WEBVTT

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You are listening to the USDN on the

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DFPN.

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Thank you.

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Oh, busted.

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I was banging my head to the music.

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Oh,

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this thing is not wanting to cooperate

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this morning.

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I have no idea what's going on.

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I'm still trying to get everything shared.

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Give me just a second.

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I do apologize.

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Must be a Saturday morning.

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What is up, everybody?

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And welcome to the United States

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Department of Nerds,

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where we are for the people,

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by the people and of the people in

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a world of airships,

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dragons and untold legends.

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Some creators don't just tell stories.

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They build the world's pieces by pieces

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and layers by layers from sound to script

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to the very lettering on the page.

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Today's guest

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is a creator who understands that

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storytelling is more than words.

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It's experience.

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And today,

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we're diving into a world of Dragon

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Whisperer,

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a steampunk fantasy epic filled with

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dragons, mystery, and deep world building.

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Ladies and gentlemen,

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the Council of Nerds is now in session.

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Alex, welcome to the USDN from Italy.

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Thank you for having me.

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I'm in Italy right now.

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Yes, indeed.

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So if the audio or the video gets

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a little weird on us,

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he's in Italy having a good time with

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this family doing a little European

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travel.

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But Alex,

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let's jump into this from the beginning.

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What pulled you into storytelling and

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comics?

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Oh, gosh.

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From from a well,

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from a very young age,

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I have I have a brother who's eight

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years older than me and

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in upstate New York, in Rochester,

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New York,

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right next to where my dad used to

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work,

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there was a kind of a newsstand store.

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And I never knew that a comic shop

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was a store,

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but so I was a really little kid.

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This is the early seventies.

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I'm going to give away a little bit

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of my age and

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And, you know, and I was like,

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my brother went into the store.

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So I went into this store and we

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made a beeline right to the corner where

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the where the comics were.

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It was just it was all relegated to

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a corner.

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It's one of those newsprint stores where

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you can just go in there and you

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could you could smell it.

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Just all that.

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I love that smell.

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Yeah.

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That newspaper on that newsprint on ink on

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cheap paper kind of thing.

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And then there they were, you know,

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comics that if I had every single one

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of them.

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I'd be a rich man.

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And I don't.

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But I had them then.

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And, you know,

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we didn't know that they were valuable.

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So, okay, so that was the beginning.

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I mean,

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I saw this completely unique medium.

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It wasn't television.

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It wasn't movies.

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It wasn't books.

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It was its very own thing.

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It had a storytelling in it.

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But there's a complete uniqueness to the

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medium of comics.

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And then

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it completely hooked me.

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It hooked me as it did kids of

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every generation before that,

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that this is amazing.

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This is like,

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what is this beautiful magic that is

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completely making my brain explode?

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And then I was hooked.

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That was it.

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This, there was,

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this was not a fad for me and

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it wasn't something I liked.

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It was a new way of life.

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And, uh,

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And then I just continued.

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I never stopped.

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I had lulls, you know, as one does,

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but I was always into comics.

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And then it got to the point where

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I was looking at the credits.

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Okay, there's an artist.

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I like that artist.

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There's a letterer.

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I like that person's letters.

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And there's a writer.

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I like that person's writing.

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So I said, okay,

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there's human beings with brains that do

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this.

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then and then i said okay and then

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fast forward to a more mature alex i

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said i like that person's writing and i

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sought that person chris claremont i mean

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come on yeah yeah john john byrne whoa

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tom orzkowski on the letters um and you

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know and um and uh terry austin on

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inks it's like all right

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This is good.

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And then Frank Miller happened.

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And then, whoa.

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And then Jim Shooter, to me,

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Jim Shooter was the editor-in-chief of

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Marvel during a formative time for me in

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which there was a noticeable direction

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towards story.

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Jim Shooter, rest in peace,

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he was a hard nose with his management

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style.

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But look at what happened.

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He made a Marvel

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of my generation.

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And that was it.

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And then I said, let me try this.

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I'm not very good at drawing,

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but let me try writing stuff and then

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lettering stuff.

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And then I discovered the British invasion

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of comic book writers.

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And at the top of that pyramid was

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Alan Moore.

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Alan Moore was the kind of like,

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you know, I play the guitar.

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You see this guitar here.

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And I can look at guitar players and

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sing Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page.

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Okay, no problem.

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Dude, royalty.

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Right.

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But then there's other guitar players that

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are like, nah, I'm not going to try.

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You're from another planet,

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but I'm going to listen.

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Alan Moore was that to me.

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He inspired me, but he was like,

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What are you on?

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I don't think...

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He was probably on a lot back then.

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Yeah, he was, yeah.

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So then I got into writing in earnest

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in the early nineties.

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And then, you know,

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I submitted to my fingers to the bone.

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I could barely afford artists,

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but I afforded a few pages.

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And then one thing led to another.

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Then I got, you know, my first...

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Just the door opened just that much with

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a gentleman by the name of Jimmy Robinson

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who had an independent comic.

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He later went on to some minor fame

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with Image Comics.

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He did Bomb Queen and various things.

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And I wrote on the coattails of that.

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Then one thing led to another.

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And then here I am, you know,

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writing some more comics.

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So I got to ask, though,

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what's your favorite Alec Moore comic?

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My favorite Alan Moore comic.

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It's probably a tie between all of them,

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but no, that's not true.

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V for Vendetta is sort of like the

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pinnacle.

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It's the kind of read where you're one

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man at...

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the opening,

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you're one man at the cover and you're

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a different man when you turn the last

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page.

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It's that impactful.

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And after reading it, you put it down,

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it's kind of like, okay, whoa.

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And you're breathing hard.

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Watchmen, of course.

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And I have a soft spot for From

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Hell also.

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I really love From Hell.

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and the Jack the Ripper story and the

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meticulous research that went into it.

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So I would say... And the movie.

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The movie was good, too.

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I thought the movie did really well

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compared to the comic as well.

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Yeah, I liked the movie.

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I liked the movie, but it couldn't...

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It was impossible in two hours to delve

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into the depth of the comic.

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But I did like the movie.

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It wasn't bad as far as adaptations go.

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But V for Vendetta,

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which is also a movie I liked,

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That one is heavy.

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And of course, Watchmen.

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You know, it's like, you play the guitar,

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yes.

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Do you like Jimi Hendrix?

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Yeah.

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So, you know, you like Eddie Van Halen?

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Yeah.

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So that's what Watchmen is.

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It's like, you don't like Watchmen...

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don't know you you didn't read it then

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so yeah no and and my daughter had

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just recently read that as well and she

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was like dad this is intense i was

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like yeah now go watch the movie

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But you named mine and then you left

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off Swamp Thing because that's the other

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one on my tier list with him.

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I absolutely love Swamp Thing run.

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I love Swamp Thing.

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Yeah, it's true.

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I love Swamp Thing as well.

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I just got the slip case entire edition.

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It's great.

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Yeah.

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I recently just seen that one,

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but I've been doing the Omnibuses on that

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one for years and years and years now

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because when I was in the service,

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I didn't collect anything.

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I just...

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It was one of those where I got

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away from it when I joined and picked

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it back up.

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And then I've been trying to pick up

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stuff that I didn't get to read in

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that time frame.

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And Swamp Thing's just always been the one

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of them.

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And that and Hellblazer and anything from

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that era of comics, the Vertigo era.

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I've been picking up slowly but surely,

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but I'm at that point now where it's

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getting really expensive to pick up,

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and I'm just like,

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I think I might be good.

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Everything else is up there in the price,

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and I'm like, I think I'm good.

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There's one comic book I'm still after,

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and I don't care if it's slabbed or

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raw or whatever.

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okay condition and that's the um first

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appearance of constantine or constantine

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however you want to say his name in

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swamp name that's the one comic like my

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one holy grail that i do not have

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yet now have it as part of a

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compendium or omnibus however you want to

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classify them as yeah but i want the

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solo i want the single issue of that

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one that's like my holy grail that i

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do not have right now it's out there

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it's out there i should also say i

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can also say that um

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Neil Gaiman was an enormous influence on

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me and The Sandman and everything else

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that he wrote.

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He kind of couldn't write anything bad,

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and he was just a magnificent,

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magnificent writer,

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and he was a big influence on my

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writing as a writer,

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as the writer Neil Gaiman.

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Let's specify that,

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the writer Neil Gaiman, not the person.

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The person, as we found out later,

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was not a –

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Doesn't seem to be a good person,

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but from a writer's standpoint,

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absolute freaking genius.

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Yeah, he's a genius.

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He's got something that other people

00:12:33.490 --> 00:12:36.033
don't, and it shows.

00:12:36.092 --> 00:12:37.714
He's that good.

00:12:37.734 --> 00:12:39.596
I think Tinian may be on that level

00:12:39.875 --> 00:12:41.216
or approaching that level.

00:12:41.236 --> 00:12:43.359
Oh, yeah.

00:12:43.418 --> 00:12:43.599
Yeah.

00:12:44.298 --> 00:12:44.717
You're right.

00:12:44.937 --> 00:12:45.239
You're right.

00:12:45.418 --> 00:12:45.918
Yeah, Tinian.

00:12:46.259 --> 00:12:48.500
I haven't read as much of his work,

00:12:48.581 --> 00:12:51.883
but yeah, he is a great writer.

00:12:51.982 --> 00:12:53.102
He is a great writer, yeah.

00:12:53.703 --> 00:12:54.864
I think that man at this point can

00:12:54.884 --> 00:12:56.404
slap his name on a coloring book,

00:12:56.504 --> 00:12:57.145
and I'd be like, yeah,

00:12:57.166 --> 00:13:00.727
let me get that.

00:13:00.748 --> 00:13:01.128
Yeah.

00:13:01.148 --> 00:13:02.428
So you've worked across music,

00:13:02.548 --> 00:13:05.250
audio engineering, lettering, and writing.

00:13:06.071 --> 00:13:07.831
Were comics always kind of like your end

00:13:07.932 --> 00:13:12.215
goal, or did that evolve over time?

00:13:12.254 --> 00:13:13.495
Comics was...

00:13:15.143 --> 00:13:18.184
sort of like the Jupiter in my solar

00:13:18.225 --> 00:13:18.565
system.

00:13:20.346 --> 00:13:22.727
It was the biggest thing for me.

00:13:22.807 --> 00:13:24.629
Being a musician was big.

00:13:25.929 --> 00:13:28.851
You know, there are different mediums.

00:13:29.631 --> 00:13:30.533
Being a musician,

00:13:32.553 --> 00:13:34.274
one could pick up their instrument and

00:13:34.315 --> 00:13:35.916
play it in front of a person.

00:13:36.836 --> 00:13:37.576
You're a musician.

00:13:39.878 --> 00:13:43.561
And it's a very self...

00:13:45.109 --> 00:13:50.033
self-made art form insofar as you can

00:13:50.092 --> 00:13:53.475
start completely at the bottom and work

00:13:53.495 --> 00:13:56.857
your way up and the doors are slightly

00:13:56.977 --> 00:13:59.519
easier to open and then what happened was

00:13:59.580 --> 00:14:00.681
I got a lot of then that was

00:14:00.721 --> 00:14:03.263
the house band in a restaurant for for

00:14:03.322 --> 00:14:05.804
ten years it was like one or two

00:14:05.845 --> 00:14:06.745
gigs a week and

00:14:08.254 --> 00:14:08.953
at a restaurant.

00:14:08.974 --> 00:14:10.014
So it was a very quiet thing.

00:14:10.034 --> 00:14:10.934
We were sitting down,

00:14:10.995 --> 00:14:12.775
we were doing the mellow,

00:14:12.816 --> 00:14:13.716
jazzy kind of thing.

00:14:13.756 --> 00:14:15.238
And that was great.

00:14:15.298 --> 00:14:19.399
So I achieved a modicum of success in

00:14:19.460 --> 00:14:19.820
music.

00:14:19.899 --> 00:14:20.500
I made money.

00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:21.900
It was a supplemental income.

00:14:23.501 --> 00:14:25.923
It made a really big difference in my

00:14:25.984 --> 00:14:27.323
wallet.

00:14:27.485 --> 00:14:28.225
So that was great.

00:14:28.284 --> 00:14:29.546
And I achieved great things.

00:14:29.586 --> 00:14:31.767
I was in lots of other cover bands.

00:14:31.826 --> 00:14:33.148
I was in a children's music group.

00:14:33.488 --> 00:14:35.948
I did really well with music.

00:14:35.969 --> 00:14:36.769
With comics,

00:14:38.020 --> 00:14:39.883
I don't know if the word gatekeeping is

00:14:40.163 --> 00:14:41.403
necessarily the term,

00:14:41.485 --> 00:14:43.706
but there are mountains you have to climb

00:14:43.726 --> 00:14:45.248
and doors you have to open to be

00:14:45.408 --> 00:14:45.889
seen.

00:14:47.571 --> 00:14:52.635
And they're an ongoing expense.

00:14:54.677 --> 00:14:55.457
Before digital,

00:14:55.938 --> 00:14:58.481
and I'm of the print era and I'm

00:14:58.501 --> 00:14:59.643
always going to be of the print era

00:14:59.682 --> 00:15:00.884
and comics are going to be in print.

00:15:02.491 --> 00:15:03.812
Yeah,

00:15:03.993 --> 00:15:05.693
and I appreciate reading something on a

00:15:05.754 --> 00:15:06.173
tablet.

00:15:06.254 --> 00:15:07.774
It's great, and it's immediate,

00:15:08.294 --> 00:15:09.855
and I appreciate everybody that does it.

00:15:10.456 --> 00:15:13.136
It's just, maybe it's generational.

00:15:13.216 --> 00:15:14.037
But comics,

00:15:14.298 --> 00:15:17.879
you have to surpass certain things more

00:15:17.938 --> 00:15:19.399
so, I would say, than music.

00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:21.360
You have to be good enough,

00:15:21.701 --> 00:15:23.100
you have to be noticeable enough,

00:15:24.142 --> 00:15:25.341
and you have to be lucky.

00:15:26.863 --> 00:15:27.763
It's just,

00:15:28.043 --> 00:15:29.063
you have to be in the right place

00:15:29.083 --> 00:15:29.823
at the right time.

00:15:30.544 --> 00:15:30.745
So,

00:15:31.928 --> 00:15:33.690
So that, that was a mountain.

00:15:33.970 --> 00:15:36.030
That was my biggest mountain that I always

00:15:36.071 --> 00:15:38.332
wanted to serve, you know, summit.

00:15:38.393 --> 00:15:42.294
Oh, a hundred percent.

00:15:43.054 --> 00:15:44.316
And you're right about the gatekeeping

00:15:44.336 --> 00:15:44.576
thing.

00:15:44.635 --> 00:15:45.917
I hear a lot of people use that

00:15:45.956 --> 00:15:49.519
term and it's one of those where all

00:15:49.558 --> 00:15:51.899
the stars and the planets have to align

00:15:51.940 --> 00:15:54.120
on a single person for them to really

00:15:54.981 --> 00:15:55.981
be picked up.

00:15:56.381 --> 00:15:57.462
Otherwise you're getting a rejection

00:15:57.503 --> 00:15:57.743
letter.

00:15:58.923 --> 00:15:59.043
Yep.

00:16:00.332 --> 00:16:02.073
And it's wild today because I think all

00:16:02.234 --> 00:16:04.134
like anytime you're submitting to a

00:16:04.195 --> 00:16:05.995
company to try to get picked up for

00:16:06.035 --> 00:16:06.697
publication,

00:16:06.736 --> 00:16:07.897
I think it's all digital now too,

00:16:07.917 --> 00:16:08.577
which is wild.

00:16:09.638 --> 00:16:10.198
Yeah.

00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:12.399
The submission process for sure.

00:16:13.179 --> 00:16:14.961
Yeah.

00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:15.942
So let's,

00:16:16.501 --> 00:16:18.322
was there a defining moment for you where

00:16:18.383 --> 00:16:19.264
you kind of like,

00:16:19.303 --> 00:16:24.287
like this is what I'm going to do?

00:16:24.407 --> 00:16:26.508
Yes, there was.

00:16:28.535 --> 00:16:32.099
When writers, comic writers,

00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:33.659
for the most part, write a script.

00:16:33.681 --> 00:16:35.701
There's the Marvel way of doing things,

00:16:35.741 --> 00:16:38.424
quote unquote, but I wrote scripts.

00:16:39.225 --> 00:16:41.326
And I just wrote scripts until my fingers

00:16:41.346 --> 00:16:41.788
were bloody.

00:16:42.447 --> 00:16:46.191
But then when an artist, a good artist,

00:16:46.392 --> 00:16:50.934
for the first time took my script,

00:16:51.316 --> 00:16:52.015
interpreted it,

00:16:52.236 --> 00:16:55.418
and gave me back their interpretation of

00:16:55.499 --> 00:16:56.019
my script,

00:16:58.198 --> 00:17:00.440
So I saw another person's point of view

00:17:00.500 --> 00:17:02.120
of what I had in my head,

00:17:02.539 --> 00:17:03.679
and it was completely different.

00:17:04.421 --> 00:17:05.601
It was completely different,

00:17:06.441 --> 00:17:07.201
but it was better.

00:17:07.941 --> 00:17:10.301
It was like, what?

00:17:12.382 --> 00:17:14.042
This was in my brain and yet you

00:17:14.103 --> 00:17:14.782
interpreted it.

00:17:14.883 --> 00:17:17.584
And it was like the collaborative process

00:17:17.703 --> 00:17:18.923
and everything was just,

00:17:21.117 --> 00:17:23.259
It was, it was, um,

00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:24.840
I was hooked and I was addicted to

00:17:24.861 --> 00:17:26.722
the drug and it was like,

00:17:26.782 --> 00:17:27.663
this is it.

00:17:27.683 --> 00:17:28.223
This is it.

00:17:28.324 --> 00:17:28.503
You know,

00:17:28.545 --> 00:17:30.866
Jimmy Robinson with issues six of cyber

00:17:30.906 --> 00:17:32.188
zone, which is the issue that I wrote,

00:17:33.008 --> 00:17:34.249
that was like the turning point.

00:17:34.549 --> 00:17:35.150
And that was like,

00:17:35.430 --> 00:17:36.391
I held it in my hand.

00:17:36.510 --> 00:17:38.073
It was a floppy comic in the early

00:17:38.113 --> 00:17:38.512
nineties.

00:17:38.593 --> 00:17:41.015
And it's like, I did it.

00:17:41.695 --> 00:17:42.395
I made a comment.

00:17:42.797 --> 00:17:43.938
I didn't, and I didn't do it alone.

00:17:44.838 --> 00:17:47.759
um i didn't draw it i i if

00:17:47.779 --> 00:17:49.901
we get to it later there is something

00:17:49.941 --> 00:17:51.061
i'm doing art for but we'll get to

00:17:51.082 --> 00:17:53.383
it later but that was the moment that

00:17:53.403 --> 00:17:55.703
was the moment in which uh it was

00:17:55.723 --> 00:17:57.844
the early nineties in which somebody's art

00:17:58.845 --> 00:18:00.746
somebody an artist interpreted my script

00:18:01.026 --> 00:18:03.426
in comic book sequential art format and it

00:18:03.467 --> 00:18:06.387
was like i i can't believe it i

00:18:06.428 --> 00:18:08.648
can't believe it's real it it was like

00:18:09.429 --> 00:18:10.789
i it was like the greatest moment it

00:18:10.809 --> 00:18:11.289
was wonderful

00:18:12.636 --> 00:18:14.058
Dude, that's awesome.

00:18:15.301 --> 00:18:17.045
That's something that I'm looking to

00:18:17.105 --> 00:18:18.426
achieve here soon.

00:18:19.528 --> 00:18:19.849
Actually,

00:18:19.930 --> 00:18:22.734
I front loaded the front of my year

00:18:23.415 --> 00:18:24.156
unintentionally,

00:18:24.277 --> 00:18:25.259
but the

00:18:25.806 --> 00:18:28.347
My medium of work here kind of took

00:18:28.407 --> 00:18:28.929
off for me,

00:18:29.669 --> 00:18:33.372
and I become a requested commodity within

00:18:33.392 --> 00:18:34.313
the indie comic book world,

00:18:34.333 --> 00:18:35.554
which I'm so thankful for.

00:18:36.413 --> 00:18:39.277
And I did in the month of May,

00:18:39.396 --> 00:18:42.038
I'm slowing it down to allow myself time

00:18:42.078 --> 00:18:43.980
to actually write my very first comic

00:18:44.019 --> 00:18:44.260
book.

00:18:45.307 --> 00:18:48.568
And I'm excited to start that journey.

00:18:48.608 --> 00:18:50.049
I've already got my I talked to my

00:18:50.089 --> 00:18:51.230
artists pretty frequently.

00:18:51.269 --> 00:18:51.869
We're friends.

00:18:52.790 --> 00:18:54.131
And but it's something I'm definitely

00:18:54.171 --> 00:18:54.871
excited for.

00:18:54.931 --> 00:18:57.372
And I can't wait to have that feeling

00:18:57.412 --> 00:18:58.613
that you just described.

00:18:59.712 --> 00:19:02.013
It's just remember today,

00:19:02.733 --> 00:19:04.815
because you're you're awaiting that

00:19:04.894 --> 00:19:05.194
moment.

00:19:05.234 --> 00:19:08.296
But when it happens, that first page,

00:19:11.217 --> 00:19:11.576
you're just

00:19:13.036 --> 00:19:13.977
I can't believe it.

00:19:15.238 --> 00:19:16.118
It's magic.

00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:17.259
It's magic.

00:19:17.799 --> 00:19:18.540
It's just wonderful.

00:19:19.101 --> 00:19:19.842
It's just wonderful.

00:19:20.041 --> 00:19:21.222
And remember that moment.

00:19:21.363 --> 00:19:22.263
You will remember it,

00:19:22.304 --> 00:19:23.565
but I'm telling you to remember that

00:19:23.605 --> 00:19:23.884
moment.

00:19:23.904 --> 00:19:25.646
Yeah.

00:19:25.707 --> 00:19:26.227
I can't wait.

00:19:26.567 --> 00:19:28.328
I'm going a la Frank Miller,

00:19:28.749 --> 00:19:30.070
Sin City on it,

00:19:30.330 --> 00:19:32.112
that type of vibe with it.

00:19:32.673 --> 00:19:33.492
But it's going to be great.

00:19:33.913 --> 00:19:35.375
And I love that, Arcel,

00:19:35.394 --> 00:19:36.316
the black and white.

00:19:37.642 --> 00:19:39.604
with the just color splash for like the

00:19:39.663 --> 00:19:42.926
neon signs and that kind of stuff is

00:19:42.946 --> 00:19:45.128
going to be really fun for me from

00:19:45.148 --> 00:19:47.790
a story perspective but i can't wait to

00:19:47.830 --> 00:19:49.512
see what he does with the art on

00:19:49.573 --> 00:19:52.454
it so but let's talk about some dragon

00:19:52.494 --> 00:19:56.199
whisper sure where did this idea come from

00:19:56.219 --> 00:19:58.180
because i'm a big fan of steampunk i'm

00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.261
a big fan of dragons as all human

00:20:00.301 --> 00:20:02.523
beings on earth should be but where did

00:20:02.544 --> 00:20:03.105
that come from

00:20:04.747 --> 00:20:05.027
Okay,

00:20:05.146 --> 00:20:06.407
it's funny you say that about dragons.

00:20:06.428 --> 00:20:07.307
Everybody loves dragons.

00:20:07.367 --> 00:20:09.729
I call them the pizza of fantasy

00:20:09.769 --> 00:20:10.148
creatures.

00:20:10.189 --> 00:20:11.689
Everybody loves everybody.

00:20:12.109 --> 00:20:13.130
There's not a bad pizza.

00:20:13.210 --> 00:20:13.789
There's just worse.

00:20:13.809 --> 00:20:14.309
Great comparison.

00:20:14.329 --> 00:20:14.529
I love it.

00:20:14.549 --> 00:20:14.911
I love it.

00:20:16.550 --> 00:20:17.371
Everybody loves a dragon.

00:20:17.490 --> 00:20:18.711
But where it came from, that's funny.

00:20:19.672 --> 00:20:23.292
So probably nineteen or so years ago,

00:20:23.333 --> 00:20:24.453
nineteen, twenty years ago,

00:20:26.054 --> 00:20:28.035
I was working on a story that was

00:20:28.115 --> 00:20:29.516
completely terrestrial based.

00:20:29.536 --> 00:20:31.776
It was robust pirate fantasy.

00:20:31.816 --> 00:20:32.497
It was kind of a

00:20:34.317 --> 00:20:35.459
Treasure Island-esque,

00:20:35.919 --> 00:20:36.700
but it had a dragon.

00:20:38.601 --> 00:20:40.221
And then I wrote a script and I

00:20:40.241 --> 00:20:41.182
got an artist to do it.

00:20:42.983 --> 00:20:45.266
And then it was there, it was cool.

00:20:46.707 --> 00:20:49.648
And then I got a few nibbles,

00:20:49.669 --> 00:20:50.990
but nothing happened of it.

00:20:51.049 --> 00:20:51.931
And then I shelved it.

00:20:51.990 --> 00:20:54.492
And then ten years after that,

00:20:55.173 --> 00:20:56.795
I came across those pages and I said,

00:20:57.275 --> 00:20:58.155
wow, these are cool.

00:20:58.576 --> 00:20:59.336
This is very...

00:21:00.528 --> 00:21:03.990
classic Edwardian-looking Treasure Island.

00:21:04.750 --> 00:21:05.191
And I said,

00:21:06.352 --> 00:21:09.712
make this a flashback to a steampunk

00:21:09.752 --> 00:21:10.314
future.

00:21:11.493 --> 00:21:13.755
And it also coincided.

00:21:14.615 --> 00:21:15.635
I like steampunk,

00:21:15.675 --> 00:21:17.656
but I'm not a practitioner of

00:21:18.698 --> 00:21:19.357
steampunkiness.

00:21:19.377 --> 00:21:20.317
I'm not of that world.

00:21:20.357 --> 00:21:21.118
It's a way of life.

00:21:21.159 --> 00:21:22.098
It's not just a hobby.

00:21:22.439 --> 00:21:25.000
Steampunk folk, I love it.

00:21:25.101 --> 00:21:25.721
It's beautiful.

00:21:26.771 --> 00:21:28.133
And it's very romantic looking.

00:21:28.252 --> 00:21:29.913
And I love the feel of it.

00:21:30.513 --> 00:21:31.753
But what sort of turned the corner?

00:21:31.773 --> 00:21:33.515
My favorite band is Rush.

00:21:34.375 --> 00:21:36.916
And Rush's last album was called Clockwork

00:21:36.997 --> 00:21:37.277
Angels.

00:21:37.297 --> 00:21:39.097
And it was a steampunk concept album.

00:21:39.998 --> 00:21:41.618
And then if it's good enough for Rush,

00:21:41.659 --> 00:21:42.519
it's good enough for me.

00:21:42.578 --> 00:21:44.799
But the lyricist, the late Neil Peart,

00:21:45.461 --> 00:21:46.421
he had this great line.

00:21:46.441 --> 00:21:47.801
He says, it's very romantic.

00:21:47.842 --> 00:21:48.182
He said,

00:21:49.163 --> 00:21:51.002
steampunk is a view of the future from

00:21:51.042 --> 00:21:51.663
the past.

00:21:52.434 --> 00:21:54.836
It's kind of like you go to Victorian

00:21:54.875 --> 00:21:55.517
England and they said,

00:21:55.557 --> 00:21:56.737
what's the future going to look like?

00:21:56.777 --> 00:21:57.018
Well,

00:21:57.038 --> 00:21:58.518
it's going to have these airships that are

00:21:58.558 --> 00:22:00.118
made with leather balloons and it's going

00:22:00.138 --> 00:22:02.101
to have a lot of, you know,

00:22:02.260 --> 00:22:05.201
gas lanterns and a lot of gears and

00:22:05.241 --> 00:22:07.242
cogs because that's how stuff moves now.

00:22:07.344 --> 00:22:08.324
So it just would be better in the

00:22:08.344 --> 00:22:09.384
future, you know?

00:22:10.025 --> 00:22:11.346
So I love that view.

00:22:11.385 --> 00:22:11.766
So I said,

00:22:12.306 --> 00:22:14.708
let me just retweet this dragon story.

00:22:15.730 --> 00:22:16.692
to steampunk.

00:22:17.251 --> 00:22:17.971
And then I did.

00:22:18.373 --> 00:22:19.933
And then I wrote a script.

00:22:20.094 --> 00:22:23.955
But I was very meticulous in how I

00:22:23.976 --> 00:22:24.896
was going to approach.

00:22:24.916 --> 00:22:26.257
So I went online.

00:22:26.958 --> 00:22:27.857
I looked for artists.

00:22:27.938 --> 00:22:29.398
I did comics and steampunk.

00:22:29.618 --> 00:22:31.980
And then my first artist, Glenn Fernandez,

00:22:33.561 --> 00:22:34.561
unmitigated genius,

00:22:34.843 --> 00:22:36.222
an absolute genius artist.

00:22:36.262 --> 00:22:38.704
Glenn, you're a magnificent artist.

00:22:42.267 --> 00:22:44.808
Two hits came back that, well,

00:22:44.828 --> 00:22:45.789
lots of hits came back,

00:22:46.090 --> 00:22:47.551
but two people that I wanted to work

00:22:47.592 --> 00:22:47.771
with.

00:22:48.712 --> 00:22:50.095
One of them, she wasn't available,

00:22:50.816 --> 00:22:53.198
but Glenn, I said, I love your work.

00:22:53.498 --> 00:22:54.419
Do you want to work with me?

00:22:55.355 --> 00:22:57.016
whatever your page rate is i'll pay it

00:22:57.036 --> 00:23:01.076
and he said yes and then and then

00:23:01.136 --> 00:23:03.157
so the look of the world so much

00:23:03.178 --> 00:23:05.259
of it i i owe it to glenn

00:23:05.398 --> 00:23:08.138
he's the artist he he made it look

00:23:08.159 --> 00:23:09.960
like what it is i i sort of

00:23:10.220 --> 00:23:12.000
i sort of built the ship but he

00:23:12.019 --> 00:23:14.280
made it fly in this incredible direction

00:23:14.300 --> 00:23:18.662
so glenn fernandez art he's a venezuelan

00:23:18.801 --> 00:23:22.803
artist just an absolute genius and then um

00:23:24.778 --> 00:23:27.159
So I made sure I had one full

00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:30.922
issue of his artwork and then my lettering

00:23:30.942 --> 00:23:31.461
and everything.

00:23:32.323 --> 00:23:32.643
And then,

00:23:32.883 --> 00:23:34.703
and I just didn't suddenly start to

00:23:34.763 --> 00:23:35.023
letter.

00:23:35.423 --> 00:23:36.924
I learned the craft of lettering and I

00:23:37.005 --> 00:23:39.826
lettered hundreds of pages before I even

00:23:40.467 --> 00:23:42.127
thought of submitting it to anybody.

00:23:42.669 --> 00:23:43.548
And even my first,

00:23:43.910 --> 00:23:45.089
even the first lettering that was

00:23:45.150 --> 00:23:47.471
published, I look at it and go,

00:23:47.612 --> 00:23:50.753
which everybody does at their early stuff.

00:23:50.773 --> 00:23:53.095
So I had a complete first issue and

00:23:53.174 --> 00:23:54.175
I submitted that.

00:23:55.017 --> 00:23:58.317
And then I kind of knew that it

00:23:58.377 --> 00:24:00.398
was, if I may say so,

00:24:00.459 --> 00:24:01.200
I knew it was good.

00:24:01.380 --> 00:24:04.980
And the responses were reflective of that.

00:24:05.020 --> 00:24:06.741
I got a lot of bites.

00:24:07.842 --> 00:24:09.702
And I went with the deal that I

00:24:09.722 --> 00:24:11.144
liked the best, Red Five Comics.

00:24:11.163 --> 00:24:14.805
And then here we are.

00:24:15.006 --> 00:24:18.126
So it started in a simpler form.

00:24:19.098 --> 00:24:21.299
It morphed into steampunk fantasy.

00:24:23.561 --> 00:24:24.902
Characters change throughout the years,

00:24:24.922 --> 00:24:27.103
but then I hit on an idea,

00:24:27.344 --> 00:24:29.105
and here it is.

00:24:30.605 --> 00:24:31.905
And now I got Dragon Whisperer.

00:24:33.527 --> 00:24:34.067
I like it.

00:24:34.126 --> 00:24:35.248
So let's talk about one of your

00:24:35.268 --> 00:24:37.509
characters, Rosalinda Eberhardt.

00:24:38.230 --> 00:24:43.372
What makes her stand out?

00:24:43.412 --> 00:24:45.993
Well, she...

00:24:47.932 --> 00:24:48.971
What makes her stand out?

00:24:49.632 --> 00:24:52.093
She's a main character.

00:24:52.173 --> 00:24:54.094
Well, I'm gonna say something very basic.

00:24:54.394 --> 00:24:55.614
She's like me, okay?

00:24:56.213 --> 00:24:57.734
No, she's a young woman,

00:24:57.875 --> 00:25:00.275
I'm an old guy, but she's like me.

00:25:00.394 --> 00:25:04.336
And here's how she's like me.

00:25:04.576 --> 00:25:05.636
I'm not a badass.

00:25:07.457 --> 00:25:10.698
If I were in a confrontation, yeah,

00:25:10.897 --> 00:25:12.077
I would defend myself.

00:25:12.739 --> 00:25:13.699
I might try to run away.

00:25:15.955 --> 00:25:17.997
I'm nobody's badass and I have nothing

00:25:18.037 --> 00:25:19.518
against a badass,

00:25:20.137 --> 00:25:23.259
but I can't relate to someone who could

00:25:24.161 --> 00:25:26.061
jump into a cockpit of a spaceship and

00:25:26.082 --> 00:25:28.742
just fly it or pick up a sword

00:25:28.903 --> 00:25:31.585
and wield it like they immediately know

00:25:31.605 --> 00:25:32.326
what they're doing.

00:25:34.207 --> 00:25:36.928
I can relate to someone who would do

00:25:36.968 --> 00:25:38.009
that if they have to.

00:25:38.709 --> 00:25:41.230
I can relate to someone who could do

00:25:41.250 --> 00:25:44.192
that and be scared because that would be

00:25:44.272 --> 00:25:44.413
me.

00:25:45.915 --> 00:25:48.136
But the most thing I can relate to

00:25:48.217 --> 00:25:50.337
is if they get whacked in the face

00:25:50.397 --> 00:25:51.898
and they fall down and then they get

00:25:51.959 --> 00:25:54.240
right back up.

00:25:54.279 --> 00:25:54.779
In pain,

00:25:55.740 --> 00:25:57.141
having gotten whacked in the face,

00:25:57.701 --> 00:26:01.442
still afraid, but ouched.

00:26:02.383 --> 00:26:04.203
And they go, dang,

00:26:04.403 --> 00:26:06.825
I'm going to do something else now that

00:26:06.845 --> 00:26:09.205
will make that not happen to me.

00:26:09.967 --> 00:26:12.147
I'm going to do something to you.

00:26:12.448 --> 00:26:14.608
So Rosalinda...

00:26:16.126 --> 00:26:17.769
What makes her stand out is she is

00:26:17.828 --> 00:26:18.648
that person.

00:26:19.210 --> 00:26:21.832
She's not anybody's badass.

00:26:21.892 --> 00:26:23.834
She's not a sexualized person.

00:26:24.013 --> 00:26:25.414
I'm going to say first and foremost,

00:26:25.875 --> 00:26:26.856
she's a human being.

00:26:27.676 --> 00:26:28.738
She's relatable.

00:26:29.179 --> 00:26:33.482
And she's also, you know,

00:26:35.104 --> 00:26:37.286
I have nothing against the snarky teenager

00:26:38.067 --> 00:26:38.307
either.

00:26:39.178 --> 00:26:41.938
Nothing against all those characters who

00:26:42.118 --> 00:26:44.519
were pushed into the locker because they

00:26:44.558 --> 00:26:46.919
were a snarky teenager.

00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:50.880
But not everybody is a snarky teenager if

00:26:50.920 --> 00:26:51.759
you're a teenager.

00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:55.040
You could be kind of a regular person.

00:26:55.080 --> 00:26:57.780
You could have your qualities of snark.

00:26:58.520 --> 00:27:02.261
But, you know, she's a relatable,

00:27:02.561 --> 00:27:05.143
non-badass person that when she falls

00:27:05.182 --> 00:27:06.202
down, she gets back up.

00:27:06.722 --> 00:27:06.883
But...

00:27:07.974 --> 00:27:09.855
Something in her changed from that first

00:27:09.915 --> 00:27:10.395
fall down,

00:27:10.516 --> 00:27:12.978
and then something is going to change with

00:27:12.998 --> 00:27:13.877
the next fall down.

00:27:14.397 --> 00:27:15.398
And then she's going to grow,

00:27:15.439 --> 00:27:17.380
and then she's going to get better at

00:27:17.660 --> 00:27:21.342
who she is and what she does.

00:27:21.362 --> 00:27:23.803
So that's what makes her stand out.

00:27:25.544 --> 00:27:27.724
She could be like anybody else.

00:27:27.744 --> 00:27:29.185
She just lives in the steampunk world,

00:27:29.246 --> 00:27:30.346
and she can talk to creatures.

00:27:30.446 --> 00:27:30.787
That's it.

00:27:30.926 --> 00:27:32.407
She's like steampunk Dr. Dolittle.

00:27:33.557 --> 00:27:36.259
i like that that's a good reference but

00:27:36.298 --> 00:27:38.119
no so it's in your book instead of

00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:40.560
hunting the dragons you focus on

00:27:41.181 --> 00:27:43.582
communication and you explore that concept

00:27:44.202 --> 00:27:45.682
kind of where did that originate because

00:27:45.702 --> 00:27:47.624
that's such a opposite when you hear

00:27:47.663 --> 00:27:49.464
dragons in a comic book you're thinking oh

00:27:49.565 --> 00:27:51.346
we're hunting dragons or we're riding

00:27:51.365 --> 00:27:53.365
dragons we're doing something else but you

00:27:53.906 --> 00:27:55.767
focus on the communication of it like we

00:27:55.807 --> 00:27:56.867
can communicate with them

00:27:58.499 --> 00:28:00.019
I'm glad that was very astute.

00:28:00.721 --> 00:28:01.861
Um, yes,

00:28:01.961 --> 00:28:04.282
that was a very intentional thing.

00:28:04.762 --> 00:28:06.684
It so happens that my son is autistic

00:28:07.424 --> 00:28:09.266
and, um, and you know,

00:28:09.306 --> 00:28:10.626
he went to speech therapies.

00:28:11.047 --> 00:28:13.528
So, and he's my only child.

00:28:14.289 --> 00:28:16.711
So I, he's now,

00:28:17.852 --> 00:28:20.193
my point in mentioning that is as far

00:28:20.233 --> 00:28:22.355
as being a father and a caregiver and

00:28:22.375 --> 00:28:25.477
a nurturer of another human being who is

00:28:25.517 --> 00:28:27.018
completely reliant on me for their

00:28:27.057 --> 00:28:28.078
survival and his mother.

00:28:29.813 --> 00:28:32.974
I have no frame of reference of a

00:28:33.015 --> 00:28:35.717
teenager wanting to learn how to drive a

00:28:35.757 --> 00:28:41.119
car or get a girlfriend or boyfriend or

00:28:42.941 --> 00:28:44.061
do anything else to those.

00:28:44.241 --> 00:28:48.503
I have a completely different view as a

00:28:48.544 --> 00:28:48.904
nurturer.

00:28:49.025 --> 00:28:51.066
I see that in other people.

00:28:51.226 --> 00:28:52.507
I was that as a kid.

00:28:52.946 --> 00:28:55.188
But as somebody who needs to,

00:28:55.388 --> 00:28:57.369
as a carer of that person,

00:28:59.721 --> 00:29:02.742
I see that and I saw that communication

00:29:02.903 --> 00:29:08.325
with that person is it's life or death.

00:29:09.365 --> 00:29:10.746
It's an over-exaggeration saying that,

00:29:10.786 --> 00:29:13.186
but it's life or death and a different

00:29:13.207 --> 00:29:14.827
kind of communication and not a

00:29:14.847 --> 00:29:16.468
neurologically typical communication.

00:29:17.608 --> 00:29:22.310
So I wanted to channel that experience of

00:29:22.391 --> 00:29:25.491
myself into the writing of a comic about

00:29:25.711 --> 00:29:26.491
communication.

00:29:26.892 --> 00:29:28.653
And no, we're not

00:29:31.157 --> 00:29:31.397
Well,

00:29:31.557 --> 00:29:32.978
I don't want to give the comic away,

00:29:33.798 --> 00:29:36.679
but some people have intentions of getting

00:29:36.699 --> 00:29:38.720
the dragon in the classic dragon sense,

00:29:38.740 --> 00:29:40.579
but other people have intentions of like,

00:29:41.421 --> 00:29:42.560
no, no,

00:29:42.661 --> 00:29:46.301
we're not going to kill the dragon because

00:29:46.382 --> 00:29:47.021
it's a dragon.

00:29:47.602 --> 00:29:49.962
I mean, I think...

00:29:50.976 --> 00:29:52.258
The person that wants to kill the dragon

00:29:52.417 --> 00:29:53.819
is more of a monster than the dragon.

00:29:55.182 --> 00:29:57.865
Unless it's Smaug from Lord of the Rings.

00:29:57.924 --> 00:29:58.946
And then, yeah.

00:29:58.987 --> 00:29:59.948
He got what he deserved.

00:30:00.127 --> 00:30:00.929
He got what he deserved.

00:30:00.949 --> 00:30:01.088
Yes.

00:30:01.894 --> 00:30:03.115
Yeah, exactly.

00:30:03.194 --> 00:30:04.155
So that's a long answer.

00:30:04.195 --> 00:30:04.997
I give long answers.

00:30:05.037 --> 00:30:05.356
Sorry.

00:30:05.696 --> 00:30:07.038
No, no, that's the perfect answer.

00:30:07.317 --> 00:30:09.980
I like answers like that where you give

00:30:10.080 --> 00:30:12.362
just enough without giving it all away.

00:30:13.022 --> 00:30:16.425
And that to me is it makes people

00:30:16.506 --> 00:30:17.105
curious.

00:30:17.767 --> 00:30:19.367
And that's what I like to do is

00:30:19.428 --> 00:30:22.289
you build the curiosity for people to want

00:30:22.309 --> 00:30:24.051
to go out and purchase the book.

00:30:25.476 --> 00:30:28.657
whether it's digital or paper but that's

00:30:28.698 --> 00:30:30.358
that's to me those are the perfect dancers

00:30:30.398 --> 00:30:32.361
and that was a perfect dancer so i

00:30:32.381 --> 00:30:37.844
appreciate that a lot um so when you're

00:30:38.203 --> 00:30:41.507
we built this world and i'm guessing in

00:30:41.527 --> 00:30:43.188
this instance since you did go back and

00:30:43.208 --> 00:30:44.788
pull us went off the shelf and kind

00:30:44.828 --> 00:30:48.050
of bring it into something else did you

00:30:48.111 --> 00:30:50.031
build this world first or did you have

00:30:50.051 --> 00:30:51.252
these characters in mind

00:30:53.523 --> 00:30:56.467
No, I did not build the world first.

00:30:56.826 --> 00:30:58.387
I built the foundation of the world first.

00:30:58.407 --> 00:31:01.550
That's another really good question.

00:31:02.172 --> 00:31:04.153
I built the foundation of the world first.

00:31:05.414 --> 00:31:09.238
I consider myself an organic writer

00:31:09.337 --> 00:31:11.940
insofar as I have a very loose outline

00:31:11.980 --> 00:31:12.980
and I just start writing.

00:31:13.682 --> 00:31:14.823
And then whatever comes to me.

00:31:15.702 --> 00:31:17.663
But I know that I needed to have

00:31:18.704 --> 00:31:21.846
the bones, the skeleton, you know,

00:31:22.067 --> 00:31:23.048
of the story.

00:31:23.868 --> 00:31:26.270
But I didn't, I'm also,

00:31:27.731 --> 00:31:30.634
I know that if I went full force

00:31:30.673 --> 00:31:31.513
into world building,

00:31:31.594 --> 00:31:33.115
I would get lost in that and all

00:31:33.135 --> 00:31:34.616
the cool research behind it and I would

00:31:34.636 --> 00:31:35.557
never actually write.

00:31:36.498 --> 00:31:36.877
So I said,

00:31:38.519 --> 00:31:41.141
so I gauged what my strength is and

00:31:41.161 --> 00:31:42.741
my strength is an organic style of

00:31:42.781 --> 00:31:43.163
writing.

00:31:44.028 --> 00:31:46.030
but I needed a map,

00:31:46.371 --> 00:31:48.574
a very basic map and a very basic

00:31:48.614 --> 00:31:48.954
bones.

00:31:49.015 --> 00:31:49.654
And then I wrote,

00:31:50.375 --> 00:31:52.819
and then I built the world

00:31:54.340 --> 00:31:56.461
as needed while I was writing it.

00:31:56.501 --> 00:31:58.262
So writing, writing, writing,

00:31:58.762 --> 00:32:01.423
Rosa Linda doing ABC, XYZ.

00:32:02.203 --> 00:32:04.305
And then she comes to a point in

00:32:04.325 --> 00:32:05.965
the story or the story comes to a

00:32:06.046 --> 00:32:09.227
point in which there needs to be legend

00:32:09.267 --> 00:32:09.548
here.

00:32:09.688 --> 00:32:11.508
There needs to be world.

00:32:11.548 --> 00:32:13.628
There needs to be history at this moment.

00:32:14.009 --> 00:32:15.529
There needs to be an answer to the

00:32:15.609 --> 00:32:17.371
why of what is happening.

00:32:17.830 --> 00:32:18.652
Then I world build.

00:32:19.132 --> 00:32:21.212
So then I pause the writing and then

00:32:21.272 --> 00:32:21.893
I develop

00:32:22.884 --> 00:32:25.345
Everything that would make that moment

00:32:25.384 --> 00:32:25.964
make sense.

00:32:26.885 --> 00:32:29.046
So there's world building.

00:32:29.145 --> 00:32:30.207
And then more writing.

00:32:30.307 --> 00:32:31.707
And then I do that again later.

00:32:32.327 --> 00:32:38.329
So I did not build the flesh of

00:32:38.369 --> 00:32:40.050
the world at the beginning.

00:32:40.891 --> 00:32:42.912
I fleshed it out as I was writing

00:32:42.932 --> 00:32:46.752
it, which to me was the best approach.

00:32:47.193 --> 00:32:48.034
It worked best for me.

00:32:50.634 --> 00:32:52.455
That's actually a really great concept

00:32:52.476 --> 00:32:55.438
because that's the first time I've heard a

00:32:55.479 --> 00:32:56.118
writer go,

00:32:56.819 --> 00:32:58.300
I'll write until I need to build.

00:32:59.162 --> 00:33:01.064
And I actually kind of like that myself.

00:33:02.325 --> 00:33:02.525
Right.

00:33:02.605 --> 00:33:04.047
It may not be for everyone.

00:33:04.106 --> 00:33:05.548
I'm working on another project in which

00:33:07.549 --> 00:33:09.672
the world is so enormous that I had

00:33:09.711 --> 00:33:12.094
to build a lot of it before I

00:33:12.134 --> 00:33:12.454
wrote it.

00:33:12.734 --> 00:33:13.435
It's kind of like...

00:33:14.655 --> 00:33:17.356
George Lucas, I love Star Wars,

00:33:17.376 --> 00:33:18.757
but I'm not like, it's not in my,

00:33:20.137 --> 00:33:21.518
I saw the first movie when it came

00:33:21.557 --> 00:33:22.179
out when I was a kid,

00:33:22.638 --> 00:33:24.618
but it's not like I'm an enormous Star

00:33:24.638 --> 00:33:24.939
Wars fan.

00:33:24.959 --> 00:33:26.200
But I believe George Lucas,

00:33:26.240 --> 00:33:27.619
he came up with a concept of the

00:33:27.660 --> 00:33:31.221
Star Wars universe that was so big that

00:33:31.241 --> 00:33:32.761
he go, whoa, okay,

00:33:32.942 --> 00:33:36.383
I need to start small and I can't

00:33:36.403 --> 00:33:38.243
start at the beginning because it's just

00:33:38.304 --> 00:33:39.183
too much world.

00:33:39.544 --> 00:33:41.105
So I'm gonna find this one snippet

00:33:42.421 --> 00:33:44.181
of the Skywalker family saga,

00:33:44.422 --> 00:33:45.342
and then I'm gonna do that.

00:33:45.801 --> 00:33:47.721
It's like, Lord of the Rings,

00:33:48.002 --> 00:33:49.962
the whole three massive books,

00:33:50.702 --> 00:33:52.304
if you read the Silmarillion,

00:33:52.423 --> 00:33:55.724
and I only did once, the Silmarillion is,

00:33:56.045 --> 00:33:57.025
it's not an easy read,

00:33:57.585 --> 00:34:00.306
but it's this- Absolutely.

00:34:00.365 --> 00:34:03.787
Right, it's a four hundred page history,

00:34:04.787 --> 00:34:06.788
and the Lord of the Rings saga maybe

00:34:06.827 --> 00:34:07.988
takes up a paragraph,

00:34:08.068 --> 00:34:10.208
so that tells you how big the Middle

00:34:10.309 --> 00:34:11.489
Earth history is.

00:34:12.474 --> 00:34:15.956
Um, so this other project that I'm doing,

00:34:15.976 --> 00:34:16.697
if we can get to later,

00:34:16.717 --> 00:34:17.996
if you want that,

00:34:18.056 --> 00:34:19.398
I had to build more world, but,

00:34:19.617 --> 00:34:20.038
but no,

00:34:20.057 --> 00:34:22.378
the answer to your question is I, I,

00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:24.760
I built the skeleton of it and they

00:34:24.820 --> 00:34:28.501
added the organs and the muscles and the

00:34:28.541 --> 00:34:33.023
skin as I was going along.

00:34:33.043 --> 00:34:36.164
You're talking about drag my town.

00:34:37.144 --> 00:34:38.206
No, that's the other book.

00:34:39.150 --> 00:34:39.911
Yeah, no,

00:34:40.170 --> 00:34:44.074
Enigma Town is another project that's

00:34:44.114 --> 00:34:45.137
done, that's released.

00:34:45.617 --> 00:34:46.577
That was,

00:34:48.900 --> 00:34:49.922
if you want to talk about that,

00:34:50.001 --> 00:34:51.182
that was no real build.

00:34:51.202 --> 00:34:52.023
We can take a few minutes.

00:34:52.063 --> 00:34:53.525
I was going to focus on Dragon Whisperer

00:34:53.545 --> 00:34:54.527
because that was kind of like,

00:34:55.717 --> 00:34:57.297
My favorite one of the two.

00:34:57.398 --> 00:34:57.739
Yeah.

00:34:58.659 --> 00:35:00.420
I love the idea of steampunk.

00:35:00.481 --> 00:35:01.762
I love the idea of dragons,

00:35:01.822 --> 00:35:02.523
like I said.

00:35:02.963 --> 00:35:03.443
So I was like,

00:35:03.784 --> 00:35:04.664
we can focus on that.

00:35:04.704 --> 00:35:06.085
But if you're working on other projects,

00:35:06.105 --> 00:35:06.646
by all means,

00:35:06.666 --> 00:35:09.108
we can talk about those two because I'm

00:35:09.128 --> 00:35:09.588
interested.

00:35:09.648 --> 00:35:11.550
I mean, you wrote a steampunk dragon book.

00:35:11.650 --> 00:35:11.949
I'm like,

00:35:12.391 --> 00:35:13.751
you kind of got my interest anyway.

00:35:14.713 --> 00:35:15.172
Absolutely.

00:35:15.193 --> 00:35:16.313
You know, we can continue that.

00:35:16.353 --> 00:35:17.673
I'll just say Enigma Town,

00:35:17.853 --> 00:35:19.054
also by Red Five Comics.

00:35:19.494 --> 00:35:21.875
That's more of a contemporary, cozy,

00:35:21.914 --> 00:35:23.735
classic haunted house,

00:35:23.954 --> 00:35:25.034
haunted mansion kind of thing.

00:35:25.074 --> 00:35:27.755
It's sort of like the Haunted Mansion

00:35:27.795 --> 00:35:28.775
meets Toy Story.

00:35:29.576 --> 00:35:31.436
And it has like a Winchester Mystery House

00:35:31.476 --> 00:35:32.476
vibe, which is, you know,

00:35:33.097 --> 00:35:34.936
but Dragon Whisperer.

00:35:34.976 --> 00:35:35.157
Yeah,

00:35:35.197 --> 00:35:37.137
that was that was world building as I

00:35:37.157 --> 00:35:37.797
was going along.

00:35:39.706 --> 00:35:42.588
like it so for anybody watching right now

00:35:42.608 --> 00:35:45.487
or listening later when i do the podcast

00:35:45.507 --> 00:35:52.889
release why is dragon whisper a must read

00:35:53.009 --> 00:35:56.030
well it's it's a must read because it's

00:35:56.210 --> 00:35:58.530
it's a steampunk fantasy with a dragon in

00:35:58.570 --> 00:36:00.891
it i mean it's kind of like a

00:36:00.911 --> 00:36:02.490
reese's peanut butter cup it's chocolate

00:36:02.510 --> 00:36:04.510
and peanut butter it's got steampunk and a

00:36:04.550 --> 00:36:06.831
dragon i mean come on so there's that

00:36:07.771 --> 00:36:08.271
and um

00:36:09.934 --> 00:36:13.876
Well, the main character is a young woman,

00:36:14.016 --> 00:36:15.577
and that's not a new concept.

00:36:19.079 --> 00:36:21.940
But it's a young woman who kind of

00:36:21.960 --> 00:36:23.862
could be an every person.

00:36:25.342 --> 00:36:29.164
You know, Luke Skywalker was a farm boy,

00:36:29.324 --> 00:36:32.885
and then he became the Jedi Master that

00:36:32.925 --> 00:36:33.347
he was.

00:36:33.786 --> 00:36:35.788
And this woman, she's a farm girl,

00:36:35.907 --> 00:36:36.268
actually.

00:36:36.288 --> 00:36:36.788
She is.

00:36:37.469 --> 00:36:37.688
And then...

00:36:39.652 --> 00:36:41.715
There's a horrible tragedy that occurs in

00:36:41.775 --> 00:36:45.778
her life that makes her need to branch

00:36:45.918 --> 00:36:46.079
out.

00:36:46.219 --> 00:36:47.460
And it was kind of her fault.

00:36:48.101 --> 00:36:50.603
And it makes her need to branch out

00:36:50.682 --> 00:36:51.384
in her life.

00:36:52.625 --> 00:36:57.670
So you could see the story arc of...

00:36:58.728 --> 00:37:01.570
somebody like you becoming somebody

00:37:02.052 --> 00:37:04.693
amazing but still keeping the core of who

00:37:04.733 --> 00:37:08.817
that person is like like like frodo frodo

00:37:08.896 --> 00:37:11.719
is very different than luke skywalker luke

00:37:11.759 --> 00:37:16.661
skywalker becomes the greatest jedi for me

00:37:16.681 --> 00:37:19.164
he's the greatest jedi not anakin luke

00:37:19.644 --> 00:37:22.606
that's my generation of star wars anakin

00:37:22.927 --> 00:37:25.608
anakin yeah he's great he's darth vader

00:37:25.688 --> 00:37:27.190
he's wonderful but for me luke is the

00:37:27.210 --> 00:37:27.731
greatest jedi

00:37:28.746 --> 00:37:33.347
um Frodo is always Frodo he saves Middle

00:37:33.387 --> 00:37:36.369
Earth but he's always Frodo Rosalinda but

00:37:36.608 --> 00:37:39.389
he does change he does change to a

00:37:39.449 --> 00:37:40.931
point in which he can't he can't go

00:37:40.990 --> 00:37:45.813
back but he's still Frodo um Rosalinda is

00:37:45.972 --> 00:37:47.454
always going to be Rosalinda she does

00:37:47.534 --> 00:37:48.034
change

00:37:49.179 --> 00:37:52.961
And she does grow and she does gain

00:37:53.302 --> 00:37:54.143
in her abilities,

00:37:54.202 --> 00:37:55.405
but she's always Rosalinda.

00:37:55.545 --> 00:37:57.126
So there's that person.

00:37:57.525 --> 00:37:59.407
And ultimately it's,

00:37:59.887 --> 00:38:01.230
I'm glad you said communication.

00:38:01.269 --> 00:38:01.710
It's about,

00:38:02.431 --> 00:38:04.152
it's really about communication because

00:38:05.092 --> 00:38:06.474
every art form is communication.

00:38:06.813 --> 00:38:09.115
So this, this is a, it,

00:38:09.195 --> 00:38:10.478
and it's got everything that you'd want.

00:38:10.538 --> 00:38:11.679
It's got all the steam and all the

00:38:11.699 --> 00:38:11.958
punks.

00:38:13.914 --> 00:38:14.233
Love it.

00:38:14.755 --> 00:38:15.114
Love it.

00:38:15.856 --> 00:38:17.077
Is there any other story you want to

00:38:17.177 --> 00:38:19.418
just like throw out real quick before?

00:38:19.438 --> 00:38:20.721
Because next we're going to talk a little

00:38:20.740 --> 00:38:23.043
bit more about the creative process as a

00:38:23.103 --> 00:38:23.402
whole.

00:38:23.923 --> 00:38:25.144
And I don't think we really get back

00:38:25.184 --> 00:38:26.847
to talking about any of the other stories.

00:38:26.887 --> 00:38:28.728
It's mainly just about creative processes.

00:38:28.768 --> 00:38:29.849
So if you want to if there's any

00:38:29.889 --> 00:38:31.411
other stories you want to throw out there

00:38:31.431 --> 00:38:33.152
right now, let's do that.

00:38:35.657 --> 00:38:37.219
right i'll just i'll just bring up enigma

00:38:37.260 --> 00:38:38.981
town it's it is out it is also

00:38:39.001 --> 00:38:41.284
by red five comics it came out as

00:38:41.304 --> 00:38:43.005
a as a graphic novel that one is

00:38:43.045 --> 00:38:45.967
actually um uh more of a personal story

00:38:46.009 --> 00:38:47.750
because it the main character is a little

00:38:47.769 --> 00:38:48.951
bit of my dad and a little bit

00:38:48.990 --> 00:38:52.855
of me but it it's um it's more

00:38:52.894 --> 00:38:55.498
of a of a classic it's a cozy

00:38:55.657 --> 00:38:57.639
read it's a kind of read that you

00:38:57.679 --> 00:38:59.141
do on a cold night

00:39:00.831 --> 00:39:03.632
with the blanket and your slippers out

00:39:03.652 --> 00:39:04.512
with a warm drink.

00:39:05.032 --> 00:39:06.813
And it's definitely got the Haunted

00:39:06.853 --> 00:39:08.733
Mansion thing.

00:39:09.074 --> 00:39:10.514
Well, here it is.

00:39:10.693 --> 00:39:11.894
There's a mansion.

00:39:12.155 --> 00:39:13.614
It's similar to the Winchester Mystery

00:39:13.635 --> 00:39:13.855
House.

00:39:13.875 --> 00:39:14.996
If you don't know it, look it up.

00:39:16.536 --> 00:39:17.775
But the owner of this mansion,

00:39:17.835 --> 00:39:18.757
he's a toy maker.

00:39:19.237 --> 00:39:23.018
And he makes these incredibly lifelike,

00:39:23.757 --> 00:39:27.800
really hot selling toys that just fly off

00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:28.340
the shelves.

00:39:28.400 --> 00:39:28.559
But

00:39:29.969 --> 00:39:32.369
right before the toys go on sale,

00:39:32.849 --> 00:39:34.971
that exact number of children disappear.

00:39:35.110 --> 00:39:36.472
Like, oh, what's going on?

00:39:36.532 --> 00:39:38.992
So there's this ghastly secret to this

00:39:39.492 --> 00:39:40.793
mansion and these toys.

00:39:41.554 --> 00:39:44.114
So three unlikely friends,

00:39:46.516 --> 00:39:48.936
a young woman named Luz Marie,

00:39:49.677 --> 00:39:52.097
L-U-Z Marie, it's a Hispanic name,

00:39:52.137 --> 00:39:53.139
but she goes by Lucy.

00:39:54.298 --> 00:39:55.820
And then a young man,

00:39:57.885 --> 00:39:58.907
His name is Joey.

00:39:59.447 --> 00:40:00.626
At the beginning, he's ninety,

00:40:00.746 --> 00:40:01.967
but then later on he comes back as

00:40:02.007 --> 00:40:03.668
his ghost, as his fifteen-year-old self,

00:40:04.168 --> 00:40:06.748
and then his childhood friend, Frankie.

00:40:06.989 --> 00:40:08.130
She's eighty-nine,

00:40:08.789 --> 00:40:09.909
and then they all get together,

00:40:10.010 --> 00:40:11.170
an unlikely trio.

00:40:11.650 --> 00:40:13.592
They go to try to find out the

00:40:13.652 --> 00:40:16.873
ghastly secret of the mystery and the

00:40:16.992 --> 00:40:19.393
devastating secret that has haunted a town

00:40:19.432 --> 00:40:22.934
for generations of this mansion and the

00:40:22.974 --> 00:40:23.375
toys.

00:40:24.458 --> 00:40:26.860
and um family secrets of the past so

00:40:26.880 --> 00:40:30.202
that's enigma town it's all one word it's

00:40:30.222 --> 00:40:31.844
uh totally different than dragon whisperer

00:40:32.123 --> 00:40:34.465
and um but check that one out too

00:40:34.525 --> 00:40:37.168
red five comics yeah such a cool concept

00:40:37.208 --> 00:40:38.829
too because i mean you just from what

00:40:38.849 --> 00:40:39.929
you said you kind of know where the

00:40:39.949 --> 00:40:42.311
story goes but at the same time you're

00:40:42.351 --> 00:40:45.434
still intrigued by it you know so yeah

00:40:45.454 --> 00:40:48.215
and i like those types of stories so

00:40:48.255 --> 00:40:49.617
yeah you're not just a writer though

00:40:50.257 --> 00:40:51.378
you're a full-time creative

00:40:52.402 --> 00:40:55.005
How did your background in music and audio

00:40:55.065 --> 00:40:57.068
kind of shape your storytelling?

00:40:57.128 --> 00:40:58.570
Because it's still communication,

00:40:58.610 --> 00:41:00.952
you know, it's still art form.

00:41:01.753 --> 00:41:05.938
And when I got my daughter into music,

00:41:06.699 --> 00:41:08.940
it definitely improved her other scores in

00:41:09.121 --> 00:41:10.623
other subjects in school.

00:41:11.103 --> 00:41:12.123
So I've always kind of...

00:41:13.429 --> 00:41:15.911
if you can learn to read music and

00:41:15.951 --> 00:41:17.411
write music and play music,

00:41:17.570 --> 00:41:19.791
you're going to be better off in school.

00:41:20.192 --> 00:41:24.313
That's just been my belief and it shows

00:41:24.333 --> 00:41:24.992
with my daughter.

00:41:25.492 --> 00:41:29.653
So how did that kind of like shape

00:41:29.713 --> 00:41:32.135
your storytelling?

00:41:32.155 --> 00:41:32.815
Great question.

00:41:33.956 --> 00:41:42.717
Well, anything creative, I'm going to say

00:41:44.405 --> 00:41:46.106
It has to,

00:41:46.126 --> 00:41:50.248
in order for your creative output to fully

00:41:50.288 --> 00:41:50.947
manifest,

00:41:52.228 --> 00:41:54.108
you need to embrace it as a form

00:41:54.148 --> 00:41:55.030
of expression.

00:41:56.409 --> 00:41:56.650
Now,

00:41:57.389 --> 00:42:00.431
that doesn't mean that a person could stay

00:42:01.012 --> 00:42:03.552
in a room their whole life and make

00:42:03.713 --> 00:42:06.954
art and make music.

00:42:07.074 --> 00:42:07.793
That's great.

00:42:08.956 --> 00:42:11.398
but it's not going to cross the hurdle

00:42:11.597 --> 00:42:15.639
if it's not expressed to a recipient.

00:42:16.641 --> 00:42:22.324
So that's my process.

00:42:22.844 --> 00:42:25.567
Creating music is an expression.

00:42:26.367 --> 00:42:30.889
It is a communicative expression that is

00:42:30.909 --> 00:42:32.271
different than talking,

00:42:32.471 --> 00:42:33.612
that's different than writing,

00:42:33.731 --> 00:42:34.992
that's different than taking pictures.

00:42:36.599 --> 00:42:37.460
but it's an expression.

00:42:37.860 --> 00:42:38.742
I can get that guitar.

00:42:39.222 --> 00:42:40.503
I'll put chords together.

00:42:40.943 --> 00:42:42.184
I'll sing some words to it.

00:42:42.864 --> 00:42:46.246
I am constructing an expressive output.

00:42:47.507 --> 00:42:51.469
And it builds an entire set of tools

00:42:52.309 --> 00:42:56.492
in one area that you can completely

00:42:57.492 --> 00:43:01.896
rejigger and MacGyver these tools to help

00:43:01.916 --> 00:43:02.996
you in another area.

00:43:04.112 --> 00:43:05.094
So that was music.

00:43:05.554 --> 00:43:09.577
And I started playing when I was ten

00:43:11.197 --> 00:43:12.938
and I got good at it.

00:43:13.159 --> 00:43:14.300
I listened to other people.

00:43:16.782 --> 00:43:18.443
What I did is I absorbed it,

00:43:19.824 --> 00:43:21.545
not like a mirror because a mirror just

00:43:21.565 --> 00:43:22.085
reflects it.

00:43:22.545 --> 00:43:25.947
I absorbed it sort of like a satellite

00:43:25.987 --> 00:43:26.329
dish.

00:43:27.148 --> 00:43:32.672
I got that information and I compiled it

00:43:32.773 --> 00:43:33.554
in my own way

00:43:35.273 --> 00:43:36.152
in the Alex way,

00:43:36.233 --> 00:43:39.655
and then I re-expressed it completely my

00:43:39.695 --> 00:43:39.934
way.

00:43:42.356 --> 00:43:48.898
So what music did for me was it,

00:43:48.978 --> 00:43:49.759
without a doubt,

00:43:50.518 --> 00:43:54.780
unequivocally gave me all the tools of

00:43:54.840 --> 00:43:58.101
expressing and constructing that

00:43:58.242 --> 00:43:58.802
expression.

00:43:59.342 --> 00:44:02.224
Because if you don't know the first thing

00:44:02.264 --> 00:44:02.483
about

00:44:03.987 --> 00:44:06.648
making music you could hear a song and

00:44:06.690 --> 00:44:10.751
feel inspired but you can't just suddenly

00:44:10.811 --> 00:44:15.193
come out writing the song purple rain you

00:44:15.253 --> 00:44:18.916
have to you have to build the tools

00:44:19.076 --> 00:44:21.137
you have to build your strength in that

00:44:21.177 --> 00:44:24.159
craft you have to exercise that craft so

00:44:25.699 --> 00:44:26.039
that

00:44:27.619 --> 00:44:30.501
Making music gave me the knowledge of

00:44:31.081 --> 00:44:33.242
making and building the tools to be able

00:44:33.282 --> 00:44:35.742
to do other creative endeavors like

00:44:35.802 --> 00:44:36.161
writing.

00:44:37.222 --> 00:44:38.983
It's different, very different,

00:44:39.362 --> 00:44:41.923
but it's creative.

00:44:41.963 --> 00:44:45.505
So when you're writing comic book stories,

00:44:45.724 --> 00:44:48.485
do you hear in your head music to

00:44:48.545 --> 00:44:49.585
the story that you're writing?

00:44:51.135 --> 00:44:53.717
Like as you're writing along or whatever,

00:44:54.317 --> 00:44:56.297
can you hear the music for a particular

00:44:56.358 --> 00:44:57.018
scene in your head?

00:44:57.039 --> 00:44:58.239
Just like, it's not there.

00:44:58.780 --> 00:44:59.740
You haven't written it,

00:44:59.920 --> 00:45:02.121
but do you hear like a specific like

00:45:02.202 --> 00:45:03.483
song or like,

00:45:03.503 --> 00:45:05.485
can you imagine like a song as you're

00:45:05.525 --> 00:45:07.846
writing a particular scene or anything

00:45:07.865 --> 00:45:10.568
like that?

00:45:10.708 --> 00:45:11.027
Wow.

00:45:11.088 --> 00:45:12.429
That's, that's so interesting.

00:45:12.509 --> 00:45:14.250
I've never ever thought about that.

00:45:18.773 --> 00:45:19.373
Sometimes.

00:45:19.614 --> 00:45:19.934
Yes.

00:45:22.882 --> 00:45:29.666
I do hear some music in writing certain

00:45:29.726 --> 00:45:30.206
scenes.

00:45:30.606 --> 00:45:30.887
Like,

00:45:31.987 --> 00:45:34.090
scene punk is a whole genre of music,

00:45:34.110 --> 00:45:35.271
as a matter of fact, too.

00:45:35.710 --> 00:45:36.992
It's got a little bit of classical,

00:45:37.052 --> 00:45:41.074
but it's much more of an industrial makeup

00:45:41.135 --> 00:45:42.795
to it.

00:45:43.516 --> 00:45:47.018
It's earthier, and it's more tangible.

00:45:49.012 --> 00:45:51.114
But I suppose, yeah,

00:45:51.713 --> 00:45:53.273
I did hear that kind of thing.

00:45:54.574 --> 00:45:56.255
Yeah, you're right.

00:45:56.434 --> 00:45:56.875
You're right.

00:45:56.994 --> 00:46:00.615
And with Enigma Town, I heard eerie,

00:46:00.655 --> 00:46:01.456
spooky music.

00:46:02.396 --> 00:46:04.036
Dad, I'm glad you asked me that.

00:46:04.077 --> 00:46:05.077
I never thought about that.

00:46:06.378 --> 00:46:06.737
I did.

00:46:06.898 --> 00:46:09.597
I did hear music that,

00:46:10.159 --> 00:46:11.059
for the most part,

00:46:11.259 --> 00:46:13.719
was reflective of the genre and the style

00:46:13.760 --> 00:46:14.460
that I was writing.

00:46:17.110 --> 00:46:18.411
Sometimes I heard metal, though, too,

00:46:19.331 --> 00:46:20.853
with something that was completely not

00:46:21.032 --> 00:46:21.472
heavy metal.

00:46:22.092 --> 00:46:24.474
But yeah, I did hear stuff.

00:46:24.514 --> 00:46:26.014
Yeah, it was all instrumental, though,

00:46:26.795 --> 00:46:28.076
except for parts in which somebody's

00:46:28.096 --> 00:46:29.556
singing in the comic, which somebody did.

00:46:30.416 --> 00:46:30.637
Yeah,

00:46:30.976 --> 00:46:33.637
because I ask that question because I know

00:46:33.757 --> 00:46:35.358
once the Game of Thrones...

00:46:36.039 --> 00:46:38.541
tv show came out i was still in

00:46:38.561 --> 00:46:40.483
the process of reading the books as well

00:46:40.864 --> 00:46:42.746
so as i would be reading like the

00:46:42.786 --> 00:46:44.487
pages of the book i would also be

00:46:44.527 --> 00:46:47.070
hearing the game of thrones you know theme

00:46:47.090 --> 00:46:48.731
song in my head at the same time

00:46:48.751 --> 00:46:51.275
and i'm just like i catch myself like

00:46:51.295 --> 00:46:52.655
kind of bobbing my head along a little

00:46:52.715 --> 00:46:54.677
bit about right because i'm like that song

00:46:54.737 --> 00:46:57.041
is stuck in my head for that and

00:46:57.081 --> 00:46:57.780
it's one of those where

00:46:58.766 --> 00:47:01.088
like if you're reading a Batman comic,

00:47:01.128 --> 00:47:02.711
you know, you kind of have that,

00:47:02.891 --> 00:47:04.373
the Batman theme song from the,

00:47:04.795 --> 00:47:05.775
I think the sixties,

00:47:05.835 --> 00:47:06.958
like kind of like pop it in your

00:47:06.978 --> 00:47:07.599
head as well.

00:47:08.280 --> 00:47:10.382
Or the animated series from the nineties.

00:47:10.742 --> 00:47:11.485
It's just stuff.

00:47:11.684 --> 00:47:12.226
It's like,

00:47:13.422 --> 00:47:15.103
there's two things that go together

00:47:15.182 --> 00:47:15.724
perfectly.

00:47:15.744 --> 00:47:17.485
And that was one of those where I'm

00:47:17.545 --> 00:47:18.806
like, I'm like, you do music,

00:47:18.826 --> 00:47:19.527
you write comics.

00:47:19.567 --> 00:47:20.628
It's kind of like one of those questions.

00:47:20.648 --> 00:47:22.268
Like, I wonder if he does that too,

00:47:22.289 --> 00:47:24.751
because I know I'm, I definitely do that.

00:47:24.791 --> 00:47:25.231
When, if I,

00:47:25.251 --> 00:47:27.233
there's a theme to a particular comic book

00:47:27.773 --> 00:47:28.594
or a character,

00:47:29.193 --> 00:47:30.835
I hear that theme as I read that

00:47:30.875 --> 00:47:31.376
character.

00:47:31.416 --> 00:47:34.557
So I'm not the only crazy person in

00:47:34.597 --> 00:47:35.099
this world.

00:47:36.119 --> 00:47:37.701
No, great, great question.

00:47:37.721 --> 00:47:38.400
No, I agree.

00:47:38.920 --> 00:47:39.661
Bring on the crazies.

00:47:39.702 --> 00:47:40.061
Come on.

00:47:40.943 --> 00:47:41.744
Exactly.

00:47:41.764 --> 00:47:41.864
Yeah.

00:47:43.056 --> 00:47:43.976
So as a letterer,

00:47:44.077 --> 00:47:47.117
you control pacing and tone.

00:47:47.557 --> 00:47:49.639
And I've said this a lot.

00:47:49.818 --> 00:47:53.121
A letterer can make or break a good

00:47:53.161 --> 00:47:53.860
comic book.

00:47:54.621 --> 00:47:55.322
Boom.

00:47:55.961 --> 00:47:56.282
Boom.

00:47:56.342 --> 00:47:59.304
How important is that to you as a

00:47:59.384 --> 00:48:03.525
letterer yourself?

00:48:03.945 --> 00:48:05.166
Crucial.

00:48:05.246 --> 00:48:06.306
Absolutely crucial.

00:48:06.987 --> 00:48:11.648
crucial it is it is air that we

00:48:11.688 --> 00:48:15.969
breathe um it's funny i i i often

00:48:16.010 --> 00:48:17.510
make a joke and all my friends are

00:48:17.530 --> 00:48:18.809
going to go here he goes alex saying

00:48:18.849 --> 00:48:20.550
the same thing but i i make a

00:48:20.590 --> 00:48:24.411
joke if if writer me ever met letterer

00:48:24.451 --> 00:48:27.831
me letterer me would want to just knock

00:48:27.911 --> 00:48:31.052
out writer because he writes writes too

00:48:31.092 --> 00:48:32.932
damn much letter he says

00:48:34.311 --> 00:48:35.672
Calm the hell down, all right?

00:48:36.552 --> 00:48:38.914
All that stuff won't fit.

00:48:39.094 --> 00:48:40.494
It's now to the point where there's,

00:48:40.914 --> 00:48:42.695
I will never hire another letterer.

00:48:42.876 --> 00:48:43.036
I mean,

00:48:43.076 --> 00:48:45.016
if Todd Klein or Tom Orszkowski said,

00:48:45.416 --> 00:48:46.438
I want a letter to your comic for

00:48:46.458 --> 00:48:48.018
real cheap, I'd say absolutely yes.

00:48:49.259 --> 00:48:50.460
Oh yeah, you can't say no to that.

00:48:51.746 --> 00:48:52.487
Oh, yeah.

00:48:52.507 --> 00:48:56.068
But I edit myself big time when I

00:48:56.168 --> 00:48:57.307
letter.

00:48:57.427 --> 00:48:58.487
And here's the wonderful thing.

00:48:58.527 --> 00:49:00.329
Robert Kirkman on The Walking Dead

00:49:00.389 --> 00:49:01.708
lettered The Walking Dead.

00:49:02.528 --> 00:49:04.869
And I completely assert The Walking Dead

00:49:04.889 --> 00:49:06.309
was as good as it was because the

00:49:06.349 --> 00:49:07.429
letterer was the writer.

00:49:08.871 --> 00:49:10.371
Because I edited myself.

00:49:10.471 --> 00:49:13.291
Because writing is abstract.

00:49:13.391 --> 00:49:15.351
Writing a comic is abstract.

00:49:16.612 --> 00:49:19.233
Because a script...

00:49:20.170 --> 00:49:20.851
and the words,

00:49:21.190 --> 00:49:24.311
nothing in a quantifiable sense of what

00:49:24.331 --> 00:49:27.052
you're writing will appear in the finished

00:49:27.092 --> 00:49:27.552
product.

00:49:28.112 --> 00:49:29.452
Now, before you say, wait a minute,

00:49:30.393 --> 00:49:30.992
here's what I mean.

00:49:31.432 --> 00:49:33.213
The artist is drawing something,

00:49:33.713 --> 00:49:35.213
that art will appear in the comic.

00:49:35.994 --> 00:49:36.494
The inker,

00:49:37.094 --> 00:49:39.235
that ink will appear in the comic.

00:49:39.315 --> 00:49:39.875
The colors,

00:49:39.934 --> 00:49:41.655
that color will appear in the comic.

00:49:42.235 --> 00:49:42.695
The letterer,

00:49:42.835 --> 00:49:44.295
those letters will appear in the comic.

00:49:44.635 --> 00:49:48.657
The writer is doing something more

00:49:48.757 --> 00:49:49.376
abstract.

00:49:50.527 --> 00:49:51.469
They're orchestrating.

00:49:51.528 --> 00:49:53.471
It's sort of like the conductor of an

00:49:53.590 --> 00:49:55.213
orchestra is not one of the musicians.

00:49:55.672 --> 00:49:56.414
They're the conductor.

00:49:57.635 --> 00:49:59.697
So writing is abstract.

00:50:00.378 --> 00:50:01.539
I could describe a panel.

00:50:02.599 --> 00:50:03.581
I could write the dialogue.

00:50:03.800 --> 00:50:04.842
I could write the captions.

00:50:06.804 --> 00:50:08.005
The artist will do it.

00:50:09.606 --> 00:50:13.751
And then when I receive it, the art

00:50:14.873 --> 00:50:16.813
may or may not be one hundred percent

00:50:16.873 --> 00:50:18.795
reflective of the dialogue that I put in

00:50:18.815 --> 00:50:19.016
there.

00:50:19.036 --> 00:50:19.675
It says, you know what?

00:50:20.315 --> 00:50:21.677
That person's facial expression is

00:50:21.717 --> 00:50:22.056
different.

00:50:22.958 --> 00:50:23.677
Things are different.

00:50:24.858 --> 00:50:25.519
If it's crucial,

00:50:25.539 --> 00:50:26.719
I'll tell the artist to change it.

00:50:27.300 --> 00:50:28.882
But for the most part,

00:50:28.942 --> 00:50:30.202
I want the artist to be the artist.

00:50:31.043 --> 00:50:32.023
So me as the letterer,

00:50:33.003 --> 00:50:35.264
I can retweet the lettering of my own

00:50:35.304 --> 00:50:36.686
writing to make it fit.

00:50:37.427 --> 00:50:40.889
So and then and then flow, flow, flow,

00:50:40.949 --> 00:50:41.309
flow.

00:50:41.949 --> 00:50:42.449
It's just like.

00:50:43.724 --> 00:50:45.784
It's got to flow.

00:50:46.065 --> 00:50:48.007
This balloon needs to lead into that

00:50:48.047 --> 00:50:50.668
balloon, which leads into this caption,

00:50:51.128 --> 00:50:52.708
which if you read it in the wrong

00:50:52.949 --> 00:50:55.530
order, you're SOL.

00:50:55.610 --> 00:50:56.411
You're up a creek.

00:50:58.411 --> 00:50:59.672
You got to read it in the correct

00:50:59.853 --> 00:51:00.172
order.

00:51:00.793 --> 00:51:04.695
So flow, lettering is the art of flow.

00:51:05.315 --> 00:51:06.717
It's truly the art of flow.

00:51:06.757 --> 00:51:09.858
And then when to make a word bold

00:51:09.918 --> 00:51:10.378
italic,

00:51:10.659 --> 00:51:12.400
when not to make the word bold italic,

00:51:13.311 --> 00:51:15.871
when to add ellipses,

00:51:15.952 --> 00:51:20.213
when not to add ellipses, dashes,

00:51:20.253 --> 00:51:20.974
and that kind of thing.

00:51:21.193 --> 00:51:23.134
I'm so glad you asked.

00:51:23.235 --> 00:51:23.715
It's crucial.

00:51:23.775 --> 00:51:24.335
It's essential.

00:51:25.155 --> 00:51:27.356
I just had this conversation with Donald

00:51:27.876 --> 00:51:29.876
on Powerscaped not that long ago.

00:51:29.916 --> 00:51:33.478
We were talking about how that has changed

00:51:33.498 --> 00:51:35.639
and how people use the gutters now to

00:51:36.219 --> 00:51:39.559
do self-inflections or have the character

00:51:39.579 --> 00:51:41.101
have a conversation with themselves

00:51:41.820 --> 00:51:43.322
in their own heads and it's kind of

00:51:43.362 --> 00:51:45.862
like morphed to where every inch of a

00:51:45.943 --> 00:51:47.824
page is now being used there's not really

00:51:47.864 --> 00:51:50.885
traditional gutters and you know that kind

00:51:50.905 --> 00:51:53.186
of stuff anymore because people are taking

00:51:53.226 --> 00:51:57.708
advantage of that full page and the

00:51:57.789 --> 00:51:59.969
writings not not writing styles but

00:52:00.590 --> 00:52:03.711
lettering has changed to like there could

00:52:03.731 --> 00:52:05.972
be multiple things happening on the page

00:52:05.992 --> 00:52:08.414
within a bots or within a

00:52:09.788 --> 00:52:12.833
bubble and it can be confusing to

00:52:12.893 --> 00:52:14.514
sometimes because sometimes you can get

00:52:14.596 --> 00:52:16.898
two three four pages deep and realize

00:52:17.847 --> 00:52:20.327
that one-shaped box over here has nothing

00:52:20.347 --> 00:52:22.849
to do with the actual story.

00:52:23.228 --> 00:52:25.110
They're giving you their characters and

00:52:25.130 --> 00:52:27.610
their monologue with themselves.

00:52:29.411 --> 00:52:30.592
Right.

00:52:30.652 --> 00:52:32.474
It's just not explicitly stated.

00:52:33.353 --> 00:52:36.235
It can be very confusing for a few

00:52:36.275 --> 00:52:38.115
pages until you realize they'll say

00:52:38.155 --> 00:52:40.016
something and it'll trigger in your head

00:52:40.056 --> 00:52:40.336
to go,

00:52:41.177 --> 00:52:42.717
that's in our dialogue with themselves.

00:52:42.737 --> 00:52:44.739
That's why it makes zero sense.

00:52:44.759 --> 00:52:46.300
They're in the middle of a fight

00:52:47.034 --> 00:52:50.056
And they're giving you what they plan to

00:52:50.115 --> 00:52:52.177
do next in that fight because they're

00:52:52.217 --> 00:52:54.237
having that conversation with themselves

00:52:54.798 --> 00:52:55.619
in their own head,

00:52:56.059 --> 00:52:57.721
which I think is a really cool thing

00:52:57.740 --> 00:52:58.201
to do.

00:52:59.061 --> 00:52:59.221
Right.

00:52:59.240 --> 00:53:00.681
But it could take you two, three,

00:53:00.742 --> 00:53:03.244
four pages to catch on to what is

00:53:03.284 --> 00:53:04.184
going on with that.

00:53:05.585 --> 00:53:05.864
Right.

00:53:06.226 --> 00:53:06.465
Right.

00:53:07.365 --> 00:53:07.907
Exactly.

00:53:08.327 --> 00:53:08.567
Yep.

00:53:08.626 --> 00:53:10.027
Good observation.

00:53:10.068 --> 00:53:11.909
But again,

00:53:11.949 --> 00:53:14.371
I go back to say lettering can make

00:53:14.751 --> 00:53:16.032
or break the book.

00:53:17.635 --> 00:53:19.240
there's some Marvel books out there where

00:53:19.260 --> 00:53:20.965
the lettering was so bad I couldn't

00:53:22.226 --> 00:53:24.188
I'm like, yeah, it's a great issue.

00:53:24.268 --> 00:53:26.670
One, it had potential, but the lettering,

00:53:27.150 --> 00:53:27.811
the art.

00:53:28.251 --> 00:53:29.132
It takes you right out.

00:53:29.291 --> 00:53:29.972
It takes you right out.

00:53:30.032 --> 00:53:30.273
It just,

00:53:30.733 --> 00:53:31.914
it sucked the life out of you to

00:53:31.954 --> 00:53:33.675
want to read it because it just didn't

00:53:33.795 --> 00:53:34.376
feel right.

00:53:34.436 --> 00:53:35.416
It didn't feel good.

00:53:36.197 --> 00:53:37.838
It didn't feel like it went together.

00:53:38.559 --> 00:53:39.239
Like themes,

00:53:39.900 --> 00:53:41.780
they put emphasis on stuff that I would

00:53:41.860 --> 00:53:43.461
have had never put emphasis on.

00:53:44.583 --> 00:53:46.784
And I do want to say this.

00:53:46.824 --> 00:53:48.405
What it deserves is the craft that it

00:53:48.445 --> 00:53:48.606
is.

00:53:48.686 --> 00:53:49.507
Yes, go ahead, please.

00:53:52.893 --> 00:53:54.434
A lot of people may be new to

00:53:54.474 --> 00:53:54.715
this,

00:53:54.795 --> 00:53:57.817
but script writing for a comic book is

00:53:57.876 --> 00:54:00.179
very much like a movie.

00:54:00.878 --> 00:54:03.380
It's not like those bubbles you see with

00:54:03.440 --> 00:54:05.882
text and stuff on a comic book page

00:54:06.483 --> 00:54:08.744
are not what's on a script of a

00:54:08.804 --> 00:54:09.465
comic book.

00:54:09.945 --> 00:54:12.288
A script of a comic book literally has

00:54:12.728 --> 00:54:14.068
panel by panel,

00:54:14.188 --> 00:54:17.351
page by page of not just the words

00:54:17.371 --> 00:54:18.373
that are being spoken,

00:54:19.380 --> 00:54:20.420
But the visuals,

00:54:21.081 --> 00:54:24.983
it has where characters are looking,

00:54:25.483 --> 00:54:27.284
if there's trees, if there's birds,

00:54:27.324 --> 00:54:29.146
if there's a house, if there's a gun,

00:54:29.585 --> 00:54:30.447
if there's a car,

00:54:30.967 --> 00:54:34.748
all that stuff is described in a script

00:54:34.869 --> 00:54:35.869
to a comic book,

00:54:35.909 --> 00:54:38.931
just like it would be for a movie.

00:54:39.731 --> 00:54:42.132
And that's how the artist knows what to

00:54:42.213 --> 00:54:42.634
build.

00:54:43.838 --> 00:54:45.900
for a page or a panel in a

00:54:45.940 --> 00:54:46.782
comic book as well.

00:54:47.342 --> 00:54:49.003
So it's a really cool concept that a

00:54:49.063 --> 00:54:52.128
lot of people I don't think really think

00:54:52.148 --> 00:54:52.427
about.

00:54:52.467 --> 00:54:54.329
They just, oh, there's my comic book,

00:54:54.369 --> 00:54:56.233
there's my words, there's my art,

00:54:56.253 --> 00:54:57.074
there's my pages.

00:54:58.394 --> 00:55:00.036
But that was a whole concept

00:55:00.538 --> 00:55:01.878
Like, yes, twenty two pages,

00:55:01.918 --> 00:55:03.659
twenty eight pages, thirty two pages.

00:55:04.239 --> 00:55:05.501
That might have been two hundred pages

00:55:05.521 --> 00:55:07.402
worth of a script is all.

00:55:07.442 --> 00:55:07.641
Right.

00:55:07.661 --> 00:55:08.521
Yeah.

00:55:08.882 --> 00:55:09.623
Oh, yeah, it's true.

00:55:10.023 --> 00:55:10.143
Yeah.

00:55:10.182 --> 00:55:11.423
My scripts are ridiculous.

00:55:11.503 --> 00:55:12.244
I, you know, sorry,

00:55:12.284 --> 00:55:13.465
all you artists that work with me.

00:55:13.485 --> 00:55:14.324
Sorry for overwriting.

00:55:15.485 --> 00:55:17.487
But I would rather have those details in

00:55:17.527 --> 00:55:18.146
there than not.

00:55:18.186 --> 00:55:20.789
And I know some artists who they like

00:55:20.829 --> 00:55:22.929
that complete hundred percent direction.

00:55:22.989 --> 00:55:24.751
Tell me exactly what you want.

00:55:25.782 --> 00:55:26.943
And then I heard, you know,

00:55:26.963 --> 00:55:27.804
of artists going,

00:55:28.485 --> 00:55:30.047
you really just tell me the story and

00:55:30.068 --> 00:55:31.469
I'll make it work.

00:55:31.548 --> 00:55:33.090
And they're just that good.

00:55:33.211 --> 00:55:35.233
They've got that experience to where they

00:55:35.273 --> 00:55:38.378
can interpret your words into damn near a

00:55:38.418 --> 00:55:40.541
hundred percent of what it is that you

00:55:40.581 --> 00:55:40.840
want.

00:55:41.581 --> 00:55:43.802
and i think that's really cool two

00:55:43.983 --> 00:55:46.043
different concepts out there different

00:55:46.063 --> 00:55:48.023
ways of doing business and i can

00:55:48.043 --> 00:55:50.103
appreciate all of them because i know the

00:55:50.143 --> 00:55:54.826
amount of work and love that went into

00:55:55.166 --> 00:55:57.726
that project and that's why i love comic

00:55:57.766 --> 00:56:02.407
books as a medium so so what do

00:56:02.447 --> 00:56:04.547
you think are is something that a lot

00:56:04.588 --> 00:56:07.929
of creators overlook that you think is

00:56:07.949 --> 00:56:09.929
like one of the essentials

00:56:13.077 --> 00:56:20.922
um well i'm gonna say show don't tell

00:56:20.983 --> 00:56:24.666
that's that's sort of the the big the

00:56:24.706 --> 00:56:28.969
big tenet out there um where you know

00:56:30.210 --> 00:56:31.990
show me what you're talking about instead

00:56:32.010 --> 00:56:33.231
of telling me what you're talking about

00:56:33.731 --> 00:56:35.492
but i'm not going to say that it

00:56:35.532 --> 00:56:37.594
is it is a hard and fast rule

00:56:38.641 --> 00:56:42.664
Sometimes telling is fine if it's right

00:56:42.824 --> 00:56:43.643
for that moment.

00:56:46.246 --> 00:56:48.766
So that being said, going back to show,

00:56:48.786 --> 00:56:55.532
don't tell, let your comic breathe.

00:56:56.512 --> 00:56:59.653
I'm guilty of cramming,

00:57:00.315 --> 00:57:03.876
I'm guilty of rushing at times, my comics,

00:57:03.936 --> 00:57:04.617
especially when,

00:57:07.610 --> 00:57:10.391
first chapters of any series that I'm

00:57:10.451 --> 00:57:10.771
doing.

00:57:13.050 --> 00:57:15.552
I guess I'm gonna get insecurely obsessive

00:57:15.911 --> 00:57:18.731
compulsive about making sure the reader

00:57:18.791 --> 00:57:21.152
knows what I mean here.

00:57:21.432 --> 00:57:23.193
So I'm gonna,

00:57:24.432 --> 00:57:26.914
I instinctively try to write too much to

00:57:26.954 --> 00:57:28.014
try to describe everything.

00:57:28.954 --> 00:57:30.634
And that's where like an editor would come

00:57:30.693 --> 00:57:33.755
in or, you know, yourself calmly saying,

00:57:34.355 --> 00:57:34.715
slow down.

00:57:35.748 --> 00:57:36.728
Trust your audience.

00:57:37.469 --> 00:57:39.409
Trust your audience to have them figure

00:57:39.489 --> 00:57:39.648
out,

00:57:39.728 --> 00:57:42.550
but don't just be lazy to try to

00:57:42.630 --> 00:57:43.931
make them figure out something that they

00:57:43.971 --> 00:57:45.331
can't figure out because you didn't

00:57:45.371 --> 00:57:46.231
establish it enough.

00:57:46.831 --> 00:57:50.932
So ultimately I'll say show, don't tell.

00:57:52.092 --> 00:57:57.074
And I'd have that manifest mostly as much

00:57:57.114 --> 00:58:03.016
as letting the scene breathe.

00:58:03.315 --> 00:58:04.757
While keeping in mind,

00:58:06.367 --> 00:58:11.831
that a comic has what time is to

00:58:11.871 --> 00:58:14.514
a movie or a television show space is

00:58:14.554 --> 00:58:17.297
to a comic so if a scene goes

00:58:17.356 --> 00:58:20.940
five minutes you have five minutes if a

00:58:21.000 --> 00:58:23.061
scene in the comic you have to decide

00:58:23.081 --> 00:58:25.282
how many panels and pages but you have

00:58:25.322 --> 00:58:28.606
to consider that that's gonna that's that

00:58:28.646 --> 00:58:29.246
many pages

00:58:30.250 --> 00:58:31.311
that you won't have the rest of the

00:58:31.351 --> 00:58:31.951
story to tell.

00:58:32.632 --> 00:58:34.492
So got to let it breathe,

00:58:34.653 --> 00:58:35.795
but you have to let it breathe in

00:58:35.835 --> 00:58:37.615
the right amount of panels and pages that

00:58:37.635 --> 00:58:39.938
you create in your head.

00:58:40.057 --> 00:58:40.737
How much is that?

00:58:41.079 --> 00:58:41.659
You decide.

00:58:42.000 --> 00:58:42.960
It's like asking the question,

00:58:43.000 --> 00:58:44.001
how long is a rope?

00:58:46.242 --> 00:58:47.684
Yeah.

00:58:47.784 --> 00:58:49.905
Yeah.

00:58:49.945 --> 00:58:51.507
So you've worked across multiple

00:58:51.567 --> 00:58:53.248
publishers in your time.

00:58:54.028 --> 00:58:57.211
What's the biggest difference between...

00:58:59.385 --> 00:59:00.847
I don't want to use the term indie,

00:59:01.286 --> 00:59:04.088
but I'm going to between a pure indie

00:59:04.130 --> 00:59:05.751
comic that is being published by an

00:59:05.891 --> 00:59:09.512
individual or a person versus a publisher

00:59:09.893 --> 00:59:13.175
that project.

00:59:13.376 --> 00:59:14.217
Oh, well, the,

00:59:14.717 --> 00:59:17.739
the biggest publisher I work with is red

00:59:17.780 --> 00:59:19.340
five and they're, they're indie,

00:59:19.380 --> 00:59:20.601
but they're, they're, they're known.

00:59:20.702 --> 00:59:21.041
They're big.

00:59:21.061 --> 00:59:23.583
They had a movie just in the theaters

00:59:24.403 --> 00:59:24.824
and, you know,

00:59:25.385 --> 00:59:26.646
lots and lots and lots of books.

00:59:27.586 --> 00:59:27.626
Um,

00:59:28.663 --> 00:59:32.943
The publisher is going to curate more,

00:59:33.344 --> 00:59:35.925
and the publisher slash editor is going to

00:59:35.985 --> 00:59:36.965
curate more.

00:59:37.864 --> 00:59:39.965
They are going to edit more.

00:59:40.646 --> 00:59:43.905
They are going to...

00:59:43.945 --> 00:59:45.766
They actually might say,

00:59:46.626 --> 00:59:48.027
I'm not going to publish that scene,

00:59:49.086 --> 00:59:50.987
or you need to do more there.

00:59:51.047 --> 00:59:53.527
So when they're bigger,

00:59:53.768 --> 00:59:54.668
when there's more...

00:59:57.099 --> 00:59:58.360
more at stake for them when they're more

00:59:58.400 --> 00:59:59.099
established.

00:59:59.119 --> 01:00:02.041
And when they have a brand,

01:00:02.161 --> 01:00:03.081
when they have a brand,

01:00:04.181 --> 01:00:07.463
they are going to steer,

01:00:08.762 --> 01:00:10.003
hopefully as little as possible,

01:00:10.023 --> 01:00:11.824
but they're going to steer the story and

01:00:11.864 --> 01:00:15.266
the art to be supportive of that brand.

01:00:16.487 --> 01:00:19.230
um if if it's if it's way off

01:00:19.269 --> 01:00:21.911
the mark if it's magnificent but if it's

01:00:22.032 --> 01:00:24.835
so off the mark a bigger publisher might

01:00:24.875 --> 01:00:27.597
say this is great i would read this

01:00:28.117 --> 01:00:29.978
i would buy this if i were somebody

01:00:30.018 --> 01:00:32.079
different i would publish this but it's

01:00:32.199 --> 01:00:38.385
not my brand so um that's that's the

01:00:38.405 --> 01:00:39.746
difference between working with somebody

01:00:39.806 --> 01:00:42.168
really big and working with somebody small

01:00:43.068 --> 01:00:45.170
in which they'd say go nuts

01:00:46.141 --> 01:00:48.923
Um, so, so that,

01:00:48.983 --> 01:00:51.166
that would be the difference is somebody

01:00:51.186 --> 01:00:53.128
with somebody with a brand and a

01:00:53.208 --> 01:00:55.048
noticeable brand and the uniqueness to

01:00:55.068 --> 01:00:57.291
their brand would, um,

01:00:58.070 --> 01:01:00.072
have more say in your output.

01:01:02.590 --> 01:01:06.014
So how do you go about pitching a

01:01:06.074 --> 01:01:08.356
comic to a publisher?

01:01:08.576 --> 01:01:10.617
Because I'm guessing that's how you ended

01:01:10.657 --> 01:01:13.360
up linked up with Red Five is that

01:01:13.420 --> 01:01:14.701
you did it for them.

01:01:15.681 --> 01:01:21.365
And how did you go about that pitch?

01:01:21.385 --> 01:01:21.585
Okay.

01:01:22.007 --> 01:01:24.849
There's a hard and fast truth with comic

01:01:24.869 --> 01:01:27.371
book writing if you're just a writer.

01:01:28.791 --> 01:01:29.672
It's a visual medium.

01:01:30.293 --> 01:01:31.054
It's a visual medium.

01:01:33.280 --> 01:01:34.820
A writer needs,

01:01:35.601 --> 01:01:37.282
a comic book writer needs art to go

01:01:37.322 --> 01:01:38.222
along with their comic.

01:01:42.563 --> 01:01:43.563
If you're just getting started,

01:01:46.503 --> 01:01:50.063
I did a panel once and then a

01:01:50.103 --> 01:01:51.543
writer said, I'm a writer.

01:01:51.884 --> 01:01:52.684
He asked me a question.

01:01:52.864 --> 01:01:55.724
He says, I'm a writer, but, you know,

01:01:55.744 --> 01:01:56.784
and I have all these scripts and,

01:01:56.804 --> 01:01:56.985
you know,

01:01:57.025 --> 01:01:58.385
I want to pitch these scripts to the

01:01:58.425 --> 01:01:58.844
publisher.

01:02:01.646 --> 01:02:02.126
And I said,

01:02:03.951 --> 01:02:07.592
Sadly, not nine out of ten,

01:02:07.873 --> 01:02:09.893
not ninety-nine out of a hundred,

01:02:11.554 --> 01:02:13.135
probably not even nine hundred and

01:02:13.175 --> 01:02:15.536
ninety-nine out of a thousand publishers,

01:02:16.036 --> 01:02:18.677
there's no way they're going to take a

01:02:18.717 --> 01:02:19.057
script,

01:02:20.338 --> 01:02:22.199
unless your name is like James Cameron or

01:02:22.278 --> 01:02:22.858
Alan Moore.

01:02:24.420 --> 01:02:25.780
They're not going to take a script,

01:02:27.501 --> 01:02:29.222
however much of a page turner it may

01:02:29.262 --> 01:02:30.342
be, and say,

01:02:30.943 --> 01:02:32.222
I'm going to pair you with an artist.

01:02:32.543 --> 01:02:32.824
That is...

01:02:33.735 --> 01:02:39.259
that is so incredibly virtually impossible

01:02:39.278 --> 01:02:39.699
to happen.

01:02:40.739 --> 01:02:42.360
What a writer needs.

01:02:43.460 --> 01:02:44.621
I'm gonna speak for myself,

01:02:46.362 --> 01:02:48.824
but I'm gonna say what a writer needs

01:02:49.244 --> 01:02:50.826
is an artist.

01:02:51.005 --> 01:02:53.007
So the question is, and I said, here,

01:02:53.106 --> 01:02:55.429
I'm gonna answer this question with a poll

01:02:55.469 --> 01:02:56.108
of the audience.

01:02:56.528 --> 01:02:57.570
And it says, okay,

01:02:57.750 --> 01:02:58.891
all you writers that don't draw,

01:02:58.951 --> 01:02:59.451
raise your hand.

01:02:59.471 --> 01:03:00.652
A bunch of people raised their hand.

01:03:01.432 --> 01:03:01.652
Okay.

01:03:02.873 --> 01:03:03.932
Artists, raise your hand.

01:03:03.952 --> 01:03:06.934
A bunch of artists raise their hand.

01:03:07.054 --> 01:03:10.735
Artists that will take a script from a

01:03:10.775 --> 01:03:14.516
writer and draw it without completely on

01:03:14.596 --> 01:03:14.956
spec,

01:03:15.556 --> 01:03:18.836
taking eight hours of your day to take

01:03:19.057 --> 01:03:22.137
all this time to draw this other person,

01:03:23.159 --> 01:03:25.079
this person's thing, without getting paid.

01:03:25.639 --> 01:03:26.340
How many will do that?

01:03:26.360 --> 01:03:27.340
And they all put their hands down.

01:03:28.139 --> 01:03:29.139
So I said, okay, writer,

01:03:29.659 --> 01:03:31.501
back to you with apologies.

01:03:32.733 --> 01:03:34.655
You need to get an artist.

01:03:35.715 --> 01:03:37.795
You need to work out a deal with

01:03:37.815 --> 01:03:38.516
that artist.

01:03:39.536 --> 01:03:40.697
If you're gonna pitch something,

01:03:43.177 --> 01:03:46.938
I would say under no circumstances pitch a

01:03:47.018 --> 01:03:48.318
script by itself.

01:03:49.659 --> 01:03:55.081
The going rate is many publishers wanna

01:03:55.101 --> 01:03:59.782
see six sequential pages of comic book

01:03:59.802 --> 01:04:01.963
storytelling, pencils, inks, letters.

01:04:03.226 --> 01:04:04.246
It is a visual medium.

01:04:04.626 --> 01:04:05.748
This is what they want to see.

01:04:07.028 --> 01:04:09.311
And submission editors, God bless them,

01:04:10.411 --> 01:04:11.492
they're going to look at a script and

01:04:11.512 --> 01:04:12.014
go, oy.

01:04:12.695 --> 01:04:18.199
So under every possible recommendation,

01:04:18.300 --> 01:04:19.260
I couldn't recommend more,

01:04:19.701 --> 01:04:22.402
have art with your story.

01:04:22.963 --> 01:04:23.885
At least six pages.

01:04:23.925 --> 01:04:24.824
For Dragon Whisperer,

01:04:26.239 --> 01:04:27.340
Since I've been around the block,

01:04:27.581 --> 01:04:29.641
I had a complete first issue with a

01:04:29.702 --> 01:04:30.382
beginning, middle,

01:04:30.563 --> 01:04:32.625
and a cliffhanging bit of closure.

01:04:33.405 --> 01:04:35.987
So boom, it was without question,

01:04:36.708 --> 01:04:37.289
it was picked up.

01:04:39.740 --> 01:04:40.181
No,

01:04:40.541 --> 01:04:42.382
and that's a hundred percent because like

01:04:43.342 --> 01:04:45.083
I do a lot of interviews with people

01:04:45.123 --> 01:04:48.083
starting Kickstarters and I I've said this

01:04:48.364 --> 01:04:51.844
multiple multitude of times that if I land

01:04:51.925 --> 01:04:55.045
on your Kickstarter page and I can't see

01:04:55.146 --> 01:04:57.027
a sample of that book,

01:04:58.007 --> 01:05:00.788
I am not going to back that book.

01:05:01.409 --> 01:05:02.068
I just can't do it.

01:05:03.989 --> 01:05:05.690
you can have one day left or ten

01:05:05.710 --> 01:05:07.512
days left but if there is not a

01:05:07.632 --> 01:05:11.297
sample of that book on your home page

01:05:11.456 --> 01:05:13.778
of your kickstarter i am not going to

01:05:13.838 --> 01:05:15.561
back the book because i do not know

01:05:15.601 --> 01:05:18.043
what i'm invested in yet and i want

01:05:18.083 --> 01:05:20.385
to invest i am a huge i am

01:05:20.425 --> 01:05:23.989
a super backer on kickstarter however i

01:05:24.050 --> 01:05:24.630
cannot

01:05:25.608 --> 01:05:26.730
throw my good money,

01:05:27.150 --> 01:05:29.490
hard-earned money at something that I

01:05:29.530 --> 01:05:32.972
cannot visually see at the time I go

01:05:33.032 --> 01:05:34.612
to want to back the book,

01:05:34.652 --> 01:05:36.434
no matter how great it sounds on paper.

01:05:37.534 --> 01:05:37.715
Right.

01:05:37.735 --> 01:05:38.875
It's just I can't do it.

01:05:40.275 --> 01:05:40.956
Right.

01:05:41.076 --> 01:05:44.137
And I don't mean character.

01:05:45.117 --> 01:05:46.958
pages, and I don't mean portraiture,

01:05:47.277 --> 01:05:48.297
and I don't mean a cover.

01:05:48.998 --> 01:05:51.239
I mean sequential art,

01:05:51.778 --> 01:05:54.500
paneled sequential art pages.

01:05:55.320 --> 01:05:56.440
I mean,

01:05:56.659 --> 01:05:58.601
a good character page is wonderful.

01:05:58.740 --> 01:05:59.300
That's great.

01:05:59.440 --> 01:06:00.961
But it's not telling me a story.

01:06:02.762 --> 01:06:03.422
A hundred percent.

01:06:03.842 --> 01:06:06.262
So what was something about the business

01:06:06.302 --> 01:06:08.543
side of comics that surprised you when you

01:06:08.583 --> 01:06:13.204
got started?

01:06:13.304 --> 01:06:13.925
Oh, let's see.

01:06:19.460 --> 01:06:20.501
Do it because you love it.

01:06:21.882 --> 01:06:23.061
Do it because you love it.

01:06:23.663 --> 01:06:32.608
Because unless you're like a genius and

01:06:32.628 --> 01:06:34.650
you knock it out of the park your

01:06:34.690 --> 01:06:35.570
first time at bat,

01:06:37.030 --> 01:06:38.751
you will be spending a lot more money

01:06:38.771 --> 01:06:39.552
than you'll be earning.

01:06:40.273 --> 01:06:41.153
Do it because you love it.

01:06:42.318 --> 01:06:43.998
Don't go into this thinking you're going

01:06:44.018 --> 01:06:44.659
to make money.

01:06:45.139 --> 01:06:47.121
Do it because you love it.

01:06:48.262 --> 01:06:51.425
There was an old skit of Bob Hope

01:06:51.585 --> 01:06:54.166
interviewing, I'm dating myself,

01:06:54.206 --> 01:06:55.788
Bob Hope interviewing Charo.

01:06:55.847 --> 01:06:59.550
Charo is this Spanish singing flamenco

01:06:59.570 --> 01:07:00.891
guitar playing very beautiful,

01:07:00.931 --> 01:07:01.652
voluptuous woman.

01:07:02.233 --> 01:07:04.213
she had this heavy accent so she comes

01:07:04.253 --> 01:07:06.614
on stage with you know in her baseball

01:07:06.715 --> 01:07:08.255
nice and tight with her bat and all

01:07:08.275 --> 01:07:09.637
that and she says to bob hope bob

01:07:09.677 --> 01:07:11.378
hope i want to be a baseball player

01:07:11.858 --> 01:07:13.599
and she was great what position do you

01:07:13.619 --> 01:07:14.980
want to play and then she says what

01:07:15.039 --> 01:07:18.420
position pays the most money then bob hope

01:07:18.440 --> 01:07:18.882
says well

01:07:19.784 --> 01:07:21.525
a home run hitter pays the most money.

01:07:21.724 --> 01:07:22.264
And then she says,

01:07:22.824 --> 01:07:24.565
that is the position I want to be.

01:07:24.666 --> 01:07:26.166
I want to be a home run hitter.

01:07:27.007 --> 01:07:29.188
So the joke is that's not a position.

01:07:29.668 --> 01:07:31.128
There is no position called the old run

01:07:31.168 --> 01:07:31.429
hitter.

01:07:31.889 --> 01:07:33.668
You have to be damn good.

01:07:34.530 --> 01:07:35.510
You have to time it right.

01:07:36.050 --> 01:07:36.891
You have to have skill.

01:07:37.271 --> 01:07:38.130
You have to have luck.

01:07:39.090 --> 01:07:41.192
Luck gets turned, talked down upon a lot,

01:07:41.211 --> 01:07:42.452
but you got to get lucky and you

01:07:42.472 --> 01:07:43.373
have to be at the right place at

01:07:43.393 --> 01:07:43.992
the right time.

01:07:44.713 --> 01:07:45.313
So, um,

01:07:47.472 --> 01:07:51.114
My point there is, make your comic.

01:07:51.134 --> 01:07:51.675
Pay the money.

01:07:52.954 --> 01:07:54.215
If someone's gonna pay the money to print

01:07:54.235 --> 01:07:55.317
it, you lucked out.

01:07:55.797 --> 01:07:56.597
If you have to pay the money to

01:07:56.617 --> 01:07:56.876
print it,

01:07:57.458 --> 01:07:58.518
pay the damn money to print it.

01:07:58.998 --> 01:07:59.838
If you have to pay an artist,

01:08:00.039 --> 01:08:01.480
pay the damn money to pay the artist.

01:08:02.159 --> 01:08:03.240
If you gotta do all these things,

01:08:03.400 --> 01:08:03.681
do it.

01:08:04.240 --> 01:08:06.963
If you got an artist, colorist, inker,

01:08:07.143 --> 01:08:09.364
letterer, publisher nice enough to say,

01:08:09.724 --> 01:08:10.925
I'll do it on spec,

01:08:13.286 --> 01:08:14.465
take the take the ball and run with

01:08:14.485 --> 01:08:16.886
that one because yeah a lot of artists

01:08:17.686 --> 01:08:19.127
real professional artists ain't gonna do

01:08:19.146 --> 01:08:21.688
that you gotta pay them you know what

01:08:21.787 --> 01:08:24.349
legends you just mentioned geez like i

01:08:24.368 --> 01:08:26.029
have that skit in my head now because

01:08:26.048 --> 01:08:27.569
that is like that was when she was

01:08:27.628 --> 01:08:32.409
really young too so and that's oh yeah

01:08:32.430 --> 01:08:33.390
i have to watch some of her old

01:08:33.411 --> 01:08:34.770
stuff because she is so funny

01:08:36.657 --> 01:08:38.319
You've sustained creativity.

01:08:38.520 --> 01:08:41.804
She's one of the best flamenco guitarists.

01:08:41.823 --> 01:08:42.064
Go ahead.

01:08:42.104 --> 01:08:43.305
That's wild to think about.

01:08:43.345 --> 01:08:45.708
When you see her, you don't see that.

01:08:45.868 --> 01:08:47.791
Then when she starts playing, you're like,

01:08:48.492 --> 01:08:49.453
holy shit.

01:08:50.453 --> 01:08:51.193
She can play.

01:08:51.212 --> 01:08:51.353
Yeah.

01:08:51.993 --> 01:08:54.534
Cause you, you see the exterior,

01:08:54.854 --> 01:08:57.136
the over the top character that she is.

01:08:57.395 --> 01:08:59.037
And then you're like, right.

01:08:59.077 --> 01:09:00.096
She's talented.

01:09:00.197 --> 01:09:01.618
Like, and she's funny.

01:09:01.658 --> 01:09:03.597
Her timing was delivering jokes.

01:09:04.179 --> 01:09:06.118
Just absolutely amazing.

01:09:06.800 --> 01:09:09.400
But she's a, so why keep you going?

01:09:09.461 --> 01:09:12.101
No, no, that was, I love that.

01:09:12.242 --> 01:09:14.203
Cause Bob Hope.

01:09:14.262 --> 01:09:14.523
Yeah.

01:09:14.783 --> 01:09:15.922
Just phenomenal.

01:09:15.962 --> 01:09:16.684
Phenomenal there.

01:09:17.560 --> 01:09:19.381
So you've sustained creativity across

01:09:19.601 --> 01:09:20.702
multiple disciplines.

01:09:21.422 --> 01:09:23.444
What keeps that creativity going?

01:09:23.463 --> 01:09:27.287
Because it's tiring at times.

01:09:27.927 --> 01:09:28.828
It is exhausting.

01:09:29.228 --> 01:09:31.449
I'm going to tell you a story about

01:09:31.550 --> 01:09:34.011
how physically exhausting it is.

01:09:34.072 --> 01:09:36.673
But what keeps me going?

01:09:39.555 --> 01:09:41.197
Sitting and doing it.

01:09:41.256 --> 01:09:43.578
Sitting and doing it because...

01:09:45.753 --> 01:09:46.515
I'm insecure.

01:09:46.595 --> 01:09:47.895
I'm an extroverted person.

01:09:47.994 --> 01:09:48.756
I can talk a lot,

01:09:48.815 --> 01:09:50.777
but I'm insecure about my own abilities.

01:09:52.377 --> 01:09:55.119
So before I sit down and write,

01:09:55.659 --> 01:09:57.461
I'm gonna go, oh God,

01:09:57.501 --> 01:09:58.822
I'm gonna sit down and write and it's

01:09:58.841 --> 01:09:59.542
gonna suck.

01:10:00.722 --> 01:10:03.145
Then type, type, type.

01:10:04.408 --> 01:10:04.868
Oh, yeah.

01:10:05.288 --> 01:10:05.989
Type, type, type.

01:10:06.609 --> 01:10:09.372
I know myself well enough to know once

01:10:10.154 --> 01:10:10.753
I get going,

01:10:11.395 --> 01:10:12.916
I am going to get into that zone.

01:10:13.277 --> 01:10:14.337
I know myself well enough.

01:10:14.917 --> 01:10:15.939
I do a lot of conventions,

01:10:16.019 --> 01:10:17.180
and I'm super nervous.

01:10:17.780 --> 01:10:18.721
Even though I'm a talker,

01:10:19.403 --> 01:10:21.163
I'm super nervous before the convention to

01:10:21.184 --> 01:10:22.645
say, I'm not going to sell anything.

01:10:22.746 --> 01:10:24.127
It's going to be a complete disaster.

01:10:24.667 --> 01:10:24.807
But

01:10:25.932 --> 01:10:28.554
The minute I see the like-minded people

01:10:28.573 --> 01:10:29.015
show up,

01:10:29.114 --> 01:10:31.055
I get into the zone and then I

01:10:31.095 --> 01:10:31.735
sell comics.

01:10:32.676 --> 01:10:35.557
So what keeps creativity going for me is

01:10:35.698 --> 01:10:36.198
doing it.

01:10:36.479 --> 01:10:40.301
I know writers that could write a script

01:10:41.101 --> 01:10:45.564
in a day and literally right out of

01:10:45.583 --> 01:10:45.984
the gate.

01:10:46.585 --> 01:10:48.045
I need a little bit more incentive for

01:10:48.085 --> 01:10:48.326
that.

01:10:49.126 --> 01:10:52.047
So for me, the biggest cure for

01:10:55.448 --> 01:10:57.269
writer's block is a deadline.

01:10:58.189 --> 01:11:00.288
Without question, it's a deadline.

01:11:00.769 --> 01:11:02.250
Dragon Whisperer Volume One,

01:11:03.069 --> 01:11:03.949
I like to make the joke,

01:11:04.090 --> 01:11:04.649
people ask me,

01:11:04.670 --> 01:11:05.630
how long did it take you to write?

01:11:05.649 --> 01:11:06.170
And it says, well,

01:11:06.270 --> 01:11:07.251
since it's the first volume,

01:11:07.270 --> 01:11:08.751
it took all my life up to that

01:11:08.791 --> 01:11:09.051
point.

01:11:09.490 --> 01:11:12.011
So it took four or five years up

01:11:12.051 --> 01:11:12.551
to that point.

01:11:12.971 --> 01:11:15.771
So it's a flippant jerk of an answer.

01:11:15.851 --> 01:11:19.733
But it's not a real answer,

01:11:19.773 --> 01:11:20.733
but I'm telling them,

01:11:20.752 --> 01:11:23.274
that's how long that album, that...

01:11:24.460 --> 01:11:30.585
volume took volume two that that separates

01:11:31.265 --> 01:11:33.407
the amateurs from the professionals volume

01:11:33.466 --> 01:11:36.029
two is when like the publisher says give

01:11:36.048 --> 01:11:39.372
me volume two oh that's like the second

01:11:39.492 --> 01:11:42.515
album of a band the first album they

01:11:42.555 --> 01:11:43.855
took all their life to get to that

01:11:44.095 --> 01:11:46.278
that that point but the second album if

01:11:46.297 --> 01:11:47.819
the first album was any good the second

01:11:47.939 --> 01:11:49.039
album is like okay

01:11:50.386 --> 01:11:51.608
The clock's ticking.

01:11:51.667 --> 01:11:52.309
Give me an album.

01:11:52.769 --> 01:11:53.430
That's where.

01:11:53.489 --> 01:11:55.530
So the second volume of Dragon Whisperer

01:11:55.570 --> 01:11:57.153
took several months,

01:11:57.233 --> 01:11:58.774
maybe four or five months just to

01:11:58.814 --> 01:12:00.895
completely write and to get it all down.

01:12:06.201 --> 01:12:06.961
So, yeah,

01:12:07.761 --> 01:12:09.623
a deadline is the best cure for writer's

01:12:09.644 --> 01:12:12.345
block without question, without question.

01:12:14.274 --> 01:12:16.854
I've always been a fan of deadlines myself

01:12:16.895 --> 01:12:19.376
in my day job because if I'm handed

01:12:19.416 --> 01:12:20.536
a project and it's like, hey,

01:12:20.676 --> 01:12:22.916
do this project, well,

01:12:22.935 --> 01:12:23.877
what's the deadline?

01:12:24.537 --> 01:12:25.716
Oh, just whenever you can get it done.

01:12:25.737 --> 01:12:26.096
I'm like, dude,

01:12:26.176 --> 01:12:27.217
if you give it to me like that,

01:12:27.297 --> 01:12:28.597
I ain't going to do it because it

01:12:28.618 --> 01:12:29.698
ain't that serious for you and I'm not

01:12:29.717 --> 01:12:30.818
going to waste my time on it.

01:12:31.359 --> 01:12:32.599
You're like, well, okay,

01:12:32.838 --> 01:12:34.179
then put it like that Friday.

01:12:34.599 --> 01:12:34.939
All right, cool.

01:12:34.960 --> 01:12:36.039
I'll have it to you Thursday.

01:12:36.100 --> 01:12:36.239
Yeah.

01:12:37.605 --> 01:12:38.806
Right.

01:12:38.947 --> 01:12:39.547
By when?

01:12:39.648 --> 01:12:41.069
If somebody says something to you,

01:12:41.810 --> 01:12:42.692
say by when.

01:12:42.931 --> 01:12:45.515
That's one of the most powerful two words

01:12:45.534 --> 01:12:48.479
that you could say to somebody in any

01:12:48.599 --> 01:12:51.962
sort of endeavor in which you're providing

01:12:52.002 --> 01:12:52.804
a service or somebody.

01:12:52.923 --> 01:12:53.465
By when?

01:12:54.405 --> 01:12:54.926
Write it down.

01:12:55.868 --> 01:12:56.608
Committed to paper.

01:12:57.429 --> 01:12:57.828
By when?

01:12:57.868 --> 01:12:59.390
But it's funny you say how exhausting it

01:12:59.430 --> 01:12:59.550
is.

01:13:01.471 --> 01:13:02.532
I was behind on a deadline,

01:13:02.652 --> 01:13:04.012
speaking of which, and I told my wife,

01:13:04.052 --> 01:13:04.613
I said, look,

01:13:05.373 --> 01:13:06.755
I got to get a really cheap,

01:13:06.835 --> 01:13:09.796
boring motel with nothing around me just

01:13:09.837 --> 01:13:11.938
for two nights so I can just write

01:13:11.997 --> 01:13:12.838
without interruption.

01:13:12.878 --> 01:13:13.319
And she did.

01:13:14.161 --> 01:13:16.641
And then I did that and then it

01:13:16.662 --> 01:13:17.061
was great.

01:13:17.141 --> 01:13:20.023
I was writing and then I was doing

01:13:20.042 --> 01:13:20.304
this thing.

01:13:20.363 --> 01:13:23.225
I was measuring my fat content and

01:13:23.244 --> 01:13:24.164
calories at the time.

01:13:24.225 --> 01:13:24.845
And I got this thing,

01:13:24.885 --> 01:13:26.065
it's called a lumen and it was,

01:13:26.326 --> 01:13:29.487
you blow into it like a breathalyzer and

01:13:29.527 --> 01:13:30.967
it measures and it measures your,

01:13:31.028 --> 01:13:31.887
your body fat.

01:13:32.429 --> 01:13:32.948
So, you know,

01:13:32.969 --> 01:13:34.208
I used to do it after working out

01:13:34.248 --> 01:13:35.310
and body fat was this.

01:13:35.369 --> 01:13:37.051
And, you know, after I ate a pizza,

01:13:37.091 --> 01:13:38.211
my body fat was way high.

01:13:38.951 --> 01:13:39.692
And then, um,

01:13:40.572 --> 01:13:43.212
But I remember I was so keen.

01:13:43.292 --> 01:13:46.074
I just was eating raisins and peanuts and

01:13:46.095 --> 01:13:48.576
just writing, just drinking water,

01:13:48.655 --> 01:13:49.536
raisins and peanuts.

01:13:50.256 --> 01:13:52.297
And then I got like a chicken,

01:13:53.557 --> 01:13:54.738
but then writing, writing, writing.

01:13:54.819 --> 01:13:58.260
And by the end of that weekend,

01:13:58.359 --> 01:13:59.320
and keep in mind, Jeff,

01:13:59.400 --> 01:14:00.902
I was just sitting in a chair,

01:14:01.442 --> 01:14:01.921
just typing.

01:14:02.221 --> 01:14:03.363
I was not exercising.

01:14:04.238 --> 01:14:06.519
I did the lumen and I measured my

01:14:06.578 --> 01:14:07.139
body fat.

01:14:07.279 --> 01:14:09.220
It was the lowest it had ever been

01:14:09.659 --> 01:14:12.701
after no matter how much amount of workout

01:14:12.761 --> 01:14:13.381
I've ever did.

01:14:14.141 --> 01:14:16.462
Sitting and writing with my brain in a

01:14:16.542 --> 01:14:18.764
feverish state, sitting and writing.

01:14:19.747 --> 01:14:22.608
unbelievable amount of power yeah just

01:14:22.667 --> 01:14:24.889
thinking and writing it's amazing how the

01:14:24.908 --> 01:14:26.369
body reacts to that because you're using

01:14:26.470 --> 01:14:28.670
so much of your brain to process what

01:14:28.689 --> 01:14:32.112
you're doing and absolutely you also when

01:14:32.131 --> 01:14:33.212
you're writing you want to kind of have

01:14:33.231 --> 01:14:35.073
your back up straight and you're focusing

01:14:35.113 --> 01:14:36.672
on your core you want to be you

01:14:36.693 --> 01:14:39.333
know comfortable but yet relaxed that way

01:14:39.354 --> 01:14:40.595
you can flow into the writing

01:14:41.420 --> 01:14:42.380
Exactly.

01:14:42.399 --> 01:14:43.820
It's a whole science, y'all.

01:14:43.900 --> 01:14:45.862
It's all we're saying here.

01:14:46.221 --> 01:14:46.782
Absolutely.

01:14:47.082 --> 01:14:47.582
Absolutely.

01:14:48.403 --> 01:14:50.103
It's taking the time between them, too.

01:14:50.162 --> 01:14:51.684
And I learned that this month.

01:14:51.764 --> 01:14:53.444
And I'm also going to learn some more

01:14:53.465 --> 01:14:55.085
of that lesson next month because,

01:14:56.645 --> 01:14:57.166
like I said,

01:14:57.305 --> 01:14:59.506
I was just saying yes to everybody instead

01:14:59.527 --> 01:15:02.528
of giving myself some more time to process

01:15:02.547 --> 01:15:06.270
things and to enjoy things I enjoy.

01:15:06.409 --> 01:15:07.810
I didn't really get to do that this

01:15:07.890 --> 01:15:08.189
month.

01:15:08.930 --> 01:15:09.291
And then...

01:15:10.511 --> 01:15:11.193
If you follow me,

01:15:11.233 --> 01:15:14.395
you'll notice that over the next month,

01:15:14.414 --> 01:15:15.216
there's less stuff.

01:15:15.256 --> 01:15:17.358
And then you come to May, you're like,

01:15:17.497 --> 01:15:19.179
oh, he's only doing like, I think,

01:15:19.300 --> 01:15:21.341
eight shows or ten shows for the month

01:15:21.360 --> 01:15:21.801
of May,

01:15:22.202 --> 01:15:24.243
which by some standards is still a lot.

01:15:24.804 --> 01:15:26.185
But I do believe

01:15:28.207 --> 01:15:29.507
I'd love to do this.

01:15:29.988 --> 01:15:31.368
So that's why I'm doing it that way.

01:15:31.448 --> 01:15:33.009
And if I do four days or three

01:15:33.029 --> 01:15:34.170
days in between shows,

01:15:34.609 --> 01:15:36.411
that means I've had time to process it,

01:15:36.810 --> 01:15:38.030
prepare for the next one.

01:15:38.490 --> 01:15:39.811
And I'll prepare in batches.

01:15:39.931 --> 01:15:42.432
Like I'll take a weekend and I'll get

01:15:42.453 --> 01:15:44.354
like five or six shows done.

01:15:45.023 --> 01:15:46.184
Yeah.

01:15:46.203 --> 01:15:47.244
They're already written.

01:15:47.324 --> 01:15:48.525
Everything's ready to go.

01:15:49.407 --> 01:15:51.529
And you're very good at it.

01:15:51.548 --> 01:15:52.349
You're very good at it.

01:15:52.389 --> 01:15:53.489
It shows the preparation.

01:15:53.510 --> 01:15:54.911
You're very good at it.

01:15:55.152 --> 01:15:57.332
One of those things where the more I

01:15:57.372 --> 01:15:58.073
get from you,

01:15:58.113 --> 01:15:59.574
the better I can make things.

01:16:00.416 --> 01:16:01.997
And the more that's out there on you,

01:16:02.016 --> 01:16:04.559
because I don't just, you know, yes,

01:16:04.619 --> 01:16:06.240
I love when people give me the stuff

01:16:06.301 --> 01:16:07.082
and I can make it,

01:16:07.542 --> 01:16:09.283
but I also go to your Instagram.

01:16:09.302 --> 01:16:10.203
I go to your Facebook.

01:16:10.243 --> 01:16:11.364
I go to your social media.

01:16:11.404 --> 01:16:13.087
I look, look at things I learn.

01:16:13.962 --> 01:16:15.603
Because in my head,

01:16:15.662 --> 01:16:16.922
I want to be the best at what

01:16:17.042 --> 01:16:17.684
I do.

01:16:18.203 --> 01:16:20.444
It's just a competitive drive.

01:16:20.484 --> 01:16:21.484
Who am I competing with?

01:16:21.824 --> 01:16:22.305
Nobody.

01:16:22.385 --> 01:16:22.966
Myself.

01:16:24.626 --> 01:16:25.487
That's the way I see it.

01:16:25.546 --> 01:16:26.846
I have no competition.

01:16:27.608 --> 01:16:29.347
And it sounds like a conceited asshole

01:16:29.387 --> 01:16:30.408
when I say it that way,

01:16:30.448 --> 01:16:31.969
but the only person I will ever compete

01:16:31.988 --> 01:16:32.970
with is myself.

01:16:33.712 --> 01:16:34.212
As a matter of fact,

01:16:34.252 --> 01:16:35.313
if there's a guy in a store to

01:16:35.332 --> 01:16:37.335
me doing the same exact thing as me,

01:16:37.716 --> 01:16:40.037
talking to the same exact people as me,

01:16:40.698 --> 01:16:42.579
I'm going to go to him and go,

01:16:42.920 --> 01:16:43.900
hey, what did you learn?

01:16:43.961 --> 01:16:45.141
How did you do something?

01:16:45.462 --> 01:16:47.123
I want to learn how he does things

01:16:47.163 --> 01:16:48.625
so I can be better at the things

01:16:48.885 --> 01:16:50.346
I do.

01:16:50.726 --> 01:16:52.068
And that was the whole point of that

01:16:52.108 --> 01:16:54.329
question and that part of it.

01:16:54.751 --> 01:16:57.012
You're very good at it.

01:16:57.073 --> 01:16:57.712
No, dude,

01:16:57.792 --> 01:16:59.414
you're going to give me a big old

01:16:59.595 --> 01:16:59.854
ego.

01:16:59.935 --> 01:17:00.416
Stop it.

01:17:02.573 --> 01:17:04.975
So before we get into some rapid fire

01:17:05.015 --> 01:17:06.296
questions, I wanna ask you,

01:17:06.337 --> 01:17:09.519
how does life outside of comics influence

01:17:09.719 --> 01:17:11.579
your life inside of comics,

01:17:11.640 --> 01:17:14.042
the storytelling, the lettering,

01:17:14.381 --> 01:17:17.963
and that kind of stuff?

01:17:18.625 --> 01:17:19.625
It's crucial.

01:17:20.525 --> 01:17:21.206
It's the fuel.

01:17:21.726 --> 01:17:26.949
It's the fuel that fills the tank of

01:17:26.989 --> 01:17:27.911
the creativity.

01:17:29.193 --> 01:17:30.092
You know,

01:17:30.212 --> 01:17:31.993
it's been said by so many people that

01:17:32.054 --> 01:17:33.814
writers see the world differently.

01:17:33.835 --> 01:17:37.716
And it's going to sound egomaniacal or

01:17:37.836 --> 01:17:38.497
egotistical.

01:17:39.077 --> 01:17:40.737
I don't mean it in that sense.

01:17:41.417 --> 01:17:44.899
Someone who declares themself a writer,

01:17:45.698 --> 01:17:47.220
someone who decides that they're a writer,

01:17:49.326 --> 01:17:51.506
that person sees the world differently.

01:17:51.907 --> 01:17:53.226
It could be a curse too.

01:17:53.686 --> 01:17:56.648
It could be, that's a beautiful tree.

01:17:57.429 --> 01:17:58.628
Oh, I could put it in a story.

01:17:59.029 --> 01:17:59.248
You know,

01:17:59.288 --> 01:18:00.930
shut up and just admire the tree or

01:18:00.970 --> 01:18:03.010
that nice bird or the waves on the

01:18:03.050 --> 01:18:04.051
beach.

01:18:04.990 --> 01:18:07.872
But writers see the world.

01:18:09.412 --> 01:18:10.813
And as I said earlier,

01:18:11.332 --> 01:18:14.854
we're sort of a satellite dish receiving

01:18:14.873 --> 01:18:16.454
this information and then compiling it in

01:18:16.515 --> 01:18:17.154
our own way.

01:18:18.095 --> 01:18:20.277
um that's that's how writers see the world

01:18:20.337 --> 01:18:23.958
so everything everything outside of life

01:18:25.000 --> 01:18:31.404
everything can be taken in and compiled in

01:18:31.444 --> 01:18:34.787
such a way that it could be it

01:18:34.827 --> 01:18:36.667
could be part of the fuel for a

01:18:36.728 --> 01:18:38.829
creative process yes

01:18:40.520 --> 01:18:42.863
hundred percent and you know it's funny

01:18:42.882 --> 01:18:44.685
because not that long ago i kind of

01:18:44.704 --> 01:18:47.368
went away from calling myself i'm a

01:18:47.427 --> 01:18:49.630
podcast a hundred percent i'm a podcaster

01:18:49.649 --> 01:18:52.953
that's what i do but i consider myself

01:18:53.293 --> 01:18:59.039
a a like a journalistic media because

01:18:59.060 --> 01:19:01.841
that's how i want to present people like

01:19:02.082 --> 01:19:03.904
i i consider this as

01:19:05.157 --> 01:19:07.479
I'm talking to Alex today and I'm taking

01:19:07.639 --> 01:19:11.161
my audience on a journey through Alex's

01:19:11.280 --> 01:19:14.403
creative life and a little bit of the

01:19:14.443 --> 01:19:16.364
personal side too and talking about your

01:19:16.404 --> 01:19:18.126
music and your family and you're traveling

01:19:18.206 --> 01:19:20.367
in beautiful Italy right now and I'm sure

01:19:20.407 --> 01:19:22.389
right now it's just absolutely amazing

01:19:22.988 --> 01:19:23.548
over there.

01:19:24.010 --> 01:19:25.650
So kind of a little jealous of that

01:19:25.730 --> 01:19:27.091
one because I know how spring is in

01:19:27.231 --> 01:19:28.813
Italy is just amazing.

01:19:30.469 --> 01:19:32.832
But yeah, I call myself a media platform.

01:19:32.872 --> 01:19:33.712
It's kind of cold today,

01:19:33.733 --> 01:19:34.533
but it has been nice.

01:19:35.255 --> 01:19:35.375
Yes.

01:19:35.395 --> 01:19:35.716
You know,

01:19:36.435 --> 01:19:37.738
I had eighty degrees and then it was

01:19:37.757 --> 01:19:39.380
like forty seven this morning when I woke

01:19:39.420 --> 01:19:39.539
up.

01:19:39.579 --> 01:19:40.481
So I'm just like, come on.

01:19:41.430 --> 01:19:42.850
Let's figure it out, Mother Nature.

01:19:42.871 --> 01:19:43.612
Let's go.

01:19:43.771 --> 01:19:44.072
I know.

01:19:44.912 --> 01:19:47.693
But it's weird because I know people who

01:19:47.712 --> 01:19:49.052
are just like, oh, I'm just a podcast.

01:19:49.132 --> 01:19:50.033
I get on there and I talk about

01:19:50.212 --> 01:19:51.173
X, Y, and Z. I'm like, well,

01:19:51.314 --> 01:19:54.755
I kind of consider myself a journalist who

01:19:54.795 --> 01:19:57.534
has a media front.

01:19:58.136 --> 01:20:01.235
Because I do interviews.

01:20:01.315 --> 01:20:02.157
I talk to people.

01:20:02.356 --> 01:20:03.676
I promote their Kickstarters.

01:20:03.796 --> 01:20:05.318
I do a lot of everything.

01:20:05.818 --> 01:20:08.097
So a multimedia platform is kind of what

01:20:08.158 --> 01:20:10.458
I consider myself now at this point.

01:20:12.171 --> 01:20:13.431
We had a comment that I missed.

01:20:13.931 --> 01:20:14.233
Oh, no,

01:20:14.292 --> 01:20:15.412
that's just somebody trying to sell me

01:20:15.453 --> 01:20:16.533
views on Twitch.

01:20:16.814 --> 01:20:17.314
No, thank you.

01:20:18.135 --> 01:20:20.516
But no, it's just to me,

01:20:20.537 --> 01:20:21.516
it's just so much fun.

01:20:22.118 --> 01:20:23.538
I did burn myself out a little bit

01:20:23.578 --> 01:20:26.180
this month, but it was worth it.

01:20:26.201 --> 01:20:27.461
I got to talk to so many great

01:20:27.480 --> 01:20:28.082
people this month.

01:20:28.122 --> 01:20:29.722
So many of my friends have been back

01:20:29.962 --> 01:20:30.162
on.

01:20:30.623 --> 01:20:31.884
And that's what happens at the end of

01:20:31.904 --> 01:20:32.043
this.

01:20:32.064 --> 01:20:33.645
I'm like, Alice, that's my friend.

01:20:34.865 --> 01:20:35.947
he's a great writer.

01:20:36.207 --> 01:20:38.188
He writes about steampunk and dragons and

01:20:38.648 --> 01:20:40.469
check out Red Five Comets because Red Five

01:20:40.509 --> 01:20:42.409
Comets has some really dope stuff on

01:20:42.430 --> 01:20:42.689
there.

01:20:43.210 --> 01:20:44.810
And it's named after Luke Skywalker's

01:20:44.990 --> 01:20:45.310
X-Wing.

01:20:45.850 --> 01:20:46.470
Come on.

01:20:47.311 --> 01:20:48.192
I mean, yeah, it's true.

01:20:48.752 --> 01:20:49.172
It's true.

01:20:49.372 --> 01:20:50.712
Yeah, it has, it had its,

01:20:50.733 --> 01:20:52.333
the name of the company had its roots

01:20:52.974 --> 01:20:55.215
from the main publisher, Scott Chitwood.

01:20:55.234 --> 01:20:58.396
He was, you know, an early, well,

01:20:58.457 --> 01:20:59.617
he was one of the early people that

01:20:59.636 --> 01:21:01.978
worked at, well,

01:21:02.398 --> 01:21:03.819
he worked in the Star Wars world

01:21:04.502 --> 01:21:06.163
And in order for him to get the

01:21:06.203 --> 01:21:07.163
name Red Five,

01:21:07.583 --> 01:21:09.304
he must have been an early adopter of

01:21:09.345 --> 01:21:09.885
all this stuff.

01:21:09.925 --> 01:21:10.345
So, yes.

01:21:10.925 --> 01:21:11.125
Oh, yeah.

01:21:11.145 --> 01:21:13.166
Because I know there's many other

01:21:13.445 --> 01:21:15.166
platforms out there calling themselves Red

01:21:15.206 --> 01:21:15.947
Five something.

01:21:16.087 --> 01:21:17.266
And when I seen that,

01:21:17.327 --> 01:21:20.108
I was just like, you know,

01:21:20.148 --> 01:21:20.728
like you just said,

01:21:20.768 --> 01:21:22.387
he's been at it for a while.

01:21:22.408 --> 01:21:23.168
So, it's really cool.

01:21:23.548 --> 01:21:24.769
But you ready for some rapid fire

01:21:24.809 --> 01:21:26.369
questions before we start wrapping it up?

01:21:26.569 --> 01:21:26.810
Right.

01:21:27.909 --> 01:21:28.189
All right.

01:21:28.210 --> 01:21:29.470
What's your favorite comic book growing

01:21:29.530 --> 01:21:29.591
up?

01:21:29.631 --> 01:21:30.930
Lay it on me.

01:21:30.951 --> 01:21:32.171
Favorite comic book growing up?

01:21:33.452 --> 01:21:33.851
My favorite...

01:21:35.054 --> 01:21:36.416
My favorite comic book growing up.

01:21:36.756 --> 01:21:40.402
Oh, I would probably say the Hulk.

01:21:40.421 --> 01:21:42.503
Ooh, good one.

01:21:42.524 --> 01:21:43.546
Dream Collaboration.

01:21:46.801 --> 01:21:47.742
Jill Thompson.

01:21:48.261 --> 01:21:52.003
She is just such an awesome, awesome,

01:21:52.123 --> 01:21:52.604
awesome art.

01:21:52.904 --> 01:21:55.265
She did my favorite run of the Sandman.

01:21:55.605 --> 01:21:57.246
She makes these comics called Scary

01:21:57.266 --> 01:21:57.846
Godmother.

01:21:58.426 --> 01:21:59.608
She's a genius.

01:22:00.528 --> 01:22:02.088
I would do anything to work with her

01:22:02.569 --> 01:22:03.289
and make her team.

01:22:03.310 --> 01:22:04.409
That's a good choice.

01:22:04.890 --> 01:22:05.951
That's a good choice.

01:22:05.990 --> 01:22:06.730
I like that one.

01:22:07.131 --> 01:22:10.894
One tool you can't live without.

01:22:10.993 --> 01:22:12.234
One tool I can't live without?

01:22:15.082 --> 01:22:19.185
i would say my uh my big samsung

01:22:19.225 --> 01:22:21.405
galaxy tablet i'd love to do all kinds

01:22:21.445 --> 01:22:23.506
of stuff on that i'm the same way

01:22:23.527 --> 01:22:25.747
with my ipad and then also i have

01:22:25.768 --> 01:22:28.868
this nobody sees this one but this is

01:22:28.929 --> 01:22:30.770
another screen over here and literally

01:22:30.890 --> 01:22:32.871
everything that we just discussed is like

01:22:33.411 --> 01:22:36.832
right there that's why if you watch my

01:22:36.932 --> 01:22:39.453
eyes it goes over there right but uh

01:22:40.514 --> 01:22:41.994
coffee or energy drinks

01:22:43.720 --> 01:22:45.965
Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee.

01:22:47.668 --> 01:22:49.252
I drink way too much and I can't

01:22:49.273 --> 01:22:49.632
help it.

01:22:49.873 --> 01:22:50.695
It's just so good.

01:22:51.863 --> 01:22:52.804
It'll catch up with you.

01:22:52.963 --> 01:22:53.184
I mean,

01:22:53.224 --> 01:22:55.005
I used to be able to drink ten

01:22:55.024 --> 01:22:55.625
cups a day.

01:22:55.685 --> 01:22:57.305
Now it's like I better stop at a

01:22:57.365 --> 01:22:57.867
certain point.

01:22:58.726 --> 01:22:59.087
Oh, yeah.

01:22:59.108 --> 01:23:00.108
No, it's already done it.

01:23:00.188 --> 01:23:01.128
Yeah.

01:23:01.248 --> 01:23:03.470
It's already caught way up to me.

01:23:03.510 --> 01:23:04.871
Physical or digital comments?

01:23:04.930 --> 01:23:05.952
I know you mentioned earlier.

01:23:06.091 --> 01:23:08.092
Oh, physical.

01:23:08.393 --> 01:23:08.752
Physical.

01:23:08.854 --> 01:23:09.533
Oh, a hundred percent.

01:23:09.554 --> 01:23:10.394
A hundred percent.

01:23:10.675 --> 01:23:11.034
Physical.

01:23:11.354 --> 01:23:11.854
All right.

01:23:12.676 --> 01:23:14.237
Alice, before we get out of here, man,

01:23:14.256 --> 01:23:16.177
tell everybody where they can find you and

01:23:16.198 --> 01:23:17.418
what's up coming for you.

01:23:19.271 --> 01:23:19.612
Okay.

01:23:19.891 --> 01:23:22.373
Well go to red five comics, red,

01:23:22.474 --> 01:23:24.274
the number five comics,

01:23:24.454 --> 01:23:28.037
C O M I C S.com red five

01:23:28.077 --> 01:23:29.078
comics.com.

01:23:29.177 --> 01:23:30.279
There's all kinds of stuff.

01:23:30.359 --> 01:23:31.939
My comic is dragon whisperer.

01:23:32.319 --> 01:23:33.680
My comic is enigma town.

01:23:34.520 --> 01:23:36.782
Um, those are the two for those.

01:23:37.182 --> 01:23:38.443
You can find me on Facebook.

01:23:38.904 --> 01:23:41.824
You can find me on, um, blue sky.

01:23:41.864 --> 01:23:43.286
You can find me on Instagram.

01:23:44.247 --> 01:23:44.386
Um,

01:23:45.324 --> 01:23:47.405
Hopefully I'm working on two other

01:23:47.445 --> 01:23:48.306
projects right now.

01:23:48.386 --> 01:23:50.427
I can't go into great detail about,

01:23:50.488 --> 01:23:52.809
but they are- We almost got the exclusive.

01:23:52.828 --> 01:23:56.051
We almost got it, y'all.

01:23:56.091 --> 01:23:56.931
Well, I'll tell you this.

01:23:57.631 --> 01:24:01.954
I'm actually drawing a young children's

01:24:02.015 --> 01:24:02.414
comic.

01:24:02.435 --> 01:24:03.655
Oh, that's really cool.

01:24:03.676 --> 01:24:05.317
It's dog man age.

01:24:05.337 --> 01:24:06.818
It's like ages four to seven.

01:24:07.297 --> 01:24:07.698
That's really cool.

01:24:07.717 --> 01:24:08.458
A young children's comic.

01:24:09.279 --> 01:24:10.119
I'm drawing that.

01:24:11.240 --> 01:24:12.021
And the other one,

01:24:12.282 --> 01:24:13.662
these couldn't possibly be more

01:24:13.703 --> 01:24:15.222
diametrically opposite of each other.

01:24:15.264 --> 01:24:17.404
The other one is a grown-up,

01:24:18.125 --> 01:24:19.466
I'd say equal parts horror,

01:24:19.506 --> 01:24:20.907
science fiction, and fantasy.

01:24:21.127 --> 01:24:23.548
I will tell you the artist that I'm

01:24:23.569 --> 01:24:26.911
working with, his name is Gary Amaro,

01:24:27.030 --> 01:24:28.832
and he is a veteran of DC Vertigo

01:24:28.851 --> 01:24:29.231
Comets.

01:24:29.252 --> 01:24:30.113
He did a Sandman.

01:24:30.472 --> 01:24:31.613
He did the Books of Magic.

01:24:32.234 --> 01:24:34.194
I love the Books of Magic.

01:24:35.315 --> 01:24:37.096
Yeah, he's a genius artist.

01:24:38.253 --> 01:24:41.956
I have very small nibbles for either one

01:24:41.975 --> 01:24:42.956
from different publishers,

01:24:43.537 --> 01:24:44.716
but that's what I'm working on.

01:24:45.597 --> 01:24:46.158
In the future,

01:24:46.177 --> 01:24:47.679
you're going to see Alex DeLuca

01:24:48.661 --> 01:24:50.603
artist and illustrator i mean um writer

01:24:50.622 --> 01:24:53.305
and illustrator and you know and musician

01:24:53.484 --> 01:24:56.368
when that and musician well a musician

01:24:56.408 --> 01:24:57.908
i've always been and i always will be

01:24:58.350 --> 01:24:59.751
and you know and i and i will

01:24:59.850 --> 01:25:01.431
always i'll never stop being a musician

01:25:01.471 --> 01:25:03.533
but when you see this comic this young

01:25:03.634 --> 01:25:05.775
children's comic come out and one way or

01:25:05.796 --> 01:25:06.777
another it's going to come out if i

01:25:06.817 --> 01:25:09.118
have to self-publish it but it will be

01:25:09.560 --> 01:25:11.902
for really little kids and their parents

01:25:12.622 --> 01:25:14.823
and it'll be alex deluca author and

01:25:14.844 --> 01:25:15.265
illustrator

01:25:16.078 --> 01:25:16.779
Dude, I love that.

01:25:16.960 --> 01:25:17.461
I really do.

01:25:17.480 --> 01:25:19.725
And if you decide you want a Kickstarter

01:25:19.765 --> 01:25:20.507
or anything else,

01:25:21.887 --> 01:25:22.448
Come on back.

01:25:22.469 --> 01:25:23.149
We'll do it again.

01:25:23.429 --> 01:25:24.270
That's for sure.

01:25:24.329 --> 01:25:25.250
I love talking to you.

01:25:25.270 --> 01:25:26.411
It was so fun.

01:25:27.051 --> 01:25:27.792
I'll come your way.

01:25:27.851 --> 01:25:28.471
Absolutely.

01:25:29.453 --> 01:25:30.393
It was insightful.

01:25:31.753 --> 01:25:32.414
What a pleasure.

01:25:32.975 --> 01:25:34.536
We got through all the audio issues we

01:25:34.576 --> 01:25:35.856
had before you joined,

01:25:36.077 --> 01:25:37.197
before we went live.

01:25:39.979 --> 01:25:40.738
This was a really good one.

01:25:40.759 --> 01:25:41.619
It's going to be up there in my

01:25:41.640 --> 01:25:43.640
top ten for sure of guests I've ever

01:25:43.661 --> 01:25:43.780
had.

01:25:45.002 --> 01:25:45.442
It was so fun.

01:25:45.462 --> 01:25:45.761
Great podcast.

01:25:45.983 --> 01:25:48.604
I've done a lot of them.

01:25:48.644 --> 01:25:49.664
This was the tops.

01:25:50.643 --> 01:25:53.543
oh dude i appreciate it but ladies and

01:25:53.564 --> 01:25:56.725
gentlemen there you have it another deep

01:25:56.765 --> 01:26:00.506
dive into the minds shaping indie comics

01:26:00.587 --> 01:26:03.087
and another story in another world and

01:26:03.148 --> 01:26:05.429
another creator pushing the boundaries of

01:26:05.488 --> 01:26:08.751
what's possible to alex again man thank

01:26:08.770 --> 01:26:10.451
you for stepping to the council of nerves

01:26:10.470 --> 01:26:12.891
today and giving us a look behind the

01:26:12.931 --> 01:26:15.432
curtains from dragons and airships to the

01:26:15.472 --> 01:26:16.514
craft the grind

01:26:17.234 --> 01:26:19.335
And the passion that fuels it.

01:26:19.354 --> 01:26:21.296
And I always say that you can tell

01:26:21.317 --> 01:26:22.818
when somebody has that passion.

01:26:23.337 --> 01:26:25.439
And Alex, you have that.

01:26:25.979 --> 01:26:27.980
Everyone watching, listening right now,

01:26:28.001 --> 01:26:30.061
if you believe in creator-owned comments,

01:26:30.101 --> 01:26:32.143
if you believe in independent voices,

01:26:32.623 --> 01:26:34.163
and if you believe that the future of

01:26:34.224 --> 01:26:37.166
comments is being built as we speak,

01:26:38.046 --> 01:26:39.608
as always, you're in the right place.

01:26:40.028 --> 01:26:41.408
Make sure you support Alex,

01:26:41.769 --> 01:26:43.729
follow his journey, pick up the bullets,

01:26:43.770 --> 01:26:44.730
and most importantly,

01:26:46.389 --> 01:26:49.710
up for Indie Comics because the guys we

01:26:49.729 --> 01:26:52.069
talked to today may be your favorite

01:26:52.109 --> 01:26:55.230
writer at Marvel or DC tomorrow.

01:26:56.131 --> 01:26:57.871
It's because of this platform here,

01:26:57.990 --> 01:26:58.752
this community,

01:26:58.811 --> 01:27:00.351
this movement is for the people,

01:27:00.872 --> 01:27:03.092
by the people, and of the people.

01:27:03.573 --> 01:27:07.734
This has been the USDM Podcast where Indie

01:27:07.753 --> 01:27:09.533
Comics come to life.

01:27:10.394 --> 01:27:12.515
Council of Nerds is adjourned.

01:27:12.534 --> 01:27:12.875
Thank you.

01:27:13.555 --> 01:27:14.614
Y'all be safe out there.

01:27:16.523 --> 01:27:16.706
All right.

01:27:16.787 --> 01:27:17.091
Thanks.

01:27:17.152 --> 01:27:17.659
Likewise.