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USDN Podcast is a cinematic indie comics interview series hosted by the USDN_Chairman and the Council of Nerds — spotlighting the creators, storytellers, and worldbuilders shaping the future of independent comics.
Each episode dives beyond headlines into the real journeys behind the books — from Kickstarter launches and creative struggles to the philosophies driving today’s indie storytelling movement.
This isn’t about rumors or recycled news.
It’s about the people creating the worlds.
Through in-depth conversations, creator spotlights, and crowdfunding discussions, USDN explores:
• The rise of indie comics
• The business of crowdfunding
• The art of worldbuilding
• The realities of independent storytelling
USDN is where indie comics come to life — for the fans, by the creators, and powered by the community.
You are listening to the USDN on the
DFPN.
Thanks for watching!
what is up everybody it's the chairman of
the united states department of nerds
where we are for the people by the
people and of the people
And tonight,
some characters don't ask for permission.
They don't negotiate,
and they don't wait for the world to
be ready for them.
They kick the door in.
Tonight on the USDM Podcast,
we're stepping into a collision of indie
comic universes where horror, action,
and attitude meet head on.
When a black market deal involving a
zombie blood serum threatens to spiral
into global chaos,
two lethal heroines
Gungoth and Footpath are forced into an
uneasy alliance.
The result, hostile assets.
A brutal crossover event written by my man
here, Alfred Page and Mark Poulton,
bringing together two fan favorite worlds
into one explosive shot.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the Council of Nerds is now in session.
Alfred, welcome to the podcast, my friend.
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for having me here.
Absolutely.
I know we've had this on the schedule
for a hot minute now,
and the night is finally here.
The covers are fantastic, dude.
But let's dive into how.
Tell everybody who Alfred Page is.
You know,
I'm a creator that got into comic books.
Late in the nineties,
early in the two thousands.
I was a big influence by Image Comics
and Chris Claremont and Jim Lee and
everybody that was hot at that time.
And yeah,
that influence has made me want to create
my own world to comic books.
And it's an enjoyment and I love doing
it.
So I know you just mentioned Image,
which hands down probably one of my
favorite publishing companies, period,
hands down.
Was there a particular book that kind of
like brought you into that fold?
Just the originals, Youngblood, Wildcat,
Cyberforce, Spawn.
Just the original, the epic,
the golden years of Image,
I guess they would call it.
So that influence.
Yeah, that influence and that atmosphere.
At that time, you know,
going to a comic book store,
you get comic books, you get a wizard,
you get, you know, all that,
the intensity of it at that time was
really big, was really good.
No, those are greats, man.
And, like, I probably have a lot.
I still, to this day, collect Spawn.
And I was picking up some of the
re-releases of some of the other books,
too, that they just started putting out.
Yeah.
Yeah, just seeing them on the shelf again.
Well, Witchblade is still going.
Like, it's back on the shelves again.
Brand new stories the whole nine.
I mean, all of it's coming back.
Youngblood, Darkness is back.
There's a new Cyberforce coming out.
There's supposed to be a new Wildcats.
They did a Wildcats run last year,
I think, that was really good,
but it was under the DC logo with
Jim Lee, I think.
Yeah, yeah.
I think that softened it up,
but nevertheless, you know what I mean?
It's still out there, man,
and they're still going strong,
and I love to see that.
So at what moment did comics kind of
shift from being passion to purpose,
and you wanted to actually do them?
I would say it kind of made itself,
because just at life at the time,
when I got into comic books,
it was a distraction.
I always tell the story.
I had a friend that,
let's just say that he was on the
right side of the road.
And I'd say, Black, yo,
let's go to my house and write a
comic book.
And I had this guy in my backyard
flipping and jumping around and acting
out.
I mean, this is the guy that,
you know, he's like, yo, you know,
this is, I said,
ain't this better than being, you know,
and he'd be out there.
And that's how my character pinpoint got
started.
This happened off a friend of mine just
jumping around, rolling,
and I started writing.
And my girlfriend at the time,
who was like a writing major at college,
could take my ideas and expand them
properly in the script.
And that's how I got started.
And then from there, it just never ended.
Dude, that's awesome, man.
Dude,
I love when the stories are like that.
So what lessons kind of shaped you the
most as an indie creator?
As you're coming up and you're learning
how to write,
was there a particular lesson that kind of
shaped you into the writer you are today?
Know how to do it by standard so
then you can enjoy doing it your own
way.
You know what I mean?
That makes sense.
Know the proper foundation and go through
the ways to do it that's standard.
Understand the rules of it.
And that way,
when you do it your own way,
you can take those elements into it and
make your own road on it.
Dude, that's a fantastic answer.
It is one of those that I feel
stands true.
You pick up any good comic book,
you can tell.
But so let's dive into some hostile assets
now.
What sparked the idea for this crossover?
I had a chance to talk to Mark,
Mark Parton from Haunted Pizza.
Yep.
Who is who is an image,
one of those image guys.
Right.
And his crew, you know,
and works with that same crew.
You know, he did at Angeline and Angeline.
Amber Jolene for Image.
He did Savage Hawkman.
He did Graveyard Shift.
And he, like me, is an Image head.
So we started talking about what comic
books was the influence.
And we both enjoyed The Kindred.
I don't know if you remember.
It's a comic book called The Kindred from
Image Comics.
I can see it vaguely in my head.
Yeah,
it's a comic book called The Kindred,
which is...
one of my i guess you want to
say comic book bibles that and genesis
x-men um and as well as him so
i was like hey i got footpath and
he had a character named gun goth that
had a green jacket like the old grifter
i said hey man let's just redo it
so that's how i got started just off
a conversation and from there we did it
we uh we we rewrote it uh
I reached out to Sal Regula,
who's the original writer on The Kindred.
I showed him the making of it,
and I talked to him about it,
and what his comic book or what they
did years ago has such an influence even
today.
So, yeah, we are enjoying it, man.
It's a fantastic crossover.
It's
and uh that's a that's a fat book
man sixty pages that's yeah you're getting
the bang for your buck on this one
yeah it's sixty pages it's uh and it
has a lot of guests in it uh
you know you got arico bada artist from
spawn you got uh mike my hand you
got edson owes who's doing the who
actually did the interiors you got anthony
george i mean you got best of weeks
junior
I mean,
you got a lot of people that's around
then through that influence that's taken
part in this project.
So it's a really big project.
Dude, that's amazing.
So many great names from the nineties who
are still doing comics in their own way
now.
Really awesome to hear that.
So yeah, this is like a... Oh,
go ahead.
No, go ahead.
No, I was saying like,
this is like a dedication to
the influence that you all had that same
influence under back then with Image and
stuff like that.
It's like a love letter.
It's a real nice project to be a
part of.
That's why I hit that notify me on
launch button.
What makes this crossover different from
your typical comic book crossovers?
Only because this one's a direct influence
of something that
We loved.
You know what I mean?
So this one is a direct influence on
the kindred.
So that's the only one that makes this
one different.
It's purposely to try to catch the
elements that we loved about comic books.
What grabbed us into comic books,
the excitement, the action,
and what made us fans.
So we're trying to capture that again with
this crossover.
Dude, I love it, dude.
This is one of those where.
Sixty pages, so images,
early greats all taken part in to bring
this back to life.
Oh, yeah, that that's that's phenomenal,
especially for all those guys out there my
age who grew up on image as well
as yourself.
We grew up on image.
I mean, shit,
Spawn is still a dollar ninety nine.
So, I mean,
it's what I could could afford because at
the time,
I think Marvel had gone up to like
two ninety nine or three ninety nine or
something like that.
And cheaper than that.
Yeah.
So it's awesome to hear and to see
two characters so heavily influenced by
that.
old nineteen nineties image when they come
out swinging on everybody.
So it's really cool.
But so let's get up into this story
that.
Gun goth and footpath are going to have
in this crossover comic book album,
Zombie Blood Serum is a killer concept.
Where did that originate?
And in my line,
of comic books.
I had a comic book called Blowtorch,
Bury the Past.
Okay.
Which I started a storyline about a
resurrection program.
Okay.
So that storyline kind of went into the
conversation of Mark with Gungoth,
who is a girl that's tracking down these
experiments and these werewolves and stuff
like that.
So the storyline kind of fit.
into each other.
And, you know, through conversation,
it's like, hey,
that's amazing that your storyline and my
storyline are kind of like hitting each
other.
So it made its own story.
The two of them together.
And so, you know,
if you remember the original Kindred,
it was something similar, off experiment.
So it was like, oh,
we got a chance.
We got a chance to
do an image comic.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, hey, man, let's do this.
So, you know, we got excited.
Like, hey,
the stories itself is already aligned.
The stories are not from the kindred,
but it led into a similar environment
through the conversation me and him was
having.
No, that is really cool.
I mean, that two separate guys, unrelated,
are working on two bullets very similar
and you were able to make it cross
paths that way just seamlessly and make
everything just flow into each other like
that.
That's a one in a million shot.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, that's rare because it actually,
even though it's a crossover between us,
it actually just moves on the story for
both of us.
You know what I mean?
That was already established.
Yeah,
that was already established before we
even talked about it.
You know, if that makes sense.
Yeah.
No,
that makes a hundred percent sense to me,
but I live in this world.
You know what I'm saying?
Of indie comics and amazing stories that
are out there in the indie comic world.
So for me, like, dude, that's perfect.
Like how often do you get to write
a story with somebody you don't know?
And the stories just fall seamlessly into
each other and work to continue both
stories.
That's right.
So it's just a coincidence.
And what's amazing about that is now that
you're crossing them over here,
y'all both can go off, right?
Two, three,
four more issues and then bring them back
together if you want to.
Oh, well, you know, uh,
we had so much fun doing hostile assets.
Um, and, and the way,
the way that happened, I just did,
I just did a Kickstarter called footpath
dangerous nights.
Okay.
about this same experiment before we even
had this conversation.
So if you look,
I got a Kickstarter out now or late
pledges for a Kickstarter for Footpath
Dangerous Nights.
Yeah,
the way that story went led right into
the conversation with Mark.
It was like just a crazy coincidence.
So it follows through.
And we had so much fun doing a
hot dog
We had so much fun doing Hostile Assets
that now Hostile Assets is going to lead
into a bigger crossover with Haunted Pizza
and Patreon Comics.
With everybody.
With everybody, so...
That's money, bro.
I love to hear that.
That is absolutely amazing.
So what kind of tone is this comic
book going to have?
Are we getting some horror, some action,
some like Grindhouse style movie type
action in this book?
This comic book is a love letter to
the nineties action that we all missed in
Image.
So we are going straight for the action.
We are going straight for the explosive
pages,
the
The way they used to do it back
then with the two-page flashes and all the
fun elements that people our age remember
about that time in comic book.
That's what we're trying to capture with
this crossover.
This is like a dream project that we
are getting a chance to do.
So how the two heroines in this comic
book are very different.
how are like how did y'all finish to
get these two personalities to kind of
behave on paper like did they start out
with some initial like some head button
and then kind of work it in together
and like hey we got to do this
as a team otherwise this isn't going to
work how did that kind of like transpire
between the two ladies who are the central
point of this comic book um they're
already going storylines
made it possible for them to interact in
a way that it reflected how they did
in kindred so you know they're going to
come together of course you know they're
not going to be friends at first but
they're going to eventually have to work
together and um and it doesn't it doesn't
pause either one story you know what i
mean guns off already had a storyline
going on that this crossover follows
through her storyline
Footpath is already on the storyline
that's going on.
This crossover extends her storyline.
And even though they're crossing over,
it doesn't intersect either one storyline.
You know what I mean?
So it has made it convenient and made
it good and gave us a chance to
say, hey,
if we was doing this comic book in
the nineties, how would we do it?
And we'll go back to how they did
Wildcat.
So the two page splashes, Jim Liam,
Mark Silvestri in the explosive action.
I was like,
I really want to do that.
Dude, I'm in.
I'm bought in.
I'm ready for this to drop and hit
Kickstarter.
So what surprised you the most while y'all
were working on this project?
Say again?
What surprised you the most while working
on this project?
The fun.
The fun.
It's not really work if you're having fun,
is it?
Yeah.
And it's not work if you're having fun.
I remember when I tried to get into
comic books,
I submitted to Image Comics so many times.
I damn near climbed through their window.
I was trying everything to get into Image
Comics.
I sent in so many submissions to Image
Comics.
I remember they used to have a comic
book called Dynamo Five.
I think early Robert Kirkland, I think.
Man, I wrote a whole crossover for my...
For Domino Five, I had Rudy Vasquez,
George.
I sent that submission in.
I was trying everything against the image
at that time.
Dude,
and here you are working with some of
the great image creators from the
nineties.
Incredible.
That's the most fun is working with people
that is in that field.
It's like getting my submission for image
back then.
It turns me into a kid again,
if that makes sense.
No, dude, a hundred percent.
And I think that was every kid's dream
at that time.
But let's dive into who the creative team
is on this book.
We got some Edson Alves doing Anthony
George on colors.
And of course,
Mark Bolton of Haunted Pizza Comets as
your co-writer.
All-star team, dude.
Anybody else you want to shout out who
worked on the book with y'all?
Um,
My designer, Sade Tamifante,
came up with the logo.
Mark Mahan.
Been a big process of the comic book,
too.
He's an artist.
He also did a couple of covers.
Serge Dilemma did a couple of covers.
Anthony George, of course,
with the incredible colors he's doing on
the book.
And there's everybody that's taking fun in
this project.
You got a spawn artist, Erica Bartow.
came on and did a cover for us.
I mean, incredible.
She's amazing.
Yeah, he, he's amazing.
Oh, okay.
And, uh, and, uh, and, um, Mark,
you're on there one.
That's the weeks.
I mean,
that's the week I'm going to did a
fantastic one.
So, I mean,
the fact that I'm getting to work with
people that years ago,
I was trying to submit, submit, um,
too i mean it's just an amazing feeling
so how did this whole creative team
actually come together and you managed to
get like no guys who worked with image
and at image in the nineties and on
this project as well uh that that's our
relationship to mark so uh
Yeah,
that's my relationship to Mark and Mark
being in that in that environment or in
that field back then.
So this is all from his relationships.
OK,
what was it like co-writing this with
Mark?
Oh, he gave me some freedom,
gave me opportunity and he loved it.
And then, you know,
he took my half and he added his
half and
Yeah,
it turned out to be an amazing project.
It has, like I said,
remnants of the Kindred,
and it has our own remnants.
It's like half and half, and yeah,
it really turned out to be an amazing
project.
I mean,
I really shout out Mark Portran for giving
me the opportunity and the chance to work
with him and his team, and yeah,
I'm very thankful.
Dude, that's awesome.
Can...
So you currently have multiple kind of
storylines going on right now.
Do all your stories kind of interweave and
crossover into each other and fit within
all of your universe?
Only the chess-related titles are kind of
like, they play around with each other.
I got some new titles that I'm working
on, some new people that don't.
Like Osmo is a new character.
from the Mario Hill.
Squawk is a new character from Jason
Martizia.
So these are characters that don't
particularly relate to my type.
This is brand new titles.
Okay.
So let's talk about some of the...
You had sent me some covers earlier and
you had some...
My guy Malcolm on there from SIS-XV.
How did that come about with you and
Malcolm?
Me, Malcolm,
and another creator by the name of Tony
Cottrell.
Okay.
We all had characters that I guess if
you look at a comic book,
they'll look similar to you, right?
Tony has Southside.
Malcolm has Subject Zero.
I have Pinpoint.
So on the cover,
they look like the same character, right?
Okay.
They're doing the same thing.
They're all mercs.
They all got guns.
If you don't know the character,
there will be similar characters.
We had a conversation.
I was like, hey,
let's do a crossover to show how these
characters are different,
even though they look the same or do
the same things.
That crossover ended up being Bear and
Bullets.
That crossover is very successful.
Working with Tony and Malcolm,
I mean, that was an incredible experience.
You know,
Malcolm is such a young inspiration in the
field, you know, young energy.
And, yeah, that was an amazing experience.
So that crossover led into The Bear,
which is like a follow-up because it's
pinpoint and subject zero again.
But yeah, it made it fun.
It's like, hey,
these characters next to each other,
it's a fun read.
So let's do it again.
That crossover actually came from a
comment from a gentleman named A.
Fuller Bay on a comment on Facebook about
there's a bear in Bear and Bullets and
a bear in one of Malcolm's comic books.
And he's like, hey,
that bear needs its own storyline.
Like a joke.
And from that joke, we was like, hey,
hey, you know something?
Next thing you know,
we got a comic book called The Bear.
Dude, that's awesome.
And for those unfamiliar with who Malcolm
in SIS-Fifteen Comics is,
you can go over to my YouTube page
and watch my interview with Malcolm.
He is definitely one of the young
up-and-comers in comic books right now,
especially indie comics.
Go give that interview a watch and then
go over and give him a follow because
he is a fantastic writer with a very
bright future ahead of him.
Incredible.
Incredible.
Incredible.
Yeah.
But thanks for talking to us about Malcolm
because he deserves some love and a shout
out on that one because he is really
good and deserves some more love.
So I appreciate that.
So do you see more crossovers coming in
the future for your characters?
Well, I enjoy them.
I like the interaction.
Like I said, I've been writing since like
early two thousands.
And, uh, you know,
I went through all the standards and, and,
and, um, the regular way.
So now it's just about fun.
These crossovers are fun.
You get to meet, uh, uh,
these other creators and have ideas and
talk to each other.
And, and, and,
and now it's just in a format that
we could, we could do it.
You know, it's nothing stopping us.
Hey, I like this idea.
Let's do it.
You know what I mean?
And it's just, and it's just that simple.
And, um,
these conversations are fantastic.
You know, uh,
I'm getting a chance to work with,
So many incredible other creators.
I had a chance to work with Tony
Cottrell.
I had a chance to work with Malcolm.
I had a chance to work with Mark.
You know,
just working with different people,
it's amazing.
Some younger than me, some older than me.
You get some knowledge.
You get some inspiration.
It's just a fun field to be in
and an enjoyment field to be in.
Dude.
And so I've been doing this for about
a year now,
a year plus doing just straight indie
content, indie creators.
And I've gotten to meet so many amazing
guys and gals with like tons and tons
of talent who honestly,
this is how they get the love they
deserve is coming on here and other
podcasts,
sharing their stuff on social media.
But it's been such a fun ride for
me from that perspective and getting to
know all of you and so many.
So much great talent out there who is
getting overlooked.
And one of the big things I'll do
here is try to bring that spotlight to
them and.
Alfred found me because I post in a
lot of different Facebook groups and said,
hey, let me get in on that.
And here he is tonight.
So for those unfamiliar with him,
please go give him a like or a
follow on Instagram and Facebook if you
can.
It would greatly appreciate it.
Shine some more spotlights on Alfred and
what he's doing because he does have an
incredible book coming out here in April
that we are going to talk about a
little bit more now with the Kickstarter.
So, Alfred,
walk us through your Kickstarter.
It's launching next month in April.
Do you have a ship?
This is only February.
We're launching in two months.
Yeah.
I'm a month ahead of myself in April.
Yeah.
There's six pages.
So you just give us some room.
Yeah.
Okay.
No, dude, that,
that makes a hundred percent sense because
yeah,
sixty page comic book is a lot for
anybody to take on and try to,
and you don't want it to be too
fast because then it gets sloppy and you
don't want to do that.
Especially with the names on this book,
because there's big names on this book.
We're talking ties to image in the
nineties and today.
So this one definitely doesn't need to be
rushed out.
So what has got you most excited about
this campaign in particular?
The attention that, like you just said,
the attention that is getting from people
of the era of my influence.
I mean,
I got a couple of my Dexter weeks.
That's like a dream come true.
You know what I mean?
I got a cover by I got a
cover by Rico about that.
That's a dream come true.
So, you know,
that's the fact that the idea of the
of this Kickstarter is gaining more
attention from people that as an
influence.
I mean,
that's amazing to get a chance to work
with these people.
So that's what made it ten times more
better.
You're literally you're living every
image.
Nineties kids dream, right?
That's right.
That's right.
I just it's like just getting my
submission accepted now.
Twenty twenty six.
Hey, it's never too late, right?
It's never too late.
So that's obviously you've launched
multiple Kickstarters during your
independent creator journey here.
what,
what are some of the lessons you've
learned personally while running
Kickstarters that you're bringing into
this one with, uh, with, uh,
I think Mark, sorry,
I was brain farting his name.
Yeah.
Um, it's, it's just the experience,
you know,
Kickstarter is always its own experience.
You know what I mean?
No matter how many times you do it,
it's, it's, it's the, it's a grind.
It's a hustle.
Um,
this one has not,
this one's a little bit better because
it's more fun and, and it's more,
and it's more about us than the
Kickstarter.
That makes sense.
But, um, yeah.
Yeah.
So, but the grind,
the grind and Kickstarter, it's,
it's always a rotation of, of work, uh,
promo marketing.
And, um, yeah, those things, um,
I mean, you know,
every side of fun is a side of
business and it's a job to do.
So, I mean,
that's just about it right there.
And I don't think like for the average
person out there who may not know this,
it is a lot of work that goes
into doing a Kickstarter campaign.
Lots of front end work,
lots of work in the middle,
lots of work at the end of the
product.
It is just a lot of work that
I don't think the normal person out there
really realize what's going into not just
make the comic book,
But the front end work of that as
well, coming on podcast,
doing the social media thing,
that is a lot of work to do.
And trying to get on podcast,
it's not easy.
Some people can't bring themselves to come
on a live podcast and speak to people
live in person.
That's right.
That's right.
That's right.
So...
it's kind of wild in that,
but so how important is crowdfunding to
the,
to independent creators and their
sustainability?
It's man, it's, it's, it's the way,
I mean, that, that's the,
that's the lifeline.
That's the blood of the indie market, uh,
crowdfunding.
I mean, that's, that's, I mean, yeah,
you got other ways that you could get
your comic book out.
You got direct market, you got, uh,
publications, you got distribution,
but the majority is crowdfunding allows
you to push out your ideas and meet
new people.
Outside conventions,
it's the only way to really be noticed
everywhere.
You know what I mean?
Absolutely.
You want somebody in Canada to get your
comic book.
You want somebody in
You know,
wherever they have access to your comic
book.
And, you know,
you don't know who's going to become a
fan of your comic book.
We're in the world and crowdfunding allows
that.
So it's a very important process to the
indie market.
Oh, yeah.
And it's one of those where I tell
people I'm happy just to play my small
little part in that process for the
creators that come on here because it
truly is a lot of fun.
to me to get to see some of
these projects kind of in that process of
being made along the way to get to
see the coverage before the average Joe
does.
And I don't want to say that's a
perk of the job because it's not the
perk of the job is actually getting to
talk to Alfred and other creators when
they come on the show to discuss their,
you know, creation.
And to me,
that's the fun thing that I get to
do in that process is that right there.
So that's right.
What kind of fun stuff do y'all have
for this Kickstarter?
You're going to have some exclusives,
some stretch goals,
some extras in there for people.
What can they expect from the actual
campaign itself?
Oh, we got tons of stuff coming up.
We got more artwork coming up, rewards,
stretch goals.
Obviously,
you're going to get access to the history
of Mark's past titles.
You're going to get access to...
I don't know if it's your headphones or
where your jack is plugged into your
phone, but it's causing your mic.
There it goes.
It stopped now.
Okay.
All right.
We're good now.
Okay.
Yeah.
So, as I was saying, oh,
the stretch goals.
You're going to get some more artwork.
You're going to get access to the history
of Mark and everything he's done.
You're going to get access to the page
one comics.
Okay.
And we got some other things coming up.
Mark Poulter is, I would say,
like an incredible campaign person.
Incredible.
So he got some things coming up for
y'all.
And y'all just got to look out for
him.
Do they need to go follow Mark Poulter
or Mark Poulter on Kickstarter in order to
be notified for this campaign?
This campaign is underneath Mark Poltern.
Yes, that is correct.
Okay.
Okay.
So I just want to make sure people
understood that this particular project is
going to be under Mark Poltern.
M-A-R-K-P-O-U-L-T-O-N.
So if you're on Kickstarter and you want
to go follow this project in particular,
it's under Mark Poltern's name.
Make sure you hit that notify me on
launch.
That way you get that immediate
notification that this is live.
You're not going to want to miss this
project at all.
So and haunted pizza,
haunted pizza comments,
haunted pizza comments, page one comments.
Give them both a follow that way.
You get all the updates of this process
as they go.
Because I can go ahead and tell you
all right now.
I've teased a couple of the covers for
y'all when I did the hype video for
this interview.
They're going to be some fantastic stuff
coming,
especially if you're over following Mark's
page.
You're going to see some great behind the
scenes stuff on that.
Yeah, yeah.
Muck is no joke.
Alfred,
can you kind of walk us through how
you do your writing?
How do you like to do that?
I just go with my idea.
I mean, go ahead.
I was going to like, you know,
are you kind of like sit in a
quiet room and kind of like type away?
Or are you like,
like you like to listen to music while
you work?
Or just like, what kind of like,
what gets Alfred in that zone to start
creating what he creates?
I try to write it as soon as
I have the idea while it's fresh.
So, like, you know,
it hits you at any time.
I mean, I mean,
ideas hit you from anything you know you
can watch a car go down the street
and see a red car like hey you
know i got an idea you know what
i mean and then you know all the
ideas fresh and and you can actually see
the whole idea you want to get as
much of it out as possible
Your first draft.
I'm kind of laughing inside to myself
because that reminds me of Lonnie of Dark
City Comets.
He does that to people.
He says he shoots random story parts of
a story or random story ideas to people
while he's messaging them.
If he's messaging somebody and the idea
hits,
he just types it out real quick and
sends it to them to kind of create
that record of that idea.
That way he doesn't lose that idea.
Yep.
Yep.
That's right.
That's right.
Yeah.
So that's it.
I mean, it's just, it does hit you,
you know what I mean?
So, uh, I mean,
I know some people got different
processes, you know, some people put, uh,
maybe a different,
more different study into it or, or, or,
you know, um, uh, and not influence,
but a study into what they're trying to
do.
Right.
Some people got characters that, you know,
it's from history, you know what I mean?
Their process is different because they
study that particular history to make a
character that reflects what they're
trying to do for that time period.
Everybody got a different process and
stuff like that.
For the most part,
as soon as I get it,
I try to put my first draft down
and then go back and edit it and
fix it to the way I want it.
Okay.
All right,
so let's hit those rapid-fire questions I
told you about before we got started.
Are you ready?
Mm-hmm.
I'm ready.
Your favorite anti-hero?
Magneto.
All right.
Would that count?
Yeah, no.
It's your questions, man.
I'm just asking.
It's whoever you want it to be.
So now, horror or action?
Action.
Action.
Print or digital?
Print.
Same, man.
I got to have that print.
I love the smell of a new comic
book.
I got to have it in my hand.
I got to have it in my hand.
It's nothing like rereading a comic book
in your hand multiple times.
Then, you know, digitally,
you might get it one time or something,
but you don't really go back to it.
Oh, yeah.
So, now, Kickstarter must-haves.
So when you kick off a Kickstarter,
what are some of your must-haves when you
do it?
Limited covers.
Variant artworks.
You know, maybe some posters,
something like that.
Maybe some additional things that, I mean,
for me,
I just want to read the book.
So, I mean,
I know some people go into Kickstarter for
the extras and the add-ons.
Yep.
To this day,
I never supported an add-on or a stretch
goal in the Kickstarter.
I just want the book.
If I'm interested in the book,
I just want the book.
All that other stuff.
I know some people go for shirts and
bonuses and things that Kickstarter
allows.
uh i i can't say i don't do
that so i i just want the book
if i'm interested in the book i'm with
the book that's it yeah so yeah i
i took my my fingers into a little
a little bit of everything when it comes
to that it really it depends on how
hard it jumps out at me when i
get to the page and that's why it's
so important for creators to create the
best landing page they possibly can
because that is a makeup for a lot
of campaigns
That's right.
Don't make your campaign page messy is
what we're saying.
Collective ideas that flow.
Otherwise, you're losing people.
That's right.
Now,
what's one indie comic you think everyone
should read?
I'm going to go back to our friend,
Malcolm McFadden.
Recently,
I read his comic book called Evora Lynn.
I would say that is probably one of
the best indie comic books I've read in
a long time.
That's on the line of comic books like
Crescent City Monsters and Ray and
Common's Reiner.
I'm talking about it is a perfectly
executed comic book.
Shout out to Malcolm for that.
Malcolm getting a lot of love tonight.
I like it.
So what is your,
we're already talking about this
crossover,
but outside of the current crossover you
have going on right now,
what is your dream crossover that you want
to do?
Um, you know,
I want to get to that DC model.
I want to get to that DC model,
man.
I want, I want to do something.
I want to do something between, uh,
my dream crossover would be, uh,
Justice League America and the Age of
Apocalypse.
X-Men Age of Apocalypse.
If I had a major dream project to
write or be a part of,
it would be taking the Justice League
America into the Age of Apocalypse X-Men
world and seeing who survives and how they
move.
I like that, actually.
I'm more of a Justice League Dark myself.
I just like those darker DC characters.
So that would have been my go-to for
something like that.
But no,
Justice League of America ain't that bad
either.
But, uh...
Alfred,
it's that time where you can share and
plug all the promo you want.
Tell everybody where they can find you.
Tell everybody when the Kickstarter is
going to launch.
Just plug yourself and what you do.
Yeah, OK.
So we got the first one I want
to mention.
We're still taking late pledges.
It's Footpath Dangerous Nights.
We are still taking late pledges till the
end of February.
At the end of February,
We want to move on to completing the
comic book and sending out the digitals.
Now, where is that located under?
So if they need to go to Kickstarter,
is it under your name or Page One
Comics?
What's that under?
Footpath Dangerous Nights is under an
incredible writer by the name of Jonathan
Hendrick.
He had a hit comic book called We
Count not too long ago.
So, yeah,
it's underneath Jonathan Hendrick under
Hendrick Comics.
He's my partner in that one,
writing partner in that one as well.
And, yeah, look for that, Footpath,
Dangerous Nights.
We're still taking late pledges on that
right now until the end of February.
Again,
you could notify yourself on the
pre-launch page for Footpath, Gun Golf,
Hostile Assets.
We'll shoot off in April.
And I got to tell you, I mean,
I know you've seen some of the pages,
some of the covers,
but the artist Edson Isles,
the pages he got coming up,
I mean, that's phenomenal.
I mean,
Edson Isles is truly one of the best
artists today in indie comic books.
And I'm so gifted to be working with
him.
We got another crossover, The Bear.
That's going to be coming up very soon
with, again,
Malcolm and Subject Zero and Pinpoint as
they get back together and get into some
more trouble.
So look for that.
We have a hundred page crossover coming
this summer called Earthfall.
Okay.
And that's with a lot of people in
the industry.
Dan Sin, Nigel Flood, Peter Brewer,
a lot of people, C.T.
Parker, Spex Thompson, Roscoe Glutton.
I mean, that's a list.
Jesse Hansen,
a list of different creators.
And we all just got together and we
did this hundred page crossover called
Earthfall.
Mega crossover.
So, a hundred pages plus.
So, it might be like one twenty,
one thirty, something around that area.
That's graphic novel territory right
there.
It is.
And I gotta tell you,
the artwork coming back from that is
incredible.
And some of the best artwork I have
seen in comic books.
So,
look out for that later on this year.
That's going to be under Argo Comics.
I believe Dancing is going to be running
that one.
So, follow Dancing.
for information about that in a couple of
months as they start the preparation for
that.
We're just having fun.
It's going to be a fun year.
Dude,
it sounds like you're having a lot of
fun this year,
making some incredible bullets and some
incredible crossovers.
Anything else you want to share with the
Council of Nerds before we close this out?
Look for some new titles coming out from
brand new creators.
First-time creators, D.
Mario Hill has a comic book coming out
called Osmo.
JC and Marzia got a comic book coming
out called Scorp.
I'm working on a new comic book now
with artist Felipe called Beauty Mark.
So just look out for all the new
titles and new things coming out
throughout the year.
You mean, sorry,
I was trying to click something.
Okay.
No, that was my fault.
I clicked and it opened up the wrong
thing.
So that's on me.
But Alfred, first of all,
thank you for coming on the podcast
tonight,
sharing this incredible title with us,
sharing how you do what you do.
And what a great opportunity you have
right now working with some of your,
not just yours, but mine as well,
like favorite people from the nineties.
That's right.
Soak it all in, man.
Just soak it all in.
That's huge, dude.
And I loved hearing about it tonight.
But again, this has been fantastic.
Hostile Assets isn't just another
crossover.
It's a collision of worlds, creators,
and indie comic energy that shows exactly
why the independent comic scene
continues to thrive and will continue to
thrive well into the future.
If you love horror,
if you love anti-heroes,
gritty storytelling,
creator-owned stories,
this is going to definitely be one to
watch when it hits Kickstarter this April.
Make sure you follow Alfred.
Page one comments.
Links are in the description to him.
Make sure you sign up for the prelaunch
and keep supporting indie creators who are
building something real.
And to everyone watching,
support Indie Comics,
support the creators, and keep reading.
This has been the United States Department
of Nerds, where Indie Comics come to life.
Y'all be safe out there.
Yes, sir.