The Indy Comics Excellence Awards - 3rd Annual

[00:00:01] Hey everyone, Byron here. Before we crack open this can of whoop-ass known as the ICE or Indie Comics Excellence Awards, I just wanted to take a second and thank all of you, our listeners, readers, and watchers who have supported Comic Book Yeti and the Cryptid Creator Corner podcast this year. It's been a busy one with a few unexpected changes. Our founder, Matt Ligeti, stepped down and asked me to be the new editor-in-chief. I wanted to publicly thank Matt for all he's done for the group of contributors that comprise Comic Book Yeti and for the comics community as a whole.

[00:00:29] Journalism is tough. Nobody does it for the money and Matt had an openness and curiosity about what this could become and hopefully we can chart it into new and exciting waters in the years to come. On a personal level, Matt gave me the opportunity to connect with the medium I love in ways I didn't know were possible at the lowest point in my life when I was struggling with health complications with lupus. And he was always up to support any of my wild hair ideas, one of which is this here little podcast heading into our third year this February.

[00:00:59] 305 episodes under our belts. Crazy! But we're not slowing down. I'll be doing more Let's Talk Shop features this year, talking with shop owners, bringing you the books you love.

[00:01:09] And I'm also starting a new feature focused on disability in the medium with co-host Aubrey Lynn Jepsen called Discourse. Stay tuned to this space for that.

[00:01:18] Between segment breaks this year, I wanted to also give a few other comics journalism outlets an opportunity to tell you a little bit about who they are and what they do.

[00:01:25] And I encourage you to pick a few favorites and check them out. So don't hit that 30 second fast forward button.

[00:01:31] I'll put a full list in the show notes to make it easy for you so you can find them. Now, on to the show.

[00:01:37] Hello everybody and welcome to a very special episode of the Cryptic Creator Corner. I'm Byron O'Neill, one of your hosts for our third annual ICE or Indie Comics Excellence Award show to celebrate some of the amazing projects that dropped in 2024.

[00:01:50] We have some spectacular stuff to cover, but first I need to introduce my co-host. That's right. Delco's own president of the Guy Fieri fan club, Jimmy Gasparo.

[00:02:01] Jimmy, how are you doing?

[00:02:02] Hello.

[00:02:03] I actually, I was looking.

[00:02:04] I'm doing well. Thank you.

[00:02:05] I was looking on eBay to try and find a signed bottle of Tums for you with a new Flavortown flavor.

[00:02:11] But alas, I guess there's been a run on them after Thanksgiving, so I couldn't find any. Sorry about that.

[00:02:18] Well, if you come across them, I will gladly accept them because I love Flavortown, but I also love Tums.

[00:02:28] And yeah, Thanksgiving was, you know, I've been doing pretty good with trying to eat healthier, but Thanksgiving is my one day where I just like to pile everything on the plate and just make a big sandwich out of like everything.

[00:02:40] And it was, yeah, it was a lot of heartburn that night.

[00:02:45] Well, thank you for this introduction. I'm super excited for the third, you know, the third ICE Awards.

[00:02:51] I like that we get to do this and that we have special guests.

[00:02:53] So, you know, let me introduce to the listeners our special guests.

[00:02:56] We have Blake Morgan and Amy Chase.

[00:03:00] Blake and Amy, thank you for joining Byron and I.

[00:03:03] Thanks for having us.

[00:03:04] I'm so stoked to come here on this episode that's sponsored by Tums.

[00:03:07] Tums and to join you guys.

[00:03:09] I just was so excited.

[00:03:11] Tums has pulled me out of some dark places.

[00:03:13] So, you know.

[00:03:14] Well, I follow you on social media and see the amazing things that you cook.

[00:03:19] So.

[00:03:19] The hot dogs.

[00:03:21] Yeah, I mean, but you cook some great sandwiches, like some great breakfast sandwiches that give me heartburn just looking at them.

[00:03:28] They look so delicious.

[00:03:29] They give me.

[00:03:30] Yeah, I don't talk about that part.

[00:03:32] That's the, I don't talk about the heartburn and the tummy chews that we eat in the mornings.

[00:03:39] And we're like, why is this happening?

[00:03:41] Oh, you ate a three-layered breakfast sandwich coated in grease.

[00:03:46] Everybody has to suffer for their art.

[00:03:49] You know, someone's got to do it.

[00:03:51] I'm totally going to reach out to Prevacid and see if they will sponsor this because why not?

[00:03:56] While you're at LSU, timeshare in Flavortown.

[00:03:59] There we go.

[00:04:00] Yeah.

[00:04:01] Yeah.

[00:04:02] All right.

[00:04:03] Well, thank you both for joining us.

[00:04:05] And we really appreciate it.

[00:04:07] And so, listeners, without further ado, I'm going to get right into it.

[00:04:10] Just for anyone that has to listen to the first and second ICE Awards because this is the third one.

[00:04:16] We don't really do like an overall winner.

[00:04:18] The point is we just like to tell you about some of the books that the folks at Comic Book Yeti, Byron and I, you know, and some of the other editors that they, you know, wanted to highlight this year.

[00:04:29] Not only the books, but the writers, the artists, colorists, letterers, editors.

[00:04:35] And maybe if, you know, you didn't get a chance to check that book out, you know, check that comic out, you can now, you know, you can go and do it.

[00:04:43] We just like to kind of highlight what were our favorites.

[00:04:47] And Byron came up with, you know, the ICE acronym, which we like.

[00:04:52] We feel like that's pretty fitting.

[00:04:54] So I'm going to start off today with the excellence in writing.

[00:04:59] And these are the ones that all of us, as well as the comic book Yeti editors chose for the third annual Yeti ICE Awards.

[00:05:10] First up, Tate Bromble with The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos.

[00:05:15] Scott Hoffman with Warm Fusion.

[00:05:19] Miss Lucid, The Hunt and River Street.

[00:05:22] Gary Maloney, When the Blood Has Dried.

[00:05:24] Chris Moses.

[00:05:25] Rom V.

[00:05:27] Stephanie Phillips.

[00:05:28] Simon Roy for Refugium.

[00:05:31] And Kelly Thompson.

[00:05:33] I'll just start off by saying in terms of the ones that I put on here for me was Gary Maloney, When the Blood Has Dried.

[00:05:39] It was a mad cave book.

[00:05:41] The art on that was by Daniel Romero.

[00:05:43] But I really think Gary's writing was exceptional.

[00:05:47] It's a story is it's a fantasy book, but it has Western elements to it.

[00:05:52] Basically, somebody kind of the main character may have leads the guild that she had been in.

[00:05:58] She runs an inn in a small little town and her past comes calling after her.

[00:06:05] And yeah, I think it's a fantastic story.

[00:06:08] It was just one of my my favorites this year.

[00:06:11] I really liked it.

[00:06:13] I also will say, I mean, in Tate Bromble, I've just been a huge fan of their work.

[00:06:20] Behold Behemoth previously and the book that Tate wrote in the Black Hammer universe, Barbalion.

[00:06:28] I really liked it as well.

[00:06:31] But yeah, I'm a big fan of Chris Moses.

[00:06:33] Big fan of Rom V.

[00:06:35] Stephanie Phillips.

[00:06:36] I've recently been reading Grimm is great.

[00:06:39] So yeah.

[00:06:40] Yeah.

[00:06:40] And Kelly Thompson, Black Cloak was another one I read recently that was fantastic.

[00:06:44] So I feel like we have a lot of good choices here.

[00:06:47] I don't know.

[00:06:48] Amy, I'll start with you.

[00:06:49] Is there anybody who you want to talk about in particular on the list?

[00:06:52] Yeah.

[00:06:52] I mean, I you nominated Gary and I and I also just love seeing him up there just because he's such a familiar face in, I think, the the comics, Twitter and Blue Sky sphere, especially with like his work with the Limit Break comics.

[00:07:04] So it was really cool just kind of seeing to get seeing him get his flowers for that one.

[00:07:08] And I hope that book kind of continues to find more readership.

[00:07:11] But I nominated Rom V because gosh darn it.

[00:07:16] He and Felipe Andrada came back again with I'm obsessed with Leila Starr, which is one of my like now all time favorite books.

[00:07:23] But this year had Rare Flavors.

[00:07:26] Yeah.

[00:07:26] Rare Flavors was just a really beautiful, really special experience.

[00:07:29] Again, I love the the beauty and the reverence they are bringing to India and the kind of mythology over there that doesn't often get the same kind of, I think, excitement as things like other pamphons and other just cultures visually in these books.

[00:07:47] And I just thought this one was so beautiful.

[00:07:49] I love the way that recipes were interwoven into it.

[00:07:52] It's a story of a Rakshasa demon who eats people, but he's kind of also just a gourmand and he loves food and he loves the people that make them quite literally.

[00:08:04] And he hires a young man to make a documentary with him about the food and flavors of India.

[00:08:10] And I just think it's so much fun while monster hunters are on their tail.

[00:08:13] And it's just it's so beautifully dreamy, both in the prose and the way that recipes and food and that kind of cultural experience is woven in with the artwork, which I it won't surprise people who I nominated for artwork as well this year.

[00:08:29] But yeah, Rare Flavors really, really stood out to me.

[00:08:33] I don't want to go after that because that was so good.

[00:08:38] Oh, that's fine, Barron.

[00:08:39] You don't have to.

[00:08:41] I used to work in a comic book store as well.

[00:08:43] So I'm always trying to like sell people books.

[00:08:45] I'm like, I can only get so much money.

[00:08:48] Take some of yours as well.

[00:08:50] It's like I need to go and read Rare Flavors.

[00:08:52] I love Ra.

[00:08:53] I'm like, I have not read that yet.

[00:08:55] It's been a big it's been a big year for him.

[00:08:58] Like the the I always say the names and stuff wrong.

[00:09:02] The Six Finger.

[00:09:03] So do I.

[00:09:03] Don't feel bad.

[00:09:04] The Six Finger and the one that him and Dan did.

[00:09:07] The Serial Killer.

[00:09:07] One Hand Six Fingers.

[00:09:09] Yeah, like that was phenomenal.

[00:09:10] And, you know, a lot of these people are doing real good big two work.

[00:09:14] I know we're not here to talk about that.

[00:09:15] But, you know, there's that's there.

[00:09:17] There's a reason why some of these some of these great indie people are getting like snagged up now.

[00:09:22] Right.

[00:09:22] And it's I'm glad that some of them are still able to while writing something like, you know, Batman or whatever, still able to come out and drop like a Rare Flavors or this.

[00:09:33] This this this, you know, serial killer epic or this this like neon Genesis like, you know, Mecca cybernetic phenomenon.

[00:09:44] Right.

[00:09:44] And like in Dawn Runner.

[00:09:46] And, you know, and so it's crazy because I was just thinking I was like, man, I haven't read Rare Flavors from Rom yet.

[00:09:53] And he's he still had this like phenomenal year.

[00:09:56] And so there's like a lot of these people are having great years.

[00:10:00] I didn't even pick Rom.

[00:10:01] I picked I picked KT.

[00:10:02] I picked Kelly Thompson.

[00:10:03] I think I feel like anybody who gets snagged up for anything G.I.

[00:10:09] Joe or Transformers right now, you need to like write their name down in stone and keep an eye on it.

[00:10:14] That and like the Universal Monsters stuff.

[00:10:16] Like it just seems to be like the best of the best in the industry getting picked up for these projects.

[00:10:23] And so, yeah, like I don't I don't I can't believe I care.

[00:10:27] I'm 39 and I in my 39th year of life, I found out that Pokemon is fun and cool.

[00:10:33] I found out that Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z is amazing.

[00:10:38] OK, it's not stupid.

[00:10:39] It's amazing.

[00:10:41] And I'm into now image has me into G.I.

[00:10:44] Joe and Transformers.

[00:10:45] And I never not liked Transformers, but I wasn't like crazy.

[00:10:49] I wasn't into the toys.

[00:10:52] The new movies are OK.

[00:10:54] But I mean, these new books, I'm I'm all back.

[00:10:57] I doubt it.

[00:10:57] It's crazy.

[00:10:58] So, yeah, that's why I went with Kelly.

[00:11:00] I don't know how indie it's considered because it's weird with some of the licensed titles where I'm like, you know, the publisher is indie.

[00:11:06] These are such a big.

[00:11:06] But Kelly Thompson did Powerpuff Girls.

[00:11:09] Like so good at all of these, you know, going and again, not like going from Birds of Prey to Powerpuff Girls and like doing all of her indie stuff as well.

[00:11:18] But it's just like the licensed voices that she can do.

[00:11:21] I think balance really nicely then with how her independent work stands out on its own as well.

[00:11:27] But Powerpuff Girls.

[00:11:28] And I will give her a shout out to like over my show.

[00:11:31] I can't ever tell.

[00:11:32] But right there, I have a signed copy of the call and we did an interview and we were talking about how with my disability, I just don't get the opportunity to get out the cons or anything.

[00:11:42] And she doesn't do them either.

[00:11:45] And she just very kindly said, hey, let me send you some signed stuff.

[00:11:49] And like that speaks to not just her talent as a writer, but just as a really kind human being.

[00:11:55] And I think comics right now, you know, we're in that point and there's all the negativity and you can focus on that.

[00:12:02] But there are some great people putting out some truly amazing stories right now.

[00:12:07] And that's what I want to celebrate.

[00:12:09] So anyway, shout out to Kelly for that.

[00:12:11] Yeah.

[00:12:11] I mean, one of those people that I earmarked as soon as I heard Jimmy talk with Tate about Behold Behemoth, I was like, OK.

[00:12:19] And I read it and I read the Barbalian story, which is one of my favorites of all time.

[00:12:23] Like that is an absolute gut punch of a series.

[00:12:28] But I nominated Tate for The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos because I love the idea that in this space we can explore the idea of truly this is a truly openly queer forward book.

[00:12:42] And we need that right now more than ever.

[00:12:45] And I love that James is behind this and that it has so much inertia.

[00:12:49] It's a play off of all these universal monsters that we're all familiar with.

[00:12:55] And I just think it's fresh and it's a really, really cool book.

[00:12:57] The other one on here that I nominated was Scott Hoffman's Warm Fusion by Distillery.

[00:13:02] And I know that's absolutely brand new, but talking about people who are up and coming and people do not need to sleep on, that is Scott.

[00:13:11] And I'm not a big sci-fi fan at all.

[00:13:15] The three books these drop now, they all are kind of dystopian sci-fi stuff.

[00:13:19] And I've loved them all.

[00:13:21] And Warm Fusion really is a challenging book, especially as somebody who is disabled, to see a disabled protagonist portrayed in this way, especially from the position of a sex worker.

[00:13:36] Because there's just so many interplays of power and dominance and all of those things in the narrative that I thought was absolutely fantastic.

[00:13:45] And I think it just dropped this past week.

[00:13:47] But I interviewed Scott about it last week and got a sneak peek at it and highly, highly recommend that book.

[00:13:54] I know saying all that amongst the disabled community, it is going to challenge some people because it's uncomfortable.

[00:14:01] And there are going to be some people that it doesn't resonate with and they might, you know, get a little upset about it.

[00:14:08] But in talking to Scott about it and how carefully he thought through those processes and how he wanted to portray disability, I thought was really, really thorough, really thoughtful.

[00:14:20] And for me, it's absolutely fantastic book.

[00:14:22] I got some stuff to read already.

[00:14:26] I'm making a list.

[00:14:27] That sounds awesome.

[00:14:28] Yeah.

[00:14:28] Well, thank you, everybody.

[00:14:29] And that was our excellence in writing category.

[00:14:33] And next up with excellence in artistry and illustration, Byron, you want to take it away?

[00:14:40] Yeah.

[00:14:40] Before we jump into that, we're going to take a quick break.

[00:14:43] But before that, we're going to start our game.

[00:14:46] So what this is, is we've got a quiz game.

[00:14:49] You have very simple A, B, C, or D.

[00:14:52] We'll start at the beginning.

[00:14:54] We'll read the question.

[00:14:55] You guys can, you know, choose your answers.

[00:14:56] When we come back from the commercial break, then I'll reveal which one is actually accurate.

[00:15:01] So anybody who's listening, if you want to follow along and see if you get it right, this is incentivizing people to continue to listen shamelessly, by the way.

[00:15:09] So here's the first question.

[00:15:11] Which of the following indie comics movies grossed the most profit?

[00:15:16] A, Kick-Ass.

[00:15:17] B, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

[00:15:21] C, Sin City.

[00:15:23] Or D, Hellboy.

[00:15:25] Okay, I have my answer.

[00:15:27] Okay, what you got?

[00:15:28] Oh, you want us to, we're going to say, we're going to go around?

[00:15:32] Nobody gets a chance to Google this while we're doing a commercial break.

[00:15:37] Yeah, I'll go with C, Sin City.

[00:15:39] All right.

[00:15:40] I'm going to go with B, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

[00:15:43] That was B, right?

[00:15:44] That was B, yeah.

[00:15:45] Okay.

[00:15:46] Yeah, I was going to go with Scotty.

[00:15:47] All right.

[00:15:48] I think Scott, yeah.

[00:15:50] All right.

[00:15:50] Well, we're going to take a quick break and when we come back, we'll find out which one's right.

[00:15:57] Yo, everybody.

[00:15:58] I'm David Harper from the Eisner Award-nominated subscription comic site Sketch in the long-running comics interview podcast off-panel.

[00:16:05] And I just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday after a pretty weird year.

[00:16:10] It has been a weird year, but it's been a great one for comics, both as a reader and as someone who covers them.

[00:16:15] And next year is shaping up to be a great one, too.

[00:16:18] And it's going to be an exciting one for Sketch and Off-Panel as well.

[00:16:21] Both the site and the podcast will be celebrating their 10th anniversary.

[00:16:25] And Off-Panel will somehow run its 500th episode somewhere around the same time.

[00:16:30] I have some pretty exciting plans coming as part of all that.

[00:16:32] And if you'd like to keep up with all that, as well as my coverage of the world of comics and my interviews of creators, retailers, journalists, and more, make sure to subscribe to the site and podcast.

[00:16:42] Or, if you prefer other sites and podcasts, make sure to back them, because it makes a huge difference in keeping them alive.

[00:16:49] To close, I just want to say thanks to the Cryptid Creator Corner and Comic Book Yeti team for this opportunity.

[00:16:55] It is much appreciated.

[00:16:57] Happy holidays, everybody.

[00:16:59] All right, and we're back.

[00:17:00] So, to remind everybody of the question,

[00:17:02] which of the following indie comics movies gross the most profits?

[00:17:05] Kick-Ass, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Sin City, or Hellboy?

[00:17:09] The correct answer is Sin City.

[00:17:12] We were super wrong, Amy.

[00:17:13] But it's number one in my heart.

[00:17:15] Actually, Ghost World would be number one in my heart, but, you know.

[00:17:18] Gotti doesn't know.

[00:17:19] Neither does Blake.

[00:17:20] That's fine.

[00:17:21] That's fine.

[00:17:22] We're always learning.

[00:17:23] But you've got another chance.

[00:17:24] You can't let Jimmy win, because he's ahead right now.

[00:17:27] Oh, we're keeping score?

[00:17:30] Oh, yeah.

[00:17:31] We're going to keep score.

[00:17:32] All right.

[00:17:33] But I'm here to actually talk about the next category.

[00:17:36] So, we're going to cover excellence in artistry or illustration.

[00:17:40] And the nominees are, is it Felipe or Felipe Andrade?

[00:17:44] That's a great question.

[00:17:46] See, Blake, don't feel bad.

[00:17:47] Like, I can't pronounce anything at all.

[00:17:49] So, we have Felipe.

[00:17:51] We're going to go with Felipe Andrade.

[00:17:52] When they're not here and we can't ask, it's fair game.

[00:17:55] Like, we try.

[00:17:56] Yeah.

[00:17:57] Well, I'll do the best I can.

[00:17:58] So, we have Andrade, By Lacey, Jonathan Marks Beravecchia.

[00:18:04] That was Bear Pirate Viking Queen.

[00:18:07] Dave Chisholm, Miles Davis and The Search for Sound.

[00:18:10] Tyler Crook for The Lonesome Hunters.

[00:18:12] Belquist Ively is, again, is it Evely or Ively?

[00:18:17] And Cricket.

[00:18:18] I believe it's Evely.

[00:18:18] I believe it's Evely.

[00:18:18] I was muted.

[00:18:19] I was muted again.

[00:18:20] I always see a lot of these names on the covers and then I don't hear them out loud.

[00:18:24] Uh, I'm pretty sure it's Bilquis.

[00:18:27] It's their first name.

[00:18:27] Bilquis Evely.

[00:18:29] Okay.

[00:18:30] Bilquis Evely.

[00:18:31] Helen of Windhoard.

[00:18:32] Oh, God.

[00:18:32] Why do I get all the hard ones?

[00:18:34] Uh, Dennis Minhairi or Minier?

[00:18:36] Minier for Aetheries?

[00:18:39] Minier.

[00:18:40] I believe it's Dennis Minier.

[00:18:42] Yeah.

[00:18:42] God, I should have had you do this.

[00:18:44] And Tango.

[00:18:45] Tango is easy.

[00:18:45] What are you guys definitely interviewing Dennis?

[00:18:48] I'm pretty sure.

[00:18:49] So, my nomination's on here.

[00:18:51] It's actually Tanango.

[00:18:53] It's actually Tanango.

[00:18:55] No, it's not.

[00:18:56] Don't.

[00:18:56] I'll start that.

[00:18:57] Well, I can get Beravecchia right because he was my nominee for Bear Pirate Viking Queen,

[00:19:03] uh, which I, his artwork is absolutely stunning.

[00:19:07] He should be working on Big Two books and actually he's not working on Big Two books because he

[00:19:12] doesn't want to because he wanted the freedom to be able to do what he wanted to do.

[00:19:16] And I'm so glad that he and Sean could take a swing like Bear Pirate Viking Queen because some of the layouts, uh, the way he constructed certain panels just break so many composition rules.

[00:19:29] And I love it because he pulls it off.

[00:19:32] And that the watercolor, um, is, I'm a huge fan of watercolor.

[00:19:36] So, absolutely.

[00:19:38] Just amazing stuff.

[00:19:39] And then, uh, my other was, was Tyler Crook.

[00:19:41] I absolutely love his work.

[00:19:42] So, those are my two.

[00:19:44] Uh, Blake, what you got?

[00:19:45] Oh, man.

[00:19:46] I'm just, I'm wrapped up in Tyler Crook thoughts right now.

[00:19:50] Another very expensive book that just dropped is the Arrow County All You Can Eat.

[00:19:56] That's not what it's called.

[00:19:57] That's what I call it.

[00:19:58] It's the, it's the whole main series and it comes in a slip case.

[00:20:01] Uh, and that's full of Tyler Crook, George Scorsese.

[00:20:04] Um, okay.

[00:20:06] I, I selected, um, Bilquis Evely, um, because Helen of Windhorn, uh, blow blew me away.

[00:20:12] I recently, I read, um, I read Supergirl way late after everybody.

[00:20:18] I, I read Supergirl this year as well.

[00:20:20] So this was a, uh, a mind expanding, uh, dip into Bilquis's work.

[00:20:27] Um, you know, on top of like who she's working with too.

[00:20:32] Right.

[00:20:32] But you know, uh, there, her art was, is phenomenal.

[00:20:35] I've never seen anything like it.

[00:20:36] That's, that's who, uh, I chose.

[00:20:39] I will say, um, really awesome to see, uh, Dave Chislam on here.

[00:20:44] Uh, he is such a great, great, great, great dude.

[00:20:47] Uh, like ability and like person are the same amount of awesome.

[00:20:54] Like he's just the best guy.

[00:20:57] Um, new dad.

[00:20:58] Uh, well, apparently new, but I, I interviewed him like a long time ago and we had, we had

[00:21:03] a, and we, like, he's like one of those people you interview, you stay in touch with, you know?

[00:21:07] And that's kind of cool.

[00:21:07] Cause, cause you're like, oh, like they weren't just like, oh yeah, Blake's helping me sell

[00:21:12] a book.

[00:21:12] Like a, we enjoyed talking, you know, it was not, you know?

[00:21:15] So we like talk every now and then, uh, he's just great people and his, his new stuff.

[00:21:20] He's a spectrum is out right now.

[00:21:23] And that's insane.

[00:21:24] And, uh, as he, he teaches these classes and does these like whiteboard drawings that you

[00:21:31] could like sell.

[00:21:32] And then he just erases them.

[00:21:33] Like what?

[00:21:34] You know, it was like breaks my heart.

[00:21:36] He draws this like six foot Spider-Man and then erases it.

[00:21:39] It's like, no.

[00:21:40] Like this beautiful sand mandalas that are never meant to laugh.

[00:21:43] Um, yeah, that's, I, I, uh, Dennis is great too.

[00:21:48] Aether is a beautiful book.

[00:21:49] Uh, and then, yeah, Tyler, like Tyler, um, oh man, I want that.

[00:21:54] I want that Arrow County omnibus so bad.

[00:21:58] Oh, this just shows you it costs me money.

[00:22:01] I might have to crack the savings.

[00:22:04] Now, I also had Noquas Evely.

[00:22:06] I recently finally caught up and finished Helena Windhorn and absolutely, I just love

[00:22:11] it.

[00:22:12] Like her artwork in that book is just phenomenal.

[00:22:15] Um, you know, it's, it captures this type of like a Victorian novel and just this like gothic

[00:22:23] mansion and, you know, they, it's, it's in between our world and what they call the other

[00:22:29] world.

[00:22:29] It's, you know, um, it's kind of a take on the writer of Conan and, um, yeah, it's just,

[00:22:35] it's just absolutely gorgeous.

[00:22:37] But, uh, I mean, Dennis's work, um, on Etherus is great.

[00:22:41] And, uh, I haven't read the Miles Davis book that Dave did, but I did just read his spectrum

[00:22:47] from Mad Cave that he did with, I think, Rick Quinn and yeah, his artwork and that's phenomenal.

[00:22:52] So, um, but yeah, Helena Windhorn, I just absolutely love.

[00:22:56] Fantastic series.

[00:22:57] Amy?

[00:22:57] Amy?

[00:22:58] Yes.

[00:22:59] Um, well, I obviously nominated, uh, Philippa Andrada, um, cause you can't, I can't sing

[00:23:06] the praises of Rare Flavors without, you know, both of, of the main creators.

[00:23:10] Um, I just love the, the odd proportions he gives his characters, especially because, uh,

[00:23:16] the demon is, is larger than life, but the colors in this one are so sumptuous and it's

[00:23:20] just really beautiful and, and mythical and fantastic.

[00:23:24] Um, but I also wanted to give a, uh, a nomination and a shout out to Tango, um, who I, I think

[00:23:32] just truly embodies kind of the indie, um, spirit right now.

[00:23:36] Um, and she's doing, uh, you know, she just did Power Rangers and, um, has done some covers

[00:23:41] for TMNT.

[00:23:42] A lot of really cool, um, like Kickstarters will use her art, uh, for variant covers and for

[00:23:48] good reason.

[00:23:49] Um, but she's also, also a double threat, uh, cause she is a capable writer, um, and

[00:23:54] has done work with the White Ash universe, uh, for the White Ash annual that came out this

[00:23:59] year.

[00:24:00] Um, kind of co-wrote a piece, uh, with, uh, Charles Stickney and then drew all of it and,

[00:24:06] uh, was like, why did I give myself a nine panel page?

[00:24:09] And I was like, cause you're crazy.

[00:24:11] And I love it.

[00:24:11] I had the pleasure of working with her for the, uh, the latest Iron Circus, uh, crowdfund

[00:24:16] as well for Perfect Crime Party.

[00:24:18] I just think her art, like some of the others you've mentioned here, it's like when you

[00:24:21] see Tango, that is Tango.

[00:24:23] And I think it has the same visual scan, but I'm not saying like it's identical to, um,

[00:24:29] the energy you see and feel from, uh, Elsa Charatier and, uh, Darwin Cook's artwork.

[00:24:34] And so just seeing Tango's work, um, she also did, um, Jaguar for Archie Comics, which was

[00:24:40] also a super fun indie superhero, uh, story.

[00:24:45] And it's a, a marvel to me, uh, that a big two company has not, uh, scooped her up for

[00:24:51] anything yet, but I just love, love, love Tango's stuff.

[00:24:54] And I feel like, especially because so much of it is available through the crowdfunding

[00:24:58] and the Kickstarters and like variant covers, I just know that she's just going to be a

[00:25:03] huge rising star and I want people to invest early in those books, those covers, uh, Tango's

[00:25:09] style.

[00:25:09] Cause I just think it is so, so much fun.

[00:25:12] You know who that reminds me of Amy?

[00:25:14] It wasn't, it wasn't super long ago where that was, that was Sky, that was Skylar Patrick.

[00:25:19] Like Kickstarters everywhere, um, popping up all of a sudden on, on, you know, on indie

[00:25:27] direct market shelves, variants here and there, uh, and then all of a sudden in Wonder Woman,

[00:25:34] you know, like a very, that sounds like a very similar story.

[00:25:38] Yeah.

[00:25:39] I, it's, I love like having kind of come up in the kind of, I guess, creator peer levels

[00:25:46] of some of these folks.

[00:25:48] Like it is so cool just watching those rises and it always feels like it happens overnight,

[00:25:53] but it doesn't because these people are putting in like so much sweat and so much

[00:25:57] many sleepless hours.

[00:25:58] And so it's like, again, you want to make sure you're supporting them before they, you

[00:26:02] know, are burned out or anything.

[00:26:03] But like, it's just, it's so much fun to watch people then get their flowers and, and continue

[00:26:08] to climb.

[00:26:09] And it's just a matter of time.

[00:26:10] I think Tango is absolutely going to explode, uh, soon.

[00:26:14] I hope, I hope publishers, um, kind of key into that as well.

[00:26:18] Nice.

[00:26:19] Well, we've heard some, there's a great stuff there with artistry and illustration.

[00:26:22] Um, taking another little quick break.

[00:26:24] Uh, but before that, next question on the quiz, which comic book movie adaptation was

[00:26:30] actor Samuel L.

[00:26:31] Jackson not in the spirit Astro boy Afro samurai steel.

[00:26:38] I've only seen one of these.

[00:26:40] Wow.

[00:26:42] I don't even, I'm, I'm trying to, what is, what was the list again?

[00:26:46] What is the list?

[00:26:47] I don't even know if I know what steel is steel.

[00:26:50] He plays, he plays Jack irons.

[00:26:52] Yeah.

[00:26:53] Yeah.

[00:26:53] Uh, so you have the spirit.

[00:26:54] It's the best DC movie that's ever come.

[00:26:58] Hold on.

[00:26:59] What?

[00:27:00] This just turned into a steel show.

[00:27:03] I mean, I know the character of steel.

[00:27:05] I didn't know they, I, I, I'm rocking my brain to think if I played him in real life in a

[00:27:11] live action movie.

[00:27:12] Yep.

[00:27:13] Yep.

[00:27:13] It was, I don't want to burst any bubbles, but I did not like it.

[00:27:19] It was not my thing.

[00:27:21] Um, but it's nobody's thing.

[00:27:23] It was nobody's.

[00:27:24] So Samuel L.

[00:27:25] Jackson, it was the spirit Astro boy Afro samurai or steel.

[00:27:29] I don't know.

[00:27:30] I'm going to, I'm going to go with Afro samurai.

[00:27:32] All right.

[00:27:33] What you got?

[00:27:34] I have no idea.

[00:27:35] I only because I think it would seem like the most obvious that of all of them for him

[00:27:42] to have been in is Afro samurai.

[00:27:46] I feel like thinking it's like, it feels like the, it feels like maybe he's not.

[00:27:50] I'm going to, I'm going to go with Amy and say Afro samurai.

[00:27:53] You're not following me into the darkness, Jimmy.

[00:27:55] I am.

[00:27:57] I'm going, I'm going Astro boy.

[00:27:59] Okay.

[00:28:00] All right.

[00:28:00] Well, we're going to take a quick break.

[00:28:02] We'll be back and find out which it is.

[00:28:06] Hey.

[00:28:07] No matter if you celebrate the holidays or not, there is always a nerdy content available

[00:28:16] on fabulize mag.com.

[00:28:20] Fabulize mag is the first BIPOC feminist geek culture website where marginalized voices weigh

[00:28:29] in on their favorite comics, books, TV shows, film, and everything about pop culture.

[00:28:35] Don't miss the opportunity to see what we're talking about.

[00:28:38] Cause we're always talking about something spicy.

[00:28:41] Check us out.

[00:28:42] Fabulize mag.com.

[00:28:44] And we're everywhere on social media under fabulize mag.

[00:28:52] All right.

[00:28:55] We're back.

[00:28:56] Which comic book movie adaptation was actor Samuel L. Jackson not in?

[00:29:00] The choices are the spirit, Astro boy, Afro samurai, or steel.

[00:29:05] The answer is steel.

[00:29:07] My favorite movie.

[00:29:08] I don't even know who was in it.

[00:29:09] All right.

[00:29:10] The only one I knew was he was in the spirit.

[00:29:13] Like a picture in my head.

[00:29:15] Yep.

[00:29:16] Yep.

[00:29:16] So that was, there was a, I don't, I'd never watched Astro boy.

[00:29:20] That's like full disclosure.

[00:29:21] I have not seen it, but I haven't seen any of those movies.

[00:29:25] So I don't think I've seen any of them to your list as well as comic books that you want

[00:29:29] to buy.

[00:29:29] That's the whole point.

[00:29:30] I, I, you can get, you can get a, you can read movies on hoopla.

[00:29:33] You can, you can read movies on hoopla.

[00:29:36] All right.

[00:29:37] Amy, you, you, you're the next one up here for the category.

[00:29:40] Okay.

[00:29:40] Well, next we're going to be talking excellence in coloring.

[00:29:43] Um, this is a really cool category.

[00:29:45] I think coloring is, uh, just a really exciting part of comics.

[00:29:49] Again, just adding depth to the line art and adding that kind of visual language of colors

[00:29:55] for mood, for environment, all of those beautiful things.

[00:29:58] We've got many, many talented folks nominated here.

[00:30:01] So our list includes Brendan Albetsky, Philippa Andrada for rare flavors.

[00:30:05] Once again, uh, Jordi Belair, Matthias Bergara for Coda, Felhound for SIR or sir, um, JP Jordan,

[00:30:14] Midgard for Thurgy, uh, Gustavo Vargas for Null Hunter and Jason Wordy for Morningstar.

[00:30:20] Well, um, I guess I'm going to, if I can, I'm going to start with who I nominated.

[00:30:24] Um, uh, in this category, I actually nominated, uh, JP Jordan kind of goes hand in hand with,

[00:30:29] uh, he'd done a lot of work with Tango and that's how I've seen, uh, his stuff, but he

[00:30:33] has been in a bunch of crowdfunding projects as well.

[00:30:36] He also did the Power Rangers, uh, across the Morphin Grid book.

[00:30:40] He's just also a very, uh, familiar and friendly face in the indie comics community.

[00:30:45] And I can just always think of him, uh, supporting other folks as well.

[00:30:49] Um, but his colors are very bright.

[00:30:51] Um, he's also done, um, oh, what was the, it's not Rick and Morty.

[00:30:54] It's, um, high on life as well.

[00:30:57] Just very vibrant.

[00:30:58] And I'm not always the best at describing color quality, but I just think that he does such

[00:31:03] a good job with bold colors that aren't like overly saturated ingredient or like just, it

[00:31:10] feels like very clean cut colors.

[00:31:12] And I, and I like that work.

[00:31:13] I'm glad I get to see him in collaboration with a lot of, uh, artists that I love as

[00:31:18] well.

[00:31:18] Um, and he's definitely been around the kind of indie pro publishing and, uh, Kickstarter

[00:31:24] crowdfunding scene this year.

[00:31:26] How about Jimmy?

[00:31:27] Mine on here.

[00:31:28] Oh, Jimmy's gonna go.

[00:31:29] I'll go.

[00:31:30] That's fine.

[00:31:30] Um.

[00:31:31] You go.

[00:31:31] Uh, sure.

[00:31:32] I, I, I put Jason Wordy on the list cause I'll, I'll, I'm just, I'm basically as long

[00:31:37] as Jason's in comics, I'm probably just going to put them on every year.

[00:31:41] Cause I, I still feel like, I don't know.

[00:31:42] He doesn't get the recognition that he deserves in particular.

[00:31:45] I really liked morning star, you know, that was Tim, Tim Daniel and, uh, David

[00:31:49] Andree writing it.

[00:31:51] Marco Finnegan did the artwork.

[00:31:52] Yeah.

[00:31:52] I just, I just, I love, uh, I think I really fell in love with Jason Wordy stuff when

[00:31:56] he did resonant, which was another David Andree book.

[00:32:00] And, um, Skylar Patrick, I think who took over the second arc, uh, whose name has come

[00:32:05] up already, but yeah, I just think he just does a beautiful job.

[00:32:09] His colors add so much to whatever project he's working on in terms of mood and tone and

[00:32:16] emotionality.

[00:32:17] And I'm yeah, huge fan.

[00:32:19] So, uh, Jason was my pick.

[00:32:21] How do you have a last name that is Wordy and you totally missed your calling and he's

[00:32:26] a colorist?

[00:32:27] I don't think he missed his calling.

[00:32:29] He's a very good color.

[00:32:30] Objectively.

[00:32:31] Absolutely.

[00:32:31] But I mean, it's right there.

[00:32:32] It's, it's the perfect branding.

[00:32:34] Your marketing is built in.

[00:32:35] That is true.

[00:32:37] From birth.

[00:32:37] You're destined to be Wordy.

[00:32:40] When his parents are like, oh no, you're going into comics.

[00:32:42] Oh God.

[00:32:44] What every parent wants to hear.

[00:32:46] Yeah.

[00:32:48] Well, I had, uh, Felipe Andrade on here because Rare Flavors to me is so unique.

[00:32:53] And the fact that Amy's already gone over it better than I ever could, but, but the color

[00:32:58] work there I thought was so on point for what the book was trying to do, which was also highlight

[00:33:04] the culture and looking at that, flipping through the pages, knowing there's cooking

[00:33:09] is a, is a big element.

[00:33:11] You get turmeric colors, you get paprika colors, you get these cardamom colors, and all these

[00:33:17] are spices that go into all the food.

[00:33:20] And so I thought it was just a perfect compliment to the creation of the book.

[00:33:24] So I was blown away by it.

[00:33:26] I thought it was amazing.

[00:33:27] Um, and the other one really nicely from what colors were in Layla star, which had the same

[00:33:32] kind of effect for the, uh, culture and the region, but like had a different kind of dealing

[00:33:38] with life and death as opposed to these food colors.

[00:33:41] Um, and it's also nice to see something that takes place, you know, in India and doesn't

[00:33:45] have like the Netflix filter of like, we're in a foreign country now kind of like it's,

[00:33:49] it's authentic and it's beautiful, uh, in that way.

[00:33:52] I think kind of just adding on to your point with, uh, Felipe's work there.

[00:33:55] Yeah.

[00:33:56] Yeah.

[00:33:56] Blake.

[00:33:57] Um, yeah.

[00:33:58] So I, I almost put, I almost did Mike Spicer was almost my choice.

[00:34:04] Um, also just because I kind of, you got to have respect for someone who's like, doesn't

[00:34:11] do as many interiors anymore.

[00:34:13] Cause all the hottest cover artists demand him to do their cover.

[00:34:17] Yeah.

[00:34:18] Like he's like Marie Marie.

[00:34:19] He does like all Maria Wolf's work and like, like all these like rockstar color, like

[00:34:23] work with him exclusively.

[00:34:25] And it's, it's awesome.

[00:34:26] And it's a bummer because the interior, like he, he did some phenomenal like interior work

[00:34:32] and you know, when you don't have to do that, why would you, you know?

[00:34:35] So I went with, with Jordy, uh, just again, the, uh, what am I trying to say?

[00:34:41] The algebraic equation that like, if you're working on GI Joe or transformers right now,

[00:34:46] you are, you're one of the cool kids.

[00:34:49] You're at the big table.

[00:34:50] You know, you're, you're, uh, you're on the varsity squad.

[00:34:53] You're on, you got the letterman jacket, right?

[00:34:54] You're, you're there.

[00:34:56] You're where you want to be.

[00:34:58] And, and Jordy's done a handful of those books now making those amazing.

[00:35:03] What I love about Jordy's colors is cause there's, there's a, a tonal control, right?

[00:35:09] There, the, the tonal control that colors have like is, is phenomenal.

[00:35:13] They really do make you feel more than you think.

[00:35:16] I it's, it's crazy how they, it like ties into your mind and, and like, I don't know,

[00:35:23] it's the science behind it.

[00:35:24] Right.

[00:35:24] Art's amazing.

[00:35:25] But anyway, when a colorist is doing their job, they are absolutely like puppet stringing

[00:35:31] you and your, your emotions.

[00:35:33] And Jordy does that with like a vivid blast of color that can be like insanely warm neon

[00:35:40] or like insanely cool.

[00:35:43] Like, but can just, can, it doesn't have to like the brightness doesn't have to be taken

[00:35:47] away.

[00:35:48] It's always, you always almost have to like squint at it.

[00:35:51] And, and no matter like how bright and in your face it is, it can, it can still make you

[00:35:56] feel like a, in a sort of, of emotions.

[00:35:58] So I, I love that about, about their work.

[00:36:01] It's just always, it's always a showstopper.

[00:36:03] Like no matter who, no matter who's on their art, it's just like, oh, those, those pages

[00:36:09] just ignite.

[00:36:10] And it's a wonderful experience.

[00:36:11] I've, I've yet to see a, their name on a cover where I was like, oh, you know, like not,

[00:36:18] not though, not who I would have chosen for the right.

[00:36:20] I've never like, never.

[00:36:21] It's just like, it's like pure excitement on, uh, to open that cover.

[00:36:25] So that was my job.

[00:36:26] But also shout out to Fel, uh, who's like also old friend, uh, that I interviewed back

[00:36:33] in the day, got to know, became a friend.

[00:36:36] We both love giant robots.

[00:36:38] Uh, and, and so awesome to see her like, yeah.

[00:36:43] So it was just cool to see her on like a list like this, right?

[00:36:46] The people you meet and you're like, you deserve more record.

[00:36:49] You, you should be on those lists.

[00:36:50] Like you should be at bigger publishers, you know, then, then you see it happening.

[00:36:54] And you see, you see them at these publishers and you see them on these urine lists and

[00:36:58] well, it's cool.

[00:37:00] Indie comics.

[00:37:00] That's, that's, that's the magic of indie comics that like I miss and love and get

[00:37:05] high on.

[00:37:06] Like, can we say that on here?

[00:37:08] I don't know.

[00:37:08] Can we?

[00:37:08] Oh yeah.

[00:37:09] Oh yeah.

[00:37:09] You can swear as much as you want.

[00:37:11] Yeah.

[00:37:11] I mean, I'll, I'll go ahead and break it.

[00:37:12] Like Fel's fucking awesome.

[00:37:14] And, and so this is, this is the third year that she has been in a category and or on the

[00:37:22] first year she was a host.

[00:37:23] So I'm, I'm joy.

[00:37:25] It fills me full of joy that, that she is having the success that she is.

[00:37:29] And, and clearly that, that is a broad reach because she has touched so many people, you

[00:37:35] know, in such a positive way, which is, is really amazing.

[00:37:38] It's really amazing.

[00:37:39] But we'll keep going with our, our tribute before we take a break.

[00:37:42] So the first officially recorded comics convention was where?

[00:37:47] San Diego, New York, Paris, or Tokyo?

[00:37:51] Define record.

[00:37:52] Like the whole thing was recorded or like?

[00:37:55] Well, yeah.

[00:37:56] Right.

[00:37:56] On a record is like, yes, this is officially actually a true comics convention.

[00:38:01] Okay.

[00:38:02] Yeah.

[00:38:02] I'm going to go with Paris.

[00:38:04] Okay.

[00:38:04] Jimmy's got Paris.

[00:38:05] You said Tokyo.

[00:38:06] I'm going to Tokyo.

[00:38:08] Okay.

[00:38:08] Everybody's got Tokyo.

[00:38:09] Tokyo.

[00:38:09] Um, I'll put, I'll put my flag down for San Diego.

[00:38:13] We're all wrong again.

[00:38:15] We're all right.

[00:38:16] We'll, we'll see how this goes.

[00:38:17] We'll be right back.

[00:38:18] We have to get something right at some point.

[00:38:20] Yo, yo, yo.

[00:38:21] What's up everybody.

[00:38:22] Thank you for tuning in.

[00:38:23] This is Cody from Keeping It Geekly letting you know that you could check out my podcast

[00:38:27] on all podcast platforms, bringing you the greatest and the latest from comic books

[00:38:32] to video games and everything in between.

[00:38:34] Big shout out to Byron and everyone from comic book Yeti for letting me be a part of the

[00:38:39] team and advertise my channel.

[00:38:41] I hope you all have a fantastic winter and happy holidays.

[00:38:46] Okay.

[00:38:47] We're back.

[00:38:47] Um, and they managed to do it a second time in a row.

[00:38:52] The first officially recorded comics convention was in New York.

[00:38:56] Damn it.

[00:38:57] Yep.

[00:38:58] Yep.

[00:38:59] All right.

[00:38:59] So Blake, our next category is.

[00:39:01] Do you have which one it was?

[00:39:03] Do you know, like, did they have a name or was it just like people hanging over?

[00:39:06] It's New York Comic Con.

[00:39:07] Oh, okay.

[00:39:07] Just New York Comic Con.

[00:39:08] Okay, cool.

[00:39:09] What year was it?

[00:39:10] That's the next question.

[00:39:13] I get to keep my job in comics after this because this is embarrassing.

[00:39:16] I know, right?

[00:39:17] No, I'll have to make them a little easier, but, um.

[00:39:21] No, it's good.

[00:39:21] We're learning.

[00:39:22] Yeah.

[00:39:22] It's, I tried to make it fun and I didn't want to make it too obvious.

[00:39:25] It's funny.

[00:39:26] If you look up a lot of the quiz, I had to dig to actually get some decent questions because

[00:39:30] a lot of the stuff you'll find out there is, oh, who was Peter Parker's uncle?

[00:39:35] And I'm like, come on.

[00:39:36] Okay.

[00:39:36] Everybody will nail this.

[00:39:37] This is so simple.

[00:39:38] Except maybe Jimmy, because he doesn't read Marvel, but you'd probably even get that.

[00:39:42] Uh, Peter Parker's Spider-Man, right?

[00:39:44] Okay.

[00:39:45] Moving on.

[00:39:46] You're not supposed to know that.

[00:39:47] Exceptional editor.

[00:39:49] What do we have, Blake?

[00:39:49] Oh my goodness.

[00:39:50] You know, I really like that you gave me this category too, by the way, because this has

[00:39:55] been a year of, I have several, I've gotten several editorial credits and we do, I do a

[00:40:01] lot of editing at work and I do a lot of trade paperback proofing at work.

[00:40:06] Things that you don't think about comics a lot.

[00:40:09] These trade paperbacks are real cool.

[00:40:11] Someone has to go through those 200 or however many pages and make sure that like there's,

[00:40:17] they get, they're lined up right.

[00:40:18] And there's the page numbers where, and it's just like, is this side of comics that you

[00:40:22] don't think about that.

[00:40:24] Um, anyways, uh, so I was stoked to get to do this because I have a, I have a new found

[00:40:30] appreciation fascination with, with production and behind the scenes comic book making.

[00:40:35] Cause that's, that's my life now.

[00:40:37] So, uh, our list of exceptional editors, we've got, uh, Michelle, uh, a boundator,

[00:40:43] Donator.

[00:40:44] It's like Terminator.

[00:40:45] That's how she told me it works.

[00:40:46] So it's Abinator.

[00:40:47] Michelle Abinator.

[00:40:49] Okay.

[00:40:49] Michelle Abinator, uh, Heather Antos, Will Dennis, two votes.

[00:40:55] This guy got two votes.

[00:40:56] No one else did.

[00:40:57] James, uh, James Emmett, James B Emmett.

[00:41:01] Uh, and then we got, uh, Josh O'Neill of Beehive Books.

[00:41:05] And last but definitely not least, Alison O'Toole.

[00:41:07] That is our, our list of editors.

[00:41:10] Uh, just a handful of, uh, a handful of the huge pool of people, uh, making sure you all

[00:41:16] get great, great comic books every week.

[00:41:18] Doing the Lord's work.

[00:41:20] You've, if you will.

[00:41:21] Right.

[00:41:22] Truly.

[00:41:22] Um, so I guess, uh, I, I guess I'll, I'll start.

[00:41:26] Um, I, I chose Heather, um, because I'm, I'm, I'm very familiar with, with Heather.

[00:41:31] And again, watching someone like get a cool industry draw.

[00:41:36] Like, I feel like next year or the year after you're looking at like creative director of

[00:41:41] IDW, like heading there.

[00:41:43] You don't get, you're not, you don't work on like that many books simultaneously and promote

[00:41:50] like brand recognition that well over like a few years.

[00:41:54] Like she's geared up for an amazing promotion.

[00:41:56] I feel like there's going to be like a higher up, which is going to be like cool for IDW

[00:42:02] and also a bummer for indie comics if she can't edit as much stuff anymore.

[00:42:06] Um, but I, I, I think she's doing really great work.

[00:42:10] Also congratulations.

[00:42:11] Just got engaged.

[00:42:12] Um, like, like living, living her best life.

[00:42:15] Amazing nerd, like for far too long now has fought the good fight against the bad side

[00:42:21] of the internet.

[00:42:21] Right.

[00:42:22] Like it's a shame we're still having to put up with that, but like still like it was

[00:42:28] like on the front lines of that ridiculousness.

[00:42:32] And just like she, she's doing awesome stuff.

[00:42:35] And like I said, IDW did a lot of great stuff for star Wars is now doing star Trek reached

[00:42:40] out.

[00:42:40] I had a question about star Trek was very kind and like answered a question and was like,

[00:42:44] no, this new deal of star jets made for new readers.

[00:42:46] And like, we set it up that way and it's awesome.

[00:42:49] And it, and it was, it was awesome.

[00:42:50] It reminded me of like, I don't know anything about star Trek anymore.

[00:42:53] It's been years and years and it was like fun to read.

[00:42:56] And so yeah, a person who just lives breeze and loves comics and love storytelling and

[00:43:02] telling better stories and helping people tell better stories.

[00:43:05] Um, that was my, that was my choice in Heather.

[00:43:08] Um, and, and, and draws a damn cute Jeff, the land shark and adorable Jeff, the land shark.

[00:43:18] Uh, Amy, you want to go?

[00:43:20] Sure.

[00:43:20] Um, yeah, this, you know, this is always an interesting category because editors are those

[00:43:25] you have to kind of make yourself aware of because I feel like one of the marks of a

[00:43:30] good editor is obviously that like, you can't tell where their fingerprints are all over the

[00:43:34] story or they're not, you know, making a writer tell the story that they think the story should

[00:43:38] be.

[00:43:39] They're helping the writer make the story that they know the writer wants to make.

[00:43:42] Anyways, I nominated Alison O'Toole because I think she just does Herculean work.

[00:43:48] Um, and you may know her best from being the editorial voice behind so many of Chip Zdarsky's

[00:43:54] independent publishing projects.

[00:43:56] I also had the pleasure of working directly with her, uh, for Newbern, but she's done, uh,

[00:44:00] Newbern was wrapped up this year, public domain with Chip Zdarsky.

[00:44:04] His new one with, uh, I believe distillery time weights.

[00:44:07] Um, she did the whisper queen.

[00:44:09] She was an editor on legendary links and has also done crowdfunding projects, uh, including

[00:44:13] the, um, I'm going to probably say it wrong, but I think it's Balik Bayan, the Filipino

[00:44:18] horror, um, story as well.

[00:44:21] She's just everywhere and is so from my experience, like on top of her things and really just

[00:44:29] facilitates, you know, helping the writer tell that story that they want to tell.

[00:44:33] Um, but she's also really funny.

[00:44:35] I mean, if no one, if you haven't seen the chip class videos that Chip Zdarsky put out

[00:44:38] about how to make comics, like she's also down to like, she understands that humor is

[00:44:43] also extremely funny, uh, herself and is just a really creative and clever person.

[00:44:48] But I just, with the number of, uh, projects that she has worked on with the breadth of all

[00:44:54] the different styles and genres that I know that Chip has been doing, uh, the fact that those,

[00:44:58] those books always come out so nice, so clean.

[00:45:01] Um, I just think she's a fabulous editor.

[00:45:03] She did Dead Romans, I think too.

[00:45:06] I think so.

[00:45:07] Her was an assistant editor, but it was a, it was different.

[00:45:10] It was a different type of book for her or than what she's worked on kind of so far,

[00:45:16] like with, with Chip, but like Dead, uh, Dead Romans was great.

[00:45:20] Like this, this weird, like whodunit, like historical noir with like the absolute grittiest

[00:45:26] art.

[00:45:27] That was a, and I think that came out this year probably, or maybe, I don't know.

[00:45:31] I think it came out this year.

[00:45:32] Time is an illusion because some of the books that I wanted to nominate this year were like

[00:45:36] way in last year.

[00:45:37] And I was like, oh my God.

[00:45:38] Agreed.

[00:45:38] I just put it on.

[00:45:39] I put, well, I had one on the list anyway that we'll get to later that I just, I just

[00:45:42] left it on.

[00:45:43] I was just like, I don't care.

[00:45:44] I read it this year.

[00:45:45] Or I thought about it this year.

[00:45:47] I read it this year.

[00:45:48] I'm putting it on.

[00:45:49] No one's going to check.

[00:45:50] Yeah.

[00:45:51] But for, I, I nominated or, or chose James B. Emmett.

[00:45:55] I feel like in some of the interviews I've done, his, his name comes up.

[00:46:00] Um, I, Morningstar in particular, he was the editor on, you know, he's, he's done stuff

[00:46:04] for, you know, work for me at cave.

[00:46:06] I I've seen him working the man cave booth at Baltimore.

[00:46:09] Um, he's very tall.

[00:46:11] I put them on the list despite the fact that he's very tall.

[00:46:13] We all very tall.

[00:46:14] Nice here.

[00:46:16] Yeah.

[00:46:16] Listeners know how I feel about tall people.

[00:46:19] It's not positive.

[00:46:20] Um, but he's a very good editor.

[00:46:22] So I, I, I put James on the list.

[00:46:24] Where, where's the cutoff?

[00:46:26] What?

[00:46:26] Where's the cutoff for tall?

[00:46:28] Um, like, like six feet.

[00:46:31] Cause I'm five, I'm five seven.

[00:46:33] So I'm five nine.

[00:46:35] So like, I just had to know if we were, you're, you're fine.

[00:46:38] You're okay.

[00:46:40] I'm six feet on my roller skates.

[00:46:42] That's all right.

[00:46:43] James is great.

[00:46:44] It should be no surprise that James is one of one of my nominations.

[00:46:47] So we were the times too, because Jimmy is maybe a mad cave convert.

[00:46:51] Absolutely.

[00:46:52] I will.

[00:46:52] I will give you official credit on the air about that.

[00:46:55] Cause they're, they're just dropping great stuff.

[00:46:57] And I was, I was like, God, why is he always going on about mad cave?

[00:47:00] Well, it turns out they put out some pretty incredible stuff.

[00:47:02] So James was on there for me and Will Dennis was the other one for me because Will is

[00:47:07] one of those behind the scenes people who has really shaped the last 30 to 40 years in

[00:47:13] comics.

[00:47:14] And just, I feel like does not get the credit he deserves, you know, working with, as a DC

[00:47:20] editor back in the day and then transitioning to doing freelance stuff for himself.

[00:47:24] So he, see, man, why, why the last man, sorry, like a hundred, a hundred bullets.

[00:47:31] A hundred bullets.

[00:47:32] Yep.

[00:47:32] I know some of these did not age well, but they're still phenomenal works of art.

[00:47:37] Uh, the scalped, like he was like on the big groundbreaking earth shattering vertigo

[00:47:46] shit.

[00:47:46] Like I, this dude is a rock star.

[00:47:49] Yeah.

[00:47:49] He great, great pick.

[00:47:51] Um, and he is everywhere because it's not just all of the distillery stuff that he's

[00:47:56] actually the, I don't know what his official title is.

[00:47:59] Maybe he's a chief editor.

[00:48:00] He is a founder.

[00:48:00] He's one of the founding editors.

[00:48:03] So he's, he's like high, he's a higher up.

[00:48:06] He's a, he's a suit.

[00:48:07] It's not just that stuff.

[00:48:08] He's, he's doing all the horizon experiment books with porn sack.

[00:48:12] Oh, wow.

[00:48:13] Yeah.

[00:48:13] He's in so many things that he is funny with all those horizon experiment stuff that they

[00:48:18] pulled in some incredible talent outside of the comics realm.

[00:48:22] Some of these people have very, very little experience working in comics and he and

[00:48:28] porn sack because they know everybody were able to put this stuff together and they're

[00:48:31] all amazing books.

[00:48:33] So anyway, yeah, Will, Will is, is, uh, he's the goat of the editors to me.

[00:48:39] I love Will.

[00:48:40] And that's another big editorial job that a lot of people don't realize is when some

[00:48:45] of these people that are not familiar with comics come over and write comics, they get

[00:48:51] a lot of editorial help and it's, they're not like writing it for them, but like how to script

[00:48:55] for comics, how to transition scenes.

[00:48:58] It's panel to panel dialogue.

[00:49:00] You know, if you, if you write a script for comics and you're not super familiar with comic

[00:49:04] scripting or the meat, like it's going to be a mess.

[00:49:06] Right.

[00:49:07] Especially if you try and write it like a, like a movie script or a TV script or a sitcom

[00:49:11] script, you know, like it, so these not only do these like edit, it's not just proofing.

[00:49:17] It's not just, they're not looking for, you know, there's so many people are like, you

[00:49:21] know, I could, I could find typos and stuff.

[00:49:23] Like I found it.

[00:49:23] I've found a typo in an image book.

[00:49:25] Gosh, you know, it's like, that's not all that they do.

[00:49:27] Right.

[00:49:27] It's just, they're like, they guide the story.

[00:49:30] They massage it.

[00:49:31] They they're, they're doing emails there.

[00:49:33] If you don't hear from an artist in a while, like they're pinging art, right.

[00:49:37] There's a lot of editorial stuff.

[00:49:40] They really need a better name than editor.

[00:49:43] I feel like it's like comic chieftain or something.

[00:49:45] I, they just, they do so much.

[00:49:47] The way that you were mentioning that like editors, not only like help people who are coming

[00:49:51] in from outside of this specific style and doing all of those technical

[00:49:55] elements.

[00:49:55] A lot of these editors are also like great at uplifting and finding new voices.

[00:50:00] And I, and I think Michelle and the projects that she's done this year really exemplify that

[00:50:06] as well.

[00:50:06] Finding a space for underrepresented voices and, you know, pushing hard for those, like not

[00:50:12] only organizing and, and, you know, putting together all of the, the page aspects, but

[00:50:17] then to run these crowdfunding, these Kickstarter, the backer kit campaigns.

[00:50:21] Um, and so for when we were young and all of those types of projects, again, underrepresented

[00:50:26] voices, someone taking it upon themselves saying, Hey, I'm, I want to put together an anthology

[00:50:30] and I will edit this.

[00:50:31] I will, you know, facilitate this.

[00:50:33] And again, it's, it's so much more than just editing.

[00:50:36] It's the, the birthing of, you know, the, the facilitation of comics and, and having been

[00:50:42] on the, you know, the selling side and the reading side and the writing side of comics.

[00:50:46] Like it's always a miracle when any of these books gets made, whether it's digital, whether

[00:50:51] it's physical, whether it's shipping out from a distributor, from a publisher, or it's,

[00:50:56] you know, hand to the artists, Kickstarter and, and that indie stuff.

[00:51:00] Like it's really commendable.

[00:51:01] And I think we've got so many different levels of editorial and editor experience on this list,

[00:51:05] but I wanted to make sure we also shouted out that about Michelle's work this year.

[00:51:09] No, that's a really good point.

[00:51:10] Anybody who does any anthology work, like is it, that's insane.

[00:51:13] Those projects are insane.

[00:51:15] I got to do two pages in one and watching the editor and the curator, like there was 73

[00:51:23] total people on the, like that they had to like, wow.

[00:51:27] Like, and so just like, you're, you're herding chickens.

[00:51:31] You're, you're, you know, it's like, you're really hoping like people pay attention to their

[00:51:36] deadlines and it's just, it, it's, it, it's insane.

[00:51:39] And it's, it's cool to like watch it all come together, but yeah, the, the amount of work

[00:51:43] and Michelle, Michelle's, uh, it's like, well, when I was young, sharp wind, the company of

[00:51:47] women, color of always, like these were big, these were big anthologies, big, successful,

[00:51:52] uh, uh, and successful and shipped.

[00:51:55] And now some of which are, some are sold on the direct market.

[00:51:58] Now, uh, these, these anthologies.

[00:52:00] And I think that's important to mention too, because for a while, you know, anthology people,

[00:52:05] anthology was almost like a bad word for a little bit because of some, some bad actors and some

[00:52:10] failed projects and some things that happened.

[00:52:12] And I think a lot of people got turned off backer wise, like consumer wise got turned off

[00:52:17] on anthologies, but it's see who, you know, be careful who you work with for one, but

[00:52:22] like anthologies are so important for like voices or new and established voices to like

[00:52:27] get, get established voices into weird nooks and crannies of the medium, you know, to,

[00:52:33] to, to switch it up.

[00:52:34] Right.

[00:52:34] Like anthologies are really, really special.

[00:52:36] And I'm glad that we're starting to warm to them again.

[00:52:39] I'm, and I'm glad, I know they've been scary, you know, like on, on Kickstarter, these $25,000

[00:52:45] campaigns, like, are they going to do it?

[00:52:46] Are they going to do it?

[00:52:47] And then it's like an hour before and they define, they do it, you know, it's, but it's,

[00:52:51] they're, they're getting made.

[00:52:52] People are supporting them again as they, they're very important.

[00:52:55] And the people that, the people that do them are, are like superheroes.

[00:53:01] They, they do it out of the kindness of their heart basically.

[00:53:03] And, and it's, it's intense and laborsome and nonstop.

[00:53:08] It like, I, I, from like launch or from, I, from concept to, to like curating the teams

[00:53:14] to like putting it together to production, to the campaign printing.

[00:53:19] Like it's, it's, that's like a year of nonstop work.

[00:53:24] Like it's crazy.

[00:53:25] A year if you're lucky.

[00:53:26] Yeah.

[00:53:27] Yeah.

[00:53:28] Every once in a while, someone will, will bring up like, Oh, comic book Yeti.

[00:53:31] Should we, should we like do an anthology?

[00:53:34] I think Byron and I were both like, no, no, no, we're not, we're not doing that.

[00:53:38] No, never.

[00:53:39] Do you have any idea how much work it is?

[00:53:40] It's way too much work.

[00:53:41] John, John Westhoff of, of part-time comics on a live stream one time.

[00:53:46] He was, he goes, he was like, Blake, if you, he was like, if you do Blake's buzz and he

[00:53:49] was like, I'll edit it for you.

[00:53:51] And then like 50, you could see like after he said it, he was like, Oh, and then, cause

[00:53:56] like, and then like about 15 minutes later, he was like, you know, actually, no, we're,

[00:54:01] nah, we're not going to do that.

[00:54:04] Well, we'll give the anthologies their due.

[00:54:06] It's coming up.

[00:54:07] We'll take a quick break.

[00:54:08] But before that, in what year, and you had time to think about this, did the first comics

[00:54:13] convention take place in New York?

[00:54:17] 1971, 1958, 1964, or 1968?

[00:54:22] 78 came in my head.

[00:54:24] And you said 71, which was the closest.

[00:54:27] So I'm going to go 71.

[00:54:29] 71.

[00:54:29] Blake goes to 71.

[00:54:30] What were the numbers again?

[00:54:32] Oh God.

[00:54:32] Numbers are the worst for me.

[00:54:34] 71, 58, 64, 68.

[00:54:38] I'm going to go with 68.

[00:54:40] I'll go with, I'll go with 58.

[00:54:42] Okay.

[00:54:42] Well, if they're right or wrong, stay tuned.

[00:54:45] We'll be right back.

[00:54:46] Hey, true believers.

[00:54:47] Matt Sarto here.

[00:54:48] This holiday season.

[00:54:49] I am so thankful to everyone who made the first Indie Comics Creator Con a success.

[00:54:54] The spirit of indie creators is inspirational.

[00:54:57] To everyone who has put pen to paper this past year, I applaud you and wish you only the best

[00:55:03] with your next comic book.

[00:55:05] After a fantastic holiday with your friends and family, I hope you can join me for Indie Comics Creator Con 2025,

[00:55:14] happening March 15th at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.

[00:55:19] Join us as we celebrate the incredible talents of more than 150 creators showcasing their work in the world of Indie Comics.

[00:55:27] Check out IndieComicsCreatorCon.com for all the details on creators, panels, portfolio reviews, and tickets.

[00:55:36] Here's to a holiday season filled with joy, inspiration, and the love for comics.

[00:55:41] See you in March.

[00:55:43] Stay creative.

[00:55:44] Stay inspired.

[00:56:12] Stay creative.

[00:56:15] I've never been a trivia.

[00:56:17] I've never been good at trivia.

[00:56:19] When I used to drink, it was an excuse to hang out with my buddies and drink.

[00:56:23] I wasn't the guy who was solving the riddles.

[00:56:27] I think it's great.

[00:56:29] We're just doing our best.

[00:56:30] Your next category, so do your best.

[00:56:32] All right, so I have the next category, excellence in lettering.

[00:56:35] One of my favorite categories because I love lettering.

[00:56:39] I love letterers.

[00:56:40] I don't think they ever get enough credit.

[00:56:42] I think they all belong on the cover of the books, and sometimes it annoys me when they're not.

[00:56:47] That's my soapbox.

[00:56:48] Like Stan's soapbox.

[00:56:49] That's mine.

[00:56:50] Put your letter on the cover of your book.

[00:56:51] And for the excellence in lettering, we have Junie Ba for Mobilis.

[00:56:58] Reed Hinkley Barnes.

[00:56:59] Buddy Bodoyne.

[00:57:01] Hassan Otsman Elhau for Beyond Real.

[00:57:05] Aku Gun, Brutalizer of the Gods.

[00:57:07] And Russ Wooten.

[00:57:08] And so that's everyone we have.

[00:57:10] I'll start off.

[00:57:11] I put Buddy on.

[00:57:12] I love Buddy's stuff.

[00:57:13] I think he's a fantastic letterer.

[00:57:15] I've worked with Buddy before on some short comics, and yeah, I just think Buddy's a really nice guy, and I think he does exceptional work.

[00:57:25] And I'm always excited whenever I see his name on a book.

[00:57:29] I will also say, I mean, Junie Ba, the stuff that he has done is a fantastic Mobilis.

[00:57:38] Him and Hassan did.

[00:57:41] The name of the book just went right out of my head.

[00:57:44] Felix and Macabre.

[00:57:45] Felix and Macabre.

[00:57:47] Yes.

[00:57:47] Thank you, Byron.

[00:57:48] That was great.

[00:57:50] So excited to see him on the list.

[00:57:52] And yeah, Hassan, I mean, Hassan, his lettering is phenomenal.

[00:57:57] No matter what it is, he works, has lettered so many books, and they're just all some really inventive things.

[00:58:07] And you're like, oh, it's just lettering.

[00:58:08] How different can it be?

[00:58:09] Well, if you see bad lettering, and you have difficulty figuring out who's supposed to talk when, or it's not really directing your eye along the page, and it doesn't blend in with the art, it's covering up too much.

[00:58:21] But there's just some wonderful things that Hass does in terms of lettering that adds so much to the story in and of itself, like the actual storytelling.

[00:58:33] Not just the words and the dialogue, but those choices inform so much about books that he's working on.

[00:58:40] So yeah, all three of them are excellent, but Buddy was my choice.

[00:58:44] I just really love Buddy's work.

[00:58:45] Amy, did you have somebody that you nominated that you want to talk about?

[00:58:48] Yeah, I also put Hassan for this year.

[00:58:52] I think also just by the sheer volume of books that I did see his name on, whether it was the cover or checking the interior credits.

[00:59:00] And like you said, I think it's really interesting because for me, like editorial, there's degrees of lettering where bad lettering stands out.

[00:59:08] Because you are, you know, the tales are swapped or the order in which things are read are confusing.

[00:59:13] Good lettering is very unobtrusive, but I think also back swinging around, great lettering also stands out for the way that it enhances like those moments of dialogue.

[00:59:23] And there's a visual art to it as well.

[00:59:25] Like you said, balancing that it's not cutting off key parts of the panel.

[00:59:30] But there's also, you know, those little font touches or the way in which, you know, like if they make it more opaque for like a whisper or you've got the dotted kind of lines to denote whispering.

[00:59:42] And the different shapes of the tails on the word bubbles and everything.

[00:59:46] I just think those add so much across different projects.

[00:59:49] So I think, I mean, many, many letters excel in that.

[00:59:53] But I was just super excited every time I saw Hassan's name on a book this year.

[00:59:57] Again, just for that kind of quality of adding to the storytelling.

[01:00:00] And that's another one of those just general parts of the comic book process that when I first started reading, I was not aware of the impact it had.

[01:00:09] But once you start kind of following that, it is just such a fun part to be aware of as you're reading.

[01:00:15] Because you can look at a page and see all of it together.

[01:00:18] But then once you can also kind of pull the individual aspects out and just focus on the lettering or just the colors or just the art, you get all these different creative experiences by very many talented people.

[01:00:29] So all of these people are fabulous.

[01:00:31] And I recognize a lot of these names.

[01:00:33] But Hassan had my nomination this year.

[01:00:35] Awesome.

[01:00:36] Hey, Blake, how about you?

[01:00:37] I mean, I was going to do Hassan.

[01:00:40] Because he's it.

[01:00:42] He's it, right?

[01:00:43] He's like, oh, he's on every big book.

[01:00:45] He's, you know, you know, you're in a good spot.

[01:00:47] He did it.

[01:00:48] He's like the only letterer ever that did a lettering cover.

[01:00:52] I don't think anyone's ever done one.

[01:00:55] Or they may have done one since.

[01:00:57] But I believe he was the first.

[01:00:59] I went with Russ because I like I think he thought he did ultra.

[01:01:05] I thought he worked on ultra mega.

[01:01:06] But now I don't think he did.

[01:01:07] But I know he worked on like Blood Squad 7 with Joe Casey.

[01:01:11] He's done he's done a lot of great stuff.

[01:01:13] And he's done.

[01:01:13] He used to do some bad kids.

[01:01:15] I may be totally wrong there.

[01:01:17] I was really hard.

[01:01:19] I really wanted to vote for my co-workers.

[01:01:21] But I couldn't.

[01:01:23] Yeah, I mean, I guess I could have.

[01:01:25] But I didn't want to make it like weird.

[01:01:28] Because I know Grant did that on our first year.

[01:01:30] Everything that he had down was somebody he'd worked with.

[01:01:33] Oh, really?

[01:01:34] Yeah, you're fine.

[01:01:34] I nominated a lot of people I've worked with, but, you know, have have since observed all their work since that point.

[01:01:42] Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that.

[01:01:43] I like when people criticize us and say that we just we just nominate or we just talk about our friends.

[01:01:49] And I'm like, yeah, well, I mean, become my friend then, you know, and we'll mention you.

[01:01:53] We're very lucky to have these friends.

[01:01:55] Yeah, we'll move on before we take the next break.

[01:01:57] OK, come on.

[01:01:58] Somebody got to bring this home.

[01:01:59] Which now famous actress played a small part in the 2007 Ghost Rider movie?

[01:02:07] OK.

[01:02:08] Rebel Wilson, Brie Larson, Dakota Fanning or Emma Stone?

[01:02:15] Ghost Rider or writer?

[01:02:17] Ghost Rider, as in the Nicolas Cage Ghost Rider motorcycle movie.

[01:02:22] I thought it was going to be the Ghost Rider kids TV show.

[01:02:26] Does everyone remember that?

[01:02:27] Yeah, the little ball.

[01:02:28] They brought it back.

[01:02:30] They have a new one now.

[01:02:31] They have a new one.

[01:02:32] But it was on when I was a kid.

[01:02:34] Stop starring.

[01:02:35] In the early days of television.

[01:02:37] Sorry.

[01:02:37] So the choices were Rebel Wilson, Emma Stone, Brie Larson and who was the other one?

[01:02:43] Dakota Fanning.

[01:02:45] Oh.

[01:02:46] 2007?

[01:02:48] Yeah.

[01:02:48] I'll go with Dakota Fanning.

[01:02:51] OK.

[01:02:52] I'm going to pick Emma Stone.

[01:02:54] I'm going to go with Brie.

[01:02:55] Wait, was Brie Larson a choice?

[01:02:57] Brie Larson is a choice.

[01:02:58] Yes.

[01:02:59] OK.

[01:02:59] Sweet.

[01:03:00] All right.

[01:03:01] We got it locked in.

[01:03:02] We'll see if anybody got it right when we get back.

[01:03:05] See you in a second.

[01:03:14] This holiday season, there's only one place.

[01:03:21] Where you can get hard and laugh.

[01:03:24] And that's at Comics and Chronic, baby.

[01:03:28] Where we talk about dope comic books.

[01:03:32] Movies, TV shows, and interviews with comic creators and comedians.

[01:03:38] It's the only place where you have access to the Uncle Ben Unimind.

[01:03:43] So tune in.

[01:03:44] Happy holidays.

[01:03:45] Happy holidays.

[01:03:46] We're calling Chronic.

[01:03:54] Good God.

[01:03:56] Come on.

[01:03:57] I'm going back and nobody got it right.

[01:04:03] You can't.

[01:04:04] Y'all got to bring this home.

[01:04:05] I can't let.

[01:04:06] I'll never live it down if Jimmy wins with a score, a final score of one.

[01:04:10] One.

[01:04:11] This is amazing.

[01:04:12] This is my favorite.

[01:04:14] So wait, who is the answer?

[01:04:16] Rebel Wilson.

[01:04:17] No.

[01:04:18] Seriously.

[01:04:20] She played the, what was it?

[01:04:21] The alley girl.

[01:04:23] That's what it was.

[01:04:24] So she played like a goth girl.

[01:04:25] Had about a minute on screen.

[01:04:27] I mean, this is impressive that we each pick a different answer.

[01:04:30] And it's been the one we haven't chosen the past couple of questions.

[01:04:34] I think this is great.

[01:04:35] We're like the answer why we should play the lottery right now.

[01:04:38] Like somehow we, we have the perfect statistical ability to completely avoid every winning number.

[01:04:45] Yes.

[01:04:45] You know, I'm terrified right now though, because if I know if I'm ever involved in a book and like I'm talking to Blake on his show, he's going to torture me and do this back.

[01:04:54] I guarantee it.

[01:04:55] So.

[01:04:57] All right.

[01:04:58] I don't, I don't, I don't drink anymore.

[01:05:01] So it's, it can't be, uh, is Blake going to stay awake for an hour?

[01:05:04] We don't get to play that game anymore.

[01:05:07] We used to.

[01:05:10] So exceptional series.

[01:05:11] What we're here to do beneath the trees where nobody sees local man, the pedestrian, uh, SIR or sir space ghost.

[01:05:21] When the blood has dried and the wrong earth.

[01:05:24] And I'll go first.

[01:05:25] Um, cause I think the pedestrian deserves a lot more attention than it gets.

[01:05:30] That book is so quirky and weird and only in comics could something like that exist.

[01:05:35] Can you imagine we're trying to read prose that, that tried to present a story out about this guy.

[01:05:40] Who's very rigid in a white costume walking across the street.

[01:05:44] It's just so crazy.

[01:05:46] Um, so I love that book.

[01:05:48] I think issue four is just out and I'll, I'll pitch for them.

[01:05:52] Uh, cause Joey was trying to, to get people to order the trade.

[01:05:54] And I know, uh, Sean was doing the same thing today.

[01:05:56] So just take a chance on something you might not have heard of.

[01:06:01] That is just amazing with the pedestrian.

[01:06:03] Uh, the other one I had, and I know again, the, is it Indy?

[01:06:07] Is it not?

[01:06:08] But I absolutely love space ghost.

[01:06:10] Um, because I remember this coming out when I was a kid and I was talking to David about it.

[01:06:15] And it was so strange.

[01:06:17] They made so few episodes of that.

[01:06:20] And I remember this being as a kid, you think there's this huge cannon of material and there's not, I mean, it, it really wasn't that many episodes.

[01:06:29] And it's so beloved a series and to see it back in comics and to done, done in the way that it has been.

[01:06:36] And, uh, which is really inventive and just reinvigorating all, especially all the old villains.

[01:06:41] The, the rogues gallery of space goes to me is, is comparable to Batman.

[01:06:46] It's just, they're all so good.

[01:06:47] Um, so I have, I've absolutely loved space ghosts.

[01:06:50] So Jimmy.

[01:06:52] I'm still here.

[01:06:53] I just, I, I just keep muting my mic.

[01:06:55] And then when I, I can't find it again to unmute it.

[01:06:58] And then I put you on the spot.

[01:07:00] Yeah.

[01:07:00] Thanks.

[01:07:01] Thanks for the heads up.

[01:07:02] Um, yeah.

[01:07:03] So exceptional series.

[01:07:04] I've read a bunch of these.

[01:07:05] Um, uh, I picked when the blood has dried again, um, man cave book, Gary Maloney, Daniel Romero, Becca Carey.

[01:07:12] I really love the story.

[01:07:14] That was my choice for, um, exceptional series for 2024.

[01:07:18] I just, I really thought it was fantastic.

[01:07:20] I love the mix of the fantasy world and the Western Daniel Romero's artwork was phenomenal.

[01:07:26] Um, did the artwork and colored it.

[01:07:29] Just thought it was really great.

[01:07:31] Um, some of the other ones that I'm, I'm excited to see on here beneath the trees where nobody sees.

[01:07:36] Uh, local man.

[01:07:37] Local man is also fantastic.

[01:07:40] The pedestrian.

[01:07:40] I got to meet Sean and Joey at Baltimore Comic-Con.

[01:07:44] They were hilarious and, uh, and really cool.

[01:07:47] And yeah, I, I enjoy, I've been enjoying space ghost as, uh, as well.

[01:07:52] So yeah, that's, that's what I have to say about that.

[01:07:56] Uh, Amy, you want to go?

[01:07:57] Yeah, I picked, uh, beneath the trees where nobody sees.

[01:08:01] Um, I'm sure, I'm sure everybody listening has at least heard that book.

[01:08:05] Uh, you know, but it, it was one of those ones where it was just so frustratingly good.

[01:08:10] Um, I don't think I've had a horror book kind of hit me like that since, uh, the autumnal from vault comics.

[01:08:16] And it wasn't even that it was like, you know, excessively gory or anything,

[01:08:20] but I just absolutely loved the, uh, perspective of the character.

[01:08:25] The, the main character being a sociopathic serial killer, but it's also very Richard Scary, uh, in all of the art.

[01:08:33] Very cute little characters, which made the, the elements of horror, uh, even better.

[01:08:38] I just, it was so, it was frustratingly good.

[01:08:41] I think that's the only way I can describe it.

[01:08:43] I got to the end of every single issue and was like, he can't keep getting away with this.

[01:08:46] And I'm, and I mean, Patrick, uh, as the creator, just having this incredible story.

[01:08:51] Um, but I'm also super excited to see SIR or sir here.

[01:08:56] Um, you know, again, just fell hound.

[01:08:59] I'm, I'm so, I want fell to do everything and get everything that she wants.

[01:09:03] Um, but this one's really fun.

[01:09:04] And again, bringing it to another series that I really enjoyed it.

[01:09:08] It has the same energy for me as the seven secrets that boom studios did like kind of this

[01:09:13] very kinetic action based, almost like an anime.

[01:09:16] Like you can see it playing out in your head.

[01:09:18] Um, and it's, it's just about to wrap up.

[01:09:20] We've got the last, uh, issue, but I think it's a, it's a world that has a lot of creativity

[01:09:25] to it.

[01:09:25] I would love to see, um, kind of more in this universe.

[01:09:29] Um, but also it's just a fabulous story that is very self-contained and I'm very, uh, proud

[01:09:35] to see fell getting to do that and just have that opportunity.

[01:09:37] Cause it's, it's just a really fun, like if you like sports anime kind of stuff, um,

[01:09:42] definitely, definitely recommend, uh, that one.

[01:09:46] Sports anime and unhealthy relationships.

[01:09:48] Oh, everything.

[01:09:51] Yeah.

[01:09:52] I also, someone needs to make a sound clip and send this to fell that her book just got

[01:09:57] compared to Tom Taylor's seven secrets.

[01:10:00] Cause I would, if it was me and my book got compared to anything Tom Taylor ever wrote,

[01:10:05] I would like want that recorded and a sound bite that I could hang on my refrigerator and

[01:10:11] press play when I was sad.

[01:10:12] Uh, I don't know.

[01:10:13] I was really able to clip that for her.

[01:10:15] That's just an idea.

[01:10:17] We can do that.

[01:10:20] Um, yeah, except I will, I will go beneath the trees where nobody sees.

[01:10:25] I was sneaky and put this in on a different category, but, uh, it was a great, it was a

[01:10:31] great book.

[01:10:31] And yeah, the, the juxtaposition of like mass murdering and the cutesy art.

[01:10:37] Um, also like Patrick is such an amazing person.

[01:10:41] I got to talk to him and, and we had like a really, really great chat.

[01:10:45] Uh, I got to interview him the day the Eisner nominations dropped.

[01:10:50] So like, you're not getting a creator in a better mood, right?

[01:10:55] Like, so he was just, he was like so stoked and, and like we had a, we had a blast talking.

[01:11:01] I had a blast reading that.

[01:11:02] I chose local man because I, we need, we need super, we need superhero comic books like this.

[01:11:08] We need, we need something.

[01:11:10] We need to shake, rattle and roll this shit.

[01:11:12] Um, I love, I, I love what the big two, I love a lot of what like DC's doing stuff, right?

[01:11:18] DC's on a nice hot streak right now.

[01:11:19] So like, I'm not saying I'm not one of those people that's like everything they put out

[01:11:23] bad, but like there's, there's a special book and it's a, it's a special, it's special commentary

[01:11:30] on, on superheroes.

[01:11:32] And, and as the years go by and people look at it and study it, I do, this is going to

[01:11:37] be a title that we'll get put up with there.

[01:11:39] Is it, is it Watchmen?

[01:11:41] No.

[01:11:41] Will it, can it be studied in a category next to Watchmen?

[01:11:47] And are they both doing things and making comments on the everydayness of human existence

[01:11:53] and the, the, the comic book medium?

[01:11:56] Yes.

[01:11:57] Like they're both doing that and they're doing great jobs at it.

[01:12:00] So like, yeah, it's local man is a very, is a very important book.

[01:12:04] Um, and yeah, I think, I think it's going to go down.

[01:12:07] I think it's going to be a big time.

[01:12:08] I think people are going to be talking about it for, for a very long time.

[01:12:11] And you, Tim, a lot of people know Tim and, and Tim had a lot of success with like revival

[01:12:16] and stuff.

[01:12:17] And, and he's doing, he took, they're taking the turtles over to He-Man world now and everything's

[01:12:23] crazy.

[01:12:23] Uh, but, and they're making the revival TV show.

[01:12:27] And, and, you know, but like tone, like Tony is great.

[01:12:29] He's great creators on this book.

[01:12:31] They're both just working their hearts out on it.

[01:12:34] Um, Brad's a great colorist.

[01:12:36] Uh, so yeah.

[01:12:37] Um, yeah.

[01:12:38] Local man is very cool.

[01:12:39] Pedestrian is the same.

[01:12:40] Uh, those guys, that whole team is great.

[01:12:42] Sean and Joey are anybody who's got ever got to talk to them.

[01:12:46] There are great people and hilarious.

[01:12:48] Um, I can't, I fell.

[01:12:50] I'm sorry.

[01:12:50] I can't kiss your ass anymore.

[01:12:51] I've done a really good job of the last hour and a half.

[01:12:53] I'm out of wonderful things to say about you.

[01:12:55] I'm sorry.

[01:12:57] I tried.

[01:12:58] I tried.

[01:13:00] Uh, yeah.

[01:13:01] And like, yeah.

[01:13:02] Uh, David proposed like who the whole reason I do Blake's buzz is because of David.

[01:13:07] I interviewed David propose on another podcast and he put a, he lit a fire under my ass and

[01:13:12] was like, nice.

[01:13:14] I was like, I was like, Oh, I miss writing.

[01:13:16] Oh, I miss doing, I miss making stuff.

[01:13:19] Uh, and yeah, so I, I, I like, Oh, I'll owe him like a blood debt for a very, very long

[01:13:24] time.

[01:13:24] Um, and, and I'm so glad all the success he's having, but crazy right now that like what

[01:13:29] dynamite's doing, like space goes gargoyles, dark wing duck, terminator, uh, thundercats,

[01:13:38] uh, all with like rockstar creators behind it.

[01:13:41] Um, there it's like, I don't know who's ever, who's ever like working, like the suits over

[01:13:48] there are making some crazy moves.

[01:13:50] And I like, I like seeing it.

[01:13:51] Uh, and then wrong earth is phenomenal.

[01:13:53] Uh, everything Ahoy does another, another publisher like mad cave and like distillery.

[01:13:58] That's just like a huge mass of wonderful people who all love comics and are working their

[01:14:03] heart off.

[01:14:04] Yeah.

[01:14:04] These are these, these, all these series are, are exceptional when the blood is dried is

[01:14:08] the only one I'm not familiar with, but I am familiar with outlets like Yeti and so many

[01:14:15] people that were screaming its praises all year long.

[01:14:18] As it released, uh, those creators did a lot of shows and were on like friends podcasts

[01:14:23] and stuff.

[01:14:24] So, um, I said, yeah, the one I haven't read here is I'm very familiar with regardless,

[01:14:31] just because of how everybody seemed to love it.

[01:14:33] So yeah, like anybody listening, like write these, write these books down and they'll treat

[01:14:39] you well.

[01:14:40] Oh yeah.

[01:14:41] That's why we do it.

[01:14:42] If they're not writing it down, what are y'all doing out there?

[01:14:45] Seriously.

[01:14:46] Or make a soundbite and send it to fell.

[01:14:49] Well, either write it down, you either got to write it down or make a soundbite and send

[01:14:52] it to fell.

[01:14:53] Well, that's no problem.

[01:14:54] I can do that.

[01:14:55] All right.

[01:14:56] So we got that wrapped up.

[01:14:57] Oh my God.

[01:14:58] Okay.

[01:14:59] Trivia.

[01:14:59] I should not abandon my trivia.

[01:15:02] No, you're not abandoning it.

[01:15:04] You commit to, you commit to this bit and we're going to see if we can actually get another

[01:15:10] one right.

[01:15:10] Okay.

[01:15:11] Okay.

[01:15:11] This should be a layup.

[01:15:12] Somebody's got to get this.

[01:15:13] Which of the following DC comics characters has made the most issue appearances?

[01:15:19] Okay.

[01:15:20] So the flash commissioner, Gordon, Lois Lane or Robin.

[01:15:26] Oh, it's gotta be something stupid.

[01:15:28] It's gotta be like, it's gotta be the answer you don't think.

[01:15:32] It has to be.

[01:15:34] This is not a setup.

[01:15:35] I promise.

[01:15:36] I'm going to go down hard for Lois Lane.

[01:15:39] I got to believe the sheer number of times she was probably in peril in those early days.

[01:15:44] Plus that sweet 12 issue maxi series she had a couple of years ago.

[01:15:48] You know, that's got to add up somewhere.

[01:15:51] And all the cover, like do cover appearances count?

[01:15:54] Oh my God.

[01:15:55] Yeah, I'm sure they do.

[01:15:56] Yeah.

[01:15:57] Yeah.

[01:15:58] Last time I went with Amy, I lost.

[01:16:02] I'm going with Jimmy Gordo.

[01:16:05] All right.

[01:16:06] I feel like it's Lois.

[01:16:08] I kind of feel like it's Lois.

[01:16:10] So it's issue appearances.

[01:16:12] Commissioner Gordon, Lois Lane, Robin or the Flash.

[01:16:16] Correct.

[01:16:17] If it's Robin, I'm gonna be so mad.

[01:16:19] I'm gonna go with the Flash out of all of them.

[01:16:22] All right.

[01:16:23] Jimmy's going with the Flash.

[01:16:24] See if anybody got it right.

[01:16:25] We'll be right back.

[01:16:26] Hey everyone, this is...

[01:16:30] Hi Byron.

[01:16:31] Who is this?

[01:16:32] I'm your fairy godmother.

[01:16:33] I have a fairy godmother?

[01:16:35] Of course you do.

[01:16:36] I'm 50 years old.

[01:16:38] Why haven't you shown up before?

[01:16:39] I appear when I'm needed.

[01:16:41] And I didn't need you in all these years?

[01:16:43] Do you want my help or not?

[01:16:45] Um, sure.

[01:16:48] Exactly.

[01:16:49] I was just about to pitch our Patreon.

[01:16:51] Why would I need help with that?

[01:16:52] Because you're an idiot sometimes.

[01:16:55] That's hurtful.

[01:16:57] What were you going to put on there?

[01:16:59] We do comic stuff?

[01:17:00] So something along those lines?

[01:17:02] And this is why I'm here.

[01:17:05] You do know what people put on Patreon most of the time, right?

[01:17:09] Honestly, no.

[01:17:11] People need something a little bit spicy to entice them to support you.

[01:17:16] Nobody wants to see me shirtless.

[01:17:18] I doubt that's true.

[01:17:20] You are in pretty good shape considering your age.

[01:17:22] Thank you.

[01:17:23] Let's see.

[01:17:24] A little spicy.

[01:17:26] I've been bugging Jimmy to figure out what he's going to do.

[01:17:29] I know lately he's been playing around with his f*** all the time.

[01:17:33] He loves to take it out and show it off.

[01:17:35] There's even a specific TikTok channel now.

[01:17:37] How's that sound?

[01:17:38] Not a bad start.

[01:17:39] People like Jimmy.

[01:17:40] What else you got?

[01:17:41] I told a story recently about being in a strip club with some of the four horsemen

[01:17:45] when I was working for WCW back in the day.

[01:17:47] I picked up an infection on my-

[01:17:49] Woo!

[01:17:49] From the experience, I hate strip clubs.

[01:17:53] Is that better?

[01:17:54] Getting there.

[01:17:55] But maybe spicy shouldn't include infections you get in strip clubs.

[01:17:59] That's not sexy.

[01:18:01] We'll workshop it.

[01:18:02] Like I need more meat.

[01:18:04] At least tell them where to find it while we figure this out.

[01:18:07] Mother goddess helped this poor man.

[01:18:10] You can find us on Patreon at Cryptid Creator Corner Pod.

[01:18:13] I'll put it in the show notes.

[01:18:14] What's anything else you'd like to remind me that I'm bad at?

[01:18:18] How much time do you have?

[01:18:20] Why do you look like Rosario Dawson anyway?

[01:18:22] I appear the way you want me to look.

[01:18:24] Okay, that's disturbing.

[01:18:26] Wait, have you been showing up in my dreams?

[01:18:29] I'll never tell.

[01:18:30] And we're done here.

[01:18:32] So we're back and I'm happy to report someone got this correct.

[01:18:37] And it's actually the person I thought would get it correct because it's a layup.

[01:18:41] It's the Flash.

[01:18:43] Nice.

[01:18:43] Okay.

[01:18:44] I got two.

[01:18:45] So here's the rundown.

[01:18:47] It's really interesting, actually.

[01:18:48] So the Flash has, and I'm sure this doesn't account to a complete current, but you have

[01:18:54] 1,685 appearances for the Flash.

[01:18:56] You have Commissioner Gordon at 1,623.

[01:19:00] And you have Lois and Robin tied at 1,566.

[01:19:03] Wow.

[01:19:04] Okay.

[01:19:05] Well, at least it's not like, you know, oh, Lois has only been in 900 issues or something.

[01:19:09] Like, I, you know, oof.

[01:19:11] Yeah.

[01:19:11] Crazy.

[01:19:12] All right.

[01:19:13] So next up, we have Exceptional Anthology.

[01:19:15] And Amy, that's you.

[01:19:16] Yes.

[01:19:17] Yes.

[01:19:17] Back to those anthologies that we love so much.

[01:19:20] I recognize a couple of these names just because my work is in them.

[01:19:24] But these are all some of the fabulous anthologies that were out this year.

[01:19:28] Again, as we mentioned, incredible collections of new and established talent.

[01:19:32] A great place to kind of, you know, find an amuse-bouche of quick stories in different

[01:19:38] genres or themes.

[01:19:39] And some of those include The Devil's Cut, Kiltopia Nanojams, Let Her Be Evil, Pots and

[01:19:46] Panels, Transphobia, Unseen, Unheard, and When I Was Young.

[01:19:51] So I'm going to say that I actually, I nominated Let Her Be Evil.

[01:19:54] And that wasn't, I promise it wasn't a nepotism thing because I am in that book.

[01:19:58] Um, but it was again, one of those efforts that just really brought together so many people

[01:20:03] in the community.

[01:20:04] And I want to really shout out the editor for that one, Cass Jones.

[01:20:07] Uh, that was her first comics project.

[01:20:10] She was one of those people who was like, I got an idea and we're going to see if it

[01:20:14] happens.

[01:20:15] And it was a huge learning process for so many people throughout the project.

[01:20:19] But Cass really took a lot of great feedback.

[01:20:22] Um, I believe Heather Antos kind of gave her some mentorship on that as well.

[01:20:25] But again, the whole, uh, crowdfunding process with that one, um, super cool.

[01:20:31] So it was really cool to see from that side, the learning of somebody who now she's an assistant

[01:20:35] editor at, uh, IDW.

[01:20:37] And I know that she's going to be doing great comics writing, more comics writing herself.

[01:20:41] Um, but Let Her Be Evil is a celebration of unapologetically villainous women.

[01:20:45] They don't necessarily have to have motivations that are, uh, you know, um, oh, you know, I

[01:20:50] was jilted by a man or, you know, they're not, they don't have to be redeemed in these

[01:20:54] stories.

[01:20:55] It is just the celebration of, uh, evil, nasty ladies.

[01:20:58] And that comes across in so many cool different genres throughout the book with so many of

[01:21:04] the kind of current established and rising independent talent, uh, in that I, I love, um, my favorite

[01:21:11] in that one is Lauren Knight's story, Dogma.

[01:21:13] Um, and it's about a woman.

[01:21:15] It was kind of Lauren's own kind of processing of, of grief, I believe for a lost pet, but

[01:21:20] it is about a woman who goes to confront death itself to get her dog back.

[01:21:24] Um, and it's just, it's so much fun.

[01:21:26] And it's, there's one that reminds me of Yellow Jacket's called, I think the trapper or something

[01:21:30] similar.

[01:21:30] And it's about a woman who catches someone in a, in a kind of wilderness trap and just talks

[01:21:35] to them as they're bleeding out.

[01:21:36] And there's all these really cool, creepy, uh, stories in that one.

[01:21:39] And I just, I love it so much.

[01:21:41] And it's got very stylish covers as well.

[01:21:43] Um, and that was available through Zoop.

[01:21:45] I think they might actually still have some in their online store, um, which is super cool.

[01:21:49] But another, another great crowdfunding platform, uh, that people have been leveraging lately.

[01:21:53] I'll go after that.

[01:21:54] And let me just say, I'm giving up the mantle of a host because you said a moose boosh and

[01:22:00] you managed to put that with comics.

[01:22:02] So I give up.

[01:22:03] I'm done.

[01:22:04] I'm done.

[01:22:05] I had unseen unheard, which probably shouldn't shock anybody on here is, is the disabled kid.

[01:22:10] I'm so glad to see that something like that is out there in terms of representation.

[01:22:15] Uh, so big shout out to CK and Aubrey for, for spearheading that.

[01:22:20] And I really hope that next time I'll be able to be in it.

[01:22:23] And it wasn't because they picked, didn't pick me or anything like that.

[01:22:25] It was, it was just timing and money and all that kind of thing.

[01:22:29] But yeah, great, great anthology.

[01:22:31] Um, I'll go next.

[01:22:32] Uh, if that's okay.

[01:22:34] Um, and I had put, I think it's, I think it's misspelled on the list, which, um, uh, I think

[01:22:40] it's Byron's fault.

[01:22:41] Cause he's a terrible spell.

[01:22:42] Uh, but I put transphoria on the list.

[01:22:45] It's trans, trans, transphoria, um, uh, lifeline comics.

[01:22:51] I, and that, which is Kat and, uh, Phil Falco.

[01:22:54] Oh, so apologies for miss saying that that it was written wrong.

[01:22:58] You said the right, you said the right thing.

[01:23:01] Uh, so I know, I know what happened.

[01:23:02] It's, it's spellcheck because the same thing happened to me when I was doing social posts

[01:23:06] for it.

[01:23:07] It automatically changes transphoria to transphobia.

[01:23:10] So I think that's a great, that's a great illustration though of where we're at and why this is important.

[01:23:16] And I'll give it back to you, Jimmy.

[01:23:18] Byron's autocorrect is very conservative politically.

[01:23:22] Um, so, but yeah, I picked transphoria, lifeline comics.

[01:23:26] And I just think, I think the stuff that Kat and Phil do, uh, are tremendous.

[01:23:30] Not just the, in terms of the work that's out there, but what they do for the comics community.

[01:23:35] They, they give so many, not only newer writers and artists an opportunity to make a comic,

[01:23:41] but they also put a focus on, you know, underrepresented voices.

[01:23:46] Um, not just in terms of the creators, but in the stories that are being told, uh, whether

[01:23:51] or not it was by visibility that they did two anthology issues of, they did the hairology.

[01:23:58] They did transphoria.

[01:23:59] I think I've seen that they're now working on one that Jeremy Whitley is helping to edit

[01:24:03] about asexuality.

[01:24:05] Uh, so I, I just, I feel like, you know, they, they've done so many really interesting and,

[01:24:12] you know, I, I don't want to sound hokey when I say the word important, but I think it is

[01:24:16] like these, there are important projects that they bring awareness to.

[01:24:21] And, you know, for folks that don't get to see their story in comics, we were in any type

[01:24:27] of media.

[01:24:28] Like there's something so just revelatory about connecting with a character or a story.

[01:24:35] And, um, I, I just think what Kat and Phil are doing are great.

[01:24:38] So that's, that was my pick.

[01:24:40] Blake, you want to go?

[01:24:41] Yeah.

[01:24:41] Also shout out to Kat and Phil because they, they're one of the handfuls of people that

[01:24:47] are doing, I think they're doing monthly releases or damn close on Kickstarter.

[01:24:52] Like it's not a kid, it's not a anthology every month, of course, but they'd like both,

[01:24:57] both Phil and Kat have, have their own like series that solo series that, that they have.

[01:25:04] And, and so like to do that, not everybody can do that.

[01:25:08] It's, it's super impressive what they do.

[01:25:10] And then to supplement those releases with one to two anthologies a year that they curate

[01:25:16] and run and then do those campaigns too.

[01:25:19] But they are like, uh, yeah, like them and Charlie Stickney, like indie comics, Kickstarter

[01:25:23] powerhouses, um, anybody, anybody who's thinking about like kickstarting stuff or like, like

[01:25:29] why those are, those are like people to watch that will also like, you can like ask them

[01:25:33] questions and they will like give you a free masterclass, like in a DM.

[01:25:37] Uh, just, they're just those kind of genuinely nice people with an assortment of knowledge

[01:25:43] to, to give out.

[01:25:45] So yeah, shout out to them.

[01:25:46] I chose the devil's cut.

[01:25:47] I went super mainstream on this because I don't ever remember an anthology like that with that

[01:25:53] kind of name and power attached to it.

[01:25:55] It was in insane.

[01:25:56] And again, as a brand new publisher and you're coming out, this is your first big release and

[01:26:02] you're charging, what was it?

[01:26:04] 12 bucks for it or something.

[01:26:05] You're just got a premium price.

[01:26:07] You, so you gotta, you know, you gotta, you gotta make people how, why are we, why am I

[01:26:11] going to pay 12 bucks for that?

[01:26:13] Or however much it was.

[01:26:14] Um, and it's because, oh, everybody in comics is writing this.

[01:26:19] I mean, from, from, from Tinian to, to, to Rom to, I mean, everybody, everybody was in

[01:26:24] this damn book and, and all the stories, all the stories hit.

[01:26:27] Um, and it was not only were they little teasers of what the subsequent series were going to

[01:26:34] be from these creators, but they were like self-contained nuggets, right?

[01:26:39] It, it, they were these, this wasn't a preview issue.

[01:26:41] This was like, this was something special that they didn't really have to do that they did

[01:26:46] to generate interest, generate hype and get us all excited.

[01:26:50] And it, and it, and it worked.

[01:26:51] Uh, I do want to shout out to you though, Kiltopia Nanojams.

[01:26:55] Uh, I think Dave Cook is a phenomenal human being and a phenomenal storyteller and Kiltopia

[01:27:01] so gnarly and it's so cool.

[01:27:04] And he was having a rough go at comics for a while.

[01:27:07] And he was like, he was talking about not making comics anymore.

[01:27:11] This is, I mean, he was having one of those like indie comic moments of like, this costs

[01:27:16] too much money to do.

[01:27:17] And it does it's, and it's, you know, and it, and it wasn't, you know, it wasn't paying

[01:27:21] off and, and it's, I'm just glad that he's still out there making moves.

[01:27:25] Uh, cause it's, I understand the, the, the pressures, finances, everything, especially

[01:27:30] when you're overseas and you're trying to get, you know, a Western or we're Western, we're

[01:27:35] all Western audience, but we were trying to get an American audience to buy your product

[01:27:38] and the shipping and stuff.

[01:27:40] And then when you're crowdfunding it on time, it's a, it's a clusterfuck.

[01:27:43] Anyway, long story short, I was, I'm really glad that Dave is still making, making comics,

[01:27:49] make a cool, like video game books.

[01:27:51] Dude just loves being a nerd and has a great voice.

[01:27:55] And I don't, I don't want that voice to get silent.

[01:27:58] And it came close.

[01:28:00] Like a lot of great creators have came, whether it's the nastiness or the getting, getting screwed

[01:28:09] over by a publisher or the hopelessness or what, you know, not, you know, like Facebook takes

[01:28:15] down your post about your Kickstarter, you know?

[01:28:17] And it's just like everything you try and do is just like a lot of these guys, guys and

[01:28:22] women and everybody, the whole indie comics community, there was a lot of people getting

[01:28:25] fed up and it was a lot of people were threatening to walk and I understood it and it was sad and

[01:28:30] I'm glad some of them didn't.

[01:28:31] That was very inspirational.

[01:28:33] Well, I killed hope yet.

[01:28:34] It's a damn good book.

[01:28:35] Yeah, that was awesome.

[01:28:37] I, before we move on, I, I real quick just wanted also to, I, I, I should have shouted

[01:28:42] out the, um, uh, pots and panels anthology.

[01:28:45] I mean, I, that I was glad to see that one get funded cause that was like a huge project.

[01:28:50] I think Chuck Satterley who's been on the podcast before had a hand in, I think kind of spearheaded

[01:28:56] that, but, uh, yeah.

[01:28:58] Hours too, like that final day.

[01:29:00] That was like, that was a stressful campaign.

[01:29:02] It had to have been, yeah.

[01:29:04] Cause it came right down to the wire, but so many creators are involved in that book.

[01:29:08] I love the idea of comics and, you know, cooking and recipes, you know, and I also, again, speaking

[01:29:15] of creators who are in the comic space and, you know, getting a chance to have like one

[01:29:21] of their first comic or one of them out there friends, Brad and Lisa Gullickson from comic

[01:29:27] books, couple counseling, have a story in the pots and panel anthology.

[01:29:30] They were on the podcast talking about it.

[01:29:32] It was, um, you know, just very exciting.

[01:29:35] Great to see them get a chance to tell a story.

[01:29:39] So yeah, I'm, I'm very excited for when that folks get that in their hands and, and, and can

[01:29:45] read that.

[01:29:46] And I don't know if it's been shipped yet, but, um, just what a phenomenal anthology.

[01:29:51] I love the idea.

[01:29:52] Yeah.

[01:29:53] All right.

[01:30:01] So we're going to do another appearances one, which of the following has shown up the most

[01:30:06] in comics issues.

[01:30:08] All of these are under a thousand appearances.

[01:30:10] So this is a little bit lower bar.

[01:30:12] Oh, geez.

[01:30:13] Lex Luthor, the Joker, John Constantine or Green Arrow.

[01:30:16] It's gotta be the Joker.

[01:30:17] Like, I don't know.

[01:30:19] I I'm, I'm going to go with the Joker.

[01:30:20] John Constantine.

[01:30:22] Okay.

[01:30:22] I'm going with Constantine.

[01:30:23] Green Arrow.

[01:30:24] All right.

[01:30:25] Somebody got it right.

[01:30:26] If you want to find out who we'll be right back.

[01:30:29] Hello everyone.

[01:30:30] And happy holidays.

[01:30:31] I hope no matter where you are or what you're celebrating this holiday season, you get to

[01:30:36] spend it with the people you love and care about you.

[01:30:39] And you get to do something that you enjoy doing and take care of yourself this holiday

[01:30:43] season.

[01:30:44] I am Sean Sunday, and I am the host of No Capes, the show where we talk about creator

[01:30:49] owned comics with creators who own comics.

[01:30:51] Every episode, I sit down with a fellow comic book creator, and we pick a book that we've

[01:30:56] both read and that we really love, and we gush about why we love it.

[01:31:00] We get to cover a lot of stuff about why the craft in this book is really cool and what

[01:31:04] we find interesting about it.

[01:31:06] What we like about the story, the art, the lettering, the colours.

[01:31:09] We try to cover every aspect of a book, and most of all, it's about spreading the love

[01:31:14] of comics.

[01:31:16] So if that sounds good to you, you can go ahead and find us on YouTube, Spotify, and all those

[01:31:22] good podcast places, and check out the episodes.

[01:31:25] We've got a few new ones in the vault that are being edited at the moment, and that season,

[01:31:29] which is season four, is absolute gold.

[01:31:34] Go check it out.

[01:31:35] Hope you love it.

[01:31:36] Keep reading comics.

[01:31:37] Bye.

[01:31:38] All right.

[01:31:39] We're back.

[01:31:40] And the person who got it correct was Amy.

[01:31:43] Way to go.

[01:31:44] Thank you.

[01:31:45] Yes.

[01:31:46] And that was really, really close.

[01:31:48] I bet if you look now, it would be, you might have a tie there, because the Joker is 957

[01:31:54] appearances.

[01:31:56] Lex Luthor is 956.

[01:31:58] So they are neck and neck, those two.

[01:32:01] Oh, my God.

[01:32:02] Then you have Green Arrow coming in just under that in like 955.

[01:32:07] And then Constantine, I was really surprised by this.

[01:32:10] 704.

[01:32:11] Wow.

[01:32:12] Wow.

[01:32:12] Yep.

[01:32:13] All right.

[01:32:13] Well, I'm happy because I get to put a little slash mark next to Amy's name now.

[01:32:18] And I'm on the board.

[01:32:20] Ding, ding, ding.

[01:32:21] On the board.

[01:32:22] All right.

[01:32:23] Exceptional original graphic novel.

[01:32:25] Blake, this you.

[01:32:26] All right.

[01:32:27] Yeah, there's a lot of cool stuff here.

[01:32:30] We've got Ambitious Failures from Richard Fairgrave.

[01:32:34] He's just a phenomenal human being.

[01:32:37] And a joy to talk to is one way.

[01:32:41] But he's awesome.

[01:32:44] This was my choice.

[01:32:45] Beneath the Trees from Patrick Horvath.

[01:32:48] And specifically the fancy hardcover that IDW is selling on their exclusive shop.

[01:32:52] Oh, it's gorgeous.

[01:32:53] And you can get it signed if you want to pay a little extra.

[01:32:56] Anyway, that was my.

[01:32:57] Then we got Dale Ross Speaks to Freaks.

[01:33:01] And then from Lisa Nefsiger.

[01:33:04] Full Tilt from Jason Copeland, who's what a great guy.

[01:33:08] Yeah.

[01:33:08] What a crazy book.

[01:33:10] Oh, my God.

[01:33:11] What a crazy.

[01:33:11] I got it.

[01:33:12] That dude was.

[01:33:12] That dude is heart and soul of indie comics putting that out.

[01:33:16] And so, yeah, that's good to see that here.

[01:33:18] The Jellyfish by Boehm from Pow Pow Press.

[01:33:23] Little Moons from Gen Storm Ryan Howe.

[01:33:27] Alice RL.

[01:33:28] Nicholas Filzer from Highwater Press.

[01:33:31] Another Mad Cave gem.

[01:33:32] Mushroom Knight from Oliver Bly.

[01:33:35] Navigating with You from Jeremy Whitley.

[01:33:37] Cassio Riviero.

[01:33:38] Nikki Fox Robot.

[01:33:39] That's another Mad Cave release.

[01:33:41] Man, Mad Cave has been all over this conversation tonight.

[01:33:44] Man, Mad Cave and Distillery.

[01:33:46] As I know I've said distillery several times.

[01:33:49] But other people have said Mad Cave a lot.

[01:33:51] If you're out there taking notes, this is a note to take there.

[01:33:54] And then last but not least, which is a great book.

[01:33:58] It was not my choice, but it's damn good.

[01:34:00] Youth Group from Jordan Morris, Bowen McCurdy, Macmillan Publishing.

[01:34:04] Like, I wish Sunday School was that cool.

[01:34:08] But it wasn't.

[01:34:09] Weird Catholic trauma.

[01:34:11] I had to shrug off in my older years.

[01:34:15] What are we talking about?

[01:34:17] Oh, we're talking about comics.

[01:34:18] It's that.

[01:34:20] Byron, what was your pick?

[01:34:21] Well, first of all, I thought Southern Baptist had it bad with the childhood trauma as I was raised.

[01:34:27] But I'm learning Catholic Sabbath may be worse.

[01:34:30] It's just the guilt.

[01:34:31] I will speak to that.

[01:34:33] Yeah.

[01:34:34] It's so weird.

[01:34:35] 16 years of Catholic school here.

[01:34:37] Catholic, grade school, high school, and college.

[01:34:39] Yeah.

[01:34:40] We don't say we're Catholic school graduates.

[01:34:43] Usually people say you're Catholic school survivors.

[01:34:46] Oh, nice.

[01:34:47] Got it.

[01:34:48] Yes.

[01:34:48] But what I had on here was the jellyfish, which is going under so many people's radar.

[01:34:53] Pow Pow Press is out of Montreal.

[01:34:55] Little publishing outfit.

[01:34:57] So background on this.

[01:34:58] Canadian.

[01:34:59] We let Canadians in here?

[01:35:01] We let.

[01:35:01] We've been talking to how much about Felhound?

[01:35:03] Come on.

[01:35:04] Yes, we let Canadians.

[01:35:05] I had no idea.

[01:35:07] This changes everything.

[01:35:08] Yeah.

[01:35:09] I'm sorry, listeners, that Jimmy is yelling in your ears.

[01:35:12] But we're talking about good old fashioned American comic books on this show, guys.

[01:35:17] So the jellyfish here, Boom was losing her sight.

[01:35:20] I believe it was MS and she didn't know it at the time.

[01:35:23] But this is artist illustrator did the whole shebang.

[01:35:27] And this book is incorporating that process of being a creator and losing your sight.

[01:35:34] So the protagonist is going through that experience and progressively over the book, she's seeing these little jellyfish.

[01:35:41] And as it progresses, there's more and more and more of these little jellyfish just swimming around in her vision.

[01:35:48] And it was so profound.

[01:35:50] I mean, it's really hard to encapsulate how cool the presentation of this book is.

[01:35:56] I've never seen anything like it.

[01:35:57] And to have the courage to be able to put your own struggle, your own journey into a book and use that kind of as fuel, knowing that you're very likely to lose your sight.

[01:36:10] As an artist, absolutely blew my mind.

[01:36:12] She did end up losing sight in one of her eyes.

[01:36:15] And then when they actually got a proper diagnosis of the condition, now she was able to find a medication that has arrested full sight lost.

[01:36:23] But yeah, that one, that was all kinds of feels for me as somebody who's really been through it with health issues.

[01:36:29] Full tilt was actually one of the ones I put on here.

[01:36:33] Full tilt, I think, is a bit of a cheat only because technically it came out in 2023, I think was the first Zoop campaign.

[01:36:40] But then they ran a second one from some of the, I think, books that Jason still had.

[01:36:45] Because I know I got it on the second round this year in March.

[01:36:49] So since I read it this year, I put it on the list.

[01:36:53] Also, because I just think it's phenomenal.

[01:36:56] The amount of work in it.

[01:36:57] I mean, there's a couple of like double page spreads that are just incredible.

[01:37:01] Like some of the amount of work, the amount of detail in this world that he's created.

[01:37:07] And there's such weird little characters in it.

[01:37:10] I just, I think full tilt is absolutely phenomenal.

[01:37:13] The other one I put on here was I, I could have went under exceptional original graphic novel or even under, you know, kids comic or graphic novel.

[01:37:23] But Deja Ross speaks to freaks, Lisa the Navviger from Top Shelf.

[01:37:26] I just think is a really like fun book.

[01:37:30] You know, Lisa's one of these cartoonists kind of doing everything in terms of the writing and the artwork for it.

[01:37:37] And it's like a really fun story about Deja Ross who's going to start the sixth grade.

[01:37:42] And she is obsessed with cryptids and she's taking a cross country trip with her family.

[01:37:47] And she decides to investigate and try and find any of the local cryptids through the areas she passes.

[01:37:55] And then she discovers this whole world of cryptids and she interviews them.

[01:37:59] And it's really fun.

[01:38:01] And it's a really cute, fun story.

[01:38:05] And I absolutely loved it.

[01:38:08] And my daughter, Charlotte's reading it, the older one.

[01:38:11] Charlotte's reading it right now because her grandfather got her into the show Expedition X, which is one of those like Discovery Channel, History Channel, where it's set up like a reality TV show where they're investigating the paranormal and cryptids.

[01:38:24] So Charlotte got super into that.

[01:38:26] And I said, oh, I've been asking you to read Deja Ross speaks to freaks.

[01:38:31] It's about a girl in sixth grade who like is obsessed with cryptids.

[01:38:35] And now you are.

[01:38:36] So she's reading it.

[01:38:37] She loves it.

[01:38:38] Yeah.

[01:38:39] Yeah.

[01:38:39] So those were my two.

[01:38:41] Nice.

[01:38:41] And I picked a youth group based on my enthusiastic chiming in at the beginning of, you know, religious school education.

[01:38:48] I just think Jordan Morris is so damn funny.

[01:38:51] He's done a lot of the Archie horror stuff.

[01:38:54] I think he is the next heir to the Jughead crown in terms of, you know, just doing that kind of those kinds of jokes.

[01:39:01] But he's also written, you know, for Good Mythical Morning and that his humor knows no bounds.

[01:39:07] But this one was super fun.

[01:39:08] I think it feels like an easy layup comparison for me.

[01:39:13] But like, you know, it's got Buffy vibes, but it's so distinct from that.

[01:39:16] But like, I'm a huge Buffy fan.

[01:39:18] But oh my gosh, just the funny little like fake pop songs that he turned into like Christian youth ballads and the idea that there's like interfaith demon hunters.

[01:39:27] And it's like, oh, well, the, you know, the Christian kids got to go talk to the Wiccans across town and like all of this stuff.

[01:39:33] It was just so much fun.

[01:39:35] Teenage Exorcist.

[01:39:36] I mean, what more could you want?

[01:39:38] And Bowen McCurdy's artwork is so much fun.

[01:39:40] So vibrant and really kind of balances the verbal and the physical kind of slapstick humor that comes in through the demon fighting.

[01:39:49] I just thought this one was a huge standout this year for me.

[01:39:51] Remember in Anchorman when like all the news channels show up for like the gang fight?

[01:39:57] Yes.

[01:39:58] When that happens, when like all the religions, when the, when the, all the religions of the hunters, I was like, that book is so good.

[01:40:05] Like, it's so fun.

[01:40:06] Yeah.

[01:40:06] And I was to say, you know, I, I wish I could, I, I made it out fine.

[01:40:11] Right.

[01:40:12] Like my family was just like, well, they tried to go to church every Sunday, but didn't, they never stuck with it.

[01:40:18] You know?

[01:40:18] So it's like my, my family wasn't like super crazy.

[01:40:21] Right.

[01:40:21] And the school was okay.

[01:40:23] You know, I, I, I could have had a lot worse, but it was still a religious weird kind of upbringing.

[01:40:28] And I didn't get, I didn't get fun story.

[01:40:30] I guess I'm funny.

[01:40:31] Right.

[01:40:32] I, you know, like I, I make awkward jokes and laugh at shit I shouldn't laugh at, but like I got that from it.

[01:40:39] I didn't get like good, like vampiric demon hunter details and stuff.

[01:40:44] Right.

[01:40:44] I miss that.

[01:40:45] No cool thingy relics.

[01:40:47] Yeah.

[01:40:47] But yeah.

[01:40:48] And, and Jordan, I got to, I got to talk to Jordan as well.

[01:40:51] And he's just, he's just.

[01:40:53] Cool guy.

[01:40:53] Great storyteller.

[01:40:54] Yeah.

[01:40:55] The, the laughs are good.

[01:40:56] The feels are good.

[01:40:57] You know, I like, I like why I've read a lot of YAs.

[01:41:01] I really did.

[01:41:03] Um, and, and I talked to a lot of YA creators, which is funny.

[01:41:06] Cause it's like, yeah, come on the foul mouthed guys show to sell your kid book, but whatever.

[01:41:11] Right.

[01:41:12] Like that stuff, like it moves me emotionally.

[01:41:15] Right.

[01:41:15] I, a lot of the, like very more like lots of those like gut punch heavy feels, lots of

[01:41:21] like serious, like me crying while reading.

[01:41:25] Yeah.

[01:41:25] And we're like, there's a few of them that got me on the, on the kid list that we're going

[01:41:29] to talk about shortly.

[01:41:29] But like, like, it's just crazy.

[01:41:31] Um, yeah.

[01:41:32] I don't, I don't like, what is like YA?

[01:41:34] What is it?

[01:41:34] It's just like, it just makes adults cry.

[01:41:37] I don't like, like what is the kids or kids are fine with it, but adults read it.

[01:41:41] And it like tears us down into another, and we're like curled up into sobbing balls on

[01:41:47] the kitchen floor.

[01:41:48] Like just.

[01:41:49] It's the trauma, man.

[01:41:50] I mean, I can still.

[01:41:51] We're all broken.

[01:41:52] We're all broken.

[01:41:53] Kid life, life hasn't broken the kids yet.

[01:41:56] So the kids are just like, oh wow, this is intense.

[01:41:58] They're not like having nom flashbacks.

[01:42:01] Like, oh God.

[01:42:02] I mean, I did have the trauma.

[01:42:03] I was in the church on Wednesdays and Sundays and Fridays.

[01:42:08] Oh shit.

[01:42:08] We did the cafeteria stuff on Wednesday nights before we had service and I had to go to the

[01:42:13] Royal Ambassadors and I can still, I can still do the Royal Ambassador Pledge.

[01:42:18] So yeah, this, this one definitely was a nice release for me.

[01:42:22] I don't have to be Catholic or anything to enjoy it.

[01:42:24] Yeah.

[01:42:25] And I want to add also, like it doesn't punch down on faith.

[01:42:28] Like I love the, that we have like Meg and Cortland who are the youth group leaders.

[01:42:32] And like, we've got the, like Meg is like the Barbie pink, like, come on, it's going

[01:42:35] to be fine with the power of faith and friendship and also killing demons.

[01:42:39] Like that's the kind of vibe that I love.

[01:42:41] And so it doesn't, it doesn't take a stance where it's like, if you believe one way or

[01:42:44] another, you're a fool.

[01:42:45] It's like, if you're down to punch some demons and defeat the forces of evil, like there

[01:42:50] are ways to do it.

[01:42:51] But I mean, I think we'll probably maybe get to some of it with the, with the kids comic

[01:42:55] graphic novel section.

[01:42:56] But I think with writing YA and all of this stuff, it's when authors remember that kids

[01:43:01] are also, uh, they're, they're fully fledged humans.

[01:43:04] Like they have these rich inner lives and emotions.

[01:43:07] And so you're not talking down to them.

[01:43:09] But I like that there's also always a perspective of like the adult then writing for what they

[01:43:13] might've wished they had as a kid as well, like having that perspective.

[01:43:17] And then that's when you see that you're kind of like, oh my God, that speaks to my inner

[01:43:21] kid or, you know, just that kind of that rich emotion.

[01:43:24] So it's like, as long as you're not talking down to them, they, they are people too.

[01:43:27] And they will become the adults who are then creating these stories for the kids of the

[01:43:32] next generation.

[01:43:33] And so I think, I think it's really special.

[01:43:34] And I, I hate when people think they dismiss YA, you know, as just being something that's

[01:43:40] not, not worth an adult's time either.

[01:43:43] The same way that like all art can be for many people.

[01:43:46] Like there are, there's an audience for everything.

[01:43:48] And so it's never just, oh, that's just a kid's book.

[01:43:50] Like it's, it's more than that.

[01:43:52] That's my soapbox.

[01:43:52] But that's a good point to just move right along to the next thing.

[01:43:56] So the next trivia question, it's probably a bit off because at this point they seem

[01:44:00] to come out every single month, but how many volumes are there in the Magnola verse?

[01:44:06] 93, 76, 67, or 83.

[01:44:11] This is all of them.

[01:44:12] Includes everything.

[01:44:14] So Hellboy and BPRD.

[01:44:14] And you said Vitrola?

[01:44:16] Isn't that like an old record player?

[01:44:18] Vitrola?

[01:44:19] Is that what this is?

[01:44:19] No, I said Magnola.

[01:44:20] Oh, okay.

[01:44:22] That sounds right.

[01:44:22] Trombones in the big parade.

[01:44:23] I just downloaded that humble bundle.

[01:44:24] I think it's 70 something.

[01:44:26] Nice, Jamie.

[01:44:27] Okay, break, let's go with 70 something.

[01:44:28] Fellow musical theater.

[01:44:30] Yeah, let's do it.

[01:44:31] 76, trombones in the big parade.

[01:44:34] No inside jokes.

[01:44:35] Come on.

[01:44:36] It's, that's a music man joke.

[01:44:38] That's not an inside joke.

[01:44:39] It's a widely available joke.

[01:44:40] It's a widely available.

[01:44:42] Don't get me started on the trauma of working in Off-Broadway because I have a lot of experience

[01:44:48] with this, but anyway, we're going to get out of it.

[01:44:50] That's a whole-

[01:44:51] It is a totally different thing.

[01:44:52] That's Best Byron's Patreon.

[01:44:54] Sunday nights, he tells stories from his, from his past.

[01:44:57] Exactly.

[01:44:59] It's as he does.

[01:45:00] It's great.

[01:45:00] Or crazy.

[01:45:01] That was 80 something?

[01:45:02] 83.

[01:45:03] I like that one.

[01:45:04] I'm going to go with 83.

[01:45:05] Okay.

[01:45:06] He's got 83.

[01:45:07] What do you got?

[01:45:07] So 76, 83.

[01:45:09] And what are my, what are the other two choices?

[01:45:10] I'll pick something different.

[01:45:12] 93 and 67.

[01:45:13] No, 67.

[01:45:14] All right.

[01:45:15] We'll see who's right.

[01:45:16] Cause somebody is right when we get her come back.

[01:45:18] Are you hoping to improve your skills as a storyteller and connect with a supportive community

[01:45:23] of comic creators?

[01:45:25] If so, the storytellers workshop is for you.

[01:45:29] Hello, my name is Jeff Morris, and I want to invite you to join the storytellers workshop,

[01:45:33] our discord group that helps you improve in the craft of storytelling.

[01:45:38] Each month we meet to discuss tips to create amazing comics, workshop our scripts, pitches,

[01:45:43] and crowdfunding campaigns, and encourage each other through our online discussions.

[01:45:48] If you love storytelling and want to connect with other writers, artists, editors, letters,

[01:45:54] and even publishers in a safe, supportive, encouraging environment, then join the storytellers

[01:46:00] workshop today.

[01:46:03] Cool.

[01:46:03] We're back.

[01:46:05] I'm sorry.

[01:46:06] Do you want me to go full southern?

[01:46:08] Yeah, no, I know.

[01:46:09] I think we should have like more of like a morning zoo now.

[01:46:12] We're like two hours in, so, you know, we should do like an old, you know, like shock

[01:46:16] jock morning zoo.

[01:46:18] Can we do wacky sound effects?

[01:46:20] Are these, do we have a soundboard?

[01:46:22] Do we have a soundboard?

[01:46:23] Wah, wah, wah, wah.

[01:46:25] Wah, wah, wah.

[01:46:27] Oh, wait, we have an audience?

[01:46:29] Hold on, hold on.

[01:46:30] No, that's Blake with his sound effects.

[01:46:33] Oh, where is it?

[01:46:34] Oh, my God.

[01:46:36] Okay.

[01:46:37] So, the correct answer is 83.

[01:46:40] Oh.

[01:46:42] Oh, that was perfect.

[01:46:47] That was perfect.

[01:46:48] That were tied.

[01:46:49] Well done.

[01:46:51] $500 Roadcaster just paid for itself.

[01:46:53] Well done.

[01:46:55] Well, I'm going to just switch things up anyway, because we were talking about kids' books,

[01:46:59] so I think it makes sense to make the next category that I'm taking.

[01:47:02] Exceptional Kids, Comic, or Graphic Novel.

[01:47:04] We have Between Snow and Wolf, The Blood City Rollers.

[01:47:10] I think I know who's that.

[01:47:11] That was nominated by Goblin, The Wolf in the Well.

[01:47:16] Navigating With You, Silver Vessels, Undergrowth, Wires Crossed, and Wolf Pitch.

[01:47:22] Again, something I think is going way under people's radar is Between Snow and Wolf.

[01:47:27] You have Agnes Demergue and Ellen Karnak, who are the creators on that.

[01:47:31] It's Magnetic Press.

[01:47:32] I think it's the only Magnetic Press on here.

[01:47:34] Magnetic is doing some really cool stuff with international creators.

[01:47:38] But Between Snow and Wolf is just, it is a truly childlike vision of this little girl who's trapped on an island with her dad.

[01:47:48] And she can't go outside.

[01:47:50] It doesn't really go explicitly into if she has a medical condition or not, but that's kind of implied.

[01:47:55] And she gets to get outside the house and experience nature.

[01:48:00] And it's a blossoming book.

[01:48:03] And it's just gorgeous.

[01:48:04] It reads like one of the books, a flip book that you'd read, you know, a toddler or a three or four-year-old or something like that.

[01:48:12] It's just so beautiful and such a neat little bitty story.

[01:48:16] So that was my nomination.

[01:48:18] And the other one was The Wolf in the Well because I'm just a massive fan of Goblin.

[01:48:24] It's the perfect young reader's book, in my opinion.

[01:48:27] If you want a fantasy thing, it is my go-to recommendation.

[01:48:31] And they've just expanded some really cool stuff with that.

[01:48:34] You know, Eric's doing tarot readings from the tarot deck that was created from that now on TikTok.

[01:48:39] They do the game.

[01:48:40] They made the kind of, it's kind of a tabletop RPG, but it's like simplified for your audience.

[01:48:47] Yeah.

[01:48:47] So they're doing some really cool stuff with that.

[01:48:49] But those were my two picks.

[01:48:50] And I've read Silver Vessels.

[01:48:51] I really like Silver Vessels too.

[01:48:53] So I want to hear about Blood City Rollers because I don't know anything about that, Eric.

[01:48:57] All right.

[01:48:58] Yeah.

[01:48:58] I wonder how you knew that was mine.

[01:49:00] It was really funny because this book actually first came across my radar by several people sending it to me and going,

[01:49:05] how did you not write this?

[01:49:08] But this one's really fun.

[01:49:09] This is about a young girl who falls in with a vampire roller derby team.

[01:49:15] And she's kind of, you know, looking.

[01:49:17] She, I believe the story is that she does ice skating but is looking for something else to do.

[01:49:26] But the paranormal roller derby league has exceptional rules for having a human on your team.

[01:49:31] But she otherwise joins a team of vampires.

[01:49:34] This one really encapsulated everything I love about roller derby.

[01:49:37] Again, kind of in a very kid-friendly way.

[01:49:40] But also like it had a really great technical explanation of a lot of the techniques of roller derby without being a manual for how to play roller derby.

[01:49:49] It's super cute, super fun.

[01:49:51] It incorporates some of the panels are based on like internet memes as well, which I was like, wow, kids are going to, you know, totally get that.

[01:49:58] You know, like the one where the woman's looking and all the mathematics equations are like all over her face.

[01:50:02] So like some of that was really fun and relatable.

[01:50:05] But again, I love the puns.

[01:50:07] I know people around here have different opinions on puns.

[01:50:11] But some of the characters were like Bella Ghostly and Salvatore and just Blessed Bee was another character when they do like a, their final bout is against a bunch of witches.

[01:50:23] But it was just a really cute, fun book that I was totally not expecting.

[01:50:26] I mean, just, you know, hey, vampire roller derby league, super cute.

[01:50:29] And I also, I nominated it for exceptional original graphic novel in the category we just talked about, but I did see it come up here again.

[01:50:37] I really wanted to also just shout out Navigating With You.

[01:50:40] I know that Jeremy Whitley kind of is very tried and true in the like writing for kids space as well.

[01:50:45] And that's another Mad Cave release from their, their Maverick imprint.

[01:50:49] But I really like this because it's about two characters who also bond over the shared experience of really loving a manga.

[01:50:55] And not only just that, but it's a manga that's like hard to find all the volumes of.

[01:50:59] So like kind of some of the themes that we've been going over here, but it really struck me also with that kind of shared fandom of the characters.

[01:51:06] Some of the, some of the artists we've lost over the year, especially with the, the outpouring, not to spoil later, but Akira Toriyama.

[01:51:15] And I was a huge manga reader in middle school, bonded over my favorite books with my friends.

[01:51:20] So I just, I like when people include those real elements of fandom and it's not, you know, it's not dismissive of the people who are fans.

[01:51:27] And it talks about those pursuits and the way those stories can kind of connect us.

[01:51:31] So I just thought that was a really fun one from Maverick Mad Cave as well.

[01:51:34] Yeah, I'll go next to them because I put Navigating With You on the list.

[01:51:38] I, you know, Amy, you just met, talked about it, but yeah, I, I love Navigating With You.

[01:51:43] I mean, one of the reasons I do the podcast is because I discover so many things that I might not have otherwise.

[01:51:49] But Navigating With You, I just thought was such a beautiful story of two characters, kind of both new to a school, both dealing with like their separate issues at the school.

[01:51:58] And then, and kind of forming this friendship, trying to track down like 14 volumes of this, of this manga series.

[01:52:05] I just thought it was lovely.

[01:52:06] Navigator Nozomi or whatever it was called.

[01:52:09] Yeah, I, I, I just thought it was great.

[01:52:11] And I even loved, they showed some of the panels, like they did some of the like scenes from the manga in, you know, and had a totally different style.

[01:52:19] And I just, I just thought it was great.

[01:52:21] The other one I put on here was Wolf Pitch.

[01:52:23] And again, top shelf comics or top shelf productions, the same company that published Deja Ross Speaks to Freaks did Wolf Pitch.

[01:52:33] It's, it's Balazs Lorenzi did Wolf Pitch.

[01:52:39] Fantastic story.

[01:52:41] It is basically, um, uh, the character, one is a, one is a ghost, one is a werewolf, one is a, a regular human.

[01:52:51] And they kind of come together to form a band and they have to compete in like a, a battle of the bands type situation.

[01:52:59] Each one of them, the three main characters are kind of dealing with their own thing.

[01:53:04] The best part about this world that they, they live in is that it's not weird that there's a ghost and that there's a werewolf and that there's these other type of like supernatural characters.

[01:53:16] It's just like, that's who they are.

[01:53:18] Nobody questions it.

[01:53:19] Everyone kind of understands that that's just like the deal is.

[01:53:22] And so each one of the three of them have their own kind of personal issues and issues with the band.

[01:53:30] And, um, it's just a, a really kind of wonderful, uh, story.

[01:53:37] I just, I thought it really took me by surprise.

[01:53:40] I thought it was phenomenal.

[01:53:42] And yeah, it is, um, my top shelf productions.

[01:53:46] And I'm straight up going to order that after we get off of this.

[01:53:48] Cause I just, I looked it up and I'm like, this looks like everything that I want to be reading.

[01:53:53] It was, I mean, it was, it was really good.

[01:53:57] You know, another one of those things that like, you know, Balazs talks about, I interviewed him for the podcast.

[01:54:03] Um, he also did another one before this, Amy, that if you like Wolf Pitch, I would get Donuts and Doom.

[01:54:10] Ooh.

[01:54:11] Ooh.

[01:54:11] Yeah.

[01:54:12] Is it another one that, that he did before Wolf Pitch, which is basically being, being a teenage witch or rock star is tougher than it looks, but maybe enemies can become friends or more.

[01:54:23] Flying brooms and electric guitars set hearts aflame.

[01:54:26] I just really has, I think it has a good little like log line.

[01:54:29] Heck yeah.

[01:54:30] Yeah.

[01:54:30] And he was, but it was interesting, uh, speaking with, with him and he was talking about, I think he's originally from Hungary.

[01:54:37] And, you know, talking about, I think he's in his like thirties and like writing these young, often queer characters with a bit of a supernatural bent, but man, it just, they come alive on the page.

[01:54:50] And I really, you know, like his style of art.

[01:54:52] So highest of recommendations for both navigating with you and, uh, and Blake, did you have anything you want to add on that?

[01:55:00] Well, mine, my pick was undergrowth, which is like Ricky Lima and, uh, uh, Danil Aquilani.

[01:55:08] Danil does magic powder, which is a indie comic that a lot of, a lot of people know Jeff Schiller.

[01:55:13] And it's like, this really, it's like, it was very adult fantasy, new are crazy shenanigans.

[01:55:19] And undergrowth is totally different.

[01:55:21] Danil has like played with their style.

[01:55:24] It's a little bit, so it's very much like in the regards of neon Genesis.

[01:55:28] And I know neon Genesis is not for children, but like that idea of like, like throwing kids inside, like giant vehicles of war to like save the day.

[01:55:38] Right. Like that, that happens a lot in stories in anime, especially like giant robot anime.

[01:55:44] Right. So it takes that, but it these it's in the future.

[01:55:48] It's a dystopia. These, these aliens are like terraforming earth.

[01:55:52] There's like these big, these big alien monster Kaiju things that are like terraforming the planet.

[01:55:58] The planet doesn't have that long left.

[01:56:00] Uh, these kids end up dying.

[01:56:02] They get brought back and they have to like pilot these like Gaia spirit mechs.

[01:56:07] Oh, it's so fucking gnarly.

[01:56:09] And like the art is absolutely, it's got that like colored pencil kind of vibe to it.

[01:56:16] Very detailed, very lush, very, you know, it's very, it's very, very tactile feel.

[01:56:21] Right. Right. It's I'm cool with digital art.

[01:56:24] Like I'm not a purist or nothing, but it's got a very, it's got texture to it that I really like.

[01:56:28] Like, uh, but yeah, these, these kids have to a deal with death and that they just came back.

[01:56:34] So like, they have to like deal with death.

[01:56:36] And then there's like some blame game where it was like, well, we died because we were following you.

[01:56:40] And then it's like kind of rekindle their, their friendships.

[01:56:43] And then they also have to like save the planet.

[01:56:46] And there's like some really cool twists and turns and world building.

[01:56:50] And it's just, it's wildly gorgeous.

[01:56:53] And the action is great.

[01:56:55] And it's got, it's like, uh, it's a, it leaves you with like a good warm, warmness in your guts.

[01:57:01] Right.

[01:57:01] Of like that, that like, uh, yeah, this is, we do have shit to fight for.

[01:57:06] You know, we do have shit that's worth fighting for.

[01:57:08] I don't know about anybody else.

[01:57:10] Those reminders are worth so much these days.

[01:57:14] Right.

[01:57:14] Uh, so like, you know, those, you don't think about like this, through this, like novel of

[01:57:20] like, of like war and, and being kind of denied your afterlife.

[01:57:25] Right.

[01:57:25] And there's a lot of trauma there, but there's a lot of goodness comes out of it.

[01:57:31] And like I said, great world building, really great characters that you just like want to

[01:57:35] root for.

[01:57:36] You want them to win.

[01:57:37] And you want them to save the day, but you don't want the book to be over simultaneously.

[01:57:41] It's like one of those good rides.

[01:57:43] So that was, that was, that was my pick.

[01:57:45] Nice.

[01:57:46] I'll have to add that one.

[01:57:47] That sounds really cool.

[01:57:48] All right.

[01:57:48] Well, move it on.

[01:57:49] Uh, before we take a little break, the next question in the TV show, Smallville.

[01:57:54] Okay.

[01:57:55] Somebody has got to get this.

[01:57:56] Clark Kent has all of the following powers, but what?

[01:58:00] Super speed, heat vision, flight, or enhanced hearing.

[01:58:04] I'm going to say.

[01:58:06] He doesn't have, he doesn't have super hearing.

[01:58:08] I don't know.

[01:58:09] Is that a, is that a flight?

[01:58:12] Okay.

[01:58:12] Jimmy says flight.

[01:58:14] Oh, he doesn't fly.

[01:58:15] Right.

[01:58:15] He can only jump.

[01:58:16] It's really weird.

[01:58:17] That's why I never watched it.

[01:58:19] I thought that was so stupid.

[01:58:20] Cause I've never watched it.

[01:58:22] And I just now recently, like people have like told me, they were like, no, Blake, like get over yourself.

[01:58:26] It's a good show.

[01:58:28] Byron.

[01:58:29] Byron.

[01:58:29] Are you cheating?

[01:58:30] Are you feeding Blake answers?

[01:58:34] No, no.

[01:58:35] Would I do that to make you lose?

[01:58:38] Yeah.

[01:58:38] I'm going, I'm going flight.

[01:58:40] I'm getting.

[01:58:41] Oh no.

[01:58:42] All right.

[01:58:43] Well, but I guess I also have to go with flight for this one.

[01:58:46] What if I just throw this all down the drain?

[01:58:50] Amy's playing strategy now.

[01:58:52] Amy's playing strategy.

[01:58:53] If we're both right, we're both right.

[01:58:54] If we're both wrong, we're both wrong.

[01:58:56] All right.

[01:58:57] Did everybody get it right or not?

[01:58:58] We'll find out soon.

[01:58:59] Be right back.

[01:59:02] Hi, this is Barbara Dillon, editor-in-chief of Fanbase Press.

[01:59:05] We are a GLAAD award-winning and Eiser-nominated comic book publisher and media outlet,

[01:59:11] producing new and distinctive works, as well as daily reviews, interviews,

[01:59:15] newsletters, and podcasts that span the pop culture spectrum and give voice to the themes,

[01:59:21] ideals, and people that make geekdom so exceptional.

[01:59:24] At this festive time of year, we are especially grateful to be a part of the comics community,

[01:59:30] surrounded by such creative and compassionate individuals.

[01:59:34] You can find our work at fanbasepress.com and on all of the social medias.

[01:59:38] On behalf of all of us at Fanbase Press, happy holidays.

[01:59:46] And we're back and everybody got it.

[01:59:49] Right.

[01:59:49] So it was indeed flight.

[01:59:51] Yeah, I, for real, I remember that now because I was just like, that's so,

[01:59:56] how can you take that away from him?

[02:00:00] And because of that, I'd never watched it.

[02:00:02] That was, Superman originally couldn't fly.

[02:00:05] Like, jumping was his thing.

[02:00:07] Like, it was never flight.

[02:00:08] It was originally tall buildings in a single bound.

[02:00:10] Yeah.

[02:00:11] Yeah.

[02:00:11] Exactly.

[02:00:12] So that one was, that one I'm glad everybody got.

[02:00:15] All right.

[02:00:15] So our next is Exceptional Crowdfunding Project, and that's Jimmy.

[02:00:19] All right.

[02:00:21] Excited to take this category.

[02:00:22] So, Exceptional Crowdfunding Project.

[02:00:25] We have Cthulhu Invades Fairy Tales.

[02:00:27] Travis Gibb spearheads that with Orange Cone Productions.

[02:00:31] He's done a few of those before.

[02:00:33] And yeah, Cthulhu Invades Fairy Tales was the most recent one.

[02:00:36] Destiny New York, Volumes 1 to 6, Pat Shand, Dracula, Kelly Jones, and Matt Wagner.

[02:00:43] The Extremity, the artist edition, Daniel Warren Johnson, Skybound, Gods Among Men, number one,

[02:00:49] Psy Nation Comics, Nightmare in Wonderland, number one.

[02:00:53] That's Lifeline Comics.

[02:00:54] That's Pat, Kalamia, and Phil Falco.

[02:00:58] The Unsleeping Eye, Brian Level and Kurt Belcher, and White Ash Annual, Charlie Stickney.

[02:01:04] Yeah, so I put Cthulhu Invades Fairy Tales on here.

[02:01:08] I think the stuff that Orange Cone Production does, that Travis does in the crowdfunding space,

[02:01:14] I think he really tries to do a lot of different things.

[02:01:17] And especially with his Cthulhu Invades projects, they've been very successful.

[02:01:22] I think the Neverland one was nominated for a Ringo Award.

[02:01:30] But yeah, he's done these projects where he takes kind of things that are in a public domain and adds Cthulhu.

[02:01:37] So they've done Cthulhu Invades Neverland, Cthulhu Invades Wonderland.

[02:01:40] And now he's doing, I think it's going to be a total of like three volumes of Cthulhu Invades Fairy Tales.

[02:01:46] Full disclosure, I'm in Cthulhu Invades Fairy Tales 2.

[02:01:49] Nice. I'm in Neverland.

[02:01:52] I got two pages in Neverland.

[02:01:54] That was cool.

[02:01:54] Writing a two-page comic was not cool.

[02:01:56] That was hard.

[02:01:57] That was very hard.

[02:02:00] The shorter it is, the tougher it can be.

[02:02:02] I think I also put Nightmare in Wonderland number one on here.

[02:02:07] And again, that's Cthulhu.

[02:02:08] We had mentioned them earlier with Transphoria Anthology.

[02:02:11] But they have the, they call it the Ever Afterverse.

[02:02:15] They did a Snow and Beast, which was like a Snow White as a vampire.

[02:02:22] And Belle as a werewolf.

[02:02:24] They've done this Nightmare in Wonderland, which is Alice in Wonderland.

[02:02:28] I think she's an assassin.

[02:02:29] They also have done one, Witches of Oz.

[02:02:33] And so, yeah, I just, I think they're Ever Afterverse.

[02:02:35] It's, they're really great storytelling.

[02:02:38] They work with wonderful artists.

[02:02:41] They're not safe for work as a heads up.

[02:02:45] And yeah, they're really cool.

[02:02:48] And some of the other ones on here, I mean, Pat Shan, New York is fantastic.

[02:02:53] And yeah, I was a big fan of Extremity.

[02:02:55] I really like Daniel Warren Johnson.

[02:02:57] And it's always great to see somebody like Daniel Warren Johnson kind of take an artist

[02:03:02] addition and have success in the crowdfunding space as well.

[02:03:06] I don't have a problem with bigger publishers sometimes going to crowdfunding.

[02:03:11] I do think it's the rising tide lifts all boats kind of theory is what I think about that.

[02:03:18] So yeah, there we go.

[02:03:19] Amy, do you want to go next?

[02:03:20] Yeah, I nominated White Ash for this one.

[02:03:24] And like, this was one of those books where I came across the White Ash booth at WonderCon

[02:03:29] last year because Skylar Patchers was signing here.

[02:03:31] Okay, it's about high time.

[02:03:33] I, you know, figure out what I'm missing here.

[02:03:36] And Charlie gave me the most professional of, you know, elevator pitches.

[02:03:40] And it was all nicely collected and ready to go.

[02:03:42] And I was super excited to get on board.

[02:03:44] And I just loved it.

[02:03:45] It didn't go the way I expected at all with the mythology it incorporated.

[02:03:49] So I was like really surprised by that.

[02:03:52] It just felt new and interesting.

[02:03:54] And then obviously with this annual, super excited to see Tango getting to write and draw a story.

[02:04:00] Connor Hughes's work is great.

[02:04:02] And just catching up on the things like Glarian and all those kind of extended elements.

[02:04:07] I'm just, it's really exciting to see.

[02:04:10] And they, I know that they also just did a Kickstarter for, I think, the next issue,

[02:04:14] like White Ash number eight.

[02:04:15] And it's just one of those ones that you can really rely on it.

[02:04:18] And they come out so well, so efficiently.

[02:04:21] And it's a really fun and engaging story.

[02:04:23] And just the way he's also bringing in other creators for these smaller stories,

[02:04:29] the collected bits and bobs.

[02:04:31] And I really liked the presentation of this annual.

[02:04:34] Awesome.

[02:04:34] Awesome.

[02:04:35] Blake, how about you?

[02:04:36] Yeah, second White Ash.

[02:04:39] I love Charlie and White Ash is crazy.

[02:04:42] And one of the best things that happened to the fantasy genre since Dungeons and Dragons.

[02:04:46] Someone write that down for me.

[02:04:49] Send that to Charlie for Christmas.

[02:04:51] That's a cool quote.

[02:04:53] I do.

[02:04:54] Charlie is like, he's been like a big supporter of like me and my show for a very, very long time.

[02:04:59] He was one of my early, early interviews.

[02:05:01] Amy, he, I haven't got to see it, of course, but he has like, this was years ago.

[02:05:06] So it's probably like 30, 40, 50 pages bigger.

[02:05:10] He's got, it's this Google doc and it's like a hundred something pages.

[02:05:14] And it's just like this White Ash puzzle, the whole world and all the stories he wants to tell.

[02:05:22] Yeah.

[02:05:23] And it's just, it's, he's like, he's like, dude, I haven't even scratched like the side stuff and the one shots.

[02:05:30] And so, I mean, like he's got this crazy White Ash Bible of, he's got like unlimited content and he's, he's, he's got a loyal audience that keeps growing.

[02:05:40] Another one of those people that like, if you ever have questions about Kickstarter, he will learn you.

[02:05:47] Like he will talk, like he, he will talk you through like anything.

[02:05:51] He's so nice.

[02:05:52] So professional, such a great talent.

[02:05:54] I did not choose that book, but he's good people.

[02:05:59] What did I pick for this?

[02:06:01] Crowdfunding.

[02:06:02] I love this.

[02:06:03] No, I know that you also got to interview Kelly and Matt.

[02:06:06] I did Daniel Warren Johnson.

[02:06:08] Oh my God.

[02:06:10] That's who I picked.

[02:06:11] Yeah.

[02:06:11] That was a cool campaign.

[02:06:12] That artist edition was amazing.

[02:06:14] He was so humbled.

[02:06:15] He was so like, could not believe people were like reading this old comic that he wrote, you know, and then like all this money and like,

[02:06:24] the extra edition and the hardcover and.

[02:06:27] You know, to have like, to be like the right, like you're dropping Transformers and then like your first comic gets like re-released and then space mullet got re-released right around then too.

[02:06:37] And it was, so it was like, he's like taking off on another level of his career and then his old stuff's getting re-released and making hundreds of thousands of dollars on Kickstarter.

[02:06:47] Right.

[02:06:48] So like, that was just, that was cool.

[02:06:49] Dracula was awesome.

[02:06:51] Unsleeping.

[02:06:51] I was awesome.

[02:06:52] I worked on that campaign, which was cool.

[02:06:55] I was really, when I saw that on this list, I was like, whoa, I was like, I was like, that's crazy.

[02:07:01] I was like, they're a social media Kickstarter consultant person.

[02:07:05] That was a great book.

[02:07:06] Those are great people.

[02:07:07] Brian Level is so awesome.

[02:07:10] Yeah.

[02:07:10] White Ash is great.

[02:07:12] Nightmare Wonderland.

[02:07:13] God's.

[02:07:13] These are all awesome, awesome stuff.

[02:07:16] Like Kelly and Matt's, that, that Dracula book is insane.

[02:07:19] Pat Shan's one of those people that's on Kickstarter every month, if not more now.

[02:07:24] Destiny, Destiny and White Ash, by the way, anybody who's needing like a fantasy replacement,

[02:07:30] uh, because you, you don't want to like support some trans hating idiot from across the pond

[02:07:37] who just wants to like suck all this money up and we all act like it's fine because we grew up on Harry Potter.

[02:07:43] But no, there are other great fantasy things that you can read that are sexy and adult and, and will, oh, will distract you from anything.

[02:07:53] Uh, that, so just, yeah, I really encourage you to find other fantasy franchises to dump money into.

[02:07:59] Please.

[02:07:59] Good, good.

[02:08:00] Please.

[02:08:00] I knew you were involved with The Unsleeping Eye and yeah, I, I love Brian.

[02:08:04] Um, this is the first chance to get to the chat with Kurt, but that book is so zany.

[02:08:09] And, and, and I mean, it is, if you're a horror fan, it, it was so much fun.

[02:08:13] The, that I'll never, like, it's just thinking about it creeps me out.

[02:08:17] That scene in that book where the, the daughter, the, the, it's always tapping on the daughter's window.

[02:08:22] Oh yeah.

[02:08:23] And she's like, she's like talking about it.

[02:08:25] Like she like does it, she like lays there and like faces away from the window, but how like scary that is.

[02:08:32] And like, like that, I, I love horror and it's rare that like something really gets like under my fingernails.

[02:08:40] Right.

[02:08:40] And it stays there.

[02:08:42] And like that did it, that like, you know, like a bad splinter, bad hangnail, like, Oh, it was, you know, like that annoying pain.

[02:08:50] And that's, I had that tap on the window.

[02:08:52] And then there, of course, Kurt's art, right.

[02:08:54] When did you see when it's revealed and it's just gross and that's, Oh, that book is so gnarly that again, like Kickstarter is hard and, and it's easy to get discouraged.

[02:09:05] But yeah, like it's some of these books is like, it should have, you're like, we scrounged.

[02:09:10] Like we were, we knew it was going to fund, but it was like, we scrounged for funding and, and it waited till like you ride around the last time, you know?

[02:09:18] And it's, it's so weird how, you know, even, even some of the not safe for work stuff isn't, that's, that's not a gangbuster go-to win maneuver anymore either.

[02:09:28] Now, like, you know, you got, it's just, everything's, everything's different now, but yeah, that was a, that was a really cool comic and I wish, I wish the campaign would have done better.

[02:09:36] But the book of the books printed great.

[02:09:38] And the, those double-sided, the magazine style variants were so cool.

[02:09:42] It was fun.

[02:09:43] That was fun to work on.

[02:09:44] Well, we'll move on to the next one.

[02:09:46] Um, this should be another Superman here.

[02:09:48] I think we're going to stay with that theme because everybody got it right.

[02:09:51] So what color of kryptonite is not harmful to Superman?

[02:09:56] Purple, white, black, or blue?

[02:09:59] I'm going to go with blue.

[02:10:01] Okay.

[02:10:01] Jimmy says blue.

[02:10:02] I also want to say blue, but I, the way that I'm like remembering more specific names of colors, like, I, I, I don't know if, uh, I'm going to go with blue, but I might be mixing it up with periwinkle.

[02:10:15] I thought it was red, but red's not even an option.

[02:10:18] Cause I remember red kryptonite and I, but I thought maybe I get confused and thinking red makes him, red makes Superman angry.

[02:10:26] And mean and rage filled.

[02:10:28] We don't talk about pink kryptonite.

[02:10:30] What do you got, Blake?

[02:10:33] Said yellow was an option?

[02:10:35] No, purple, white, black, or blue.

[02:10:37] Wow.

[02:10:38] Uh, auto white.

[02:10:40] Let's see what white happens.

[02:10:42] Okay.

[02:10:43] Okay.

[02:10:43] There is a correct answer in play.

[02:10:45] You'll have to stay tuned to find out.

[02:10:47] We'll be right back.

[02:10:47] Hey, I'm Joel Rodriguez.

[02:10:57] In the six years since I started metal Ninja studios, my dream has shifted from creating my own comics to empowering other creators to bring their own visions to life.

[02:11:06] Today, we do just that with the help of an incredible team of professional writers, editors, letterers, production designers, and project managers whose work spans numerous crowdfunding campaigns and direct market releases.

[02:11:17] We've come a long way, and it's all thanks to this amazing community full of amazing creators who trust us to help tell their stories.

[02:11:24] As we celebrate the season of connection and creativity, we wanted to take a moment to share a little holiday cheer from our team to yours.

[02:11:31] So, let's hear from the Metal Ninja Studios family across the globe.

[02:11:35] Hey, I'm David Byrne, lead editor and publisher at Metal Ninja Studios, wishing you a happy holidays from Orrin Beach, Florida.

[02:11:40] I am Blake Morgan, operations manager at Metal Ninja Studios, and happy mother-buzzin' holidays from Kansas City, Missouri.

[02:11:48] Hi, I'm Matt Kratzer, the letterer supreme, wishing you happy holidays from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

[02:11:52] Hi, I'm Christian Dokolomanski, Metal Ninja Studios senior designer. Happy holidays from Santiago, Chile.

[02:11:57] And from my office in Orlando, we hope your holidays are filled with joy and creativity.

[02:12:04] Remember, everyone has a story. We'll help you tell yours.

[02:12:07] Visit MetalNinjaStudios.com today to learn more and schedule your free consultation.

[02:12:12] Let's get to work.

[02:12:13] En Metal Ninja Studios deseamos que estas fiestas estén llenas de alegría y de creatividad.

[02:12:18] Y recordad, todos tenemos una historia que contar. Nosotros te ayudaremos a contar la tuya.

[02:12:22] Visítanos en MetalNinjaStudios.com y agenda tu consulta sin compromiso y nos pondremos a trabajar.

[02:12:27] All right, we're back. And the correct answer is Blake's. It is white.

[02:12:40] Yes!

[02:12:41] Blake is on the board.

[02:12:43] All right. Nice, Blake.

[02:12:44] Blake, it's anybody's game at this point, which is pretty cool.

[02:12:48] That's what I was hoping for.

[02:12:49] I think Periwinkle was the one I was thinking of, but I think it like makes him more confident,

[02:12:52] but almost kind of like punch drunk. But like, I don't know. I know Periwinkle is one of the

[02:12:56] colors of kryptonite, but it's not blue.

[02:12:59] Why is there a Periwinkle kryptonite? Like, this is crazy.

[02:13:03] I don't know, man.

[02:13:04] What does Chartreuse do?

[02:13:06] And if there isn't already Chartreuse, can I write that on?

[02:13:09] Why not? Let's let you do that.

[02:13:11] Well, you're next, Amy. You've got Exceptional WebCon.

[02:13:14] Yes. Oh my goodness. I mean, for all of the incredible, you know, efforts and talents and,

[02:13:18] and, you know, rigors of comic book creation we've been talking about on all these other categories,

[02:13:23] web comics are an exercise in self-discipline. I mean, it is the true independent. We are going

[02:13:28] to put this out online, you know, no matter how we're going to get this story in front of an audience.

[02:13:33] So all of these people deserve a million rounds of applause. And I love how supernatural and,

[02:13:39] and spooky many of these are, but our list includes Blade Maidens by Zoe Tunnel and Valentine Smith.

[02:13:44] The Hunt by Lucid. This is a supernatural romance with college ghost hunters.

[02:13:49] Two for Keeping Time by Cody Okamoto.

[02:13:51] So we have Maru Kiru by Brendan Albecki. Paranatural by Zach Morrison with a note of superpowered middle

[02:13:58] schoolers fighting evil spirits and investigating paranormal activity in their hometown.

[02:14:02] Time and Time Again by Dio I. This has the note of werewolves and vampires, so I'm sold.

[02:14:08] And Witch Creek Road by Garth, Garth Mathems, Kenan Halovic, and Anna Jarmalowska.

[02:14:15] All right. Well, I, uh, I'll start out. I put Blade Maidens and Keeping Time just again,

[02:14:20] because I love the people making these stories. But first of all, Blade Maidens,

[02:14:25] holy crap, like the discipline, the sheer amount of story, uh, going on. Again, if you're talking,

[02:14:30] you want to find a fantasy alternative. This one has, you know, queer characters. It's got vampires,

[02:14:36] it's got werewolves, it's got disaster girls who love to beat people up. It is so cool.

[02:14:41] I love everything that Zoe does. Valentine is an artistic powerhouse. I want Zoe to have more

[02:14:46] work in comics. I mean, she did that amazing Godzilla special. Um, and, and Blade Maidens

[02:14:52] is going to get eventually, uh, released by Dark Horse. Fingers crossed. I know that was a big

[02:14:56] announcement, but I don't know when it's hitting the publishing schedule, but if you can't wait for

[02:15:01] that, it's all available online. It's truly, truly incredible. And then, uh, Cody Okamoto's

[02:15:08] keeping time decidedly a little less supernatural, but it, you know, deals with, uh, shifting timelines

[02:15:13] and boys in a band coming back together and kind of dealing with grief and their present and their

[02:15:18] future and their past and lots of cool, a little bit more adult themes, a little more, not slice of

[02:15:25] life, but I guess natural surroundings. But Cody is just another phenomenal talent. I love what he does.

[02:15:30] Um, and he did rubber match with Elizabeth Bray. So just really fun, uh, art style. And again,

[02:15:36] super talented and to keep the schedule of putting out free pages online on a schedule,

[02:15:42] every single web comic creator is amazing. Like the, the, the Superman of this justice league

[02:15:48] situation. Well, Blake, which was yours on there? I gotta admit, I don't, I don't follow web comics

[02:15:53] that much. I should weigh more, but. I don't either. So like I struggled with this. Um, I didn't

[02:15:59] struggle cause I, this, anytime anybody asks me about web comics, I say this one, which is Witch

[02:16:05] Creek Road because a friend, like our indie comics friend, Kevin Joseph, who does, he, he does a tart.

[02:16:13] Kevin said he, this was the scariest comic he's ever read was Witch Creek Road. And he was like,

[02:16:19] and it's free. It's a web comic. You get online and read it. And I did that and I got online and I

[02:16:24] read it and it's good. And the art is creepy. And it's like these witches and it's bloody and it's mean.

[02:16:29] And it's nasty. And it's like, it's like a little, a little like high school slasher, but like,

[02:16:35] like I said, great storytelling, great art. There's so much of it, the, the rough older stuff,

[02:16:41] they're like remastering and redoing. And then they're, they're doing like a, they've got like an

[02:16:46] all ages, Witch Creek Road, which was like a more animated style, uh, web comic now. Uh, so like

[02:16:54] they, they've expanded on it, uh, done some really cool spinoffs, uh, like skinned was one. And it

[02:17:01] was like, it was all black. It was black and white, but like really good black and white art.

[02:17:05] And like when the skin, like they would take the skin off of people and like the musculature,

[02:17:10] the tissue, it's like, it was very detailed, very gnarly, super creepy. And it's like, you can read

[02:17:16] it digitally, right? So you can like turn all the lights out and then read it on your tablet

[02:17:20] in the dark and like creep yourself out. That's what I did. So yeah, I, I, I love that. I, but I

[02:17:26] do, I'm, I am familiar with blade maidens. I, and I've was, I know everybody was excited about that

[02:17:31] dark horse announcement too. Um, so that that's, that's a cool, I've, I've read some of it. I,

[02:17:37] I've not like, I'm not a lot cause that's been going, it's, that's a long, fairly long running

[02:17:42] been going for a few years now. That's what I thought. Yeah. So that's, that's tons of content.

[02:17:46] Like, I know you're not supposed to say content, but there's, there's a lot of, there's a lot

[02:17:50] of pages. Like there's like for a publisher, like interested in picking up, there's a lot,

[02:17:55] they could print volumes. They could make that they've got a huge following. Like, you know,

[02:18:00] I mean, so there's, there's a big interest in printing that already, but yeah, I need to know

[02:18:05] more about web comics. I, I really do. It's, it's, it's, I, I struggle with it. It's, you know,

[02:18:12] I, I, I, I, I'm, I'm not up to date. I'm not well versed here.

[02:18:17] Well, I found out the one I had on here was, was Paranatural. And I found out about that because

[02:18:23] I did a shout out back on Twitter X when we were all there of trying to start a tradition

[02:18:29] of when I was a kid, you know, you read the Sunday comics or whatever. And I'd kind of gotten

[02:18:33] out of that habit when paper newspapers kind of went away. And so I just get a, did a shout

[02:18:39] out and was like, Hey, if you have a webcomic, I want to start this tradition of trying to read

[02:18:43] webcomics on like Sunday morning. And not surprisingly, I got absolutely flooded and

[02:18:48] Paranatural was on there that time. And I really dig that series. It's a lot of fun, but yeah,

[02:18:54] I need to slot some more time to try to, to dig in and to find some more of these stuff. I mean,

[02:19:01] Blade Maidens is absolutely fantastic. The art is again, one of those things where it's,

[02:19:05] such a unique style that it is instantly memorable. So I think Blade Maidens is great.

[02:19:11] So Jimmy, you got anything to add for webcomics?

[02:19:16] Okay. That is fine. We will not hold that against you, but we will see if you, we'll see,

[02:19:24] we'll see if you hold your lead. This is my, my favorite question actually of the set. So

[02:19:29] what U S fast food chain released a series of comic books called amazing cow heroes. You have

[02:19:37] McDonald's Chick-fil-A Arby's or long John Silver's. I'm going to go with Chick-fil-A. Go ahead.

[02:19:43] Amy, it feels like a Chick-fil-A move because of how much cows they use in their marketing,

[02:19:48] but I feel bad also just lumping onto Jimmy's answer again. Ride the train, ride the train. All

[02:19:55] right. We'll see who got it right. Cause somebody did get it right. And when we come back,

[02:19:58] hello, my name is Alison Pong, director of marketing with Mad Cave studios. And we wanted

[02:20:04] to just take a second as a team and say happy holidays to the comic book Yeti community.

[02:20:10] This past year has been amazing. Thanks to all of your support. It's been full of thrilling

[02:20:15] adventures, stories, and your enthusiasm is really what fuels us. So you can expect new partnerships,

[02:20:24] inspired creator owned stories and exceptional new originals from Mad Cave, Maverick and Papercuts.

[02:20:33] Your continued support has allowed us to push the boundaries, explore new horizons. And we just

[02:20:40] wanted to give a really special thank you to comic book Yeti. Your continued support, not only for us,

[02:20:46] but just the comics community has really brought us together. And from all of us, we want to wish you

[02:20:52] warmth, happiness, and a bounty of good reads this holiday season. So happy holidays.

[02:20:58] Happy holidays.

[02:20:58] Happy holidays.

[02:21:01] Cool. We're back. And indeed the fast food chain that had a comic book series out called Amazing Cow Heroes was Chick-fil-A.

[02:21:08] Really?

[02:21:09] All right.

[02:21:10] I didn't even make the connection.

[02:21:12] Another streaming service or whatever that news was that I couldn't believe because we live in bizarro world.

[02:21:17] What are they streaming?

[02:21:19] I don't know.

[02:21:21] Okay.

[02:21:21] But I just remember that that was the news that Chick-fil-A is going to do a streaming service.

[02:21:26] Oh my. That is terrifying.

[02:21:28] That's where we're at in society.

[02:21:30] It's just people cutting open the chicken. Not the live chicken. Like there's chicken sandwiches. That sounded terrible.

[02:21:36] Nothing can be as good as...

[02:21:37] Is that where they get the nuggets?

[02:21:38] It's not available on Sundays.

[02:21:40] All right. Like you've got exceptional manga or non-Western comic.

[02:21:43] Yeah. You know, the last couple of years I've really gotten into manga and so I was excited that I got to present this award.

[02:21:52] Even though it's not really an award. Everybody wins.

[02:21:55] But yeah, I went with Chainsaw Man. Someone else did too.

[02:21:59] And Chainsaw Man should not work.

[02:22:03] It just... It has so many things.

[02:22:05] Because if you try and tell your friend who's fairly normal and like watches HBO shows on Sunday about this crazy bonger anime,

[02:22:17] and you go off about Chainsaw Man, they're going to be...

[02:22:21] No. They're like, what? No. I don't want to watch...

[02:22:23] This is weird. I don't want to watch this pervy kid.

[02:22:26] He has chainsaw hands.

[02:22:27] This is cute little...

[02:22:29] You see Pachita?

[02:22:30] I got Pachita back here.

[02:22:31] It shouldn't work, but it does.

[02:22:34] And the first...

[02:22:36] The kind of...

[02:22:37] The first season of manga wrapped up and then we got an amazing anime that was beautiful.

[02:22:42] And then the manga came back.

[02:22:44] And everybody was...

[02:22:46] I had faith.

[02:22:47] I didn't think that...

[02:22:48] I figured the hype would carry because it was too good, right?

[02:22:51] But like, the new chapters of Chainsaw Man is deepening the lore.

[02:22:58] We're getting new characters.

[02:23:00] Chainsaw Man came back.

[02:23:02] And for the first four chapters after a long break, like Dingy, who is Chainsaw Man.

[02:23:08] Spoiler alert.

[02:23:09] Sorry.

[02:23:10] Is not in the comic.

[02:23:11] Could you imagine like not having a Superman comic for like a few months and then you get Superman and you open it up and Clark can't or Superman is not in it?

[02:23:20] Right?

[02:23:21] Everybody would be mad, but Chainsaw Man was good.

[02:23:25] And these new characters it showed us were super intriguing.

[02:23:29] And the new demon we got was insane.

[02:23:32] And it was like when Dingy did finally show up, I was like, oh yeah, I guess this is his story.

[02:23:37] So yeah, just the way it came back with a vengeance, doing something new while still satiating the fan base.

[02:23:46] Yeah, it's super impressive.

[02:23:49] The My Hero Academia, like that's a huge deal.

[02:23:53] Everybody's talking about that.

[02:23:54] We've also got Gokuraja is up here.

[02:23:57] And then we've got Our Journey Through the Motherlands.

[02:24:01] I'm not sure what K-H-I-E.

[02:24:03] But Our Journey Through the Motherlands.

[02:24:05] And then Nos and Zakuru are our manga or non-Western comic exemplary nominees.

[02:24:15] What are we called?

[02:24:16] What are these called?

[02:24:17] Yeah, nominees.

[02:24:17] Good books.

[02:24:19] Good books to read.

[02:24:20] Amy, what you got?

[02:24:22] Gosh, I mean, I really am a lapsed manga reader.

[02:24:26] A lot of the stuff, like I devoured these books or these types of books when I was in middle school.

[02:24:32] But I was reading all the cutesy magical girl stuff.

[02:24:34] But I just have to, I had to give it to My Hero Academia this year.

[02:24:37] I mean, I have cousins who have never historically like their eyes glaze over when I talk about comics at the family holidays.

[02:24:43] But they're like, oh my god, I'm reading Demon Slayer and I'm reading My Hero Academia and blah, blah, blah.

[02:24:47] And so, you know, I think these shonen style comics are really exciting.

[02:24:52] But that one was just a true feat of, you know, telling the story all the way through.

[02:24:57] I believe it ended this year with like 430 chapters.

[02:25:01] I know that the anime is still either going or just wrapping up.

[02:25:04] But I just, I think that one is such a fabulous, you know,

[02:25:08] when people strike out to try to, you know, upend the superhero genre.

[02:25:13] It's like there's so many ways that you can do it and it has been done.

[02:25:16] But I just think this one was super fun.

[02:25:18] I mean, I have five My Hero Academia character figures on my refrigerator

[02:25:23] because they ran out of display space everywhere else in the house.

[02:25:26] But I just think that was a great one.

[02:25:28] And any book that gets people excited and invigorated for, you know, reading manga,

[02:25:33] which they might have otherwise been skeptical of,

[02:25:35] or, you know, getting excited about superhero comics or just kind of drawing people in.

[02:25:39] I think that was phenomenal.

[02:25:40] And the fact that it took its bow this year in print, like just an amazing feat.

[02:25:46] And then the fact that there was just like an official Marvel art,

[02:25:50] like crossover on their Instagram recently with the manga artists doing Spider-Man and All Might.

[02:25:55] And then Humberto Ramos drawing some of the ladies of My Hero Academia.

[02:25:59] Like what a crossover that we reached that point.

[02:26:02] So that was really cool.

[02:26:02] They did that a couple of years ago with Attack on Titan.

[02:26:07] There was like a Marvel Attack on Titan manga crossover.

[02:26:11] If there was, it's escaping my notice.

[02:26:13] But that's, I mean, it doesn't surprise me.

[02:26:15] The manga artists are so phenomenally talented as well.

[02:26:19] Yeah, they're crazy.

[02:26:20] I got to give a shout out to Titan for jumping in the ring and bringing some cool stuff.

[02:26:25] Because they're really pushing manga heavily now.

[02:26:28] And I admit, you know, it's not something that I have read a lot of,

[02:26:32] despite way back in the day being on the front end of that stuff in the three comic book shops I worked in when I was young.

[02:26:40] So I'm getting back into it.

[02:26:42] So I'm trying to, I don't read as much that's new.

[02:26:44] I'm trying to lay the groundwork.

[02:26:45] So the other night I went back and I've delved into Junji Ito because that was a recommendation.

[02:26:52] And so, yeah, I think I need to get the foundational stuff down before I really commit to something that's 40 volumes long.

[02:27:01] Although Toilet Bound is great.

[02:27:02] I love Toilet Bound.

[02:27:03] That was a great book.

[02:27:05] So, Jimmy?

[02:27:07] I don't have any to add.

[02:27:10] Is he frozen like that for everybody or was that just me?

[02:27:12] No, that's the Jimmy Freeze.

[02:27:14] He can do the Jimmy Freeze.

[02:27:15] That's just me.

[02:27:16] I just do that where it seems just like a, where it just seems like the computer version.

[02:27:21] I just do it.

[02:27:21] But your eyes were closed as well.

[02:27:22] It was totally like you fell asleep on the Zoom call.

[02:27:25] Yeah.

[02:27:26] Nope.

[02:27:27] I'm here.

[02:27:28] I'm awake.

[02:27:29] Good.

[02:27:30] I'm just going to edit that then so you don't look like you don't know what you're talking about.

[02:27:34] How's that?

[02:27:34] I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to manga.

[02:27:38] Look, my grandfather fought in World War II.

[02:27:41] I promised him on his deathbed I wouldn't read any manga.

[02:27:44] And I haven't.

[02:27:46] Never mind.

[02:27:47] I'm leaving this in.

[02:27:50] That's content.

[02:27:52] My kid loves it.

[02:27:53] She's read My Hero Academia.

[02:27:55] She's read Demon Slayer.

[02:27:57] She's read a bunch of other ones.

[02:28:00] But My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer are probably her two favorites.

[02:28:05] There we go.

[02:28:05] But I haven't.

[02:28:07] Yeah.

[02:28:08] So Charlotte loves it.

[02:28:09] But yeah, you know, I made that promise to my papa.

[02:28:14] So somebody's got to make the money.

[02:28:16] She doesn't like she's not.

[02:28:17] Is she watching the anime or is she reading the manga?

[02:28:19] Is she reading Demon Slayer?

[02:28:21] She hasn't.

[02:28:22] She.

[02:28:23] Yeah, she.

[02:28:23] She.

[02:28:23] She started watching.

[02:28:24] She started watching My Hero Academia first.

[02:28:27] And then that led her to reading the manga.

[02:28:29] And then she read the manga of Demon Slayer, but hasn't watched the Demon Slayer show yet.

[02:28:34] Okay.

[02:28:34] Yeah.

[02:28:35] My sister and some family are into the anime, but none of them are really into the manga.

[02:28:43] They're like, I don't want to read it.

[02:28:44] I got to read it backwards.

[02:28:46] I'm like, crew up.

[02:28:47] Yeah.

[02:28:47] Charlotte really likes it.

[02:28:49] I mean, she's really enjoying it.

[02:28:51] And every once in a while, she'll pick up something random that, you know, that she's into.

[02:28:56] But we'll see what the next thing is.

[02:28:59] But yeah, that's all I got.

[02:29:00] That's okay.

[02:29:01] Good job, Dad.

[02:29:02] Somebody's got to support the comic book habit.

[02:29:04] You are training the next generation.

[02:29:06] And that is admirable.

[02:29:08] Yeah.

[02:29:09] Young kids buying books is pretty crucial to this whole thing we all got going on.

[02:29:15] Exactly.

[02:29:16] If the kids don't want to read, we're going to be screwed about.

[02:29:20] Like tomorrow, I think.

[02:29:22] We're like, the jig's going to be up too fast.

[02:29:26] The next question.

[02:29:28] So to take that segue, we're going to get away from kids and we'll get back to Jimmy's grandpa and the war.

[02:29:33] Okay.

[02:29:33] The first modern comic book was printed in what year?

[02:29:38] We're not talking about like golden age, silver age, modern.

[02:29:41] Like we're talking about some time ago.

[02:29:43] Because the choices are 1933, 1910, 1927, and 1939.

[02:29:50] First comic book was printed.

[02:29:52] The first comic book.

[02:29:53] Yeah.

[02:29:54] Okay.

[02:29:55] So you said 1910, 1933.

[02:30:00] 39 and 27.

[02:30:01] No, not 33 or 33?

[02:30:04] 33, 1910, 1927, or 1939.

[02:30:08] I'm going to go with 1927.

[02:30:11] Okay.

[02:30:12] That's what I was going to go with.

[02:30:13] But you could do that.

[02:30:14] You could get another point.

[02:30:15] You can.

[02:30:16] 27 is my lucky number.

[02:30:18] That's the year my grandmother was born.

[02:30:21] All right.

[02:30:21] Amy?

[02:30:22] I'm going to go 1910.

[02:30:23] I'm going to, I feel like they found something that they're like, wow, we wouldn't have considered this sequential comics, but oh my gosh, it might be the one.

[02:30:30] That's my read on it.

[02:30:32] Did somebody get it right?

[02:30:34] We'll see when we come back.

[02:30:36] Hi, this is Tom Pyre.

[02:30:37] I bring you greetings from Ahoy Comics, publisher of such life-changing titles as Toxic Avenger, Babs, Archaic, The Wrong Earth, The Upcoming Howl, and a half zillion others.

[02:30:50] How do we do it?

[02:30:52] How do we make smart, funny, and beautiful comics month after back-breaking month?

[02:30:57] We do it by avoiding disease, and there is no better disease preventative than sauerkraut, the little-known and inexplicably effective foodstuff that makes every ice award-worthy comic possible.

[02:31:11] So, enjoy the awards, enjoy the holidays, enjoy Ahoy, and most of all, enjoy sauerkraut.

[02:31:22] Okay, and we're back, and the correct answer was 1933.

[02:31:25] 33, so.

[02:31:28] Nobody got that one.

[02:31:29] Darn it.

[02:31:30] Darn it all day.

[02:31:31] That's all right.

[02:31:32] That's all right.

[02:31:33] Well, we have two new folks.

[02:31:35] Jimmy, you can speak to this too, because I know one of them, the games editor is Dan, is doing a whole lot of gaming stuff, and so the next category would be exceptional game.

[02:31:46] So, yeah, I think we have a mix of video games and, like, RPG or TT, you know, tabletop, TT, RPG stuff.

[02:31:55] But we have Black Myth, Wukong, Core of Destiny, Daybreak, Flamecraft, Forges of Ravenshire, Lord of the Rings, Adventures in Middle-Earth, Rebel Princess, and Unmatched by Restoration Games.

[02:32:12] So, yeah, I put Unmatched on here.

[02:32:15] That was my pick.

[02:32:17] I love Unmatched.

[02:32:18] I have had a tournament the past two years at my house of an Unmatched tournament.

[02:32:23] If anyone doesn't know what Unmatched is, for any of the listeners, it is, it's like a one-on-one battle game.

[02:32:32] It comes in as a game board.

[02:32:33] You have a little play, you know, a little character that moves around the board.

[02:32:36] And whether you attack is all card-based.

[02:32:40] The artwork is phenomenal.

[02:32:42] They have a few lice, they have a few sets throughout history.

[02:32:46] They have, like, a Cobble and Fog one, which is Jekyll and Hyde, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes.

[02:32:51] They have a couple of Marvel sets.

[02:32:54] Like, they have a Hell's Kitchen set.

[02:32:57] They have a set that, like a Brain and Brawn set that has Doctor Strange, She-Hulk, and Spider-Man.

[02:33:05] They have one with Ghost Rider in it.

[02:33:08] They also have, like, legendary characters, characters of myth.

[02:33:13] And you can play any character against anybody else.

[02:33:17] Um, so, like, we played once and, uh, it was, um, I think my, I think my, my wife was playing and she was Buffy.

[02:33:27] Because they have a Buffy set, which the artwork is all done by a friend of the podcast, Heather Vaughn, which is pretty cool.

[02:33:33] Um, and I think my wife was Buffy.

[02:33:36] I was Sherlock Holmes.

[02:33:38] And Dan Nixon, uh, who has more board games than any, than anybody I know, is doing stuff for Comic Book Yeti.

[02:33:46] He, he just got done Pax Unplugged in Philly.

[02:33:48] I can't wait to read his recap about it.

[02:33:50] But I think Dan was, like, the Tyrannosaurus from Jurassic Park.

[02:33:55] They have, like, an InGen set for the Jurassic World.

[02:33:58] Yeah, they have an InGen set.

[02:33:59] Yeah.

[02:33:59] Um, so this year they just, this year they had a pretty, really successful campaign.

[02:34:05] They kick-started a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set.

[02:34:08] So they have all four turtles.

[02:34:10] Heather, uh, they had a different artist for doing the artwork for the cards for each turtle.

[02:34:15] Heather did Michelangelo.

[02:34:16] Heather Vaughn.

[02:34:17] Um, and they also had, like, a special add-on where you could get, you could, you play the

[02:34:24] Turtles game as, like, a co-op.

[02:34:26] Um, or you could use the characters against any other character.

[02:34:30] Um, so if you ever wanted to see, like, who would win in a fight, Donatello or Daredevil,

[02:34:34] you could play that out on Unmatched if you back the Kickstarter.

[02:34:38] And I think there was also where that you could get Shredder and Krang as, um, playable

[02:34:44] characters as, as well.

[02:34:46] And they also have, like, a Witcher set, I think, is coming out.

[02:34:49] And they're supposed to do a Bruce Lee versus Muhammad Ali that's going to be next year.

[02:34:55] Uh, so I, I just think the, the, the replayability of the game is phenomenal.

[02:35:00] Yeah, I really love it.

[02:35:01] I can't say enough, enough good things about Unmatched.

[02:35:04] I adore those games.

[02:35:06] I almost, word for word what you said, I have the Buffy and the Cobble and Fog sets so

[02:35:11] that I could do Buffy versus Dracula matchups.

[02:35:13] I, I played it, I made my parents play it with me once, uh, and I played as Willow, who

[02:35:18] was the only ranged fighter in the, in the Buffy set, because everybody else has swords

[02:35:22] and stakes and they're up close.

[02:35:23] So I was shooting spells from, like, three or four spaces on the board away, and I won.

[02:35:27] And they were like, this isn't fun.

[02:35:28] Um, but if Heather Vaughn is doing art for a game, I'm on it.

[02:35:33] Like, I, I, I was not aware that they did the Turtles, uh, crowdfund.

[02:35:37] So I'm kind of kicking myself about that.

[02:35:38] But, um, she also did the art for one of the editions of Final Girl by Van Rider Games.

[02:35:43] Um, and I picked that up as well.

[02:35:45] Uh, but yeah, Heather.

[02:35:47] Yeah.

[02:35:48] And Heather's done the, um, I'm going to give, I'm going to say the name of it wrong, but

[02:35:51] the, the kids on bicycles, what is that called?

[02:35:55] The kids on bikes, TTRPG.

[02:35:57] Yeah.

[02:35:58] Yeah.

[02:35:58] I mean, I think Heather did that too.

[02:36:01] Oh, phenomenally talented, but her, the Buffy stuff is so good.

[02:36:05] The kids on bikes RPG is supposed to be like next level.

[02:36:08] I've heard a lot of really good things about it.

[02:36:10] I haven't had a chance to actually play in that system, but, um, yeah.

[02:36:14] I don't get to play in any systems.

[02:36:16] I just like to buy the books sometimes.

[02:36:18] I was going to do, I almost put the Marvel multiverse, the new 616 system on.

[02:36:25] Oh yeah.

[02:36:25] That was almost my vote, but I didn't, I didn't know if that would be like a big two entity,

[02:36:32] even though it's like technically not a comic, but like, I really do.

[02:36:36] Like it's, it's really cool.

[02:36:37] Like it's the, the books are very cool.

[02:36:39] I love that each, each book, like the, the main chunk of the book is them taking like

[02:36:46] comic book heroes and making character sheets for them.

[02:36:49] So, I mean, like as a DM, like you, you could be, you could just come up with like a cool

[02:36:54] scenario with like Wolverine and dead or like Colin Bunn just wrote a new Deadpool one shot.

[02:36:59] And like, so like they're doing cool stuff with it.

[02:37:02] And I, my theory was that maybe you could get people that if you say, Hey, want to play D and D and they're like, Oh, but I'm too cool for D and D here.

[02:37:11] But if you were like, Hey, like, do you want to pretend to be like Wolverine at a pizza party?

[02:37:16] Like, you know, and then like, maybe they're like, Oh yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll fuck around.

[02:37:20] I'll try and be Wolverine, eat some free pizza.

[02:37:23] So that was my thoughts.

[02:37:24] I keep buying the books and the X-Men expansion just came out and it seems fun.

[02:37:28] And then I've watched like some YouTube videos.

[02:37:31] So haven't played a game.

[02:37:34] But the books are nice.

[02:37:36] They're super cool.

[02:37:37] That's okay.

[02:37:38] I've, I've, I've bought a lot of the D and D fifth edition stuff and I still haven't really delved into playing fifth edition.

[02:37:45] So yeah, now you got to get new books.

[02:37:47] There are the new ones are out now.

[02:37:49] Like the, the new 2024 edition.

[02:37:52] Yeah.

[02:37:52] The 2024 it's, it's got, I've heard it's mainly for like new, new, new players.

[02:37:58] They kind of like handhold you and do some like game walk through stuff that the manuals don't do right now.

[02:38:05] But so I've heard like the changes aren't crazy, but yeah, like player manual is out.

[02:38:10] Dungeon master just came out or is about to, and then there's going to be a new bestiary early 2025.

[02:38:16] So yeah, three new books.

[02:38:18] Whistler of the coast is trying to make me poor.

[02:38:21] Yeah.

[02:38:22] Well, well, Amy, I wanted to, this is from the Kickstarter page from a DMNT.

[02:38:27] And I'm pretty sure that Michelangelo there is, is clearly Heather's art.

[02:38:31] Yeah.

[02:38:32] That's sick.

[02:38:32] I didn't know Heather did stuff for this.

[02:38:35] That's twice.

[02:38:35] They, you know, the TMNT, they had the, the, they redid the, the tabletop RPGs earlier this year.

[02:38:41] Like new additions.

[02:38:43] Then they made like dice for each turtle and there was an aluminum shredder set.

[02:38:47] I thought you could have spent 500 bucks, like on there, all the dice sets, the hardcover

[02:38:52] dice book signed by Eastman, like about 500 bucks for like everything they were offering.

[02:38:56] And I was like, man, if I had it, I would have done it.

[02:38:58] Like it had some cool stuff.

[02:39:00] They had the TG, they had a TGRI set of dice that came in a tube and the dice had green ooze

[02:39:07] inside of like, they had like the liquid inside of them.

[02:39:09] That's so cool.

[02:39:10] So, so yeah.

[02:39:11] I love that.

[02:39:12] TMNT had some cool crowdfunding stuff.

[02:39:15] Yeah.

[02:39:15] I think, I think Dan backed the, uh, the, the unmatched turtle one, but, um, yeah, the,

[02:39:21] they ended the Kickstarter.

[02:39:22] It was, we had Jason Taylor on the podcast who does a lot of, uh, like, I think at restoration

[02:39:29] games, his like title is like design wizard or visual design wizard.

[02:39:36] Like they all have, uh, you know, fancy or interesting titles.

[02:39:39] So we had him on the podcast right before the Kickstarter came out.

[02:39:43] It ended up with, uh, like $1.4 million, the unmatched, the turtle Kickstarter set.

[02:39:49] So I'm sure, you know, once they go out, it'll, it'll end up being on the, on the market,

[02:39:54] but a lot of fun.

[02:39:55] That's a super fun game.

[02:39:56] Very cool.

[02:39:57] All right.

[02:39:58] Well, we have Amy and no, you're good.

[02:40:01] I was going to say one other, um, game that I wanted to shout out real quick.

[02:40:05] This family friendly, it's a board game, uh, is flame craft.

[02:40:08] Um, super cute.

[02:40:09] It's like you play as, um, uh, people in a fantasy town with little dragons and the dragons

[02:40:15] are all skilled in like making food and serving tea.

[02:40:19] And you have to like help them to the, the businesses that they would be best suited for.

[02:40:24] It's like a resource management game, but it's very friendly.

[02:40:25] But the puns are like next level.

[02:40:28] Cause there's like one of the stores you can build is Draco Bell.

[02:40:32] Uh, and like you can sell empanadas and stuff like that.

[02:40:36] And it's just like, it's super funny.

[02:40:37] There's Outback Drake house and like all of these super silly little jokes, but it's,

[02:40:42] it's really cute artwork.

[02:40:43] Uh, very family friendly and it's just dragons puns and like cozy cottage core vibes.

[02:40:48] So I would recommend that it's a little bit of a longer game, but it is a very all

[02:40:52] ages friendly.

[02:40:54] Awesome.

[02:40:54] I love that.

[02:40:55] All right.

[02:40:55] Well, the last quiz question of the night and we have a tie with Amy and Jimmy.

[02:41:00] So who's going to win the tiebreaker?

[02:41:02] Jimmy, you should get this.

[02:41:03] In what year was Archie from Archie comics created?

[02:41:08] Why would I get that?

[02:41:09] Because you've done so many Archie interviews.

[02:41:12] Um, somebody here has written for Archie.

[02:41:15] Why would I do that?

[02:41:17] Do you think I set this up on purpose then?

[02:41:19] Would I do that?

[02:41:20] Set me up?

[02:41:21] Yeah.

[02:41:21] The game is rigged.

[02:41:24] So, so, so I've got two Archie interviews.

[02:41:28] You know how many Archie comics I've read?

[02:41:29] The two for the interview.

[02:41:32] You've talked to Dan Parent though.

[02:41:33] I thought you were about to say no, none and like just throw yourself under the bus.

[02:41:36] Like, the only Archie interviews I've done?

[02:41:38] Five.

[02:41:39] You know how many books I've read?

[02:41:40] Zero.

[02:41:41] But this is such a setup because what if Amy gets it wrong?

[02:41:44] That would be pretty good.

[02:41:45] Okay.

[02:41:46] Jimmy or Tante will never call me back.

[02:41:47] Okay.

[02:41:48] So, you have 1938, 1950, 1941, and 1945.

[02:41:54] And this was the year that Archie was created.

[02:41:57] Was created.

[02:41:58] Mm-hmm.

[02:41:58] What are the years again?

[02:41:59] 38, 50, 41, 45.

[02:42:02] 41.

[02:42:04] Okay.

[02:42:04] Blake says 41.

[02:42:06] I'm also going to say 41.

[02:42:08] I could just say 41 and it ends in his high.

[02:42:10] Are you a gambling man, Jimmy?

[02:42:14] Say the years.

[02:42:15] Okay.

[02:42:15] 41 or 45.

[02:42:17] And what were the other two?

[02:42:18] 38 and 50.

[02:42:20] Blake, you got a sound effect for like a game show where they're waiting like Jeopardy or something?

[02:42:25] You know what?

[02:42:26] I want to say 1950.

[02:42:28] Okay.

[02:42:30] Yes.

[02:42:32] Crickets is perfect.

[02:42:33] All right.

[02:42:34] Somebody got it right and you'll have to stick around to find out.

[02:42:37] We'll be right back.

[02:42:38] Dark Horse Comics wants to wish everyone at Comic Book Yeti and the Indie Comic Excellence Awards a safe and happy ending to 2024.

[02:42:47] We hope you're looking forward to all the incredible original graphic novels, licensed stories, and beautiful art books coming in 2025.

[02:42:54] We have so much to announce.

[02:42:56] Here's to another great year in comics.

[02:42:58] This is Daniel Chabon, Senior Editor over at Dark Horse Comics.

[02:43:02] Happy holidays and get ready for 2025.

[02:43:04] We have some amazing comic books in the works and looking forward to everyone picking them up.

[02:43:09] Thanks so much.

[02:43:11] This is Spencer Cushing, Editor on Comics for Star Wars, Stranger Things, Dungeons & Dragons, Kanto, and Kill All Immortals.

[02:43:18] I hope you and yours have a warm and joyous holiday season.

[02:43:22] I look forward to bringing you more awesome comics in the new year.

[02:43:27] Okay, we're back.

[02:43:29] The correct answer is 1941.

[02:43:33] Hey, good job, Amy.

[02:43:35] Hey, old Blake also got it right.

[02:43:38] Good job, Blake.

[02:43:39] Exactly.

[02:43:40] Oh, wow.

[02:43:42] We really took some time to get traction on those trivia questions.

[02:43:45] But you got it.

[02:43:46] Amy wins.

[02:43:47] Thank you.

[02:43:48] All right.

[02:43:49] Our last category, I'll do the intro for.

[02:43:52] So this is the Gone But Not Forgotten.

[02:43:54] And this category I love.

[02:43:56] I decided to do this last year.

[02:43:59] And just to pay tribute to some of the people who have contributed over time to the media that we love and that we lost in this past year.

[02:44:07] So we have Sam Schelpzig, Blanchard, John Cassaday, Ramona Freiden, Greg Hildebrandt, Carl Moline, Trina Robbins, and Akira Toriyama.

[02:44:19] So special note here.

[02:44:20] So this is not a choice I would personally make, but Comic Book Yeti is a collective of people and we really value everyone's input equally.

[02:44:28] So somebody put Ed Piskar in there and I'm including it because I think it is important, one, to support different voices for this collective that we have.

[02:44:39] But two, it's unfortunately something that has divided the community.

[02:44:45] But it very much is a cautionary tale in how powerful social media is and how difficult comics as a medium can be on people's mental health.

[02:44:58] And so that's the lens that I take it from.

[02:45:01] I don't know if the three of you have anything else to add on Ed before we jump into the rest of the list.

[02:45:07] But I want to give everybody an opportunity to talk about it if they'd like.

[02:45:11] I just as someone who took like I mean, I've I'm not doing my own show right now because of I took a mental health break because things were things got like heavy at the studio and everything kind of like piled up.

[02:45:25] So like mental health is real.

[02:45:27] I've never had to I'm almost 40.

[02:45:29] I've never dealt with this shit before.

[02:45:31] Right.

[02:45:31] Like this is so it was like new and freaked me out.

[02:45:34] And so, yeah, it's it's very real.

[02:45:37] It's not like it's not like, oh, I'm in a bad mood and you get in a bad you in a better mood later.

[02:45:42] And it's I don't know.

[02:45:43] I don't understand it.

[02:45:44] And it sucks.

[02:45:45] And it's scary.

[02:45:46] And like that situation was hard and and messy and weird.

[02:45:52] But we're like, mental health is real.

[02:45:54] And struggling it struggling with it is real.

[02:45:58] No matter like no one deserves that.

[02:46:00] Like no, no one deserves to be like to be feel to be like stuck in that.

[02:46:05] And like you can't get out and you don't have anybody.

[02:46:08] That's hard.

[02:46:08] You know, everybody, not everybody deserves grace.

[02:46:13] But you know what I'm saying?

[02:46:14] Like I do.

[02:46:14] I do.

[02:46:15] It's a hard one.

[02:46:16] Yeah.

[02:46:17] It you know.

[02:46:19] So.

[02:46:20] Yeah.

[02:46:21] Let's.

[02:46:21] Yeah.

[02:46:22] Well, Jimmy, who did you have on the list?

[02:46:23] Oh, I think I had put Ramona Fraden on the list.

[02:46:28] Um, I'm just a huge fan of Ramona's work.

[02:46:34] Um, I met her at Baltimore Comic Con one year.

[02:46:37] Um, I had her sign my super friends number 28, which is, uh, the one where, uh, all the

[02:46:44] heroes are on the, it's a pretty famous issue.

[02:46:47] All the heroes are on the left side, Superman in front and all the villains are on the right

[02:46:53] with Bizarro in the front.

[02:46:56] I don't know, I'm a big Bizarro fan and, um, this, I mean, she was still working and like

[02:47:01] doing commissions like into her nineties and just like incredible the work that she did

[02:47:07] in the industry and just all the, all the characters that, that she kind of helped design and make

[02:47:14] popular and, um, just a phenomenal, you know, artist.

[02:47:19] And, uh, yeah.

[02:47:20] Yeah.

[02:47:21] So I, I, I, I, I'd put her on the list.

[02:47:23] Um, I also, I like seeing on this list, remembering that it was just this year that we lost Ramona

[02:47:30] Freighton for me, it was the, it was the one, two punch of Ramona and Trina Robbins.

[02:47:35] Just Trina Robbins was just such an amazing trailblazer.

[02:47:39] And, and in that same way, she was working until the very last, she was doing these comics projects.

[02:47:44] I mean, I had the privilege of being part of, uh, won't back down, which was her last anthology,

[02:47:50] uh, curated, um, in response to the Roby Wade overturning a subject, you know, with those types

[02:47:56] of reproductive issues that is not the first time she's done an anthology like that.

[02:48:01] But again, just the spirit of bringing everybody together to work on that.

[02:48:06] And just, she was so funny and just kind.

[02:48:09] And I remember I didn't have an artist.

[02:48:11] I wasn't, I was like, I have a story, but I don't have an artist, uh, paired with.

[02:48:15] Um, and she's like, that's okay.

[02:48:16] I'll, I'll have Steve do it.

[02:48:17] And I was like, Steve who?

[02:48:18] And she's like, Oh, Steve Lealoha, you know, her, her partner and like the Steve Lealoha.

[02:48:23] And she was organizing that thing with, with the help of people like Henry Barajas, but

[02:48:28] like up to the last minute, just doing, doing the damn work.

[02:48:31] And it was so cool.

[02:48:32] And I was cleaning out a bookshelf recently.

[02:48:34] Um, and when I started working at a comic book store in college, a friend of mine gave

[02:48:38] me this book and he's like, Hey, I think this book reminds me of you.

[02:48:42] And it was from girls to girls with R, R, R, L, Z.

[02:48:46] And I, I was like, Oh, that's fun.

[02:48:48] And it had stuff like the origin of Patsy Walker, like all the way up through like, you

[02:48:52] know, the modern, uh, female characters.

[02:48:54] And I just was cleaning out my shelf when I found that book and that was edited again by

[02:48:58] Trina.

[02:48:58] And so it's just like, she's always been there and in so many stages and, and even way, way

[02:49:04] earlier than that.

[02:49:05] But I just think, again, she embodied like everything that I hope to be in this industry.

[02:49:10] Um, and I just think she was a spitfire and I'm, I'm glad I got to work with her a little

[02:49:13] bit.

[02:49:14] Wow.

[02:49:15] That's, that, that is awesome that you got to work with her.

[02:49:17] Um, yeah, I was, I saw that when Byron sent me the list, I think I'd saw that, that Trina

[02:49:22] Robbins was, was on it.

[02:49:23] Um, if listeners, if anyone, you know, who's listening, who's not familiar with some of

[02:49:28] these folks and, and definitely check out the, the work that they did, but also in particular

[02:49:34] with Trina, uh, I guess her memoir is called last girl standing.

[02:49:39] And it's just the, if anyone isn't familiar with it, it came out in 2017.

[02:49:43] I think you can still get it through Fanta graphics, but I just, I just put up the Fanta

[02:49:47] graphics site cause I just thought of it when Amy was talking, but you know, for anyone

[02:49:52] who wants to know more, um, the little blurb about last girl standing is this is the heavily

[02:49:58] illustrated memoir of the underground feminist cartoonist who fought the establishment and

[02:50:03] misogyny while running a fashion boutique and mingling with rock stars from dressing mama

[02:50:08] cast to being pelted with jelly babies as she helped photograph the Rolling Stones first

[02:50:12] U S tour from drunken New York nights spent with Jim Morrison to producing the very first

[02:50:16] all woman comic book.

[02:50:17] The lady of the Canyon takes no prisoners.

[02:50:20] Hell of a life.

[02:50:21] Yeah.

[02:50:22] Oh yeah.

[02:50:22] Well, mine on here, hell of a life.

[02:50:24] Um, Greg Hildebrandt.

[02:50:26] I mean, how can you be somebody of my age and I mean, immediately recognizable star Wars

[02:50:33] for God's sakes, like these star Wars posters, they, you can't get more iconic and nerdy

[02:50:38] than that.

[02:50:39] And Greg just contributed so many amazing memorable pieces over the years, um, that are just kind

[02:50:45] of seared in my brain and to have, you know, that kind of relationship that, that he had

[02:50:51] collaboratively with family is just, it is, it's mind blowing and it's special.

[02:50:55] So, you know, mine, mine was Hildebrandt on here.

[02:50:58] And, and before Blake goes, Blake, I just want to say thanks for being open and receptive

[02:51:03] and talking about, you know, mental health and your own mental struggles and everything

[02:51:07] like that.

[02:51:08] I mean, it's not easy.

[02:51:10] Um, you know, my wife works in the mental health field.

[02:51:12] And so it's something we talk about a lot in my family.

[02:51:15] So I just want to say, I appreciate it.

[02:51:17] It's, you know, cause I know it's hard.

[02:51:18] Oh, thanks.

[02:51:19] Yeah.

[02:51:19] It's weird.

[02:51:20] I'm not used to it.

[02:51:21] Um, but I also had to just like, I started getting, no one was mean to me.

[02:51:28] So when I tell this story, not like pointing fingers, but I was starting to get the emails

[02:51:34] of like, Hey, where's the interviews or did this air yet?

[02:51:37] Or what's it?

[02:51:38] And I'm like, um, I'm having a hard time, you know?

[02:51:43] And then, and then, and then you, you're like, what do I say?

[02:51:48] What do I say?

[02:51:48] What do I say?

[02:51:49] And then like another email comes in and another, and then you're, I mean, it's like so quickly

[02:51:54] you're just like paralyzed and like, can't do anything.

[02:51:57] And I'm like, that's not me.

[02:52:00] Everybody who knows me has always been like, Oh my God, like Blake hustles.

[02:52:03] And he's always so positive and he's always so busy and, and like, dude, that, that shit

[02:52:09] shut, it still shut me down.

[02:52:10] Like I'm legit.

[02:52:12] I was nervous to do this tonight.

[02:52:14] Cause I haven't done, I haven't been on a mic in a while.

[02:52:16] And I was also simultaneously like, man, I really hope like talking comics with friends,

[02:52:21] like shake rattles and rolls me.

[02:52:23] Right.

[02:52:23] Cause I, I'm at the, I miss this a lot.

[02:52:26] I miss it like greatly, but I'm also like very tired.

[02:52:30] I'm exhausted a lot.

[02:52:31] And it, and it's not like a, it's like a, like a weird exhausted, you know?

[02:52:36] And, and so, yeah, I don't want to like be a downer, but, um, this was really fun.

[02:52:40] I like, I've had a blast like hanging out and talking and I haven't felt like awkward.

[02:52:45] Well, I feel, I always feel awkward and weird.

[02:52:47] Cause I say awkward and weird stuff, but you know, like it was just a, it was good.

[02:52:52] This was good.

[02:52:53] It was good to get out there.

[02:52:54] And, and as a content creator, it was scary to, to be like, I'm going to, I'm going to

[02:52:59] take a break.

[02:53:00] Cause if you're like, well, what if everybody forgets about me?

[02:53:02] Or what if like, what if my next video, nobody watches it or, and that everybody's been super

[02:53:07] cool and super kind and like, but yeah, it sucks.

[02:53:11] And, and that's why I said something about it.

[02:53:13] Like, cause like that ad deal, like, you know, the note and the name, the name dropping and

[02:53:19] stuff like that was dirty and that was weird.

[02:53:22] And, but like that, the, the pain and how you can go from like point A to point B and

[02:53:29] no one readies you for it and life doesn't ready you for it.

[02:53:32] And you're just like, and then you just got to deal with it.

[02:53:35] And like, uh, I never understood what that was like until this year.

[02:53:38] And so like, I don't wish that on my worst enemy.

[02:53:42] I don't, I don't wish that on, on anybody.

[02:53:44] And, and what's scary is even when you like have people, you're like alone, you know,

[02:53:50] like you, you can't, you have people that are like, Blake, you can talk to me or, or you,

[02:53:56] or, you know, Byron, you could talk to anybody.

[02:53:58] Like you reach out and talk to me.

[02:53:59] I'm here.

[02:53:59] And it's like, that feels good.

[02:54:02] But when you're in that spot, you're, you're not, you're alone.

[02:54:06] You're, you're not, you're not calling your friends.

[02:54:09] You're not, you know?

[02:54:10] And it's, it's like, and that's a scary place.

[02:54:13] And so no, I don't, no one should be there.

[02:54:16] So yeah, like, you know, um, I kind of understand what, what that's like.

[02:54:21] And it does help to scary as fuck to talk about it, but it, it real, like it, like, whether

[02:54:27] it's talking to a friend or paying somebody to talk, you know, like it really, it does,

[02:54:32] it does help.

[02:54:33] So like, that's something I learned after 40 years that I didn't, oh, listen, I didn't

[02:54:38] really want to learn.

[02:54:39] Right.

[02:54:40] But it learned it.

[02:54:41] Um, so like, you know, don't, don't be scared of your feelings and don't feel like a burden

[02:54:45] and please talk to somebody.

[02:54:48] Just do it.

[02:54:49] It's scary, but do a talk, you know, don't let it go there.

[02:54:52] Try or try, you know, try not to let it go there.

[02:54:54] There's numbers you can call.

[02:54:55] There's people you can call.

[02:54:57] There's, you know, try.

[02:54:59] I think one of the things also with seeing some of the names on this list are there are

[02:55:02] people who lived and had incredible long careers, but I think comics can also burn

[02:55:09] people out physically and mentally really quickly.

[02:55:12] And so like, it's one of those things where it's like comics as a lifestyle is fabulous,

[02:55:16] but your, your comics are not worth dying over as well.

[02:55:19] So like, please advocate for yourself, take care of yourself, make the art that matters.

[02:55:25] Um, but also like it's, it's hard when we do have creators who pass because of, you know,

[02:55:30] health complications young.

[02:55:31] Um, that's always very scary as well.

[02:55:34] So, you know, take care of yourself out there physically and mentally.

[02:55:37] I think that's very important.

[02:55:38] Well, I mean, thank you both for, for being open and talking about that.

[02:55:41] That's, it's amazing.

[02:55:43] I think it's a dialogue we all need to have.

[02:55:44] We all need to, to, to, to basically provide a platform for, for people who are struggling

[02:55:51] because we all do at some point, you know?

[02:55:53] Um, but I feel like that's probably a good note.

[02:55:56] I mean, it's a bit of a downer, but I think it's a good note, um, to, to take us out for

[02:56:00] tonight.

[02:56:01] Those who've hung around this long, big thanks to Amy and Blake for joining us.

[02:56:04] We really appreciate it guys.

[02:56:06] And congrats to all the nominees.

[02:56:08] Amazing, amazing work up and down the board.

[02:56:11] Absolutely.

[02:56:12] Well, this is Byron O'Neill and on behalf of Jimmy, Amy and Blake, thanks for tuning in

[02:56:17] for our rather long session and everybody have a good night.

[02:56:20] We'll see you next time folks.

[02:56:21] See ya.

[02:56:23] This is Byron O'Neill, one of your hosts of the Cryptid Creator Corner brought to you

[02:56:27] by Comic Book Yeti.

[02:56:28] We hope you've enjoyed this episode of our podcast.

[02:56:32] Please rate, review, subscribe, all that good stuff.

[02:56:36] It lets us know how we're doing and more importantly, how we can improve.

[02:56:40] Thanks for listening.

[02:56:42] If you enjoyed this episode of the Cryptid Creator Corner, maybe you would enjoy our sister

[02:56:47] podcast, Into the Comics Cave.

[02:56:50] Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

[02:56:53] Thanks.

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[02:56:54] Thanks.