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USDN Podcast is a cinematic indie comics interview series hosted by the USDN_Chairman and the Council of Nerds — spotlighting the creators, storytellers, and worldbuilders shaping the future of independent comics.
Each episode dives beyond headlines into the real journeys behind the books — from Kickstarter launches and creative struggles to the philosophies driving today’s indie storytelling movement.
This isn’t about rumors or recycled news.
It’s about the people creating the worlds.
Through in-depth conversations, creator spotlights, and crowdfunding discussions, USDN explores:
• The rise of indie comics
• The business of crowdfunding
• The art of worldbuilding
• The realities of independent storytelling
USDN is where indie comics come to life — for the fans, by the creators, and powered by the community.
You are listening to the USDN on the
DFPN.
Thanks for watching!
what is up everyone and welcome to the
united states department of nerds where we
are for the people by the people and
of the people
Every comic universe begins with an idea,
a character, a world,
a story waiting to be told.
But building an entire universe from
scratch, that takes vision.
Tonight, we sit down with Colin McLemore,
the creator behind Skyline Comics and the
emerging world known as the Skyline
Universe.
From the origins of his flagship character
outline to the challenge of building a new
indie comic universe from the ground up.
We're exploring what it takes to start
creating your own universe.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the Council of Nerds is now in session.
Colin, welcome to the USDN.
Thank you, man.
Thank you.
It's a pleasure being here.
So everybody,
this is Colin's first podcast,
and I'm glad he picked the USDN to
do it.
It's going to be a fun night,
but let's dive into it, man.
So before Skyline Comics existed,
when did you first realize you wanted to
start creating comics instead of just
reading them?
OK,
so probably when I realized I suck at
everything else, you know,
originally I wanted to be like a
basketball player and stuff.
Then found out, you know, my peak height,
five, eight, not going to cut it.
Oh, man, Mugsy Bones was there.
But Mugsy Bones is good.
I ain't Mugsy, you know.
We also had, you know,
a couple of other dreams I wanted to
do.
Couldn't do it.
So, you know,
I've been writing since I was a little
kid.
So why not bring that, you know,
bring that kind of stuff back.
And now we here.
Mm-hmm.
I like it, man.
Do you have a particular comic, movie,
or game,
or kind of maybe another book that kind
of influenced types of stories that you
want to tell?
I wouldn't say, well, Radiant Black,
right?
When I first started writing Outline,
a lot of inspiration came from Radiant
Black, especially the first two.
But
As far as characters or anything like
that, I would say Punisher.
A lot of comics.
How did you feel when Radiant Black joined
the Energon universe with Transformers and
G.I.
Joe?
I was all for it.
I'm not going to lie.
I love Transformers.
I've watched a lot of G.I.
Joe.
I haven't really read as much G.I.
Joe.
I was all for it.
I loved it.
Are you reading Radiant Pink as well or
just more of the Radiant Black?
More Radiant Black.
Also,
I think it was – I know there
was another character.
It's like a solar character,
a fire-ish character.
I forgot the name.
I know who you're talking about.
Off the top of my head,
I can't remember it because I never got
into it.
But no,
I did enjoy the crossovers that they've
done so far.
The crossover with Spawn was really cool.
With Transformers was really cool.
But do you remember the first character or
story that you ever tried to create?
Yeah, yeah, it wasn't the best,
but you know,
I'm gonna probably bring him back sooner
or later.
His name was Mega Titan, you know?
Okay.
Yeah.
Everybody's first character ends up that
way, man.
I don't know very many creators who've
like kind of just stuck with that one.
Except for maybe Zing.
Zing created a character thirty-two years
ago and it's still going strong today, so.
Shout out to him.
So you're entering the comic book industry
at a very young age.
Do you think starting young gives you an
advantage, creativity,
from a creative standpoint?
Um, actually, yes.
Like most definitely, you know, um,
cause you're like one, I'm Tony.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I started this, uh,
like a year or two ago and from
where I was like, you know,
back then when I was like a year
or two, I've jumped way ahead.
Like I am,
I'm a lot better than I was before.
So, you know,
you can only get better from this,
you know?
Oh yeah.
Especially starting that young man.
yeah bro so college you know college too
balancing both no no no no i work
in comic books huh yeah there you go
that's that's that's what that's where we
at right now at least you know maybe
college in the future possibly yeah yeah
hey dude if this works for you man
you ain't gonna worry about it right
If it works, but I don't know.
I feel like I just kind of want
to go to college, you know,
just get that kind of accomplishment.
Yeah.
So at what point did you did the
idea go from this would be cool someday
to I'm actually going to do this?
Um.
So my senior year in high school,
it was me and my friend Michael.
He actually helps me with some of the
things within Skyline Comics as well.
Yeah.
Yeah,
so we just had an idea one day.
We used to meet every day in the
art room.
So he would do all the art and
stuff.
And we just kind of took it seriously.
We came out with a book.
That's like a homemade book.
And it wasn't the best.
It was like my first time writing,
his first time drawing,
and stuff like that.
And then I just kind of held onto
it.
I wanted to get better at writing.
So I practiced, I studied.
And now we're about to get this official
issue one out.
It's going to be amazing.
There we go.
I like it, man.
I like to hear when people start that
young at a very young age and just
stay with it.
And I've talked to a lot of creators
over the last couple of months, man.
And that under-thirty crowd writing comic
books right now is...
some fire out there dude yeah we so
usually i go live on like tick tock
and stuff and yeah i caught you on
there a couple of times yeah and a
lot of people who like join the lives
and stuff like we have like this whole
little smaller group and stuff and you
know a lot of them are under um
there's there's one guy actually it's two
people maybe like over twenty but yeah
dude i love to see it man it
it
I've learned that the future is bright for
indie comics, and I'm here for it, dude.
I want to be here for it as
long as I can because there's still a
lot of you out there that I have
yet to talk to,
and I want to talk to as many
of you as I can, man.
So if someone told you five years ago
that you would be building your own comic
universe today,
would you have believed them?
Probably not.
I'm not going to lie.
Probably not.
Five years ago,
I was trying to get your permit.
Yeah, actually.
Yeah.
You know, five years ago,
I think I think I was still like
hard on basketball and stuff like that.
It was only to like two,
three years ago.
I figured out, yeah,
I'm going to be an artist.
I'm going to be a writer, you know.
Dude, there we go.
Five years ago,
waiting for the permit and here we are
today.
Yeah.
Hopefully you got your permit and your
license and you're good to go.
Oh yeah, it was definitely, no.
But for people tonight,
just hearing about Skyline Comics,
what is the Skyline universe?
So Skyline universe is, again,
is a universe that I've created.
Me and my friend, Michael,
we've created Skyline universe.
It is...
mainly somewhat real i'm not gonna say too
realistic but it's not the average marvel
not the average dc it is
It is more of a personal stories that
goes into Skyline Universe,
especially with this first book coming
out, Outline Issue One,
it's a lot of personal and just real
life stories that I've been involved with
and have heard and it's put into Outline
Issue One.
So that is going to be the start
and the flagship of the Skyline Universe
going forward.
Dude,
I like when stories are kind of held
a little bit closer to the real world.
The powers and stuff like that may not
be related to the real world,
but when the character is very deeply
grounded into today and into the world,
and they're not just like this
over-the-top superhero, you know?
Right.
So,
will Skyline Universe be shared with
multiple characters,
and will all their stories connect in some
kind of way?
So...
Yes, though the entire universe is,
it's still in, it's in the same world,
you know, same universe,
but you don't have to read like certain
books to get caught up, you know?
So once one series ends,
once the Outline series ends,
then it's going to be another series that,
you know,
it's kind of involved with the Skyline
series, but from that standpoint,
so you can read any series, you know,
in any order.
And it will go to the end of
the other series.
Oh, okay.
That's really cool.
So once the outline story ends,
the next character begins,
it will be the same story just from
the other character's perspective?
Yep.
Dude, that's a dope idea, actually.
I kind of like that.
Yeah.
And since they're not running concurrently
at the same time, that's even better, man.
That's really cool.
With Outline, once that series ends,
the next character is the Green Phantom.
The Green Phantom is in the Outline
series, but once he has his own series,
it's going to be completely different
except for how he gets to that part
of the Outline series.
okay yeah dude i like that i i
really do so when you started designing
this universe what kind of came first for
you was it like the world itself or
like did you create the character and then
the world uh i would say the character
first because like we went through a
couple of different stories so we had to
change the world up a little bit but
the character primarily stayed the same
you know okay
So if you could describe the tone of
Skyline, is it a dark, heroic sci-fi?
I know you said it was grounded,
but within that grounded universe,
what kind of vibe does it have?
You know what I'm saying?
Well,
I guess it depends on which character
you're reading, but I would say for,
you know, for Outline,
it's a pretty dark story.
I'm not gonna lie.
Okay.
It's dark, grounded.
There is a lot of powers and,
you know, like,
like i would say i would say uh
street level powers at least but okay yeah
it's it's a pretty it's a pretty dark
story we're in that daredevil punisher
type of world then yeah hard hard
inspiration off of a punisher okay um i
like those types of stories to be fair
So your character Outline now,
he's going to be like the central figure
in this universe.
So who is Outline?
So Outline is a twenty-year-old college
dropout.
And at first it was supposed to be
a character that represents me.
But I kind of switched things around and
now it's a character that represents
everyone that I actually know.
and um i put a lot into outline
so you know outline he has to he
ends up finding a job working for the
biggest criminal in the world right but
the world doesn't know that he's the
criminal nobody knows that you know he's a
huge mafia boss and stuff and i like
to give an example as in like
Let's say Mr.
Beast gave you a million dollars in your
hands.
And Johnny from across the street say,
hey, Mr. Beast stole that money.
Nobody would believe him.
And that's the situation that my character
outline is actually in currently.
Well, we're referencing Mr.
Beast now as the villain.
I knew it.
I fucking knew it.
Nobody has that much money just to give
away.
Hey, whatever you're doing, Jimmy,
you better stop.
They catching up to you, bro.
He uses it as a tax write-off,
but the person winning that money is
getting the shit out of that money.
It might be.
They really are.
You can't just win something and not have
it taxed.
If you win a car, it's getting taxed.
If you win money, it's getting taxed.
You win the lottery, the city, the state,
the federal government,
everybody is getting their cut of that.
Then again, Mr. Beast like to give like,
you know, Mr.
Beast wrapped cars and stuff.
I don't think I would.
No, for him, it's a tax write-off.
Yeah.
But he can get that money back or
some of that money back recouped at the
end of the year.
Dang.
But that person is paying taxes on that
vehicle, which is wild to think about.
Dang.
Okay.
well hey i wouldn't want to ride around
in a mr beast wrapped car anyway you
know he's not that not that cute of
a mug is he so what inspired the
design and the concept of this character
because he is such a dope looking
character man appreciate it man um we fool
boy we went through
every design imaginable you know like he
had him wearing regular regular clothes at
one point you know but um so at
first we was going to make him a
uh like a glowing skeleton kind of guy
and then you know i don't know what's
been kind of used up by yeah now
yeah the the the main person we uh
who kind of made us switch our main
character i kind of made it which was
geiger
and then i've seen that's my dude right
there man i love some geiger i like
him i like him now but like yeah
the initial two ago yeah that initial
geiger run yeah yeah nah but he's come
a long way man yeah most definitely and
like like i kind of like made myself
not like him because like i thought i
was you know being unique with the
character design and stuff and then geiger
is like damn but you know who geiger
is based off of right uh not at
all
Dr. Phosphorus.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Creature Commandos.
Yeah.
And you know the reason why,
the whole reason the Geiger universe
exists is because all those writers used
to write for DC.
Mm-hmm.
And Dr. Phosphorus, Geiger, that,
the character,
the stories that are being told in Geiger
are some that were pitched to DC for
those characters.
Mm-hmm.
But I like it better now,
to be fair.
I'm a huge Ghost Machine fan.
They have not put out a bad title.
I know a lot of people are like,
oh, well,
the Rocket Fillers aren't that good.
I'm like,
are you reading the Rocket Fillers?
Because that shit is good.
I don't know.
A lot of books and movies that people
say that they don't like,
I don't really see the problem in it.
Dude, I'm with you.
A big movie, and it might,
I don't know,
this might be a little controversial,
but a big movie that people don't like
was The Eternals.
So I'm a fan.
i i'm i'm a fan of it yeah
like i love that movie but nobody likes
it so i guess i liked it because
it was outside of the normal marvel scope
that they were trying to do
It was a different side that they weren't
used to.
And just like when Star Wars tries to
do something different,
everybody's going to shit on it.
They're trying to do something different,
but it's still Star Wars at the end
of the day.
You still got the Force.
You still got lightsabers.
You still got the Sith.
You still got the Jedi.
Why are you shitting on it?
Different figures, different formats.
Yeah.
But nobody really likes, well,
I'm not saying nobody,
but a lot of people who are involved
with the MCU and stuff like that,
they don't like different,
like a big difference.
Well,
they want their central character of the
Avengers or the Avengers spinoffs of
those.
And I'm just like,
I don't care for them.
I don't even read Marvel that much.
I feel like that's why they made RDJ
Doctor Doom.
because people can't let go of RDJ.
I don't know, dude.
I'm a big fan of RDJ.
I thought he was a perfect person for
Iron Man.
But at the end of the day,
I want a gritty, just no-fuss-giving Dr.
Doom.
Except for when it comes to his niece,
because the man loves his niece.
Y'all should have made me Dr. Doom.
MCU, I got you.
Trust me.
Hey, let's do it, man.
I'm here for it.
Yeah.
So without spoiling too much, man,
what makes Outline unique as a hero?
I'll say a couple of things, right?
So first is power, right?
I spent months figuring out this stuff.
I always knew it was going to be
teleportation.
But I didn't want it to be like,
go through a portal, you do that,
that kind of teleportation.
So he teleports through light.
And he has photokinesis,
or light manipulation, stuff like that.
And he just uses it and deals with
it differently.
Um, another big thing is the perspective,
you know, he, he,
and in some people's eyes, you,
people can see outline as, you know,
being a bad person at first, you know?
Yeah.
And, like,
I can't really explain too much into that,
but, like,
a lot of people would possibly see Outline
as a bad person.
People who proofread my stuff gave me
advice and thought Outline was a villain
at first, but no,
it's not like that at all.
I mean, there's a lot of, like,
good guy characters,
a lot of heroes out there who,
in the beginning, were perceived as bad.
Yeah.
But, you know, it's...
I would say with Outline,
he's been good since the beginning,
but has some hard choices in life.
Yeah.
And just me.
I'm writing it, you know?
Uh-huh.
No,
I would say that's a big difference from
a lot of other artists,
or a lot of other writers as well.
Uh-huh.
So great comic characters usually
represent an idea.
What idea does Outline represent from the
theme in the comic?
I would say money isn't everything,
you know?
Coming off of dropping out of college,
money is tight.
Money is hard.
So he tries to find any job possible,
which leads him to working for a criminal.
So I feel like in the world,
the love of money is a really,
really big thing.
And it's not everything at the end of
the day.
Um, also, um, it, it,
it also has a lot to do with,
uh, you know, my,
my religion at the end of the day,
I add some, you know,
Bible verses and stuff to, you know,
my character, my character's book,
even the first page.
Um, you know, it, it has a little,
it has a little Bible reference.
So, you know, a lot of,
a lot of religious and just real world
stuff like that.
Mm-hmm.
So every hero is defined by their
challenges.
What kind of threats or villains currently
exist within Skyline?
The very first villain, no powers.
He's an old guy,
but he has as much power as...
The President of the United States,
you know, like he like, like,
he controls a lot within Houston.
And, you know, at some point,
outline has to
Outlaw will have to basically hide from a
lot that happens within Houston.
We have another character.
His name is Madblood.
Madblood is a character that I've created
for a long time since I started writing.
I would say his power is, you know,
he regenerates and stuff like that,
but if he touches,
or if his blood gets on you in
any way, shape, or form,
you would go as crazy.
You know, so think of, like,
if he had, like, the scarecrow toxin,
the fear toxin, you know?
Okay, yeah, yeah.
Oh, that's actually kind of cool.
I like that.
I like that one a lot, actually.
So...
Let's talk about building Skyline Comets a
little bit.
So you've started this, you know,
your own comet studio from the ground up,
basically.
What made you decide to build Skyline
Comets instead of just creating it like a
single book or a one shot to kind
of like test the waters?
So we wrote.
So, OK, so I wrote the first issue.
And I realized how many characters
actually had potential to have their own
story.
Because I come up with backgrounds.
I come up with origin stories for all
my characters.
And I felt like they were just so
good and deep as well to the point
where they could have their own story.
So then we started, hey,
we're going to build a universe here.
OK.
So what have you learned while making
comments that has kind of like surprised
you the most?
I would say what surprised me the most
Um, no idea is your own idea.
Like, you know, I'm over here writing.
I'm thinking, oh, yeah, I'm cooking.
I'm doing.
Yeah.
Nobody ever thought about this.
And then I go to YouTube,
fourteen videos on it.
I'm like, damn.
OK, so.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I feel like everything is taken.
But the way you know,
there's no more original ideas within the
comic world.
it's just taking what you want and making
it yours and doing it your way right
at the end of the day that's all
you can do because i can guarantee you
there's an obscure x-men or obscure
villain out there from the x-men universe
or something that has something related to
what you want to do right all right
so yeah that dude that's a yeah that's
a good one
you've been using like you're heavily
involved on social media from tick tock to
instagram and youtube discussing your
universe which is pretty huge that's i
mean from a marketing perspective and
getting that following early is a big deal
how has social media and you you've come
up in the social media world you're that
age where you've never not had social
media whereas guys my age
hell we didn't even have internet growing
up you know for us it's like it's
one of those where we we we grew
up with and this stuff was coming to
us and we were having to be some
of the first ones to learn how to
use the internet and getting social media
and just kind of figuring it out but
you did you were born and like boom
everything's like right there at your
fingertips so how has that kind of
been for you to help launch this product
or launch skyline comics and to build that
hype and everything for that um honestly i
would say you know promoting coming up
with videos and stuff might be harder than
making the book dude no shit no kid
is there it's a problem yeah
And honestly,
you're not the first and you're never
going to be the last person to say
that marketing is the hardest thing you
will ever do.
Because you have to keep up with all
the trends.
You have to keep up with how the
algorithm is behaving.
And oh, by the way,
nobody tells you how the algorithm is
behaving that day.
You know,
you got to just make a video and
just pray that it does good, you know.
I would like,
so I edit my own videos and stuff.
So I would like sit,
edit for like maybe an hour, post it,
two likes.
I'm like, bro, like where everybody at?
No, and dude,
that's the nature of the beast, man.
I mean, I've got, let me see.
Let me see here what I've done.
What's my damage?
I have five hundred and seventy seven
videos posted.
youtube right now and like some of the
bigger ones they will get like fifty sixty
likes and maybe you know two three four
thousand views but that's a combination of
shorts long form the whole the whole nine
yeah
I try to keep up with the trends,
like the whole thumbnail trends that are
going on right now.
I literally have to do a weekly breakdown
on Sunday or whatever day I don't have
anything going on.
I literally have to just sit down and
just Google things.
know what's trending right now what's
working right now and just start making
notes i have a running like notepad where
i just like okay this is working for
people right now i've seen this i've seen
this i kind of like this and then
you just kind of keep you know redefining
how you do business
and dude it is so much work no
that's how it is honestly so um so
i have like this little live group or
like stream group right um it consists
with uh you know a lot of people
who also make comic books and stuff like
that yeah so um
Like, like we've been, we kind of started,
I would say we started like around the
same time and stuff.
We're all got like around the same
following and stuff like that.
Bro, some, some people like get like,
ten K, twenty K within like two months.
We've been at this for like two years,
bro.
So, you know, it, you know, some,
some people get it.
Some people just, just making videos.
I mean, you know,
I look at it from,
I take this step back and I look
at it and go,
in the year plus that i've been promoting
indie comics my following is just now
starting to slowly pick up and it's not
anything that i've done wrong or anything
like that it's just
it's how it works like eventually you know
people are like like the more people who
come on and then they share my stuff
and then i share their stuff and finally
people start picking up like oh i like
what this guy's doing and i like this
and i like that and then you know
you may end up with like thirty new
followers in a week but the following week
you've lost you know
ten twelve fifteen it's just the nature of
the beast and it sucks man because you
feel like you're doing something wrong but
you have to realize that people are just
fickle and thank you brian danielson for
that word he he's a big user of
the word fickle people are fickle fans are
fickle
and it's it sucks because it tastes it
you know it's a blow to your ego
right because you're like man i thought
that killed that one i like i spent
eight hours on that video and
three likes later and you know who you
know you can have fifty one second views
and you still haven't got a minute of
you time on something and it sucks yeah
bro it is it's it's just like like
at this point i don't edit too much
anymore until i do like content but you
know as far as tick tocks instagram reels
and stuff go yeah you know just quick
edits then post it you know i didn't
yeah
Yeah, dude,
I wish I could do that because I
have to take all my videos,
break them down into multiple clips,
not just for myself,
but I give them to you as well.
And then I don't like to just put,
oh, here you go, here's the clip.
No, I like it to be about you.
I use your logos,
I use your comic book covers.
I do them up nice.
I make them nice.
And again, it's one of those where
you may get fifty or sixty lights on
it and i may get five or six
you know what i'm saying or i may
get the fifty and then you may get
the sits but together though because it's
a cloud project because how i like to
do it is i i when i post
it i collab with send you a cloud
link for it and that way we're both
getting the views we're both getting the
clips and we're both getting that to share
that
right and it it feels better when it's
like oh yeah me and that person together
we got like you know four hundred views
on that so hell yeah we doing we
doing our you know exactly i say this
so much in my streams but like when
i make it bro whoever whoever was
supporting from day one go ahead and call
out of work you know like it gets
you right you know dude i like it
man but yeah social media man
I don't care if you grow up with
it or if you kind of just adopt
it to it like my generation had to
do.
If you're trying to make it out here
in social media and do what we do,
man, it's a lot of fucking work.
It's just so much work.
It also takes a lot of luck.
A lot of luck.
It really is.
They say the sun shines on a dog's
ass sometimes.
Man, I'm still waiting on that sunshine.
Yeah, man.
It's hard.
I got to keep going,
keep putting out videos and stuff.
For the like the seventeen,
eighteen people that do watch the videos,
shout out to y'all.
Yeah, man.
I mean,
you want to put something good out there
for them, man.
Yeah.
So do you think social media is becoming
the new way for indie creators to launch
projects?
I know I've launched a lot of Kickstarters
on my side with people and they're always
a ton of fun.
Honestly, yeah.
Because I never noticed how many people
actually create comic books like that
until I started making my own and
promoting them.
And then a lot of people asking me
to do collabs and stuff, do all this,
do that.
And I'm like, bro,
I don't even got ten pages done yet.
But now we have this collab book coming
out.
And
We are about to start heavy promoting this
on social media and stuff.
Sometimes that's just the way to do it.
You and your buddies release an anthology
together that has three to four pages from
each of your stories that you're trying to
build right now.
dude and then just use that to promote
like hey here's what's coming up yeah um
actually actually actually so at first you
know i like a little collab book it
was supposed to be like you know five
pages stuff like that i just i just
kind of like locked in five pages turned
to like thirty pages bro so yeah you
know dude do it man that's the way
to do it just
was especially if you know them and you're
trusting them because i mean essentially
you're putting your your work in their
hands and they're the same with you you
know they're putting their work in your
hands as well so it's one of those
where you definitely want to make sure the
right hand's talking to the left hand and
both of you all have good intentions for
that one and the other so now he
i'm like a lot of meteorite comics though
he's amazing oh yeah yeah yeah i did
yeah
we followed each other today, actually.
I was looking at his page.
I was like, yeah,
that's some dope stuff over there.
If he wants to come on sometime,
I think I got one spot left in
May if he wants to hit me up,
man.
We'll make something happen.
I'll let him know.
I'll definitely let him know.
What do you think so far has been
really no kidding the hardest part so far
of building Skyline?
Just
actually a question um i would say writing
but as writing as in is it good
enough you know like i'm kind of like
at first i was kind of like a
perfectionist about it and you know i
would like rewrite the story like fifty
sixty times you know and just trying to
get the perfect script get the perfect
story done
um a lot of research has gone into
this story now but you know i still
feel like i can make a better pro
i can make a better issue one now
currently but you know page is already
done and i can't constantly you know keep
writing the script or it's not gonna you
know there's no it's not gonna be yeah
so yeah i'll say just being a
perfectionist bro that's that's probably
the hardest for me
Yeah.
No, I mean, I mean, it's your book.
It's your book.
You're putting yourself,
your vulnerabilities into this book and
you want it to be as close to
perfect as humanly possible.
The last thing you ever want to do
is put something out that you don't have
a hundred percent, a hundred,
ten percent of yourself into because then
people are going to know it's going to
be noticed.
He didn't put all of it into this
book.
You could tell.
Even with big writers at DC and Marvel
and Image,
you can kind of tell when a writer
gets tired of writing that because it gets
sloppy.
You're just like, the hell is this?
What did I just read?
Then finally, after another cycle of it,
you're like, oh,
they got a new writer in.
Finally.
The issue went out
I like it.
I actually really love my issue one now.
I can't wait for it to come out,
but like I really,
Like I put a lot of time into
it,
but I know I can make a better
one now, you know?
So, you know, And you know,
that's how it works, right?
You do issue one, you release issue one,
you get the feedback from issue one,
you take that feedback,
you make issue two,
and then it goes and goes and goes.
And then finally, you know, you're,
you're getting ready to close out outline
storyline.
And you finally,
you haven't nailed down perfectly.
Here you are.
that's the finale and you're about to
start the next character you know what i'm
saying yeah but now you have all these
good lessons learned that you can bring
over to the next character and and do
it you know do it perfectly that time
you know and dude if you're not evolving
if you're not learning you ain't doing it
right right right so
Do you see Skyline Comets as something
fans can grow with over time?
And this one they should be able to,
man, because, I mean,
you're starting at an issue one,
ground up from nothing and just –
Zooming it out for everybody.
Nah, yeah, I'm not gonna lie.
For the people that read Outline issue
one,
if you stick with the whole Outline
series,
I feel like my character Outline would be
very important.
I'm not gonna say too important in your
life, because it's an AD book and shit,
but it would be a very important character
in your life.
He is very grounded.
as grounded as possible you know so not
yet a lot of people are going to
actually love outline and you know all the
side characters and stuff dude i like it
and so for everybody out there i know
we had talked about it briefly before
because i still didn't have a really a
good idea on
on how outline and the universe was going
to get started.
There will be no Kickstarter,
no crowdfunding.
Your plan is to build this independently
and sell it at the,
at comic cons and on your website when
it is finished.
Yes.
And take talk and sit, talk.
So when you have all that stuff done,
dude,
I need you to send me those links
a,
so I can buy a copy of it.
And B,
I want to be able to share those
links with the Council of Nerds.
That way,
everybody who wants to get in on this
on the ground floor,
everybody can get in on the ground floor
with everybody, right?
Most definitely, bro.
I'm like, why?
Once it's actually out,
everything is just going.
Like,
you're going to see the outline
everywhere, bro.
You might look outside.
You might see an outline billboard for all
you know.
You never know.
Dude, I like it.
I like big dreams and like that.
So you have become the youngest person to
appear on the USDN and to share your
story with the Council of Nerds at twenty
years old.
My man isn't even old enough to go
down to the liquor store yet.
Can't do it.
Not yet, at least.
Just wait till I hit that twenty-one age,
you know?
So for young creators watching right now,
man,
What do you want them to know as
they maybe start this journey the same as
you?
truth truthfully truthfully truthfully
dude yeah do it give them the best
advice you can all right hey hey y'all
y'all come here y'all come here all right
it's not an easy thing this is you
know this is probably one of the hardest
things i've ever done in my life you
know um but if you passionate about it
like if you're actually passionate about
it you want to get to
Even if it's just one book,
if you get that one book out,
you're going to want to continue to do
it.
You know,
you're going to want to make more books.
And the more you do it,
the better you are.
You know,
the better you get at doing whatever
you're doing in life,
especially with this,
especially with writing.
If you study how to.
how to actually write a story because i've
been through editors i've done research so
if you if you do the research you
passionate about it you'll get better as
time goes and you know you'll get that
book out and you'll feel like you feel
like you you won the lottery you know
i like it man so
Later this summer,
when this book comes out,
you got to come back on.
That way we can talk about it again.
And number two, this summer, I don't know,
it may be June or July,
I'm going to... You watch ESPN?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I'm going to do something similar to
a Thirty for Thirty for comic books,
right?
I thought you said you was about to
be on ESPN, bro.
No, dude.
I don't think they let...
Indie comic book podcast on ESPN.
Although if they need somebody to cover
wrestling, hit me up.
But I can't be doing it no worse
than those guys over there.
That's for sure.
But no.
So what I'm going to do is,
you know, thirty for thirty.
Right.
I'm going to bring on a bunch of
young up and coming indie comic book
creators like yourself.
And we're just going to have like a
panel and we're just going to discuss any
comic books like that.
So it's just going to be, let's see,
you at twenty.
I got Ray,
who's like twenty two and getting ready to
graduate.
Ray Raynett out there,
who I think is also he graduates this
year as well.
So I got about like six or seven
of y'all who've been on the podcast.
We're all under the age of thirty.
And we're going to come on.
We're going to have a panel and we're
just going to discuss kind of like the
overall journeys as you've released a
couple of comic books by that time.
And just, you know,
catch up with with all of you and
kind of just like have that that big
picture journey of like, OK,
you have a couple of titles under your
belt.
You've released a couple of comic books,
kind of like a follow up,
but also just really.
expand upon from the last time you were
here and where you're at now you know
what i'm saying yeah it's kind of like
that i'm treating it like a thirty under
thirty you know what i'm saying yeah i
got you so we'll have to have you
back on for that for sure but man
it's time for that rapid fire round all
right you ready let's do it all right
don't think about it just answer okay
marvel or dc marvel
Favorite superhero?
Moon Knight.
You missed the opportunity to say outline
there, but I'll let it slide.
I was in a Marvel universe.
See,
that's why I told you not to think
about it, but I like it.
I like Moon Knight too.
Favorite comic creator?
Me.
I'm on it right there.
You're on it now.
Favorite villain?
My villains.
I'm liking it even more.
Favorite comic movie?
Endgame.
Okay.
I'll give you Endgame.
Physical copies or digital comics?
Physical copies.
I'm with you, dude.
So if Outline could team up with any
superhero,
I don't care from what universe,
who would it be?
Punisher.
Okay.
Yeah.
Okay.
Favorite snack while you're writing?
That's actually a good question.
What is my favorite snack?
A bag of chips.
I don't know.
I don't really eat.
There you go.
But Colin, before I let you go, dude,
I want you to tell everybody where they
can find you right now on social media.
You can find me on TikTok at Skyline
Comics.
You can find me on Instagram at Official
Skyline Comics.
You can find me on YouTube at Skyline
Comics.
There you have it.
Colin, I want to say thank you.
We're coming on and joining the Council of
Nerds tonight.
It was a pleasure to have you on.
I want to say thank you for sharing
the beginning.
We're on the ground floor of Skyline
Comics right now.
And, dude, we're here for it.
We're clocked in with you.
We're clocked in with you, dude.
Yeah, I appreciate you having me here,
bro.
And, hey, you know, I stream every day.
You should hop in a live one day,
bro.
I'm not actually on TikTok.
If I see you're live on Instagram or
whatever, I'm like, okay,
let me check them out.
But I do follow you on YouTube,
so if I see the pop-up on YouTube
as well, I'll watch it over there.
I can't.
I think the TikTok wave passed me by,
man.
That over-thirty-five crowd,
I can't do it.
I don't know we got a little older
hair you know shout out Shockwave he like
fifty sixty years old you know you know
I like it dude but um
Again, thank you for joining us, man,
and to everyone watching and listening at
home,
if you enjoy discovering indie comic
creators and the stories behind their
projects,
make sure you subscribe and join the
conversation because we're doing this at
least two to three days a week.
But with that, ladies and gentlemen,
the Council of Nerds is now adjourned.
This has been the USDN Podcast,
where indie comics come to life.
Y'all be safe.
You hang out.
Don't go nowhere.
I got you.