🎙️ USDN INTERVIEW: Alim Leggett — Every Panel Counts: Building The Diary of Sweet Pea

🎙️ USDN INTERVIEW: Alim Leggett — Every Panel Counts: Building The Diary of Sweet Pea

Hello there — I’m The Chairman, and this is The United States Department of Nerds, where indie comics come to life.

This week, the council sits down with Alim Leggett, the creator, writer, and art director behind The Diary of Sweet Pea. In a powerful and introspective conversation, Alim unpacks his creative philosophy, the emotional core of his work, and why he believes every panel counts.

We dig into the origins of Sweet Pea, a story about grief, memory, and unintended power, following a young girl whose loss manifests into something far larger than she understands. From art direction and visual language to production management, fatherhood, and creative balance, this episode is a masterclass in intentional storytelling.

With a Kickstarter campaign launching in March, Alim also shares how crowdfunding allows him to protect the heart of the story — not dilute it.

If you’re passionate about indie comics, creator ownership, and stories built with purpose, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

🔗 Follow & Support
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetpeacomic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetpea_comic/
Kickstarter (Pre-Launch): https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sweetpeacomic/the-diary-of-sweet-pea-1-3?ref=profile_created&category_id=250&tab=prelaunch-updates

🎙️ The USDN Podcast — Where indie comics come to life.

What is The United States Department of Nerds Podcast?

USDN Podcast is a cinematic indie comics interview series hosted by the USDN_Chairman and the Council of Nerds — spotlighting the creators, storytellers, and worldbuilders shaping the future of independent comics.

Each episode dives beyond headlines into the real journeys behind the books — from Kickstarter launches and creative struggles to the philosophies driving today’s indie storytelling movement.

This isn’t about rumors or recycled news.

It’s about the people creating the worlds.

Through in-depth conversations, creator spotlights, and crowdfunding discussions, USDN explores:

• The rise of indie comics
• The business of crowdfunding
• The art of worldbuilding
• The realities of independent storytelling

USDN is where indie comics come to life — for the fans, by the creators, and powered by the community.

You are listening to the USDN on the

DFPN.

Thank you.

hello there it's the chairman of the

united states department of nerds where we

are for the people by the people and

of the people today we are sitting down

with a creator who understands that

storytelling doesn't stop at the script it

lives in the composition the pacing and

the emotion of every panel artist

writer, art director, husband,

a father of five,

and the creative force behind the Diary of

Sweet Pea.

The council is now in session.

Aleem, welcome to the council of nerds,

my friend.

Oh, and Mike is here with us too.

My bad, dude.

It's all right.

I got my fabulous intro last time.

You did.

You got to get my last sign of

it.

It was Aleem's turn this time,

so he got the good one.

I feel good.

That was a great intro.

It's like,

remember Big Daddy when Adam Sandler came

into the party at the very end?

He's like, oh,

did y'all waste another good happy

birthday surprise on me?

with it but um aleem we'll dive right

into it so for those meeting you for

the very first time who is aleem and

how did comments become your creative home

all right well aleem is a man that

wears many hats you know as you said

in the intro father um

along with all the accolades of art

director and all of those other things.

But if you're asking who I am,

I'm a guy like everybody else out here

with bills to pay and responsibilities to

keep up.

Comic books has been my thing since

childhood.

It got me through,

it was a constant in my life as

a kid, right?

Through a lot of ups and downs and

things like that.

kind of fell out in my later years,

but found my way back home during the

pandemic, really.

So, I mean, that time,

as hard as it was on a lot

of people,

it was really eye-opening for me,

because it gave me a chance to get

away from the grind of taking care of

a family as large as mine and just

slow down a little bit and get back

into art and being creative.

And, you know, my first comic book,

I started during the whole furlough thing

in the pandemic,

the Diary of Sweet Pea issue one,

and getting to see behind the curtain of

how these things are made.

I fell in love, you know,

I got into the community and, you know,

it's such a unique community because you

got people that's on my like in the

range that I'm at with these beginning

steps.

And you have people like Mark McKenna,

who's been doing Marvel since nineteen

eighty five.

We're able to interact and work with each

other.

That doesn't happen everywhere.

It's wild.

This is one of those communities that

allows that.

You don't have a whole lot of gatekeepers

going, you ain't done your time yet.

Right.

Yeah, for sure, man.

I love it.

I love it here.

I love making comic books.

I love being able to take myself seriously

in a creative way and make dope stuff.

So let me ask you,

how did you become evolved with that guy

sitting below us?

Oh man, me and Mike met,

I was flopping around in my first

Kickstarter campaign, right?

Because making the book is one thing,

selling it is another.

Oh yeah.

So, you know,

I was flopping around and Ink Studios was

one of the guys that

contacted me if anybody's done a

kickstarter before you know you get a lot

of uh spam you know robots you can

help you and this that and the third

so it just so happened that you know

me being new to the game um i

took a chance with well not even a

chance because i didn't know i didn't

understand what it was you know at first

but

anyway uh i hit up i i've recontacted

uh ink studios who hit me up you

know in the mix of all of that

and god blessed me i was lucky enough

to actually have picked some real ones out

of all of that yeah nonsense that's in

there there's a lot of it my way

but you know i was lucky enough to

meet um kevin and the guys at ink

and mike was working there at the time

and uh

and come to find out, lo and behold,

this guy is a master of literature and

writing.

I just had that conversation with some

people, and I told them straight up,

I'm like,

if you want to see a master class

in just how the behind the scenes works,

to go back and watch my interview with

Mike, it is no kidding,

a master class from Kickstarters to the

business side of things,

and

It's literally one of those where you can

go sit and watch it and take notes

because he gives so many good nuggets in

that interview.

That's going to be one of those where

I continue to push.

I'm like, hey,

go watch this interview if you want to

learn stuff.

Yeah.

And willing to share,

you know what I mean?

Goes back to that community.

You don't see that all the time.

You don't see that in a lot of

people.

There's probably not every,

I still got the rose colored glasses on

it.

I've just been lucky to meet some really

dope people.

And Mike is a solid guy and he

just, he knows how to elevate work.

You know, like there's, there's,

there's some translations that needs to

happen.

Cause I'm not,

I don't have a literary background.

I'm just spewing out these ideas and

trying to form it as best I can.

And it's great to have somebody with the

skills as an editor, you know,

to be able to come and really help

hammer some things out and smooth,

you know, some stuff out.

So Mike is great.

I'm happy.

I'm blessed to have him around.

Thank you.

All kind words.

Thank you.

His head just grew like ten times.

That's why I put this hat on.

You'll see him adjusting his hat here in

a minute.

It's tight.

My dude, you wear a lot of hats.

The artist, the writer, the art director,

production manager.

How did that multi-discipline mindset

develop?

How does that shape how you approach the

way you do comic books?

Well,

back in the pandemic where I got

reintroduced to this world,

starting with just art, creating,

you know, painting, doing digital art,

things like that, drawing,

something that I've also done for a very

long time and stepped away from.

So, you know, I got some,

there's all kinds of resources out there

now.

I got a...

some of those classes that you can get,

you know,

like you can go on YouTube and get

it,

or you can get it from those apps

that just have all the videos in a

structured class from top to bottom with

homework, you know, and I took it serious.

That got me back into art a little

bit.

And on a whim,

I searched on Facebook groups for comic

books and indie comic books.

And, you know,

I found the community there.

There was a guy by the name of

Steven Duffy from apex comics, UK that,

um,

introduced me to the game you know got

me in with uh you know like how

you can connect with with people and take

your ideas and form them into you know

artwork because comic books because you

know like there's people out there looking

for work and you know so yeah i'm

going on a tangent no no you're good

dude that's what we're here for

for telling your story and getting Sweet

Pea out to the people, man.

Yeah,

so that's really how I got into the

comic book world.

And it evolved as time went on from

doing the artwork and painting.

There we go.

So we was doing art and painting.

And then we get into comic books around

late-to-thousands.

OK.

You know,

Steve helped me with taking these ideas

that I had from like Dungeons and Dragons

games, campaigns and characters like that.

And we used to have the chat room.

There was some chat room websites where

everybody contributed to a story with

their own character.

I used to be in those a lot

when I was younger.

So, you know,

like I have all these ideas from

characters made up, drawn and imagined.

And I kind of crammed it all into

the Diary of Sweet Pea in issue one.

Right.

So.

So we got like this this

this mess of characters,

but I wanna tell a story that's only

centered on this one character, right?

Yeah.

And everything else is happening how it

would happen to you, right?

So like, there's stuff going on over here,

there, or whatever,

but only the things that enter your field

are what you become truly aware of or

become a part of your story, right?

Mm-hmm.

that didn't really work out you know i

mean like don't get me wrong issue one

of the diary of sweet pea and issue

two is i think they're great and yeah

i think with the idea of editing them

and going back now that i've learned more

but i also am fond of the idea

of leaving them as is so that you

can see the steps up in the evolution

of the writing

I mean,

you can always go back later and do

a rewrite on the first two if you

want to and then sell it as a

trade paperback or something later as a

reworked trade paperback.

But I like what you're saying about

keeping them as they are now so you

can see your growth yourself.

Mm-hmm.

And so other people can see it, too,

because, you know, like,

I think that we've made something really

special, right?

I think this is, like...

And I can confidently put in anybody,

any room in any arena,

and it's going to perform well, I think,

right?

Oh, a hundred percent.

that doesn't make me necessarily more

special or unique than anyone else.

So I think leaving those first two issues

as is,

so you can see like the growth and

development might help to inspire somebody

else.

Cause you know,

like once you just made the mind up

to do these things, they become like,

they're way more possible than I thought

they were for the first, uh,

thirty eight some odd years of my life.

I mean,

it's just like the first volume of

Invincible.

He had to put this out so fast.

And then he lost his artist like halfway

through that first volume.

And so he found someone was really great.

And if you read it and then you

watch the adaptation of the show on

Amazon,

they added so much more depth in the

show because there was that space in the

original where they just went from scene

and focused on plot points.

So I concur with leaving it the way

it is.

So many options to go back on.

You know,

like what if Amani's power is an energy

that's linked to, you know,

multiple linear timelines and maybe she

wants to go back and save her friends

and her family.

maybe we explore those spaces in issue one

and two later on there there's that

there's that there's that opportunity and

there's multiple other opportunities

leaving necessarily things you think that

aren't perfect doesn't make it not perfect

because you are the only person as a

creator and i know we talked about this

before um

You're the only one that will see those

imperfections.

Everybody else gets to experience the

story.

So what you're seeing is from the artist's

perspective.

What you can't unsee is the artist's

perspective.

So you can't really enjoy it as a

fan.

So we need to leave those spaces and

imperfections there because some of them

won't know that they're imperfect,

which is never the goal, by the way.

Oh, nobody will unless you say it.

Well,

they're going to know now if they watch

this.

They're going to know now.

Well, I mean,

this is just one episode in a huge

universe of content when Sweet Pea gets as

big as I hope and think it will

be one day.

Oh,

I was just telling Nanette before you

joined us is...

It's like, dude,

I can see this being so much bigger

than what it is.

But you've said that making sure a book

looks as good as it reads is core

to your philosophy.

What does every panel count really mean to

you in practice?

No fillers, man, we're not wasting,

you know,

we're not taking the cheap route on

anything if we can.

This,

I actually learned this working on

somebody else's project as an art

director, right?

You know,

cause now it's like a no-nonsense thing.

When it's my project, you know,

like it's all,

We friends and, you know,

we're friends first and we're colleagues

second.

I don't think of myself as your boss.

And even though, you know,

you're being paid for work,

I still feel like you're doing me a

favor more than anything because you're

helping me to get these dreams

accomplished.

So but when I'm working on somebody else's

project now,

I'm locked in because it's my reputation

and I want to make sure that that

person's

book is done in the way that it

should be, you know,

it should be done entrusting me to do

that, right?

So it's not to say that it's not

always there and I get lazy about my

work.

It's just that when I was working on

somebody else's project,

I really honed in and focused super hard.

And, you know,

now we're carrying that and continuing

that tradition on with the Diary of Sweet

Pea.

So when I say that every panel counts,

I mean,

everything has to be with a person,

a purpose.

I want, I want to really, you know,

imagine things in motion and capture the

perfect screenshot of that moment that

they're trying to we're trying to convey

in the script and that includes you know

if we have to change the color of

the sky for this one panel because it

makes more sense and yeah you know it

becomes vibrant then that's just something

that we have to do um and i

believe that art tells a story as well

right so i mean

looking at paintings or just, you know,

a pinup that somebody made that catches

your eye at a comic book convention.

These things like they tell stories.

So I think that in every single panel

that we that we write.

It deserves that it deserves a story to

be told and that in and of itself,

just the artist's brain thing, I'm sorry.

No, no, no.

I like hearing it.

I mean,

I know when I'm on my road trips,

I listen to my podcast back to myself,

and I will listen to the shows and

what you just said will probably make an

impact on me on a road trip in

the future.

Because it makes a hundred percent sense,

right?

Right.

You're staking your reputation,

but at the same time,

if you're working on somebody else's work,

Not only is it your reputation,

it's their reputation as a writer who's

now employed you as their artist.

Exactly.

It's win win in making sure you're just

putting one hundred percent into

everything you're doing.

So for me, it makes plenty of sense.

And I'm sure for the listeners out there

later,

it will make plenty of sense as well,

because.

What I love about doing this is we

get to share insights into.

behind the curtains of the art and the

you know the story of the comic book

with the persons involved involved in

making that comic book so yeah let's dive

in really into sweet pea

and what Sweet Pea is all about.

So it has a powerful premise.

A young girl unconsciously creating

constructs of deceased loved ones in a

world warped by reality-altering energy.

We got into it a little bit beforehand,

but I held off...

But where did that idea come from?

Because I love this idea.

It is an amazing original concept.

So, you know, like I said,

I've been in the

Video game characters that don't have

enough backstory,

I used to create more for them.

You know what I mean?

I was a kid that would say,

I'm that character.

I picked Rock Lee out of the Naruto

lineup.

That's me from now on.

This is my guy.

We rocking out.

So I've been really attached to pop

culture as a medium, right?

Comic books, cartoons, video games,

and things like that.

I really was always into them.

And I've also always created my own

stories and ideas.

So some of these characters and concepts,

like the Bane, for example,

have existed in multiple iterations

whether it's like a monk from D&D or

create a character on a game or whatever

for years.

So now I get to finally take all

of those ideas and stories of those

characters and put them inside of this

little sandbox playpen with Imani and see

what comes out.

Now for her specifically, Imani,

probably represents my children and,

you know,

like my fears for them and the world

that they have to grow up in and

face and be prepared for on their own

without me one day.

You know,

thank God it's not the life that they

live in because it is, you know,

like there's some crazy stuff going inside

of the book.

But, you know, metaphorically speaking,

it's what's waiting for them out there.

And, you know,

so I've got to be prepared.

So Imani in the comic book is only

fourteen years old.

Yes, she's carrying grief,

power and responsibility way beyond her

years.

Why was it important for you to tell

this kind of story through a such a

young protagonist?

OK, so I mean,

you kind of hinted at it just then,

but you want to do a little bit.

I mean, like just beyond my own kids.

Right.

We got.

a lot going on in the city that

I come from, especially with young kids.

There's a lot of violence.

There's a lot of foolishness.

There's a lot.

We have a lot of issues that these

kids are facing and dealing with.

The concept is

really kind of like a nature versus

nurture thing.

Because Imani has this, you know,

she has to face this dangerous world,

hostile world,

but she also had a loving father that

instilled certain morals inside of her and

things of that nature.

And now we get to see these extreme

situations clash with each other and see

what comes out of it.

I'm still not sure which way I want

to take Imani,

if I want her to end up

how I want to let all those moments

affect her.

I have a pretty good idea,

but I'm not going to,

I don't want to,

I want to surprise myself as well and

be open to the possibility that, you know,

she might,

she might not be a hero by the

end of this.

She might be the threat that the world

has to deal with, you know, you know,

stay tuned.

No, I like that.

I like leaving that open-ended

you know, story like that,

especially when it's very easily could be

one way or the other.

And it is really on you on how

you want the character to go and where

you see her being in the future.

And I'm excited for it to be fair.

Like I'm down either way.

It's really just let it, let it burn.

Let it burn.

It's really dope, man.

Cause, cause like Imani, she has, um,

the whole world watching her, right?

You have the Bane that initiated this

event,

exposed this energy to our planet in order

to harvest it.

And Imani is, well, no,

we ain't going to tell that yet.

We got it.

We won't make up too many spoilers.

We want people to still go out and

support the book.

Let's put a pin on that.

I want to make sure I get my

words right before I let it all out.

But so let's talk about a little bit

about the grief and the memory of

everything happening in this story.

So Amani's companions are born from loss,

not choice.

How did you approach portraying grief in a

way that's honest,

but still accessible to readers?

Like it can resonate because we all have

dealt with loss in our own way.

I know Mike, same as me,

we've lost grandparents and stuff with,

you know.

So how did you approach that?

So this is something that me and Mike

went back and forth and kind of hammered

out a little bit together.

You know, I have written, I wrote it.

And, you know, then Mike,

when Mike got a hold of it and

read it,

I didn't really know what I had written

and how powerful it really was and how

much we should focus on it.

So there was some,

I'm only gonna say major edits there,

but it was some refocusing on dealing with

grief because like you said, man,

it's something that we all go through,

young and old.

I think for me,

it was just the natural progression of the

story so far of Imani with how much

she's been through in the first two

issues.

You know,

this is a fourteen year old kid.

She's seen a lot and been through a

lot.

You know, her powers.

I'll tell you this much.

Her powers are subconscious in nature.

Right.

And they're actually a little bit sinister

towards her in a way, because.

it makes it hard to tell reality from

what's real from what's not, right?

So now in this issue,

she's facing some hard truths

and coming to some realizations of things

that happened earlier in the story that

now she has to confront all of this

at the same time with a mind that's

full of all of this energy and outcome.

It's a recipe for disaster.

So that's where the story took me.

It's a beautiful contrast, really.

It also makes it really easy for when

you decide later on which way you want

to go with her.

The backstory is there for her to be

the ultimate villain.

Yeah, it is.

It has a lot to say about what's

coming next because the world around her

is moving

And she's progressing,

but at a very slow emotional rate.

That is the pace that we're moving Imani

through the story.

Because one of the cool things that people

are going to discover about Sweepy is that

it just isn't about a little girl who

gets superpowers from...

weird energy that engulfs the planet

there's a there's a huge huge world behind

all that that that includes you know the

phyto fighting force and uh aliens beyond

the bane uh with weird crystals and

mystical healing powders and stuff like

that it it it goes beyond that but

the progression the emotional focus and

how it contrasts to the world around her

gorgeous absolutely gorgeous

So I got to ask,

was there a particular emotional moment or

scene in this book that hit you harder

than expected while you were writing it?

Oh, man.

Every moment.

I mean, so it's hard for me because,

you know,

I'm thinking about my kids when I'm

writing this,

but I'm putting them in this, you know,

like they're going in the meat grinder

inside of this book.

So, yeah.

these kids are in the upside down and

they don't know it.

Yeah.

So, I mean, like it's, it's, you know,

like every,

every page is hard for me and I

have to make some serious decisions about,

you know,

like keeping the integrity of the book.

I can't take it easy on them.

I just really have to like channel these

innate, often unfounded, you know,

but dad's prepare, you know,

here's that I, you know,

fears that I have for my, uh,

you know, my kids, man,

and I'm letting it out inside of the

page.

So one of the most haunted aspects of

this story is that Imani doesn't even

realize the scale of what she's involved

in.

What drew you to the narrative tension of

that?

Yeah, so like I said,

originally my plan was to make the diary

of Sweet Pea strictly from the perspective

of Imani, right?

Like we're just looking in her diary.

So the only things that we can really

know is what she knows and what she

sees.

But, you know,

we found that the book is so expansive

because there's a lot of history,

you know,

between all of these different factions

and everything.

And there's a lot going on with a

lot of, you know,

like a lot of different people all at

the same time.

And it's of no value to me to

not let the reader,

like I know all this in my head,

but the reader doesn't get to know all

this until he gets to see it.

So, you know, we decided to change that.

our focus a little more and try to

encompass those you know other elements

and did i answer your question i feel

like i did no no no you did

you did how does this lack of awareness

from amani heighten the danger both for

herself and also the world around her

because she's not she doesn't really

realize what she's capable of it seems

yeah so

it just makes it more,

it makes it more interesting to me to

have this journey of discovery.

You know, I think it pays more into,

um,

Imani's story and the overall story that

I'm trying to tell is even though

superpowers in it, I don't think we can,

anybody could really say that this is like

a superhero or a super villain book,

you know, not, not really.

So her lack of awareness just allows for

her to continue developing as a

fourteen-year-old would inside of this

world that she's in.

It's an extreme situation,

but making her a part of the fighters

in defense of humanity,

the FIDO or something like that,

would just give her too much structure to

get the story out.

She needs to be on her own and

finding herself and figuring out what

these powers are, what's real to her,

what's not.

If I have her around too many people

all the time,

then you kind of start to lose all

of that.

Simply put,

a cold sword was never a sword until

we put it in the fire.

I like it.

Dude, yeah.

No,

so I've only gotten to see basically the

press pass that he sent over to me.

And the moment I opened it and started

reading it, I was like, all right,

I got to have this whole thing.

It is that good in my eyes.

So you're the art director on Sweet Pea

as well, right?

How did you develop this visual language

of the constructs versus the real world

for her?

So we took some locations from Philly and

the surrounding areas because that's where

the story takes place at.

So Philly and Delco.

And, you know, as far as the style,

I wanted to confuse the reader's mind a

little bit because it's ultimately a story

about a fourteen year old girl.

So we have this kind of very approachable,

soft, round art style.

Contrasting with, you know,

like dark themes and violence and stuff

like that,

so I just thought that would be

Dope, because I like dark fantasy,

fantasy whimsical stuff,

but seeing like it could have been,

like it's kind of like a childish in

this animation,

but the story is heavy and rich.

That's what I had in mind for when

I was creating,

coming up with the art style.

Are there any visual cues or design rules

readers should subconsciously pick up on

as this story unfolds?

Are you evolving the art in this story

with visual cues for people to pick up

on, if that makes sense?

There's stuff there.

that help tell the story that aren't

necessarily you have to be looking for.

Yeah, watch Imani's eyes.

Anytime you don't wear,

keep an eye on her eyes.

I'll say that much.

That's a big giveaway.

we talked about this last time mike how

uh it takes us like you know forty

five minutes or an hour to read a

comic book because we're not just reading

the comic but we're actually studying yeah

the page as well because i'm looking for

visual cues i'm looking for easter eggs

i'm doing all these things while i'm

reading a comic book yes yeah i'll read

the page yep but then i go like

this right here through the page and i'm

just looking for things that

draw me to something or something where i

see it here but when i'm going to

get you know five pages over here i'm

going to see it again and it's just

those little visual cues that cue me into

things and i like that because the eyes

are always so telling but it is something

that

don't see a lot of in comic books

people using the eyes to help tell stories

so i i really like the fact that

you you're using the eyes of characters to

tell stories in that kind of way as

well so

Yeah, everything, everything counts.

You know,

we got to take it all into consideration.

It's nice to have something in there that,

you know,

like you find some detail that the artist

didn't put an arrow on pointing to make

sure you know.

That's why it takes me like ten to

fifteen minutes to read a page of a

comic book, because that's what I'm doing.

And even like,

if you get a chance to check out

issue one,

there's some things in there too, where,

you know,

like the size of characters and things

like that change.

And it's for, you know,

like it's for a reason, you know,

I put, it was deliberate.

We put it there on purpose,

but want to kind of let you have

some fun with why did this change so

much from one panel to the next kind

of.

Now, I like that kind of stuff,

and it's one of those where I think

that's an underutilized aspect that you

can do in comic books.

More people take advantage of that.

So you've worked across multiple projects,

Deathblade, the Five Thirds crew,

and now Sweet Pea as a creator.

How have those other experiences sharpened

your leadership as a storyteller?

So definitely it was dope because I got

to work with another writer for the first

time,

which was something I was trying to get

my hands on some scripts to just check

out and see how other people do it.

So getting to work on another person's

script and read it,

create these panel ideas and layouts

inside of my head and everything.

um really opened up my eyes to how

much more seriously i could take it

because i did a damn good job with

with death blade you know what i mean

and um and i think you know like

that just showed me that i can take

this to another level you know i can

i can take my own work to another

level and then with the five thirds crew

that came after

You know,

and this is the guy that's just this

is his first book, second issue.

First one wasn't really exactly a comic

book, but it's such an exciting idea.

That's all you got to make this comic.

So that one is actually it's like a

math book.

workbook but also a comic book and it's

really really good it's a great idea it

has you know like it's fully characters

it's not like the uh the things that

you get inside the dentist's office you

know yeah brush man or something like that

you know this is a full it's a

full comic book and it has

you know,

like these moments where they come up and

have to solve a math problem.

So, you know,

there's space for you on the page to

write in the book and solve the math

problems.

And he had a script.

Were those given to schools?

I hope so, man.

I think they should.

That would be such a cool concept,

especially for, like,

once they get to the second, third,

fourth grade, you know?

That would just be, like,

a fun way to do math.

I think he's got the golden goose, man.

Yeah, no kidding.

That might be it.

But, yeah, so, I mean, he had, like,

a word spreadsheet thing for his script.

so i took that remade it into an

actionable script that we can actually get

panels ideas from sent that back over to

him and you know we got we got

we went from there so i mean it

just showed me more of what i'm able

to offer because for me this is fun

more than more than work yeah

I'm passionate about it.

I get to be good at something.

It's still catching up to me.

I'm not trying to pat myself on the

back.

I don't want to seem like I got

a big deal.

You reach around.

It's not one of these, man.

Honestly, for me,

I know exactly where you're coming from

because that's how I feel about what I

do here.

There's times where I'm just like,

there's days like today where i actually

get to sit down and do the show

talk to you talk to mike again and

it makes it all the stress and stuff

leading up to these moments well worth it

so for sure man it feels good to

be good at something like this is this

is my thing right dude exactly that that's

exactly how i feel man this this right

here is like where

I found a niche and I was like,

why aren't there other people bigger than

me exploring this niche?

Yeah.

I would love to talk to some of

the bigger creators out there,

but at the same time,

if I could talk to guys like you

and Mike and other indie creators out

there who I see as the future of

comic book storytelling to begin with,

that to me has more depth to it

because I,

tomorrow you could be working for Marvel

or DC.

I don't know.

And I can look back and go,

I knew him before he was over there.

And, you know,

I have this proof right here in the

pudding that he got over there,

you know what I'm saying?

He's definitely got chops.

If I'm there,

it ain't going to be like I knew

him.

It's going to be like,

I know that guy.

Yeah.

I appreciate that.

Like I said, to me,

this is where it's at.

This is where the future is.

The future starts with indie comics.

I don't know a single big name out

there making comics right now that didn't

get their start in some kind of way

at this level.

So that's why I do what I do

to keep bringing you guys to the forefront

of people.

So I love it.

And I'll do it until I can't.

I appreciate it.

We need that.

We definitely need it.

You know, like I said before,

making the book,

you find it to be I found it

to be surprisingly easy.

I ain't going to say it's an easy

thing to do,

but it's extremely possible to do.

selling that book and getting eyes on it

you know it's really freaking hard what's

great about this right here is at the

end of the day i'm going to chop

this up for you i'm going to send

you over clips to help you you know

with that part of the of the selling

so

It's pretty crazy how something as simple

as a clip from a podcast interview that

you did can help kind of push that

along to another level.

So hopefully this will do that for you.

You can get us up to that that

fifty, you know,

pregame backers over on the Kickstarter

and everybody can get that cool as mobile

phone screensaver.

Yeah, yeah.

I feel free to cut me out.

You can cut me out.

You don't have to leave me.

You just edit it,

stack y'all's cameras together so it fits.

I don't have to be a part of

it.

I already got my clips.

Give him his clips.

Dude, honestly,

I didn't know if you were going to

show up or not.

And I literally,

when I was putting everything together,

I was like...

I was like,

I don't know if Mike's going to show

up.

And I'm like, but if he shows up,

you know, I'm prepared for that.

You know,

he can jump in where he wants to

jump in.

But I really,

I kind of had a feeling that you

wanted me to put more focus on Aleem.

I've been like doing that.

So I don't want you to think that

I'm ignoring you, Mike.

Absolutely.

But so you're,

You're just not building worlds.

You're raising five kids as well.

How has being a father influenced the

stories you've done?

I can kind of see that from what

I've gotten to see of Sweet Pea so

far.

But how has that been a big factor

into this?

You've hinted on it, but...

Yeah.

Well, first of all, just full disclaimer,

I want anybody reading this book and

thinking that very well.

Before we went live,

he was messaging his kids.

I swear to you.

Yeah.

So the kids are doing great.

Well, like I said, you know,

before and fathers prepare, fathers worry,

fathers consider, you know,

just something that men do.

You know,

we go into a room and analyze threats.

You know, it's just what we do.

So, you know, as a father, you know,

even from a young age, you know, well,

not me at a young age,

when I'm looking at my kids at a

young age,

Looking at their cute little faces,

but all of this knowledge of the world.

And I understand where they're at.

You know what I mean?

Everything's all fun and sunshine for

them.

As much as we can keep it that

way, we do.

You want to protect that innocence for as

long as you can.

As long as possible, man.

And make sure that they get the best

shot possible.

But...

it's a nasty world man it's a nasty

world and at the end of the day

we gotta prepare these children to be a

part of it one day and out on

their own they gotta leave the nest so

and that is that for me i ain't

gonna say it's always been scary i'm not

like a helicopter parent or anything like

that i trust that i've um

giving the kids what they need to go

out in the world.

And I'm still there for them whenever they

need me or whatever.

So it's not like I'm a nihilist or

something like that,

if I'm using that word right.

But I know what it is out there.

So that's what I'm putting out inside of

this book.

That fear, that worry,

just following that string of imagination.

turning it into something that's

interesting as a comic book, you know,

for the reader.

How have you managed to balance all that

between your family life and what you do

for comic books?

I don't know if you have a regular

job as well,

but how do you find balance in all

that?

Well, first of all,

I do a very poor job.

I can do that because mine's in college.

So I can it allows me to have

more time to do this kind of stuff,

which I am thankful for at this point

because I've done the hard part already.

I'm still I'm still I got a freshman,

a college freshman and a kindergartner.

she's a sophomore so in college so i'm

kind of like i can hands off and

just be there when i need to be

there so that's nice so i mean um

you know we make do it's easier it's

it's not easy but it's easier because it's

something that i'm passionate about doing

This ain't the same as me going in

for overtime to get, you know,

try to get a couple extra bills,

catch up on some credit cards.

This is me, you know, betting on myself.

This is me following my dreams.

This is me pursuing my passions.

And, you know,

when I can get my mental state together

to lock in,

I can do some amazing things.

And once you see once this Kickstarter

goes live,

and you see the care that I put

into that presentation and people start

seeing these, you know,

this book and these books that we've made,

I think you're going to see all of

that come through there.

I like it.

I'm in the same boat, man.

I got a nine to five.

The only reason I still keep the nine

to five is because I got bills to

pay, man.

Otherwise,

I'd be doing this full time whether I

was getting paid or not.

If people just watch the videos and let

me get paid to do this,

I wouldn't need the nine to five because

if I was getting paid to do this,

I'd do it all the time.

I wouldn't be worried about closing my

schedule.

I'd be like, hey, yeah,

I can fit you in at two p.m.

on Thursday.

Let's do it.

I know it's the same for Mike, too.

I know you guys are dealing with the

same things, man.

We all are.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

And me and Mike talked about that when

he was on last time, too.

I mean...

if we could if we didn't have to

do it we would this would be i'd

be a full-time creator in a heartbeat i'll

work into that point you know i would

i want to be there and that that

is kind of my goal is hopefully end

of the year i'll be you know that

next step closer to being able to do

that so we'll see

it's all about the grind.

And I showed y'all my schedule for the

month of February.

We grind in this month.

We grind in this month.

It's consistent, man.

It pays off.

But, um,

i wish everybody knew that man i wish

i knew that from i wish i knew

this when i was you know kid watching

batman the animated series and you know

superman and all that stuff that you know

oh freakazoid regular people so all those

great people i've always been i've never

read the credits you know like i stopped

when i've never stayed for the credits of

the show i just watched the shows or

you know i read the books and then

i went about my day but those were

always

regular people that pursued their dreams,

followed it, and landed where they are.

So that's actually a part of my mission.

And I'll say that on every show that

I go on, that you can do it,

man.

If there's any kids watching and you have

ideas,

Start taking them seriously pursue them

and you know create just even if you're

just like Hopping on YouTube and watching

videos of what it is that you want

to do or what you have a passion

for And just do it Yeah,

because I remember when I first started

doing this I was watching YouTube videos

on how to do YouTube videos and how

to podcast and Ways to do it economically

and and get the most bang out of

your money so

Yeah, exactly.

And I was in my late thirties when

I started doing that.

So just imagine if we was nineteen,

twenty years old, getting it from there.

When I was eighteen or nineteen years old,

I don't think podcasting was a thing.

It was still being on it.

The way I see it is I do

a live podcast for the people who like

to watch.

but I also know and understand that I

got a face for radio.

So it also goes to Spotify and apples.

Okay.

Yeah.

So yeah, man, it's just like, you know,

just the takeaway is more people should,

if I could have,

if I could have built my life around

comic books,

I would be happy with wherever the chips

are.

Fortunately, you know, like I'm not,

I thank God for my, for,

for my life and everything that I have.

But you know,

I've got a lot built now that I

got to maintain.

So that nine to five,

not stopping until this takes off.

And then we can put our full attention

over here.

True story right there.

So without spoiling anything, man,

where do you see the diary of sweet

pea headed thematically?

As this story continues,

you've been kind of like dropping us

little breadcrumbs along the way there,

but without a spoiler,

where are you headed?

And, Mike,

you're giggling down there like a little

schoolgirl.

I don't know, Mike.

You think I can do it without spoiling?

Some dark places.

Hey,

this is one of those where you can

go, hey, dude,

I can't do this question without giving a

spoiler away.

And I'm going to understand it.

The people who are going to be listening

later on the podcast are going to

completely understand as well.

So...

If you can't do it without giving

spoilers, then by all means,

we can go to the next question.

I think you could explain it like this.

The stages of grief, right?

She's accepted it,

but there's one emotion that's pretty

valid in the stages of grief that you

got to get through,

and you won't like her when she's angry.

That's a perfect way to put it right

there, Gulls,

especially if she is

going through those stages of grief.

That makes perfect sense.

And if that's where it's going,

then I know there's a step in there

that's... That's what the talk is,

but the boss said it's open.

We're still talking about it.

It's on a pendulum.

It's on a pendulum.

but we can skip that one.

Let me ask you this,

is Sweet Pea a contained story or is

a foundation there of something much

bigger?

Oh,

it's absolutely a foundation there for

something much bigger.

You know, if this story takes off now,

we got a lot of things coming down

the pipe.

Me and Mike have something that we working

on together.

I have some other ideas that I want

to explore,

but if this thing really takes off and

the people are really interested in seeing

where this story can go,

there are so many factions inside of this.

So you have the Bane,

who are interdimensional creatures that go

from dimension to dimension.

creating catastrophic events and then

harvesting uh the resources from them and

moving on you have the results who are

like ancient enemy of the bane also travel

between dimensions and fighting them you

know and uh guerrilla warfare tactics for

hundreds of years thousands of years you

have the fight fighters in defense of

humanity or fido who is um

paramilitary global organization created

to try to fight against the BAME

using, you know,

like this new experimental technology.

Then you have, you know,

the average everyday human who also,

you know,

like we could focus on people who are

not powered and trying to survive this new

hellscape that we all have to deal with

in this story.

And then you have the people who absorb

the energy and become powered individuals.

You know, it's not just the money.

You know, she's just, uh,

we'll get into that issue for, but it's,

um, you know, you have,

you have other people too, that, that,

that have this power.

So there's a lot of elements, you know,

there's some,

there's some things in issue two that I

could take and make like a graphic novel,

a hundred and eighty pages easily.

Issue two could have easily been five or

six issues alone.

So we can go some places if you

guys want to go some places.

We can explore some more.

I like that a lot, dude.

But let's jump into the Kickstarter.

It is launching in March.

And what can you tell us about the

upcoming Kickstarter and what this

represents for the project?

Because this is issue three.

It's pretty pivotal of a four-issue

series.

Yeah, so issue three,

I'm giving it a lot of love and

care and affection with this Kickstarter

campaign.

I'm building it myself from the ground up.

Coming up with some really fun stretch

goals, one of which is live right now.

So in our prelaunch,

we have a stretch goal where if we

can get our followers on the prelaunch

page up to fifty,

then everybody's going to get that free

digital screensaver for their phones that

we talked about.

And then, you know,

like we'll probably do something like if

we can get up to one hundred and

a desktop wallpaper.

or something like that.

But we also have an element where sharing

is going to come into play.

I'll have some stretch goals for that.

For the number of backers,

we'll have stretch goals.

And then, of course,

monetary stretch goals as well to increase

that.

I'm only asking for a thousand dollars.

And if I only get enough to print,

that's fine.

Cause it's, you know, I was,

I bet on myself first with, with,

with the diary of sweet pea, um,

I pay for this book out of my

pocket.

Right.

So the book is, the book is done.

It's edited, it's worded,

it's lettered and everything like that.

Now we just got to get the print.

so if um traction is still low and

i haven't gotten it out to enough people

then you know we prep with a with

a thousand dollars and as high as we

can take it you know we uh we

make more it's not you know we definitely

going to finish diary sweet pea issue four

because that uh you know it's the promise

that i made when i wrote issue one

and put one of four in there

Which, by the way,

don't do if you if you if you

listen to that, you know,

just let it be issue one and leave

it at that.

Yeah.

Oh,

like it creates a box that you don't

necessarily want to have to deal with,

you know,

kind of confine the story into four issues

that could have easily been well with

thirteen or more.

So, you know.

I'm confident that we're going to hit that

goal.

But, you know,

I think that we made something really

special and it deserves it deserves to be

seen.

You're going to want to take a chance.

I know I'm not the best salesman in

the world,

but I'm a damn good comic book creator.

And this is a damn good comic book.

So I just think that you get to

come back the next time and go volume

to issue one and just leave it alone.

yeah so the the pitchwater man that has

we got some got some great graphics for

you guys um i have some really fun

tears we have three different books uh

covers so we four covers that include the

script the sketch cover yusuf shitu is the

line artist he's he's the standard cover

that's also going to be a holographic

cover that vibrant um purple

Which one was on the cover that you

had a cover on there on the press

release that I sent to you?

I had some of them that Mike had

sent over.

If you want,

I can pull it up real quick.

For sure.

Yeah.

All right.

Because this is the one that's been my

favorite one, to be fair.

The skydive pose, the all-purple.

And there was a one on the one.

Yeah, we got to.

There we go.

Yeah.

So that's that's this is clean.

Yeah, it's powerful, right?

Everything about this says I want to buy

this book.

yeah so this is this represents like a

really strong moment that you're going to

find inside of the book right well not

this exact picture but this moment is

contained inside of the book and um you

know like this is just an example of

the kind of intention that we have when

we create and the artwork to go along

with it the artist first so that's yeah

that's our standard cover yusuf shitu

knocked that out of the park

We actually had a coloring contest with

the line art from that.

And me, the colorist, and the line artist,

Yusef.

And for the third book now,

he's beat me on the colors for his

work.

Now,

the moment Mike had sent that cover over,

I was like,

i'm going with this cover i don't care

what anybody else says like that it just

instantly became like the cover for me

well we got to use stuff man because

he killed it on that cover yeah he

knocked that out we got we got some

more great artists though uh for our

variant covers we have uh travis uh jay

travis smith who's worked with idw and a

whole slew of other people

got an alternate cover from him.

And then Mark McKenna,

who I spoke about earlier,

who's been with Marvel since I was a

baby, also did a cover for me,

which is amazing.

I hope they don't throw no type of

way when I say that,

but it just blows my mind that me

and him got to work together.

This guy has

and all other kinds of stuff and now

he's a cover artist for alter ego arts

the diary is sweepy as well and that

is just mind-blowing oh dude that that's

that i love that dude i'd love to

hear like like i had another guy on

the podcast not that long ago and he

had a guy that i personally like admire

his work uh franco franco bella

did a cover for him.

That dude's cover work and just his art

in general just blows me away every time

I get to see it.

Knowing that he got a cover from him,

A,

I was immediately envious of it because he

messaged Chris Ford to do a cover for

him.

He's like, hey,

I want to do a cover for you.

They did a cover for him.

I'm just like,

dude that's freaking amazing so for me it

was just like when he told me that

i was blown away by it but it's

when it goes to show that it doesn't

matter where you're at there's always

somebody watching what you're doing and

are willing to do something for you you

know what i'm saying

So to me, it's dope as hell, man.

Like you got to get a cover by

somebody that you've looked up to and

admired.

Don't meet your heroes,

but sometimes meeting your heroes gets you

a cover, you know?

And then, you know what, like,

like I said before, I never,

I wasn't reading the credits to these

things that I was picking up.

Right.

And books, you know what I mean?

Like I've carried books with his inks on

there across States.

You know,

and stuff like that and passed it down

to other, you know,

like my little cousins and stuff like

that.

So like it is wild, too,

because you don't think about the amount

of people it goes to making a single

issue of a comic book until you either

start work.

So for me,

when I started doing the podcast and

working with comic books more often and

more frequently,

that I started paying attention to the guy

who does the pencils,

the guy that does the ink,

the guy that does the colors,

the guys that do the stories,

the guy that does the productions,

the guys who do the printing.

And you realize the writer, the artist,

and the cover artist are the three people

who get all the freaking credit.

You know what I'm saying?

But there is a bigger team behind those

three individuals.

Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Like the editor.

Exactly.

Really severely under positioned to where

if you didn't have a good editor,

you could be walking around with a hot

piece of ass for a comic book.

I'm honored to be a part of this

project.

This came shortly,

I think not long after my mom had

passed away.

And one of the things that I'd taken

away from what a limit sent me was

the grieving process.

And so us just getting along really well

over the Kickstarter that we were doing

for him on issue one.

was just, I mean,

it's kind of meant to be.

So when I was asked,

I couldn't say no.

And, uh,

we worked out a price and I've,

I've held to that standard and we worked

together ever since.

And we were working on some other stuff

outside of sweeping now.

Um,

that's kind of exciting and it's really

really slow because all our schedules and

all the things we're involved with and of

course we're trying to put out sweet pea

and get to get to that issue for

as fast as we can but but uh

it's it's it's been a it's been a

true honor to be honest uh comics has

not only brought me closer to the industry

that i wanted to when i finished my

degree but

Man, it's brought me friends.

It's brought me people who are like-minded

that have allowed me to open up to

other people who are like-minded to talk

about the things in the creative space

that you don't really talk about,

that readers don't see on the page as

a product, you know.

There are some things that we don't talk

about when we're creating process.

We just don't talk about it just because

it's an insecurity or we don't want to

look dumb.

We get to talk about those in safe

spaces with those who are like-minded.

So that in itself has been a blessing.

So I'm just tickled to be a part

of it, to be honest.

Whatever value I've brought to it,

I'll let a limb speak to it.

But it's his baby.

I'm just helping him polish it.

And I'm just like, thank you, man.

Thank you so much for letting me be

here.

You sound like Marshall Lynch at the...

that NFL press release,

I'm just here so I don't get fined.

Mike here because Mike did a damn thing,

man, you know, like that.

Like I said, you know,

I don't want to, like,

want to praise you so much but i

don't want to i don't want to uh

you know like give the wrong idea that

you know like um by the end of

this episode he's gonna look like megamind

but it's just like the value of an

editor first of all like to have an

editor with a freaking master's degree and

you know editing related you know matters

it's just like wow and you know like

to have somebody that can take your ideas

and your your script and structure it

in a way that enhances it to the

best of its ability is is really

invaluable it's like it's a really

important step like you said that some

people skip you know some people may feel

like they don't need it but everybody

needs it you can't do this in a

bubble it takes a team

Like you said,

it takes a team of people that you

need to trust, you need to, you know,

be able to vibe with.

It helps to be able to, like,

I consider Mike a friend, you know,

more than anything.

We can talk about stuff that ain't got

nothing to do with comics, you know,

real life stuff that's going on and that

we deal with.

Or, you know, like, we could just,

it's nice,

it's cool to have somebody to just geek

out with these ideas with.

Yeah, dude,

that's some of the funnest parts to me.

And that's why I love having indie

creators here on the podcast is they're

just as big as nerds as I am

who understand the writing process,

the art process, the editing process.

And we already have a lot of stuff

in common anyway with comic books.

and it just like ups the nerd for

me on that you know what i'm saying

so it's always fun to me to have

guys on and not to just speak about

their projects but just to speak about

comic books in general you know because

it's one of those niches you it doesn't

get a lot of publicity yeah even though

it's a billion dollar industry

God, that makes me sick to my stomach.

There should be comic book creators on the

stage of The View.

What you mean women don't read comic

books?

I don't know about The View.

I'll skip that one.

No, no, no.

We can't skip that one.

People talk so much garbage about that

one.

Give me Oprah.

Oprah, hit me up.

I want to go on Oprah.

I want to go on Oprah and talk

comic books with Oprah.

Let's do it.

Oprah, hit me up.

Joe Rogan needs to have some podcast

individuals on there from the comic

industry.

He's had movie stars.

Joe Rogan, yeah, that's true.

Where are the comic book people at?

Let's make it happen.

I don't even have to come to Texas.

Oh, yeah.

We'll do it.

Yeah, we'll do it right here.

We'll do it one-on-one through StreamYard.

Let's do it.

Let's do it, Joe.

Let's jump back into this Kickstarter.

So for readers jumping in on this at

the ground level,

What makes this the right time to support

Sweet Pea?

And will they have a chance to catch

up with the first two volumes?

OK.

So if you're jumping in now,

you're jumping in at a great time because

I think we finally settled into the

perfect formula, right?

Issue one and issue two are available.

Issue one and issue two are great.

But if all you got to read so

far is issue three, if you jump in,

you only want to get a single issue,

and it's issue three,

there's enough there for you to be

interested enough, I think,

to later come back for issue one and

two.

And you're going to get me at my

best.

You want to get us at our best

with issue three.

It's a solid story.

You know,

we're maintaining that tradition of if you

pick up,

no matter which issue you pick up,

you should have a complete story, right?

Even if there's some back, you know,

whatever,

I want to make sure that from start

to finish,

you get a completed tale that's also a

part of a larger story,

but this alone should satisfy.

And I think that issue three is just

the perfect place to jump in to the

series.

I like it.

Issue one and two are available.

That was going to be my next question

is, will issue one and two be together?

Because if I'm going to back it,

I got to be able to get physical

copies of one and two because I'm a

physical issue guy.

Yeah.

It's something about the fresh smell of a

freshly printed comic that just very few

things come close.

Yep.

I'll make sure there's a continuity option

where you get all three for an agreed

upon price.

Yeah, definitely.

Physical and digital.

Yeah.

I know some people who have gone just

straight digital.

I myself cannot ever see myself doing

that.

I like getting the digital copies to read

in advance,

but it's just something about cutting that

tape off that box,

pulling out that physical copy.

Plus, to be fair,

it gives me more content.

From the business perspective,

if you plan to go all digital,

don't expect to raise much money because

there's no print involved.

That particular type of pursuit is for

those who want to run through a series

or a story really quickly and only need

to raise money to make the story.

You don't even have to go crowdfunding to

make money with the book.

You can go straight to Global Comics or

Amazon and Kindle and places like that.

It's a

yeah it's a business decision but unless

you're someone who's been in the industry

that's coming back or if you're like the

creator of swat cats who came and knocked

it out of the park they went all

digital they'd have made some money they

wouldn't have made near as much money if

they did if they wouldn't have gone to

print and then they just make a like

a close to a million of a kickstarter

it was almost close to a quarter almost

close to a quarter and they they raised

enough to make um a motion comic out

of the comic that they created

as like their first endeavor for bringing

SWAT cats back,

which I'm pretty sure they're in the

process of pursuing another animated

series.

But I was a part of that one

because I watched them back at the day

and I'm using it as an example to

explain, like,

if you don't have that name or that

previous nineties nostalgia,

you're not going to raise a whole lot

of money.

Going all digital.

So, I mean, people want physical,

tangible things to hold on to and go,

wow, look at me.

Look what I have.

It's part of the process.

So let me ask this.

What kind of reader do you think this

story is going to resonate with the most

once this campaign goes live?

Dads for sure.

Definitely dads.

I want to say that all readers,

teenage and up,

could pick it up and get a lot

of enjoyment out of it.

There's a lot of fun there,

but I think there's some elements in there

that's really special and specific to

fathers that I think is going to grasp

you no matter where you are,

where you're from in the world.

I think dads are really going to like

it.

I like it, dude.

So for readers who are just now

discovering this book for the first time,

what do you hope they feel when they

close the book?

So I know the question sounds the same,

but this is what do you hope they

feel when they close the book?

Once they've read cover to cover,

what do you want them to feel?

Oh, you know, I go deep.

All right.

Mike,

you're going to have to follow up on

this one, man.

I want them to be hungry.

I want them to be just slobbering at

the mall for more.

I want them to be all over Alem's

social medias,

clambering and beating on the social media

door,

asking to be let in so they can

see what's in the frying pan.

I think you have to get issue one

and two.

Cause the context that the emotional story

bringing to issue three is lost without

it.

But at the same time,

you're going to want to get issue one

and two,

and then you're going to want to know

what happens next.

Cause issue three is a slammer, man.

After we got done with this,

after seeing it all come together in the

pre-post for lettering, I was like,

I can't even believe I'm part of this.

This is so great.

The moment I finished reading that press

release,

I think it's five pages or something,

but it's just like

just such a it's like when they slide

the stake in front of you you know

yeah you're like oh yeah yeah no but

they don't give you no silverware and i

don't know this is another episode in this

conversation you know it's all about

building up for the kickstarter and i know

that i might be presumed biased

But typically and honestly,

if I saw this on the shelf,

I would pick it up.

But until I read it,

I don't think it's something I would

innately just be like, yeah,

put it in my cart.

If that purple cover was on the shelf,

I would immediately grab that purple cover

and be like, hey, LCS,

where do I get issue one and two?

Because if this cover is any indication of

what is on the inside,

I'm going to need the other two to

go with it.

Which is why the cover is so great.

and that's that's what i look for in

covers when it comes to comics does this

cover have anything to do uh with the

story i'm going to experience from the

inside some of it's just flash or they

got like a guest artist to come in

and

and do a little woo-ha and a little

bit of glitzy glamour.

Put their name on it.

Yeah,

but covers like the one that we all

voted on to be the cover for issue

three,

on top of it being the art was

elevated.

I'm not being biased here.

I'm really passionate about what we all

just accomplished together inside this

third issue.

It's a slammer.

You got to have one through three.

So what I would like people to understand

is how hungry you're going to feel when

you get done with it.

Because issue four is really up to y'all.

It's up to all the backers.

It's up to everybody who tells someone to

back it.

It's up to how well this podcast does.

It's up to y'all how fast we get

to issue four.

for y'all to be satiated in the hunger

that you're about to feel.

So I am so happy for y'all,

speaking to just those who are watching,

reading, and want to back this.

But at the same time,

I'm so very sorry that issue four is

not here.

But we want it to be here.

So please back, back, back.

Tell someone to back it.

Tell everybody.

Tell your friends, your mom, your grandma,

if they forgot a birthday present.

You know, I pressed this live.

It's going to have all the,

everything in there.

And then I know, you know,

Lynn was talking before and he's like,

Hey,

I know we're just like kind of building

up the, uh,

we're putting the steak on the grill,

so to speak right now.

We're actually going live in March, right?

Like mid-March is what I think it is.

Yep.

We're going to bring it back sometime in

March and we're going to do this again

properly.

Yep.

For sure.

And you're absolutely right, man.

My thinking was like, you know,

if you get issue three, right?

So I'll just give you guys fair warning.

Busy guy.

I want to get out to as many

conventions as possible.

But I'm not the easiest to find right

now for sale.

So this Kickstarter, you know, issue one,

two, and three are going to be available.

And probably the easiest way for right now

for you to get your hands on all

three copies of this book

you know we'll look into getting inside

the stores and getting out the conventions

i love doing conventions i just gotta have

you know the time and money to get

out to them i love going out and

meeting people so if i can you know

i'll be there as many as possible for

this kickstarter if you if you walk away

only with issue three you might be

disappointed because you're going to want

you're going to want issue one and two

once you read issue three for sure all

right fellas

We're at that part of the show where

I'm going to ask y'all to plug yourselves.

Tell everybody where they can find y'all

at.

Liam, we'll start with you, man.

So you can find me on Facebook and

Instagram,

Alty Eagle Arts or Sweet Pea Comic.

Both of those.

MJF, it's your turn, buddy.

Like in the last episode, man,

you can find me on Facebook.

I'm on MFoodForThoughts on Instagram.

I also have a few websites and you

can find me on the IMP sub stack,

Inevitable Media Press.

And also on Alignable.

Alignable is a social media for B-to-Bs or

businesses and people who have small

businesses.

Sole proprietors can go and connect with

people who have services.

That's not a paid marketing.

I'm just explaining it because I didn't

know what it was and how cool it

was.

I met a lot of comics people on

Alignable.

That's where you can hit me up to

find editing services and find out how I

can help you turn your product into what

I'm doing for a limb right here with

Sweet Pea.

I like it.

Even though you were the hardest guy to

get a hold of.

I'm not even shitting anybody, y'all.

Message his ass on Facebook.

He's guaranteed to see it.

I did CC a limb and let him

handle it because it's kind of his baby.

To bridge the gap, yeah.

I do apologize for that.

I'm actually really easy to talk to.

Ask a limb.

Easy to talk to.

It's the getting in part.

I got a little bit of a white

rabbit.

All jokes aside, man, hey,

it was a pleasure to have both of

you on tonight and to talk about Sweet

Pea with you all for one.

I'm going to shoot you over the schedule

for March.

I'm not kidding when I tell you February

is full and March is looking like it's

going to fill up just as fast.

So if you want to come back in

March,

you're going to have to jump on the

schedule now.

Ladies and gentlemen,

and that's the thing about indie comics.

They're not just stories on paper.

They're lived experiences.

They're grief turned into strength.

They're creators who understand that every

panel counts.

isn't just telling a story with the diary

of sweet pea.

He's building a world rooted in emotion,

intention, and craft.

So you,

if you believe in creator owned comments,

if you believe in stories that look as

good as they read,

and if you believe in supporting the

people bold enough to make them,

you know where to look.

Ladies and gentlemen,

this has been the Chairman and the United

States Department of Nerds for Indie

Comics Come to Life.

Y'all be safe and stay warm.

I love the outros.