have your, your book funded. Um, what do you think is the biggest lesson that you learned for anybody else that's thinking about going to crowdfunding or kickstarting route from, you know, having something that maybe didn't reach its funding goal and then, you know, trying again with the campaign. What, what do you think has been the biggest learning curve for you in doing that?

[00:46:56] I, I just, um, how much you have to let people know that it exists. Like there, there's so much, um, there's stuff that people I follow, I have, uh, their newsletters and whatnot. And, and still, I was like, Oh, how am I, I'm just now finding out about this. It's like, I, there's no way I've missed this. I'm, I'm, I'm online too much. And I, I missed it.

[00:47:24] So if I'm missing it, definitely, uh, somebody else is going to miss if you're not talking about it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now you just have to, right. You have to be, I, I do think that's true. Like you have to be an annoying, you have to be a bit of a shameless self promoter and like, you're like apologies up front to the people that have like seen it again and again, you know, like when I first, I mean, it's made in Delco is just wrapping up as we record this and like within the first week or so I was trying to like, you know, you get the buzz

[00:47:52] going, like, you know, almost like the Simpsons episode, like Gabbo is coming. Gabbo is coming. You know, like just you're saying it over and over again, like made a Delco, made a Delco. One of my friends was like, yeah, we get it. And I'm like, yeah, you do. Yeah. But like, but you're fighting so many things and not just like quote unquote the algorithm, but like everyone's attention for everything else. And it's like, yeah, I'd like to have this thing happen.

[00:48:18] And I, it's not just that I'm throwing out, you know, garbage to get your 10 or 20 bucks. Like, I, I think you'll like this and I think, you know, it'll, you know, so. Yeah. You never know when somebody's going to see something. Yeah. You'll get, you'll pull something out and then also you get a notification. Like, oh, so-and-so liked this thing. It was like, that was like six days ago. Like how did they just saw it? Like how did they just barely see it? Yeah. It's, yeah, it's now it's, it's, it's true. You really, you really do have to do that.

[00:48:47] That's, that's a good point. Um, but, uh, well, Lewis, I, uh, really appreciate you coming on the podcast today. I am excited for this eternal coil. I can't wait to read the entire thing. And, uh, you know, we'll have links in the show notes to everything. I really appreciate the work that you've, you know, come on board and are doing for, for comic book Yeti. It's wonderful to have you around and, and have you involved.

[00:49:13] And yeah, I mean, I, I, it has, it must be, you know, on a serious note, it must be very difficult to have had, you know, to have a close relationship with your dad and have him pass essentially, you know, the same time your, your son is born and not have them meet. And, um, you know, even if a little bit of those feelings and that emotion that you were able

[00:49:36] to channel to something like this, I just think that is kind of an awesome thing. Like in the way that you're sharing, you know, a little bit of yourself and as a creator, I just think that's, you know, incredible whenever we can, we can do that. You know, I did like acting when I was in college and community theater. And I, a friend of mine always used to quote, I think it was Spencer Tracy.

[00:50:03] Who would say that acting is looking the other guy in the eye and telling the truth. And I think whenever you can do that, whether it's acting or, but you know, whenever it's with a story, whenever, whatever it might be, where you can kind of make a connection with somebody and especially take something so deeply personal. And even if you imbue a little bit of that into your story, I, I think that's, if there's any real magic in the world, that's what it is. Right. So, um, I wish you the best campaign. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:50:34] Thank you for the interview. No, uh, you know, whenever you get the next one off, when you, you turn your dad's story into whatever it ends up being, please. I'd love to have you back and talk all about it. All right. Awesome. Thank you. All right. So for Comic Book Yeti, uh, I'm Jimmy Gasparo. My guest has been Louis Godoy. Uh, it's this eternal coil. There's going to be a link in the show notes. Check it out. Back at Julio Suarez's artwork and colors are wonderful.

[00:50:59] It's got Micah Myers, Ian Mondrick, and you got a three different covers to choose from. And, uh, I really think it's going to be a wonderful story. I've seen like an eight page preview. I can't wait to see the rest. Uh, so yeah, you find me on, you know, blue sky, Tik TOK, wherever I am, let me know what it is you're reading. And, um, hey, thanks so much for listening, rate and review us. Byron tells me all the time. I got to remember to say that. So please do that. It actually does help us. And, um, thank you very much for listening. See you next time.

[00:51:29] 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. 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.