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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.
BOOM!
Hello there,
it's the chairman of the United States
Department of Nerds,
where we are for the people,
by the people, and of the people.
And our guest tonight is a writer,
an illustrator, an animator,
and the creator of Junket,
Hidden Worlds Revealed,
a series that blends classic comic
storytelling, mythology, faith,
adventure,
and bold cartooning into something truly
unique.
Inspired by legends like Jack Kirby,
Darwin Cook, and classic animation,
his work has become a cult favorite in
Florida comic shops and is now expanded
into animation, short films, and beyond.
He's the founder of Far Look Studios,
and tonight we are diving in
into what it really takes to build and
sustain an indie comic universe from the
ground up.
The Council of Nerds is now in session.
Welcome to the Council, Ray.
How are you doing?
I'm doing great, man.
It's an absolute honor to be here.
Appreciate you for letting me on.
Hey, no problem, dude.
You hit me up, I think,
in January to make this happen.
So here we are.
We're going to make it happen, dude,
and have some fun doing it.
Let's dive into it, man.
So for anyone meeting you for the first
time, who is Ray Raynett,
and what path led you into comics,
illustration, and animation?
Well, me personally, I've just,
ever since I was a little kid,
I've been fascinated by early,
early animation,
like the Fleischer Studios stuff,
like the early Superman,
Popeye and all that.
And of course,
like the Walt Disney cartoons always like
helped inspire me and kind of bring that
wild wonder, you know,
into my brain and stuff.
All those kinds of adventures and
storytelling has really impacted me when I
was growing up.
And I just never stopped believing in that
stuff.
And I started drawing ever since I was
a little kid.
and used all those ideas into my drawings
and trying to see how I could maybe
make a little book together.
But I'm just trying to go up against
Marvel DC, make something brand new,
and hopefully make something that stands
the test of time.
We all are.
We all are.
Every time I get to come on this
show,
indie creator on I feel like we're taking
one less peg away from Marvel and DC
dude nothing against them they've made
some great stuff over the years but I
really do think the indie comic scene as
a whole is starting to take its hold
on their spots so right on dude so
we're comics always the goal or did
animation illustration come first
So I guess, yeah,
illustration always really came first
because before I ever produced like a
proper comic,
I was just stapling random copy paper
together as a kid and just using Crayola
or whatever I would find to, you know,
make covers and whatever my buddies would
tell me.
And yeah, that kind of path of just,
you know, always keeping that with me,
you know,
persist all the way through college.
And I was finally able to make my,
my own comic from the,
from the ground up basically and a really
story that i've been working on since
middle school so all my buddies they
always like just saw all the early uh
terrible versions of rough craft you know
and i just kept adding to it and
just keep learning you know and finally i
was able to self-publish junk it yeah man
dude that's awesome so did you go to
college to learn how to do animation in
art or did you go for like accountant
Well, no, no, I originally I'm, um,
and I'm still, uh, in college actually.
I'm about to graduate.
Thank you, man.
I originally started in, um,
to the animation cause I was my passion.
I always wanted to work for, for, um,
you know,
either a cartoon network or Pixar or
something.
Um, but sadly, you know, the, uh,
the way the world kind of works, uh,
the university ended up closing down and
shutting its doors and,
I was kind of left with, you know,
a half written comic that I was going
to present to the class and maybe turn
that into a little cartoon and stuff.
And I realized like, man,
even if I don't have like that audience
or even if I don't have people to
show it to or anything,
I got to just make this book just
for me, you know,
like just to prove that I'm able to
follow through regardless, man.
So, yeah, it was a turbulent ride, man.
Oh, dude,
I couldn't imagine being like almost to
the finish line and then the school going,
hey, guys, we got to close it down.
That would just be absolutely
heartbreaking.
I know there's other really cool colleges
like that spread throughout not only the
U.S., but Italy as well.
I know Sabe,
who's an Italian comic book artist,
he went to a college like that in
Italy, which is really cool.
Yeah, man.
So what were those early influence that
really made you say that this is what
I'm going to do one way or the
other?
Was it like the Jack Kirby's and the
Darwin cook and that kind of stuff?
Or was it just,
you saw pop out one day and was
like, that's what I'm doing.
Yeah, man.
A hundred percent.
Literally just early influences.
My grandpa would burn like CDs back in
the day or VHSs.
And we would just,
be watching whatever there was because you
know we couldn't afford the cable tv or
there was a hurricane we would just have
like all these old cartoons that he filmed
for me and just kind of
rewatching all that.
So those, those early, like Felix,
the cat, like black and white, you know,
stuff like that.
Oh yeah.
That stuff was just super cool.
Cause to me,
it would just look like anyone could draw
that anyone could make it, you know,
an image and sequence and make it come
to life.
And I started practicing that.
I couldn't afford a Minecraft at the time
or a video game.
And I was like, man, you know what?
I can't,
I'll just draw it myself or I'd watch
a trailer of a movie and stuff.
And I was just like, man,
I'll just draw the movie.
How I imagined it, you know,
as a kid.
and that's really cool yeah man it's
always been an influence like that but
definitely jack kirby one of the greatest
artists i think i've ever without a doubt
absolutely i'm so glad like he's finally
getting more recognition you know like in
the movies he's getting like his little
quotes up there and stuff but back then
everyone just thought stan lee did
everything bro oh no dude that's that's
jack that's all jack kirby dude yeah i'm
happy that people are starting to realize
that now
But look how long it took.
Even like Wonder Man,
like the most recent show,
like even that was a Jack Kirby character
design creation and all that.
Just just a throwaway character.
But.
Here it is still being cranked out,
and every last drop of his imagination is
being squeezed by the machine, bro.
Once they're done squeezing all the juice
out of those lemons,
they're going to move on to the next
one, trust me.
It will never stop.
That is a billion-dollar industry,
and it will keep juicing every lemon and
lime they can.
Exactly, bro.
Honestly, that right there,
just studying all the greats that came
before me,
like disney and jack kirby and stuff and
steve ditko as well they always kind of
that's a great one they always kind of
had like a cautionary tale to them like
their careers were these amazing things
that is amazing imaginations but always
the studio screwed them over some way
somehow and to this day they're not making
a single dime off all their creations you
know and i think that's that's the
difference right i'm trying to see how i
could maybe start my own kind of thing
uh not just in comics but in animation
and video games and short films like just
try to make a small multimedia company
surrounded by stuff that i own you know
because yeah as soon as they stole like
walt disney's character he's left with
nothing right he was basically he was
broken and homeless at the time so he
decided you know what let me let me
draw a little mouse instead of a
of a rabbit and then here we are
today man this is crazy right and that
mouse itself is a billion dollar empire
who now owns the marvel properties and the
star wars properties and so yeah it's
amazing what that little mouse just bought
and what he owns today i don't think
in a million years he would have thought
that
that's where he was going to be,
which is really cool to see.
Even if you believe he's still, like,
frozen in a chamber somewhere waiting for
the cure for cancer.
That's wild.
Yeah.
And, yeah, primarily the...
The thing I wanted to really do was
just because I'm so I'm kind of tired
of seeing these characters.
They've been they've been around for like
eighty years.
They've been here since like the Great
Depression.
I'm like, can we make something brand new?
How can we.
So how do you feel about certain IPs
hitting the the for use, you know,
stage like, you know, you just had a.
Alright, they're like... Winnie the Pooh,
yeah.
The IP hit the streets and immediately
we're making this into a horror movie.
How do you feel about that?
I mean,
I think it's cool because it gives more
power to the creators, right?
And it's not just... Steamboat Willie,
that's who I was thinking of.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, you know, stuff like,
I think it's like, yeah,
the public domain,
that's what it's called.
Even Pai just hit public domain.
Yo, you never know.
He got a horror movie immediately.
Like, it already happened.
Like, literally,
Pai Pai got a horror movie not that
long ago because the moment he hit public
domain again,
instantly.
Dude, they have them ready to go.
There's somebody out there watching the
public domain list to see what's coming
next.
They're cranking it out, man.
I'm not even mad.
Use the IP.
Like I'm sure the creator himself would
want the IP used.
Right.
Well, maybe not in that way.
Right.
Maybe a bit more.
Yeah.
But I think it's cool that people are
finally able to use stuff from back then.
Primarily like my point being like,
batman and captain america and all these
characters are like ancient like they're
actually literally from the great
depression from the golden age comics
eighty years old plus and it's just like
man we have such a a well of
like imagination and fresh young artists
that really want to make stuff and
get their name out there but it's it's
difficult because the modern industries
don't really have a set design to kind
of allow that fresh blood in right they
don't have that kind of mentality and they
very rarely do like casting calls or
artist calls or writer calls i know top
cow just did one for artist it actually
might still be going but again at the
same time
It's once in a blue moon.
And what I love about independent comics
is exactly that.
We can still get the fresh blood out
there and they can still come in and
make their own
telling you dude well here here soon i'm
going to put together like a thirty under
thirty like espn does only i'm gonna do
it for young talented comic book artists
and writers coming up right now dude
that's awesome and i probably know thirty
of them to be fair yeah that's pretty
good even if they're like thirty you know
like you know that age between twenty two
and thirty years old you know
the twenty something era yeah and i'm
pretty sure i probably know about twelve
or fifteen of them you know i can
probably find a few and i honestly i
want to bring them all on the podcast
and be like let's just talk about what
it is for you which i think would
be a good show to do invite you
back invite uh you know raymond back from
the another the other ray sorry
And I've interviewed a lot of young cats
here lately who are coming up in the
industry, making their own comic books.
It's been very inspirational for me as a
forty something who spent twenty years of
his life doing something else.
And now he's now working in the comic
book industry, kind of.
But also I'm writing a story on the
side.
Well,
a couple of stories on the side to
be made into a comic book as well.
So I get a lot of inspiration watching
y'all and talking to y'all.
I'm just like, dude, this is so cool.
The future is so bright for the comic
book
industry if it's willing to invite the new
blood in a hundred percent man i and
first and foremost i'll be amazing to have
like a secret wars gathering of all the
young creators you know collab in one
place i'll be really awesome um telling
you dude i'm gonna put together a podcast
episode and we're gonna do like a thirty
for thirty for comet young up-and-coming
comic book writers and artists and like i
said i think i know enough people to
do it yeah
Heck yeah, man.
And it's kind of a shame.
You literally, you said it best.
It was that the industry doesn't really
kind of promote that kind of, you know,
young, fresh ideas.
And I remember learning about like,
you know,
a younger Todd McFarlane and how he
literally,
he would get-
Yeah, man.
But he would get physical rejection
letters.
I don't get that nowadays.
Have you seen him post them?
He'll post them too.
If you go to look at his Instagram
and stuff like that.
Oh, yeah, dude.
He'll post them, man.
If I were to get a rejection letter,
I would frame it as how proud I
would be.
The thing is that submission boxes
nowadays,
they don't even –
respond back they don't even send emails
or anything like it's really just kind of
this uh this empty kind of void of
the industry it's very busy business heavy
now exactly like there's no like i think
um i forgot who it was like todd
had one from like some one of the
bigger names in the industry and it was
just like a handwritten letter saying
you're not quite there yet kid keep it
coming you see like stuff like that it
was like i think it was john bernard
or one of the other Canadian artists out
in the local as well.
And it's just- Matt, what's up, my dude?
That's Matt Hasso.
Dude,
if you ever have a question about writing
or art,
Matt's got one of those superhuman comic
book minds, man.
He's really good.
And see,
you can call them young tax stick talent.
Yeah, actually,
if you're okay with me showing some of
your stuff you sent.
Go for it.
Yeah.
But Matt's one of those dudes, man.
He's a smart guy,
really good at what he does,
story building and storytelling.
Great to have you here, Matt.
Yeah, bro.
It's kind of wild to see.
No, that was me, man.
I sent you that email.
But it was for something totally
different.
You need more context, bro.
That's crazy.
You don't need no more context.
He knows what I'm talking about.
That's literally what we do.
We just give each other shit.
It's fun that I have somebody that I
can just be like,
Like Matt, we just give each other shit.
It's fun.
It's friendly, Adam.
A hundred percent.
Yeah, man.
I think it's kind of a shame that
now the industry isn't really...
designed to to let new people in right
it feels like since they've become a
monopoly and they literally own everything
now it's it's even more difficult
especially now with like netflix buying
warner brothers like it's literally just
disney and netflix going toe-to-toe uh
absolutely wild to see that happen in
modern day and all these uh small studios
and small like things like pixar and and
uh cartoon network they're kind of like
becoming these small subsidiaries yeah
yeah man it keeps giving me an error
for some reason on some of the files
so i wasn't able to bring all of
them up that's all good uh yeah man
i'm not working he's not soaking up the
miami sun he's working on comic books yeah
man hundred percent so these three guys
right here or i guess four including the
the little dog at the corner
These are the dwellers of the garden,
right?
So junket is the main series and these
guys are the inhabitants of this magical
world.
And I wanted it to feel like,
you know,
an interconnected universe and stuff like
that.
I wanted it to be a little bit
of a kind of like a childlike adventure,
you know,
just putting all those things that
influenced me,
like all the Disney's and all the,
the flasher studio cartoons and just kind
of see how I could reinvent and make
my own kind of, I don't know,
my own version of what I would,
want to adapt into a cartoon right so
yeah man i think it's really cool yeah
and what i'm going back to what you
just said is it feels like something i
would see on a saturday morning cartoon
and that's what i loved about the stuff
that you sent me over for junk it
it just looks so fun like a saturday
morning cartoon and um yeah man
I mean,
I've got other images on my website as
well.
But there's mostly the main, like,
story truly revolves around a bearded
character named Oscar, right?
And he's going through his midlife crisis.
He decides to quit his job for a
life of action and adventure.
And, you know, he decides, like, hey,
enough's enough.
I'm going to go into my own direction
because –
Why not, right?
If I could fail at something I love,
might as well take a risk on something
I don't know, right?
Take a gamble.
So he goes into this enchanted forest,
this old ancient world that he finds
within the woods, basically.
And he doesn't realize it's another world
within the forest.
And he's able to find this guy here,
the groundskeeper, right?
This blue character.
And he's like this protector of the
ancient world.
He's supposed to make sure no one comes
through.
But there's all these evils and ancient
beings of mythology that are coming back
backwards through time,
forwards through time in order to kind of
resurrect.
And neither of them have superpowers,
but they're going up against the four
horsemen of the apocalypse.
Right.
So I just wanted to have that kind
of like, you know, story.
Yeah.
Nice.
So is it okay if I bring up
Farnlitt Studios to show?
Yeah, dude, a hundred percent.
Because the homepage has a lot of really
good art on it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Here we go.
Awesome stuff, man.
Yeah,
I've got a little bit of everything here.
It's all an interconnected world,
but it is primarily a...
And it's this one right here, Jumpgate.
Yes, sir.
So here we get a glimpse of a
little bit of everything.
It's got some of the animation stuff as
well.
Huge age gap.
Younger AIM Comics.
Yeah, man.
A hundred percent.
I think, yeah, the,
the dark and gritty stuff, uh, all the,
the nineties comics have kind of like
taken over.
Yeah.
And ever since then we've been at a
stalemate.
I remember literally the guy who made
Watchmen, uh, Alan Moore, he was like,
man, they all followed me to the dark.
Maybe if I, if I do something bright,
right.
If I make something different,
maybe they'll come follow me out of the
light as well.
But, uh,
we just kind of stayed in that Frank
Miller era.
Right.
Even now with absolute Batman,
like it's all really just that great
stuff.
And like my stuff isn't super violent,
right?
There's still blood and this and that,
but it's not as grotesque.
Yeah, man.
Our dude took himself an ass whipping
right there.
You can tell.
Yeah, man.
But I don't like doing like gory stuff
like Invincible or anything like that.
I just want my characters to feel like
it's just, again, for all ages.
It's a story that people can relate to.
It's a story that anyone could just kind
of grab an issue and kind of understand
what's going on as well.
And I try to write it from the
perspective of an everyman, right?
Because the character Oscar, right,
the bearded character, he's literally,
he's just an average guy.
He's just a guy who's just going through
the mundane routines of his job,
and he's just, he's fed up with it.
And it's kind of based on a true
story a little bit.
I'm not going through my midlife crisis or
anything, but I used to work in insurance,
and that kind of.
Yeah, that's no different.
No different.
It wasn't for me, you know?
Yeah, man.
was really nothing for me so it just
i i was like you know what i'll
take a gamble i'll take a risk and
make something creative and i think that's
really where you know the the true
fulfillment is you know going to
conventions for even alan moore he
recently left comics he's writing books
he's writing novels and stuff like that i
mean and they're still dark and gritty you
know i'm a huge alan moore fan too
so a little bit stuff that's me i
i love his swamp thing one of the
my favorite things ever
So he did like a short series with
like image comics.
I think it's called, I think,
nineteen sixty three or something like
that.
Or it's like it's based off like the
Stan Lee Silver Age era stuff.
And he literally parodied using the same
words as Stan Lee would have used.
And I just, I,
I hate that they never really finished
that series.
Right.
Cause it literally,
it would have been the comics coming back
to the silver age or to the kind
of best, more popular.
It was, it was geared for children too,
before I don't remember where,
when we went to the more,
and there's still a lot of comic books
out there for children.
Like I know people,
adults who just collect like the
Scooby-Doo's the Scooby-Doo and Batman's
yeah.
Powerpuff Girls are out there.
I'm still a huge fan of Archie.
Mainly Archie Horror.
The dude that does the Archie Horror stuff
is so good.
And then there's so many.
Sonic the Hedgehog.
I know a guy who just collects Sonic
the Hedgehog comics.
That's all he collects.
So it's kind of wild.
Yeah, but whenever I go to like...
Behave yourself out there, Matt.
You can't just dress up like Wolverine all
the time and be running around town.
He's a big cosplayer, too.
He also writes a really mean comic book.
Awesome.
Yeah, man.
Whenever I go to conventions and stuff,
I literally I sift through all the old
stuff.
And I just if I see like Mighty
Mouse or like whatever, you know,
like all the Yogi Bears or stuff.
I love seeing all that stuff like the
Tom and Jerry's and all that.
I got a couple of the Tom and
Jerry's.
Got a couple of the...
a big fan of the old school horror
stuff from like ec comics and stuff like
that even the older marvel stuff where
they would do the little like weird horror
comic books you know yeah man and i
love finding those and they're really hard
to find but when you do find them
they're just so fun they're usually beat
the you could tell somebody's read them
and loved them
Yeah, man.
But they're still fun to find and pick
up and read because the stories are just
so fun.
They're not violent.
It's just telling you a dark horror story.
There's not very little blood.
It's just they're fun reads.
Exactly.
Yeah, it's just wholesome entertainment,
you know,
and I love stuff like Will Eisner as
well.
I've been recently like going back and
kind of studying his his spirit comics
because they're coming out with the
beautiful Darwin Cook collection that he
did in homage to Eisner.
And I just wanted to kind of see
where where his inspirations came from and
everything.
And why is it called the Eisner Awards
and stuff?
And I was blown away as soon as
I picked it up.
Yeah, well, it's called The Eisners,
right?
Yeah, man, it's amazing.
Like the collection I have,
it was just these little nine-page stories
that were all compiled.
But every single page,
it would just invite me into this entire
world that was texture.
And it would be like character studies of
random characters and people within that
world.
And it would just really be the
psychological kind of heartfelt story.
And I'm pretty sure at the top of
it,
was like wholesome entertainment,
or I think it was like mystery comics
or whatever.
And just thinking about it in that sense
of like,
this could be what we do today.
Like, why did we ever lose
anthologies why did we lose the the
detective comics the action comics because
those made superman and batman why did we
lose that format throughout the years
right instead of just making the same
natural evolution really and and i like
you i love like the old school like
entertaining comic horror anthologies
they're so fun and i'm so happy that
ac comics and ani press are so
still making those like catacombs of
torment and that kind of stuff because
they're just fun anthologies like even
boom studios with uh hello darkness and
you know um rl stein as his book
and he invites other horror writers and
stuff like that and they're fun stories
with lessons being learned in the stories
like oh you're being murdered because of
this reason right like
yay you learned a lesson on your deathbed
yeah i think people kind of um
underestimate the the kind of like power
that comics do have like as an as
an art form right like eisner literally
said it's an art form it's an entire
it's the best kind of way uh for
a story to be told and it's kind
of true because we use both words and
imagery combined into one it's literally
I think it's more powerful than a movie
at times even because it literally is what
the movies are drawing inspiration from.
And people seem to... Yeah, go ahead.
No, I was going to say,
I wish they were drawing inspiration from
the comics because half the time they take
two runs of a comic book and then
they're like, hey,
I like this part of this story.
I like this part of that story.
I like this part of that story.
And then they cram it into a movie
and it's like...
the hell were y'all trying to do?
You could have just told that one story
and it was perfect.
It was perfect.
You didn't need to do nothing.
It was perfection.
Do you know who wrote that?
Jack Kirby wrote that story.
You did not have to do that.
Just tell the comic book story.
That's been my biggest complaint about the
Marvel movies since they started making
Marvel movies.
I'm glad they started with Blade because I
think Blade was probably...
That's a classic.
Oh, exactly.
And I'm just such a huge fan of
the Blade character, even when they...
Unfortunately, Nicolas Cage is, you know,
Ghost Rider.
I love the character Ghost Rider, okay?
I absolutely... I love Midnight Suns.
I love those darker,
grittier characters like that.
They're magic.
They're...
They're demons and they're not of this
world.
Those are,
they've always been some of my favorite
characters.
And I'm like, don't mess up those stories.
You know,
hopefully someday we'll get like a Justice
League Dark led by Wonder Woman.
we'll have zatanna and you know we'll have
john constantine in there not keanu reeves
because that's like something totally
different but john constantine story you
know what i'm saying like the tv series
was brilliant it was amazing the can't
remember the guy's name who was playing
constantine but
It was amazing.
It was perfect.
It was following the comic,
but similar to what they did with the
Sandman recently with Gaiman,
even though a lot of you say what
you want about Gaiman.
He's probably not the best human being in
the world,
but the dude as a comic book writer
was fucking brilliant.
Pardon my language there,
but the dude is a brilliant comic book
writer.
But again,
not the best human being in the world.
Yeah, who knows, right?
The Sandman is a beautifully written
story.
It works on every single level,
the character depth, the characters.
It just works, right?
And the story they told on Netflix where
you could literally watch season one,
open up Sandman issue one,
and follow the comic book almost word for
word was amazing.
That was a great adaptation,
a hundred percent.
And I think that's right there, man.
He's he's another guy,
another young cat making a universe.
And I'm telling you what,
when I told you earlier,
I probably knew about thirty guys under
thirty that I could have a thirty for
thirty for comic books,
any comic book writing.
He's one of them, dude,
because he's another really good one.
You know, man, since fifteen comments,
Nathan does the idol verse,
really good stuff coming from those guys.
I'm just like, man,
the amount of young blood in the indie
comic scene right now is amazing, dude.
And I'm so happy I got to meet
you tonight and talk to you tonight about
that because the future is bright, dude.
Even Ray,
I don't want to leave out Ray because
Ray is like a phenomenal writer.
The other Ray too.
The other Ray.
The other Ray.
Yeah.
I'm looking at February,
so let me go to January.
Ray McKay, about to graduate college.
He did Last Gen.
He's working for Grok Comics right now,
and he's writing for a few other places
as well.
Twenty-two years old,
just a brilliant writer as well.
But, yeah, dude, future is bright, man.
I absolutely love it.
But let's dive a little bit more into
Junket.
When you were building this world,
what kind of story were you wanting to
tell when you first created this?
Right.
So originally, you know,
it was based off of that kind of
–
just kind of, you know,
naive storytelling of just wanting to,
you know,
all my buddies together going on a random
adventure and then evolve from there,
right.
All the way from middle school,
all the way to, to now, right.
In my, in my young adulthood.
And it's become a lot more, I guess,
more about symbolism and mythology, right.
It's more about how to,
how to convey it.
Just a good story that people want to
reread or want to rewatch or whatever it
may be.
I think that,
um people have kind of lost that right
uh i want to be able to make
something that is i can enjoy endlessly
and i think that that's kind of the
whole point of it right because i don't
want to see another uh three hundred
thousand uh spawn comics if i'm not gonna
get any value from it like i love
it don't get me wrong
Yeah, I feel you there.
And I'm a huge Spawn guy.
I love Spawn.
It's one of my favorite comics to read.
It does get repetitive.
And I'm glad that Todd will go,
all right, this artist is in.
this artist and writer is doing this arc.
Exactly.
We get to the next arc.
We're going to switch it up.
We're going to have another artist and
another writer do the next arc.
And every now and then Todd will step
in and go,
I'm going to write two books to get
us to this arc.
Exactly.
But I feel like that is me personally.
I don't in modern comics,
like there's some great writers.
Don't get me wrong.
Like people like Chip Zdarsky,
you know,
artists like George Jimenez and Sean
Gordon Murphy, amazing stuff, right.
Happening in modern comics, but it's just,
we're kind of missing that,
that childlike wonder that kind of like
just wholesome or just like hopeful or
magical kind of thing.
Like,
Whenever I read, like,
the Jack Kirby's Thor,
it was literally transforming.
It was going into a whole different world.
All the tales of Asgard and all that
stuff.
Oh, yeah.
It just was myth-making.
And I thought, man,
I remember Stan Lee saying that, you know,
superheroes are like the modern-day
Olympian gods, right?
And that's really kind of how it is.
Oh, a hundred percent.
Yeah.
I mean,
Jack Kirby just got a road named after
him in New York City,
which is so cool.
Finally.
It only took...
Fifty freaking years to recognize this
dude's greatness.
Exactly.
And it's really cool.
Honestly, the next time I'm in New York,
I got to go get a picture with
it.
So that's going to be really cool.
Yeah, man.
I don't even know that.
That's pretty cool.
It might have just been for the movie,
though.
I have to double check,
but I'm pretty sure he got his own
street finally, which, you know, again,
you can name every street Jack Kirby way
in New York,
and I would be cool with it.
Right.
Or whatever.
Yeah, man.
I think it's just kind of – it's
a shame that modern storytelling doesn't
really – it keeps homaging itself.
It keeps doing throwbacks to its own
continuity, and it's just too much.
For an outside reader,
they don't know where to start.
They don't know, oh,
do I have to watch the movie?
Oh, but the book's not the same,
and I wanted to make something – Yeah,
that's what's wild, isn't it?
Exactly.
The comic book doesn't – or the movie
doesn't match the comic book.
The story told in the comic –
is it going to match what's in the
movie it's the wildest ever don't call the
movie by that comic book's name if it's
not going to be about that comic book
exactly and i just i wanted to personally
make something that was more like cohesive
right
And I wanted to bring value to the
reader in any way that I could.
And the stories that impacted me,
you know,
and even now I wasn't able to read
them when I was younger,
but stuff like Dante's Inferno,
stuff like the Odyssey, the Iliad,
you know,
writers like- You didn't have to read
those in school?
No, I didn't.
I completely had, you know,
public school and they did never.
I went to public school and I still
had to read those.
Hey man,
I think I had to read like whatever,
you know, they had on their agenda,
but I'm so grateful.
I was able to have that interest in
poetry and old literature because I was,
able to see like man this is an
actual three-dimensional character just in
words and their story isn't just like oh
you know and he went to hell and
he and whatever and then he went to
purgatory it's not about the the physical
things it's like the psychological journey
that the character goes on and that you
as an individual are able to learn from
His painting is so much in detail.
He didn't just go to hell.
He went to seven stages of it.
Exactly.
Yeah, let's get it right.
If we're going to talk about it,
it was seven stages there and none of
it was good.
Yeah, man.
But people don't seem to imagine that,
though,
the way he painted those seven stages and
the way he described those seven stages
and then having to actually go through
that is wild to think about.
The fact that that stuff is still true
to this day as well,
because it's not he wasn't just writing
about his own personal life.
He was writing about the things that were
happening to the people around him and to
the state itself and to the society he
was building in.
And I think that that's kind of important,
right,
to integrate those kinds of narratives and
to integrate like something that we can
learn from as writers and as readers,
you know, as we're going through it.
So that's Nathan.
He's asking,
what are the aspirations for your comic
book and where do you want to take
it?
Which is cool,
because that's actually one of those
questions I had coming up here soon.
And we can go ahead and answer it,
though.
So, I mean,
I'm trying to make something that
literally outlives me and outlives the
people around me.
I want to make something that just sticks
to, you know,
goes against the test of time and really
just impacts and inspires young people,
old people, anyone from any age.
I'm turning it into a small little
animated series and I'm literally learning
to animate it myself.
I have a couple of programmer buddies are
helping me turn it into a little video
game adaptation as well.
And I'm getting the, you know,
the products and things together to
actually do a short film where I have
to like build the costumes and everything
and choose the place.
Yeah, man.
So it's, it's very,
it's terrifying a little bit, right.
To kind of like put myself out there
and really try this stuff, you know,
go to the podcast,
go to the conventions and.
wherever I have to drive two hours to
Fort Myers or wherever I need to go.
It's just really just putting myself in
places that I don't feel comfortable in
order to just learn and grow as much
as humanly possible.
And I think that the story that I
want to tell is that,
is like how you can overcome your fears
and how you could literally become more
than what the world tells you you are,
right?
I want to help inspire people.
Right now,
the short comic strips that you had shown
previously, right,
with the three characters,
Thankfully,
it's a comic company called A Kid and
a Comic.
They're serializing it in like an actual
physical newspaper magazine.
And they're sending it out to like
children's hospitals and churches and
stuff like that.
That's so wholesome, right?
Let's pause right there before you go any
further.
That's actually a question I had for you
is –
Do readers ever surprise you with how
deeply they are connected with this story?
And from what you're telling me there,
that is so freaking cool that they're
doing that with your story.
It's beautiful, man.
And even just meeting young artists and
people who are aspiring to be artists at
conventions.
Literally,
it could be a little five-year-old and
their parents are like, oh, look.
He knows what you could do,
and you could be like him.
And just that alone is, like, beautiful.
Or, like,
the kids just flipping through the books,
and you see the spark in their eyes.
Man.
Dude, that's my favorite part.
That's right there.
Even, like, today.
Like,
because what I like to do is we
do a trunk or treat every year,
and I will go and order –
kids comics from my local comic book shop
by the boss.
I'll buy like two boxes of the free
comic book day books.
And I will give those out at trunk
or treat during Halloween just to have
something different.
I mean, I'll still give you two,
but I just want to spread my enjoyment
of comic books with other people as well.
So I literally my own money, uh,
you know kids comics you know i think
they're i forgot how much they cost me
like it comes in like a bundle of
fifty or whatever you know for free comic
book day and that's what i do like
it's really fun just to be able to
give a kid possibly their first comic book
Exactly.
Every comic is someone's first.
Right.
And I think it's beautiful to kind of
see that.
And honestly, I don't really care about,
you know,
becoming rich or famous or whatever.
I don't care about any of that stuff
realistically.
Just to me,
just envisioning the four year old version
of myself,
be happy with what I've made and then
seeing that same feeling translated to the
audience that I'm slowly growing.
is just amazing and it literally it ranges
from either the kids are loving the books
and this and that or their parents or
their dads and stuff are like like looking
over like hey let me see that let
me get the you know what let me
get another one let me see this one
looks kind of cool actually you know just
seeing like kind of range of um just
imagine that's one of those things where
it's like if there's one feeling that you
could go back and experience again for the
first time it would have to be getting
your first comic book again yeah man yeah
Just so I can remember the look and
the feel and the smell one more time
of turning those pages.
And yeah,
those pages have kind of yellowed in this
book because it's been loved.
And I don't want to say used.
They've been loved.
They've been read.
They've been flipped through.
The coupons for the x-ray vision goggles
have been cut out of the back.
You know what I'm saying?
That was some of the very first comic
books that I got.
And I thought it was the coolest thing
ever.
Exactly.
And I'm I'm really trying to capture that
kind of nostalgia, you know,
like my stuff looks like old retro
cartoons.
It looks like Walt Disney cartoons or
Fleischer Studios.
And it's like the Silver Age of Marvel
mixed in with like the the goofy zany
stuff of like early Batman and, you know,
Linus and stuff.
I wanted that to to really kind of.
be the the outlook of like the foundation
of it how it's presented so that anyone
can enjoy it but within it the core
of the writing is this transformative
story where the character literally goes
through all these things he quits his job
he goes into this unknown forest right him
and the groundskeeper they go time
traveling they fight these monsters and
this and that they fight the
the horsemen of the apocalypse,
all these odds are stacked against them,
but they're still able to persist
regardless.
And it's painted in this childlike kind of
charm, right?
That's really the goal of what I'm trying
to do is build something that's just
iconic and just timeless, you know,
a hundred percent.
So how did you feel that when Junket
became this cult favorite in comic shops
down in your neck of the woods?
How did that make you feel?
That's got to be this amazing feeling of
pure enjoyment that...
you know, comic shops are selling your,
your comic book very well down there.
And, you know,
it's become like this cult thing.
How did that make you feel, man?
Cause it ain't even my book and I
feel like a certain kind of way about
it.
Cause it's so cool to see.
Yeah, man.
And it's,
it's fascinating because I literally, I,
I finished creating the book in twenty,
twenty four and,
And that literally that I mean, twenty,
twenty three.
And then that same year of turn of
the year, I wanted to decide, like,
let me go to at least one convention
at least once a month.
Right.
So all the way from from January of
last year to January of this year,
I've been just trying to really just build
that kind of movement, that momentum.
I had to distribute the books myself.
I would have to literally drive to
wherever the stores were.
yeah kind of contacting with them and
stuff and it's just really fascinating to
see you know hey and hey my books
wow my book the thing i made is
really here next to the the batman comic
and the spider-man stuff and it's like
damn i'm like kind of setting my foot
in the door of this thing that i
thought was unattainable right yeah that's
really that's so pretty cool i always love
when i see um
Because a lot of comic book shops won't
carry indie comics like that.
They'll carry indie comics,
but not like... It's not easy.
Indie, indie comics.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, they'll carry Dark Horse, Boom,
but those are big names at this point.
Yeah.
Yeah, but it's really cool.
I've been to some comic shops,
and there was one little stand off to
the side.
And I'm like, oh, what are these?
And they're like, oh,
it's local guys who bring in their comic
books.
I'll buy them for whatever.
And I'm just like, that is so cool.
Let me go have a look through the
carousel.
One or two of them will always catch
your eye.
And it's just really cool to see when
a local comic shop will actually carry
local comics.
Yeah,
I think it's crazy because most of the
time I thought it was everyone was going
to be like kind of staff standoffish or
whatever.
But really,
all the people at conventions or at the
stores are like super nice because they're
all like minded.
Right.
They all kind of think the same way.
We all like the same things.
And it's really just a love for the
game, right?
That is selling, you know,
giving them your sales pitch, right?
And telling them like, hey,
this is what I'm trying to do.
And if they got kids with them,
they're going to be like, oh, you know,
let me let me check that out for
the kids, you know,
and have a look through it.
so but no it's really cool dude and
when when i had read that about you
i was like dude that is so freaking
cool to see it you know you becoming
like this cult legend down there in in
south florida
you know, there's,
there's junket and then there's Florida,
man.
Yeah, man.
But I mean, it's just,
it's super cool to,
to like tell people my story and then
just, just by literally just being myself,
they're able to kind of get a little
bit of inspiration from me.
Just really just passionate about this
thing, this dream.
And they just kind of,
it makes them want to go and hit
the drawing table and draw stuff.
Maybe, Oh, maybe I'll write this thing.
And it just, it's,
one little sentence a day,
just one drawing a day,
even if it's on a sticky note,
even if it's on your laptop or a
piece of a napkin or whatever,
like just go for it because nothing's
promised, right?
You've got to keep going, stacking those,
the momentum, right?
Stack those wins and just learn from the
failure because it's not really failure if
you think about it.
It took you all of that effort to
then fail
then it wasn't, it was just a lesson,
right?
It was just these things that kind of
helped you go along the way.
These are character builders, right?
These are things that make you what the
hero has to go through all the terrible
things and all the suffering and pain.
That's what makes them strong.
Right.
And now I want to inject that into
not only, um,
know and to inspire people but into the
work itself i put that kind of story
within the book and within the narrative
so yeah man now i like that so
you are fully independent and
self-published what were some of those
biggest challenges that you were faced
with when you decided to go that route
I mean, yeah, some of the challenges,
I mean, every challenge, right?
I mean, yeah, yeah.
I mean,
that's literally just you do a brick wall
in front of yourself.
Exactly, man.
You've built it yourself the whole nine.
Yeah, I mean,
I'm going against these monopolies,
basically, these giants that I can't even,
like,
I can't even talk to them because they
don't listen to submissions.
I can't find them at any of the
local shows.
But I don't really see that as a
bad thing because I'm not,
kind of,
I'm not waiting for handouts or for
someone to come rescue me.
I think it's,
it's kind of foolish to think that way.
And that's how all of the artists that
I admire,
that's how they got taken advantage of.
Right.
So I,
I think it's just fascinating seeing all
the things that get in the way,
because that just makes the story that
much better.
Once I am finally able to go over
that hill.
Right.
I think reading old biographies of like,
again, just Walt Disney and Steve jobs,
like all these people,
they didn't have it easy at all.
Right.
Walt Disney was younger than I am.
I'm twenty four right now.
He was literally twenty one had just
turned and he already his first business
already was bankrupt and he was sleeping
in his office as like as his house,
basically.
Yeah.
I mean,
that's just what it takes sometimes.
Not to say that I'm going to be
any of these guys,
but I really think that every kind of
story of anyone's life always has to have
those difficulties and
I had a math teacher literally tell me
all those drawings aren't going to be
nothing.
All right, whatever.
Oh, yeah, stop doing that.
It's a waste of time.
You're never going to make any money off
these.
Did you send him one?
Not yet.
I will though.
You got to send him a copy.
You got to send him a copy.
Autograph it and send it to him.
A hundred percent.
But that kind of stuff,
it just motivates me a little bit, right?
All the things that get in the way
just makes it that much more of a
risk, right?
To just move forward and really just cut
through and just try to see because
We don't have anything to lose
realistically.
You might as well try, right?
Because it's going to be expensive to –
To do it,
it's going to be an investment, right?
It's going to be risky to try it
out.
But just imagine the regret and the bill
you're going to get from not trying.
I don't want to see that, right?
I'll do it, a hundred percent.
So what would you think was the hardest
part of it?
Was it printing, distributing, marketing?
Which one of those really kind of was
like when you were into that phase of
the book where you were like...
day yeah and the production stages of it
yeah just trying to carve out time
whenever i could uh because right now i'm
working a day job the time is the
killer of all dreams man yeah bro and
it's just waking up a little bit earlier
going to sleep a little bit later trying
to see where i could make time and
just that was insanely difficult but
definitely the the printing
is it's not easy like i'm able to
self-publish it through amazon but it's
super expensive to get those things
printed and then to to physically with my
own money my own car and everything buy
the tables at conventions and reinvest all
that stuff yeah and those prices have gone
so high over the years exactly man and
the printing quality is inconsistent too
like i don't i can't i don't have
the kind of decision making uh
that an editor has right yeah i kind
of have to like see i know editors
right i mean it's still though but i'm
just it's just it's difficult to to kind
of keep the the print quality consistent
throughout right because there's errors in
it i can't go to amazon i don't
know where they came from you know i
mean so it's yeah it's a little bit
trickier um like that but it's definitely
again it's just character builders i don't
really i just i just eat the costs
and i keep going forward trying to see
how i could make it all back you
know
I love to see it too.
And I really do hope it, you know,
you get to where you need and want
to be,
but I do know a good editor if
you need one.
That's cool.
But, um,
For creators watching who won't full
creative, watching or listening later,
who won't full creative control,
what does creative independence really
mean day to day?
It's not all sunshine and rainbows,
even though you're in Miami.
Yeah, no.
It's cold there right now, okay?
It is right now,
but usually it's cold and hot.
I think that the best thing about going
solo is literally I'm able to,
now do what all of the creators that
I admired,
they were starting to do and wish that
they could do earlier on, right?
Like Jack Kirby started self-publishing
his stuff, I think late into the eighties,
you know,
towards the later parts of his life where
he was barely able to draw as well
as he used to.
And I think even like, yeah,
Disney had his character stolen before he
was able to even get it off the
ground and just
I think that the self-publishing route is
probably the safest bet because you get to
own your own IP.
You don't have someone breathing down your
neck or telling you, don't change this,
remove that.
And it's not going to be as financially
stable as I guess some of the other
artists are.
But at the end of the day,
I'm not doing it for that.
I'm doing it to leave something that's
just good.
I just want to make good art,
leave something amazing behind because I
don't think
I don't think the people drawing Batman
every day are really thinking about, like,
oh,
how is this going to impact the future?
Like, they don't care about that.
They're just trying to make a paycheck.
Yeah.
They've been drawing Batman.
If you're drawing Batman,
I think you've made it.
Yeah, but, I mean, to me,
I know I've made it as soon as
I see a young kid be, like,
inspired or whatever.
Like,
at one of the conventions I went to,
and this is stuff that normally people
working for DC and stuff,
I've met a couple of them.
They have to wear a little uniform there
at the conventions.
We got to sell this stuff.
We can't sell our own.
It's not easy.
At one of the conventions,
there was this young artist.
They were going to go meet one of
the established real Marvel DC artists.
They ghosted.
They weren't there.
That is the biggest pain in the ass.
Every time I go to a convention,
they don't show up or
Hey,
they won't be here until thirteen hundred
because they're in the rooms doing
commissions because that's how they earn
their real money is making commissions.
Yeah.
And I met some of them.
Their prices were way too high.
All of them were kind of like these
antisocial, grumpy old men.
You know,
I'm like at the end of the day,
like it's kind of what you're going to
get.
Yeah, I think.
that day or that that person um that
young artist who who ended up meeting me
they said hey man i was supposed to
meet so and so at this at this
table they weren't here but man your story
of like who you are and how you're
you're so young you're doing all this like
this is so much better than having met
that person this is so much cooler
i don't know all that stuff i mean
i will say though i think there's more
good than bad out there and i've met
some of my favorites throughout the the
years of since i've gotten back into comic
books and some that i would have never
thought about
following or you know even think about you
know their art or their stories and here
i am today like i see their art
and their stories and if i see their
name pop up on a book or something
i'm like i'm gonna go get that book
exactly because i know their art and i
know they're the way they tell stories i
know the way they write and i'm just
like
This person could write anything in the
world about whatever in the world,
and it's probably going to be great
because I've not seen them put out a
bad story yet.
Yeah,
it's always an honor to meet some artists
that completely exceed expectations.
I was able to meet the late,
great Neil Adams at Florida Supercon
before he passed.
And he was, I mean, he was pricey,
don't get me wrong.
But he, honestly,
he was super humble and very nice.
He signed my copies of Green Lantern,
Green Arrow.
He was like, you know, these books,
they changed the world a little bit.
I was like, yeah, man, that's so cool.
Like it fed into the dream a little.
And then meeting Jim Starlin after
Infinity War was crazy, right?
That was pretty awesome.
What do you have to say about them
completely ruining the story with the
movie?
Yeah, man, but he was super cool.
He was actually – he was just super
humble, very nice guy.
I think it was literally twenty bucks.
Take a photo with me, sign it,
whatever you want, man.
He gave me a bunch of advice for
writing and drawing your own stuff,
and it's just – you never know, man.
It's really a mixed bag,
but the community of comic creators,
it's just – it's all love,
and I think that's really what the main
– It really is,
and like I was saying earlier,
I've met some really great people –
at conventions, you know,
artists who I've never seen or heard from
at that point.
And then I realized like, oh,
you write that one book?
I have that one book.
I didn't bring it with me.
And they're like, oh, don't worry.
And they pull it out and was like,
here.
Yeah.
And then sign it.
And you're like, oh, dude,
this is so awesome.
I wish I would have brought my own
copy because I know my own copy is
a first print of that book.
But still, yeah.
when they take that five,
ten minutes out of their day and talk
to you and just like, hey,
do you have any questions about the story?
Actually,
I did have one question about this one
part here because I don't know what
happened.
I'm missing something.
And then you're like, oh,
you have to go back and read this
other book,
which is like the prequel to this book.
And this little area right here will make
sense.
So then I'm like, okay, cool.
then i seen them at the convention the
next year i'm like hey i mean it's
a hundred percent you know since now and
i brought both books you know for her
to sign and she thought it was funny
she's like you actually went and bought
like yeah when i needed to know what
that meant you know she's like i didn't
want to you know give it away because
it's it's such a good read i wanted
you to read it i'm like well i
read it and now i understand and like
can you sign both these now
Yeah, man.
Some of my, my favorite stuff is like,
if, if it's like a little kid,
he can't afford it or anything.
I just, man, I just,
I sign it and I give it to
him anyways.
Cause I know that's going to make his
day.
So it's just meeting people that do the
same courtesy for me.
It's just amazing.
I think it's, it's really just,
it goes full circle a little bit, right?
Cause we grow up loving these,
these books,
these things that just are entertaining
and fun.
Now we grow older,
we appreciate them even more.
And we realized like, damn,
this is like a gift we could pass
down.
It's like passing down the torch a little
bit, but yeah.
Yeah.
And like I said, you, you can,
you can never relive that moment of
getting your first comic book.
And God, do I wish I could,
you know,
every time I get a really good book,
it's one of those where I'm like,
I wish this was my first time.
And then I'll find another really great
series.
I'm like,
maybe I wish this one was my first.
Yeah, exactly.
So,
but you were expanding junket into
animation, short films and other media.
What was that?
What was the, the, um,
the thing that led you going,
I think I want to do this next
with this, you know, with junket.
I think it's just, I,
I feel like I see the value in,
in the IP the most right than anyone
else around me.
I'm able to, to like, see like, Oh,
this has potential to be,
whether it's a movie or this and that.
And,
hey,
might as well use the things that I
have around me.
Use what you can to do the best
that you can offer, right?
And I have buddies who are interested in
making video games.
And even if they hadn't tried it or
done it yet, I was like, hey,
I have this idea.
We could kind of maybe adapt it together.
So, yeah, I mean,
it was literally just trying to see how
I could just turn people's attention or
spin heads around and see.
hey, maybe this thing has legs to grow.
And yeah,
I was doing the pixel art for the
game where it's going to be like an
old Zelda RPG kind of style.
And they were learning literally.
And I love seeing that those are making
this weird little comeback, you know?
Like you can literally,
there's websites that host these little
eight-bit pixel video games of different
things, and they're just so fun to play.
Yeah, those emulators.
We were actually looking at old websites
that emulate those games, and I was like,
yeah,
I want this kind of game like this.
And then it needs to be able to
move in this direction or has these kinds
of weapons and stuff.
And they were literally able to learn from
scratch almost just by a passion and
believing in what I was trying to create.
And it's just so fun to see my
friends kind of gather and help me out.
And buying into what you're selling too
has got to be really cool that –
Not only do they believe in the product,
but more importantly,
they believe in you and what you've
created,
which has to be like one of those
really cool films or feelings.
Super heartfelt.
And it's really kind of wonderful because
they most of them even saw me since
middle school.
Right.
So they literally saw that early idea that
things just kind of grow into what it's
become.
um so it's just been an honor to
really just it's gonna be really cool too
to have friends that have stuck with you
that long because you don't see a lot
of that anymore of people like oh that's
my friend from third grade over there and
they've been down since day one you know
you just don't hear a lot of that
anymore i mean i'm still friends with a
lot of people that i grew up with
i don't talk to them as much as
i as i wish i could because i
don't live there anymore
But anytime I'm home and I run into
them,
it's like we just pick it right back
up, right?
Because we went from elementary to
graduating together.
So it's always really cool when you get
to run into those friends.
And to still have those friends has got
to be such a really cool feeling.
I wish more people got that feeling of
having those people with you from day one.
Yeah, man.
And even though, you know,
we always have our up and downs and
people drift apart, this and that,
but we always are able to reconnect.
And that's really,
we were able to reconnect to make this
project together.
And it's just super cool to just even
like test the waters with a small demo
of where it is.
It's just awesome stuff, bro.
Yeah.
That's really cool to see, man.
So I'm going to ask you one of
those questions that I ask everybody that
comes on the podcast.
What advice would you give to a creator
launching their very first indie comic
right now?
I think it's kind of like one of
those stowaway questions that everybody
asks, but it's one of those where I,
every time I ask it,
I get a different answer to a very
end degree.
So that's a, it's a core question.
A hundred percent.
Um,
I think the advice I'd give them is
to first and foremost,
never give up on it.
Even if it looks bleak,
just keep on going.
It'll all be worth something.
Everything happens for a reason, right?
And God's watching.
He knows you're going to be just fine
throughout, you know, through it all.
In terms of the production,
definitely keep
Just try to have cohesion from panel to
panel.
Have it flow in a particular way.
The idea of the first panel and the
last panel have to flow almost in like
an S or in a Z pattern.
So that way it guides the eye.
Have artwork that kind of helps jump out
of the box a little so it guides
the story even further.
And just put your heart and soul into
what you're writing,
because the more real and the more raw
the writing is,
the more guttural and true it feels to
the person reading it.
I think that that stuff really hits home.
Whenever I'm at convention, I'm like, oh,
this character's going through his midlife
crisis, he quit his job, this and that.
People always laugh,
and then they're just like, man,
that's me, this and that.
They're always like, you know what I mean?
Just that kind of connection immediately
is important.
So before we start wrapping this up,
I want you to talk to us about
Far Look Studios and kind of like what
was the long-term vision for that?
Because it's a really cool thing that you
are doing over at Far Look Studios.
Yeah, man.
So, I mean, you said it yourself,
it's a long-term vision.
That's the whole point of the name.
It's far look,
it's seeing far into the future,
seeing potential, seeing, you know,
the idea of young artists being able to
own their work and being able to promote
it and push it through their own accord
without having anyone
you know,
force her hand or make it to something
else.
Um, I just started as an,
as a way for me to,
to kind of brand my, my work,
but I realized if I'm going to start
branching out into, you know, multimedia,
I,
it's important to literally have that kind
of that
the brand identity,
that name that really just kind of pushes
that forward.
And it's just the simplest way is to
inspire hope with the name.
You know, it's, you know, there's a,
there's a phrase in Spanish, right?
That is short steps with long vision,
right?
It's like a long way with short steps
that we take.
And I think that's kind of the whole
core of that company.
So it's just homemade, right?
Just like Steve jobs in his garage.
Oh yeah.
or whatever it may be.
I think it has potential to maybe not
overthrow any of the big companies or
anything,
but I'm just trying to see how I
could maybe start something here in Miami.
Grassroots, man.
That's what it's all about.
At the end of the day, it's grassroots.
You start it here,
and next thing you know, it's over there.
That's what's great about these types of
platforms here is I get to allow you
to have that
expand that look and that reach out and
that's why i love to do what i
do is because it does give y'all that
opportunity to reach out further and
further and hopefully somebody else's ray
raynett's you know book in his studio is
really amazing and then they pick up pick
it up and then somebody else picks it
up and you know it's just
that's the charm of this and why I
love doing this is because like I said,
I get to meet really cool up and
coming artists, writers,
people with visions at such a young age
that I'm like,
I could have never have imagined that
personally because I went a completely
different route in life.
And now here I am in my forties,
know getting to do this getting to talk
about comic books getting to talk about
independent creators and learn about
independent creators and bring them a
spotlight putting them on their pedestal
for an hour hour and a half and
just letting these people letting the ray
rayness of the world tell their story to
a bigger audience and it is so much
fun to get to do and get to
meet
everybody who comes on the podcast because
everybody's story is different but the
vision is always the same and that's put
independent comics on the map and by damn
y'all are freaking doing it and i love
it
And honestly,
it's an honor to even be on this
kind of platform.
I think it's,
I never want to overlook anyone because
it's just, it's amazing to, like you said,
just meet all different kinds of people,
just get in contact with younger artists,
get in contact with people who appreciate
the culture.
It's really the perfect kind of platform.
And to just, like you said,
just make a spread awareness of the indie
comics that are always hidden around the
corners, you know?
Oh, dude, they're everywhere.
And I'm telling you,
we're going to do this again soon.
I'm going to bring you,
I'm going to bring the Nathan Rouses,
you know, the Ray McKays.
I'm going to bring like five or six
of you dudes on, you know,
and we're going to do like a thirty
under thirty.
Everybody's going to get asked the same
question and everybody's going to get
their chance to respond and answer those
questions.
I think that would be fantastic.
a lot of fun to get to do
all these guys from different walks of
life but they all have that one singular
passion and that's bringing their comic
book to the people yeah to me that's
that's like the ultimate like for me i'm
i'm excited just thinking about that you
know like i'm gonna have to email these
guys and we're gonna have to find us
a good date to do something like that
because that would be so much fun in
my eyes to
bring all these young talented writers and
artists on the podcast at the same time
and just talk cognitive books and what God
is here and that kind of stuff.
That would be so much fun.
It's just so yeah.
Yeah, dude.
Like that would be so funny.
I'd probably be one of those where I'm
like, we're going to need at least two,
two and a half hours.
Yeah.
Minimum.
before I let you go my dude tell
everybody where they can find you and
where they can pick up a copy of
your book so all of the junket stories
and all my comics are out on Amazon
right now just type in hidden worlds
revealed junket
Or just type in RayRayNet,
and I'll show up right immediately.
I have a YouTube channel where I show
all of my stuff behind the scenes of
making the comics,
of coming up with the concepts,
where it's literally just Farlick Studios
or just RayRayNet.
And follow me on Instagram,
where I post almost every day, really,
where I just show all the behind the
scenes of going to conventions and just
kind of taking you guys along the journey
with me.
yeah man never stop creating comics never
stop chasing that dream and upwards and
onwards hundred percent dude i love it and
i can't appreciate you enough for coming
on and talking junket and just being
yourself dude and and that's what makes
this so much fun to me is getting
to meet all you guys who are doing
this every day
you're in school, you're,
you're writing comments on the side,
you're still going to conventions,
you're hand delivering your comic book to
local comic book shops.
So,
but if you're willing to come back on
later and,
and do like a thirty for thirty dude,
I will happily have you back
on it or if you just want to
come back on and talk about a new
project or anything else dude you're more
than welcome to come back and we'll sit
down and we'll run this back again because
this was a lot of fun tonight dude
this is how my tuesday nights should
always be
Heck yeah, bro.
It's an absolute pleasure.
And it's, yeah,
once I have actually a couple of big
conventions coming up,
Supercon out here in South Florida,
and it's going to be my first massive
real convention.
So I don't know.
Are you going to do the big one
in Orlando this year?
I might be able to do that one
next year.
I already got in contact with some of
the people, but yeah, there's the,
they're all difficult, but I think,
I think we've got a good chance to,
to get in line for one of those
tables, but yeah, absolutely.
Can't wait to see it, man.
But everybody go out,
give Ray a follow and stay tuned, man,
because I'm going to get all these young
guys on the podcast one day.
We're going to have like a big.
just fun-filled show where we learn about
all these guys from all different walks of
background and how they got to where they
are today it's gonna be a lot of
fun but ray thank you for bringing your
worlds your honesty and your creativity to
the united states department of nerds and
to everyone watching if you love indie
comics create our own stories and the
people brave enough to build those stories
Make sure you like, follow,
and share because this is the United
States Department of Nerds where indie
comments come to life.
The council is adjourned.