WEBVTT 00:00:03.476 --> 00:00:07.173 You are listening to the USDN on the 00:00:07.253 --> 00:00:08.579 DFPN. 00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:40.923 Thanks for watching! 00:01:11.248 --> 00:01:13.510 what is up everybody and welcome to the 00:01:13.570 --> 00:01:15.292 united states department of nerds where we 00:01:15.311 --> 00:01:18.093 are for the people by the people and 00:01:18.274 --> 00:01:21.837 of the people and tonight we step into 00:01:21.917 --> 00:01:26.680 the cobweb corridors of horror nostalgia a 00:01:26.721 --> 00:01:29.862 place where the ink drink drips darker 00:01:29.882 --> 00:01:32.125 than blood and the punch lights 00:01:32.805 --> 00:01:35.126 punchlines bite harder than the ghouls who 00:01:35.186 --> 00:01:35.766 tell them. 00:01:36.406 --> 00:01:39.527 Our guest tonight is Grant Lankard, 00:01:40.007 --> 00:01:42.147 the creative mind behind Beowulf, 00:01:42.748 --> 00:01:43.588 League of Cryptids, 00:01:44.069 --> 00:01:46.228 and the Haunted Horror Anthology that we 00:01:46.269 --> 00:01:47.629 will be talking about tonight, 00:01:48.170 --> 00:01:50.031 Memoirs of the Morbid. 00:01:50.510 --> 00:01:51.950 And this is going to be the Orange 00:01:51.990 --> 00:01:52.552 Edition. 00:01:53.251 --> 00:01:55.813 Grant, welcome to the show, my guy. 00:01:56.733 --> 00:01:59.274 Hey, how's it going tonight? 00:01:59.373 --> 00:01:59.853 We're going 00:02:00.242 --> 00:02:02.003 Pretty good over here. 00:02:04.325 --> 00:02:06.805 Grant, first of all, welcome to the USDN. 00:02:07.406 --> 00:02:09.987 And let's rewind a little bit back to 00:02:10.008 --> 00:02:12.248 the nineteen nineties when comic creators 00:02:12.288 --> 00:02:13.449 were like rock stars. 00:02:14.871 --> 00:02:17.451 And so what was it like growing up 00:02:17.512 --> 00:02:20.774 surrounded by that kind of energy and what 00:02:21.275 --> 00:02:24.877 particular comic book kind of made you 00:02:25.137 --> 00:02:26.578 grab a hold of that and bring it 00:02:26.638 --> 00:02:28.139 into what this book is today? 00:02:30.040 --> 00:02:32.263 Um, yeah, I didn't, I didn't really read, 00:02:33.584 --> 00:02:35.545 I didn't really read too much horror comic 00:02:35.566 --> 00:02:36.806 books when I was a kid. 00:02:36.866 --> 00:02:38.687 It was, um, okay. 00:02:38.707 --> 00:02:39.968 More superhero. 00:02:40.610 --> 00:02:45.174 Um, as far as what was it like? 00:02:45.593 --> 00:02:46.974 Um, yeah, 00:02:46.995 --> 00:02:49.197 the nineties were an exciting time for 00:02:49.597 --> 00:02:50.237 comic books. 00:02:50.478 --> 00:02:51.278 Um, you could, 00:02:51.998 --> 00:02:53.401 you could get comic books almost 00:02:53.480 --> 00:02:54.161 everywhere. 00:02:54.622 --> 00:02:54.741 Um, 00:02:55.927 --> 00:02:57.449 For those who don't know, 00:02:58.170 --> 00:03:01.093 there was what's called a speculator boom 00:03:01.194 --> 00:03:02.075 in comic books, 00:03:02.656 --> 00:03:04.799 which means that even really bad comic 00:03:04.838 --> 00:03:07.342 books were selling hundreds of thousands 00:03:07.382 --> 00:03:08.043 of copies. 00:03:08.502 --> 00:03:11.026 To put this into perspective... 00:03:11.747 --> 00:03:13.987 The highest selling comic book of last 00:03:14.068 --> 00:03:17.390 year probably would have gotten canceled 00:03:18.110 --> 00:03:21.193 in nineteen ninety three due to low sales. 00:03:21.312 --> 00:03:23.835 Like it's true. 00:03:23.854 --> 00:03:26.056 That's how that's how crazy it was at 00:03:26.096 --> 00:03:26.695 that time. 00:03:28.296 --> 00:03:30.399 You also had a lot of really exciting 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:31.258 creators, 00:03:32.259 --> 00:03:34.221 at least creators that at the time I 00:03:34.260 --> 00:03:35.622 thought were really exciting. 00:03:36.543 --> 00:03:38.704 Some of their some of their work has 00:03:38.783 --> 00:03:40.164 not aged yet. 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:41.360 as great. 00:03:43.581 --> 00:03:44.882 Give us an example of a few of 00:03:44.901 --> 00:03:45.862 them that you would kind of, 00:03:46.002 --> 00:03:47.704 you enjoyed in that timeframe. 00:03:49.664 --> 00:03:50.824 Well, I mean, some of them, 00:03:51.126 --> 00:03:53.086 some of them that have aged pretty well 00:03:53.127 --> 00:03:57.609 would be like Jim Lee, Mike Mignola. 00:03:59.590 --> 00:04:01.251 Some of the ones that haven't aged as 00:04:01.290 --> 00:04:01.491 well, 00:04:01.531 --> 00:04:03.572 I would say would be like Rob Liefeld. 00:04:04.932 --> 00:04:05.633 Still can't draw feet. 00:04:05.652 --> 00:04:05.772 Right. 00:04:08.171 --> 00:04:11.252 Um, and I mean, and that's to say, 00:04:11.513 --> 00:04:15.993 I mean, um, 00:04:16.014 --> 00:04:20.214 there's definitely a lot of excitement in 00:04:20.375 --> 00:04:21.596 Rob Liefeld's drawings. 00:04:21.615 --> 00:04:24.377 Um, they were definitely different. 00:04:24.456 --> 00:04:27.156 They, um, 00:04:27.197 --> 00:04:31.557 he definitely was not following any trends 00:04:31.598 --> 00:04:33.319 or anything like that, but, um, 00:04:34.625 --> 00:04:35.345 Yeah, 00:04:35.384 --> 00:04:39.567 pure artistic skill was not really great. 00:04:43.129 --> 00:04:43.490 That's true, 00:04:43.509 --> 00:04:45.670 but he could put together a good story 00:04:45.711 --> 00:04:47.151 with Youngbloods. 00:04:47.911 --> 00:04:50.033 He helped bring image to the map with 00:04:50.074 --> 00:04:50.913 Todd McFarlane. 00:04:50.934 --> 00:04:52.675 He's one of the original founding fathers 00:04:52.735 --> 00:04:53.074 over there, 00:04:53.095 --> 00:04:55.476 along with Jim Lee and a few others. 00:04:56.036 --> 00:04:57.338 So I give him his credit. 00:04:57.978 --> 00:04:58.598 Without him, 00:04:58.658 --> 00:04:59.858 I don't think we'd get the image we 00:04:59.879 --> 00:05:03.401 have today, and that image is booming big. 00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:05.699 Right. 00:05:09.442 --> 00:05:11.423 Yeah, I didn't mention Todd McFarlane. 00:05:11.444 --> 00:05:12.785 His comic books were kind of in the 00:05:12.865 --> 00:05:16.468 middle, like not really bad, 00:05:16.487 --> 00:05:17.829 but not really good either. 00:05:18.769 --> 00:05:21.230 I also should mention Eric Larson. 00:05:21.290 --> 00:05:23.793 I really loved Savage Dragon when I was 00:05:23.853 --> 00:05:24.213 a kid. 00:05:24.274 --> 00:05:24.733 Okay, yep. 00:05:25.033 --> 00:05:26.115 He was there when Image, 00:05:26.314 --> 00:05:27.175 when they first started. 00:05:29.117 --> 00:05:29.658 Oh, no. 00:05:29.718 --> 00:05:32.759 I will put Todd McFarlane on a pedestal 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.122 because I am still reading Spawn today. 00:05:35.983 --> 00:05:39.146 Oh, really? 00:05:39.165 --> 00:05:39.927 I've never wavered. 00:05:41.326 --> 00:05:42.668 Even though he doesn't draw it anymore? 00:05:44.569 --> 00:05:45.490 He still does issues. 00:05:45.529 --> 00:05:46.610 He still does covers. 00:05:46.670 --> 00:05:47.851 He still does some writing. 00:05:50.312 --> 00:05:51.653 I think he kind of steps in when 00:05:51.673 --> 00:05:56.336 the story needs a new direction. 00:05:56.516 --> 00:05:57.658 I think he kind of steps in, 00:05:57.718 --> 00:05:59.059 starts it on a new path, 00:05:59.098 --> 00:06:00.038 in a new direction, 00:06:00.540 --> 00:06:01.800 and then kind of hands it off to 00:06:01.841 --> 00:06:03.682 another writer to let them do their thing. 00:06:06.172 --> 00:06:07.552 But yeah, he still does some writing. 00:06:07.572 --> 00:06:09.492 He still does a lot of covers and 00:06:09.533 --> 00:06:10.213 stuff like that. 00:06:10.273 --> 00:06:13.694 You might be right about that. 00:06:13.754 --> 00:06:16.494 I don't know if that's official or not. 00:06:16.514 --> 00:06:18.713 He's in a multi-million dollar business 00:06:18.774 --> 00:06:19.295 right now, 00:06:19.394 --> 00:06:20.995 so I can't really knock the guy if 00:06:21.014 --> 00:06:22.314 he wants to take his hands off and 00:06:22.334 --> 00:06:24.115 kind of give it off to some of 00:06:24.154 --> 00:06:26.836 these amazing creators that he does have 00:06:27.055 --> 00:06:27.735 working on it. 00:06:29.875 --> 00:06:32.156 But let's dive into a little bit more 00:06:32.297 --> 00:06:32.456 of 00:06:33.382 --> 00:06:34.982 what you're bringing to us today. 00:06:35.583 --> 00:06:38.862 So you've, you started, 00:06:39.002 --> 00:06:41.004 your very first book was Beowulf, correct? 00:06:41.363 --> 00:06:42.543 Or was it the other one? 00:06:43.324 --> 00:06:43.423 Okay. 00:06:43.463 --> 00:06:46.545 Give us a little bit about what Beowulf 00:06:46.584 --> 00:06:47.245 was for you. 00:06:49.266 --> 00:06:52.446 You mean my comic book or the inspiration 00:06:52.485 --> 00:06:52.906 for it? 00:06:53.526 --> 00:06:55.807 Yours and kind of what, what inspired it? 00:06:57.372 --> 00:06:57.591 Yeah, 00:06:57.651 --> 00:07:02.634 so the comic book is essentially the guy 00:07:02.653 --> 00:07:04.334 you learned about in high school but 00:07:04.375 --> 00:07:06.536 reincarnated in modern times. 00:07:08.297 --> 00:07:12.819 Now, why Beowulf in particular? 00:07:16.370 --> 00:07:17.271 I remember as a kid, 00:07:17.752 --> 00:07:19.452 my parents had one of those like time 00:07:19.512 --> 00:07:21.694 life books, uh, 00:07:21.735 --> 00:07:24.617 different fairy tales and myths and stuff. 00:07:25.117 --> 00:07:27.980 And I remember reading the Beowulf story 00:07:28.019 --> 00:07:28.360 in that. 00:07:28.899 --> 00:07:31.903 And what struck me at about it was 00:07:32.483 --> 00:07:34.625 the fact that it reminded me of like 00:07:34.665 --> 00:07:37.107 a superhero story. 00:07:37.547 --> 00:07:40.389 Um, and I remember thinking like, 00:07:41.350 --> 00:07:43.451 you know what, why, why not? 00:07:44.072 --> 00:07:44.211 Um, 00:07:45.750 --> 00:07:47.132 kind of combine the two. 00:07:47.492 --> 00:07:50.153 And that's why Beowulf stood out for me. 00:07:50.752 --> 00:07:50.932 Now, 00:07:51.072 --> 00:07:53.634 a lot of people have mentioned to me 00:07:54.213 --> 00:07:55.675 that from a marketing standpoint, 00:07:55.694 --> 00:07:58.536 it was a good idea to do Beowulf 00:07:58.576 --> 00:08:04.338 just because as much as everybody's heard 00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:05.218 of Beowulf, 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:13.442 but there aren't a lot of modern versions 00:08:13.682 --> 00:08:15.103 of Beowulf. 00:08:16.024 --> 00:08:17.766 I can't think of any really off the 00:08:17.786 --> 00:08:18.507 top of my head. 00:08:20.809 --> 00:08:22.069 Well, there's a few here and there. 00:08:22.670 --> 00:08:25.793 There's the Angelina Jolie one from like 00:08:26.593 --> 00:08:27.613 the early two thousands. 00:08:29.415 --> 00:08:31.137 We don't count that one. 00:08:31.156 --> 00:08:36.201 As opposed to Robin Hood or King Arthur 00:08:36.640 --> 00:08:37.621 or Hercules, 00:08:37.642 --> 00:08:41.705 which get revamped once every couple 00:08:41.764 --> 00:08:42.325 years. 00:08:44.486 --> 00:08:45.288 Beowulf, 00:08:46.543 --> 00:08:53.067 pretty much very rarely gets adapted. 00:08:53.087 --> 00:08:53.447 That's true. 00:08:53.467 --> 00:08:57.051 And I've seen the more modern... 00:08:57.130 --> 00:08:58.091 I thought the Grendel, 00:08:58.711 --> 00:09:00.332 the more modern version of Grendel was 00:09:00.393 --> 00:09:00.993 really good. 00:09:01.133 --> 00:09:05.556 I did not enjoy the Beowulf as much. 00:09:06.657 --> 00:09:10.058 But... So let's do this. 00:09:10.119 --> 00:09:12.980 So this book... 00:09:13.902 --> 00:09:16.364 has kind of been a bridge from the 00:09:16.403 --> 00:09:18.885 golden age of comics into like a modern 00:09:18.966 --> 00:09:20.206 horror anthology. 00:09:20.788 --> 00:09:22.489 So how did this evolve with the red 00:09:22.528 --> 00:09:23.750 edition, blue edition, 00:09:23.789 --> 00:09:25.211 and now the orange edition? 00:09:25.932 --> 00:09:27.153 And kind of why did you go with 00:09:27.192 --> 00:09:27.913 color schemes? 00:09:28.214 --> 00:09:30.735 And what does this new chapter bring to 00:09:30.755 --> 00:09:31.537 the table for you? 00:09:32.405 --> 00:09:34.748 So I went with a color scheme as 00:09:34.807 --> 00:09:37.229 opposed to volume one, volume two, 00:09:37.249 --> 00:09:38.090 volume three, 00:09:38.470 --> 00:09:40.730 because all of the stories are 00:09:40.772 --> 00:09:41.692 self-contained. 00:09:42.273 --> 00:09:45.014 I didn't want people to think they had 00:09:45.053 --> 00:09:47.336 to read volume one and then read volume 00:09:47.375 --> 00:09:48.897 two and then read volume three. 00:09:49.277 --> 00:09:50.477 Yeah, that makes sense. 00:09:51.217 --> 00:09:53.259 You can read these books in any order, 00:09:54.059 --> 00:09:58.763 or it doesn't even matter if you read 00:09:58.763 --> 00:10:03.105 – 00:10:00.302 --> 00:10:03.164 volume one at all you can just go 00:10:03.205 --> 00:10:05.846 straight into volume three or the the 00:10:05.907 --> 00:10:09.450 orange volume okay no i i think that's 00:10:09.509 --> 00:10:11.072 a cool concept and a cool way to 00:10:11.131 --> 00:10:14.875 do it versus uh making an anthology where 00:10:14.894 --> 00:10:16.937 kind of one story continues into the next 00:10:16.996 --> 00:10:18.538 book and stuff like that kind of like 00:10:19.078 --> 00:10:22.461 how hello darkness does for boom studios 00:10:22.601 --> 00:10:25.423 yeah so no that's a really cool concept 00:10:25.443 --> 00:10:26.905 i like that and so 00:10:28.851 --> 00:10:31.113 Let's talk about what's coming up inside 00:10:31.613 --> 00:10:33.053 the Orange Edition. 00:10:33.094 --> 00:10:36.875 You got four stories plus a bonus segment. 00:10:36.895 --> 00:10:39.856 And each is like its own little twisted 00:10:40.657 --> 00:10:41.076 mirror. 00:10:41.457 --> 00:10:42.977 Let's start with the Cubicle of the 00:10:43.018 --> 00:10:43.458 Damned. 00:10:43.479 --> 00:10:47.500 And I feel that title in my chest 00:10:47.539 --> 00:10:47.820 every day. 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:48.941 I walk into my office. 00:10:49.740 --> 00:10:52.081 But give us a little bit of background 00:10:52.221 --> 00:10:53.503 on that particular story. 00:10:54.341 --> 00:10:58.404 so so all of the stories are i 00:10:58.424 --> 00:11:01.648 would say are there's a lot of besides 00:11:01.687 --> 00:11:03.649 being a lot of horror there's also a 00:11:03.690 --> 00:11:07.673 lot of humor in this uh anthology and 00:11:07.693 --> 00:11:09.355 i would say of all of them i 00:11:09.436 --> 00:11:11.918 think uh cubicle of the damned probably 00:11:11.957 --> 00:11:13.198 has the most humor 00:11:16.352 --> 00:11:18.354 I was describing it as kind of like 00:11:19.014 --> 00:11:21.153 Office Space meets The Exorcist. 00:11:21.854 --> 00:11:22.554 In other words, 00:11:22.754 --> 00:11:24.274 it takes place in an office, 00:11:25.254 --> 00:11:28.995 but it's got a lot of horror elements 00:11:29.135 --> 00:11:30.076 in it. 00:11:30.155 --> 00:11:35.956 Essentially, the idea is there's a young, 00:11:36.017 --> 00:11:36.216 like, 00:11:36.537 --> 00:11:40.998 twenty-something kid who has his first job 00:11:42.003 --> 00:11:43.003 After college, 00:11:43.183 --> 00:11:45.303 he gets a job in an office, 00:11:47.384 --> 00:11:50.966 and he realizes slowly but surely 00:11:52.787 --> 00:11:54.648 something in the office is kind of 00:11:55.207 --> 00:11:58.490 draining people of their life force. 00:11:59.557 --> 00:12:03.538 And, you know, people are telling him, oh, 00:12:03.578 --> 00:12:05.639 that's just what working in an office will 00:12:05.700 --> 00:12:06.100 do. 00:12:07.059 --> 00:12:10.160 And eventually he finds out that there's 00:12:11.221 --> 00:12:19.164 something supernatural behind how his 00:12:19.205 --> 00:12:22.546 coworkers all kind of look like they're 00:12:22.566 --> 00:12:23.986 having the life drained out of them. 00:12:26.874 --> 00:12:29.394 So this to me was probably my favorite 00:12:29.413 --> 00:12:31.995 story out of them because I can relate 00:12:32.014 --> 00:12:33.575 to it a hundred percent working in an 00:12:33.855 --> 00:12:34.695 office like that. 00:12:35.495 --> 00:12:36.895 Granted, I love my day job, 00:12:37.995 --> 00:12:38.755 but there are days, 00:12:38.855 --> 00:12:40.515 especially like today where the weather is 00:12:40.556 --> 00:12:44.116 like hot garbage outside and you're stuck 00:12:44.197 --> 00:12:46.317 inside watching it through the window, 00:12:46.596 --> 00:12:48.717 just pour down rain. 00:12:49.577 --> 00:12:50.837 And it is slow. 00:12:50.918 --> 00:12:52.158 It's our slow time of year with the 00:12:52.197 --> 00:12:53.158 holidays coming up. 00:12:54.058 --> 00:12:55.479 So yeah, that one was, 00:12:56.669 --> 00:12:58.451 that would definitely resonated with me a 00:12:58.671 --> 00:13:02.631 whole lot bud but um so up next 00:13:02.711 --> 00:13:06.293 we have um the bubble it's kind of 00:13:06.312 --> 00:13:09.293 like a time travel a scientist and what 00:13:09.374 --> 00:13:12.195 he believes is a caveman with shocking 00:13:12.455 --> 00:13:16.716 origins right this one was also really 00:13:16.796 --> 00:13:20.037 good like and i think i got it 00:13:20.518 --> 00:13:21.998 but i'm not sure i'm pretty sure i 00:13:22.018 --> 00:13:24.759 did but kind of what inspired that one 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:24.979 and 00:13:27.164 --> 00:13:31.407 for you? 00:13:31.447 --> 00:13:31.988 First of all, 00:13:33.268 --> 00:13:35.168 I should note that I didn't write that 00:13:35.369 --> 00:13:35.489 one. 00:13:39.010 --> 00:13:43.533 That one was written by William Conway. 00:13:45.494 --> 00:13:47.475 What I enjoyed about it was, 00:13:48.375 --> 00:13:50.336 like you said, I think I got it, 00:13:50.355 --> 00:13:51.937 but I'm not a hundred percent sure. 00:13:53.577 --> 00:13:54.057 I like 00:13:55.157 --> 00:13:57.357 kind of that ambiguity where, like, 00:13:57.458 --> 00:14:00.100 at the end, you're not quite sure. 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:01.360 Yeah. 00:14:01.400 --> 00:14:02.822 You think you have an idea of what 00:14:02.841 --> 00:14:03.221 happened, 00:14:03.241 --> 00:14:07.485 but you're not a hundred percent sure. 00:14:07.544 --> 00:14:09.166 No, I'm right there with you. 00:14:09.225 --> 00:14:11.086 And it was a very fun one. 00:14:11.907 --> 00:14:13.168 And I was like, 00:14:15.068 --> 00:14:16.529 i kind of got it from the beginning 00:14:16.570 --> 00:14:18.751 on that one but i didn't want to 00:14:18.892 --> 00:14:21.432 like just speculate right away i wanted to 00:14:21.493 --> 00:14:24.455 see where it was going and uh i 00:14:24.515 --> 00:14:26.996 enjoyed it immensely the writer on that 00:14:27.096 --> 00:14:32.260 one nailed a fun story yeah it's a 00:14:32.280 --> 00:14:34.642 little bit spooky it has a little bit 00:14:35.043 --> 00:14:38.205 of um like the jewels burn kind of 00:14:38.365 --> 00:14:39.785 aesthetic um 00:14:41.471 --> 00:14:44.131 not just in terms of of the story 00:14:44.172 --> 00:14:46.432 but also you know just the whole kind 00:14:46.471 --> 00:14:49.692 of vibe of it yeah a hundred percent 00:14:51.092 --> 00:14:52.754 because i mean he's working on time travel 00:14:53.214 --> 00:14:55.413 yeah so you get that element to it 00:14:55.974 --> 00:14:57.894 and then him just all of a sudden 00:14:57.955 --> 00:15:01.275 finding this random stranger that he 00:15:01.336 --> 00:15:02.596 decides he needs to help 00:15:03.996 --> 00:15:05.337 And that was what was weird about it. 00:15:05.357 --> 00:15:05.558 I'm like, 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:07.779 why would he decide that he needs to 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.743 particularly help this one specific 00:15:10.783 --> 00:15:11.182 person? 00:15:12.364 --> 00:15:13.745 So I thought that was interesting. 00:15:13.784 --> 00:15:15.166 There had to be a draw there. 00:15:15.505 --> 00:15:17.947 So a really good one. 00:15:18.369 --> 00:15:21.831 And next up was Fiona's Fantasy Forest. 00:15:22.892 --> 00:15:25.594 A children's host revisiting her imaginary 00:15:25.634 --> 00:15:27.655 world going horribly wrong. 00:15:28.736 --> 00:15:30.158 Kind of like Mr. 00:15:30.217 --> 00:15:32.159 Rogers meets Silent Hill here. 00:15:33.009 --> 00:15:33.250 Right. 00:15:33.649 --> 00:15:37.932 So the idea behind this story is a 00:15:37.971 --> 00:15:38.851 children's host. 00:15:39.611 --> 00:15:43.913 Think of like either Pee Wee Herman or 00:15:44.614 --> 00:15:47.475 like Mr. Rogers or somebody like that. 00:15:49.115 --> 00:15:51.275 They take a break from going to their 00:15:51.316 --> 00:15:53.017 imaginary land. 00:15:53.856 --> 00:15:55.857 And one day they decide, you know what, 00:15:55.898 --> 00:15:57.599 I'm going to go back to the imaginary 00:15:57.639 --> 00:15:57.938 land. 00:15:58.798 --> 00:16:01.519 And all hell has broken loose in this. 00:16:02.546 --> 00:16:04.687 in their imaginary world where, you know, 00:16:05.126 --> 00:16:06.187 everybody's fighting, 00:16:06.248 --> 00:16:07.768 everybody's having a war, 00:16:08.229 --> 00:16:09.849 a revolution is broken out. 00:16:10.168 --> 00:16:13.130 Um, some of the background characters, uh, 00:16:13.230 --> 00:16:18.352 have gotten kind of evil in, uh, 00:16:19.153 --> 00:16:20.514 different kinds of ways. 00:16:21.433 --> 00:16:22.875 Um, I'm trying, 00:16:23.115 --> 00:16:24.676 I'm trying hard to describe it without 00:16:24.735 --> 00:16:25.456 giving too much. 00:16:25.716 --> 00:16:25.916 Um, 00:16:26.235 --> 00:16:28.216 so if you're a comic book reader and 00:16:28.277 --> 00:16:30.158 if you have read Scotty Young's, 00:16:30.557 --> 00:16:31.818 I hate fairy land, 00:16:33.293 --> 00:16:35.975 It's very much that type of vibe with 00:16:35.995 --> 00:16:37.155 fantasy creatures. 00:16:37.816 --> 00:16:42.077 Like Dora the Explorer's world exploded. 00:16:42.758 --> 00:16:44.278 And all the creatures all of a sudden 00:16:44.318 --> 00:16:45.139 hate each other. 00:16:45.979 --> 00:16:48.460 And they're pillaging villages. 00:16:49.701 --> 00:16:51.782 They've broken off and they have their 00:16:51.942 --> 00:16:52.081 own... 00:16:53.307 --> 00:16:56.028 Like the elves are one thing and the 00:16:56.129 --> 00:16:57.568 animals are another thing. 00:16:57.629 --> 00:17:00.669 The lumberjack is like menacing to 00:17:00.870 --> 00:17:01.590 everybody. 00:17:02.129 --> 00:17:07.351 It was a fun, eclectic, wild story. 00:17:08.231 --> 00:17:10.092 And I enjoyed that one immensely. 00:17:10.332 --> 00:17:11.852 It very much gave me Scotty Young. 00:17:12.031 --> 00:17:13.472 I hate fairyland vibes. 00:17:14.113 --> 00:17:15.212 And I was there all about it. 00:17:15.232 --> 00:17:16.673 And I can't wait to see it fully 00:17:16.713 --> 00:17:18.413 colored because I got a feeling that's 00:17:18.433 --> 00:17:21.214 going to be a spectacular edition once 00:17:21.275 --> 00:17:22.055 that one is colored. 00:17:24.201 --> 00:17:28.221 So, and then up next, we had invaders, 00:17:28.781 --> 00:17:31.301 which it was a hundred percent complete 00:17:31.362 --> 00:17:31.961 when I got, 00:17:32.122 --> 00:17:33.282 when you sent it over to me, 00:17:33.903 --> 00:17:35.002 but I kind of got what it was 00:17:35.042 --> 00:17:35.462 about, 00:17:35.682 --> 00:17:39.243 but it's a sci-fi horror space survival 00:17:39.324 --> 00:17:40.923 with alien confrontation. 00:17:41.503 --> 00:17:42.003 It kind of, 00:17:42.044 --> 00:17:44.263 it was giving me that the cinematic feels 00:17:44.324 --> 00:17:48.384 of like predator or alien or something 00:17:48.404 --> 00:17:49.424 along those lines. 00:17:49.944 --> 00:17:51.226 So what can you tell us about that 00:17:51.266 --> 00:17:51.945 when it kind of like, 00:17:52.006 --> 00:17:53.486 what was some of the inspiration behind 00:17:53.526 --> 00:17:53.605 it? 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:56.240 So I didn't write that one either. 00:17:56.280 --> 00:18:00.265 My friend wrote that one, but, um, yeah, 00:18:00.404 --> 00:18:04.489 so it's, it's, uh, 00:18:04.509 --> 00:18:07.451 you're definitely going to get, um, alien, 00:18:09.192 --> 00:18:10.074 um, vibes from it. 00:18:10.173 --> 00:18:12.797 It's a, a woman is on a spaceship. 00:18:13.257 --> 00:18:15.358 She discovers that she's not alone on the 00:18:15.378 --> 00:18:15.880 spaceship. 00:18:15.900 --> 00:18:18.201 There's also an alien on there. 00:18:19.022 --> 00:18:19.182 Um, 00:18:21.249 --> 00:18:24.750 And it has kind of a shocking ending. 00:18:24.890 --> 00:18:26.131 I'm not going to give away what the 00:18:26.191 --> 00:18:31.551 ending is, though. 00:18:31.593 --> 00:18:36.354 So if you guys are sensing a trend 00:18:36.394 --> 00:18:39.454 here that all of these stories kind of 00:18:39.515 --> 00:18:41.096 have like a twist ending, 00:18:42.796 --> 00:18:44.356 that is true to... 00:18:45.498 --> 00:18:49.460 the original uh ec comics like tales from 00:18:49.500 --> 00:18:53.702 the crypt or creep show that's that was 00:18:53.803 --> 00:18:55.223 very that was coming up next this is 00:18:55.263 --> 00:18:57.744 a good segue you had a sponsor for 00:18:57.785 --> 00:19:00.747 this comic book with job corpse and the 00:19:00.807 --> 00:19:03.307 staffing agency for the post living which 00:19:03.347 --> 00:19:05.809 is genius marketing and the whole comic 00:19:05.849 --> 00:19:08.490 book is hosted by this ghoulish figure 00:19:09.051 --> 00:19:11.153 reminiscent of the crypt keeper which 00:19:12.750 --> 00:19:15.771 be honest probably my favorite part of the 00:19:15.832 --> 00:19:18.571 entire thing because he brought that light 00:19:18.652 --> 00:19:21.432 humor to each story as it was kicking 00:19:21.573 --> 00:19:24.073 off and i was always a huge fan 00:19:24.232 --> 00:19:26.673 of the tv show so kind of where 00:19:26.693 --> 00:19:28.173 did your idea of that come from was 00:19:28.193 --> 00:19:30.134 it the ec comments and the creep shows 00:19:30.174 --> 00:19:31.634 and that kind of stuff yeah uh i 00:19:31.755 --> 00:19:36.375 mean he's kind of a parody of of 00:19:36.395 --> 00:19:40.856 uh the the crypt keeper he's maybe 00:19:41.644 --> 00:19:44.826 he's maybe halfway between a parody and an 00:19:44.846 --> 00:19:50.549 homage, but, um, uh, yeah. 00:19:50.609 --> 00:19:51.170 So, uh, 00:19:51.210 --> 00:19:53.270 basically he's like the Crypt Keeper if 00:19:53.290 --> 00:19:54.912 the Crypt Keeper was really bad at his 00:19:54.971 --> 00:19:58.335 job and he's way more worried about, 00:19:58.355 --> 00:20:00.536 you know, what, 00:20:00.556 --> 00:20:02.537 like how big his trailer is then. 00:20:03.057 --> 00:20:05.398 Um, uh, he is a diva. 00:20:05.838 --> 00:20:06.640 Yeah, exactly. 00:20:06.660 --> 00:20:06.740 Yeah. 00:20:07.818 --> 00:20:10.342 No, that was really fun, dude. 00:20:10.561 --> 00:20:11.903 Who come up with Job Corps? 00:20:14.806 --> 00:20:17.167 So my wife and I kind of were... 00:20:17.648 --> 00:20:20.171 So that story, or the bonus section, 00:20:20.592 --> 00:20:22.192 was co-written by my wife and I. 00:20:23.931 --> 00:20:26.073 my wife is a, um, 00:20:26.532 --> 00:20:27.574 is a pretty good writer. 00:20:28.174 --> 00:20:30.436 She just, she doesn't like, 00:20:31.297 --> 00:20:32.097 how do I put this? 00:20:32.518 --> 00:20:34.819 She doesn't like putting the effort into 00:20:34.940 --> 00:20:36.481 getting her stuff published. 00:20:37.423 --> 00:20:38.462 So, um, 00:20:38.482 --> 00:20:40.565 she writes a lot of stories that kind 00:20:40.664 --> 00:20:44.067 of, um, kind of, 00:20:44.087 --> 00:20:46.150 she doesn't really submit anywhere. 00:20:46.891 --> 00:20:47.990 So, um, 00:20:48.996 --> 00:20:50.077 she came up with this. 00:20:50.838 --> 00:20:50.999 Well, 00:20:51.019 --> 00:20:52.279 I would say we both came up with 00:20:52.299 --> 00:20:53.000 this idea. 00:20:53.040 --> 00:20:55.365 Like we were kind of bouncing ideas off 00:20:55.404 --> 00:20:56.705 of each other. 00:20:56.967 --> 00:20:57.067 Um, 00:20:58.217 --> 00:21:00.358 and originally where the idea came from 00:21:00.558 --> 00:21:04.481 was she, she went into a, 00:21:04.961 --> 00:21:06.943 a pharmacy to get her prescription. 00:21:07.683 --> 00:21:09.586 And she, when she came back out, 00:21:09.625 --> 00:21:11.227 she was like, Oh my God, 00:21:11.567 --> 00:21:13.209 you should have seen this girl. 00:21:13.249 --> 00:21:14.849 She, she, 00:21:14.869 --> 00:21:19.713 she looks like they propped up a zombie. 00:21:20.114 --> 00:21:20.693 And so we, 00:21:20.834 --> 00:21:23.477 we started like bouncing ideas off of each 00:21:23.537 --> 00:21:23.777 other. 00:21:23.836 --> 00:21:25.258 Like, you know, what if, 00:21:26.201 --> 00:21:31.885 what if there was a staffing company that 00:21:31.965 --> 00:21:34.188 provided zombies? 00:21:34.548 --> 00:21:35.288 And I was like, yeah, 00:21:35.307 --> 00:21:39.891 this could be a section in Memoirs of 00:21:39.911 --> 00:21:40.392 the Morbid. 00:21:40.432 --> 00:21:42.053 And he said, well, 00:21:42.073 --> 00:21:43.252 instead of making it a story, 00:21:43.272 --> 00:21:44.453 wouldn't it be better if it was like 00:21:44.473 --> 00:21:45.474 an infomercial? 00:21:46.315 --> 00:21:48.416 And yeah, that's where the idea came from. 00:21:49.174 --> 00:21:50.435 Dude, it's brilliant. 00:21:51.176 --> 00:21:52.258 And like I said, 00:21:52.798 --> 00:21:54.441 the stories were fantastic, 00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:58.144 but I enjoyed seeing the ghoul in between 00:21:58.565 --> 00:22:00.326 complaining about his trailer, 00:22:00.667 --> 00:22:02.789 complaining to his manager and then 00:22:02.849 --> 00:22:05.133 sponsoring the job corpse and those little 00:22:05.173 --> 00:22:06.513 vignettes that you did between the 00:22:06.554 --> 00:22:07.015 stories. 00:22:08.028 --> 00:22:08.808 Thanks. 00:22:08.828 --> 00:22:09.890 Probably my favorite part. 00:22:09.910 --> 00:22:11.371 So shout out to your wife, too, man, 00:22:11.851 --> 00:22:13.711 which leads us to the creators. 00:22:14.231 --> 00:22:16.534 So you've got a pretty good team of 00:22:16.594 --> 00:22:17.273 creators here, 00:22:17.673 --> 00:22:19.275 an international team for sure, 00:22:19.816 --> 00:22:22.916 from Pittsburgh to Brazil, London. 00:22:23.617 --> 00:22:26.219 And then you worked with Brian Morris, 00:22:26.419 --> 00:22:28.119 who is your editor and horror 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:29.540 co-conspirator. 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:31.041 Exactly. 00:22:31.981 --> 00:22:33.282 Yeah. 00:22:33.303 --> 00:22:34.304 So tell us a little bit about that 00:22:34.344 --> 00:22:36.384 team and how this team came together for 00:22:36.424 --> 00:22:36.684 this. 00:22:38.248 --> 00:22:39.469 So a lot of them. 00:22:39.690 --> 00:22:42.932 So actually, crazily enough, 00:22:43.133 --> 00:22:46.316 William Conway was a recommendation from 00:22:46.375 --> 00:22:50.720 an artist who actually ended up not not 00:22:50.901 --> 00:22:52.741 finishing his story for the book. 00:22:53.502 --> 00:22:54.984 Like there was no drama or anything. 00:22:55.025 --> 00:22:56.246 He just didn't have time to. 00:22:56.685 --> 00:22:58.528 Yeah, no, that happens all the time. 00:22:58.567 --> 00:23:00.990 It's it's just a part of the business. 00:23:02.034 --> 00:23:05.215 So, but, um, William, he came on, 00:23:05.276 --> 00:23:06.936 he told, he told me the concept. 00:23:07.037 --> 00:23:07.737 I liked it. 00:23:08.738 --> 00:23:09.478 Uh, I told him to, 00:23:09.718 --> 00:23:10.479 to write it up. 00:23:10.919 --> 00:23:13.480 And then, uh, Alberto Pessoa, uh, 00:23:14.260 --> 00:23:17.762 the artist on bubble, he was, he, 00:23:17.823 --> 00:23:18.584 he was awesome. 00:23:18.624 --> 00:23:20.565 He's worked on, uh, 00:23:20.644 --> 00:23:22.286 memoirs of the morbid before. 00:23:22.826 --> 00:23:24.886 He's always really easy to get along with. 00:23:24.906 --> 00:23:26.508 He, he's a great artist. 00:23:27.128 --> 00:23:29.430 He has a full time teaching gig. 00:23:30.170 --> 00:23:30.590 So, uh, 00:23:32.280 --> 00:23:34.501 He can't do... 00:23:36.083 --> 00:23:39.483 He can't do a regular monthly comic book, 00:23:39.544 --> 00:23:42.286 but something small like this that had 00:23:42.326 --> 00:23:43.705 really relaxed deadlines, 00:23:44.247 --> 00:23:45.166 he was great for. 00:23:47.127 --> 00:23:49.709 Now, obviously, we mentioned my wife, 00:23:49.868 --> 00:23:50.750 Angie Dudas. 00:23:52.971 --> 00:23:53.391 Obviously, 00:23:53.451 --> 00:23:54.991 I know her because she's my wife. 00:23:56.972 --> 00:23:59.153 And like I said, I... 00:24:00.184 --> 00:24:01.566 you know, it used to bother me that, 00:24:01.826 --> 00:24:02.226 that, you know, 00:24:02.267 --> 00:24:04.067 my wife had all these ideas for stories 00:24:04.087 --> 00:24:07.089 and then she never really put them out, 00:24:07.109 --> 00:24:08.030 but you know, 00:24:08.050 --> 00:24:09.271 it doesn't seem to bother her. 00:24:09.352 --> 00:24:09.771 So I don't, 00:24:11.565 --> 00:24:13.527 I think she's happy writing these stories 00:24:13.926 --> 00:24:15.587 but not necessarily getting them 00:24:15.607 --> 00:24:17.388 published. 00:24:17.509 --> 00:24:20.151 It's her release and how she blows off 00:24:20.171 --> 00:24:20.730 some steam, 00:24:20.790 --> 00:24:24.074 sits down with a notebook and writes out 00:24:24.094 --> 00:24:24.614 some stories. 00:24:24.854 --> 00:24:26.414 That's a really cool way to do it. 00:24:27.375 --> 00:24:28.916 I'm pretty sure a lot of people have 00:24:28.936 --> 00:24:30.538 a lot of good stories just sitting on 00:24:30.597 --> 00:24:34.040 a shelf somewhere that nobody will ever 00:24:34.080 --> 00:24:34.240 see. 00:24:34.881 --> 00:24:36.442 So she was actually going to write a 00:24:36.502 --> 00:24:38.884 much longer story in this story. 00:24:39.645 --> 00:24:41.448 And she just said, like, you know, 00:24:41.508 --> 00:24:47.012 I don't know if I have the, 00:24:47.272 --> 00:24:48.314 if I want to do that. 00:24:48.974 --> 00:24:52.419 So we did this story as kind of 00:24:52.439 --> 00:24:53.318 a compromise. 00:24:55.642 --> 00:24:56.682 It's a great compromise. 00:24:57.002 --> 00:24:57.824 It was a lot of fun. 00:24:58.484 --> 00:24:58.805 Thanks. 00:24:59.780 --> 00:25:01.782 So then I did the story and the 00:25:01.863 --> 00:25:03.944 art for cubicle of the damned. 00:25:04.164 --> 00:25:07.568 Um, uh, Cuba, 00:25:07.709 --> 00:25:09.810 I did the art and the, the, 00:25:11.071 --> 00:25:12.733 the story for cubicle of the dam and 00:25:12.773 --> 00:25:14.855 the story definitely comes from me. 00:25:16.196 --> 00:25:16.237 Um, 00:25:18.959 --> 00:25:21.039 Definitely comes from my days working in a 00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:21.680 cubicle. 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:24.339 I know you said you love your day 00:25:24.380 --> 00:25:24.779 job. 00:25:25.820 --> 00:25:26.401 I really do. 00:25:27.560 --> 00:25:28.760 So I'm retired, 00:25:29.221 --> 00:25:30.422 and then I got a day job that's 00:25:30.481 --> 00:25:32.622 almost identical to what I did when I 00:25:33.082 --> 00:25:33.663 retired. 00:25:34.282 --> 00:25:35.123 So for me, 00:25:35.222 --> 00:25:37.482 it's kind of like I love going to 00:25:37.522 --> 00:25:38.584 work. 00:25:39.503 --> 00:25:41.104 There's days where I'm sitting in the 00:25:41.223 --> 00:25:41.544 office, 00:25:41.584 --> 00:25:43.644 and it just sucks the life out of 00:25:43.664 --> 00:25:44.944 you because there's not a whole lot going 00:25:45.065 --> 00:25:45.224 on. 00:25:46.125 --> 00:25:47.425 And it's just an ebb and flow of 00:25:47.445 --> 00:25:47.846 things. 00:25:49.161 --> 00:25:51.563 So that was more my experience from 00:25:51.623 --> 00:25:54.724 working in an office was, yeah, 00:25:54.785 --> 00:25:57.906 feeling like the life was getting sucked 00:25:57.946 --> 00:25:58.307 out of me. 00:26:02.335 --> 00:26:04.174 So then as far as, like I said, 00:26:04.275 --> 00:26:06.615 one of the artists dropped out and didn't 00:26:06.655 --> 00:26:07.635 finish their story. 00:26:08.096 --> 00:26:11.217 So I actually, I don't know, 00:26:11.257 --> 00:26:14.518 I got the idea for Fiona's Fantasy Forest 00:26:15.377 --> 00:26:20.118 and thankfully Samir Samoa was free. 00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:23.000 So I wrote down this idea and I 00:26:23.019 --> 00:26:25.961 got him to do the art for it. 00:26:26.101 --> 00:26:26.260 And... 00:26:27.901 --> 00:26:30.342 No, I mean, they really nailed because, 00:26:30.382 --> 00:26:30.622 I mean, 00:26:30.842 --> 00:26:33.362 it feels like it blown in the nineteen 00:26:33.422 --> 00:26:37.042 seventies with the original EC comics and 00:26:37.482 --> 00:26:38.863 the original creep shows. 00:26:38.923 --> 00:26:41.344 But it felt modern as well. 00:26:42.304 --> 00:26:44.644 And which shout out to EC comics, 00:26:44.684 --> 00:26:45.105 by the way, 00:26:45.184 --> 00:26:47.365 they are producing some really great in 00:26:47.404 --> 00:26:49.465 the horror anthology series right now. 00:26:50.205 --> 00:26:52.846 And they dip their toes into to sci 00:26:52.885 --> 00:26:53.665 fi as well. 00:26:54.326 --> 00:26:56.007 And they have some really great stuff out 00:26:56.027 --> 00:26:56.247 there. 00:26:57.372 --> 00:27:00.634 And I know I recommend EC Comets all 00:27:00.673 --> 00:27:01.273 the time, 00:27:01.473 --> 00:27:03.174 just simply because I think they're that 00:27:03.214 --> 00:27:03.414 good. 00:27:03.515 --> 00:27:04.935 Ani Press now has them. 00:27:05.615 --> 00:27:07.116 So they're underneath the Ani Press 00:27:07.196 --> 00:27:07.656 umbrella, 00:27:08.397 --> 00:27:10.459 but they are producing some really good 00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:11.419 stuff right now. 00:27:12.519 --> 00:27:12.720 So, I mean, 00:27:12.740 --> 00:27:14.000 if you're going to be inspired by a 00:27:14.059 --> 00:27:14.520 series, 00:27:14.721 --> 00:27:16.422 EC Comets is definitely the perfect 00:27:16.461 --> 00:27:16.821 choice. 00:27:18.410 --> 00:27:18.549 Yeah, 00:27:18.569 --> 00:27:19.951 it feels like it's making a comeback, 00:27:19.991 --> 00:27:20.271 right? 00:27:20.792 --> 00:27:21.452 Oh, it's huge. 00:27:21.593 --> 00:27:23.154 Yeah, absolutely. 00:27:24.536 --> 00:27:26.838 They're selling really well. 00:27:28.560 --> 00:27:30.982 Their specialty is anthology comics, 00:27:31.223 --> 00:27:33.526 and I enjoy horror anthology, 00:27:34.067 --> 00:27:36.249 anthology sci-fi, and that kind of stuff, 00:27:36.788 --> 00:27:39.451 like the Hello Darkness from Boom Studios. 00:27:40.373 --> 00:27:41.292 I feel like I'm getting a little bit 00:27:41.333 --> 00:27:42.114 more for my money, 00:27:42.534 --> 00:27:43.574 even though I have to come back the 00:27:43.594 --> 00:27:46.214 following month to get the next one to 00:27:46.255 --> 00:27:47.215 continue the story. 00:27:47.816 --> 00:27:50.656 And I'm okay with that because I enjoy 00:27:50.737 --> 00:27:51.977 the artists in those books. 00:27:52.837 --> 00:27:54.657 I enjoy the storytellers. 00:27:54.718 --> 00:28:00.000 I know before they did Epitaphs of the 00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:00.480 Abyss, 00:28:00.580 --> 00:28:02.441 it ended and they started Catacombs of 00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:03.060 Torment. 00:28:03.481 --> 00:28:03.942 But within... 00:28:05.241 --> 00:28:06.502 Epitaphs of the Abyss, 00:28:06.542 --> 00:28:08.503 Karina Beko is writing a story called 00:28:08.584 --> 00:28:09.325 Blood Type, 00:28:09.984 --> 00:28:12.547 which now has spun out of Epitaphs of 00:28:12.586 --> 00:28:14.548 the Abyss into its own comic book, 00:28:15.068 --> 00:28:16.970 which is the very first time that EC 00:28:17.009 --> 00:28:20.051 Comets has pulled an anthology story out 00:28:20.192 --> 00:28:23.654 of their anthology comic book and gave it 00:28:23.734 --> 00:28:24.655 its own story. 00:28:25.736 --> 00:28:27.698 And that's being written by Karina Beko, 00:28:28.317 --> 00:28:30.640 who is an absolutely phenomenal writer. 00:28:31.460 --> 00:28:33.201 And it's such a good story. 00:28:34.357 --> 00:28:36.179 So I think they're really on top of 00:28:36.199 --> 00:28:37.059 their game right now. 00:28:37.759 --> 00:28:39.621 And Ani Press has Rick and Morty as 00:28:39.661 --> 00:28:39.862 well. 00:28:39.882 --> 00:28:45.085 I don't know how many people enjoy Rick 00:28:45.105 --> 00:28:46.246 and Morty the comic books, 00:28:46.286 --> 00:28:47.385 but the comic books are a lot of 00:28:47.445 --> 00:28:47.727 fun. 00:28:48.446 --> 00:28:51.128 And I know they're ending in December. 00:28:51.648 --> 00:28:54.490 They will print their last issue of Rick 00:28:54.510 --> 00:28:55.451 and Morty in December. 00:28:55.471 --> 00:28:58.594 Oh, wow. 00:28:58.614 --> 00:28:58.753 Okay. 00:28:58.773 --> 00:28:59.693 It's a little heartbreaking, 00:28:59.753 --> 00:29:01.275 but we'll see what comes of the comic 00:29:01.295 --> 00:29:02.036 book after this. 00:29:04.909 --> 00:29:10.615 but let's see you also had a david 00:29:10.674 --> 00:29:13.277 schuler did you mention him already so 00:29:13.317 --> 00:29:15.519 dave was a friend of mine from college 00:29:16.019 --> 00:29:20.364 and um i think we we we said 00:29:20.423 --> 00:29:22.886 earlier this comic book is almost finished 00:29:23.548 --> 00:29:26.871 we're still waiting for his story which um 00:29:29.163 --> 00:29:30.924 The only reason why his story is taking 00:29:30.964 --> 00:29:32.286 a little bit longer than we thought it 00:29:32.306 --> 00:29:36.387 was going to be is because his wife 00:29:36.428 --> 00:29:37.488 just had twins. 00:29:38.028 --> 00:29:38.509 Oh, wow. 00:29:38.608 --> 00:29:40.349 Congrats to him, man. 00:29:42.211 --> 00:29:42.911 That's wild. 00:29:45.272 --> 00:29:46.373 Can you imagine what that poor lady went 00:29:46.413 --> 00:29:46.692 through? 00:29:47.913 --> 00:29:48.233 Right. 00:29:48.874 --> 00:29:52.375 So that's why he's very busy at the 00:29:52.415 --> 00:29:52.817 moment. 00:29:52.916 --> 00:29:55.238 But I... 00:29:56.205 --> 00:29:56.986 him confident. 00:29:57.906 --> 00:29:58.906 He still had, he, 00:29:59.047 --> 00:30:00.788 he's gotten a lot of work done and 00:30:00.867 --> 00:30:02.728 I'm very confident that he's going to get 00:30:03.469 --> 00:30:04.969 the rest of the story finished like in 00:30:04.989 --> 00:30:07.309 the next month or so. 00:30:07.369 --> 00:30:08.411 Sounds good to me, man. 00:30:08.451 --> 00:30:10.711 I'm excited to get it in my hands 00:30:11.211 --> 00:30:13.672 fresh off the presses when it is released. 00:30:13.712 --> 00:30:17.513 Now let's talk about the Kickstarter a 00:30:17.574 --> 00:30:18.114 little bit. 00:30:19.555 --> 00:30:20.194 And, um, 00:30:21.769 --> 00:30:24.351 What's it been like for you in running? 00:30:24.652 --> 00:30:26.491 I know this isn't your first radio when 00:30:26.532 --> 00:30:27.472 it comes to Kickstarters, 00:30:27.492 --> 00:30:29.213 but what's it been like for you to 00:30:30.173 --> 00:30:31.255 run a Kickstarter? 00:30:31.595 --> 00:30:34.096 What are some of the lessons learned from 00:30:34.155 --> 00:30:34.977 your perspective? 00:30:34.997 --> 00:30:37.617 Oh, God. 00:30:37.758 --> 00:30:38.898 I wouldn't even know where to begin. 00:30:41.420 --> 00:30:45.402 I do feel like it's getting harder. 00:30:47.803 --> 00:30:49.703 I don't know if you ran a Kickstarter 00:30:49.763 --> 00:30:50.324 recently, 00:30:50.444 --> 00:30:50.684 but 00:30:53.087 --> 00:30:55.088 it, it does feel like, you know, 00:30:55.949 --> 00:30:58.769 I'll do the same amount of promotion and 00:30:58.808 --> 00:31:04.109 get less, um, less of a, 00:31:04.529 --> 00:31:05.530 I don't know what the word for it 00:31:05.611 --> 00:31:08.351 is less, you know, bang for my buck. 00:31:08.590 --> 00:31:09.570 You know, when I, 00:31:09.611 --> 00:31:10.811 like it used to be, you know, 00:31:10.852 --> 00:31:13.971 I could send out a newsletter and, uh, 00:31:14.011 --> 00:31:14.451 you know, 00:31:15.373 --> 00:31:18.553 get four or five backers from that. 00:31:18.633 --> 00:31:20.273 And now I'm lucky to get like one, 00:31:20.374 --> 00:31:21.153 you know what I mean? 00:31:21.294 --> 00:31:22.034 Yeah. 00:31:22.273 --> 00:31:22.394 Um, 00:31:23.942 --> 00:31:25.602 As far as what all have I learned? 00:31:26.462 --> 00:31:26.643 I mean, 00:31:26.663 --> 00:31:29.844 the main thing is if you're going into 00:31:29.884 --> 00:31:32.544 Kickstarter thinking that people will 00:31:32.584 --> 00:31:34.884 gravitate to it on their own, 00:31:35.464 --> 00:31:36.546 they're not going to, 00:31:36.986 --> 00:31:38.806 you have to be the one doing the 00:31:38.846 --> 00:31:40.446 promoting. 00:31:40.487 --> 00:31:40.626 Yeah. 00:31:40.646 --> 00:31:42.067 Have you dipped your toes into any of 00:31:42.106 --> 00:31:44.448 the digital marketing side from Instagram 00:31:44.488 --> 00:31:48.229 or Facebook? 00:31:48.249 --> 00:31:49.949 I want to say even Kickstarter allows you 00:31:49.989 --> 00:31:51.829 to do digital marketing from, 00:31:51.869 --> 00:31:52.670 from the platform. 00:31:54.229 --> 00:31:56.690 You mean like paid advertising? 00:31:56.710 --> 00:31:59.211 Yes, like paid advertisement. 00:31:59.892 --> 00:32:00.532 I haven't. 00:32:01.772 --> 00:32:04.934 I would like to... Well, okay, 00:32:04.974 --> 00:32:05.496 that's not true. 00:32:05.635 --> 00:32:07.396 I have done it in the past. 00:32:08.317 --> 00:32:09.958 I don't feel as if it's been super 00:32:09.998 --> 00:32:10.739 effective. 00:32:11.419 --> 00:32:13.380 And I think at least part of that 00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:15.240 is because I don't think that I'm very 00:32:15.300 --> 00:32:15.741 good at it. 00:32:15.761 --> 00:32:15.902 Yeah. 00:32:15.922 --> 00:32:19.183 I don't... 00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:21.862 It's a weird one. 00:32:22.182 --> 00:32:23.762 I wouldn't say that you're not necessarily 00:32:23.823 --> 00:32:24.263 good at it. 00:32:24.364 --> 00:32:26.806 It's I think, 00:32:27.286 --> 00:32:29.208 really putting yourself into it to do it, 00:32:29.428 --> 00:32:30.648 I guess is what I'm looking for. 00:32:31.710 --> 00:32:32.089 Maybe. 00:32:32.650 --> 00:32:34.352 Yeah. 00:32:34.392 --> 00:32:35.813 Because I know I've seen other kit 00:32:35.833 --> 00:32:37.693 starters who have done the digital 00:32:37.733 --> 00:32:38.674 promotion stuff. 00:32:38.835 --> 00:32:41.396 And I see their stuff everywhere. 00:32:42.137 --> 00:32:43.398 Like I can't get away from it. 00:32:43.499 --> 00:32:45.760 It just is there. 00:32:47.713 --> 00:32:48.515 So I don't know. 00:32:48.714 --> 00:32:51.616 That's definitely something I would look 00:32:51.676 --> 00:32:52.017 into. 00:32:52.037 --> 00:32:53.018 I mean, 00:32:53.077 --> 00:32:56.160 I've not ever run a Kickstarter yet. 00:32:58.061 --> 00:33:00.103 That's an announcement for much later down 00:33:00.123 --> 00:33:00.584 the road. 00:33:00.663 --> 00:33:03.645 But I have a notebook that's compiling 00:33:03.705 --> 00:33:05.227 notes right now on a series that I'm 00:33:05.247 --> 00:33:06.107 going to be working on. 00:33:06.723 --> 00:33:07.765 So that's the bit, 00:33:07.805 --> 00:33:09.786 the big advice I would give to people 00:33:09.806 --> 00:33:11.007 who want to do Kickstarter. 00:33:11.627 --> 00:33:11.847 Um, 00:33:11.968 --> 00:33:15.711 just go and take a look at Kickstarters 00:33:15.790 --> 00:33:18.413 that you think are successful or maybe 00:33:18.452 --> 00:33:18.992 attainable. 00:33:19.594 --> 00:33:21.375 Like look at what they did, 00:33:21.996 --> 00:33:23.896 maybe even back a few comic books that 00:33:24.136 --> 00:33:26.999 you're not that interested in just so that 00:33:27.019 --> 00:33:29.540 you can follow along and see like, Oh, 00:33:29.560 --> 00:33:31.542 so he did this, this, this, and this. 00:33:32.563 --> 00:33:34.025 Um, and like you said, take notes. 00:33:34.305 --> 00:33:34.444 Um, 00:33:35.252 --> 00:33:37.814 I would also recommend Tyler James. 00:33:39.233 --> 00:33:42.674 He has a podcast called Comics Launch. 00:33:44.555 --> 00:33:46.295 I wouldn't necessarily recommend... 00:33:46.976 --> 00:33:50.756 He also has a paid tutorial that you 00:33:50.796 --> 00:33:53.396 can pay extra for to do that. 00:33:53.757 --> 00:33:55.617 I wouldn't necessarily recommend that, 00:33:55.698 --> 00:33:57.557 but I would recommend listening to his 00:33:57.617 --> 00:34:00.818 podcast because I think you learn most of 00:34:00.838 --> 00:34:01.959 what you need to know from 00:34:02.789 --> 00:34:03.910 from the podcast. 00:34:04.431 --> 00:34:05.230 Um, yeah. 00:34:05.570 --> 00:34:06.612 So I will say this. 00:34:06.771 --> 00:34:09.893 I know, um, Bruno Catarina, 00:34:09.932 --> 00:34:11.414 who's been on the show a few times, 00:34:11.454 --> 00:34:15.315 he has a free lessons learned or lessons 00:34:15.335 --> 00:34:16.916 that he's learned from Kickstarter. 00:34:17.615 --> 00:34:20.056 It's now in its second volume. 00:34:20.536 --> 00:34:25.179 So if you sign up for Bruno's, um, 00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:25.639 what's it called? 00:34:25.679 --> 00:34:29.121 His, um, what's his name? 00:34:30.001 --> 00:34:31.081 Bruno Catarino. 00:34:32.349 --> 00:34:33.809 He's out of the UK, 00:34:34.168 --> 00:34:36.929 but he has a monthly newsletter that he 00:34:36.969 --> 00:34:37.550 sends out, 00:34:38.010 --> 00:34:39.010 and you can go to some of the 00:34:39.050 --> 00:34:40.751 back issues of his newsletter, 00:34:40.811 --> 00:34:43.690 and he has a link to some lessons 00:34:43.731 --> 00:34:44.331 learned in there. 00:34:44.431 --> 00:34:45.710 I think he's on volume two now, 00:34:45.731 --> 00:34:47.811 and I think he's got a whole lot 00:34:47.831 --> 00:34:49.012 of – Do you know his last name? 00:34:49.731 --> 00:34:55.512 Yeah, C-A-T-A-R-I-N-O, Catarino. 00:34:56.432 --> 00:34:59.094 He's a cat guy too, just like us. 00:34:59.114 --> 00:34:59.373 Cool. 00:35:02.490 --> 00:35:08.612 I'm always in favor of stuff like that. 00:35:08.853 --> 00:35:14.635 People who are doing the work and have 00:35:14.675 --> 00:35:15.534 recommendations. 00:35:16.795 --> 00:35:19.175 If you want to see a huge and 00:35:19.195 --> 00:35:23.177 I do mean a huge Kickstarter I think 00:35:23.217 --> 00:35:25.657 it's in the top one percent and it 00:35:25.757 --> 00:35:30.360 made like eighty grand on his was Dark 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:31.219 Pink Comics. 00:35:32.045 --> 00:35:35.969 with Chris Ford, very successful. 00:35:36.010 --> 00:35:38.213 And he did a lot of digital marketing 00:35:38.233 --> 00:35:39.193 for his as well. 00:35:39.715 --> 00:35:41.858 And another thing I like for kickstarters 00:35:41.898 --> 00:35:44.161 to do is give updates. 00:35:44.581 --> 00:35:46.003 So once it's been launched, 00:35:46.643 --> 00:35:48.606 I enjoy personally seeing the updates of 00:35:48.626 --> 00:35:50.208 the comic book kind of like, 00:35:51.367 --> 00:35:53.048 how you can have the ability to go 00:35:53.148 --> 00:35:55.250 in and post updates and stuff like that 00:35:55.771 --> 00:35:57.751 i like seeing those it just gives lets 00:35:57.771 --> 00:35:59.753 me know like i know the writers and 00:35:59.773 --> 00:36:01.494 the artists are actually working on the 00:36:01.554 --> 00:36:03.994 book and it because you hear a lot 00:36:04.036 --> 00:36:08.018 of bad stuff come from kickstarter oh you 00:36:08.038 --> 00:36:09.739 know like oh they were just there for 00:36:09.818 --> 00:36:12.079 money and they didn't produce anything and 00:36:12.099 --> 00:36:14.021 that that put a lot of hesitation on 00:36:14.081 --> 00:36:16.862 myself when i first started supporting 00:36:16.963 --> 00:36:17.764 kickstarters 00:36:18.751 --> 00:36:19.313 But thankfully, 00:36:19.393 --> 00:36:20.773 I got over that pretty quickly, 00:36:21.014 --> 00:36:22.614 and I've worked with a lot of great 00:36:22.635 --> 00:36:25.237 people like yourself with Kickstarters and 00:36:25.277 --> 00:36:26.338 having them on the show. 00:36:26.878 --> 00:36:29.081 It's definitely put me at ease to be 00:36:29.141 --> 00:36:31.943 more willing to back indie creators like 00:36:31.963 --> 00:36:32.463 yourself. 00:36:34.684 --> 00:36:36.086 Sorry, my camera's jostling. 00:36:36.106 --> 00:36:38.007 I have to plug my computer in. 00:36:38.128 --> 00:36:39.048 Oh, no, you're good, man. 00:36:39.588 --> 00:36:40.070 Yeah. 00:36:43.543 --> 00:36:44.503 So like I said, 00:36:46.485 --> 00:36:48.186 this is not my first Kickstarter. 00:36:48.206 --> 00:36:52.188 This is now my – how many have 00:36:52.248 --> 00:36:53.248 I done now? 00:36:53.268 --> 00:36:55.429 Probably closer to twelfth Kickstarter. 00:36:56.048 --> 00:37:01.411 But every other Kickstarter that I've done 00:37:01.452 --> 00:37:04.413 has been finished when I put it up 00:37:04.472 --> 00:37:05.213 on Kickstarter. 00:37:07.494 --> 00:37:08.275 Unfortunately... 00:37:08.695 --> 00:37:10.496 And I'll fudge that a little bit. 00:37:10.777 --> 00:37:13.318 Sometimes it won't be completely done. 00:37:13.398 --> 00:37:15.840 I'll have a little bit of lettering left 00:37:15.860 --> 00:37:16.579 to do or something. 00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:18.402 This is definitely... 00:37:23.085 --> 00:37:25.666 The most work that I've had to do 00:37:25.746 --> 00:37:26.887 left on the Kickstarter. 00:37:27.507 --> 00:37:32.190 But really... This is... 00:37:33.956 --> 00:37:34.496 Like I said, 00:37:35.016 --> 00:37:37.219 I do have a history of fulfilling all 00:37:37.259 --> 00:37:38.239 of these Kickstarters. 00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:40.141 So if you're nervous about the fact that 00:37:40.161 --> 00:37:42.724 it's not a hundred percent done, you know, 00:37:42.764 --> 00:37:43.565 I just want to say, 00:37:45.688 --> 00:37:46.588 don't worry about it. 00:37:47.369 --> 00:37:48.791 It's definitely going to get done. 00:37:48.851 --> 00:37:51.114 I definitely have confidence in Dave. 00:37:52.014 --> 00:37:53.295 Yeah, no, I'm with, 00:37:53.494 --> 00:37:54.914 I feel the same way you do now 00:37:54.974 --> 00:37:56.996 about that because I've had some comments 00:37:57.036 --> 00:37:58.297 that haven't even like, 00:37:58.717 --> 00:38:00.518 they're in the very early stages, 00:38:00.557 --> 00:38:03.039 but I have a hundred percent faith in 00:38:03.079 --> 00:38:03.898 the creator of that, 00:38:04.219 --> 00:38:05.639 that comic book that it's going to get 00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:07.760 made because you, you, 00:38:07.820 --> 00:38:09.121 you can hear it in their voices. 00:38:09.181 --> 00:38:11.141 You know that this is their passion 00:38:11.181 --> 00:38:12.902 project and they're going to do what they 00:38:12.943 --> 00:38:14.943 have to do to make sure it gets 00:38:14.983 --> 00:38:15.304 back. 00:38:15.324 --> 00:38:15.643 So. 00:38:15.684 --> 00:38:20.567 Thank you. 00:38:20.646 --> 00:38:21.086 Yeah, man. 00:38:21.367 --> 00:38:21.507 Um, 00:38:22.389 --> 00:38:25.150 So with that, 00:38:26.411 --> 00:38:28.632 before we let you crawl back into the 00:38:28.672 --> 00:38:29.132 crypt, 00:38:30.132 --> 00:38:32.753 where can people find Memoirs of the 00:38:32.994 --> 00:38:34.534 Morbid, the Orange Edition, 00:38:34.574 --> 00:38:36.054 and where can they keep up with you 00:38:36.175 --> 00:38:38.076 on future releases? 00:38:38.990 --> 00:38:41.492 So Memoirs of the Morbid is available on 00:38:41.592 --> 00:38:42.351 Kickstarter. 00:38:42.811 --> 00:38:47.452 Hopefully you'll put a link somewhere in 00:38:47.492 --> 00:38:49.773 the show notes or in the chat. 00:38:49.793 --> 00:38:50.514 It's out there already. 00:38:50.574 --> 00:38:52.594 I've got it shared across all my platforms 00:38:52.635 --> 00:38:54.215 so they can find it easily. 00:38:55.155 --> 00:38:55.635 Cool. 00:38:56.496 --> 00:38:57.155 As far as me, 00:38:57.195 --> 00:38:58.936 if you want to keep on following me, 00:38:59.876 --> 00:39:01.577 I have a really distinct name, 00:39:02.277 --> 00:39:03.038 Grant Lankard. 00:39:03.097 --> 00:39:04.038 The last time I checked, 00:39:04.117 --> 00:39:06.619 I'm the only Grant Lankard on any of 00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:07.699 the social medias. 00:39:08.623 --> 00:39:11.246 So, yeah, 00:39:11.505 --> 00:39:15.248 I'm on all the major social medias except 00:39:15.349 --> 00:39:18.351 for Twitter because I hated Twitter. 00:39:20.813 --> 00:39:24.355 But, yeah, follow me on any of those. 00:39:24.514 --> 00:39:26.356 And most importantly, my sub stack. 00:39:27.516 --> 00:39:28.838 I do have a sub stack if you 00:39:28.858 --> 00:39:29.998 want to follow me there. 00:39:32.036 --> 00:39:32.297 Perfect. 00:39:32.336 --> 00:39:33.657 But yeah, I have everything linked. 00:39:33.717 --> 00:39:35.039 I have your Instagram linked. 00:39:35.619 --> 00:39:38.581 I have the Kickstarter linked below all 00:39:38.601 --> 00:39:41.402 the posts about Memoirs of the Morbid. 00:39:41.782 --> 00:39:42.983 Before I let you go, though, 00:39:43.043 --> 00:39:46.105 describe this new volume using one 00:39:46.144 --> 00:39:48.867 terrible pun that the Ghoulmaster would 00:39:48.927 --> 00:39:51.228 say. 00:39:51.268 --> 00:39:53.369 Don't make a grave mistake by missing it. 00:39:54.889 --> 00:39:55.289 Love it. 00:39:56.070 --> 00:39:57.172 So with that, everybody. 00:39:58.331 --> 00:40:00.092 I am going to go ahead and announce 00:40:00.472 --> 00:40:01.251 right now. 00:40:01.311 --> 00:40:03.512 So if you didn't stay to the end 00:40:03.532 --> 00:40:06.755 or if you're listening later on October, 00:40:07.434 --> 00:40:09.576 I'm going to have a bonus show that 00:40:09.655 --> 00:40:12.677 I did not include on my calendar for 00:40:12.697 --> 00:40:13.117 the month. 00:40:13.157 --> 00:40:14.818 And I did that because I wanted to 00:40:14.858 --> 00:40:17.940 have one last surprise for everybody. 00:40:18.579 --> 00:40:20.681 So if you're a fan of cosplay and. 00:40:21.655 --> 00:40:23.657 If you're a fan of comic cons, 00:40:24.438 --> 00:40:27.039 if you're a fan of zombie movies, 00:40:27.780 --> 00:40:29.900 if you're a fan of the old eighties, 00:40:30.222 --> 00:40:33.603 be real horror movies like I am that 00:40:33.623 --> 00:40:35.324 are just full of the blood and the 00:40:35.385 --> 00:40:38.367 guts and the zombies and the fun nostalgic 00:40:38.447 --> 00:40:39.608 of those types of movies, 00:40:40.447 --> 00:40:43.871 I will have the creators of zombie con. 00:40:44.590 --> 00:40:48.512 Volume one live here on the United States 00:40:48.552 --> 00:40:51.291 Department of Nerds on thirty October at 00:40:51.411 --> 00:40:52.271 seven p.m. 00:40:52.833 --> 00:40:54.512 Eastern Standard Time. 00:40:54.952 --> 00:40:56.793 We are going to have a blast talking 00:40:56.972 --> 00:40:59.273 all things zombie con and how they made 00:40:59.313 --> 00:41:03.775 their own indie horror movie on a budget 00:41:03.815 --> 00:41:05.735 about the size of your grandma's Lincoln 00:41:05.775 --> 00:41:06.494 Cadillac. 00:41:07.175 --> 00:41:08.375 So tune in for that one. 00:41:08.614 --> 00:41:10.815 You're not going to want to miss it. 00:41:11.536 --> 00:41:12.115 Grant, 00:41:12.876 --> 00:41:14.797 welcome to the United States Department of 00:41:14.838 --> 00:41:15.197 Nerds. 00:41:15.559 --> 00:41:19.141 You're now officially a member of the 00:41:19.181 --> 00:41:20.862 Council of Nerds. 00:41:21.382 --> 00:41:22.242 And with that, everybody, 00:41:22.322 --> 00:41:24.483 be good and be safe out there. 00:41:24.963 --> 00:41:26.746 And we will see you on the thirtieth. 00:41:27.286 --> 00:41:28.025 We are out of here. 00:41:28.065 --> 00:41:28.827 Y'all be safe.