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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.
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DFPN.
Thanks for watching!
what is up everybody and welcome to the
united states department of nerds where we
are for the people by the people and
of the people and today we return to
aha a horror anthology and so far we've
seen what happens when people ignore the
warnings we've seen what happens when
instincts kick in just a little too late
but today we're stepping into something
far more
dangerous not the woods not folklore not
something hiding in the shadows we're
stepping into the digital world because
today's story hits the moon is about
loneliness influence and the illusion of
connection it's about what happens when
someone is searching for belonging and
something
Answers.
Not everything online is what it seems.
Not every voice is guiding you in the
right directions.
And sometimes what looks like magic is
something much more sinister.
Ladies and gentlemen,
the Council of Nerds is now in session.
Tony, my friend, welcome to the USDN.
Thank you for having me, Mr. Chairman.
so let's dive into this man why don't
you give a quick introduction of who tony
is and kind of let them know how
you got involved with aha uh my name
is tony kapp i'm a writer from the
detroit area in michigan um i write a
project known as staccato which is uh punk
rock berserk that is my main um focus
i do writes
have written some other horror books or
horror uh shorts and you know chk put
out the call for submissions i threw my
hat in the ring with a story that
i really enjoyed writing and they
responded and brought me and chas on board
he is well aware of the fact that
he does look like claudio casanoli from
aew death riders baby
My dude, that's what's up.
So what got you actually into comic books?
So what kind of led you to writing
this story?
So what kind of led me into comic
books?
You know,
that was actually something that could
probably attest to my grandmother.
She would get me Spider-Man comics when I
was just a very small child.
Spider-Man toys, which then, I mean,
you go from Spider-Man.
when you're teens and you kind of,
I found the vertigo stuff when I was
a bit older and that really kind of
sunk its teeth into me with like
Hellblazer, Sandman,
Shade the Changing Man, all that.
And I just kind of fell in love
with the medium since then.
Something that I've always wanted to do in
my twenties,
I started
taking it more seriously and um that's
where i'm at now um with hex the
moon uh i really wanted to tell a
story about just the chronic online-ness
of our entire society at this point like
i think at this point everyone
spends way too much time in front of
a screen in some aspect.
That's all I do.
Yeah.
I mean, same.
Um,
and the story just kind of evolved from
just kind of, I don't know,
just observing the world around me right
now.
Um,
it's even actually more directly inspired.
I believe it was around, um,
where TikTok had a campaign where a bunch
of witches, young witches,
were trying to actively hex the moon.
And because I'm a comic writer who has
read Alan Moore and Grant Morrison,
I have dabbled in the occult.
Also raised Catholic my entire life,
so that's occult as well.
So hearing that, I'm like, wow.
those children are stupid why would you
try to hex the moon and when i
wrote the story i like kind of that
was the thread i followed that led me
to the story dude it's like that was
a stuff like an ice cream cone there
they just kind of like it was already
there all you had to do is piece
it together yeah some wild shit man i'm
telling you but um
That's a great intro to hits the moon.
Let's talk about Kaylee real quick and
kind of like,
who is Kaylee in your story?
So I'm one of those writers who kind
of puts themselves into every character
they make.
So Kaylee is very much me as a
teenager.
And in many ways, like me now,
I would even say,
to go so far to say like it's
as a writer,
you spend a lot of time alone,
just kind of doing your own thing,
creating stories.
It's a very solitary work and human beings
aren't necessarily meant to be alone.
So like one of the easiest ways to
find community is, unfortunately,
or cell phones nowadays.
Yeah.
So like,
I ended up talking to a lot of
my friends through the internet cause
they're all busy as well.
And, um, with her,
I really kind of wanted like, like,
you know,
what would have happened to me in high
school?
You know,
nerdy kid who didn't have a whole lot
of friends just kind of had their stories
and their comics and their special
interests.
Like what, what happened?
if like what was the absolute worst thing
that could have possibly happened to me as
a teen with the phone and this is
just kind of an exploration of that like
i wouldn't like i don't think kaylee is
a bad person though even in the title
you kind of find out she does something
bad but it's she was kind of taken
for a ride
What kind of makes her the right character
to tell this story?
I think it's because there are so many
Kayleys like that in the world right now.
I keep harping on it,
but it is really the main focus of
the story.
It's just the isolation humans are
experiencing.
In the story, when you
meet kaylee she is alone in her room
for those eight pages of story or seven
of them she is alone she is alone
staring at a phone screen um and i
think a lot of like people can identify
with that um i apologize what was the
question like
Oh,
what made Kaylee the right character to
tell this story with?
And you answered it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Whether inadvertently or not,
you answered it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, I think... Oh, no, go ahead,
go ahead, go ahead.
Yeah, I think it's just, like, for me,
Kaylee is just kind of, like,
just an every person,
just really trying to find a community.
And I think...
For better or for worse,
a lot of what is going on in
our country and the world right now is
people yearning for a community so badly
that they'll follow anyone.
A hundred percent.
A hundred percent on that.
So this isn't just horror.
This is very modern and very rooted in
today's society.
I know you said this story was inspired
by a real life witch coven that happened
to appear on TikTok during COVID.
And this is very much,
this is what's scary about it.
This is very much rooted in the reality
of the world we live in today,
which is kind of wild to think about.
Do you think people often underestimate
how powerful online influence really is?
I mean,
here we talk about a cousin of people
who are literally trying to hitch the
moon.
Yeah, I think people,
severely underestimate the influence the
internet has on them.
I don't mean to get political,
but in college I did study political
science,
so a lot of that political theory and
such does come through my writing.
right now like you have people people are
nobody really wants to check facts about
things anymore yeah and no matter what
side of the aisle you're on a lot
of the times people will see a meme
it will make them feel good because it
will verify their how they view the world
and then they will share it and they
won't check where that meme came from they
won't check
whether if that meme is saying anything of
actual value it is very much a emotional
reaction of like see i know something or
i'm correct and the person who made this
thinks like me we're in the know we
have the secret knowledge of what's
actually going on and yeah
And like, I'm guilty of it.
I've in my more emotional states in my
life, I've been like, saw something.
I'm just like, yeah, that's totally true.
And I'm like,
did you fact check that man?
I'm like, no, I didn't.
I better go back and delete that and
actually do some research.
Is there a paper that I can find?
Yeah.
No,
I think we're all a hundred percent guilty
of that at some point in our lives.
And now it's one of those where, um,
If I'm posting anything at all,
it's either to in some shape or form
to promote what I do here at USDN
or to promote what my friends are doing
with their podcasts and their stuff.
And I'm like, and it keeps me, honestly,
it makes me feel better because I'm
celebrating my friends as well.
And it keeps me away from the negativity.
And honestly, like over the last year,
I've just unfollowed so much stuff that
from my younger days that I was just
like, well, I don't,
my beliefs don't align with what that is.
you know?
Yeah.
So it's,
it's definitely been a wild time and
definitely, I think I've,
I've come out better on the other side
after just erasing all that stuff and just
focusing on what truly brings me joy and
happiness.
So yeah, dude.
Well, like you said,
as a way to connect with like a
true community, you're like actual bread,
like,
And a hundred percent cause there's
nothing that makes me happier than seeing
like, like Duke electric.
He was just on,
I know he's got a new project coming
up.
So it's really cool to kind of celebrate
his new project with him and talk about
aha with him.
And now, you know,
being friends with you and talking about
your story and finally getting to me,
you know,
Chris and Chris from CHK who I've followed
for years now.
And just, um,
Getting to know those guys, you know,
because when I got into this journey of
interviewing indie comic creators,
he was one of the people that I
was like,
let me see how he does this and
what he does.
I don't want to mimic it.
I want to put my own spin on
it, but I also want to learn.
So, and that's what I did.
And I've kind of just followed, you know,
his journey along the way.
I know he does like,
he focuses on the creative process of
creating a comic book.
Whereas I focus on taking people through
the journey of the creator.
So it's really cool.
Like two very different styles of
interviewing,
but very much focused on the same thing
at the same time.
So it's kind of cool in that aspect
of it.
let's talk about something unsettling who
or what is mr moonface you don't have
to go into a lot of details because
let's not have to mark this one with
spoilers too like we had to do with
duke yeah um so i'm going to be
honest i haven't really given too much
thought about what mr moonface
necessarily is for real like he because I
think if giving any sort of solid answer
to that is a lot less fun for
the reader to kind of come up with
their own like I wish Chaz was here
unfortunately he had something come up but
he and I were talking about it and
he's like oh yeah Mr.
Moonface is the patriarchy
and I'm like go on and he's like
well you know like he's like the way
I viewed it is that like women will
search out um feminine types of powers
such as witchcraft and to try to escape
the patriarchy but because it is just so
influenced and deep into the culture that
we live in that it's still that there's
just
really no escaping of it it's like and
i'm like i think which i loved that
interpretation of it especially when you
look at a lot of mythologies will take
the moon as a uh feminine deity whereas
within this comic i wrote it as uh
a male deity mr moon face yeah so
i thought that was a very i thought
that was a brilliant interpretation of it
um
I don't think he's actually the moon.
Like, I think,
I think he is a liar.
I think he,
and especially because to not give any
sort of spoilers away,
but you see him as a, like, I,
I think at the end of the day,
Mr. Moonface is a liar.
Like that is,
I think the most concrete definition I can
give.
He, that's,
Anything else I think just kind of ruins
any fun interpretation that you could
have.
Yeah.
I think it's really cool that you kind
of just created this character and then
with no real background,
no idea who he is or what he
is.
Is he her imagination?
Is he an actual deity?
Yeah.
you don't know that.
And I think that's,
what's cool is that it's just kind of
left to how people feel into how they
interpret the words and the images on the
page,
which is a really cool thing to do.
Yeah.
But he is presented as a very friendly,
almost cartoonish in the beginning.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I think, I think I'll even say,
I think subconsciously that's,
was me kind of playing with the idea
that a lot of the online troll culture,
um,
cause I was somebody who came up when
four Chan was around and like,
it's where you went to just say horrible,
awful things, but you're like, haha,
it's just a joke.
We're just joking.
We're just saying awful shit.
Yeah.
And then it's like, well,
you're still saying that shit and that
shit isn't funny especially when applied
to real life like yeah you actually have
to have your face and identity tied to
it and you kind of see that like
culture has come especially nowadays
that's kind of come offline to where we
just have where you can just get a
job being a professional troll now
yeah that's true that is very true so
was mr moon face like being very friendly
and cartoonish in the beginning
intentional to mirror how manipulation can
work yes oh dude i love it just
boom like yeah it was no that that
yeah and that's some contest for people
out there who hopefully will go out and
support this kickstarter
and read this story because all I've
gotten to read y'all is the synopsis.
That's literally all I've gotten to read
on this.
And this is one of my favorite ones,
despite how close to home this can, well,
to be fair, like this,
this book is just amazing.
Like I love the fact that Chris and
Chris just kind of said,
let y'all go all out and just kind
of do what you wanted to do without,
you know, any, you know, strings attached,
so to speak.
And yes,
I did that intentionally because of Roger.
I'm glad you picked that up.
And if anybody's following along and
listening along later, yeah.
That's probably not the last time you'll
hear me say that one.
But no, it's been really cool.
And I love the concept of this story
because in the modern age that we live
in,
this one hits very close to home for
a lot of people.
and um it it's not as far-fetched as
let's say duke's story even though i got
a feeling like the story that duke wrote
with mids isn't very far off in the
near future like that may be here before
you know it with that kind of technology
but this one here is the one where
it was just kind of like that could
actually happen
You know, like online trolls bullying,
driving some poor kid to the point where
they're having psychotic episodes and
doing this kind of stuff.
And to be fair, it happens.
Yeah.
And it's just to say that it does
happen much more often than it should.
Yeah.
A big inspiration.
And again, fourth,
I forgot to mention was the Slenderman
stabbings that happened in
several years ago with those um like
twelve year old kids just got online I
mean there's more to it than that but
I mean yeah got online and was like
yeah we have to do this to make
this deity love us like yeah like it's
it was rooted in some I tried to
put some bits of reality into the story
yeah
And it's wild that I'm a parent.
So for me,
like we have to be so careful with
what our kids are ingesting online because
this kind of stuff is out there and
it's scary to think about.
so so when mr moonface does reveal his
true form like in your head when you
wrote that like what does that represent
for for you and what what do you
want readers to kind of feel when he
does this grande reveal of who he is
uh it was very much the realization of
like i
I think one of the most terrifying things
ever is the realization of like how badly
you have fucked up and how there's nothing
you can do to change it.
Yeah.
Like where it's just this sudden
realization of just like,
and then just the realization that like
my, not necessarily my life is a lie,
but like just the,
complete terror of just like fuck i've
made the worst mistake i could have
possibly made yeah and there's nothing
like and i'm once again like yeah i
said that for like seven of those pages
like kaylee is alone and the story ends
with her alone even more alone than she
was yeah obviously no a hundred percent
and
I want to talk about the moon wand,
not necessarily about what it is.
I don't want to give that much away,
but where did that kind of come from?
Just kind of the, like,
that was a lot more of just kind
of how,
like the hoops our mind will jump through
to make our reality comfortable for
ourselves.
yeah like just like i'm trying to think
of like a good like real life example
i could use but just kind of like
well it's it's just the little bits of
like it's it's kind of like just the
small lies we tell ourselves yeah like
every like day like
like i guess yeah just it's just kind
of like a lie that we tell ourselves
like because yeah i don't really want to
give away the story like i really want
people to be surprised when they read it
um like though i don't necessarily think
like if you know what happens like the
story is any less
good no it's one of those where i
don't think it would like we could sit
here and spoil it all day but it's
still one of those where i feel like
putting your eyes on it and actually
reading it is going to give it a
whole nother feeling anyway yeah yeah it's
yeah it's just the representation of just
kind of like
how powerful the mind is at just kind
of keeping ourselves in a state of
comfort, even when that comfort is a lie.
Yeah.
Would you say it's a metaphor for a
false empowerment?
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's a,
definitely a good way of saying it.
Like it's,
But I'm sure the listeners can probably
piece together what has gone on between
the title and whatnot.
But we'll keep that kayfabe up like they
can.
Yeah, and it's one of those where, too,
I'm choosing to talk around some things
instead of just flat out saying it
because...
I know YouTube likes to kind of give
us hand slaps on certain things.
And we were talking before we went live
that I'm more than likely going to have
to change the title anyway.
And honestly,
I didn't really cross my mind until like
I was sitting here talking to you before
we went live about the title.
And I was just like,
I'm probably going to have to change that
because they don't like when we like they
will censor that word and they won't allow
that work like the episode to reach as
many people like they will like I forgot
the word they use but yeah I'll probably
have to change it after this actually I'll
probably go in and change the live title
and then match up the actual title when
it goes you know becomes an actual episode
but um
So did you always know that this story
was going to just be as dark as
it was?
Or when you started writing it,
did you kind of like...
Were you seeing something else and then
what came out was this much darker version
of itself?
I didn't.
I will be honest,
I did not think it would end up
as dark as it got.
I think there's also like the...
issue as the artist like like when you're
in the thick of it you're not necessarily
getting the whole picture um but when i
was doing the research for it like
watching the slender man stabbing
documentary yeah like researching a lot of
just like the effects of like online
culture like like the one kid who got
all wrapped up in red pill bs and
then like ran his car into
um like the sorority house yeah it's just
like kind of really following down the
path of just all the like um just
this the psychosis people get from just
consuming a lot of just garbage content
and there's plenty of it out there yeah
like you can't get away from it yeah
you really can't
So as the title entails of this episode,
Kaylee does do something that is very bad.
Was that an important piece to kind of
bring this story home?
I would say so because it shows, like,
it shows the effect that consuming drugs
gonna say online content like that is
oftentimes hateful like and just that has
an effect on the people around you yeah
it can either be directly where we talk
about the one misogynist who killed women
from eating all of his red pill bs
or
just somebody who's so deep in maga who
ends up pushing their entire family away
but they're like we don't want to talk
to you you're just the man red hat
that sits around all day being angry like
like the content you eat and regurgitate
has an effect on you so i think
that like kate like
If Kaylee didn't do anything,
there wouldn't be a story there.
So there had to have been some type
of... Endgame?
Yeah, consequence, endgame.
There had to be...
This is what you get for...
This is what happens when you aren't
vigilant in what you're consuming and
keeping.
Yeah.
So...
Through your eyes and through your pen and
paper of which you wrote this,
do you kind of see Kaylee as a
victim?
Or is she the responsible party for her
actions?
Because when I see this,
I kind of feel like it's like, yes,
she is responsible,
but she's also a victim of online
manipulation.
Yeah, it's both because Kaylee is a
I believe she is a sixteen year old
in the story so she is a minor
so thus is like there is some leeway
to give her and her actions like there
she is responsible for her actions but
clearly like has at she's a teen does
not have a fully developed brain so is
unfortunately easier easily manipulated by
either by
an amorphous entity known as Mr. Moonface.
But, I mean, she does do it.
She does...
She ends up performing the action that
ruins it and completely destroys her life.
She is responsible for that.
It's one of those moments where
like what could be different?
Like in the story,
Kaylee's parents are fighting about the,
like, you know, it's like,
we're worried about our daughter.
What can we do about it?
And one parent's like, it's fine.
It doesn't matter.
And the other one's like, nah, for real,
something's bad.
We should talk to her.
And it's, it's a,
I think at the very end of the
day,
the story is because she is both victim
and,
perpetrator,
I think that's what really makes it the
tragedy.
It's like, oh, this isn't your fault,
but it is.
She's obviously, you know,
it can be classified as a pure psychotic
episode, you know?
Yeah.
But yeah, no, it...
and it's hard as a parent, you know,
cause you don't want to be that parent.
But again,
you also do sometimes need to be that
parent that will step in and interfere if
you have to.
Right.
And there's also the differences,
like there's just like,
my parents have no clue what four chain
is.
So when I was a teenager on there,
like,
somebody would have been like your kids on
four chain they'd be like i don't know
what any of those words yeah actually so
like channel four yeah exactly so like
there's like and we were talking earlier
about our ages so like i'm sure there's
like i am not a parent but i'm
sure there's stuff that children have
access to online that i have no clue
what it's
about that if somebody told me like hey
this these kids are on this site i
feel like yeah what no i i'm with
you and and thankfully i have a a
fairly close relationship with mine to
where you know she does talk to me
but again mine's an adult now too so
i don't worry as much as i used
to about that kind of stuff so
But in this moment that we're currently
discussing,
what do you want readers to feel in
that moment?
I kind of want there to be at
least a smidgen of empathy for Kaylee.
I want them to feel bad for this
person.
I want them to feel like
I don't want them to read the story
and then be like,
she is the villain because I don't think
she is the true villain.
I want there to be some type of
empathy,
but I want their eyes to be directed
to like, okay, what is the problem?
It's like,
maybe the problem is that there are giant
forces beyond our control pushing us and
manipulating us in a variety of ways for
their own gain that and they will quickly
and easily throw us aside or throw us
in the meat grinder or whatever for just
for profit for attention for
anything that isn't us they do not give
a about us as people yeah so you
the reader you need to care about people
so that way there are more of us
caring about people than mr moon faces who
do not give a about people no and
not that's a hundred percent and i think
we can compare mr moon face to an
online bully in this instance because
It wasn't, well, even right now, like,
online bullying is being prosecuted as a
crime, as it should be.
Yeah.
Which is, you know,
I forgot what year that happened where
they passed, like, oh, no,
if you are a dick online and it
leads to something like this,
you will be tried and persecuted.
Yeah.
for that crime,
because you led to that crime,
you led to that person,
ultimately not being here anymore.
So I do appreciate that fact that things
have changed.
And now people are being punished for this
kind of bullshit.
Yeah.
And hopefully, in this case,
these people will also be punished for
this.
yeah but let's talk about the contrast
between bright magic and dark reality how
did when you were putting this together
how did that kind of come about um
i think that was also just kind of
my own vision of the occult like i
am a magic practitioner again comic writer
who just absorbs so much morrison and alan
moore yeah no i'm with you like um
I do find doing the occult and ceremonial
magic is a very empowering,
personal thing for me.
But I'm also aware it is just me
kind of playing with my own psychology to
get me to a state where I am
happy and able to live my life in
the best way possible.
I think for some people,
they will kind of look at magic and
religion as like a superpower that allows
them to be, to have power over others.
So it kind of,
so when like Kaylee is granted the moon
wand,
she goes through this magical girl
transformation, a la Sailor Moon,
to really kind of show that like some
people who like,
like me playing with tarot cards in my
home does not make me Merlin.
It is just me playing with tarot cards.
We can ask John Constantine how,
how tats and magic is on the self.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So it was kind of just this wanted
to show that really the kind of show
her naive,
interpretation of what magic is supposed
to be yeah no dude it's it's it's
a wild story dude and i i yeah
it's it's dark but it's
it's hard to explain.
I don't want to like spoil too much
or to give a lot of stuff away.
Cause we, we have, you know,
talked about some details that we could
probably done without, you know,
let's just let people read it for
themselves.
But I still think people,
this will be one of those stories where
people are like, damn,
this dude's fucked up.
Yeah.
But it's literally based on,
or loosely based on true events.
So, but in this story,
are we seeing this story through Kaylee's
perception of,
her reality or her perception of reality i
should say yeah we're seeing it through
what kaylee sees like at if i was
to ever do an epilogue or to continue
the story in any way like kaylee would
talk about seeing mr moonface and yeah
like for what like it is all her
perspective
Yeah,
and if there is an epilogue to this,
it would be most likely her talking to
a reporter from a psychiatric institute.
Yes.
That would actually be kind of a cool
follow-up if you ever did that or decided
to do that.
Yeah, we'll see.
Come on, Chris and Chris, make it happen.
Yeah.
I think we need a follow-up after this.
So at the core of this,
what is Hits the Moon really saying about
I'm sorry.
You cut out there for a bit at
its core.
What is hits the moon really saying?
I think it's a warning.
I think it's definitely a B it's very
much a, be careful who you follow.
Like one of the,
I would say another issue with online
culture is just the,
how parasocial relationships are just so
prevalent in our world nowadays.
And like,
these people aren't necessarily real like
their personas they're just like
characters people are playing to like push
an agenda even me in this moment i
would argue i am a character pushing an
agenda i am a writer on a podcast
trying to convince other people to give me
money to read my stories like
Like you're only seeing one aspect of me
and people tend to think that, oh,
because I know,
I now know that Tony practices magic.
He was raised Catholic.
He lives in the Detroit area.
We're friends now.
He's we're friends.
He's just like me.
Like I,
and I'm just a comic book writer.
wants people to buy funny books there are
some people out there who want you to
like i don't know give them a whole
bunch of money for like weird pickup
artist classes or funnels right yeah and
it's yeah i think kind of get lost
in the weeds here but yeah it's uh
it's really just
it's a warning about like what you're
consuming online what you're like where
your look where your beliefs are coming
from really just kind of have like like
if you're lonely put down the phone and
go for a walk i don't know it's
like go talk to another human in real
life like try not to have a screen
between you and your people at least not
all the time no a hundred percent and
can honestly say like my day job takes
care of my human interaction for me yeah
even though at times i'm just like what
yeah but i still i get my human
interaction and you know even though
there's days where i just don't want to
to do that kind of stuff.
But at the end of the day,
we all do need that human interaction in
real life with, you know, over dinner,
over brunch, over coffee, over a beer,
whatever it may be.
Yeah.
Oh, touch the grass is what he's saying.
Pretty much.
Yeah.
Go, go do errands with your friends.
Like do it.
Exactly.
Like it's like, yeah.
this real connection is I think something
that is really lacking in our existence
right now and we're substituting it for
just honestly entertainment.
Yeah.
If you can even call some of it
entertainment.
I would argue that it is on all,
it is some aspect of it.
It is on the axis of entertainment.
in some way like it may be disguising
itself as news as self-help as whatnot but
at the end of the day the content
is designed to make us feel good whether
that be some strange bit of shot and
fraud or just like yeah just
yeah trail off i'm sorry i'm going out
of here no you're good dude we're about
to start bringing it home anyway all right
um we're going to talk a little bit
more about the actual book aha for a
second what's it been like being a part
of this anthology we all kind of know
at this point how it all came together
But what's it been like as a whole?
I know y'all had like a team's call
or whatever to where Chris and Chris kind
of just was like, hey,
here's what we're doing.
Do we have an idea of what we're
doing?
No,
but we're all going to learn together on
this,
which is very much the Chris and Chris
way of doing business, I feel,
which is really cool.
They're very personable people.
So that's kind of like a status quo,
I feel.
What's it been like, though?
It's been awesome.
It's been really cool just kind of seeing
this kind of small community of creators
just kind of like spring up and like
as like work together as a team.
I got to help one of the writers
with their story just as a beta reader,
which was like something so simple.
But I mean, like, yeah,
it's nice when you have like other.
pros being able to like kind of help
you along so that i felt awesome being
able to assist in that way um it's
been really cool seeing everyone else's
like style of horror and just like one
thing i love about this book is that
just like each story looks different like
yeah that's what i really like too
everything is different and the only
common core is roger yeah yeah and like
even
that character that the chris has created
i love as well because it just harkens
back to like like the creep creeper shows
when i watched when i was a child
which scared the bejesus out of me um
yeah no what's really cool about those old
shows was there's no cgi there it's all
practical effects and it scared the
bejesus out of little us yeah
Yeah,
I remember one story from Crypt Creeper
years ago that, like, I was, like,
at home from school, sick, and I was,
like, way too young to be watching it,
and it was on, and it just, like...
I think I still have, like,
a deep terror today, even though, like,
I'm sure if I went back and re-watched
the episode, I'd be like, oh,
that was just a rubber mask.
But, like, I don't know, our perspective.
Exactly.
And it took me...
Like, I still don't really like,
I'm still not a big fan of clowns.
I think people who are clowns are just
fucking weird to begin with.
Yeah.
But I still, you know,
it really did it for me.
Like, I was just like,
I ain't fucking with clowns.
And it goes a lot to Tim Curry
as a actor who is absolutely brilliant.
And I love the new one too.
Like, what's his name?
Skarsgård.
Yeah, Bill,
from the great Skarsgård family,
as they have to be called,
because literally everybody from the
grandparents down to the children are all,
like, brilliant actors.
And it's wild to see, like,
there's not a Skarsgård that hasn't been
an actor in, like, three generations.
Yeah.
Exactly.
There's some good genetics there.
But no, like even he,
like he tried to recreate what Tim Curry
did and take it to the next level,
which he a hundred percent did.
But because of that,
I still am not a fan of clowns
to this day.
Like they just creep me the fuck out.
But the,
what has made aha special compared to
like, not just like,
cause I know you've done staccato.
I don't know what else you have done,
but like,
staccato and i think you sent to me
i i read like i think did you
send me the free one i can't remember
i believe so yeah yeah and which i
i thoroughly enjoyed it because it's just
it's a fun story and it's different i
love those types of stuff where it's just
different so but what do you think has
made aha special compared to like some of
the other projects that may be out right
now from an anthology standpoint i think
there is
very much the DIY mindset behind that as
a punk rocker,
hardcore kid at heart really enjoy.
Like I really like that.
They said, you know,
we're just going to do it ourselves and
let's figure this out as we go.
So because of that,
the passion really comes forward like you
see just everyone's putting their best
foot forward with their stories and their
art and it's really coming from a place
of love for this and that's not to
say that other anthologies are like don't
have that um i just think because like
this is for a lot of people this
is their first like foray into like
professional comicism there's a type of
excitement there that it you don't forget
your first time basically yeah so i think
for a lot of people this is their
like first anthology and maybe like their
second time out the gate writing period
writing you know a comic book story yeah
and so it's really cool seeing uh those
people just kind of like
get those first hits of success and i
think there's something special about that
no a hundred percent a hundred percent and
that's what i was so drawn to when
i was approached about doing the shows
yeah and um i thought it was so
cool and you know i i greatly appreciated
duke reaching out and going hey i'm
working on this anthology
do you want to be a part of
it and host each of the storytellers on
the show?
I was like, dude, you have me,
you know, like, Oh, a hundred percent.
And then when I realized it was Chris
and Chris again, I was like, Oh yeah,
I've wanted to meet, you know,
talk to these guys for a while and
just, you know,
tell them how much I appreciated them and
kind of being an early influence on what
I do.
And so for me, it's been a pleasure,
man.
And this is,
episode three of aha we got four more
to go and they're just gonna get keep
getting creepier and scarier i hope and
we're gonna keep rock starring it man it's
been so fun getting to talk to everybody
making new friends which you know this
that's one of my favorite parts of this
job is just meeting new artists meeting
new writers and just
learning about their journey into comics
and kind of seeing what they're working on
and what they're what they're doing you
know to me is very special i love
taking those people through that journey
of that person so for me it's been
a whole lot of fun but let's let
people know where they can find tony all
right um so i'm mostly active on instagram
and blue sky at
Mista, M-I-S-T-A, Dark, D-A-R-K,
is my handle on both those.
Actually,
it's across all social media platforms,
but those are the two that you'll find
me active on.
Staccato is the comic that I do with
Chaz as Illustrator,
who worked with me for Hashtag Hex the
Moon.
You can
Read that story for free.
We just completed the very first arc.
So chapters one through seven are free to
read at StaccatoRevenge.com.
We're going to be coming back in June,
starting book two of that story,
which we're both really excited about.
And of course, as always,
that will be tagged below.
If you go over into the description of
this video, you will see that tag.
And I will also,
when this goes live again later,
I will have Chaz's social media down there
for you as well,
as well as the link to Staccato.
But let people know where they can support
AHA.
Yeah, just go to the Kickstarter.
Got several gears there.
Even just, honestly,
if you threw a dollar at it,
I just feel like this sounds cool.
Can't afford it all right now,
but a dollar will help.
Hell,
if you even just share it on your
socials, that is even tremendous.
And it's free.
Clicking retweet or share is free.
And that is so helpful.
And it means the world to all of
us.
It really does.
When somebody shares a clip of the story,
it means the world to us that we're
getting that love.
And that's really...
At the end of the day,
if that's what we get,
that's what we get.
And I'm not here to sell you the
book.
Well, I am, but I'm not.
Tony is, however.
But real quick,
give everybody the down and dirty why they
should back this project.
I think if you should back this project,
if you love horror, any type of horror,
we've got it all.
There is grotesque body horror.
We've got psychological monster horror.
There's witch horror.
There's something I think for every horror
fan in this anthology.
You get to support new creators,
so if you're kind of tired of just
seeing the same twelve names at your comic
shop,
this is a good way to get some
new blood in there.
So that's
Great thing to do.
And it's fun spending money.
It feels good when you spend money.
You get that hit of dopamine.
Exactly.
Exactly.
But Tony,
appreciate you stopping by on a Saturday
morning at ten a.m.
Of course, we chose this time for Chaz,
who is in the UK,
who unfortunately could not be here.
with us here this morning,
but I promise y'all we'll have Tony and
Chaz back when they get ready to start
on book number two of Staccato.
How about that?
We would love that.
We'll bring you back.
Just whenever you're ready,
just shoot me an email or a message
and we'll make that happen.
I am currently booked in June and July.
So if it's going to be happening in
that timeframe,
you might want to hit me up now
before they fill up.
But this is one of those stories that
hits on a different level because this
isn't some distant horror.
This isn't something happening in another
world.
This feels real.
This feels like something that could
happen right now.
to anyone scrolling searching looking for
a connection and that is what makes hits
the moon so powerful it's not about
monsters it's about manipulation it's
about isolation and it's about what
happens when you trust the wrong voice
And by the time you realize it,
it's already too late.
To everyone watching and listening,
if you've been following AHA,
you already know what this is.
It's different creators,
different perspectives,
one anthology built on fear that actually
means something different.
Make sure you check out the Kickstarter,
support these creators,
because this is what indie horror is
supposed to be.
Ladies and gentlemen,
this has been the Chairman and Tony,
and this has been the United States
Department of Nerds,
where indie comics come to life.
The Council of Nerds is now adjourned.
Happy Easter, and y'all be safe out there.
That was a good one.