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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.
No!
what is up everybody 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 from the
shadows of murder city to the mass
mythology of lucha mystery tonight on the
usdm podcast the creator who writes it
draws it and lives it from winnipeg
manitoba
Work in the indie comic circuit since two
thousand and two.
Writer, artist,
freelancer for Antarctic Press,
Dynamite Entertainment, Marcosia,
Big Bang Comics, and a ton more.
Now published by Studio Comics Press.
This is Evan Quirin.
Quirin?
Yeah.
Yeah.
You got it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Metal Slug Nerds is now in session.
Evan, welcome to the USDM podcast,
my dude.
Oh, hi.
Thanks for having me.
You told me the Qui-Gon gin thing and
I knew immediately.
Yeah,
it's the best way to remember my last
name.
Just think of Qui-Gon and yeah.
I'll drink to that.
Exactly, man.
I think we're both on the coffee fit
tonight, man.
Yeah.
So you've been working indie comics, man,
since two thousand and two.
What originally pulled you into comic
books and creating comics?
Oh, what what what?
I just always I guess since I was
able to learn how to read,
I was just really into comics.
So I guess like watching Spider-Man and
his amazing friends on comics.
On Saturday morning,
cartoons really got me into it.
And then I just liked it so much
that I was reading more and more.
And then I was like,
I'd really like to do this.
And I saw a documentary.
I think it was like in nineteen ninety.
It was called.
What was it called now?
Great.
Now I'm drawing a complete blank.
I saw a documentary.
It was called confidential.
There we go.
And I've been up for hours.
And so I can't put confidential.
And I saw that commercial, the five,
a one commercial with Rob Liefeld,
like doing.
Okay.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I was like, wow,
you can actually like have a job at
this.
So yeah, that's what, that's amazing.
Right.
I'm sorry.
So that's amazing.
Right.
That you can make.
Yeah.
So yeah, that,
that really inspired me like when I was
a,
so I was around
twelve or thirteen plus the batman eighty
nine came out around that time so i
was like really into that uh that really
influenced me um and then in two thousand
one i got uh went to san diego
and i was just looking for work and
uh i guess got some uh work with
us a guy named a david lewis who
was writing um a book called uh mortal
coils and he uh
He was like, yeah, I got some work.
And then also this was two thousand one.
So he's living in Washington, D.C.
So around September of two thousand one,
there's a really horrible event that
happened.
So I remember very clearly.
Yeah, really not great.
And, you know, for anyone, seriously.
So he emailed me and said, hey,
got to you know do you want to
draw my experience of what happened on
that day so uh i did that as
well for um alternative comics so yeah
that's how i kind of got my start
was um i guess drawing the twin towers
burning dude that's uh yeah yeah man
that's that's uh like yesterday for me
yeah yeah yeah yeah
It's crazy now that it's taught in history
books,
but being there and living that life is
still like yesterday for me.
Yeah,
I really hope we as a society or
anyone in any part
Oh, a hundred percent.
A hundred percent.
But growing up in Winnipeg, Manitoba,
what kind of art or pop culture shaped
you early on outside of Chris Jericho's
influence?
Great.
Actually,
he was a good influence because it's like,
hey,
he's from Winnipeg and he's really making
it.
And he reminds you every single time.
You idiot!
Winnipeg, you idiot!
Well, that and I guess...
That's really good, actually.
Yeah, thanks.
Finding out that Roddy Piper's from
Winnipeg really was an influence.
Um, cause he got his start in Winnipeg.
Who else?
Um, well there was, um, I guess, uh,
there was a convention I get in one
that I attended where I volunteered at and
there's, uh, got to meet some real, uh,
like comic book artists, like Steve Rude,
Stan Sakai, uh, were there.
That's a good one, man.
He's still going strong.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like Ken Stacy was there, uh,
Laverne Konczerski started the coloring
house digital chameleon.
In the mid-nineties till about the early
two thousand so that those Oh George
Freeman who drew a Captain Canuck But he's
also like a Marvel Comics artist.
So yeah,
they're a Friend of mine Darren Maronick
was like an underground cartoonist and I'm
pretty sure everyone has seen his artwork
everywhere so there's a good mix of
of artists at the time when I was
younger.
And so I just go and, you know,
call them up and ask them questions or
what have you.
That's good to have that to lean on
though.
And having people that you can reach out
to and be like, Hey,
what would you do in this kind of
situation?
Or, Hey, I have this,
what do you think?
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's like, I have this,
what do you think?
They tear me a new one,
but it was good.
Hey, you know, that's how you grow,
though, and that's how you learn.
Hey, I learned how to take a critique,
if anything, and I didn't argue.
I just went back to the drawing table.
I actually had – there was another artist,
a Marvel artist,
living here in Winnipeg in around two
thousand one, two thousand two.
His name was Igor Korday.
He drew X-Men.
He was originally from Croatia,
but he was living here for a time.
So, yeah, he –
You know, I'd go show him my comics.
He'd say, this is horrible.
And, you know, he'd say,
this is what you did right.
Yeah, it's like,
this is what you did right.
This is what you did wrong.
This is what you do next.
Okay.
And then we'd, like, go for a beer.
So it was pretty fun.
That's how it works, man.
Yeah.
So being a writer wasn't enough for you.
You also had to draw as well.
Yeah.
Like, why both?
And why not one or the other?
Yeah, good question.
Well...
Okay, how do I put this?
Okay, so even when I was a kid,
I always did little cartoons because I
really liked Mad Magazine.
So I'd read Sergio Aragonese cartoons,
so I could sort of imitate that.
And I just thought Mad was really an
influence on me.
There's also,
Winnipeg had a lot of independent
animators.
So there was this one indie film called
The Big Snit.
this couple are playing Scrabble,
but there's also like a nuclear war going
on outside, but they're totally oblivious,
because they're kind of idiotic, so.
I think it's competitive, man.
Yeah, so that was,
so I tried drawing like those style
cartoons.
uh there was like a another cartoon called
cat came back which had like so i
was more of a cartoony kind of guy
and then i thought well be a cartoonist
but then um i started doing comics and
i was like well maybe i'll write novels
or you know just be a writer but
then i'm like well i can kind of
draw um so i was like you know
i'd like to draw but my skill level
is not there and just as luck would
have it i was going to a local
comic store and there was like a little
ad at the you know checkout uh counter
or whatever and uh
It was an ad for this local artist.
His name was Bill McMahon.
And he would give art lessons,
specifically how to draw comics.
Oh, that's really cool.
Yeah.
I asked my folks and said, hey,
can I do this?
And they're like, okay.
So we gave him a call to make
sure it wasn't like a pervert or anything
like that.
At least they called to double check.
Yeah, exactly.
And yeah,
so I got some instruction that way.
For the most part, it was self-taught.
But yeah, Bill really helped sort of form
taught me how to think differently than
what I was originally doing.
So, yeah, but it's just that,
so I like to write and draw and
I just, yeah,
I thought it was doing both and eventually
just wanted to do, it's like,
I just got to do everything, so.
You're doing it well, man.
Thank you.
Like you sent me over,
I think about almost, you know,
everything you had, I guess.
And dude, they're fun reads.
The art's amazing.
Like they're,
they're both really fun books,
the ones you sent over to me.
And I was just like, dude,
these are books that I love to read
because they're fun.
They're full of energy.
The art just top notch, you know,
and it's, it's not,
you can tell you take it serious.
without taking yourself serious with it,
if that makes sense at all.
You hit the nail on the head right
there.
I'll take life seriously.
I can never take myself seriously.
You hit it right there, man.
Your books are awesome.
Oh, thank you.
Like I said,
I was literally rereading some of them
before I jumped on to get ready for
the show just because you sent them to
me.
i read them and then usually like the
day prior or the day of i usually
go back and read some more just because
i like this i just like to read
them and then like re-familiarize myself
with them again before we go live that
way everything's still kind of fresh and
emphasized in my head right but um so
what was that early seemed like for you
in the early two thousands when you first
got started
Um, okay.
That's the year, like,
everything kind of was, like,
it almost came to a screaming halt that
year from an indie perspective.
Yeah, um, so I guess...
I had, well, here's the thing.
So back in like the late nineties,
there was,
I didn't have a computer or anything like
that.
And I was really not, you know,
internet savvy or anything like that.
So I was still like going to the
library and getting books on like how to
draw and stuff.
I'd go to, uh,
I'd go to the local art gallery cause
they were giving private or, um, sorry,
they were giving, um, free open studio.
So you pay like seven bucks and draw
a model for a couple of hours,
you know, in different.
So I was trying to, you know,
so like really trying to teach myself how
to, um, draw, um,
And, you know, learning perspective,
how to draw cars and buildings and all
that stuff.
So just really just kept hitting it,
you know, like that.
Then I went to the convention,
which was kind of like, remember,
remember that Blind Melon video?
You remember Blind Melon?
And there's like that bee girl.
And at the end of the video,
she finds like a bunch of other bee
people just like her.
That was like me going to San Diego
because it was like,
know like it was like uh you know
i'm like talking to uh you know a
guy from australia another guy from france
about the art of steve dicko like i
mean how cool is that you know this
is pretty amazing like some of the
conversations just like being in the world
of yeah of comic books the and the
discovering people who like the same
things you like from different parts of
the world yeah
Absolutely.
My interview I did on Saturday with Snake.
He's actually from the UK.
I've had the luxury of interviewing many
people from the UK now.
Sabe, who is an artist, he's from Italy.
So I've gotten to interview him.
And then VV Collectibles,
the digital collectibles that you can
download onto your phone.
I interviewed their co-CEO who is in New
Zealand of all places.
So it's been wild.
That's just been this year.
It's been a wild,
wild year in New Zealand.
The last few months, I swear,
I'm not shitting you.
Almost everybody that has been on outside
of Matt last week has been from Canada.
Oh, okay.
I'm on a Canadian streak right now,
and I'm not mad about it, dude.
There's so many great indie comic books
coming out of Canada right now,
and I'm here for it.
I'm here for it.
Yeah, yeah.
So let's jump into your first one.
Let's talk about Murder City Devil.
Okay.
Where did this concept for Murder City
Devil come from?
Okay, good question.
Um, so I had, okay, originally,
back in the
uh late okay we'll go back to like
about so i saw the batman movie and
i had just read killing joke and i
was really getting into it so good yeah
right and i was uh getting all influenced
and i want to do like a crime
story kind of thing um and uh i
was really into um you know like uh
supernatural stories and ghost stories and
all that stuff so i want to you
know do that plus
house i don't know i don't really believe
in that stuff but you know it's kind
of like it gets to a point where
it's kind of like yeah i don't really
believe it but i'm like for the
entertainment aspect i totally love that
stuff um so uh mercy devil there was
this uh when i was a kid there
i had read this um like um remember
like unsolved mysteries the tv show
oh yeah yeah so i was really into
that kind of stuff like crime and horror
like real life kind of stuff um but
there was like not from unsolved mysteries
but one of those like books i got
um i think my mom got like a
time life book or something and they had
a character named spring hill jack and he
was from the and uh i i thought
when i was a kid i thought this
thing was like real like there was some
weird guy jumping around buildings he
looked like a devil
terrorizing people and i didn't find out
until much later due to the interwebs that
it's like now some writers wrote this up
on a penny dreadful and it was just
you know but amazing yeah yeah and uh
great fiction comes out of those things
yeah right so um i was really uh
so i was kind of like um
I did a mini comic in the mid-nineties
called Midnight Comics.
And I had a character in there named
Nightstick,
but he kind of looked like Moon Knight.
So I kind of kept some of the
same plot points.
Yeah.
But then I was like, well,
instead of having Spring Hill Jack as one
of the villains in there,
why don't you have him as the protagonist,
you know,
and have him like some guy in his
mid-forties who's like, you know,
can't get a job,
keep a job or whatever.
Yeah.
just can't just can't get it his his
crap together um and he becomes like
spring hill jack although i don't really
call him spring hill jack in the book
i call him like he's nicknamed the murder
city devil it's just like a myth kind
of thing so um i was just uh
wanted to and i had written parts of
the story like in the nineties and then
again i'd come back to it and then
rewrite it rewrite it and then i was
like
And since I like Don't Tell Mystery so
much, I also included,
I threw in the Mothman,
but I call him the Midnight Angel.
What else did I do?
I don't know if you ever heard of
the Mad Gasser of Mattoon.
It's like this apparently murderer in the
forties in Illinois, but wore a costume.
So I had that,
but I made it a woman and called
her Scarlet Fog.
Uh,
what else I put DB Cooper in there,
but it's called, uh,
what else did I got in there?
Like, so basically, uh,
anyone from like real life kind of like
true crime or horror that has like worn
a costume or has like visually looks
interesting, um,
in the book or they cross paths,
but like, I just want to say like,
I'm not glamorizing true crime.
Okay.
I'm trying not to, but I'm just like,
Yeah, and you really don't.
I mean, the Murder City Devil, I mean,
obviously he's portrayed as a...
I don't want to say he's a good
guy, but he's not the bad guy either.
Yeah, he's an anti-hero.
He definitely chooses not to redeem his
people.
Yeah.
Unless you're redeeming them to their
makers.
Yeah.
Yeah, well, that's the thing, or does he,
because that's the thing,
it's kind of a habit that I want
to have explored the idea of, it's like,
okay, it's like, you've got these powers,
what would you do?
So for me, it's like, I'm tired of,
like, you know, checking the news,
and it's like, oh,
this person is released from this,
you know, this SO,
this sex offender is released,
and it's like, well, why don't we just,
like, I'm not condoning, I'm just saying,
why don't we just do,
this is all
So, you know, and, you know,
or do something about that.
However,
he doesn't necessarily get the job done.
He'll find out in later issues.
And he makes a lot of mistakes.
You know, he's trying his best,
but he's really just, like,
not getting it.
He's a kid when he first becomes the
devil, right?
Like, he's a younger adult.
Yeah.
Okay, so, like, in the nineties, like,
when he's in the funeral home there,
which is actually based on real experience
that I had.
So, like,
I was like in my twenties and the
house I lived in at the time was
by an old cemetery and there was like
this house beside it and it was boarded
up and some friends of mine were like,
let's go check it out and see if
we can get inside and it's like, yeah,
what could possibly go wrong?
I go up there, and then I see,
like, just, like, in the comic, I see,
like, all these, like, so weird, like,
just these, like, stickers on the door of,
like, crucifixes.
Like, you buy it, like,
some Christian bookstore, and I'm just,
like, to myself, I'm just, like, why?
What is it?
And I just felt, like, this weird feeling,
just, like,
and I'm not superstitious or anything,
but I was just kind of, like,
I don't know if it was a good
idea.
And then, so,
I put that in the book.
In real life,
my friend just went inside and looked
around, and he's, like,
there's nothing in there, whatever, so.
Weird thing that happened, though,
a month later, that house was bulldozed.
So I have no idea what the hell.
That's wild.
Yeah.
I grew up on a road that had
a cemetery at the very end of the
road,
like a few miles down the road at
the very end of the cemetery.
And at least once a year,
that cemetery would randomly just catch on
fire.
i mean i'm pretty sure some drunk kids
were out there messing around and called
fire but it was still like a yearly
thing like if it was getting close to
the end of the year and the thing
hadn't caught on fire yet it was kind
of like how come this thing hasn't caught
on fire yet yeah and all of a
sudden they would catch a fire you know
well where was this it was alabama yeah
okay okay um yeah um
Yeah, you kind of wonder, like,
why it's... But then it's like,
maybe it's better off not knowing or
something.
That's the way I always say it.
Anytime I get that weird,
creepy feeling about anything,
it's not like, eh,
I'm just going to go the other direction.
How about I mess with this?
Yeah, like your internal instinct,
and you're like, best to listen to it.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I had that.
I put that in the book.
Wait, where were we getting...
Where was I going with this?
We were just exploring, like, the...
Well, actually,
you've already basically answered all the
questions I had for the Murder City Devil,
which is, like I said,
I like to ask a question and let
you go.
Sure.
And nine times out of ten,
all the questions I had planned to ask,
it answered along the way.
So I'm just like, shit,
we can talk about Lucha Mystery now if
you want to.
Sure, yeah.
Okay, well.
It's a very different flavor.
from what Murder City Devil is.
This one is literally all about luchadors.
It's about the incredible history of
luchadors with a sci-fi flair to it,
which is absolutely amazing.
What inspired that?
I know you're a big-time wrestling fan.
We were just talking about wrestling
before we went live.
To be fair,
we probably could have did a whole show
just talking about the last couple of
wrestlers.
But we're not going to do that.
We're going to talk about Lucha Mystery,
which is a fun sci-fi luchador adventure
that is just, like,
literally out of this world, dude.
Tell us how you came with this.
Okay, well, I had always, okay, again,
late nineties.
Some friends and I would go to this
video store called Movie Village,
and they had, like, all these, like,
just great selection of, like,
B-movies and stuff.
So we'd, like, just go and rent whatever.
I was like, oh,
let's rent Brother from Another Planet or
whatever.
And like, yeah, why not?
You know, I'm, you know, uh, checked out.
So there was like a bunch of, uh,
I think it was like Santo movies,
like El Santo movies or what have you.
And we're just, uh, really into that.
So I, I,
I started getting into the Lucha movies.
Plus at the time,
like I'm in a band and right now,
like I'm in a surf band called Ghostfire.
So, um, yeah.
I always liked surf music,
like when you listen or watch Pulp
Fiction, like the opening song.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, that kind of stuff.
So I was getting really into that,
and I just started drawing luchadors just
because they're fun and crazy.
The imagery is amazing for those masks and
stuff like that.
The lineage of the mask and stuff,
like the Mysterio mask and how far it
goes back.
I've always been fascinated by that kind
of stuff.
Oh yeah, totally.
Like, I mean,
Lucha Libre goes back to the thirties,
I believe.
Um, yeah.
And they'll say,
I think that was like Eddie Gross.
Father Gory was like Santos tag team
partner.
So that's really like history, you know?
So, um, I thought that was really neat.
Um, I just really liked, um,
like I guess Lucha mystery was like my
homage to like these,
like just weird ass movies, like, uh,
monsters and, uh,
and monsters and like aliens and foxy
chicks and stuff like that.
Zombies.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
So I did that.
And as a friend of mine, Darren Maronick,
he was...
was like a local or is a local
cartoonist too and he we were you know
kind of collaborating on some stuff and
really want to do a lucha book but
then like darren was going to ink it
but just had other projects and wasn't
able to but you know we're kind of
like shooting some ideas and stuff but i
i basically just ran with it and uh
plotted out like a whole series but um
never got finally got her like i did
a book but it was called los luchadores
misteriosos because that rolls right off
the tongue
and uh actually i did i actually like
that oh really uh well i uh to
me it'd be like a scooby-doo luchador
mystery you know what i'm saying well that
was the thing but when i so i
released that book like it was the first
version of like um like it's basically my
first comic that i've written and drawn so
um i uh i had released that uh
i
Oh, God, Steve Coffin helped me out.
What was it called again?
That was called Ronin Comics, yeah.
Okay.
Yeah,
Steve and I were in Ronin Comics like
eons ago.
And so I had done that,
and it was just, it was like,
thirty pages, and it was,
it really needed to be edited,
and it was like, my first thing.
And then, so eventually I, like,
went back to it, rewrote it.
The first issue I split into two issues,
because there's just like way too much
going on um so i i split it
into two issues and then re-released it
with scattered comics and i called it uh
yeah rona uh called it like lucha mystery
and i just thought that would be a
bit easier to say and read and stuff
and uh and also the other thing was
that a lot of people thought that the
los luchadores misteriosos was the fox
kids show
Yeah.
You definitely don't want to cross into
that territory where it's starting to look
like something on TV because that will
catch you a cease and desist quick.
Yeah.
And I just was like, okay.
And plus I was like, well,
I can think of something different and
better.
So I'd like to think it's better, um,
and make it my own.
So, um, but yeah, that was just, uh,
I just had it, uh,
the series takes place in
Yeah, and there's some...
I actually have... Okay, here's a spoiler.
The main character, Ray Diablo,
is actually...
He's actually an indigenous gentleman from
Winnipeg.
Oh, nice.
So eventually in the series,
he'll go back to Winnipeg and shenanigans
ensue.
And this all takes place in the sixties.
And the fact that you just used
shenanigans...
Because the guys from Super Troopers,
I think, are from Canada as well.
Okay.
Coffee.
Yes.
Straight out of coffee.
All right.
No,
but you now have to do a Scooby-Doo
luchador mystery in a van where there's
luchadors solving mysteries and going to
shows around the country.
Well, I get, I, I like it.
Okay.
Well, yeah, I mean,
I don't know if anybody else will like
it, but dude,
that just a thought of like van full
of luchadors traveling around solving
mysteries and putting on shows.
It's all yours.
I'll draw, I'll draw a cover.
So there you go.
that's a great thing of luchadores like
you can do whatever because it's like
public domain like i had um i think
there was a for fido or something there
was like i don't know if it was
just in canada but there's like this
little lucha libre cartoon character and
i'm trying to promote the
telecommunications i think it was fido was
it okay or something and some people were
like aren't you aren't you mad that that's
happening well it's public domain i didn't
invent i didn't come up with it
i'm just running with it you know just
sort of steamboat willy public domain that
Winnie the Pooh.
Now, public domain.
It happens.
Winnie the Pooh is actually named after
Winnipeg because the soldier that owned
the bear was from Winnipeg and was, yeah,
I guess donated the bear to a zoo
and his name was Winnie.
Winnie the Pooh has ties to Winnipeg.
That's dope, actually.
That's kind of cool.
All roads lead to Winnipeg.
You've got to emphasize Winnipeg and say
you idiots after it.
Yeah.
Idiots!
And the fact that when you say it,
you sound like Chris Jericho is even
better.
Well, it's just a lot of pressure.
Plus,
when you start yelling at people and
stuff,
I guess maybe it's a Winnipeg thing.
It has to be.
It has to be.
Get off the bus, you idiot!
You just made the list!
Yeah, exactly.
You just made the list!
Yeah.
yeah so what draws you to the lucha
libre imagery and masked heroes oh um a
lot of things uh well you know wrestling
aspect um yeah the women like um some
influence i was really into uh the comic
book series love and rockets uh so there'd
be a lot of wrestlers like wrestling
content in there a lot of wrestling so
i really like that um
Yeah,
so those Love and Rockets was a big
influence too.
Did you read Do a Powerbomb?
I have not,
but a lot of folks have.
So good.
Yeah.
So good.
Yeah.
And when I was reading this,
I got like two completely different vibes
off the story.
But as I'm reading Lucha Mystery,
all I'm thinking about at the same time
is Do a Powerbomb was so good as
well.
Mm-hmm.
And it really was.
So the moment you get a chance to
check out, do a power bomb.
Yeah.
It's amazing.
Yeah.
I want to get what it's collected or
something.
Pick it up at some point.
It might be on trade paperback.
I'd say hop on image and you might
be able to get them all digitally for
like ninety nine cents.
You know.
But.
So how was this one artistically more?
Was it more of a challenge to do
the Lucha Mystery or Murder City Devil?
Yeah, from an artistic standpoint.
I think Lucha Mystery,
because I had done that one first,
was a bit easier.
Also,
the fact is a lot of it takes
place in a desert at night.
I mean,
you literally show a guy doing a Boston
Crab.
And to me, like, from a visual standpoint,
you nailed the artwork of it.
But I'm like, how hard was it to...
get that just right for the page because
you're literally like drawing two dudes
one putting the other dude in a boston
crab and you have to make sure everything
is anatomically yeah where it's supposed
to be and like it doesn't look like
this leg is this guy's leg and that
kind of stuff oh yeah i just photo
reference i just like magazines and just
like okay well i mean when i was
drawing it or you know just go and
do an image search and just like you
know put in boston crab or
Yeah,
I guess Murder City Devil because I really
like architecture,
so I was doing a lot more reference
on that.
try to keep it you know like it's
in the sixties at least uh and uh
mercy devil the same the same thing
although mercy devil takes place in more
modern times like around serpent night
like so um yeah i think it's like
in the beginning of murder city devil it
did say twenty twenty one
Yeah, like, well, yeah,
it says in the beginning, like, okay,
yeah, to go back to your point there,
it opens up in and then he goes
into the funeral home and it gets
scratched or whatever and stuff.
And again, this is spoiler,
when he's scratched by that devil statue,
that's actually, like, he becomes,
his blood becomes poisoned and it's sort
of that power, like, incubates into him.
So then twenty-five years later,
he dies because he's walking home and then
gets shot, right?
And then
uh, the,
he goes to the ambulance and then the,
the doctor's like, ah, just whatever.
And then he wakes up in the morgue.
So that's when that happened,
that the power kicked in and then he's
back to,
and that's why you see him in the
morgue with his eyes glowing and stuff.
And then eventually like, you know, so,
um, I'm going to like, when I,
do a trade paperback of murder city devil.
I'm going to actually have it all in
chronological order because every issue
starts off with a little bit in the
past.
Yeah.
Like that.
So I try to timestamp everything there.
So I like the way it flows, man.
It flows so good to me because I
think it's one of those,
if you do a slight flashback to anything,
if it's done right,
it's really good for the story.
yeah so many times those you see some
people they can't get that right and it
kind of just kills the comic or the
readability of the comic it may be a
good comic overall but that one part like
you did a flashback in the middle of
a story and gave us no clue that
you were actually about to do a flashback
and it just looked like there's these
random pages in the middle of a book
and you're looking at it going
hell is going on right now it's like
oh it was a flashback yeah like i
just i didn't want to yeah and that
was the thing because there was another
thing to ask was uh like maybe i
should have gotten the colors diego
vasquez hey diego uh amazing colorist uh
to uh to um color it maybe in
black and white or something or just like
a monochrome or something but i wasn't
sure but yeah i think um
Like when I definitely do the trade
paperback, I'm going to put everything in.
Chop it up and put it in order.
Yeah,
put it in chronological order so that it
just flows better.
And it also reads differently.
I've made just here at home with just
PDFs.
I'll take the pages,
put them in chronological order.
It kind of reads a lot differently.
Look at you, though.
You're preparing yourself for later when
you release the trade paperback because
you'll already be halfway done.
Yeah.
That's using your head and thinking ahead.
Yeah.
Like Murder City Devil,
I've been writing on and off.
since like the nineties,
like late nineties.
So actually no mid nineties.
No, wait, I was in high school.
Holy crap.
So that'd be like late eighties.
So yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, that and Lucha mystery,
it was probably like I started late
nineties, uh, but I really started, uh,
plotting everything out probably around
two thousand four.
So, yeah,
so that was kind of been taking a
while to do worlds.
Is this together or are they like mentally
just like two separate things?
No, good.
Very good question.
What, um, yeah, yes and no.
And they kind of,
they kind of do have a crossover, like,
um,
I do an issue three when they're
Halloween, like Aaron Sparks,
who's like the murder city devil.
He dresses up as he wears a radio
mask for Halloween.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like his coworker dresses up.
That's why I had that question in there
because the murder city devil looks like a
Lucha fights like a Lucha door.
That's why I was kind of like, wait,
is that no?
Well, yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I have all this devil imagery.
Um, but, uh,
Now, the Lucha mystery,
it exists in Murder, See Devil's World,
but it's only as like a TV show
or a comic or whatever.
like an intellectual property.
So it's like, you know,
there's movies and TVs and stuff like
that.
Um, but I,
I don't really have any plans to like
have like them crossover because it's sort
of like the two books.
I like think of it like murder city,
like our, uh, leech of mysteries,
like kind of like sixties surf music,
like Dick Dale or something like that,
or link, right.
And, um,
and and murder city devil's more like uh
late seventies early eighties like goth
music so like the cure or something or
um i don't know nothing wrong with that
man come on joy division oh yeah so
let's go yeah listen listen to a lot
of joy division when i'm working murder
city devil so
Dude, that and The Cure, man.
You're set.
That's one of those where you just put
it on in the background and go,
that's how I do it when I'm working
on things.
I go back to the stuff I listened
to from the eighties and nineties and just
put that on and just let it go.
Yeah.
Put on Murder,
See Devil and just listen to Sonic Temple
by The Cult or something like that.
Yes, dude.
Let's go.
Let's go.
So
In twenty twenty five,
both series were picked up by Studio
Comets Press.
How did that partnership come together?
Well, I had worked.
Alfonso Espinoza runs Studio Comets Press
and they're actually a printer,
a comics printer.
So, they were... Oh, there he is.
There's Alfonso.
He's on right now.
He's got the devil, man, and he appears.
Yeah, say his name.
And so, I was working with Alfonso.
Like,
I was getting my printing done with him,
like, since twenty eighteen, I believe.
Yeah, that's about right.
And then he was eventually going into
publishing.
And so, since I was, like, having, like,
no one was interested in carrying these
books um because i i had a note
for lucha tour bus so i didn't forget
it later yes okay so i just asked
self once like hey uh can i can
i you know uh
do you want to publish my books?
He's like, yeah, okay.
So I was like, okay, well,
that was easy.
So he had already known,
and it wasn't like any other publisher was
clamoring for my books or anything.
So I was like, okay, well, that's cool.
Dude, sometimes it's just a question,
right?
It never hurts to ask, so yeah.
Dude, I always say it.
I'm like,
what's the worst they're going to say?
No.
Yeah, well.
No,
I've heard that minute pretty much my
entire adult life.
So,
so what has changed since signing with a
studio comics press?
Oh, you know, just, you know, you,
you sign with them,
you get nothing but fame, fortune, vagina.
No, um, I guess, uh, a lot of,
a lot of connections, a lot of lifestyle.
Yeah.
Sure.
Yeah.
Uh, it was, uh,
Yeah,
I just go to conventions now and stuff
like that a little easier.
I'm not just limited to Winnipeg.
Thank you, Alfonso.
There's a grassy ass.
He's buttering the bread, man.
Buttering the bread.
And he's just good to work with because
he's our age.
He's in his forties.
And he's an artist as well.
So that's kind of all the same.
so i like you dude i like it
yeah so actually that's someone you need
should interview him he's a he's a
character alfonso man and reach out to
evan get my email hop on the show
let's make it happen yeah yeah yeah so
there's a um but he uh was just
really just great to work with so it
was like a good a good fit and
uh he liked my stuff so um
He was always,
and he was always very patient with all
my print changes because I'd have like,
never fails.
It's like, you know, okay, proofread,
get someone else to proofread,
get someone else to proofread,
print it out.
There's a spelling mistake or whatever,
just something or, you know.
You would be surprised the amount of
spelling errors I find on a weekly basis
in my pickups.
Like it never fails.
There's always print, like misspellings.
I'm like, dude, it's your book.
How do you misspell your own book?
Well, exactly, because I do the lettering,
and I always get two other people to
proofread it and stuff like that,
and usually catch everything.
Or sometimes I'll forget to save the file,
right?
I'll make the changes,
forget to save the file,
and then just send it off.
Thankfully, I'm a professional,
because I've done that before,
and I went to open up the interview
that I was going to be doing that
day, and there was nothing there.
So I'm like, well, fuck,
I'm winging this one,
because it was like ten minutes before the
show was starting.
It was a great interview,
and I didn't have a single thing written
down.
Thankfully,
I had enough of it memorized and enough
of it down to where I just hop
in and do it.
But it was one of those where I
was like, fuck.
I'm like,
this time I'll hit remember to save that
before I do it.
Now,
every time I make any type of change,
it's like safe.
Yeah.
I put extra space in somewhere to better
save it.
Yeah, it's a good idea.
Always try to do that.
But yeah,
there's usually something discrepancy,
but the more you do it,
you get kind of used to it and
you sort of remember that, okay,
check this.
You get those good habits built into
yourself.
Yeah, so usually anyways, but yeah, so...
With you now being part of Studio Comets,
has it changed from a creative standpoint,
or do they get some creative input into
what you're doing,
or is it a hundred percent yours?
Because I know some studios will be like,
hey, no, we don't like this, change this.
Yeah, no,
it's a bit different for me with, uh,
cause like, again,
Alfonso was printing my books years before
I joined up with them.
So he kind of knew what to expect
me.
He was really liking them too.
So, uh, it was like, just, yeah,
it seemed like natural fit, you know, and,
uh, just easy to work with.
And like, it's not, here's the, like,
I'm pretty much like,
okay, Murder, City,
Devil will have sexuality in it,
but I'm not going to have nudity kind
of thing.
I'm more of a,
I'm telling a story like the suggested
kind of stuff.
You know, you kind of see it all.
And that makes sense, you know?
Yeah.
I mean, it's also like a violent book,
but I'm not going to do violence just
for violence.
You know what I mean?
Like, I'm trying to do it for effect.
So it's really like that.
I'm not going to, like,
It's not going to be like a Faust
comic or something like that.
I'm trying to think of something really
horrible.
I think it's not going to be anything
like...
Faust is well-drawn and stuff and very
gory.
Oh, yeah.
Like some of the older...
heavy metal stuff where it was just like
gratuitous nudity to have nudity and
gratuitous violence with the nudity yeah i
know exactly what you're talking about
yeah i mean that's great for heavy metal
and for those artists that you know like
that but it's just for me i was
more uh you know like i'm i'm just
more like i said uh influenced by like
tales from the crypt influenced by um
everything like Arthur Adams we were
talking about earlier and like Todd
McFarlane stuff like when he did Amazing
Spider-Man and I was like in junior high
and at first I didn't like it I
was like ew what's this you know what
it's funny but you say that it's cause
I think everybody who eventually falls in
love with McFarlane's Amazing Spider-Man
hated it in the beginning you just don't
like it I don't know if it was
because it was something different or
something just like
Like what's he trying to do?
But then the more you stew on it
and the more you bake on it,
and then you go back and you reread
it,
whether it be like a month later or
a year later, and you're like,
you know what, I kind of like this.
Yeah, and that was the thing,
I started getting, like, at first,
I'm just like, I think it was, like,
Amazing Spider-Man, three, twelve, was,
like, Green Goblin versus the Hobgoblin,
which was like, oh, cool,
I want to see this,
and I was like,
Hobgoblin's cape's all ripped, and,
you know, but now it's like, oh, cool,
and then it's just like, oh,
this looks weird, but then it was like,
oh, these, they're making some crazy,
funny faces, or whatever, and I was like,
I kind of dig it, you know,
and then,
He's known for that, though.
That's his thing.
You see it in Spawn.
When he did War Dogs with Batman vs.
Spawn and Batman split his head with the
Batarang,
you've got to remember Spawn's face stayed
split and stitched for years afterwards.
Then he was reborn again and finally it
fits itself.
He keeps those effects going.
If there's a terror, there's a will.
the continuity he does is amazing i always
thought that was like something that he
was extremely underrated for like him and
eric eric larson like what i do with
my books too um especially um i don't
know if you've read the book nexus uh
with steve brood mike barron like back in
the eighties i'm not familiar with that
one oh so i'll have to check it
out though yeah chef's kiss absolutely um
the um but it was like so okay
savage dragons like
since dragon came out in the nineties that
happened in the nineties and it's actually
going like in real time.
So now he has his son running around
as the dragon and stuff.
So my books, if like,
I try to really make it, um,
that okay it happened in sixty four and
then i make sure like i really always
check my dates and stuff like that and
because i think because you have a
notebook or a spreadsheet where you have
everything kind of like mapped out
timeline wise yeah because there is going
to be an end to murder city devil
series probably like issue probably ten or
twelve hey alphonta and then uh lucha
mystery will probably be about maybe ten
issues or something i think that's a good
run though ten to twelve is a very
good run
Oh, yeah.
So then and then that way it's like
if I want to like read like I
have an idea for a Murder City Devil
prequel,
like which probably just be a one shot
or two issue thing.
And then I do have like a second
series.
But yeah,
I think issue zero would be cool for
Murder City Devil to find out the truth
of the house, you know,
to kind of like dive into that.
that's actually not a bad idea yeah
because i know he got the scratch you
know like what like why does he get
the scratch and how did it pick him
and like what kind of was going on
in that you know yeah it's like why
was the funeral home bordered up and just
abandoned and left and and i explore more
like who's that lady in the chair you
know yeah and like
Oh, yeah, dude.
Yeah.
So it's got to because now I'm all
excited for something that hasn't even
transpired yet.
Well, yeah, I was like, yeah,
but I was like issue zero is actually
a good idea.
I was thinking like a one or one
or two issues to sort of explain.
And but I'd have you crank out a
thirty two page issues.
Zero, man.
Perfect.
I've done it.
I did.
I actually know there's twenty eight
pages.
One shot of Halloween man written by Drew
Edwards.
And it was featuring his girlfriend, Lucy.
So I yeah, sometimes free freelance.
Alfonso agrees with me, dude.
He knows his stuff.
Oh, yeah, and I'll draw occasionally,
draw some pinups for Alphonse's character,
the Night Spike,
which I think I might have some artwork
here.
I don't know.
I got...
Did you want to show us some of
the pages from your work as well?
Okay, sure.
Oh, you're going to show it?
Because I got original pages here,
which I was going to mention.
I have one sale to December twenty-second.
There you go.
Plug it away, man.
That's what I'm talking about.
Yeah, if anyone's...
If anyone's interested,
I got original pages from Lucha Mystery
and Murder City Devil that I'm selling in
Canadian funds, by the way.
So if you're in the U.S.,
you're going to save some money.
So I got, yeah.
There you go.
We'll pull up some Murder City Devil right
here.
That way they can see the work.
it's really cool man because i love it
because this one kind of like nails all
all the things you're good at with the
buildings the rain the people this is
really really cool picture right here a
page from the book oh yeah where is
it i'm just thank you i actually got
the uh original right here somewhere
And then if you want to show a
cover we can do,
let's do some mystery cover.
That's what I'm talking about because I
love this cover.
It's so fun.
Oh, which one?
I'm about to show it, man.
Oh, okay.
Sorry.
I got to work some buttons, man.
There we go.
This one right here.
I thought this was really cool.
Oh, yeah.
I got that one available as well.
Yeah.
As he says,
it's all in my pile of artwork here.
Oh, wait.
Give me a moment.
Yeah,
that was the one condition that I had
going to run with Studio Comics Press was
that Alfonso insisted that I do new covers
just to make it more exclusive to Studio
Comics Press, which is like, hey,
that's no problem.
Yeah.
You know,
if it's I got a if I got
like a Kickstarter or something,
that's just more some more stuff.
Or if I'm putting on a sale for
my artwork, you know,
because it's like a year end sale.
let's show some murder city devil covers
yeah oh yeah i got that uh look
at the architecture though dude i just
want to point that out because that's such
a dope shot oh thank you yeah um
like i said i really do i like
uh i like um architecture and uh drawing
i actually got the original art here
so it's all for sale until december twenty
second yeah canadian dolores so yeah just
message me and i will send you a
link and then you can see all the
artwork that's available uh and i'll have
it all linked down in the description of
the video when it's released it's actually
linked now
If you hit the links on Facebook as
well and also on Instagram,
all the links are in there.
But when I re-release this later on
podcasting platforms and onto YouTube
again,
all the links for all this stuff will
be in there as well.
So...
So I'm trying to find more stuff.
So while you're finding more stuff,
what does this milestone mean having
signed with Studio Comic Press after more
than twenty years of just grinding away
and getting stuff published on your own?
Well, yeah.
Well, Studio Comic Press,
I guess sort of taking it to the
next level.
Like I did have originally back in twenty
ten,
there was a small indie press called
Ronin.
Roman studios that Steve Kaufman and I
were- Alfonso already called it.
Okay.
All right.
And then-
And then I was with Scattered Comics based
out of Sacramento.
That was Jason Doobies running his little
publication there.
It was also the fact that I left
Scattered not because I'm still, you know,
I still,
Jason helps me out greatly with a lot
of stuff.
But it came down to the pandemic happened.
So I couldn't really go to California
because I was like going to conventions in
California and stuff and hanging out with
them.
So that was kind of a downer.
Plus I also started my own like business
imprint.
and uh for taxes yeah yeah exactly it's
like on comic studios yeah so i started
my own imprint and for you know and
that was like my business name so uh
you know for when i do taxes or
like well are you with scattered or we
you know so it was just for tax
purposes really uh to avoid confusion
there uh so studio comic express just sort
of took it to the next level so
now i'm able to go to conventions in
toronto
I was at Fan Expo this past August
and hung out with Alfonso and Roxy and
Craig and the rest of the gang.
Jim?
There you go.
Persistence pays off is what the man is
saying.
Yeah.
Well, yeah,
that's exactly it because it was just,
I mean, I'm not,
I was never into this thinking like, oh,
I'm going to be, you know,
I'm going to make money.
That's why we don't have nine to fives,
man.
No, so, but, I mean, I just,
for me,
just wanted to see this stuff done because
there's, like, for me, it's like,
as soon as I get a book back
from the printer,
there's no better feeling like opening up
the book and reading it.
Oh, yeah, I imagine.
You know, so, they had, okay, finally,
I was just finding this.
Here's the cover to issue one.
Dude,
that's so cool seeing it without the color
and without the, you know,
all the effects and stuff like that added
into it.
So, okay,
sort of funny story behind this is that,
so I did a bunch of new Mercy
Devil covers and I had to get Lucha
Mystery One done because I had the
convention to go to right away.
So I was like, oh,
what do I do?
What do I do?
So I was like, okay, background sky.
It's at night.
leave leave room for the logo and stuff
like that and just like draw the battle
royals Alfonso in the chat just calling
dibs on everything you throw on the screen
is like boobs it's like the um Finding
Nemo the seagulls mine sure mine I'll take
it'll take I'll take good care of it
so um yeah like um yeah that uh
That was the thing with Studio Commons.
Just to introduce me to more people and
stuff.
It's like Toronto's the second largest,
or I'm sorry,
fourth largest city in North America.
Yeah.
It's quite a significant difference from
Winnipeg.
It's worked for a lot of different,
or done work for a lot of different
publishing companies.
Antarctic Press, Dynamite, Tidal Wave,
Marcosia, which we're very familiar with.
I've had several people on from Marcosia.
Snake, Mike, who does Zip Comic.
I like what they're doing over there.
They have a great library of books.
They've also done work for Big Bang Comets
and many, many more.
There was a list.
I could sit here and name them for
another ten minutes probably.
What did that freelancing teach you along
the way?
Okay, very good question.
For the most part, really good.
I guess made me realize my strengths and
weaknesses.
If I do freelance and depending what they
want me to do,
like they just want to cover or what
have you, no problem.
Like that's fine.
That's actually kind of my preferred thing
if they want a story or stuff.
For example,
working with Drew Edwards was really...
waiting for this uh drew edwards was like
really good and just like he'd sort of
work marvel method so he just write up
the plot of what happens on the page
and then just lets me do whatever so
and then he's never really asked for any
changes or anything he's always happy with
it so i i kind of like that
like let me let me direct the book
like you tell me what's happening and i'll
i'll shoot it for you or i'll draw
it for you
Yeah, I'll set it up and stuff.
And, you know,
because it's my job to like sell the
book in terms of like the image of
it, you know, so like, you know,
you see.
um just something that's like eye-catching
but yet tells the story so um there
there was that that i had to learn
with um freelance um for the most part
it was like pretty pretty fun you know
like there were some times that it just
was not fun but it can all be
winners i'm glad you brought that up so
were there any publishers that like just
pushed you to like the point where you
were just like
now I'm done with this shit or then
just unrealistic, you know, like, Hey,
I need, you know, this, this day.
And it's like, dude,
you want me to do what by tomorrow,
you know, or anything like that?
Um, I had a few, um,
where I just, you know, I did,
I did my part of saying what I
said I was going to do and just,
um,
Sometimes it doesn't work out.
I don't lose sleep over it.
I just do what I do,
get my money, thank you, and that's it.
That's what it's all about at the end
of the day, right?
Yeah.
Sometimes it just doesn't work out.
If it doesn't work out, well,
it's unfortunate,
but I'm not going to dwell on it.
That's another reason why I do my own
books.
So do you adapt your work to fit
different styles and needs from these
publishers?
I mean,
I know currently now you're doing your own
thing.
You're writing your own stuff,
which is really dope,
and I would love to see that kind
of stuff.
But when you were doing work for, say,
I don't know, Dynamite, were they like,
hey,
we want it done this way in this
style or kind of like this?
Oh, man, yeah.
No, the Dynamite one was, oh, geez,
that was back in –
back then like they were yeah i might
we have today where they have all the
old og like publications they're doing now
like yeah and everything else yeah right
no i would i um it was uh
i guess friend of mine was he got
them to it was a thing called war
of the independence and i guess it was
like a friend of a friend
news was like hey i need something drawn
i was like no problem so i drew
it and that was pretty much it for
me yeah it's just like a one pager
kind of thing but it's published so uh
hey dude that's something man it was the
character called bounty hunter and there
was the character the living corpse like
okay and i think so yeah i did
i did just draw like a one page
kind of thing um wasn't too wasn't too
crazy about the coloring job but hey it's
not my hill to die on
uh i just sort of like for the
most part like freelance like i'm just a
hired gun kind of thing so i don't
really yeah and most like most uh people
that i work with they already know like
what they're getting into so it's like
this is how it's like you know i
kind of do it like i kind of
have like lucha mystery looking a little
bit different from from murder city devil
but you know it's still an inquiry you
could tell who the artist is though yeah
right yeah so um
It's funny.
When you start reading comics and you
start finding people that you really like
from an art perspective,
whether it be a cover artist that does
pure covers or guys who do interiors,
you start recognizing their work on the
shelf.
You walk in and you walk to the
back to the comics and you're like, oh,
there's a David Nakayama or…
Hey, that's a Kirkham right there.
You just start to know who certain artists
are and you can just look at the
work on the shelf and go, Oh,
that's this person.
Oh, that's this person.
Oh, that's this person.
And it's crazy now that like,
I'm like really, really into,
into comics to where I'm at now.
And I'm like,
it's crazy walking in and being like, Oh,
that, that one looks like this person.
And you pick it up and you flip
it and you're like, Oh,
it is that person.
You're like Adam Hughes.
I mean,
I love his work, man.
I love his work.
He's one of those like anything he does
that gets a foil,
I will probably get it because the way
he does his work and then when they
put the foil on top of it,
his work looks so amazing as foils.
Oh, yeah, well,
I like I think it was like back
in the early two thousands, like, sorry,
folks,
but I'm not really like a video game
person.
But I bought a video game magazine because
he just because he had the artwork in
it.
So I was like,
I want to get this artwork.
So yeah, like, yeah, that was, you know,
kind of going up my wheelhouse there.
But yeah, like, for me,
do you have any dream collaborations on
your list that you're like,
I want to do this one before,
you know, I'm dead and gone?
Oh, well,
there's one artist named Erica Hesse.
Hi, Erica,
that I've collaborated with just recently
doing some cover for Lucha Mystery Three.
She was inking it.
We're trying to do like a Terry Rachel
Dodson kind of thing.
What else?
For Dream Collaboration.
I don't know.
I haven't really thought of it.
I mean,
there's a lot of good indie creators.
I'm just pretty much game for it.
Like, anyone's like, hey,
you want to work on this?
Yeah, okay.
Yeah, no, I get that.
Yeah.
I'm not...
I don't know, because, I mean, if there's,
like, people I admired, it's, like,
I almost wouldn't want to because it's,
like, I can't add anything to it.
You know, like, it's, I'm not...
I want to see Adam Hughes,
one of my favorite artists,
but I'd rather just see him do his
own thing.
I'm with you, dude.
As much as it would be cool for
him to go... If I ever did something,
Adam Hughes said, hey, can I do this?
I'm like, no,
but I'd love your work too much to
see it go.
Mark Spears, for instance.
I'm a huge Mark Spears guy.
The way he does villains is like...
I don't know what it is about the
way Mark Spears does a villain, but...
It's like everything in his body and soul
goes into drawing the villains that he
gets to do.
And I'm just like, dude,
every time I see Mark Spears' cover, A,
you know it's his cover.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And B,
it's like it's coming home with me because
it's Mark Spears' cover and his villains
are just top notch.
Like, I don't know what it is.
Oh, yeah.
He could draw a superhero.
Don't get me wrong.
Yeah.
But the work he puts into villains is
like the tip of the spear,
in my opinion.
Nobody does it better than him when it
comes to doing a villain.
Yeah, yeah.
I saw the thing Spears, I think,
did something on Instagram where he did
like a spring-heeled jack pin-up or
something.
And I was just like...
again it's public domain so it's like i
didn't create the character i have a
character based on him but it's you know
you can do whatever but i saw it
and i was like oh my god it's
amazing but it was terrifying you know
it's just like don't it's not something
you put in a dark room and turn
on the lights right away so you are
you're talking about the covers he did for
his book monster yeah yeah i think yeah
yeah yeah no that book is amazing so
you know that started life out as a
card game
oh okay no i did not know that
he took his card game and made it
into a comic book he was originally
crowdfunding it through kickstarter and
then the queen spy picked it up okay
oh okay right right yeah okay that's how
that happened yeah
And like I said, Mark Spears, my dude,
I love everything he does,
especially if there's a villain on the
cover.
Yeah.
Basically straight up villains on the
cover.
So, and they were his villains that,
you know,
they're all public domain type stuff.
That's why, you know, and I'm just like,
dude, I'll yeah.
Mark Spears is my guy when it comes
to a villain.
Like you need a villain on the cover.
Mark Spears.
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I mean,
they're beating in a perfect world.
I, um,
Actually, interesting you mention that,
because I do have, down the road,
I want to have just a Murder City
Devil pin-up book.
And I've already gotten some artist
friends already doing pin-ups.
That would be dope.
Yeah,
so I got Stephen Butler from Sonic the
Hedgehog Artist,
but also a Marvel Comics artist.
He did the Scarlet Spider and Silver Sable
and stuff.
He did a pin-up,
and I didn't even ask him.
He's like, oh, I just like the character,
and he drew it.
Oh, hang on.
i just had a i'm trying to remember
the name of the artist but i have
one of his books right here that's why
i'm like reaching over this is from last
week i'm just looking for the out right
here jimmy palmiati okay yeah his pinups
because he did um the pop kill okay
like his work is just amazing yeah i
had i yeah like i had um
Stephen Butler did one.
Artist Dana Black did a pinup.
Let's see, Todd Mizia.
Hopefully I'm saying your last name right,
Todd.
I'm sorry.
And Brett Wood all did like pinups.
And I'm like,
I got to get some more.
That's going to be dope, man.
Actually.
Yeah.
I know Zenscope does a lot.
They take all their characters at the end
of the year and they do bikini specials
with them.
They do pin-up specials with them.
They do a monthly calendar with all their
characters.
They're one of the few companies that do
it that way.
I know Marvel does their yearly swimsuit
issues and stuff like that.
But to me,
Zenscope does it better than anybody else.
yeah they got their they got the really
got the uh the handle on the ladies
so they do they do and it's kind
of what they're known for and that's okay
you have your own identity and they have
their own identity so i don't fault them
for it somebody's got to do it and
it's gonna sell someone's gonna well yeah
i mean they got they really cornered the
market on cheesecake there so you know and
that
fine and here's the thing is like there's
this this is why i like comics because
there's something for everyone from all
walks of life from everyone you know like
you can say that probably every single
show yeah right and and it's like um
i don't for me personally if there's a
book i don't care for you know what
i do then i don't read it don't
read it yeah you know like i made
it through eight issues of absolute flash
before i was just like i've lost all
interest in this now
Listen, I... And I canceled it.
I'm like,
I don't want to see it no more.
I stuck with, because I'm Canadian,
Alpha Flight to the bitter end on their
first run.
I stuck with Jetson.
You're a glutton, my man.
I stuck with Justice League Europe until
the bitter end.
I don't know.
Why would you do that to yourself?
Because I thought maybe it would pick up
and get better.
I can't say nothing because I've stuck
with Butts way longer than I should have.
Finally,
you go to read that one issue where
it's supposed to pick back up again and
you're like, this is garbage.
Case in point, Daredevil.
I'm not going to say the name of
the book because it's still ongoing.
I'll say the name of the book.
I just did Daredevil.
This was in the nineties when he was
getting into the gray costume with the
armor or whatever, which was like, okay,
that's neat.
I didn't like the costume.
like I didn't mind change but it's like
could you at least have a story that
makes sense yeah I did like I enjoyed
that I don't I don't read a lot
of Marvel Comics or a lot of DC
but I really really enjoyed Erica
Schultz's run on Daredevil okay never
haven't read it yet but it was amazing
she did it was I think it was
six issues okay because it was the um
the mature audience one in the poly bag
Oh.
So it had the blood, the violence,
the cussing.
Yeah.
It was an unadulterated daredevil.
Okay.
And it was just an amazing, amazing run.
Elektra pits up the mantle once again.
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It was really good.
And to me,
Erica Schultz is an underrated writer
because she also does Rat City for Todd
McFarlane's Spawn.
Oh, yeah.
And I've heard that.
There's so much that.
I haven't kept up with the literature,
and I'm trying to,
so now I'm just trying to buy as
much trade.
It's hard, dude.
I have a, like, these boxes are,
these are all, like, they've been read,
but I have another box at my feet
of stuff that I'm, like...
in the process of reading and i always
keep like two or three of the same
book in the box okay the way when
the new one comes in i read the
issue before and then read the next one
if it's like a monthly book because you're
like it's been a month i forgot what's
going on yeah yeah
So you pick it back up and you
read, read last month and you're like,
okay.
And then you pick up the new one
and you read it.
Then it goes to a permanent box,
you know, it goes to a permanent home.
That's how I've always done it.
I always keep like one to two months
of the same book.
That way I can go back and read
because some of the books, like I said,
are some are monthly.
Some are like,
every other month and some take a pause
for like six months and you're like,
did this book just die?
All of a sudden you're like, oh,
it's back.
I'm like, well, who's writing it now?
Oh, it's the same person,
but they just took a six month break
from this book to focus on another book.
Whatever works.
I don't make deadlines.
was a was it when kevin smith did
the black cat comic like back in like
yeah whatever yeah like five years ago and
like just the i think it was like
issue the first three issues were great
and like the dodson's drew it so it's
really nice but like issue four or five
or whatever just like never came out until
like i don't know if it was like
eight years later or something or what
actually yeah they got busy with movies
I guess it, you know, it happens.
I wanted to talk, though, like, I mean,
I really,
and I apologize to anyone reading those
wanting to have Murder City Devil V or
Lucha Mystery IV come out.
They will in twenty twenty six,
because obviously it's the end of December
now.
Yeah.
Are we talking first quarter twenty twenty
six or?
I'm hoping I'm hoping I got I have
I have Murder City Devil V is penciled.
I just got to ink it and then
I got to get it colored and then
Kickstarter is go.
I'm glad you brought that up because walk
us through that creative process from
blank page to finished comic.
Are you a traditional guy?
Are you a traditional and digital guy?
How do you normally do it?
I usually just do some thumbnail sketches.
I have it here on my drafting table,
just really rough stuff.
Here's an illustration I'm working on
right now.
This is for a cover for Luchadores vs.
Everybody.
I'm trying to remember the publisher now.
The moment you mention it,
somebody's like, I'm waiting for it, man.
Yeah.
I like it.
Dude,
anytime you get hype behind your book and
people are hopping in going, dude,
where is Murray City Devil?
Yeah, I do have that in it.
So I'll just clean up the pencils and
then I'll just ink it directly on the
page here, like on the board.
because i know people who do the ink
on the paper or the drawing on the
paper and then they scan it and then
do the colors digitally that way they can
add more depth and they can start you
know if something messes up they can go
back and kind of redo it yeah well
that like i mean for me it's it's
like i'll have it uh you know just
ink the page and then i'll scan it
in and send it to diego vasquez and
then he colors it and then sends it
back and then um i take like um
i'll just like i'll do the lettering on
computer because like my hand my hand
lettering is atrocious um so and plus i
want people to read the damn thing yeah
it's gonna be legible yeah and so um
and i just don't have the imagination to
be a good letterer in terms of like
sound effects and stuff like that have you
not thought about like getting somebody
else to do the lettering or i have
um it's just it comes down to cost
you know what i mean so like i
mean i know exactly but i
I was thinking of doing my own coloring,
but Diego just does everything.
We've worked so long together,
and I don't really have to babysit him
or anything like that.
Yeah,
just hand him the page and let him
go.
Yeah,
and he's really good at lighting things,
so I really like that.
And we just work well together.
so um yeah like and i i tried
to do everything myself just because
that's i'm just really picky too so um
you know according to alfonso diego is a
machine yeah coloring he's locked away
he's in the closet out at alfonso's studio
he's just in there man
it was funny just a quick collaboration on
the lucha mystery number three cover which
i don't have the art because i sent
it to erica to ink but it's funny
i just realized like it's all north
american because it's like i'm canadian
erica's in the states and uh and diego's
in mexico so that's dope though this is
a nafta cover
I know I just had Matt Hasso on
here.
Okay, yeah.
And Heartstroke,
the artist that did Quickwire,
he's from Mexico as well.
Okay, right.
Really good, really great artists.
That's another thing about comics is that
you just meet great people.
Dude,
South America to me is a hotbed right
now.
And I'm not just talking about Mexico.
I'm talking about the entirety of South
America.
Oh, South America, yeah, yeah.
Argentinian artist Francisco Nilo,
great friend of mine.
I just had Steve Bino from Comets Asylum
on here with his comic book, Atrium.
and the artist on that book is a
brazilian okay yeah so yeah this has been
like my year of awakening since i started
doing like pure indie comic stuff and i
i've loved it man it's been amazing like
italian artist and so i'm getting to meet
all these really amazing people from all
over the world and uh see their work
and i'm just like dude there's so many
great people out there not just like
within our bubble,
you got to break open your bubble and
like kind of let yourself explore the
world.
Yeah, you got it.
And that's the thing.
And like we were talking about before,
it's like comics is like for everybody.
And honestly, I think like if anything,
comics brings more people together that
you otherwise would not talk to.
I mean, I don't know.
Lately,
there was like some fighting and stuff.
That's fine.
It's really not.
That's like a yearly thing that happens,
though.
There's always going to be one or two
artists beefing or.
Yeah, you know, and it's like, yeah,
stuff doesn't work.
I mean, that's what that's why, you know,
you just take them to court then,
I guess,
and deal with it as opposed to bitching
about it online.
So this is the question that I ask
everybody, literally everybody.
And the answer is almost always the same
with a variation to it.
Sure.
That is advice for creators trying to
break into indie comments today.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
Uh, Hey indie creators.
So you have a book.
Good.
No, I would say, honestly, though,
just finish it.
Finish your books.
Just finish your books.
It's not going to be,
I wasted about a good decade trying to
be a perfectionist.
Just finish your books.
You will get better and better as time
goes on.
And just finish your books and just go
on to the next one.
And just, you know,
if you have an idea in your head,
get it out there and, you know,
share it with the world and, you know.
to say, this is what's on my mind.
This is what I find entertaining.
And like I said before, earlier,
one of the best feelings,
especially if you're a creator,
is getting your books back from the
printer and flipping through it and just
reading it.
I can't imagine the smell.
The moment you open the box and that
new comic book smell just wafts into the
air.
like dude that to me would be like
one of these days i'm gonna sit down
and commit to writing a comic book yeah
well now i have another book i want
to write but um there's a there's one
i'm currently i'm i'm hashing out ideas
and thoughts and brain cells on right now
and hopefully in january or february
I've already got my artist and we'll sit
down and actually start putting it
together in that timeframe.
That's going to be a very fun project.
It's probably going to be five to six
books on that one.
Okay.
Starting with a zero.
So technically I guess it would be seven.
Yeah, right.
But we are definitely going to start with
the issue zero to tell a backstory before
we go into the modern day.
But yeah.
I can't wait just to open that box
and just the new comic book smell.
It's like one of my favorite smells in
the world.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like going into an indie bookstore or a
bookstore, like an old one.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, I can see there's a,
there's a few.
Yeah.
That some were kind of like, yeah,
I'm a bookstore.
And others like, Oh God,
is this a bookstore?
There's two people,
two different people in the world, right?
Those that love it.
And those that are like,
this smells like ass.
Yeah.
Moldy ass in here.
I know one or two bookstores here.
I know one that I won't even go
to because I was just like,
that ain't book smell.
What the hell is that?
Again,
it's just sometimes more questions than
answers.
Let's do a quick hit section.
And the first thing comes to your head
when I ask the question.
All right.
Okay.
Favorite comic creator of all time.
Oh, Jesus.
And it can't be Jesus, all right?
Talking about real people.
No, I'm just kidding.
All right.
Settle down, folks.
Comic creator?
Yeah, man.
This is a rapid-fire section of the
interview.
No, it's not.
You're not even supposed to be wasting
brain cells on this.
You're just supposed to fire it off.
Hey, comic creator, Jaime Hernandez.
Okay.
One book every indie creator should read.
Mouse.
Character you wish you created.
Murder City Devil and Ray Diablo and Queen
Rock.
Oh, wait, I did.
I like that answer, dude.
Hell no, that's a perfect answer.
I'm so glad you did that.
That's my heel turn.
The next one was coffee or energy drink,
but you've been pounding coffee since we
went live.
Yeah, right.
Conflor Hustle or Online Grind?
The Comic-Con floor or just grinding
online and selling books through
Kickstarter in that way?
Personally,
I'm a Comic-Con guy just to meet people
and introduce your book and yourself to
people.
yeah um i'd have to sorry i'd have
to say online grind just the fact that
i love meeting people but i don't have
that i don't have the art of the
pitch because i'm also drawing usually at
conventions yeah by doing sketches so it's
sort of like you have to be too
difficult yeah so i mean i can still
talk and and draw but usually i'm drawing
so online grind yeah you gotta bring in
a pitch man with you to the con
floor
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Well, it's usually just buy this.
It's good.
Buy my book.
Yeah, right.
Hmm.
I said buy my book.
Yeah, buy my book.
Idiot.
Idiot.
Just buy the book, you idiot.
You just made the list.
That was dear to me.
Yeah.
All right, dude.
Plug your social media and tell everybody
where they can find you.
All right, folks.
So if you want issues of Murder City
Devil and or Lucha Mystery,
you can go to studiocomicspress.ca.
You can go to my website,
Cyclone Comics Studios,
which is Cyclone spelled P-S-L-O-N-E.
P-S-Y-C-L-O-N-E for Cyclone Comic Studios.
And you can have all the links there
to purchase my books.
And yeah, like I said,
studiocomicspress.ca.
You can also go to globalcomics with an
X.
for the digital versions where you can get
those.
And yeah,
just check out the books and give me
some feedback.
Tell me what you like about them,
what you don't like about them.
All those links he just mentioned are in
the description of this video right now.
It will also be on the re-release of
the video when it gets re-released.
So there'll be no excuse to where you
can't find Evan.
It'll be easy.
It's going to be a link.
Just click it.
But check him out.
Great stuff.
I've had the opportunity to read his
books.
And I'm like everybody else now.
I'm like, when am I getting issue five,
bro?
OK, come on.
So this has been Evan,
creator of Murder City Devil,
Lucha Mystery, support Indie Comics,
support creator owned worlds.
And this is the chairman and the Council
of Nerds.
is adjourned.