Richard Ashley Hamilton Interview - Leo Da Vinci: Renaissance Kid

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[00:00:55] Hello and welcome to Comic Book Yetis Cryptid Creator Corner. I am one of your hosts, Jimmy Gasparo, and I am so excited for today's episode. I have a returning guest and we have so much to talk about. When he was on previously, we talked about Scoop, I think, and we talked about Tectiv, which I absolutely love. He has a new book that just came out recently through Papercuts. It's Leo Da Vinci, Renaissance Kid. And it was delightful. I can't wait to talk all about it.

[00:01:24] Plus, he also got to do a comic in the Speed Racer Tales from the Road. And there's even more Scoop. Volumes three and four are out by now. He's got four volumes of this thing. It's a wonderful series. We're going to chat about it like a little bit.

[00:01:39] But please, welcome back to the podcast. Richard Ashley Hamilton. His name is Richard Ashley Hamilton. I feel like there's a million things he has done because we have so much to talk about. Richard, welcome to the podcast. That was the nicest, most melodious introduction I've ever gotten. Thank you, Jimmy. And real quick, happy book birthday to you for Penny and the Yeti. Here we go.

[00:02:08] Wee! Happy birthday. Oh, I love it. It's going to be a pain to clean up, but we'll worry about that later. Don't worry. Yes, congratulations to you. So you're having your book birthday today. And thank you for fitting me in on a very special day for you. Appreciate it. Thank you. It's been a really great day. I'm excited that Penny and the Yeti is out there in the wild. And yeah, I've asked folks to send me pics of them with it or them getting it.

[00:02:36] A couple of my colleagues at work ordered a copy and sent me photos of it. A good friend of mine, my daughter Penny and his daughter are friends at school and they dance together. And, you know, he was actually there. I was saying this before we started recording, but Matt was there with a copy of the book because I actually haven't seen a physical copy of it yet.

[00:03:01] And he was there when I went to pick up my daughter Penny from dance because he was waiting for his kid. And he was there with the with his copy of the book that came in the mail today and a marker for both Penny and I to sign it. It was adorable. And the book, the book looks great. Like, I just couldn't be happier with how it came out. Amber's art looks amazing in it. But it's thank you so much. Thank you. No, my pleasure. Thank you.

[00:03:30] I want to we have so much to talk about since the last time you were on. And I mentioned in the introduction, you have, you know, more scoop has come out, which I think is a phenomenal series. And we'll touch on that a little bit. But I kind of want to jump right into your your own book with paper cuts, just like Penny and the Yeti is through paper cuts.

[00:03:55] Leonardo da Vinci Renaissance Kid. And man, what an what a delightful book. It's though. Yeah, there you are in in hardcover and soccer. Yeah, I got mine in time. Unlike you. Sorry, Jimmy. But you'll get yours and they'll be beautiful. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. And the hardcover or softback. Leonardo da Vinci is one of those characters, not a character, like one of those historical figures that I feel like we hear so much about.

[00:04:23] Everyone thinks they know a lot about. And I didn't even realize until I started reading the book. I know nothing about, you know, his early life. I have no idea if there are scholars who know a lot about his early life. And you've done a very clever thing where you've, you know, you've you've kind of like modernize the language. It's like a lot of it's it's a lot of fun, a lot of adventure. But there there are real historical, you know.

[00:04:53] So facts that that are that are throughout this book in terms of, you know, the name of of of Leo's father. You know, you you introduce you're introducing young readers to the to the Medici who who doesn't know, like ruled Italy for quite a long time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So did you have like a I don't know, like like a fascination about the historical figure of Leonardo da Vinci?

[00:05:20] How did this kind of come about that you you now have this wonderful book that is, I have to say, like beautifully illustrated by Marco Matrone? Yep. Marco Matrone is my my collaborator and co-creator. We did detective together. Yeah. And and we've we did this book called Fear Book Club together years ago at Aftershock. So this is us getting to work together again.

[00:05:49] And it's a joy working with Marco. We've never actually met in person. He lives in Italy, but he's a huge Da Vinci van, too. In fact, his firstborn son is named Leonardo. So I, I thought I was the only one who was like crazy about Leo da Vinci, but turns out Marco was, too. So it was kind of made the teaming up on this all the sweeter. But yeah, I, you know, I, I think you hit the nail right on the head.

[00:06:13] Like everyone I'd say, I would, I would guess that Leonardo da Vinci is the most famous artist in the world. And that, you know, almost everyone's heard of him or they've at least heard of or seen an image of like the Mona Lisa or the Last Supper or, you know, some of his famous sketches. And usually, though, when we see like pictures of him, there's like a very famous self-portrait that Leonardo did as a, as a older guy. And he looks kind of serious and he's got long hair and a long beard.

[00:06:42] It looks kind of scary and, you know, potentially frightening to young children. But I kind of, my first real exposure to da Vinci outside of like, you know, reading about him in like a history book or something was when I was much younger and I traveled to Italy with my family. We happened to go to this one museum where there just happened to be this traveling exhibit of Leonardo da Vinci's actual sketchbook pages, like from the sketchbook he used to keep hundreds of years ago.

[00:07:11] And they very carefully took them out of the sketchbooks and they, they stuck them between two pieces of glass so you could see him front and back. And you could read his, his infamous backwards handwriting if you look at the page from behind. And the thing that struck me the most about them, other than like how amazing it was to see these things right up close, was that they all just had like cool doodles of like guys in armor or dragons or weird weapons.

[00:07:41] And then there was text next to it. And so in my young bird, I was like, oh, it's like a comic book. And I fully believe that if da Vinci were alive today, he'd be a massive comic book fan because like, and so that, that like kind of started my, my real interest in da Vinci. And the more I learned about him, especially as a young man, the more I found out like he was just like, I would say probably you and I were Jimmy growing up, you know, like into sci-fi. He was into sci-fi before he even knew what sci-fi was.

[00:08:11] Right. There's even a kind of a, a famous story that one of young da Vinci's very first paying gigs was some friend of his dad's needed a shield painted. And Leonardo da Vinci's like, uh, all right, I'm going to put a dragon on it. Cause you know, dragons are cool. But since, you know, dragons did not exist, he, um, did research and he's like, well, let me look at all these animals that do exist in nature and I'll take bits and pieces of them.

[00:08:38] And he sort of put together this chimera and it was, I don't know, the head of a lizard and the body of a lion and all these things. And the legend is that the final painting of the dragon on the shield was so lifelike and so terrifying that when the guy came to collect it, he like thought the dragon was real and screamed and ran away. And, and that's it. I don't know if that part of it is true, but the shield part is true.

[00:09:01] So all of this is a long way of saying that like Leo, aside from being this incredible artist and engineer and, and all these other amazing things we can, we can talk about him. Um, he, um, he was just like a cool guy that, that liked putting words and pictures together to give a greater meeting. And what is that if not comics? Yeah. Yeah.

[00:09:23] I mean, that's, that is such a, you know, an interesting idea in terms of we think of like his artwork and fine art. And, and we, I, I feel like they, we do that a lot, um, because, you know, comics, you know, in the, in the last, I think a hundred years or 80 or 90 years, it started, it was just like a throwaway thing when we think of like, you know, modern comics.

[00:09:49] But the idea of, you know, visual storytelling and mixing words with pictures has been around for hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of years. I, I, I remember for my 45th birthday, my brother and I went to Ireland and, um, it was my third time there, my brother's first. And one of the things that I didn't get to do the other two times I was in Ireland was to go, you know, uh, like where Trinity college is and look at the book of Kells. Yeah.

[00:10:16] And Bobby and I, my brother, Bobby, I'll, I'll shout out now, my brother, Bobby, they, you're number one fan. I know number one fan. Um, Bobby and I went to the, to look at, you know, the book of Kells and they had some blown up things and it's just, it's a gorgeous, you know, exhibit. And I was just like, this is like a really, this is a graphic novel. Like this is like, this is a 1200 year old graphic novel. Yeah. Very, very low print run.

[00:10:45] Uh, you know, a little bit of water damage. It's not a 9.8 at all, but, uh, it's still valuable. Yeah. No, it's, um, my family, we did that exhibit a couple of years ago too. And I thought the same thing and like, not to get highfalutin, but I mean, even if you like, look at cave paintings, right? Like those are early comic books too. You know, it's, it's, um, people, humans, early humans creating something out of nothing, sometimes depicting their world as it was.

[00:11:14] And sometimes creating fantasy of what the world could be. So like, I, I think that's like very much in our DNA as people and, and not to get too Da Vinci code about things either, but like, you know, Leonardo did hide all kinds of cool little messages and all his pieces. And there's sort of like an element of playfulness to his work too. And so that's really like the stuff that Marco and I wanted to focus on.

[00:11:39] And this was like, to really sort of demystify Leonardo da Vinci, make it way more accessible to kids. And I should say like, our book is not a history book. It's not a textbook. It's not didactic at all. It's supposed to be like a rip roaring action adventure comedy yarn full of like pranks and zany things. And, and Marco's art is beautiful in it.

[00:12:03] But our sort of hope is that, um, by the end of it, our, our young readers will like Leo so much that they'll, you know, search him up, uh, you know, on Google or their phone or whatever. And they can start to go down that Renaissance rabbit hole and start to learn about more about his life. And, and yeah, like I, I really appreciate you saying what you did about the book because, um, the truth is we had to invent very little. I'd say like 80% of what you read in there is true.

[00:12:30] And then we only had to invent, you know, some of like the kind of bigger action adventure set piece things and a couple of characters here and there. Well, I mean, I, it is, it is, it is a rip roaring yarn. It is, it flies. It is so much fun.

[00:12:47] Um, it, and you know, the cast of characters in it because, uh, uh, Leo has, has like two friends in it, uh, or a patron and, and, you know, um, uh, Tano and Philomena. And, um, and, uh, it, it re it really just, it just moves in terms of the kind of the hijinks they get into because there's, you know, it, it gets into the,

[00:13:14] uh, a war between Florence and Venice. And there's like, you know, this plot and of, of what's going on with, with all of them. And yeah, it, it, it really is. It is so much fun, but it, it worked on me. Cause if I, like I said earlier on afterwards, I, the first thing I did was like, look, Leonardo da Vinci. And I was like, I don't, I know nothing about his early life. And then, you know, it works. Yeah. You, you, you have a couple of things in there.

[00:13:42] Um, and it's, it's really, it's so smart how it is in the book because like when you go to look them up and you're like, oh, wow. Like, so his, his father was a notary and you know, in like 15th century Italy, a notary basically was not as we think of like a notary today.

[00:13:58] Who will stamp a document and sign it to witness that somebody signed it, but they were like preparing a lot of the documents, like official documents, like wills and contracts and certifying it almost doing the job of, of like a modern day lawyer slash like notary. And, um, I think he had his own family and Leo's Leonardo's mother, uh, was, you know, a peasant, uh, a, a commoner.

[00:14:26] Um, and then we don't know too much about his early life, but then he ends up kind of going to live with his father and at an early age, becoming an apprentice and quickly surpasses. Uh, his, his, his teacher in terms of his like art skill. And, uh, what I liked about it is you do a really good job in handling the exposition as just like, uh, like, like character dialogue.

[00:14:54] And it comes across as so natural because you even explain like what a notary is in terms of what Leo's father does. And it's like, so it feels so organic. Um, and I'm like, man, that's such a great thing. For, I think a kid to not feel like, you know, reading a book and not feel like somebody is just like downloading a ton of, of like facts on it.

[00:15:18] The fact that the dialogue in it and you're explaining something like feels organic and feels like it's a natural point in the story to of course explain like what this thing is. It's just a question that comes up and it really, I think helps with kids to like process that information. And it doesn't weigh down the story at all. It's not like, all right, now we're going to stop and explain whatever, whatever. It just, it just, it just really, it really flows. Well, um, yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:47] And some of those things in it were, you know, so, so fun. And especially because Leo approaches a lot of the stuff as not really understanding because of how he grew up, like what's going on, like in the city now that he's like in the city. And, uh, you know, so when you start to get into explain like why Florence and Venice like might be at war, uh, you touch on that a little bit and yeah, it's, it really is so informative and fun.

[00:16:15] That, that was the, the ace up our sleeve there was that, um, first of all, Leo was just a naturally inquisitive, curious guy. So, um, and I love characters who ask questions cause I, I, you know, um, one thing I heard in the, you know, James Cameron, the famous director avatar and Terminator and everything like that.

[00:16:35] He's also like a fantastic screenwriter and the, the word is that, that he says that every scene in a screenplay should ask, uh, sorry, answer one question and then ask two more. And that's what makes for like a real propulsive read. And, you know, people always talk about his stories being very muscular and I think that's what they mean. It's like, just makes you want to turn the page in that screenplay. And, you know, we try to apply that to, to, to this comic.

[00:17:02] And so it helps to have a curious character like Leo to ask those questions before even the audience thinks of them. So he's always a little ahead of the audience. And the other thing is just, as you said, you know, Leonardo da Vinci was born out of wedlock. It was kind of a big deal back then. Um, and he lived with his mom who was like, you know, sort of a peasant, uh, you know, as a farmer, um, in his hometown of Vinci. That's why he's called Leonardo da Vinci, Leonardo of Vinci.

[00:17:31] Um, and he lived there with his mom and his, uh, very chill stepdad. And, uh, they had like 12, he had like 12 step siblings or whatever. And Leo was like, I think a very big fish in a very small pond. And where our story picks up is who comes to dinner one night, but it's Leo's biological father, Piero, who's this notary in the big city, Florence. And he says to Leo, um, great news, pack your bags.

[00:18:00] Uh, I'm taking you to live in Florence with me where you're going to have this, uh, apprenticeship. Like he obviously sees talent in his son and, and because he's not sort of a, a legitimate son, there's very little that his dad can do. But this is one thing you can do is to come up with this apprenticeship. And so when, when Leo first gets to Florence, he's like country mouse in the big city. Right.

[00:18:22] And that also sets us up to have him ask a lot of questions and be able to explain to our young readers, hopefully not in an exposition dump way. Um, just the bare minimum that they need to know to like, understand what the next scene is about. And then the next scene and then the next scene. So that, that was our approach with it. And I, you know, I, sorry, I'll make one more allusion and that's to the, um, the recent mission of possible movies. Not the last one.

[00:18:50] We don't need to talk about, um, final reckoning, but the ones before that, um, Um, um, basically from like ghost protocol onto dead reckoning part one, part one of one. Um, I love those movies and I love hearing, um, the writer director Chris McQuarrie talk about their approach to things. And they are with each one, they get to be less and less about exposition and more and more about emotion, which seems like the craziest thing.

[00:19:19] Cause they're spy movies and you got to like set up, you know, clues and ideas. Cause you got to know what Ethan hunt is going to do and the rest of the movie and what the stakes are and who the bad guy is. And yet, if you like really study those things, they present that information emotionally through like characters interacting with each other. With the exception of like when Ethan hunt gets the, the recording that'll self-destruct in five seconds. That is just straight on exposition. Right.

[00:19:48] They, they, all the filmmakers hate that part of the movie. They're like, Oh, this is so boring. It's a necessary evil. But for the rest of the movie, they're, they're like really trading in emotion. And so, um, I'm not saying I'm at that level, but that was certainly what Marco and I were attempting with this thing is to like ground everything so that it was not, um, it wasn't like an art history project. It was just furthering our understanding of our characters and making us care about them more. Yeah, I know.

[00:20:16] I think it was very successful in, in that regard. Um, thanks. Cause he, he, he, he comes across, he's, he's very inquisitive, but he's, he's so likable. Um, the book is so much fun. Uh, the care he has for, you know, his, his friends in it.

[00:20:34] Uh, and I, even the, the, his, the relationship with his, his father is so interesting, you know, because he, there's, there's so many very interesting things that I thought you, you did with that relationship, especially in terms of not talking down to younger readers. Like he draws his dad with his eyes closed.

[00:20:57] Um, you know, which that, that kind of moment is called back to, um, later on, there's just so many interesting things, uh, about the character. And, um, yeah, I really, you know, I really cared about these characters. Um, even when for a fun book like this, they, you know, they, they seem to be, uh, in peril.

[00:21:24] I just thought it was, I thought it was wonderful. I was like, all right, well, what are, I hope, I hope Richard and Marco have another historical figure in mind. Cause this was, this was delightful. Oh, I, that's very nice of you to, to say. Um, yeah, no, it's, um, I don't, I, it, I'm going to be hard pressed to find another historical figure. I love as much as Leonardo da Vinci.

[00:21:50] I mean, I, I, I say with all due respect to Marco, um, da Vinci is my favorite, you know, sort of classic artist. And, uh, it was also just one of my favorite people. And, um, you know, he's really way ahead of his time. You know, he was, um, he's a vegetarian. He was, um, you know, later in life openly and proudly gay. And just none of these things were like super popular back in his day. And, and yet he like still kind of did his thing and, and lived his life.

[00:22:18] And, um, you know, we wanted that to be a message to the kids reading it too, is like, you know, especially in this era we're in now where like, you know, kids, I don't know about your girls, but you know, my boys, they're of the age where they're, they're like on social media and they're on YouTube and they're seeing, you know, they can't help but compare themselves to like famous people or successful people. And it's all BS. It's all smoke and mirrors on social media.

[00:22:46] And it's like people are presenting very curated, um, you know, appearances of, of their lives. And so it's like, how can, how can a kid ever hope to live up to something like that? Right. And I think that's like the same thing for Da Vinci, like that guy is the greatest of all time. So how can you live up to that? But I think, um, you know, if we, we present enough of like Leo's faults along with, um, you know, all his brilliance, then that just makes them a little more relatable to kids.

[00:23:13] And, you know, you don't have to be a master painter or, um, design flying machines, but you can sort of still see the world the way Da Vinci did, which was like to really pay attention to your surroundings and nature and, and identify patterns in nature. And then just apply that to your life to, to just make your life like better and smarter and just more enjoyable and, and, um, more inclusive to everyone.

[00:23:40] Like, you know, his, his paintings are hundreds and hundreds of years old and yet they're still drawing the whole world together. Like I've seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, I think twice. And each time it's at the back of some enormous crowd. And there's like tourists from Japan and tourists from Europe and tourists from South America and all over. And everyone's vying to see this amazing piece of work that's still bringing people together. So, yeah, well, that's a long way of saying no pressure kids, just like, you know, try,

[00:24:09] try and, um, do the best you can do and pay attention to the world around you. Don't get distracted by nonsense and, um, you know, take good care of your friends and loved ones. Oh, that's awesome. Um, no, I, I, I think it does a, an excellent job of, especially because he is a kid and you certainly hint at Leonardo's, you know, brilliance and genius, but there are so many things from his real life that you like pepper throughout this to kind of, to really create a well-rounded,

[00:24:38] uh, character. Um, and, and yeah, it's, it's funny and it's a really great time, but there are also moments of it that are just, that are, that are profound and that are deeply touching. I, I really, I mean, you guys nailed it. I just thought it was so good. Um, I really, really loved it. So yeah. Oh, that's very nice of you to say. Thank you, Jimmy. I'm glad you liked it. And, uh, you know, I, I hope, uh, everyone else who gives it a shot likes it too.

[00:25:08] So far, uh, we've been hearing good things. So good. Uh, yeah, I, I just really thought it, it's just an interesting portrait in terms of, uh, you know, to mix both the, this fun kind of tale with, uh, you know, some real historical truths to, to create a very interesting character, but really to tell a wonderful story. And I, I just, I loved it. So I think it did a great job. Appreciate it.

[00:25:35] I mean, um, one of my favorite movies growing up was, um, the adventures of young Sherlock Holmes. Um, I don't know if you ever saw that one and, and that was, I, you know, it was kind of like the first thing I saw as a kid that was blending. I know Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, but there was a fair amount of history that was in there too. Um, and so it was kind of like, yeah, first bit of historical fiction, but then also like the, um, young Indiana Jones Chronicles where, you know, they were taken in deep, but putting

[00:26:02] him against like several historic backdrops and seeing how he interacted and sort of forced gumped his way through history. Um, so the, those were definitely touch points for us. And so, you know, people are considering Leo. I always mentioned those things. And I also say that like, in terms of our approach to Leo himself, we really think of him as like the Tony Stark of the Renaissance. Um, you know, brilliant, um, moody, uh, creative, curious, mischievous.

[00:26:30] He pulls all kinds of pranks in this book. And, uh, that seems to be our, uh, the kids who've read it, that seems to be their favorite parts is, uh, um, I'll, I'll just say pig number three and I'll leave it there. Right. Right. That, that, that it's really good. Um, I, look, I felt, I felt the same way about the movie, uh, uh, young Einstein. So starring. Yeah. Serious. That's right. Very, very interesting account of Albert Einstein.

[00:27:00] Um, yeah. I didn't realize Einstein was Australian, but, um, yeah. And invented the electric guitar and surfing. Yeah. Talk about a Renaissance, man. That's true. That's true. That was the movie where the whole, wasn't the basis of it? Like to the first person who could invent, like to put bubbles in beer. Wasn't that a thing in that movie? Oh my God. I think that's right. I'll, I'll, I'll confess. I only saw that movie once, but it was on opening day.

[00:27:25] Uh, but I haven't seen it since, but I remember there's a joke in the Simpsons where I think they had like a reference to young Einstein and Yahoo serious. And I think Lisa says like, uh, I know those words, but I, they don't make sense together. I'm butchering it, but it was like a very funny gag in the Simpsons. Uh, that's awesome. Jimmy is too humble to do this. So as his stalwart ride or die, I wanted to tell you about his new graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti with artist Amber Aiken.

[00:27:54] What started as a comic short with his daughter that I've known about for ages now, and it's evolved and has become one of those annoying can't talk about it in comics things for too damn long. Yes, I'm predisposed to be supportive, but after reading an advanced copy of it, I have to admit it's way better than I anticipated. No shade, but it's really good. Remarkably so. Does it have a Yeti? Yeah. Is it cute and adorable? Yeah.

[00:28:21] But it straight flies in effectively tapping into the all too familiar family dynamics that we all are facing in 2026 and approaching it in a way that doesn't insult the book's target audience. Kids! They are way smarter and perceptive than we adults give them credit for. So I really appreciated Jimmy's narrative approach tapping into his own experiences as a dad and a spouse. I can hear his wife saying, get off your phone, Jimmy, through the pages. She's going to kill me for saying that.

[00:28:49] It's hitting shelves on April 21st, and I dropped a link in the show notes where you can pre-order a copy today. Yeti or not, here we come with Penny, Perry, Fenton, Maxine, and the magical, mythical, magnificent Yeti. On behalf of us both, we appreciate your support. Woohoo! Yahoo! Turning to something, and now for something completely different, I feel like Monty Python.

[00:29:15] So you also got to write for Speed Racer, Tales from the Road. Yes. It's a pretty big deal in terms of the story that you got to handle. How did that come about? Speed Racer isn't really anything that... I feel like I missed it.

[00:29:38] I don't know if I was too young and then too old, but I've read some of the comics that Mad Cave has been putting out. They've been wonderful. Yeah, they sure have. Yeah. So how did you get involved with that? And tell us about your story in Tales from the Road. Yeah. Well, I have been a lifelong Speed Racer fan. My dad introduced it to me when I was a little kid. I mean, I just remember watching cartoons at home and that coming on.

[00:30:07] I guess my dad had probably watched it when he was a boy. And so he's like, oh, you'll like this. And of course I did. There wasn't a ton of sort of comic book material on TV back then. And it was like, you know, Super Friends, Spider-Man is amazing friends. You know, the Hulk show. I mean, I loved all those things, Wonder Woman, but I felt like Speed Racer fit into that. And, but I never, you know, when Mad Cave got the license, I was very happy, especially seeing like all the talent working on it.

[00:30:34] You know, David Pepos and, you know, Mark Russell doing Racer X. And I was like, well, they're, they're doing it and they're doing it right. But I happen to be on a Zoom kind of very similar to this with Chaz Bangburn, who's the editor of the Speed Racer books. And we were talking about a different project, but he, I don't know, you're, you're, you know, you're, you're, your listener only audience isn't going to get this. But if anyone's watching, there's a Mach 5 on my bookshelf behind me there. Oh, yeah, I can see it. And most people will miss it.

[00:31:01] But I think Chaz was up to his eyeballs in Speed Racer at that point. And he's like, is that a Mach 5? And I'm like, yeah. He's like, are you a Speed Racer fan? I'm like, yeah. And he says, you should pitch. We're doing this anthology book. And, um, there was a story I always had, and it wasn't even a story I had. It was a question I had since I was a little kid, which is for those who don't know, Speed Racer is part of a whole family of racers.

[00:31:26] And, um, it's like a family business where they race these very cool, very dangerous cars in this like high speed, almost gladiatorial, um, NASCAR style, um, tournament all around the world weekend and week out.

[00:31:43] And just even as a little boy watching Speed Racer, I was like, what's wrong with Speed's parents that they would let their little, their son go and participate in this like, you know, very dangerous sport, especially since as far as they knew his older brother, Rex died, uh, racing. Uh, and we all know that's racer X and he survived. But as far as the racer family knows, their oldest son died and now they're going to let their, their middle child go and do the exact same thing.

[00:32:12] So like, that was one thing that always nagged at me as a little boy watching the show. And I never saw that answered. And I've read, you know, like I've kept up with Speed Racer and comics most of the time. I mean, now, uh, comics had the license in the eighties and, um, wild storm had the license for a hot minute and it's kind of been around, but I don't recall anyone else ever like addressing that story. So, or that question.

[00:32:38] So when it came time to pitch to Chaz, um, my pitch was just about, um, pops racer and, um, you know, that relationship between fathers and sons. I'm obviously a big part of Leo and, and, you know, stuff with parents and kids is a big theme and scoop and all the other things. All right. So it, that's just the way I am, I guess. Um, but I just really wanted to answer that question. How could, um, pops racer and also mom racer be cool with this?

[00:33:06] Like, what are they thinking and what does it mean for their family? And so it was really just trying to get a peek at the speed racer as the racer family, as they grow, as it starts with Rex being born. And then we track their life through there. It's kind of like a biopic almost. Um, but seeing it all through pops perspective and, uh, yeah, that, that was it. And it was, um, it was, uh, a very emotional story.

[00:33:31] I definitely put a lot of my experiences as a dad and, and also like a lot of my relationship with my own dad who introduced me to speed racer in the first place. That's all in there. Um, but it also came together so incredibly fast. Like I submitted the pitch, um, mad cave and Tatsunoko up, they're the rights holders. They, they approved it right away. And I was supposed to do a big anniversary trip with my wife. And Chaz was like, Oh, creep, you know, get the script by such and such date.

[00:34:00] And I was like, ah, sorry, I'm going on this trip in a week. Um, can I do it when I get back? And he's like, yeah, but then, um, that's no problem. But your story won't appear until, you know, several issues into the anthology. And I thought about it and I thought about all the talent that I knew that they had lined up in the anthology. And I didn't want to go after any of those guys. Cause, uh, I was gonna be pitiful by comparison. So I'm like, Nope, Nope, I'll go.

[00:34:28] Oh, and so in the span of a week, I wrote the script and, um, we were horrible pun off to the races. Um, and so we like puns, puns are, well then here we go. Um, but the other cool thing about it was, um, before I left on the strip, Chaz said, who do you have an artist in mind? And I was like, actually I do. There's kind of only one guy I can think of who could pull off this story the way I'm picturing it.

[00:34:57] And it's Pablo Andres, who's my artist on scoop. And he's got a very cool manga inflected style. And I just knew from all the work he's done on, on scoop that he could nail the emotional stuff, but he could also do the action. Cause we've got some pretty neat racing scenes in it. And he could also do the comedy cause we didn't want this to be like a total down or we wanted there to be some levity in it too.

[00:35:19] And it just so happened that they were able to get Pablo and paired him with, um, our awesome, uh, colorist and letterer, Rebecca and buddy. And, and, um, yeah, this thing came together faster than any project I've ever worked on in my life, which is fitting for speed racer. It is, it is. And it's great. Um, you said when you were talking about it, you said, you know, we were going to start with Rex. I get just, the name went right out of my head with Rex being born.

[00:35:46] But the, the, the crucial thing that makes the whole story really work is we get to see pops behind the wheel, like on the way to the hospital. I'm like, and, and, and you kind of go with these little like snapshots through time, through pops perspective, racing to the hospital with, well, you know, with his wife pregnant with Rex. And then kind of like the same thing for speed.

[00:36:13] And, you know, then we, we, we get a little bit of like a little glimpse of, you know, what happened with, with, uh, Rex and then speed, then being the driver and speed kind of presenting the question that, that you did. Like, why do we do this thing? And it's, it's, it's so good. It's so emotional.

[00:36:32] Um, it is funny, uh, when it's supposed to be, but starting it, but starting it off from pop's perspective and kind of really infusing that feeling of becoming a new dad.

[00:36:51] Uh, being a racer, you know, wanting to, wanting to give your kids like everything, wanting them to share in the things that you love, but also wanting to protect them. Like those are big, huge questions, huge.

[00:37:08] And you do such a, you're the whole team, but you do such a beautiful job of, of, of trying to answer that in a very like short amount, short amount of pages. It is just a wonderful, it is just a wonderful story. Uh, it, you really, tremendous job. Um, yeah, well, so well done. Um, I, I thought it was beautiful.

[00:37:38] Thank you, Jimmy. Appreciate it. Yeah. It was, I think 20 pages we had. So we made every panel count and we didn't want to have like, you know, 10, 10 panels on a page, right? Like a speed racer, it should be zippy and breezy and fast. Um, but yeah, I mean, it really, a lot of that credit goes to Pablo and to Chaz who really edited the hell out of it and, you know, kind of kept us all laser focused on, on what really, um,

[00:38:07] mattered in the story. And, um, yeah, we're, we're super happy with the way it turned out. And, you know, by the way, since it's part of this anthology, it's, um, speed racer tales in the road, number two, but there's two other stories in it. They're also fantastic. Um, so it's like, and I think it's like a real, real bargain, you know, comics aren't getting any cheaper, but this one has a lot of bang for the buck. So, um, there's my little, my little sales plug for it. Yeah. Thank you for saying that.

[00:38:35] The other thing that helped when I was writing it was that, um, my oldest son, Max was, um, about to get his driver's license. And so we were practicing driving and going around the block and, um, it wasn't going so great. And, uh, so I was very actively grappling with those same questions, which is like, I know it's important for my son to like be independent and, you know, get his driver's license and start to go out.

[00:39:03] And I knew that was a really important thing for me when I turned 16. Um, but at the same time, like, you know, he just wasn't super confident behind the wheel. And also like, we live in Glendale, California, the, the drivers here are not great. Um, so it's like that idea of like, you know, my precious baby going out, uh, into the world and being worried about him, but being worried about all the other people on the road. And, and, you know, it's, uh, well, you know, you're, you're, you're, you're dad, you get it.

[00:39:32] So, um, yeah, now I'm a dad and also a personal injury attorney that like, I would say 70, 75% of my job is clients who were injured in car accidents. So yeah, I get it. My, my oldest is 13 and I'm like, I got, you're never getting to drive years. Yeah. I got three years to figure out how to tell her, uh, take the bus. Um, yeah, no, because,

[00:40:02] because if she's anything like me, I mean, yeah, I, as soon as I turned 16, I'm like, yeah, I want to drive. I want to drive. I have my job. I have money. I'm going to buy a car. I want that independence. Yeah. Which is important, right? It's like really crucial to your identity as a young person. So you don't want to stymie that either, but yeah, it's, it's a, it's a big leap of faith you're having to take. And so we really wanted to play that up with pops and, you know, like, yeah, like I'm, I'm a, I'm a dad now too.

[00:40:31] I'm a pops, you know, and, uh, I used to be kind of young and cool, you know, I, I used to not have a dad bod like, uh, you know, so I wanted to show like pops in his glory days too. Oh yeah. I, I, uh, I really did like that. I really liked seeing pops, uh, you know, in the beginning, like that, the, the, the opening couple of scenes, you know, and racing to the hospital, I thought was, was a really fun way to do it and get into it.

[00:40:56] But it, I really, it just felt, it makes the whole thing like work that much better that that's, uh, that that was the starting point. I thought that was really smart. Then, yeah, I liked, I liked seeing it. I liked seeing it too. Um, like seeing pops. Um, all right, well, before I let you go, I, I do want to talk a little bit about scoop. Cause I know last time you were on, we talked tech div, we, we talked about scoop, but now volumes, you know, three and four are out.

[00:41:26] So for any listeners who aren't familiar, why don't you just kind of like, you know, fill them in like the, the big picture on, on scoop and anything else that you have coming out for a scoop, because it's a, it's a wonderful series. Thank you. Uh, yeah. Scoop is, um, a YA series I'm doing through Maverick. So also part of the mad cave, uh, family, but, um, it's about Sophie Cooper, who is a 15 year old girl, um, living in my hometown of Miami, Florida. She's Cuban American.

[00:41:56] Like I am, believe it or not. And, um, she's a fairly normal teenager, except that her dad has been accused of this like mega financial crime. Um, uh, and there hasn't been a trial yet, but everyone in Miami is convinced he's guilty. And, um, they have like the, all these news TV news trucks camped outside their home 24 seven, you know, always trying to get, get sight of him and get quotes. And, and, um, it's made Sophie's life like a real living hell.

[00:42:25] And in her teenage mind, she thinks that, well, if the news is kind of ruining her life and vilifying her dad, then she's going to use the news to clear his name and get her life back. And so she starts interning at a TV news station in Miami. Only they are the worst news station in the world. It's W M I a seven. They're completely incompetent. They get all the facts wrong. They're, they've got budget problems. Their, their helicopter's been repossessed. They don't even have like a Doppler news weather screen.

[00:42:53] So they've got to hold up like Velcro suns and clouds. It's total amateur hour. They're pathetic, but, uh, they do have this one, uh, reporter there named how it's. And he's like a very washed up, um, senior reporter, but you know, he, he, he is actually a good journalist and he sees something and Sophie and takes her under his wing.

[00:43:13] And together they start investigating these stories that nobody else wants to touch with the 10 foot pole stories like, uh, UFOs over the Everglades and ghosts and chupacabras and alligator people. And Sophie as an intern being the low man on the totem pole, she checks all this stuff out. And it turns out it's all real and it's all somehow tied to the case against her dad.

[00:43:34] So now if she can go out to the world and report all this weird sci-fi stuff as, as fact, then she can exonerate her dad and, you know, boom, she gets her normal teenage life back. So that is sort of the larger emotional story that carries us through every volume of scoop. Um, and it's, it's very, I always tell people it's like Veronica Mars meets X files, right? Like Veronica Mars was, and still is my all time favorite TV show. And each season of Veronica Mars had like this giant mystery that would go through it.

[00:44:04] But then every episode would be kind of like a standalone mystery. And scoop is kind of the same way. Each volume of the series, we have four of them. Um, each one is like a standalone mystery that blends, um, sci-fi with true crime. But then there's that larger question about her dad's fate and what's really up with him and all these other, this larger conspiracy, um, that unites all those volumes.

[00:44:27] And so, um, Pablo who illustrated our speed racer story came on board with volume two and was with us for three and four and oh my God, this, his art, his art was astounding to begin with, but it just jumps like a quantum leap volume to volume. And, um, so volume one is, um, is about, oh, I should probably mention this.

[00:44:49] Um, and I'm, I'm sorry for any of your listeners who've heard this before, but, um, it, it's, some of this is based on when I was a teenager, I was an intern at CNN. And my first day on the job was the day that Johnny Versace, the famous fashion designer got murdered in front of his home in South beach. And I actually got to go on my first day, ride a news van and go to this act of crime scene and witness that whole story get reported to the world. It was like, I never want to make light of it.

[00:45:16] It was a horrible tragedy, but it was also an unbelievable experience for me. So like, that's how I spent my summer break that year. Um, so volume one of scoop is Sophie investigating the murder of a fashion designer. That's very much based off of Versace. Volume two actually has her, um, investigating a very OJ Simpson like figure who's relocated to Miami. Um, because that's what happened to me when I was still living in Miami after the infamous OJ trial, he decided to move to my neighborhood.

[00:45:45] And so, uh, we would go to the movies and see OJ Simpson staggering in there with his bad knees and waving to people and like glad handing. And like, this was sort of pre selfie, but he was like, you know, work pressing the flesh. And, um, I remember going to the movies and it was a comedy, but OJ was in the audience and nobody was laughing except for OJ. It was kind of like Cape Fear. Like he's laughing and snapping his knee and everyone else in the audience is like, yikes.

[00:46:15] Oh God. So anyway, that's what volume two is about, but you know, for kids and we've got some aliens and stuff in it too. And then volume three, um, Sophie actually does a trip, um, back to Cuba, which, um, doesn't really go quite as planned. And that blows up this conspiracy in a really big way. And then somehow in the volume four, we take all these plot threads and, um, try and weave them together, uh, into a conclusion.

[00:46:44] And, uh, it was, uh, very difficult to land that UFO, but, uh, I'm told we did it. So, um, yeah, and that, that's, that's, uh, and we finally answered the whole riddle with her dad and that conspiracy in it. Awesome. Yeah. It's, it's a wonderful series. Like I said, I haven't read volumes three and four yet, but I want to, I read one and two. I loved it. Um, I, I, fantastic protagonist.

[00:47:08] Um, uh, just, I, I think Sophie's great and, uh, just, just, yeah, I, the Veronica Mars meets X files, but the, the journalism aspect of it, I just think it really works really well. And I, I always, I, I've, I've said before, but we'll tell listeners again, like, don't ever let like the young adult or YA, like scare you off of something.

[00:47:33] Like these are fantastic stories and, um, you know, we don't rate TV the same way we do with like books sometimes, but you're watching plenty of stuff that would be considered YA and you don't even know it and you love it. So. Yeah. I mean like stranger things is technically YA, you know, um, um, hunger games is YA Harry Potter started as middle grade and became YA. Those labels are somehow more prominent in the U S like in, in, you know, the European book market.

[00:48:02] They don't really distinguish it that way. And like, I'm, I'm, I'm proud of, you know, the, the way the books are published by Maverick and paper cuts and mad cave. And like, I understand the value of those labels, but I also just know as like a parent, you know, having to co-read things with my kids or just when I was young and reading stuff, I hated being talked down to.

[00:48:22] And so whatever, whoever winds up publishing my stories, whether it's paper cuts or Maverick or mad cave, um, I approach them all the same way, which is never to talk down the audience and, and not to make it like, Oh, like just for little kids or not to make it just for grownups. It's there. They're really meant for like anyone to enjoy at any level. Yeah. So, um, yeah. And Matt, I think they are. Yeah. I think you do a great job with that.

[00:48:52] We'll be able to do a full, uh, a single collected edition, the full scoop collection. And that's going to come out a little later this year. So, uh, if you're not too sick of me yet, uh, Jimmy, maybe I can come back, uh, closer to that release and we could talk a little more about scoop then. No. Yeah, definitely. No, let's, let's come back and let's do like, we'll do like the full scoop scoop or something. We'll come up with like a title and we'll, we'll really take a deep dive into it. We'll talk about the series in, in advance of the, uh, the, the collected edition.

[00:49:22] Maybe we could do something like that. Really dig into it and, and, and talk about some specific things. Maybe. Yeah. That would be, that would be a lot of fun. I, I, I, I'd love that. And, uh, if, if you're willing to do that, that would, that would be great. So. Oh yeah. Twist my arm. Yeah. I'll be there. Well, uh, Richard, thank you so much for coming back. Um, I, but I, I absolutely love Leo Da Vinci Renaissance kid.

[00:49:48] Um, and I'm excited that I still have two more volumes of scoop to get into. And, uh, yeah, the, the, the tales from the road, your story and, and the other stories as well that were in the speed racer anthology were awesome. I think you did the whole team did a fantastic job with it. So listeners, you can get all of this stuff right now. You can go to, you know, you can go to mad caves website and I'll have links in the show notes, but you can go to Maverick's website for scoop and techative.

[00:50:15] If you haven't, if you haven't read techative, please get it. It's so good. And yet at the paper cuts, I'll have a link. You can go to paper cuts website for Leo Da Vinci Renaissance kid, uh, which just came out. And Petty. Oh, thank you. Right. Thank you. Look at Richard plugging, plugging Penny and the Yeti on it's book birthday today as, as we record this. Um, but thank you so much. I really, I feel that way. I feel that way. Um, no.

[00:50:43] So thank you very much listeners rate and review us, uh, do all those things they tell you to do for podcast. It really does help. Even if you just leave a rating or a review of, if you listen, it does help us. And yeah, you can find me on blue sky, uh, tick tock. Let me know what it is you're reading, especially if you've read any of Richard's, uh, books. I'd love to talk to you about them. And, uh, yeah, thank you so much for listening. Uh, good night and I'll see you next time. This is Byron O'Neill, one of your hosts of the cryptic creator corner brought to you

[00:51:12] 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. If you enjoyed this episode of the cryptic creator corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister podcast into the comics cave, listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.