Pots and Panels Anthology interview with Brad & Lisa Gullickson

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Your ears do not deceive you. You have just entered the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you by your friends at Comic Book Yeti. So without further ado, let's get on to the interview.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_02]: You ever been to a martial arts tournament like this?

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_02]: When I was a kid, there was a used bookstore in town. I begged my mom to drop me off all the time. They had a loose stack of comics that I used to thumb through searching for secret gold.

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_02]: One day, I came across Daredevil 189. That's that Frank Miller cover that's iconic with Dee Dee flying through the air and a hail of arrows.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_02]: The book was a complete snobber knocker throwdown with the hand and Stick sacrifices himself to save Matt at the end.

[00:00:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Ever since that moment, I have loved martial arts comic books. So when fellow Yeti Alex Green reached out about his Kickstarter project From Within, I was excited to find out more about it.

[00:00:44] [SPEAKER_02]: It's a 240 page martial arts revenge graphic novel about a slave fighting his way through a deadly tournament where the rules shift according to the whims of, you guessed it, a tyrannical emperor.

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Full of high impact fight sequences, it's sure to delight any fan of action focused fiction.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Artist Renzo Podesta kills the genre. See what I did there? And the whole project is already complete.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_02]: So the hardest part, the one that makes you wait is already done. Bounce on over to Kickstarter and search for From Within. I'll drop a link in the show notes to make it easy for you. Make sure to check it out.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Y'all, Jimmy the Chaos Goblin strikes again. I should have known better than to mention I was working on my DC Universe meets Ravenloft hybrid D&D campaign on social media. My bad.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_02]: He goes and tags a bunch of comics creators we know and now I have to get it in gear and whip this campaign into shape so we can start playing.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Another friend chimes in, are you going to make maps? It's fair to say it's been a while since I put something together so I guess, question mark?

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_02]: It was then that I discovered Arkenforge. If you don't know who Arkenforge is, they have everything you need to make your TTRPG more fun and immersive.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Allowing you to build, play and export animated maps including in-person Fog of War capability that lets your players interact with maps as the adventure unfolds while you, the DM, get the full picture.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Now I'm set to easily build high-res animated maps saving myself precious time and significantly adding nuance to our campaign.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_02]: That's a win every day in my book. Check them out at Arkenforge.com and use the discount code YETI5 to get $5 off.

[00:02:23] [SPEAKER_02]: I'll drop a link in the show notes for you and big thanks to Arkenforge for partnering with our show.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_02]: I think I'm going to make Jimmy play a goblin warlock just to get even.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Hello and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I am one of your hosts,

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Jimmy Gasparo and I have two guests with me today and we're here to talk about the first comic that they script that they've written for an anthology that's going to be coming out on Kickstarter.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Pots and panels. It sounds like it's going to have a lot of great comics in it from a lot of different creators.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_04]: I think it's going to be over 400 pages when it's all said and done plus recipes.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Yay!

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_04]: And but they also are some of the best comic book interview podcasters in the apps in the business.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_04]: But please welcome to the podcast Brad and Lisa Gullickson.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_04]: Brad and Lisa, thank you so much for joining me. How you doing tonight?

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_06]: Oh, we're doing wonderful. Thank you for having us, Jimmy.

[00:03:17] [SPEAKER_06]: It's a real pleasure to be here talking pots and panels, comic book couples counseling and whatever else you'd like us to blather on about.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_01]: It's really wild to be on a comic book podcast promoting a comic by us.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: It is absolutely wild. Yeah. And we are trying to savor the moment with you, Jimmy. We're savoring. Yes.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, please savor, savor away.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah. I mean, because you've you started comic book couples counseling, which is your podcast in what, 2018?

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, the December 3rd, 2018 was the publication of our first episode.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Wow. That's like that. That's incredible.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_04]: And I mean, do you know, do you do you know the number? Do you know how many podcasts you've done for comic book couples counseling?

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, I we just recently hit 250 without noticing.

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_04]: I think we're at 256.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_05]: OK, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_04]: For for for listeners who are not familiar for if that is even possible.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, I I love the podcast. I don't get to listen to it as much as I'd like to just for, you know, timing purposes.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_04]: But it's one I subscribe to.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_04]: I think the interviews you do this this past like September have just been, you know, phenomenal.

[00:04:40] [SPEAKER_04]: You've had some amazing, amazing guests with Christian Ward and Scott Snyder and Alex Ross on.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, just some incredible guests. We had an incredible guests all of September, all bangers.

[00:04:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. And we had a great time.

[00:04:58] [SPEAKER_01]: We love how it came together.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah. Really proud of the last.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_06]: I mean, obviously, we're proud of the whole podcast last five years, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_06]: But the last two months in particular, I feel like Lisa and I have, I kicked it up a notch.

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_06]: And I like these are some of my favorite episodes that we have ever done.

[00:05:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, that's I mean, I just think I love both of your energy.

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_04]: I love how the two of you kind of like work together in with the podcast.

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_04]: I want to talk about pots and panels, but just a little bit more in terms of comic book couples counseling.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_04]: So it initially started as I think your first episode all the way back in December 3rd of 2018.

[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_04]: You started with Scott and Jean, like with like a comic book couple and kind of, you know, you did a few episodes.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_04]: I think originally that was like the beginning of it about the those two characters.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_04]: That was kind of like the start of it. Right.

[00:05:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Our origin format was we would do couple sessions where we would pick a comic book couple like Scott Summers and Jean Grey.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we would pick a pop psychology self-help book to pair with that couple so that we can counsel them and give them advice with with the self-help book is kind of like the anchor.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's still I to me, that is what comics comic book couples counseling is.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I love those couple sessions.

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_01]: But now we've been doing a lot more interviews, but the spirit, the spirit of improving ourselves through reading comic books, improving our marriage, improving our collaboration through comics has always been there.

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah. And I think that like any podcast is going to evolve over time and that's just natural.

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_06]: But we have not given up on the counseling session.

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_01]: We are technically mid session with with Scott and Emma.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we're in the middle of schema.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, yeah, we will get back to it.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_06]: And we did also do an episode on the four brothers of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the 40th anniversary this year.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_06]: But primarily this year has just been interviews.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_06]: But I like to think of our interviews also as counseling sessions as well.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like Lisa and I approach interviews in the comic space in a different way than a lot of other podcasters.

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_06]: And I yeah.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_06]: I yeah.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And we trick the creators into counseling us and helping us become better people.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_04]: No, I think the format, the original format is wonderful.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_04]: I kind of like to see, you know, every time I dip in and either because it's a creator, it sounds like a fun topic, like whatever it might be.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_04]: I kind of love the evolution of it.

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_04]: I just I think the two of you just have a really great fun, like energy together.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_04]: And I think you really that dynamic brings out a lot in creators that maybe a typical interview podcast doesn't, which is what I really appreciate.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_06]: Thank you.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_06]: Thank you.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_06]: I do feel like as Lisa said, comic book couples counseling revealed itself to be a counseling session between Brad and Lisa.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, well, that's nice, though.

[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, we would rather read some comics than then get real help.

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, I mean, look, there's a certain bit of escapism that I think is is necessary for one's mental health in in comic books.

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_04]: But, you know, it can a little be there's no replacement for, you know, therapy with a professional.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_04]: But discussions and talking about these things that we like and trying to improve ourselves can be therapeutic.

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think and I think fiction is a backdoor into actually talking about ourselves.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_06]: I mean, all narrative, really all storytelling, which is not something that I necessarily believed five years ago when we started.

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_06]: But through these conversations that I've had with Lisa, I've really developed my relationship with comics and books and movies.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_06]: And I feel like ultimately what is happening when I pick up a comic book is I'm just finding myself in that book, whether that is absolute Batman or mutts or, you know, the uncanny X-Men.

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_04]: You two also seem, you know, when I the few times that I was lucky enough to meet you, I were lucky enough to meet you.

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, thank you.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_01]: At Baltimore Comic-Con.

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_04]: No, at Baltimore Comic-Con.

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_04]: You always seem so, you know, friendly and positive.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Are there secretly a lot of skeletons in the closet?

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Is that?

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I guess.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I guess the skeleton in the closet is I have an anxiety disorder and I'm like a lot of my friendliness is like a defense mechanism because I am.

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a frightened little kitten on the inside.

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_06]: But I think, you know, comic book conventions are our favorite places to be on the planet.

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_06]: And so we are at our most happy when we are at comic book conventions.

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_06]: I think we're also just humans.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And we're also fans of you.

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_01]: We love to see you online.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_01]: We love to see you in person.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_06]: Of course.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_06]: We are people and people have their good days and their bad day.

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't I don't you know, I won't reveal any skeletons quite yet.

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I'll tell you my skeletons, though.

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I have boundary issues.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_01]: So.

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, like, yeah, that I didn't really want you to reveal anything.

[00:10:44] [SPEAKER_04]: It was more like a pit.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_04]: I know.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, that was like you asked that question.

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_04]: And then I should have known as a lawyer, you never ask a question you don't already know the answer to.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_06]: So here's my dead ex-wife.

[00:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: No such thing.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_01]: That's in jest.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_04]: So, well, let's let's let's let's jump into talking a bit about pots and panels.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_04]: I think I first heard about this.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_04]: The Chuck Satterley, who's it was an early guest of the podcast.

[00:11:14] [SPEAKER_04]: I really like Chuck and his work.

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_04]: He was on when he kickstarted like a new bound edition of bitter souls that he had done some years back with the art artist who since passed Norm Bray Fogle.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_04]: And I had a wonderful time chatting with Chuck.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_04]: I know there's a couple of other folks involved in kind of like putting the whole thing together, but kind of what just tell the listeners a little bit about other.

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, what else?

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER_04]: What can they can expect from pots and panels and kind of how you two got involved in it?

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I mean pots and panels is a comic cookbook anthology.

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_06]: It is 400 plus pages of comics and recipes and has an incredible table of contents with folks like Phil Hester and Andy Parks and Tim Seeley, Steve Niles, Hillary Barta, Neil Clyde.

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_06]: Like the list just goes on and on and on.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Wow.

[00:12:08] [SPEAKER_06]: And we were invited on to the onto the project.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_06]: They reached out to us and they said, hey, you know, like, do you think you have like a food related story that you would want to tell?

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_06]: And Lisa and I have always fantasized about writing a comic, creating a comic.

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_06]: And early on in our marriage, we did dabble with some comic strip ideas that just never came to fruition.

[00:12:34] [SPEAKER_06]: And, you know, once somebody says, hey, join this anthology.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_06]: And I immediately went to the website that they had built for it and just looked at that table of contents.

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_06]: And I said, well, you would be crazy to say, no, I have no idea to be a part of a lineup like this.

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_06]: You know, the idea of seeing our names next to these people was too tantalizing to resist.

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_06]: So we're like, yeah, we can come up with an idea is I think the first thing I messaged back.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_06]: And then Lisa and I talked for like 10 minutes.

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_06]: And by minute 15, Lisa had the idea.

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_06]: And I wasn't really comfortable with that idea.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_01]: The way I presented it is, oh, do you know what this should be about?

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to hate it.

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And he was like, OK.

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_01]: OK.

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_01]: But and and I told him the idea.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01]: And he's like, you're right.

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I hate it.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to have to think about it.

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_06]: Well, I don't even think I said that.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_06]: I think I said, no, no, I'd rather come up with something else.

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_06]: And then I spent like the next 24 to 48 hours desperately trying to come up with a better idea.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_06]: And I just put it and I found my nerves around the concept that Lisa had come up with kind of tantalizing.

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_06]: I said, you know, when you're scared of something, maybe you should run toward that, even though philosophically I have never done that.

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_06]: I tend to be like, OK, let's just keep that fear over there and ignore it for as long as possible.

[00:14:11] [SPEAKER_04]: And I mean, I don't want you to give, you know, too much away about it, but was I mean, I guess was the idea with.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_04]: The comics and the recipes, because I was involved in comics from the kitchen and it was, you know, similar.

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_04]: The idea behind that was a food related comic and then something about, you know, the food in there would would there would be an accompanying like recipe.

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Was Lisa's idea because it was based on like a real event or memory that you didn't want to try and like put us, you know, put down on paper?

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes. Our short story is a memoir from our actual lives and it has to do with a vegetable related phobia that Brad suffers with.

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_01]: OK, so I have my like I've always been a person who has been struggling with her mental health.

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_01]: When I was in high school, I went through a really scary bout with depression and I carry anxiety with me everywhere that I go.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And and that in a dating life, you know, that is can be pretty repellent, you know, like.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, it's hard to really get close to someone when they're crying really loud, you know, and ruining things.

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_01]: So when Brad and I started dating or just hanging out, we weren't even dating yet.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I had a panic attack in a diner.

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_01]: We we both worked at Barnes and Noble and we'd all gone out to have, you know, have drinks and hang out.

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And I became wracked with irrational fear to the point where I had to lie down in the diner, like flat on the bench.

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's the and it was the kind of thing where I, you know, I go like, oh, this is the last time we're hanging out, you know, and it didn't scare him away.

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And I just thought that that was just amazing.

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely amazing.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_01]: So when Brad's phobia started popping up, I was like, oh, this is something I can I.

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I've this is something I recognize and can help him deal with.

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_06]: And like it would come up.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_06]: It would come up in the sense that, like, you know, does your mom make these with this particular dinner?

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_06]: Because I don't want to see him on the table or I want to be prepared if I am going to go have dinner with your folks.

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_06]: And these vegetables are going to be on the dinner dinner table.

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_06]: And Lisa would then tell her mom, you better take these off the dinner table.

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_06]: But don't add this to the meal because I'm bringing a boy over and he's a freak and really scared of it.

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_01]: It's funny because like I don't treat it as something that Brad should be ashamed of to the point where he's like, can you please stop bringing it up in conversation?

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, this is a fun and interesting fact.

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER_06]: And he's like, no, actually, I don't want to spoil what the vegetable is, because I think that's kind of the joy of the story.

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_06]: But, you know, I've had this thing since, you know, before memory.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_06]: You know, I don't know life before having this phobia.

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_06]: And it was something that I was incredibly embarrassed about.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_06]: And I would try to correct the phobia or ignore the phobia.

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_06]: And I just never could shake it.

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And spoiler alert, he still has it.

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_06]: And I still.

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_06]: And then we do a whole comic about where I have to look at the thing.

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_06]: And I'm just like, I don't like this.

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm not going to own these pages.

[00:18:03] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_04]: I, you know, I mean, I understand, you know, phobia is any type of irrational fear.

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_04]: I guess what the interesting, the thing I'm finding interesting, and I'm very curious to read the comic.

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_04]: I can't, you know, wait to back it and see, but that it's, I would associate most like food phobias or like an, even like an aversion to food that wouldn't get to a phobia being more with like a taste or a smell or a texture.

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Like it sounds like it's visual.

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_07]: It is.

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_06]: It is 100% visual.

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_06]: It is shape based.

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_06]: And if I see this shape in other item, it will trigger me also.

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_06]: And so like what the comic is, is it's all told from Lisa's perspective.

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_06]: And the first page does open on that date in that diner while she's having that panic attack.

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_06]: And it's illustrated by Gerald Von Stoddard, who has this very rich horror aesthetic that absolutely captures the terror that Lisa experiences.

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_06]: And then eventually the terror that I experienced through my phobia.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_06]: So it's Lisa, it's her point of view, first person, learning about my phobia, trying to understand my phobia.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_06]: And in doing that, both of us becoming more and more bonded, basically, through communication and understanding and empathy.

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Because everybody has their weirdsies.

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think sometimes, you know, in a romantic relationship or if you're wanting to get romantic with someone, you kind of tuck your weirdsies away.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_01]: And I want to encourage people to just be open with their weirdsies.

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Because if the relationship goes the direction that you wanted to go and you become closer, they're going to find out anyway, right?

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Because that's the thing.

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_06]: Like you're dating.

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_06]: You're trying to perform.

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_06]: Be cool.

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_06]: You're not going to bring up your vegetable phobia until maybe, I don't know, a year in.

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And also, you won't be acting naturally.

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_01]: If you're Brad or Lisa and you're trying to be cool, it will not come across.

[00:20:21] [SPEAKER_04]: That's true.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_04]: That's true.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_04]: No, I mean, I certainly think there's a lot of merit in terms of like not hiding your weirdsies, as you've called it.

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, I think there is, like you try and present your idea of like your best self.

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_04]: And I think for a lot of us, we consider our best self the one that like has all, like that hides all the weirdsies.

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, and like we hope, you know, it's like hopefully this person will like me and then I can bring out these things that, you know, make me me.

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Like I've dealt with anxiety my entire life.

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Finally took my wife's advice and talked to my doctor about medication like a couple months, you know, I think not even a year ago.

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_04]: And at 45, it's it's the probably the best I've ever felt in terms of anxiety starting on a medication.

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_04]: And my wife was like, you don't have to feel like this, you know, every every day when I would wake up on a Monday morning and I just called it the dread.

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_04]: Every Monday morning I'd wake up and I would I would just I'd wake up probably an hour before my alarm would go off automatically and would just lay there.

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_04]: And I called it like the dread.

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_04]: It's because I know as soon as I get out of bed, the day starts.

[00:21:34] [SPEAKER_04]: And I know six o'clock I actually have to get up.

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_04]: But like from five and six, I just sit there.

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_04]: And like I would for me, I would feel better once I got to work and got in my office.

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Once I was in my office, I felt like it was like my not to use a comic book reference, but my fortress of solitude or my back cave.

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_04]: I just felt, you know, I like Green Lantern.

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_04]: So it was my OWA.

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_04]: And yeah, but that finally went on medication and have, you know, it's anxiety has been like a lot better.

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_04]: So, you know, big thank you to my wife.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_04]: But the point being like because of my anxiety over the as soon as I became a lawyer, it started with like blinking and I would blink and then that would go away.

[00:22:20] [SPEAKER_04]: And then I develop like like right now.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_04]: I do this a lot.

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_04]: I hate it.

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, this is not a visual medium.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_04]: So listeners, I like to rub my thumb between my two fingers.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Actually, I don't like to do it.

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_04]: It's just a terrible habit that I do.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_04]: So, yeah, I always try to like hide those things.

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_01]: So I do.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_01]: So here's my weird hand thing.

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So I take my pinky and then I just fit all of my other fingers around it.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I just do that and undo it.

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_01]: We're the same person.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And close it again.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, yeah, it's like a weird jellyfish.

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And I guess my pinky is like the jellyfish's dick.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_01]: And they're like covering, covering up.

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's just shy.

[00:23:02] [SPEAKER_06]: You've never said that to me before.

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Because I just saw it in the Zoom camera.

[00:23:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And I was just like, the metaphor works a little bit.

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_01]: You have to visualize.

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[00:23:12] [SPEAKER_01]: But I don't know how fish work too.

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_01]: So keep that in mind.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_04]: I don't know how that works.

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_04]: No.

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_04]: But my point being that we all, I get it.

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_04]: We try and hide our weird stuff or, you know, our anxieties, our phobias.

[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_04]: But yeah.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_04]: Like, sometimes it would be more refreshing.

[00:23:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Just like right out of the gate and be like, hey, this is it.

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_04]: This is me.

[00:23:34] [SPEAKER_04]: You're going to have to deal with this sooner or later.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Or maybe not deal with it.

[00:23:39] [SPEAKER_04]: But you're going to have to accept this if you like all the good stuff.

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_04]: You know?

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:23:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And also, like, with Brad's thing, like, it would be weird.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, I noticed it.

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I saw it.

[00:23:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And it would have been weird for me to not feel compelled to help.

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_06]: What's going on over there?

[00:24:00] [SPEAKER_01]: What are your eyes darting?

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_01]: We make it look so concise in the story.

[00:24:05] [SPEAKER_01]: But it was literally, it took years of going like, this is totally okay.

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:24:12] [SPEAKER_06]: You know, like, out of these 400 plus pages, our story is actually only seven pages and then a page of recipe.

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_06]: Right?

[00:24:20] [SPEAKER_06]: So it is very much a short story.

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_06]: Originally, they gave us an extra page.

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_06]: But we're just so darn good at writing.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_06]: We're like, we don't need it.

[00:24:28] [SPEAKER_06]: Wow.

[00:24:30] [SPEAKER_06]: We'll just take the seven for the story.

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_06]: And, yeah, like, it, you know, it covers 17 years in those seven pages.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_06]: But I don't think you actually even know really how long that whole process goes.

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_01]: You can tell because my hair changes.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Changes length.

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_06]: It was fun to send Gerald photos of us throughout the years.

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_06]: And Gerald did such a good job of replicating our outfits.

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_01]: That it was a little bit uncanny.

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_06]: That's awesome.

[00:24:59] Yeah.

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_06]: I was like, oh, no, those are our shirts.

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I was like, oh, my goodness.

[00:25:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Someone has found our Facebook.

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_04]: That's, no, I love that.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_04]: That's tremendous.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Let's take a quick break.

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_02]: After a string of unexplained disappearances in the southern parts of the United States,

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_02]: retired Detective Clint searches for his white trash brother.

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_02]: While searching for him, he ends up being abducted by aliens.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_02]: He is now in the arena for Big Guns, Stupid Rednecks.

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_02]: That's the premise for a new book from Banda Barnes, Big Guns, Stupid Rednecks.

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_02]: I got a chance to see an advanced preview of this book.

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_02]: And being from the south, honestly, I was a bit skeptical going in.

[00:25:57] [SPEAKER_02]: But they won me over and nothing is more powerful than an initially skeptic convert in my book.

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_02]: In Jimmy's words, Big Guns, Stupid Rednecks is many things, but it isn't subtle.

[00:26:07] [SPEAKER_02]: It tells you exactly what it is up front.

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Then it delivers with a great premise, fantastic art, and a whole mess of fun.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_02]: I had a great time reading Big Guns, Stupid Rednecks.

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_02]: And what I thought was going to be an indictment of redneck culture quickly showed it was actually a love letter.

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_02]: A family mystery, brother pitted against brother, aliens, fighting for profit in a big arena.

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_02]: This truly has it all.

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Issue one is out already, but you can still pick up a copy on the Band of Bards website.

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_02]: And current issues are available via your previews or lunar order form.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Or just ask your LCS.

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Don't miss it.

[00:26:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Let's get back to the show.

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_04]: You've read so many comics and done so much for the podcast.

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Did you?

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_04]: And I mean, you've written so many different things.

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Like, you know, I'm familiar, you know, with Brad's work for Film School Rejects and, you know, other sites that he's written for Diabolique.

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_04]: And then you've both done a lot of writing for the podcast as well.

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Did you?

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Did you?

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Did it come natural to, like, do a comic book script where you're like, ah, this is we get this.

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_04]: We've read enough.

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Did you ever have to look at any samples or, you know, go to the back of one of your omnibuses and see if they had a sample script?

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_06]: Totally.

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_06]: It was actually a script.

[00:27:25] [SPEAKER_06]: So, like, obviously we've read scripts in the past and we've, you know, we love the whole process of making comics.

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_06]: But I've never really, like, gone like, okay, now let's sit down and write our own script.

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_06]: And so that was a learning curve unto itself.

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_06]: And we can talk about that in a little bit if you want to.

[00:27:47] [SPEAKER_06]: But when it came down for me to actually write the script, I pulled up Tom King's script for the first issue of Love Everlasting and just looked at it and gone like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:27:59] [SPEAKER_06]: This is what I remember a script looking like for a comic.

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_06]: I got this.

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_04]: And then what was the learning curve part of it?

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_04]: What was, like, was it working together or was it more so something else about either getting the dialogue or pacing, right?

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_01]: So we found out that we work best when we actually work apart.

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So the way we did this script was kind of divide and conquer.

[00:28:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Since the story is told from my perspective and all of the captions are in my perspective, I took the captions and any word bubbles that were used.

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_06]: Except for one page.

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Except for one page.

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_01]: That was purely Brad's.

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And then Brad took all of the, like, descriptions.

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And then what we did was a page description.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And what I did was Pomodoro Method.

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Do you know Pomodoro Method?

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_01]: The Pomodoro Method.

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_01]: That tomato?

[00:28:54] [SPEAKER_03]: That's a tomato.

[00:28:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_01]: It's named after the tomato.

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's named after the little, like, click timers, you know, that you would have in the kitchen.

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah.

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, where you set it up and it goes tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_01]: So we would set a timer for 30 minutes and we would write separately.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_01]: And then after 30 minutes, no matter where we were, we came back together and went over what we covered.

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, and we had done an outline and stuff.

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_01]: We had split up how we wanted to do the eight pages that became so bad.

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_06]: And we had done, like, the most rudimentary layouts of those eight pages in a journal.

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_06]: And got like, okay, this is what we're thinking.

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_06]: All right, you go, you go.

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_06]: And we actually did all this while we were at a hotel in Dover, New Hampshire.

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_01]: It was our 15th, 16th?

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_01]: What wedding anniversary was it?

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_06]: It was our 15th.

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_01]: It was our 15th wedding anniversary and we had already made plans to go to Dover to go to the site of the conception of the Ninja Turtles.

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_01]: So we wanted to visit the site of the Eastman and Laird house in which they came up with the four brothers.

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_01]: And there is like a, they put a memorial sewer cap.

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_01]: So we wanted to see that sewer cap and we laid down on a public street and took pictures of ourselves with that sewer cap.

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And then the rest of the time we spent writing.

[00:30:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And honestly, it's one of my favorite anniversaries.

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_01]: It was so fun.

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_01]: It was great.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_04]: That's awesome.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_04]: I think I saw some of the pictures that you had posted of that.

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_04]: That looked pretty, that looked pretty fun.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_06]: It was a blast.

[00:30:29] [SPEAKER_06]: I highly recommend people going to Dover.

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_06]: There's actually like a lot of like fun Ninja Turtles stuff you can do if you want to do like a whole tour.

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_04]: I didn't, I didn't realize that like until I saw your post in the pictures that like they kind of had that place memorialized.

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I think they only did it in like 2018 or 12.

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_06]: No, I think it was this year.

[00:30:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, really?

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_01]: So they made it this year.

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm terrible with years.

[00:30:56] [SPEAKER_06]: It was either this year or last year.

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:30:59] [SPEAKER_04]: I have turtles on the brain today because the, I like the board game Unmatched and the, like they, the, the restoration games who makes the board game.

[00:31:12] [SPEAKER_04]: They are, they, they launched their Kickstarter today.

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Another Kickstarter for their teenage mutant Ninja Turtle set for Unmatched.

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_06]: I saw it.

[00:31:20] [SPEAKER_06]: I saw it.

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_06]: And I saw you tweeting about it.

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_04]: I Unmatched is like my favorite board game.

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_04]: It's like the boards are really cool.

[00:31:27] [SPEAKER_04]: There's like little miniature, it's characters and it's like card based fighting like one-on-one, but all the different sets are interchangeable.

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_04]: So there's like legendary fighters.

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_04]: They have a set that has like Dracula and Sherlock Holmes.

[00:31:40] [SPEAKER_04]: And they have a couple of different Marvel sets that they've done.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_04]: I haven't, uh, the past two Januaries, I hold like a tournament in my house with like 10 people.

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_04]: We do like a double elimination tournament.

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_04]: So.

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_04]: So that's also fun.

[00:31:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_04]: It was a lot of fun.

[00:31:56] [SPEAKER_04]: And the turtle set launched today.

[00:31:57] [SPEAKER_04]: And, um, Heather Vaughn, who I'm a big fan of, she's based in Philly.

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_04]: She did the Michelangelo set, like all the cards, but it's, uh, it's already up to like 658,000.

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_04]: So it's like incredible.

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_04]: That's crazy.

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_01]: That's so cool.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Board game money, I guess.

[00:32:14] [SPEAKER_04]: But yeah, I, I, I want to get it just so I can fight Donatello to see if he can take on daredevil and beat my friend Dan.

[00:32:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh man.

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_06]: Good luck.

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_06]: Good luck, Donnie.

[00:32:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you.

[00:32:26] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of historical gravity in that match.

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I think so.

[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, so we'll, we'll, we'll see how that goes.

[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, stay tuned for, uh, whenever that set actually comes out, but it looks like they're doing well.

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, so were you surprised once you got started and actually writing it that being so immersed in, in comics and, you know, going to conventions and panels that you hadn't really tried to do something before?

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Like in terms of writing a comic?

[00:32:57] [SPEAKER_01]: We did try very early in our relationship when we were still dating and we had a couple of characters and we had gone back and forth and talked about them and I had done character designs and I was going to draw it.

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And, um, so Brad wrote his first script and I gave him some feedback and he never wrote another script again.

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh no.

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh no.

[00:33:22] [SPEAKER_01]: No, I don't know.

[00:33:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, I don't know whose fault that was, whether my, my criticism, my notes were too harsh or he was just a soft, soft boy at the time.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_06]: Wow.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't think your criticisms were too harsh.

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_06]: I can't remember what they were.

[00:33:38] [SPEAKER_06]: I was a soft, soft boy at the time and my ego was certainly not as, uh, strong or weak as it is now.

[00:33:47] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, it was definitely different.

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_06]: Um, uh, and you know, I, um, I've always going to be like, I'm just going to be like, I don't know.

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_06]: I've always been a person who has struggled with editorial.

[00:33:57] [SPEAKER_06]: You know, just talk to Christopher Campbell over at Film School Reject.

[00:34:01] [SPEAKER_06]: It took a long time for us over there to figure out our relationship.

[00:34:06] [SPEAKER_06]: And for me to get used to the idea of being edited.

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER_06]: So I do think that, you know, when we wrote that strip so many years ago, 17 years ago, 18 years ago at this point,

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_06]: I had never received any kind of criticism outside of the classroom.

[00:34:26] [SPEAKER_06]: And I was pretty confident that I knew best.

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_06]: And how dare Lisa say that maybe I didn't know best.

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_06]: And therefore, I'm taking my toys and going home.

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_01]: But we've done so much collaboration in the podcast space.

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And we have, you know, come to arguments and crying and going back and forth about how we think things should be done.

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Because we're both extremely passionate people.

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, our biggest fights have all been podcast related.

[00:34:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think that, yeah.

[00:34:58] [SPEAKER_06]: Oh, wow.

[00:34:59] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, and yeah.

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I think that we also have a lot of practice about working that kind of stuff out.

[00:35:08] [SPEAKER_01]: And kind of like a kind of recognizing our different expertise and going like, okay, well, this is an area where I should probably defer to Brad.

[00:35:18] [SPEAKER_01]: This is an area where he should probably defer to me.

[00:35:21] [SPEAKER_01]: And if it comes to arguments and we have to go take a walk or whatever, like, you know, we always know that the end product is something we both love.

[00:35:29] [SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah.

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, Brad, do you think in terms of like all the things that you've written and having to deal with, you know, editorial?

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_04]: You said your ego is not either what as strong or as weak.

[00:35:46] [SPEAKER_04]: So what does that mean in terms of working with editorial?

[00:35:50] [SPEAKER_06]: I have not hit Nirvana yet.

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_06]: So it's still something that I struggle with.

[00:35:56] [SPEAKER_06]: I think I am much better at it than I used to be.

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_06]: And I have recognized that I have a lot of, just like I have verbal tics, I have a lot of writing tics.

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_06]: I have a very narrow way of approaching stories.

[00:36:19] [SPEAKER_06]: And I think when you're collaborating, you need to open up that vision to include others' vision.

[00:36:30] [SPEAKER_06]: And I don't think I had really ever done that until I was podcasting.

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Only child.

[00:36:37] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I'm an only child.

[00:36:39] [SPEAKER_01]: One of four.

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:36:41] [SPEAKER_06]: Okay.

[00:36:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So, like, my vibe, I'm third.

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And so my vibe at most things in life is like, hey, what are you guys doing?

[00:36:47] [SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean?

[00:36:48] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know.

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_01]: But, like, when it comes to, it's not like Brad was the only person who was getting his feelings hurt and I was the only person hurt and feeling.

[00:36:57] [SPEAKER_01]: You know what I mean?

[00:36:57] [SPEAKER_01]: We both.

[00:36:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah.

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, no, I totally get that aspect of it.

[00:37:02] [SPEAKER_04]: One of the things I was curious about is in terms of both of your backgrounds that, like, you know, got to this point in terms of the podcast and all the other things you do.

[00:37:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Because I know, you know, in addition to other writing that you've done, I've seen that you both have been involved in hosting panels.

[00:37:19] [SPEAKER_04]: I know you do screenings with the, is it the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia?

[00:37:25] [SPEAKER_04]: It is.

[00:37:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, which some of those, look.

[00:37:29] [SPEAKER_04]: Amazing.

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_04]: They're so fun.

[00:37:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:37:31] [SPEAKER_06]: Guillermo del Toro did an intro for us this year.

[00:37:34] [SPEAKER_06]: That's crazy.

[00:37:36] [SPEAKER_06]: Hellboy for its 20th anniversary just for our one screening.

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_01]: It was very sweet.

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And it had the energy of a really close friend's voicemail.

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER_01]: It was wonderful.

[00:37:48] [SPEAKER_01]: It was so wild.

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_06]: Yes.

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_06]: So we do that, too.

[00:37:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:37:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, that's pretty great.

[00:37:52] [SPEAKER_04]: I would have loved to have been able to come down to the last Batman one that you did.

[00:37:57] [SPEAKER_04]: What was it?

[00:37:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Did you do Returns or did you?

[00:37:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Forever.

[00:38:00] [SPEAKER_04]: It was forever.

[00:38:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_06]: Schumacher.

[00:38:04] [SPEAKER_06]: What an interesting looking movie.

[00:38:06] [SPEAKER_06]: I mean, obviously everyone talks about like the neon of that film.

[00:38:09] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm going to go on a tangent.

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_06]: I got to stop.

[00:38:12] [SPEAKER_06]: But like the camera work on Batman Forever is incredible.

[00:38:18] [SPEAKER_06]: That first time you see, and it's not the first time you see Two-Face, but it's the first

[00:38:23] [SPEAKER_06]: time that Two-Face and the Riddler interact.

[00:38:26] [SPEAKER_06]: And we're introduced to Two-Face with sugar and spice.

[00:38:30] [SPEAKER_06]: And the whole room is split down the middle.

[00:38:33] [SPEAKER_06]: Like that long take is like, oh man, that's cinema.

[00:38:37] [SPEAKER_06]: That's movies.

[00:38:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, they are.

[00:38:42] [SPEAKER_04]: They're kind of, you know, some critics don't look too highly on Batman Forever.

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_04]: But there's reasons.

[00:38:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, there are.

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_04]: But, you know, there was a lot of fun in Batman, you know, Forever.

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:38:55] [SPEAKER_04]: But yeah, it is.

[00:38:57] [SPEAKER_04]: That is interesting.

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Pulling those things out, you know, those.

[00:39:03] [SPEAKER_04]: The camera work was so good for a movie that did have some kind of bonker stuff in it as

[00:39:08] [SPEAKER_04]: well.

[00:39:09] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:39:09] [SPEAKER_06]: And also, like, you know, I think when we look at how movies are made in 2024 and how

[00:39:14] [SPEAKER_06]: special effects are deployed and built as well.

[00:39:18] [SPEAKER_06]: And then you go back to the mid-90s and you see these insane sets and models and, you know,

[00:39:28] [SPEAKER_06]: backlots.

[00:39:28] [SPEAKER_06]: And you're just like, oh my God, look how, look how we used to do it.

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_04]: I just, you know, I want to live there.

[00:39:35] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, yeah.

[00:39:36] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, I'm going to go on a tangent now too.

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_04]: But when you look at something like, you know, the original Star Wars and like some of the

[00:39:43] [SPEAKER_04]: matte backdrops that they did, you know, those were all like painted and especially those

[00:39:50] [SPEAKER_04]: like scale models.

[00:39:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:39:52] [SPEAKER_04]: And they're not doing it like that anymore.

[00:39:54] [SPEAKER_04]: I don't, I don't think.

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_06]: It's a different, it's a different thing.

[00:39:57] [SPEAKER_06]: And I don't want to also be one of these people who's like, you know, in my day, I just

[00:40:01] [SPEAKER_06]: like.

[00:40:02] [SPEAKER_06]: I'll do that.

[00:40:03] [SPEAKER_03]: I'll look at, look at how silver my hair is.

[00:40:05] [SPEAKER_03]: I'll be that guy.

[00:40:07] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm really trying to resist becoming the old man on the porch.

[00:40:10] [SPEAKER_06]: I really, really am.

[00:40:11] [SPEAKER_06]: So, and nostalgia is a poison.

[00:40:15] [SPEAKER_06]: That being said, I do like hanging out in my childhood, the way my childhood things were

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_06]: made.

[00:40:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:40:24] [SPEAKER_04]: I think there, there is some fun with nostalgia, but I think, you know, you can certainly take

[00:40:30] [SPEAKER_04]: it too far.

[00:40:30] [SPEAKER_04]: And I don't like nostalgia for nostalgia's sake.

[00:40:35] [SPEAKER_04]: Like, let's revisit the hits just because we can.

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:40:39] [SPEAKER_04]: It is.

[00:40:39] [SPEAKER_04]: I like, I like seeing something new, something exciting, something different or unexpected,

[00:40:43] [SPEAKER_04]: but yeah.

[00:40:45] [SPEAKER_04]: But I, sometimes I will stand on my porch and yell, you know, why not?

[00:40:50] [SPEAKER_04]: But, um, yeah.

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_04]: So I wanted to ask you both about your, your background in terms of how you, you, you got

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_04]: to this point, Brad.

[00:40:56] [SPEAKER_04]: I, I, um, I, I know before that I I've heard that.

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_04]: I think you were a teacher at one point worked in retail.

[00:41:05] [SPEAKER_06]: Yes.

[00:41:05] [SPEAKER_06]: I've done both of those things.

[00:41:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, uh, yeah, I did, um, 11 years at Barnes and Noble.

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER_06]: I, I rose up the ranks from bargain lead to store manager.

[00:41:16] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, shout out to Clarendon in Arlington, Virginia.

[00:41:19] [SPEAKER_06]: That was my store.

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER_06]: When I finally became a store manager, it's still there.

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_06]: They're remodeling, they're shrinking their footprint.

[00:41:25] [SPEAKER_06]: That's okay.

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_06]: That's fine.

[00:41:28] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't mind.

[00:41:29] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, you know, nostalgia.

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_06]: Don't, don't fall into that trap except the new Clarendon Brad.

[00:41:34] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, yeah.

[00:41:35] [SPEAKER_06]: And, and I, I loved Barnes and Noble until I didn't.

[00:41:38] [SPEAKER_06]: Um, and then I did some teaching and, uh, you know, I've, I've been writing online since

[00:41:45] [SPEAKER_06]: the early two thousands.

[00:41:47] [SPEAKER_06]: I mean, honestly, my first proper paid job that wasn't mowing lawn, uh, or shoveling driveways

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_06]: was a blog.

[00:41:56] [SPEAKER_06]: One of the early horror blogs called the cabinet of Dr. Casey.

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_06]: And he would pay $20 a book review or a hundred dollars an interview.

[00:42:05] [SPEAKER_06]: And that's pretty much what they still pay.

[00:42:11] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, uh, but that was, that was a dream.

[00:42:17] [SPEAKER_05]: Wow.

[00:42:18] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, at some point, did you, you know, make the transition from like working a full-time

[00:42:25] [SPEAKER_04]: job that you, cause you said you love Barnes and Noble until you didn't like, at what point

[00:42:30] [SPEAKER_04]: did you, you know, kind of make that transition?

[00:42:34] [SPEAKER_06]: I mean, there's a bunch of things.

[00:42:35] [SPEAKER_06]: It was in the year 2017.

[00:42:36] [SPEAKER_06]: I can tell you, I remember the day specifically, and I'm not going to talk about the day.

[00:42:40] [SPEAKER_06]: We could talk about the day off mic, Jimmy.

[00:42:42] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, uh, but, um, you know, I had a really bad day and it came at a point when Lisa and

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_06]: I had just gone to the fantastic fest film festival.

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_06]: And I had interviewed Vince Vaughn, Udo Kier.

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, I think that was also the year I interviewed Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood and like some

[00:43:07] [SPEAKER_06]: other people.

[00:43:08] [SPEAKER_06]: And I came away going like, Oh my God, like how have I tricked the universe into interviewing

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_06]: these really cool, uh, creatives?

[00:43:17] [SPEAKER_06]: This is what I want to be doing.

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_06]: And I was starting to get paid real money, uh, by doing it.

[00:43:24] [SPEAKER_06]: And Lisa had just quit her day job and had gone freelance, uh, on, on her side of the world.

[00:43:33] [SPEAKER_06]: And it just looked like so much fun.

[00:43:36] [SPEAKER_06]: And I said, yeah, we can do this.

[00:43:39] Yeah.

[00:43:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, that a perfect transition now to Lisa.

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_04]: So what did you do before you were one half of the greatest dynamic duo in comic book podcasting?

[00:43:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, as you know, Brad and I met working in retail at Barnes and Noble.

[00:43:56] [SPEAKER_01]: I was doing that while I was in grad school and I went to my undergrad and grad school is

[00:44:05] [SPEAKER_01]: in vocal performance.

[00:44:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I was an opera major and yeah.

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_01]: And, uh, uh, I was very middle tier, like, you know, just like anywhere in the arts, there

[00:44:20] [SPEAKER_01]: were the couple of people who kind of rose to the top and then the rest of us are paying

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_01]: tuition to kind of support those people in their career.

[00:44:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I was, I am a very good singer.

[00:44:30] [SPEAKER_01]: You're a great singer.

[00:44:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm a great singer.

[00:44:32] [SPEAKER_06]: And the first time I saw you before we were dating, like my jaw was on the floor and I

[00:44:37] [SPEAKER_06]: couldn't stop telling my friends like, she's real.

[00:44:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:44:41] [SPEAKER_06]: That's like a, that's real singing.

[00:44:43] [SPEAKER_04]: That's not like singing opera.

[00:44:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Was she, was it at a karaoke night?

[00:44:47] [SPEAKER_01]: It was my, it was one of my graduate recitals.

[00:44:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And, um, yeah, yeah.

[00:44:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But I was just in a performance space and that performance space, I was just never comfortable

[00:44:57] [SPEAKER_01]: in my, in my own skin.

[00:44:59] [SPEAKER_01]: And so, um, I started teaching private lessons.

[00:45:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I was teaching, you know, I was teaching piano and voice to pay for grad school.

[00:45:10] [SPEAKER_01]: And then, um, I was also doing church gigs and I, and, and how much do I want to tell?

[00:45:18] [SPEAKER_01]: But then like I did five years in the classroom.

[00:45:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I was a, uh, pre-K through eighth grade private school music teacher.

[00:45:27] [SPEAKER_01]: And I was super well liked, super creative.

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_01]: All of my concerts were bangers.

[00:45:34] [SPEAKER_01]: I started the musicals program.

[00:45:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I directed all of the musicals and all of that stuff.

[00:45:39] [SPEAKER_04]: And real, real like Jessica Day, new girl energy.

[00:45:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And equally as crazy and miserable.

[00:45:48] [SPEAKER_01]: So like, as you were, you were talking about like, uh, how it, sometimes it's just hard to

[00:45:53] [SPEAKER_01]: get out of bed in the morning.

[00:45:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I was having that as well every day.

[00:45:58] [SPEAKER_01]: And to the point where I literally could not enjoy time off just because like to teach at

[00:46:05] [SPEAKER_01]: the standard that I wanted to teach that many grades on a private school budget was just like

[00:46:14] [SPEAKER_01]: impossible.

[00:46:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And even though I knew, I knew I was doing a really good job.

[00:46:21] [SPEAKER_01]: I knew that it was not sustainable for me.

[00:46:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And so it was time to renew my fake teaching license because private schools, private schools

[00:46:31] [SPEAKER_01]: are not required to have the same teaching license as public schools.

[00:46:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, I just didn't even want to do the math to see if I had actually qualified to renew my license.

[00:46:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And I put, I, I, I told, I told the principal that I wasn't coming back and they did try to

[00:46:47] [SPEAKER_01]: negotiate to keep me, but it was still a pittance and I was still miserable there.

[00:46:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I was too late.

[00:46:53] [SPEAKER_01]: It was way too late.

[00:46:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So, um, I went back to just teaching privately and I've been teaching privately ever since

[00:46:59] [SPEAKER_01]: and doing, you know, church gigs, things like that.

[00:47:01] [SPEAKER_01]: And, um, and so music is still like a tremendous part of my life.

[00:47:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And right now still like the comic book thing, I'm kind of fitting around that.

[00:47:13] [SPEAKER_06]: Well, the comic book thing can't pay the bills.

[00:47:16] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:47:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:47:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:47:17] [SPEAKER_01]: So, so yeah, yeah.

[00:47:19] [SPEAKER_01]: But I still think like my journey as a musician and getting up in front of people and being

[00:47:26] [SPEAKER_01]: vulnerable and being curious about art is part of what informs what we do at comic book couples

[00:47:32] [SPEAKER_01]: counseling.

[00:47:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Plus, uh, as the third child of four, I get a lot of attention, which is what I like.

[00:47:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I like, I, I just need people to look at me and tell me that I'm special every once in a while.

[00:47:44] [SPEAKER_03]: There's nothing wrong with that.

[00:47:45] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm, I'm Irish Italian and park golden retriever puppy.

[00:47:49] [SPEAKER_04]: So I crave outside validation.

[00:47:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah.

[00:47:52] [SPEAKER_01]: If you're not being validated on the outside,

[00:47:54] [SPEAKER_01]: how do you even know who you are on the inside?

[00:47:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:47:57] [SPEAKER_04]: I don't, I have no idea, you know, I work from the outside in.

[00:48:02] [SPEAKER_07]: Oh yeah.

[00:48:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, and so do you think there will be more comics in your future?

[00:48:13] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, like sometimes creators talk about getting bitten by the bug.

[00:48:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Was this a one-off or do you think there will be more in the future?

[00:48:21] [SPEAKER_06]: I hope it's not a one-off.

[00:48:24] [SPEAKER_06]: I, I want to do more.

[00:48:26] [SPEAKER_06]: I loved it so much.

[00:48:28] [SPEAKER_06]: And I, you know, you get done with those seven pages and you're like, even though this is perfect

[00:48:34] [SPEAKER_06]: for what we wanted to tell, we didn't need that eighth page, but maybe we could have used,

[00:48:39] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't know, 150 more pages.

[00:48:41] [SPEAKER_06]: You know, uh, I, I, I, I do like the idea of exploring this medium, uh, and telling more stories, both personal, but also venturing into other genres.

[00:48:53] [SPEAKER_06]: Is Lisa and I have like a really good vampire story that we'd want to tell.

[00:48:57] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:48:57] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, you know, we have crime stories.

[00:48:59] [SPEAKER_06]: We'd want to tell, we have Ninja Turtle stories.

[00:49:02] [SPEAKER_06]: We'd want to tell, come on IDW.

[00:49:04] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:49:04] [SPEAKER_01]: We like one of our, uh, love languages is like collaborating and we do share story ideas all of the time.

[00:49:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And we're always coming up.

[00:49:16] [SPEAKER_01]: We, we love to play with our imaginations, but we also are like super content people.

[00:49:22] [SPEAKER_01]: So sometimes just talking about the story has a level of satisfaction where it's like, and now we never have to make it because we've, we've had all of the ideas.

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_01]: So like, it was really kind of cool for us to have someone go like, we need an idea now and you need to be able to accomplish it by a specific date.

[00:49:43] [SPEAKER_01]: And there's an artist that's counting on you to get it done.

[00:49:46] [SPEAKER_01]: We needed all of that structure to do a very small thing.

[00:49:50] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:49:50] [SPEAKER_06]: And of course we waited to the very last minute to deliver the script.

[00:49:55] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, and we then had the experience that we've heard about so many times where you turn the script in and then your artist, you know, uh, your collaborator in this case, Gerald Von Stoddard takes that script and then turns it into an actual comic.

[00:50:11] [SPEAKER_06]: And then the letterer comes along.

[00:50:16] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, in this case, it's Chuck Malay and puts the letters on the comic.

[00:50:21] [SPEAKER_06]: And then you read the comic for the first time.

[00:50:24] [SPEAKER_06]: And it's this whole other thing.

[00:50:27] [SPEAKER_06]: And that transformation is the closest thing that I've had to a spiritual experience.

[00:50:37] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, it, it was.

[00:50:40] [SPEAKER_06]: Whoa.

[00:50:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:50:42] [SPEAKER_01]: It was really, really cool to see our pages come in and go like, Oh God.

[00:50:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Gerald's art so good.

[00:50:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I hope that, uh, I hope that the writing holds up.

[00:50:51] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:50:52] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:50:52] [SPEAKER_06]: And also there's our likeness as well.

[00:50:57] [SPEAKER_06]: And so you do have to go like, well, like that's not really, I can see that it's me, but it's not me.

[00:51:05] [SPEAKER_06]: It's an uncanny experience also.

[00:51:08] [SPEAKER_06]: And so there's also this adjustment to seeing it.

[00:51:11] [SPEAKER_06]: And then on top of all of that, there are conversations about Lisa's phobias and therefore they're depicted in the comic.

[00:51:18] [SPEAKER_06]: Uh, and then my phobia is depicted in the comic.

[00:51:20] [SPEAKER_06]: And then you have to be like, okay.

[00:51:22] [SPEAKER_06]: It's wild.

[00:51:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it seems weird to talk about it when it still feels like, I mean, like nobody's seen it.

[00:51:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Like the Kickstarter hasn't even started yet.

[00:51:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:51:32] [SPEAKER_01]: It's kind of feels like not real.

[00:51:34] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:51:34] [SPEAKER_06]: I think we will then have another kind of moment when we're holding the book, uh, which I'm confident we will be holding the book.

[00:51:45] [SPEAKER_06]: You know, it is a crowdfunding thing.

[00:51:46] [SPEAKER_06]: So you never know, like, uh, you know, it can launch and then nobody shows up, but then I'll really prod all our family.

[00:51:53] [SPEAKER_06]: You know, we've both got large families.

[00:51:55] [SPEAKER_05]: That's the key.

[00:51:56] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:51:56] [SPEAKER_06]: We'll just make this comic happen on Gullixons and Marriers alone.

[00:52:00] [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah.

[00:52:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:52:01] [SPEAKER_04]: I, and there, I don't, I don't know.

[00:52:03] [SPEAKER_04]: I have, I have a good feeling about it.

[00:52:04] [SPEAKER_04]: There are a ton of creators involved.

[00:52:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:52:08] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:52:08] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:52:09] [SPEAKER_06]: I love that we've been talking as if it's all riding on us.

[00:52:13] [SPEAKER_06]: Steve Dahl is in this book.

[00:52:15] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:52:15] [SPEAKER_07]: Yeah.

[00:52:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Not to, not, not to add any pressure, but it is actually all riding on the two of you.

[00:52:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh no.

[00:52:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:52:21] [SPEAKER_06]: Bill Hester's in this book, you know.

[00:52:24] [SPEAKER_01]: We are riding on coattails and we are.

[00:52:28] [SPEAKER_06]: Free Barda.

[00:52:29] [SPEAKER_04]: I know.

[00:52:31] [SPEAKER_01]: It is.

[00:52:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:52:32] [SPEAKER_04]: I, I, I, I love the idea when I, when the, the comics from the kitchen anthology came along,

[00:52:39] [SPEAKER_04]: I was excited to get picked to be in that.

[00:52:42] [SPEAKER_04]: And it was, it was so surreal, you know, getting to see a comic that I had written.

[00:52:48] [SPEAKER_04]: And my friend James, who works at the comic book shop or did work at the time at the comic

[00:52:53] [SPEAKER_04]: book shop down the street for me, did all the artwork and, you know, lettering.

[00:52:57] [SPEAKER_04]: And yeah, it's just such a surreal, you know, experience.

[00:53:01] [SPEAKER_04]: And so plus my, my, the story that I did in that was about my father, it's called, it's

[00:53:05] [SPEAKER_04]: not just a meatball.

[00:53:06] [SPEAKER_04]: It's my, about my father's meatball recipe and like getting to show it to him like on

[00:53:10] [SPEAKER_04]: father's day.

[00:53:11] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, wow.

[00:53:11] [SPEAKER_04]: I guess last year or the year before, whenever it was.

[00:53:16] [SPEAKER_04]: And yeah, he, you know, cause he got my brother and I into comics and always liked them and

[00:53:20] [SPEAKER_04]: showing him, showing it to him.

[00:53:22] [SPEAKER_04]: And he was just like in the backyard reading it on my iPad, you know, before the edit come

[00:53:28] [SPEAKER_04]: out, James had just sent me the digital.

[00:53:31] [SPEAKER_04]: And, uh, he was just like, look, Joan Jones, my mom.

[00:53:34] [SPEAKER_04]: She said, he was like, look, Joan, look, I'm in a comic book.

[00:53:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I love that.

[00:53:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I love that story.

[00:53:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I did not know that connection.

[00:53:42] [SPEAKER_01]: That's so cool that you did that.

[00:53:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:53:44] [SPEAKER_01]: So we sat down.

[00:53:46] [SPEAKER_04]: No, it's, it's, it's just, it's, it is, it is very exciting.

[00:53:49] [SPEAKER_04]: I think you will feel something different when you actually, when you actually see it, you

[00:53:53] [SPEAKER_04]: know, on the page and hold it in your hand.

[00:53:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Did you spill your dad's secret meatball recipe?

[00:53:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Like, did you, you gave away all of his, well, he was, yeah.

[00:54:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:54:03] [SPEAKER_04]: I think I thought he would be upset.

[00:54:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Uh, but he was like, we, we got, I, I, I tweeted the video of my dad reading it and

[00:54:16] [SPEAKER_04]: him getting emotional and it got picked up by CBS news in Philly.

[00:54:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Whoa.

[00:54:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:54:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:54:23] [SPEAKER_04]: So Yuki Washington, who is on CBS three and one of our favorite newscasters, like mentioned

[00:54:30] [SPEAKER_04]: it.

[00:54:31] [SPEAKER_04]: And my, so people saw it and started calling my dad and was like, I just saw you crying

[00:54:37] [SPEAKER_04]: on the news.

[00:54:40] [SPEAKER_04]: They did it as like a, you know, like a heartwarming, you know, um, human interest story for father's

[00:54:49] [SPEAKER_04]: day.

[00:54:49] [SPEAKER_04]: So what's the secret?

[00:54:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Is it seasoned breadcrumbs?

[00:54:53] [SPEAKER_04]: It is not.

[00:54:54] [SPEAKER_04]: It is not.

[00:54:55] [SPEAKER_04]: You're going to have to, you're going to have to track down the comic.

[00:54:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, the, the best part of that story though, is that, I mean, I, I go by Jimmy in terms

[00:55:05] [SPEAKER_04]: of like when I write.

[00:55:06] [SPEAKER_04]: And so when they said Jimmy Gasparro wrote a comic for father's day about his dad's

[00:55:12] [SPEAKER_04]: meatball recipe, I think everyone at CBS three and everyone that heard that in the Philadelphia

[00:55:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Delco area was figuring I was 10, not 45.

[00:55:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, funny.

[00:55:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Apologies to listeners who heard that story before, but it's a good story.

[00:55:30] [SPEAKER_04]: That's a great story.

[00:55:31] [SPEAKER_04]: I love it.

[00:55:32] [SPEAKER_04]: I love it.

[00:55:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, I am so excited for the two of you.

[00:55:38] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm so excited to back this campaign and to read this comic.

[00:55:43] [SPEAKER_04]: And, um, I'm excited for what, you know, after your amazing September with comic book,

[00:55:48] [SPEAKER_04]: uh, couples counseling, what you have coming up for the rest of the year.

[00:55:53] [SPEAKER_04]: So I really appreciate you guys coming on and, and chatting with me.

[00:55:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for having us.

[00:55:58] [SPEAKER_01]: You know that we love you anytime.

[00:56:00] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:56:00] [SPEAKER_06]: And honestly, like it means a lot that you would have us on to talk about our first comic.

[00:56:07] [SPEAKER_06]: It's, it's really weird to do so.

[00:56:10] [SPEAKER_06]: Um, and it, and it means a lot, Jimmy.

[00:56:12] [SPEAKER_06]: So thank you.

[00:56:13] [SPEAKER_04]: No, I, I look, I love what you guys do.

[00:56:15] [SPEAKER_04]: I love like the energy you bring online to Twitter or, you know, with your podcast.

[00:56:22] [SPEAKER_04]: I, I, I, you know, I love, I loved running into Brad this past year at Baltimore.

[00:56:27] [SPEAKER_04]: I got to see the two of you the year before.

[00:56:29] [SPEAKER_04]: I just, I feel like you're a real force for good in the comics community.

[00:56:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, I just think you do an amazing job and, um, yeah.

[00:56:39] [SPEAKER_04]: And I, I, you know, I hadn't read, I read, was familiar with some of your, your reviews and

[00:56:44] [SPEAKER_04]: your work for, um, you know, I, I, you know, I, I, you know, I hadn't read, I read,

[00:56:45] [SPEAKER_04]: film school rejects, Brad, but getting ready for this.

[00:56:48] [SPEAKER_04]: I had went back and read a few others and, um, delighted to know that we both hold evil

[00:56:55] [SPEAKER_04]: dead two in such high esteem.

[00:56:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh my God.

[00:56:58] [SPEAKER_06]: Oh, Jimmy.

[00:56:59] [SPEAKER_06]: I have a, you read that evil dead two article.

[00:57:01] [SPEAKER_06]: Yes, I did.

[00:57:02] [SPEAKER_06]: I've got a story about what happened after I published that article that I will not say

[00:57:08] [SPEAKER_06]: on Mike.

[00:57:09] [SPEAKER_06]: Okay.

[00:57:10] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, we'll, we'll, we'll get to that as soon as we wrap up, but, um,

[00:57:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:57:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:57:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Cause, uh, but yeah, I really appreciate you coming on and, um, I'll put a link to the

[00:57:21] [SPEAKER_04]: signup page in the show notes.

[00:57:23] [SPEAKER_04]: So listeners pots and panels, it's a comic book anthology.

[00:57:27] [SPEAKER_04]: It's going to go live in October.

[00:57:29] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, it's over 400 pages.

[00:57:32] [SPEAKER_04]: I think it's like 50 stories, 80 different creators involved.

[00:57:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, in, in, including a ton of names that the listeners that, that you're going to know.

[00:57:42] [SPEAKER_04]: And, um, yeah, I did.

[00:57:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Thank you, Brad and Lisa so much for coming on and I'll put a link to comic book couples

[00:57:49] [SPEAKER_04]: counseling.

[00:57:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Uh, and listeners, if you haven't checked that out, you really, you really should.

[00:57:54] [SPEAKER_04]: They're early episodes.

[00:57:55] [SPEAKER_04]: It's, it's really fun.

[00:57:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, it's really informative.

[00:57:59] [SPEAKER_04]: It's really interesting.

[00:58:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, it's a little therapeutic as well.

[00:58:03] [SPEAKER_04]: And, and the stuff that they did this past September, the more recent stuff has just

[00:58:07] [SPEAKER_04]: been amazing.

[00:58:08] [SPEAKER_04]: The work that they both have put into it.

[00:58:10] [SPEAKER_04]: So thank you so much, Brad and Lisa.

[00:58:13] [SPEAKER_07]: Thank you.

[00:58:15] [SPEAKER_04]: All right, listeners, you know what to do.

[00:58:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Check out the show notes, back pots and panels on a Kickstarter.

[00:58:20] [SPEAKER_04]: So you can read Brad and Lisa's first comic, um, and, uh, find out about had phobia.

[00:58:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Uh, if you listen to this episode, let's guess in the comments as to what vegetable it is.

[00:58:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh boy.

[00:58:33] [SPEAKER_04]: But don't tag Brad.

[00:58:34] [SPEAKER_04]: He doesn't, you know, don't tag Brad.

[00:58:36] [SPEAKER_04]: That's that, that's cruel.

[00:58:38] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:58:38] [SPEAKER_06]: That's my big fear.

[00:58:39] [SPEAKER_06]: Jimmy is that once this is out, people will be sending me stuff.

[00:58:44] [SPEAKER_06]: Don't.

[00:58:45] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:58:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Funnily enough, my, my phobia featured not mentioned.

[00:58:49] [SPEAKER_01]: So I don't have to worry about that.

[00:58:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Hopefully at all.

[00:58:53] Good.

[00:58:53] [SPEAKER_04]: All right, listeners.

[00:58:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Thank you very much.

[00:58:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, I really appreciate it.

[00:58:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Rate, review and, and do all those things they tell you to do to podcasts.

[00:59:01] [SPEAKER_04]: And, um, yeah, come find me on Twitter or TikTok.

[00:59:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Let me know what you're reading.

[00:59:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Thanks for listening.

[00:59:06] [SPEAKER_04]: I'll see you next time.

[00:59:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Good night.

[00:59:09] [SPEAKER_02]: This is Byron O'Neill.

[00:59:10] [SPEAKER_02]: One of your hosts of the cryptic creator corner brought to you by comic book Yeti.

[00:59:15] [SPEAKER_02]: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast.

[00:59:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Please rate review, subscribe, all that good stuff.

[00:59:22] [SPEAKER_02]: It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve.

[00:59:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks for listening.

[00:59:29] [SPEAKER_00]: If you enjoyed this episode of the cryptic creator corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast

[00:59:34] [SPEAKER_00]: into the comics cage.

[00:59:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:59:40] I'll see you next time.

[00:59:40] Thank you.