Rae Allen Interview - Carmen Red Claw

[00:00:00] - [Speaker 0]
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[00:00:55] - [Speaker 2]
Hello, and welcome to Comic Book Yeti's Cryptid Creator Corner. I am one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo. I am very excited about the guest that I have on, today. You might be familiar, if you're into indie comics with, the Mandarfield devil, But she's worked with Mike Minola on Carmen Redclaw, belly of the beast issues one through four are out. The hardcover from dark horse is gonna be out later this year.

[00:01:21] - [Speaker 2]
She's done a bunch of other stuff, including a comic, the town with a million eyes and Boris Karloff's Gold Key Mysteries number two, and, digital lizard lizards of doom volume five from paper cuts. Please welcome to the podcast, Ray Allen. Ray, how are doing today?

[00:01:40] - [Speaker 3]
Hi. I'm doing well. How are you?

[00:01:43] - [Speaker 2]
I'm doing good. Good. It's so good to see you.

[00:01:48] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. It's good to sneak to.

[00:01:50] - [Speaker 2]
Talk about comics. So talk to me about first off, let's get right into, you know, Carmen Redclaw and Belly of the Beast. This is your first time, I think, working, like, in the, the Hellboy universe?

[00:02:06] - [Speaker 3]
Correct. Yes.

[00:02:07] - [Speaker 2]
And so what was that experience like? The Mandarfield devil, if anyone's, like, familiar with it, that your style, I think, really fits perfectly in the Hellboy universe. But still, I would think, it it would have to be one incredibly exciting, but also, you know, somewhat daunting to think, oh, wow. I'm I'm working on a four issue series with Mike Minola, and I'm writing and doing the art. So tell me.

[00:02:37] - [Speaker 2]
I wanna hear all about it.

[00:02:39] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. So you so you bring up the Mandeville Devil. That's actually how I got this job in the first place. So Mandarinville Devil, for those who aren't familiar, is a project that I created, like, right after I graduated college.

[00:02:55] - [Speaker 3]
It's a short graphic novella. It's about 35 pages, and it's noir murder mystery slash horror fantasy. And it is very much in, like, inspired by Hellboy. It was kind of my it was like a Hellboy Twilight Zone episode that that I wanted to create. And the whole goal with this project was to, force myself out of my comfort zone.

[00:03:21] - [Speaker 3]
I was not familiar with working with heavy, dark black shadows. I wasn't super comfortable with inking in general. I wanted to, like, really push myself to explore that new style. And previous to that, I was working in mostly like You, kind of animation style art. And so this was like a really different turn for me.

[00:03:46] - [Speaker 3]
And I I did it because I'm a huge fan of Mike Mignola, and did hope while I was making it that he would someday see it, and that maybe something would come of it. And so when I when I finished it, I by that point, my husband and I had attended my husband, Noah, he's also an artist. He works primarily in video games, but we're like kind of two peas in a pod. We like operate within the same industry and go together everywhere. But so he and I had attended Lightbox Expo, which is in Pasadena.

[00:04:22] - [Speaker 3]
It's primarily an entertainment expo that a lot of artists and concept designers go to and a few illustrators. And Mike Muniola, he used to go table there. And so we knew that he commonly went there, and we had met him once before. And so the plan was to deliver a copy of The Mandarin Field Devil to him at that convention. I wasn't able to be there the year that this happened, and so I sent Noah in my place, and he delivered the copy to Mike Minola, and very bravely did so because he's a lifelong fan of Minola.

[00:05:08] - [Speaker 3]
He he was a bigger fan before I was. He actually introduced me to Hellboy. So

[00:05:14] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, wow.

[00:05:15] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. So he was really, really, like, starstruck to go meet Minola and nervous Oh, him in my book. So he he gave him my book, and he took Mike took it and he he was like, wow, this is really beautiful. We should have her do like a variant cover or something. And like, that by itself was like, awesome to hear.

[00:05:38] - [Speaker 3]
I was like, I I would absolutely love to do a variant cover. Like, that sounded like the coolest thing in the world. And and but he he wound up going home and reading the book that night, which was saying something because he was pretty busy during this convention. He had a his his documentary was premiering that weekend at the event. And so he he was like kind of a big deal this year that year at at the event, and he had a lot of things to go do.

[00:06:12] - [Speaker 3]
And so it was I was shocked that he read the book so quickly. And he not only read it, but he, like, messaged me that night and was like, hey, I read your book. It's great. I would love to work with you someday. And that was, like, crazy.

[00:06:34] - [Speaker 4]
I was like, is this real life?

[00:06:36] - [Speaker 2]
Like, right. It's like it's like getting a star in Super Mario Brothers. Like, I

[00:06:41] - [Speaker 3]
I can

[00:06:42] - [Speaker 2]
am unstoppable.

[00:06:43] - [Speaker 3]
Exactly. I was like, what? And so so that happened, like, two years before I started working on Carmen Redclaw, because what happened after that was like, it just sort of was like, you're on my list. I wanna work with you someday. And I'm like, okay, awesome.

[00:07:00] - [Speaker 3]
And then I just sort of waited for something to happen, and nothing did. And so, like, a year went by, and I went to Lightbox again and found him there. He was just an an attendee that time. So I found him, like, circulating the floor. And I went up and I introduced myself.

[00:07:18] - [Speaker 3]
This, was the first time he had met me in person knowing who I was, and he recognized me. And, he was like, hey, like, I I've been looking for something for you to work on. I just can't find something that suits your style. And it was it was like, then that he pointed out to me something that I hadn't really realized before, but that my work has like kind of a comedic spin to it. It's a little bit more playful than a lot of like other Hellboy universe artists are, I would say.

[00:07:50] - [Speaker 3]
So he's like, it's hard to find something that fits that vibe. So I thought that was interesting, and but he was like, so do you wanna pitch me something? I was like, what? So again, like just another huge surprise. Something like totally out of left field that I wasn't expecting.

[00:08:13] - [Speaker 3]
And so after that, I I started working on several different pitches. I pitched him a few different ideas. He wanted me specifically to do a Hellboy universe idea. He wanted to, like, basically expand on the Hellboy universe lore, and, like, he wanted to explore characters other than Hellboy within the Hellboy universe. And so I was always a big fan of I was always a big fan of like, Have Gun Will Travel, which is this old radio show that is it's an old western.

[00:08:52] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. And yeah. You're familiar?

[00:08:54] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, yeah.

[00:08:55] - [Speaker 3]
Awesome. Yeah. So I love Paladin, and I think he's, like, such an awesome character. And I wanted to see that kind of a character in the Hellboy universe. And so, like, I was searching for something like that, and I found that I could fit that in with a with a tie to Lobster Johnson's ancestry in this, like, random super esoteric snippet from a Lobster Johnson comic that goes a little bit into his backstory and how he's related to the infamous pirate El Bogavante and how he how, like, the pirate had, like, 30 some odd grandchildren from one son, and I decided to have Carmen be one of those random grandchildren.

[00:09:47] - [Speaker 3]
So that's kind of how it was born. I wonder I I feel like I overshot your question completely, but, like, there's a little bit of

[00:09:55] - [Speaker 2]
No. No. Not at all. I mean, it's just it's just fascinating how it, you know, how it all works sometimes because, like, you know, we always it comes up with a podcast a lot or comes up on social media. Like, how do you break into comics?

[00:10:08] - [Speaker 2]
How do you and, you know, the worst I think the the worst and best advice is, like, just, like, you make comics. You have I think you have to make comics, and you have to be your own best advocate. You know? And you made a wonderful comic with the man to field devil, you know, and, sent your husband into the lion's den with a copy. Yeah.

[00:10:32] - [Speaker 2]
You know? But you also, you know, put the work in. You've made a bunch of other comics. You've done a lot of other things in in the comic space, in terms of, you know, shorter comics or anthologies. For listeners who don't don't know, when I kick started, my anthology made in Delco, one of the shorts in it was seven against Philly, which Ray did the art for, which was fantastic.

[00:10:59] - [Speaker 2]
It was a a take on, Escalus' seven against thieves thieves, but we we said it during the, I guess, technically, the first mob war in 1980 in Philly. But I found you be from social media and and and from the Mandarfield devil because somebody had turned me onto it, they were like, oh, you gotta check this out. I think you'll really like it, when we were doing comic book yeti stuff. So Yeah. Yep.

[00:11:25] - [Speaker 2]
No. I just think it's, I think it's, I just think it's fascinating. I think it's it's wonderful. I haven't gotten to read all of Carmen, Red Claw. I kind of perused the first three issues, but then I did read all of the fourth, so I cheated a little.

[00:11:39] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, no. But

[00:11:41] - [Speaker 4]
Just given to the end.

[00:11:43] - [Speaker 2]
I did. I really liked it. I thought it was great. I I just talking about your style kinda lending itself to something maybe a little more comedic or, like, a little more playful, and I feel like the, the relationship between Carmen and, what's the other

[00:12:01] - [Speaker 3]
Pest. Her

[00:12:02] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:12:03] - [Speaker 3]
Pest. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:12:05] - [Speaker 2]
Exactly. Yeah. Between Carmen and Pest, I I love that little bit of, play on it. You're you're really good at at drawing action scenes. I mean, the Manorfield devil isn't isn't a western, but you did do really well in terms of that western sensibility.

[00:12:23] - [Speaker 2]
It's takes place in

[00:12:24] - [Speaker 3]
a yeah.

[00:12:25] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Eighteen sixties. Western time. Seventies. Yeah.

[00:12:29] - [Speaker 2]
And, I'm curious, though. How do you know about, have gun will travel? I mean, because that I've I know it from the television show, but that was on, like, the late fifties, early sixties, and I probably saw in reruns because my my grandfather loved loved western. But

[00:12:46] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. I've always been a nerd for, like, retro. I love the nineteen fifties and forties and sixties era, like, mid twentieth century is one of my favorite time periods. And I I've always been been a interested in, like, old sci fi from that time period.

[00:13:07] - [Speaker 3]
So, like, Philip K Dick, Robert Heinlein, like, I love all those those old classics. But I I came across Have Gun Will Travel. I it was from like a there's a website, and I can't remember the name of it, but there's a website where it just plays old old timey radio

[00:13:28] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, okay.

[00:13:28] - [Speaker 3]
All day every day. And, you can tune to different channels on it and, like, play different, shows on it. And Have Gun Will Travel was one of those shows that I, like, kind of, like, found after listening to, there's a series that there was a radio series that also just, like, read sci fi short stories, that, like, dramatized those, and and acted them out. And so I found I found How Good and Will Travel in the same category. So yeah.

[00:14:02] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, that's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. I it's a it's an interesting it's an interesting TV show, and you the the premise of it, I've I feel like has been recycled. You know?

[00:14:14] - [Speaker 2]
I'm sure the some of the DNA of, like, the a team is in have gun will travel because Paladin I mean, he had a business card that said have gun will travel with, like, a white chess piece on it that he handed out, and he kinda did you know, he basically was like a hired gun, but he would also help out people who couldn't afford his services. It was like one

[00:14:34] - [Speaker 3]
of those

[00:14:35] - [Speaker 2]
one of those types of shows. And, the same right around the same time the radio the TV show was on, they also like you said, they did the radio show as well. Yeah. That That's that's awesome.

[00:14:47] - [Speaker 3]
That website I mentioned is just called Old Time Radio. I just looked up and saw that it's in my bookmarks bar right above me. So Old Time Radio. Oh, perfect. Yeah.

[00:14:58] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, that would be very interesting to check out some of that stuff.

[00:15:01] - [Speaker 4]
I Yeah.

[00:15:01] - [Speaker 2]
It's slow. Growing up with my grandparents who, you know, grew up because they were now I'm in my mid forties, so, you know, they they grew up in in the in the thirties when radio was huge. And, yeah, there's still things that I remember my grandmother telling me about, like, stuff that she liked to listen to that I've never actually checked out, like, you know, the shadow and and things along those lines. You know, the old I I still remember her saying, who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men, the shattered. It's like I mean, if anyone's familiar with the, Alec Baldwin movie, but, yeah, that was that was big in the radio in the first.

[00:15:47] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I think I've listened to a couple episodes of The Shadow. Yeah. Good stuff. It's good stuff.

[00:15:54] - [Speaker 3]
I've I've always been a total geek about those things. I also love, like, listening to old campy advertisements. Like, I just I get a kick out of those too. I'm a history buff, so anything, like, time capsule wise is just super fun

[00:16:11] - [Speaker 2]
to me. Yeah. No. I think I think that the ads are, like, older ads that even, like, going through old comics and looking at the ads. I've said before, and I'm not the first one to say it, but, like, if there was ever a collection, like, a hardcover book of just ads that were in sixties, seventies, and eighties comics, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

[00:16:36] - [Speaker 3]
Man. Yeah. It's it's just like those, compilations that people do of, like, nineties advertisements on YouTube. I I sit and watch those sometimes for nostalgia. I grew up in the nineties.

[00:16:51] - [Speaker 2]
Well, you say in your in your bio on your website that you were raised by a couple of nerdy historians. So is that where that influence comes from? Like, from from your parents that they were historians and they kind of, influenced you in that in that way?

[00:17:07] - [Speaker 3]
I think so. I well, absolutely. For sure. My mom is a she is a nerd for regency era. She actually writes Regency era romances in the style of Jane Austen and Georgette Hare.

[00:17:20] - [Speaker 3]
I actually have

[00:17:20] - [Speaker 4]
one of her books here.

[00:17:22] - [Speaker 3]
It's she she writes she's written like eight different books in the Branwell Chronicles. Her name's Judith Hale Everett, and I illustrate her covers. So here's a little plug for my mom. She's really talented. So

[00:17:34] - [Speaker 4]
lot she knows that

[00:17:34] - [Speaker 3]
plug for mom. Yeah. So she knows, like, everything there is to know about the Regency era. She is, like and she's so particular about the language she uses. Like, she she tries to be really accurate to the time period, and so like, I I just I love that she does that, and she definitely influenced me growing up.

[00:17:57] - [Speaker 3]
And also, my my dad, he's a family historian. So I grew up listening to family history stories. He's actually he's a family history librarian at our local college, and he and he is like just an expert on on all things family history. So I, I grew up with a lot of, family history stories, so that made me interested in the past in general, but I also spent a good portion of my childhood, like, months living at my great grandpa's house. And he grew up in well, I don't know.

[00:18:35] - [Speaker 3]
He was probably born in 1910. He's he's long since Is that right? That's not right. I don't know. I don't know when he was born.

[00:18:43] - [Speaker 3]
He died a long time ago in his nineties. But he, anyway, I I spent time in his house, which was built in the fifties, and had a lot of, like, time capsules from the nineteen fifties and sixties left there by his wife who passed away, like, long before he did. And he just preserved her legacy with like, she had like old sewing machine stuff, and like patterns for clothes, and dresses she had made, and old advertisements for those patterns and dresses and things like that. And like, getting to spend a lot of time in that house as a kid, exploring those old things like made me really interested history as well. So yeah.

[00:19:30] - [Speaker 3]
Definitely family inspired.

[00:19:33] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Absolutely. Well, with with your mother writing books set in in the Regency era, I I haven't watched the show, but is she, like, uber critical of of Bridgerton?

[00:19:45] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, yeah.

[00:19:45] - [Speaker 2]
I'm sorry.

[00:19:47] - [Speaker 3]
Oh, yeah. Yeah. She's definitely a closed door romance kinda gal, so she she definitely is not about Bridgerton.

[00:19:56] - [Speaker 4]
So Okay.

[00:19:56] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:19:57] - [Speaker 2]
I figured somebody who was very particular as you said about, like, getting it right with the Regency Girl would maybe not be a fan.

[00:20:05] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. She's a keep your shirt on type romance, which I appreciate. So yeah.

[00:20:17] - [Speaker 2]
Well, let's get more into, you know, Carmen Redclaw, belly of the beast. So when you you get this opportunity and you pitch a couple of different things and you have the idea for this, like, kinda take me through, when you are working on something like this and and, like, doing the story and doing the art. Like, how much input does does does Mike have in, like, the scripting and the direction? And then what do you do to kind of stay true to who you are as an artist? But also, I would think you might wanna, you know, push yourself a little bit because there's a big opportunity.

[00:21:01] - [Speaker 2]
You know? It's it's Hellboy universe. It's dark course. It's Minola.

[00:21:05] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Totally. Oh, man. Big questions. So okay.

[00:21:09] - [Speaker 3]
First, working with Mike was actually like really surprisingly fluid and and cool. So so anyway, like, basically, how it worked was I pitched him the idea for Carmen. And he had like early insight on some like small decisions. Like he I I was like on the fence about whether or not I wanted Carmen to be a girl or a boy. He said, make her a girl, like, you know, small stuff like that.

[00:21:41] - [Speaker 3]
And then like, I went and started working on a script, like, outline. And then I I would call him up again, and after after he had, like, read through my outline, and then we would brainstorm and bounce ideas off each other and make some changes, and then, then I would go back to the drawing board and and write, and then hop on a call again. So it was kind of this back and forth, But ultimately, he really let me have a lot of creative freedom. I came to him, like the biggest questions that I came to him about were like, does this fit within the Hellboy lore? Can I can I can I do this weird magic thing?

[00:22:21] - [Speaker 3]
Or is that like too outside of the outside of the universe? Like, how can I help the tone stay Hellboy? And like like you said, still, like, add my own little flavor to it. And so, that was, like, most of the questions I came to him were about that. And then he also had some really great, insights on how to make the story a little bit more have a little bit more depth and a little bit less predictability.

[00:22:48] - [Speaker 3]
And he, yeah, he had some really great insights there. I mean, he's a master storyteller. He has been doing this for thirty plus years. Like, he he knows what he's doing. So

[00:23:00] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:23:00] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. So he was like, super cool to work with, and it was actually like, surprisingly surprisingly chill. Like, I I wasn't I had a ton of impostor syndrome going into this because I I know, like, hell hell was a huge deal, like, Manola's a huge deal, and I'm not the only person that looks up to Manola and wants to work with him, especially not within my circles. I have a lot of comic book making friends, many of whom have also been lifelong Minola fans. Some of them are much more farther along in their careers than I am, and, like, have made efforts to, like, reach out to Mike, and he's ignored them.

[00:23:41] - [Speaker 3]
Like, things like that where it's like, woah. Okay. Like, I know that this is huge opportunity, and who am I to like like little little Ray that like hasn't really done, like has done a few anthologies and things, like, I felt like I didn't have enough under my belt to like really be worthy of this opportunity. And so there was a lot of that imposter syndrome thinking going on in my head. And of course, I was fighting up against it, and everybody that I talked to about it has always been super supportive and like, you know, but like, it was still, it's still difficult to face that hurdle.

[00:24:14] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. But like, but whenever I spoke with Mike, whether it was over the phone, or over email, it was always just like so chill. And he was super encouraging the whole time. He was like saying things like, you're the perfect person to be working within this wacky universe. I'm so glad to be working with you.

[00:24:34] - [Speaker 3]
Like super positive things that like really helped push me through to the end. And he was always like giving me so much creative freedom. Like I said, like anytime the editor would be like, hey Mike, can we get your input on this thing? And he's like, leave all decisions to Ray. Like, I trust Ray.

[00:24:51] - [Speaker 3]
Like that's, that kind of thing. And so, Yeah. So it was really, it was really encouraging, and I think helped bolster a lot of my self esteem through that. Even still, I still experience imposter syndrome over it, even though the project is done. But like but it was it was a really great experience working with Mike.

[00:25:14] - [Speaker 3]
Did I answer all your questions? I feel like there was another part.

[00:25:18] - [Speaker 2]
No. I think you did. I think Okay. I think you got them

[00:25:20] - [Speaker 3]
all. Cool.

[00:25:21] - [Speaker 2]
No. Look. I've talked to so many creators and even ones that are have been doing it for a decade or or two decades. Like, it's amazing the number of creators that still talk about having impostor syndrome. Like, ones that you would think, like, yeah.

[00:25:38] - [Speaker 2]
You know you know what you're doing, and they still there's still those nerves or those doubts or am I the right person for this? Am I the one that should be here? You you had to have some comfort or or maybe confidence in that. Yeah. But Mike Minola, like, he read the Mandarfield devil.

[00:25:56] - [Speaker 2]
He went and he read it, and he was like, I wanna work with you. This wasn't like you knocking on his door day in and day out and just wore him down.

[00:26:04] - [Speaker 3]
He was

[00:26:05] - [Speaker 2]
like, I want you to come play in this universe. Right? You know?

[00:26:09] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. And and that actually reminds me of, the second part of your question, which was like, how did I how did I balance, like, maintaining my own style and voice while still trying to, like, you know, mold myself into the Hellboy universe. And, like, that was actually something that really, really helped, was having Mandurfell double under my belt, knowing that, like, okay, that's my North Star. That's something that I made that Mike liked, and fits within the Hellboy universe.

[00:26:38] - [Speaker 3]
So I can if I did it once, I can do it again. And so, like, I tried I tried my best to, like, replicate a lot of the things that I had done with the Mandarfield Devil, which involved a lot of, like, really rigorous historical research, a lot of like stylistic influences and things, and like, and then also like just kind of the the vibes of the the noir, like aesthetic. But it still was stressful to, like, work in my style, and this was the first time I had, like well, it was the second time technically that I had inked a comic by hand. It was the first time I had inked a comic by hand in this style. And so there was a little bit of like a learning curve there, and and I still I mean, it just like how every artist has impostor syndrome, like, I still get frustrated about the work that I've made and and like, even after I finish it, I'm like, I don't know if I like this.

[00:27:39] - [Speaker 3]
Like I go in and out of like, this is great, and then I hate this. So like that was totally this, it was a was a roller coaster throughout the whole process. And it was especially nerve wracking because the it it wound up that the timeline worked out where I where the first issue was published before the rest of the issues were done. And so like, I had a book out there while I was still working on the last couple books. And I was like, getting reviews and things, and and starting to like I was really stressed about making sure that this was a book that people really liked in the Hellboy universe because I I wanted to impress Mike and I wanted to impress them.

[00:28:24] - [Speaker 3]
I wanted to leave a good impression and and be able to like potentially work on future books. And so there was a lot of pressure to perform well, and I and I wanted to like take the feedback that I could get seriously. And so but that did become like kind of a weight over me throughout the rest of the comic. And I don't know if it really impacted things terribly much. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't.

[00:28:50] - [Speaker 3]
Maybe it was for the better, maybe it was for the worse. I don't know. But it it was something that I was constantly aware of and thinking about, and trying to balance this whole time was like, be true to yourself and also make something that the fans will like, but don't sell out and like back and forth, back and forth.

[00:29:13] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. No. I mean, I I love hearing all of that and all the things that you, you know, were thinking about and and trying to do. And, yeah, the just the the stress and pressure of it, but it has to feel really good. I was it was interesting.

[00:29:30] - [Speaker 2]
You said about reviews, and I was just curious. I've I pulled up, like, comic book roundup, but there's somebody from who writes for Comic Con, the the website, who it's like, ten ten ten ten. It's like, loved Carmen Redclaw. So, whoever that per that in the that individual is, you you nailed it for them. So

[00:29:55] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. It's it's funny. The guy that wrote that review, I can't remember his name, but he has a friend that lives in Utah, which is where I live. And I did a signing recently at a Mhmm. At a local comic book shop, and his friend came by, Comic Con writer guy's friend came by and said, you have to sign this book for my friend.

[00:30:21] - [Speaker 3]
He wrote a review about your comic. He's the biggest fan. He would be so stoked to hear, to get this book signed by you. And like, that by itself, like even the even if like I made anybody else like unhappy, like, I'm just so proud that I made one person like, bat stoked about my book. Like, that's Right.

[00:30:43] - [Speaker 3]
That's great. Like, and and that's kind of what I had to come around to is like, now that I have this book out there in the open, and and people are out there, they do some people are like criticizing it. Some people say like, it's totally meh, like and and other people are like, this is the best thing ever. Thankfully, nobody's like, this sucks. But like, there's there's plenty of like criticism out there that that can easily be something that, like, I take personally.

[00:31:08] - [Speaker 3]
But I've had to had to, like, gear myself to focus on the positives and and the people that, like, really enjoy the work. Yeah. And that's

[00:31:17] - [Speaker 2]
Anton Anton Kromoff at Comic Con is this new individual's name. So

[00:31:23] - [Speaker 3]
Thank you, Anton.

[00:31:26] - [Speaker 2]
We go yeah. I mean, you know, reading reviews or or dealing with with criticism, especially if it's, you know, negative criticism is is tough for anybody. I know folks that read reviews. I know ones that don't never, you know, that never look at them.

[00:31:42] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

[00:31:43] - [Speaker 2]
So, you know, you you do have to steal yourself a little bit, I I think, sometimes. But, yeah. I don't I'm gonna I wanna read the rest of it. I wanna get the hardcover because that's always awesome when dark horse puts

[00:31:56] - [Speaker 3]
up which.

[00:31:57] - [Speaker 2]
Great hardcovers, which is gonna be out, I think, in September. So

[00:32:02] - [Speaker 3]
This is my advanced copy. So I I got it earlier this week, and I'm I'm very excited about it. This is actually the first I'd like spoken about it with anybody, but it looks great, and I'm very excited about it.

[00:32:16] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. For listeners, you know, we we usually put some of these, interviews on YouTube. So if you go over to YouTube, you can see it. But listeners, yeah, it's a gorgeous hardcover book. It looks fantastic.

[00:32:30] - [Speaker 2]
So that's awesome. But it's Yeah. It's gonna be the the four issues collected, and I think they're gonna have, like, some sketches or some some back matter in it that dark horse usually does a really nice job putting these books together.

[00:32:43] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Yeah. They did a fantastic job. Yeah. There's a sketchbook section in the back and then afterward, and the the variant covers are also included.

[00:32:53] - [Speaker 3]
So, yeah, it's a it's a good hefty little book, and I'm proud of Awesome. So yeah. In

[00:33:00] - [Speaker 2]
the four issues that you that you did for this, was there any scene in particular that was difficult for you to crack even in terms of, like, the scripting of it, the dialogue, or just in how you were gonna approach the panels that you think turned out really well?

[00:33:17] - [Speaker 3]
Oh. Well, I I'm not sure if there's like a point where I can be like, oh, I think that this like necessarily turned out particularly well, some of my paneling like in general, I'm I'm proud of like when I do some some of the interesting like overlapping where a character like pops over top of the panel and then like Yeah. The reading is a little bit uneven. Like, I have fun doing doing creative things like that. But I do think that the sequence that was probably the most difficult for me to figure out was well, it was all the action sequences.

[00:33:57] - [Speaker 3]
Because I am Okay. Like, not as familiar with action. I've done it a few times in a couple of the comics that I've drawn, but like I it it is full on choreography in my brain. Like some people, they get away with just like punch in one panel, and like swing in another panel, and bam in another panel. Like, there it's not like necessarily fluid or super like, they're not trying to show you a play by play of the action.

[00:34:26] - [Speaker 3]
It's just like bad guy punches punches hero, hero punches bad guy. Like, you don't really need all the like staging, but I'm particular. And I like to have like spatial awareness in a comic and so and continuity. It probably comes from my animation experience, like I in school, I studied illustration, but I had a lot of overlap with the animation program in college. And so I actually worked on the student films and, like, have, like, started off wanting to go into animation.

[00:35:02] - [Speaker 3]
So I I, like, have this brain for animation. So I'm thinking more like a storyboard artist. And like so like, I wanted all of these sequences to be really clear, like what action was happening. And Yeah. And so it turned into this full on choreography where I had where I had to figure out, like, what happens and and when Carmen shoots the guy and and how she dodges him and what the set piece looks like to make that all work together.

[00:35:32] - [Speaker 3]
And and then also on top of that, I had to fit it all onto a page in these panels, and, like, make the timing work and the pacing work. And so there's a specific scene. It's well, Carmen's on top of a train. It's in issue three where she's like, just barely, like well, without spoiling, she's wound up on top of the train, and she is fighting these these henchmen. I'm showing a picture here, but it it's a sequence where she's like hiding behind this tree stump that's poking out of the top of the train, and she's shooting one guy on one end of the train, and then there's another guy on the the train behind her.

[00:36:22] - [Speaker 3]
And all this is intermixed with like some flashbacks and things, and it was really complicated to figure out how to make it all fit, and be clear, and read well. And so I'm I'm pretty proud of the way that that came together, that I was able to to make it work.

[00:36:40] - [Speaker 2]
So Yeah. Awesome. That's awesome. Thanks. Yeah.

[00:36:47] - [Speaker 2]
I I think it's it's, it looks great, and, I encourage listeners to go and and preorder it. The hardcover is gonna be on September 29, I think, 2026. And, yeah, Ray, it's so exciting. I think it looks great. Thank you.

[00:37:06] - [Speaker 2]
I can't wait I can't wait. I'm gonna get my copy. And, hopefully, we'll run into each other at some convention or other So I can Yeah. I can get you to sign mine. Before I let you go, is there anything else that you have coming out or that you can talk about or and it's okay if you don't, or that you want listeners to check out?

[00:37:27] - [Speaker 3]
Sure. Yeah. I mean, so you mentioned one of my other projects, that came out relatively recently is, Digital Lizards of Doom volume five. I also did volume four, like half of volume four. It's this like wacky, basically like, not Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers.

[00:37:53] - [Speaker 3]
It's this wacky Power Rangers esque like, interdimensional world that is for kids. So that's something fun that I did. It's with my friend who who wrote it and I illustrated it. And then I I'm currently working on a project with Dragonsteel, which is Brandon Sanderson's publishing company. And it's I'll say it's a graphic novel, but I can't say anything else.

[00:38:28] - [Speaker 3]
Working on it with a with a handful of other artists. It's a multi, a multi person job. I'm working on backgrounds. And, yeah, I will say it's not in the cosmere. And then Wow.

[00:38:45] - [Speaker 2]
So, Mike Miniola, Brandon Sanderson, are you ever gonna work with anyone we've heard of?

[00:38:53] - [Speaker 3]
Right.

[00:38:54] - [Speaker 4]
Right. All these nobodies.

[00:38:57] - [Speaker 2]
I know.

[00:38:58] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. I'm working with with Grant Stoy, who is a staple in the indies community.

[00:39:07] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, yeah.

[00:39:07] - [Speaker 3]
I am doing a

[00:39:09] - [Speaker 2]
Grant's a good friend.

[00:39:11] - [Speaker 3]
He's awesome.

[00:39:12] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah.

[00:39:13] - [Speaker 3]
And he's doing another Yule anthology. So, it's a basically a horror anthology. It's set in the holiday season, inspired by folklore from holiday, like, mostly Nordic and like, and Scandinavian folk tales. And I'm doing a four page comic for that, and I'm writing and illustrating. So keep an eye out for that someday.

[00:39:41] - [Speaker 3]
Don't know when it's supposed to come out, but yeah. Those are those are the things I'm working on. So

[00:39:48] - [Speaker 2]
That's fantastic. Yeah. The first Yule was really good. I think it was nominated for a Ringo. Was it?

[00:39:55] - [Speaker 2]
That's awesome. I I believe I think it was.

[00:39:58] - [Speaker 3]
That sounds familiar. I feel like I remember congratulating Grant on something of that ilk.

[00:40:04] - [Speaker 2]
Yeah. Yeah. And so, yeah, that's fantastic. But well, Ray, I really appreciate you coming on the podcast, and talking to me, and I'm so excited for you, and, it is totally well deserved. The Manorfield Devil is incredible.

[00:40:23] - [Speaker 2]
Well, I I loved everything I've seen from Carmen Redkull. I can't wait to get the trade and read it from beginning to end. And, yeah, I'm just so happy for all of your success. It is, absolutely well deserved. I think you're an incredible writer and artist.

[00:40:39] - [Speaker 2]
And, yeah, really, appreciate you coming on the podcast to talk to me about it.

[00:40:44] - [Speaker 3]
Thank you so much. Do you go by Jimmy or James? Is I called you Jimmy before. Okay. Thank you so much, Jimmy.

[00:40:51] - [Speaker 3]
Yeah. Just making sure. Because like my latest interaction with you is James. I was like, it's it's the same problem people have with me because I'm Ray and Rachel. So

[00:41:01] - [Speaker 2]
yeah. Well, my email is my email is James because I started the Gmail address, like, I don't know, whenever Gmail came out. And I was just like, I'll just use my full name, James Gasparro, and nobody calls me James, unless that's how I know that they don't know me. Somebody's like James. It's like, oh, they've just only ever seen my email where they don't know me.

[00:41:21] - [Speaker 2]
I'm I'm Jim at work, and and most of my friends most of my friends call me Jimmy. So Awesome. My wife says she can tell how I met someone by what they call me.

[00:41:34] - [Speaker 3]
So

[00:41:34] - [Speaker 2]
if we're out somewhere and someone's like, Jim, she's like, that was either high school because I couldn't be Jimmy in high school. I had to feel more adult. Right. But then in college, it was back to Jimmy. I was just like, yeah.

[00:41:46] - [Speaker 2]
This is I'm just gonna earn this. But work people usually call me Jim. So oh, that's a mess. You know? You get it.

[00:41:51] - [Speaker 2]
Name stuff for

[00:41:52] - [Speaker 3]
relate. Yeah. Yeah. People called me Rach in high school, and that's why I've, like, adopted the name Ray because I never liked the name Ray. Just so yeah.

[00:42:02] - [Speaker 3]
Anyway, thank you so much for having me, Jimmy. It's a delight to see you again, and so happy to be on the podcast. Hope to be on it again. Maybe someday I'll have more cool things to talk about.

[00:42:12] - [Speaker 2]
Oh, absolutely. We'd love to have you back. So listeners, rate and review us, do all the stuff they tell you to do about podcasts. Shout out to my brother Bobby. I forgot to do that.

[00:42:20] - [Speaker 2]
The past couple times I was recording. But shout out to my brother Bobby, the cryptic creator corner's number one most dedicated fan. Bobby listens to all my episodes. And, listeners, please check out, Carmen, Red Claw, Belly of the Beast. The hardcover is gonna be out in September.

[00:42:37] - [Speaker 2]
Issues one through four are out now, and, you can find me on Blue Sky or TikTok. Let me know what you're reading, especially if you're a fan of the Vanderfield devil or Carmen Redclaw. I'd love to talk to you about it. But thank you to my guest, Ray Allen, and, thank you so much for listening. Good night, and I'll see you next

[00:42:57] - [Speaker 5]
This is Byron O'Neil, one of your hosts of the Cryptic 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.

[00:43:17] - [Speaker 0]
If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you

[00:43:20] - [Speaker 4]
would enjoy our sister podcast, Into the Comics Cave. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.