WEBVTT

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You are listening to the USDN on the

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DFPN.

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Thank you.

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hello there it's the chairman of the

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united states department of nerds where we

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are for the people by the people and

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of the people today we are sitting down

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with a creator who understands that

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storytelling doesn't stop at the script it

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lives in the composition the pacing and

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the emotion of every panel artist

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writer, art director, husband,

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a father of five,

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and the creative force behind the Diary of

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Sweet Pea.

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The council is now in session.

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Aleem, welcome to the council of nerds,

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my friend.

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Oh, and Mike is here with us too.

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My bad, dude.

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It's all right.

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I got my fabulous intro last time.

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You did.

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You got to get my last sign of

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it.

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It was Aleem's turn this time,

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so he got the good one.

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I feel good.

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That was a great intro.

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It's like,

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remember Big Daddy when Adam Sandler came

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into the party at the very end?

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He's like, oh,

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did y'all waste another good happy

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birthday surprise on me?

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with it but um aleem we'll dive right

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into it so for those meeting you for

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the very first time who is aleem and

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how did comments become your creative home

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all right well aleem is a man that

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wears many hats you know as you said

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in the intro father um

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along with all the accolades of art

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director and all of those other things.

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But if you're asking who I am,

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I'm a guy like everybody else out here

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with bills to pay and responsibilities to

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keep up.

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Comic books has been my thing since

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childhood.

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It got me through,

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it was a constant in my life as

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a kid, right?

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Through a lot of ups and downs and

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things like that.

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kind of fell out in my later years,

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but found my way back home during the

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pandemic, really.

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So, I mean, that time,

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as hard as it was on a lot

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of people,

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it was really eye-opening for me,

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because it gave me a chance to get

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away from the grind of taking care of

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a family as large as mine and just

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slow down a little bit and get back

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into art and being creative.

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And, you know, my first comic book,

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I started during the whole furlough thing

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in the pandemic,

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the Diary of Sweet Pea issue one,

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and getting to see behind the curtain of

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how these things are made.

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I fell in love, you know,

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I got into the community and, you know,

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it's such a unique community because you

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got people that's on my like in the

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range that I'm at with these beginning

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steps.

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And you have people like Mark McKenna,

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who's been doing Marvel since nineteen

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eighty five.

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We're able to interact and work with each

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other.

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That doesn't happen everywhere.

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It's wild.

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This is one of those communities that

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allows that.

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You don't have a whole lot of gatekeepers

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going, you ain't done your time yet.

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Right.

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Yeah, for sure, man.

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I love it.

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I love it here.

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I love making comic books.

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I love being able to take myself seriously

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in a creative way and make dope stuff.

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So let me ask you,

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how did you become evolved with that guy

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sitting below us?

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Oh man, me and Mike met,

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I was flopping around in my first

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Kickstarter campaign, right?

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Because making the book is one thing,

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selling it is another.

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Oh yeah.

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So, you know,

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I was flopping around and Ink Studios was

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one of the guys that

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contacted me if anybody's done a

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kickstarter before you know you get a lot

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of uh spam you know robots you can

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help you and this that and the third

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so it just so happened that you know

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me being new to the game um i

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took a chance with well not even a

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chance because i didn't know i didn't

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understand what it was you know at first

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but

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anyway uh i hit up i i've recontacted

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uh ink studios who hit me up you

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know in the mix of all of that

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and god blessed me i was lucky enough

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to actually have picked some real ones out

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of all of that yeah nonsense that's in

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there there's a lot of it my way

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but you know i was lucky enough to

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meet um kevin and the guys at ink

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and mike was working there at the time

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and uh

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and come to find out, lo and behold,

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this guy is a master of literature and

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writing.

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I just had that conversation with some

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people, and I told them straight up,

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I'm like,

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if you want to see a master class

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in just how the behind the scenes works,

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to go back and watch my interview with

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Mike, it is no kidding,

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a master class from Kickstarters to the

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business side of things,

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and

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It's literally one of those where you can

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go sit and watch it and take notes

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because he gives so many good nuggets in

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that interview.

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That's going to be one of those where

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I continue to push.

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I'm like, hey,

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go watch this interview if you want to

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learn stuff.

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Yeah.

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And willing to share,

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you know what I mean?

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Goes back to that community.

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You don't see that all the time.

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You don't see that in a lot of

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people.

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There's probably not every,

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I still got the rose colored glasses on

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it.

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I've just been lucky to meet some really

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dope people.

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And Mike is a solid guy and he

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just, he knows how to elevate work.

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

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there's some translations that needs to

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happen.

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Cause I'm not,

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I don't have a literary background.

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I'm just spewing out these ideas and

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trying to form it as best I can.

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And it's great to have somebody with the

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skills as an editor, you know,

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to be able to come and really help

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hammer some things out and smooth,

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you know, some stuff out.

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So Mike is great.

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I'm happy.

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I'm blessed to have him around.

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Thank you.

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All kind words.

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Thank you.

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His head just grew like ten times.

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That's why I put this hat on.

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You'll see him adjusting his hat here in

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a minute.

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It's tight.

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My dude, you wear a lot of hats.

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The artist, the writer, the art director,

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production manager.

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How did that multi-discipline mindset

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develop?

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How does that shape how you approach the

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way you do comic books?

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Well,

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back in the pandemic where I got

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reintroduced to this world,

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starting with just art, creating,

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you know, painting, doing digital art,

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things like that, drawing,

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something that I've also done for a very

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long time and stepped away from.

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So, you know, I got some,

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there's all kinds of resources out there

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now.

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I got a...

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some of those classes that you can get,

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you know,

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like you can go on YouTube and get

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it,

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or you can get it from those apps

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that just have all the videos in a

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structured class from top to bottom with

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homework, you know, and I took it serious.

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That got me back into art a little

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bit.

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And on a whim,

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I searched on Facebook groups for comic

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books and indie comic books.

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And, you know,

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I found the community there.

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There was a guy by the name of

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Steven Duffy from apex comics, UK that,

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um,

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introduced me to the game you know got

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me in with uh you know like how

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you can connect with with people and take

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your ideas and form them into you know

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artwork because comic books because you

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know like there's people out there looking

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for work and you know so yeah i'm

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going on a tangent no no you're good

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dude that's what we're here for

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for telling your story and getting Sweet

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Pea out to the people, man.

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Yeah,

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so that's really how I got into the

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comic book world.

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And it evolved as time went on from

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doing the artwork and painting.

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There we go.

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So we was doing art and painting.

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And then we get into comic books around

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late-to-thousands.

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OK.

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You know,

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Steve helped me with taking these ideas

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that I had from like Dungeons and Dragons

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games, campaigns and characters like that.

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And we used to have the chat room.

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There was some chat room websites where

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everybody contributed to a story with

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their own character.

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I used to be in those a lot

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when I was younger.

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So, you know,

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like I have all these ideas from

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characters made up, drawn and imagined.

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And I kind of crammed it all into

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the Diary of Sweet Pea in issue one.

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Right.

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So.

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So we got like this this

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this mess of characters,

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but I wanna tell a story that's only

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centered on this one character, right?

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Yeah.

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And everything else is happening how it

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would happen to you, right?

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

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there, or whatever,

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but only the things that enter your field

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are what you become truly aware of or

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become a part of your story, right?

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Mm-hmm.

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that didn't really work out you know i

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mean like don't get me wrong issue one

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of the diary of sweet pea and issue

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two is i think they're great and yeah

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i think with the idea of editing them

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and going back now that i've learned more

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but i also am fond of the idea

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of leaving them as is so that you

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can see the steps up in the evolution

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of the writing

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I mean,

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you can always go back later and do

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a rewrite on the first two if you

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want to and then sell it as a

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trade paperback or something later as a

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reworked trade paperback.

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But I like what you're saying about

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keeping them as they are now so you

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can see your growth yourself.

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Mm-hmm.

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And so other people can see it, too,

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because, you know, like,

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I think that we've made something really

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special, right?

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I think this is, like...

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And I can confidently put in anybody,

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any room in any arena,

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

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right?

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Oh, a hundred percent.

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that doesn't make me necessarily more

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special or unique than anyone else.

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So I think leaving those first two issues

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as is,

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so you can see like the growth and

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development might help to inspire somebody

00:12:11.087 --> 00:12:11.408
else.

00:12:11.707 --> 00:12:12.828
Cause you know,

00:12:12.948 --> 00:12:14.528
like once you just made the mind up

00:12:14.568 --> 00:12:17.269
to do these things, they become like,

00:12:17.289 --> 00:12:20.451
they're way more possible than I thought

00:12:20.471 --> 00:12:22.831
they were for the first, uh,

00:12:22.851 --> 00:12:24.572
thirty eight some odd years of my life.

00:12:26.715 --> 00:12:26.955
I mean,

00:12:26.975 --> 00:12:30.076
it's just like the first volume of

00:12:30.177 --> 00:12:30.756
Invincible.

00:12:32.217 --> 00:12:34.178
He had to put this out so fast.

00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:37.841
And then he lost his artist like halfway

00:12:37.860 --> 00:12:39.162
through that first volume.

00:12:39.802 --> 00:12:41.923
And so he found someone was really great.

00:12:41.942 --> 00:12:43.264
And if you read it and then you

00:12:43.303 --> 00:12:44.985
watch the adaptation of the show on

00:12:45.044 --> 00:12:45.524
Amazon,

00:12:46.184 --> 00:12:47.806
they added so much more depth in the

00:12:47.846 --> 00:12:50.006
show because there was that space in the

00:12:50.047 --> 00:12:52.649
original where they just went from scene

00:12:52.688 --> 00:12:54.110
and focused on plot points.

00:12:55.090 --> 00:12:58.315
So I concur with leaving it the way

00:12:58.355 --> 00:12:58.815
it is.

00:12:58.956 --> 00:13:01.118
So many options to go back on.

00:13:01.658 --> 00:13:01.960
You know,

00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:05.303
like what if Amani's power is an energy

00:13:05.344 --> 00:13:06.806
that's linked to, you know,

00:13:07.105 --> 00:13:09.328
multiple linear timelines and maybe she

00:13:09.389 --> 00:13:11.251
wants to go back and save her friends

00:13:11.272 --> 00:13:11.873
and her family.

00:13:12.566 --> 00:13:15.327
maybe we explore those spaces in issue one

00:13:15.368 --> 00:13:17.570
and two later on there there's that

00:13:17.629 --> 00:13:19.672
there's that there's that opportunity and

00:13:19.711 --> 00:13:21.413
there's multiple other opportunities

00:13:21.734 --> 00:13:24.375
leaving necessarily things you think that

00:13:24.475 --> 00:13:26.638
aren't perfect doesn't make it not perfect

00:13:26.658 --> 00:13:29.240
because you are the only person as a

00:13:29.299 --> 00:13:31.041
creator and i know we talked about this

00:13:31.081 --> 00:13:32.802
before um

00:13:33.722 --> 00:13:35.003
You're the only one that will see those

00:13:35.682 --> 00:13:36.524
imperfections.

00:13:36.624 --> 00:13:38.104
Everybody else gets to experience the

00:13:38.163 --> 00:13:38.524
story.

00:13:39.224 --> 00:13:41.625
So what you're seeing is from the artist's

00:13:41.664 --> 00:13:42.345
perspective.

00:13:42.725 --> 00:13:44.385
What you can't unsee is the artist's

00:13:44.426 --> 00:13:44.985
perspective.

00:13:45.005 --> 00:13:46.446
So you can't really enjoy it as a

00:13:46.505 --> 00:13:46.846
fan.

00:13:47.365 --> 00:13:50.067
So we need to leave those spaces and

00:13:50.187 --> 00:13:52.587
imperfections there because some of them

00:13:52.967 --> 00:13:55.008
won't know that they're imperfect,

00:13:55.587 --> 00:13:56.989
which is never the goal, by the way.

00:13:57.009 --> 00:13:58.408
Oh, nobody will unless you say it.

00:13:59.009 --> 00:13:59.249
Well,

00:13:59.870 --> 00:14:02.091
they're going to know now if they watch

00:14:02.110 --> 00:14:02.191
this.

00:14:02.211 --> 00:14:03.730
They're going to know now.

00:14:03.750 --> 00:14:04.631
Well, I mean,

00:14:04.652 --> 00:14:08.234
this is just one episode in a huge

00:14:08.394 --> 00:14:11.455
universe of content when Sweet Pea gets as

00:14:11.495 --> 00:14:13.015
big as I hope and think it will

00:14:13.035 --> 00:14:13.655
be one day.

00:14:14.456 --> 00:14:14.576
Oh,

00:14:14.657 --> 00:14:15.976
I was just telling Nanette before you

00:14:15.996 --> 00:14:16.697
joined us is...

00:14:17.804 --> 00:14:18.346
It's like, dude,

00:14:18.385 --> 00:14:19.886
I can see this being so much bigger

00:14:19.907 --> 00:14:20.687
than what it is.

00:14:21.989 --> 00:14:24.991
But you've said that making sure a book

00:14:25.111 --> 00:14:27.573
looks as good as it reads is core

00:14:27.614 --> 00:14:28.554
to your philosophy.

00:14:29.015 --> 00:14:33.019
What does every panel count really mean to

00:14:33.099 --> 00:14:34.480
you in practice?

00:14:35.734 --> 00:14:37.296
No fillers, man, we're not wasting,

00:14:37.395 --> 00:14:37.975
you know,

00:14:38.537 --> 00:14:40.418
we're not taking the cheap route on

00:14:40.678 --> 00:14:41.679
anything if we can.

00:14:41.720 --> 00:14:41.980
This,

00:14:42.721 --> 00:14:45.363
I actually learned this working on

00:14:45.442 --> 00:14:47.384
somebody else's project as an art

00:14:47.404 --> 00:14:48.626
director, right?

00:14:48.767 --> 00:14:49.086
You know,

00:14:49.206 --> 00:14:51.990
cause now it's like a no-nonsense thing.

00:14:52.429 --> 00:14:53.812
When it's my project, you know,

00:14:53.851 --> 00:14:54.371
like it's all,

00:14:55.452 --> 00:14:57.894
We friends and, you know,

00:14:57.934 --> 00:15:00.256
we're friends first and we're colleagues

00:15:00.576 --> 00:15:00.897
second.

00:15:00.937 --> 00:15:03.859
I don't think of myself as your boss.

00:15:04.059 --> 00:15:05.299
And even though, you know,

00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:06.541
you're being paid for work,

00:15:07.621 --> 00:15:09.243
I still feel like you're doing me a

00:15:09.283 --> 00:15:11.605
favor more than anything because you're

00:15:11.625 --> 00:15:13.466
helping me to get these dreams

00:15:13.506 --> 00:15:14.106
accomplished.

00:15:14.427 --> 00:15:17.089
So but when I'm working on somebody else's

00:15:17.149 --> 00:15:18.129
project now,

00:15:18.450 --> 00:15:20.471
I'm locked in because it's my reputation

00:15:20.491 --> 00:15:22.572
and I want to make sure that that

00:15:22.633 --> 00:15:23.354
person's

00:15:25.427 --> 00:15:28.429
book is done in the way that it

00:15:28.470 --> 00:15:29.270
should be, you know,

00:15:29.291 --> 00:15:31.452
it should be done entrusting me to do

00:15:31.493 --> 00:15:32.774
that, right?

00:15:32.813 --> 00:15:35.317
So it's not to say that it's not

00:15:35.437 --> 00:15:37.418
always there and I get lazy about my

00:15:37.479 --> 00:15:37.759
work.

00:15:37.979 --> 00:15:40.100
It's just that when I was working on

00:15:40.221 --> 00:15:41.722
somebody else's project,

00:15:42.918 --> 00:15:46.360
I really honed in and focused super hard.

00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:47.240
And, you know,

00:15:47.379 --> 00:15:49.301
now we're carrying that and continuing

00:15:49.321 --> 00:15:51.741
that tradition on with the Diary of Sweet

00:15:51.761 --> 00:15:51.961
Pea.

00:15:52.062 --> 00:15:55.563
So when I say that every panel counts,

00:15:56.224 --> 00:15:56.524
I mean,

00:15:56.585 --> 00:15:59.066
everything has to be with a person,

00:15:59.225 --> 00:15:59.806
a purpose.

00:16:00.105 --> 00:16:03.408
I want, I want to really, you know,

00:16:04.750 --> 00:16:08.091
imagine things in motion and capture the

00:16:08.152 --> 00:16:11.254
perfect screenshot of that moment that

00:16:11.274 --> 00:16:12.875
they're trying to we're trying to convey

00:16:12.895 --> 00:16:15.837
in the script and that includes you know

00:16:15.898 --> 00:16:17.399
if we have to change the color of

00:16:17.418 --> 00:16:19.760
the sky for this one panel because it

00:16:19.801 --> 00:16:22.482
makes more sense and yeah you know it

00:16:22.523 --> 00:16:24.124
becomes vibrant then that's just something

00:16:24.144 --> 00:16:28.807
that we have to do um and i

00:16:28.846 --> 00:16:32.529
believe that art tells a story as well

00:16:32.950 --> 00:16:34.030
right so i mean

00:16:34.778 --> 00:16:38.340
looking at paintings or just, you know,

00:16:39.380 --> 00:16:41.101
a pinup that somebody made that catches

00:16:41.121 --> 00:16:42.863
your eye at a comic book convention.

00:16:44.283 --> 00:16:47.466
These things like they tell stories.

00:16:47.586 --> 00:16:49.368
So I think that in every single panel

00:16:49.447 --> 00:16:50.589
that we that we write.

00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:54.551
It deserves that it deserves a story to

00:16:54.591 --> 00:16:56.613
be told and that in and of itself,

00:16:57.013 --> 00:16:58.614
just the artist's brain thing, I'm sorry.

00:16:59.333 --> 00:17:01.015
No, no, no.

00:17:01.556 --> 00:17:02.296
I like hearing it.

00:17:02.395 --> 00:17:02.756
I mean,

00:17:04.068 --> 00:17:06.090
I know when I'm on my road trips,

00:17:06.191 --> 00:17:09.252
I listen to my podcast back to myself,

00:17:09.834 --> 00:17:11.555
and I will listen to the shows and

00:17:12.615 --> 00:17:14.457
what you just said will probably make an

00:17:14.557 --> 00:17:16.959
impact on me on a road trip in

00:17:16.979 --> 00:17:17.499
the future.

00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:20.080
Because it makes a hundred percent sense,

00:17:20.121 --> 00:17:20.221
right?

00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:20.441
Right.

00:17:22.063 --> 00:17:24.003
You're staking your reputation,

00:17:24.023 --> 00:17:25.105
but at the same time,

00:17:25.464 --> 00:17:27.406
if you're working on somebody else's work,

00:17:28.047 --> 00:17:29.847
Not only is it your reputation,

00:17:30.548 --> 00:17:33.069
it's their reputation as a writer who's

00:17:33.130 --> 00:17:37.272
now employed you as their artist.

00:17:37.333 --> 00:17:37.472
Exactly.

00:17:37.613 --> 00:17:39.394
It's win win in making sure you're just

00:17:39.414 --> 00:17:40.895
putting one hundred percent into

00:17:40.935 --> 00:17:41.695
everything you're doing.

00:17:41.935 --> 00:17:44.678
So for me, it makes plenty of sense.

00:17:44.698 --> 00:17:46.019
And I'm sure for the listeners out there

00:17:46.038 --> 00:17:46.358
later,

00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:48.359
it will make plenty of sense as well,

00:17:48.380 --> 00:17:49.981
because.

00:17:50.001 --> 00:17:52.663
What I love about doing this is we

00:17:52.682 --> 00:17:54.483
get to share insights into.

00:17:56.141 --> 00:18:00.003
behind the curtains of the art and the

00:18:00.044 --> 00:18:02.384
you know the story of the comic book

00:18:02.404 --> 00:18:05.487
with the persons involved involved in

00:18:05.527 --> 00:18:09.690
making that comic book so yeah let's dive

00:18:09.970 --> 00:18:11.912
in really into sweet pea

00:18:12.866 --> 00:18:15.147
and what Sweet Pea is all about.

00:18:15.788 --> 00:18:17.449
So it has a powerful premise.

00:18:17.528 --> 00:18:19.931
A young girl unconsciously creating

00:18:19.971 --> 00:18:22.892
constructs of deceased loved ones in a

00:18:23.011 --> 00:18:27.054
world warped by reality-altering energy.

00:18:29.155 --> 00:18:30.576
We got into it a little bit beforehand,

00:18:30.615 --> 00:18:31.237
but I held off...

00:18:31.925 --> 00:18:33.667
But where did that idea come from?

00:18:34.167 --> 00:18:35.368
Because I love this idea.

00:18:35.469 --> 00:18:38.132
It is an amazing original concept.

00:18:38.852 --> 00:18:41.934
So, you know, like I said,

00:18:42.135 --> 00:18:43.936
I've been in the

00:18:46.464 --> 00:18:48.105
Video game characters that don't have

00:18:48.145 --> 00:18:49.006
enough backstory,

00:18:49.046 --> 00:18:50.665
I used to create more for them.

00:18:50.826 --> 00:18:51.707
You know what I mean?

00:18:52.207 --> 00:18:54.606
I was a kid that would say,

00:18:55.508 --> 00:18:56.468
I'm that character.

00:18:57.028 --> 00:18:59.189
I picked Rock Lee out of the Naruto

00:18:59.209 --> 00:18:59.608
lineup.

00:18:59.628 --> 00:19:00.828
That's me from now on.

00:19:00.909 --> 00:19:01.568
This is my guy.

00:19:01.628 --> 00:19:02.769
We rocking out.

00:19:03.883 --> 00:19:10.288
So I've been really attached to pop

00:19:10.327 --> 00:19:12.829
culture as a medium, right?

00:19:14.089 --> 00:19:17.133
Comic books, cartoons, video games,

00:19:17.173 --> 00:19:18.374
and things like that.

00:19:18.394 --> 00:19:20.474
I really was always into them.

00:19:20.494 --> 00:19:23.277
And I've also always created my own

00:19:23.317 --> 00:19:24.357
stories and ideas.

00:19:24.397 --> 00:19:26.378
So some of these characters and concepts,

00:19:26.439 --> 00:19:28.441
like the Bane, for example,

00:19:28.941 --> 00:19:32.304
have existed in multiple iterations

00:19:33.257 --> 00:19:36.479
whether it's like a monk from D&D or

00:19:37.579 --> 00:19:39.941
create a character on a game or whatever

00:19:40.020 --> 00:19:40.781
for years.

00:19:41.342 --> 00:19:43.042
So now I get to finally take all

00:19:43.103 --> 00:19:45.865
of those ideas and stories of those

00:19:45.904 --> 00:19:49.126
characters and put them inside of this

00:19:49.146 --> 00:19:52.269
little sandbox playpen with Imani and see

00:19:52.628 --> 00:19:53.368
what comes out.

00:19:53.930 --> 00:19:56.230
Now for her specifically, Imani,

00:19:58.270 --> 00:20:01.993
probably represents my children and,

00:20:02.034 --> 00:20:02.334
you know,

00:20:02.374 --> 00:20:04.015
like my fears for them and the world

00:20:04.035 --> 00:20:06.196
that they have to grow up in and

00:20:06.237 --> 00:20:08.637
face and be prepared for on their own

00:20:08.718 --> 00:20:09.838
without me one day.

00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:11.820
You know,

00:20:12.601 --> 00:20:14.863
thank God it's not the life that they

00:20:14.903 --> 00:20:16.544
live in because it is, you know,

00:20:16.584 --> 00:20:18.806
like there's some crazy stuff going inside

00:20:18.826 --> 00:20:19.306
of the book.

00:20:19.425 --> 00:20:21.487
But, you know, metaphorically speaking,

00:20:22.127 --> 00:20:24.229
it's what's waiting for them out there.

00:20:24.690 --> 00:20:26.510
And, you know,

00:20:26.530 --> 00:20:27.632
so I've got to be prepared.

00:20:28.874 --> 00:20:31.275
So Imani in the comic book is only

00:20:31.595 --> 00:20:32.815
fourteen years old.

00:20:33.414 --> 00:20:34.734
Yes, she's carrying grief,

00:20:35.234 --> 00:20:38.836
power and responsibility way beyond her

00:20:38.895 --> 00:20:39.316
years.

00:20:39.935 --> 00:20:41.876
Why was it important for you to tell

00:20:41.896 --> 00:20:44.416
this kind of story through a such a

00:20:44.477 --> 00:20:47.597
young protagonist?

00:20:47.678 --> 00:20:49.679
OK, so I mean,

00:20:49.719 --> 00:20:51.239
you kind of hinted at it just then,

00:20:51.338 --> 00:20:53.058
but you want to do a little bit.

00:20:53.199 --> 00:20:55.420
I mean, like just beyond my own kids.

00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:55.660
Right.

00:20:55.680 --> 00:20:56.059
We got.

00:20:57.987 --> 00:20:59.968
a lot going on in the city that

00:21:00.008 --> 00:21:03.451
I come from, especially with young kids.

00:21:04.391 --> 00:21:05.592
There's a lot of violence.

00:21:06.311 --> 00:21:08.294
There's a lot of foolishness.

00:21:12.916 --> 00:21:14.257
There's a lot.

00:21:16.358 --> 00:21:19.240
We have a lot of issues that these

00:21:19.280 --> 00:21:21.481
kids are facing and dealing with.

00:21:24.403 --> 00:21:25.805
The concept is

00:21:27.236 --> 00:21:28.817
really kind of like a nature versus

00:21:28.876 --> 00:21:29.517
nurture thing.

00:21:30.057 --> 00:21:32.498
Because Imani has this, you know,

00:21:32.538 --> 00:21:35.079
she has to face this dangerous world,

00:21:35.380 --> 00:21:36.200
hostile world,

00:21:37.040 --> 00:21:39.642
but she also had a loving father that

00:21:39.682 --> 00:21:43.002
instilled certain morals inside of her and

00:21:43.063 --> 00:21:43.903
things of that nature.

00:21:44.663 --> 00:21:47.365
And now we get to see these extreme

00:21:47.945 --> 00:21:51.406
situations clash with each other and see

00:21:51.426 --> 00:21:52.307
what comes out of it.

00:21:52.607 --> 00:21:54.729
I'm still not sure which way I want

00:21:54.749 --> 00:21:55.409
to take Imani,

00:21:55.449 --> 00:21:57.009
if I want her to end up

00:21:57.861 --> 00:21:59.682
how I want to let all those moments

00:21:59.721 --> 00:22:00.142
affect her.

00:22:00.201 --> 00:22:01.603
I have a pretty good idea,

00:22:02.183 --> 00:22:03.463
but I'm not going to,

00:22:03.544 --> 00:22:04.325
I don't want to,

00:22:04.345 --> 00:22:06.405
I want to surprise myself as well and

00:22:06.445 --> 00:22:08.606
be open to the possibility that, you know,

00:22:08.646 --> 00:22:09.587
she might,

00:22:09.627 --> 00:22:11.108
she might not be a hero by the

00:22:11.189 --> 00:22:11.608
end of this.

00:22:11.628 --> 00:22:13.250
She might be the threat that the world

00:22:13.269 --> 00:22:15.330
has to deal with, you know, you know,

00:22:15.590 --> 00:22:17.512
stay tuned.

00:22:17.593 --> 00:22:18.792
No, I like that.

00:22:19.294 --> 00:22:21.095
I like leaving that open-ended

00:22:21.977 --> 00:22:23.678
you know, story like that,

00:22:23.958 --> 00:22:26.319
especially when it's very easily could be

00:22:26.460 --> 00:22:27.361
one way or the other.

00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:30.061
And it is really on you on how

00:22:30.122 --> 00:22:31.963
you want the character to go and where

00:22:32.003 --> 00:22:34.365
you see her being in the future.

00:22:34.384 --> 00:22:36.246
And I'm excited for it to be fair.

00:22:36.586 --> 00:22:37.928
Like I'm down either way.

00:22:38.587 --> 00:22:40.990
It's really just let it, let it burn.

00:22:41.029 --> 00:22:41.730
Let it burn.

00:22:42.631 --> 00:22:43.991
It's really dope, man.

00:22:44.092 --> 00:22:47.273
Cause, cause like Imani, she has, um,

00:22:48.544 --> 00:22:51.365
the whole world watching her, right?

00:22:51.944 --> 00:22:55.425
You have the Bane that initiated this

00:22:55.486 --> 00:22:55.865
event,

00:22:56.247 --> 00:22:59.448
exposed this energy to our planet in order

00:22:59.508 --> 00:23:01.347
to harvest it.

00:23:01.428 --> 00:23:04.509
And Imani is, well, no,

00:23:04.528 --> 00:23:06.809
we ain't going to tell that yet.

00:23:06.829 --> 00:23:07.009
We got it.

00:23:07.029 --> 00:23:08.250
We won't make up too many spoilers.

00:23:08.371 --> 00:23:10.030
We want people to still go out and

00:23:10.050 --> 00:23:10.611
support the book.

00:23:10.631 --> 00:23:11.471
Let's put a pin on that.

00:23:11.511 --> 00:23:13.652
I want to make sure I get my

00:23:13.672 --> 00:23:15.153
words right before I let it all out.

00:23:17.818 --> 00:23:21.260
But so let's talk about a little bit

00:23:21.280 --> 00:23:23.221
about the grief and the memory of

00:23:24.001 --> 00:23:25.823
everything happening in this story.

00:23:26.564 --> 00:23:29.285
So Amani's companions are born from loss,

00:23:29.404 --> 00:23:30.184
not choice.

00:23:30.766 --> 00:23:33.446
How did you approach portraying grief in a

00:23:33.527 --> 00:23:34.807
way that's honest,

00:23:35.268 --> 00:23:36.848
but still accessible to readers?

00:23:36.868 --> 00:23:38.970
Like it can resonate because we all have

00:23:39.009 --> 00:23:40.290
dealt with loss in our own way.

00:23:41.211 --> 00:23:43.112
I know Mike, same as me,

00:23:43.132 --> 00:23:45.814
we've lost grandparents and stuff with,

00:23:46.054 --> 00:23:46.434
you know.

00:23:47.375 --> 00:23:52.117
So how did you approach that?

00:23:52.157 --> 00:23:54.900
So this is something that me and Mike

00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:56.560
went back and forth and kind of hammered

00:23:56.621 --> 00:23:58.001
out a little bit together.

00:23:59.843 --> 00:24:02.404
You know, I have written, I wrote it.

00:24:03.625 --> 00:24:05.586
And, you know, then Mike,

00:24:05.946 --> 00:24:07.307
when Mike got a hold of it and

00:24:07.367 --> 00:24:07.627
read it,

00:24:08.976 --> 00:24:10.958
I didn't really know what I had written

00:24:10.978 --> 00:24:13.559
and how powerful it really was and how

00:24:13.619 --> 00:24:15.040
much we should focus on it.

00:24:15.060 --> 00:24:16.662
So there was some,

00:24:16.781 --> 00:24:18.703
I'm only gonna say major edits there,

00:24:18.963 --> 00:24:23.106
but it was some refocusing on dealing with

00:24:23.166 --> 00:24:24.709
grief because like you said, man,

00:24:24.729 --> 00:24:26.190
it's something that we all go through,

00:24:27.330 --> 00:24:28.090
young and old.

00:24:28.711 --> 00:24:29.553
I think for me,

00:24:30.773 --> 00:24:33.996
it was just the natural progression of the

00:24:34.036 --> 00:24:36.258
story so far of Imani with how much

00:24:36.298 --> 00:24:37.838
she's been through in the first two

00:24:37.939 --> 00:24:38.359
issues.

00:24:39.098 --> 00:24:39.480
You know,

00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:41.181
this is a fourteen year old kid.

00:24:41.561 --> 00:24:44.025
She's seen a lot and been through a

00:24:44.045 --> 00:24:45.606
lot.

00:24:46.126 --> 00:24:47.528
You know, her powers.

00:24:47.969 --> 00:24:49.070
I'll tell you this much.

00:24:49.111 --> 00:24:52.453
Her powers are subconscious in nature.

00:24:52.473 --> 00:24:53.255
Right.

00:24:53.536 --> 00:24:56.778
And they're actually a little bit sinister

00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:58.701
towards her in a way, because.

00:24:59.897 --> 00:25:03.040
it makes it hard to tell reality from

00:25:03.521 --> 00:25:05.703
what's real from what's not, right?

00:25:05.763 --> 00:25:07.306
So now in this issue,

00:25:07.967 --> 00:25:10.569
she's facing some hard truths

00:25:11.621 --> 00:25:14.865
and coming to some realizations of things

00:25:14.884 --> 00:25:17.828
that happened earlier in the story that

00:25:17.888 --> 00:25:19.590
now she has to confront all of this

00:25:19.631 --> 00:25:22.453
at the same time with a mind that's

00:25:22.894 --> 00:25:27.460
full of all of this energy and outcome.

00:25:27.480 --> 00:25:28.781
It's a recipe for disaster.

00:25:28.961 --> 00:25:31.224
So that's where the story took me.

00:25:33.362 --> 00:25:34.804
It's a beautiful contrast, really.

00:25:35.845 --> 00:25:37.967
It also makes it really easy for when

00:25:37.987 --> 00:25:39.789
you decide later on which way you want

00:25:39.809 --> 00:25:40.509
to go with her.

00:25:41.211 --> 00:25:42.792
The backstory is there for her to be

00:25:42.833 --> 00:25:43.713
the ultimate villain.

00:25:43.733 --> 00:25:44.255
Yeah, it is.

00:25:46.678 --> 00:25:48.319
It has a lot to say about what's

00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:50.582
coming next because the world around her

00:25:50.602 --> 00:25:51.103
is moving

00:25:52.546 --> 00:25:53.867
And she's progressing,

00:25:53.928 --> 00:25:56.711
but at a very slow emotional rate.

00:25:57.632 --> 00:26:00.595
That is the pace that we're moving Imani

00:26:00.615 --> 00:26:01.296
through the story.

00:26:01.336 --> 00:26:03.618
Because one of the cool things that people

00:26:03.638 --> 00:26:06.182
are going to discover about Sweepy is that

00:26:06.301 --> 00:26:08.003
it just isn't about a little girl who

00:26:08.023 --> 00:26:09.244
gets superpowers from...

00:26:10.165 --> 00:26:12.007
weird energy that engulfs the planet

00:26:12.346 --> 00:26:15.949
there's a there's a huge huge world behind

00:26:16.009 --> 00:26:18.690
all that that that includes you know the

00:26:18.710 --> 00:26:21.832
phyto fighting force and uh aliens beyond

00:26:21.852 --> 00:26:23.813
the bane uh with weird crystals and

00:26:23.853 --> 00:26:25.733
mystical healing powders and stuff like

00:26:25.753 --> 00:26:28.855
that it it it goes beyond that but

00:26:28.894 --> 00:26:30.895
the progression the emotional focus and

00:26:30.957 --> 00:26:32.636
how it contrasts to the world around her

00:26:33.577 --> 00:26:35.578
gorgeous absolutely gorgeous

00:26:37.713 --> 00:26:38.433
So I got to ask,

00:26:38.654 --> 00:26:41.435
was there a particular emotional moment or

00:26:41.496 --> 00:26:44.357
scene in this book that hit you harder

00:26:44.817 --> 00:26:47.079
than expected while you were writing it?

00:26:47.099 --> 00:26:47.539
Oh, man.

00:26:50.842 --> 00:26:51.402
Every moment.

00:26:51.461 --> 00:26:54.403
I mean, so it's hard for me because,

00:26:55.324 --> 00:26:55.684
you know,

00:26:55.765 --> 00:26:57.546
I'm thinking about my kids when I'm

00:26:57.566 --> 00:26:58.125
writing this,

00:26:58.165 --> 00:26:59.747
but I'm putting them in this, you know,

00:26:59.767 --> 00:27:01.147
like they're going in the meat grinder

00:27:01.488 --> 00:27:03.868
inside of this book.

00:27:03.888 --> 00:27:04.089
So, yeah.

00:27:05.542 --> 00:27:07.203
these kids are in the upside down and

00:27:07.223 --> 00:27:08.025
they don't know it.

00:27:08.444 --> 00:27:08.924
Yeah.

00:27:08.984 --> 00:27:11.086
So, I mean, like it's, it's, you know,

00:27:11.105 --> 00:27:11.645
like every,

00:27:12.047 --> 00:27:14.488
every page is hard for me and I

00:27:14.508 --> 00:27:16.989
have to make some serious decisions about,

00:27:17.189 --> 00:27:17.489
you know,

00:27:17.528 --> 00:27:19.930
like keeping the integrity of the book.

00:27:20.010 --> 00:27:21.510
I can't take it easy on them.

00:27:21.871 --> 00:27:24.893
I just really have to like channel these

00:27:25.413 --> 00:27:28.255
innate, often unfounded, you know,

00:27:28.315 --> 00:27:30.855
but dad's prepare, you know,

00:27:31.175 --> 00:27:32.757
here's that I, you know,

00:27:32.797 --> 00:27:34.778
fears that I have for my, uh,

00:27:35.796 --> 00:27:37.116
you know, my kids, man,

00:27:37.136 --> 00:27:39.417
and I'm letting it out inside of the

00:27:39.438 --> 00:27:43.941
page.

00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:46.942
So one of the most haunted aspects of

00:27:46.981 --> 00:27:49.084
this story is that Imani doesn't even

00:27:49.163 --> 00:27:54.205
realize the scale of what she's involved

00:27:54.346 --> 00:27:54.487
in.

00:27:55.067 --> 00:27:58.088
What drew you to the narrative tension of

00:27:58.128 --> 00:27:58.409
that?

00:28:00.752 --> 00:28:02.354
Yeah, so like I said,

00:28:02.413 --> 00:28:05.955
originally my plan was to make the diary

00:28:05.996 --> 00:28:09.557
of Sweet Pea strictly from the perspective

00:28:09.896 --> 00:28:10.798
of Imani, right?

00:28:11.617 --> 00:28:13.419
Like we're just looking in her diary.

00:28:13.459 --> 00:28:16.240
So the only things that we can really

00:28:16.279 --> 00:28:18.381
know is what she knows and what she

00:28:18.421 --> 00:28:18.842
sees.

00:28:19.761 --> 00:28:20.623
But, you know,

00:28:20.643 --> 00:28:24.724
we found that the book is so expansive

00:28:24.765 --> 00:28:26.246
because there's a lot of history,

00:28:26.705 --> 00:28:27.106
you know,

00:28:27.287 --> 00:28:29.387
between all of these different factions

00:28:29.928 --> 00:28:30.249
and everything.

00:28:30.269 --> 00:28:31.608
And there's a lot going on with a

00:28:31.628 --> 00:28:32.450
lot of, you know,

00:28:32.490 --> 00:28:33.871
like a lot of different people all at

00:28:33.891 --> 00:28:34.671
the same time.

00:28:35.311 --> 00:28:38.473
And it's of no value to me to

00:28:38.513 --> 00:28:39.334
not let the reader,

00:28:39.374 --> 00:28:40.914
like I know all this in my head,

00:28:40.954 --> 00:28:42.355
but the reader doesn't get to know all

00:28:42.375 --> 00:28:43.997
this until he gets to see it.

00:28:44.017 --> 00:28:46.919
So, you know, we decided to change that.

00:28:47.821 --> 00:28:51.143
our focus a little more and try to

00:28:51.163 --> 00:28:54.164
encompass those you know other elements

00:28:54.204 --> 00:28:55.464
and did i answer your question i feel

00:28:55.484 --> 00:28:57.766
like i did no no no you did

00:28:57.905 --> 00:29:00.507
you did how does this lack of awareness

00:29:00.686 --> 00:29:03.348
from amani heighten the danger both for

00:29:03.388 --> 00:29:05.869
herself and also the world around her

00:29:05.890 --> 00:29:07.609
because she's not she doesn't really

00:29:07.670 --> 00:29:11.731
realize what she's capable of it seems

00:29:12.291 --> 00:29:13.633
yeah so

00:29:16.220 --> 00:29:17.299
it just makes it more,

00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:20.441
it makes it more interesting to me to

00:29:20.780 --> 00:29:23.582
have this journey of discovery.

00:29:23.602 --> 00:29:25.863
You know, I think it pays more into,

00:29:26.083 --> 00:29:26.303
um,

00:29:27.682 --> 00:29:31.064
Imani's story and the overall story that

00:29:31.104 --> 00:29:32.484
I'm trying to tell is even though

00:29:32.545 --> 00:29:34.664
superpowers in it, I don't think we can,

00:29:34.724 --> 00:29:36.365
anybody could really say that this is like

00:29:36.385 --> 00:29:38.326
a superhero or a super villain book,

00:29:38.727 --> 00:29:40.166
you know, not, not really.

00:29:44.144 --> 00:29:48.986
So her lack of awareness just allows for

00:29:49.665 --> 00:29:54.248
her to continue developing as a

00:29:54.288 --> 00:29:56.949
fourteen-year-old would inside of this

00:29:56.989 --> 00:29:58.470
world that she's in.

00:29:59.871 --> 00:30:01.730
It's an extreme situation,

00:30:01.790 --> 00:30:07.874
but making her a part of the fighters

00:30:07.913 --> 00:30:08.733
in defense of humanity,

00:30:08.773 --> 00:30:10.315
the FIDO or something like that,

00:30:12.048 --> 00:30:17.990
would just give her too much structure to

00:30:18.010 --> 00:30:19.070
get the story out.

00:30:19.171 --> 00:30:23.011
She needs to be on her own and

00:30:23.071 --> 00:30:27.333
finding herself and figuring out what

00:30:27.373 --> 00:30:29.373
these powers are, what's real to her,

00:30:29.893 --> 00:30:30.413
what's not.

00:30:30.513 --> 00:30:32.233
If I have her around too many people

00:30:32.374 --> 00:30:32.773
all the time,

00:30:32.794 --> 00:30:34.233
then you kind of start to lose all

00:30:34.253 --> 00:30:34.494
of that.

00:30:36.375 --> 00:30:36.974
Simply put,

00:30:37.075 --> 00:30:39.596
a cold sword was never a sword until

00:30:39.635 --> 00:30:40.536
we put it in the fire.

00:30:43.277 --> 00:30:43.896
I like it.

00:30:45.278 --> 00:30:46.478
Dude, yeah.

00:30:46.538 --> 00:30:46.698
No,

00:30:46.758 --> 00:30:51.199
so I've only gotten to see basically the

00:30:51.239 --> 00:30:53.680
press pass that he sent over to me.

00:30:54.420 --> 00:30:55.900
And the moment I opened it and started

00:30:55.980 --> 00:30:59.280
reading it, I was like, all right,

00:30:59.461 --> 00:31:02.981
I got to have this whole thing.

00:31:03.442 --> 00:31:05.162
It is that good in my eyes.

00:31:06.982 --> 00:31:10.223
So you're the art director on Sweet Pea

00:31:10.344 --> 00:31:11.443
as well, right?

00:31:12.028 --> 00:31:14.509
How did you develop this visual language

00:31:14.810 --> 00:31:16.952
of the constructs versus the real world

00:31:16.992 --> 00:31:18.934
for her?

00:31:18.974 --> 00:31:24.740
So we took some locations from Philly and

00:31:24.779 --> 00:31:26.642
the surrounding areas because that's where

00:31:27.083 --> 00:31:28.423
the story takes place at.

00:31:29.605 --> 00:31:31.446
So Philly and Delco.

00:31:33.009 --> 00:31:36.311
And, you know, as far as the style,

00:31:37.232 --> 00:31:40.413
I wanted to confuse the reader's mind a

00:31:40.433 --> 00:31:43.816
little bit because it's ultimately a story

00:31:43.856 --> 00:31:45.277
about a fourteen year old girl.

00:31:45.317 --> 00:31:49.599
So we have this kind of very approachable,

00:31:49.700 --> 00:31:51.980
soft, round art style.

00:31:53.781 --> 00:31:55.663
Contrasting with, you know,

00:31:55.703 --> 00:31:58.345
like dark themes and violence and stuff

00:31:58.365 --> 00:31:58.904
like that,

00:31:59.965 --> 00:32:01.326
so I just thought that would be

00:32:02.864 --> 00:32:06.546
Dope, because I like dark fantasy,

00:32:06.746 --> 00:32:08.287
fantasy whimsical stuff,

00:32:08.346 --> 00:32:10.087
but seeing like it could have been,

00:32:10.208 --> 00:32:12.828
like it's kind of like a childish in

00:32:13.229 --> 00:32:14.529
this animation,

00:32:14.710 --> 00:32:17.111
but the story is heavy and rich.

00:32:22.634 --> 00:32:23.755
That's what I had in mind for when

00:32:23.795 --> 00:32:24.394
I was creating,

00:32:25.115 --> 00:32:26.256
coming up with the art style.

00:32:28.797 --> 00:32:31.117
Are there any visual cues or design rules

00:32:31.157 --> 00:32:33.578
readers should subconsciously pick up on

00:32:33.719 --> 00:32:35.578
as this story unfolds?

00:32:39.060 --> 00:32:43.721
Are you evolving the art in this story

00:32:44.883 --> 00:32:46.903
with visual cues for people to pick up

00:32:47.022 --> 00:32:49.284
on, if that makes sense?

00:32:49.423 --> 00:32:51.565
There's stuff there.

00:32:52.930 --> 00:32:54.810
that help tell the story that aren't

00:32:54.851 --> 00:32:57.232
necessarily you have to be looking for.

00:32:58.493 --> 00:33:01.756
Yeah, watch Imani's eyes.

00:33:01.816 --> 00:33:04.397
Anytime you don't wear,

00:33:04.417 --> 00:33:05.818
keep an eye on her eyes.

00:33:06.219 --> 00:33:07.119
I'll say that much.

00:33:07.859 --> 00:33:08.961
That's a big giveaway.

00:33:09.921 --> 00:33:12.021
we talked about this last time mike how

00:33:12.323 --> 00:33:14.923
uh it takes us like you know forty

00:33:14.943 --> 00:33:16.325
five minutes or an hour to read a

00:33:16.365 --> 00:33:18.866
comic book because we're not just reading

00:33:18.906 --> 00:33:21.248
the comic but we're actually studying yeah

00:33:21.468 --> 00:33:23.930
the page as well because i'm looking for

00:33:24.009 --> 00:33:26.211
visual cues i'm looking for easter eggs

00:33:26.590 --> 00:33:27.932
i'm doing all these things while i'm

00:33:27.971 --> 00:33:30.953
reading a comic book yes yeah i'll read

00:33:30.973 --> 00:33:32.894
the page yep but then i go like

00:33:34.175 --> 00:33:35.916
this right here through the page and i'm

00:33:35.957 --> 00:33:37.377
just looking for things that

00:33:38.330 --> 00:33:40.913
draw me to something or something where i

00:33:40.952 --> 00:33:42.794
see it here but when i'm going to

00:33:42.834 --> 00:33:44.734
get you know five pages over here i'm

00:33:44.755 --> 00:33:46.955
going to see it again and it's just

00:33:47.096 --> 00:33:49.377
those little visual cues that cue me into

00:33:49.417 --> 00:33:51.679
things and i like that because the eyes

00:33:51.719 --> 00:33:54.221
are always so telling but it is something

00:33:54.240 --> 00:33:54.480
that

00:33:56.323 --> 00:33:58.286
don't see a lot of in comic books

00:33:58.707 --> 00:34:02.633
people using the eyes to help tell stories

00:34:02.673 --> 00:34:04.355
so i i really like the fact that

00:34:04.375 --> 00:34:07.000
you you're using the eyes of characters to

00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:08.581
tell stories in that kind of way as

00:34:08.621 --> 00:34:09.384
well so

00:34:11.094 --> 00:34:13.416
Yeah, everything, everything counts.

00:34:13.518 --> 00:34:13.737
You know,

00:34:13.777 --> 00:34:15.099
we got to take it all into consideration.

00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:16.661
It's nice to have something in there that,

00:34:16.701 --> 00:34:17.081
you know,

00:34:17.121 --> 00:34:20.264
like you find some detail that the artist

00:34:20.284 --> 00:34:23.228
didn't put an arrow on pointing to make

00:34:23.248 --> 00:34:25.849
sure you know.

00:34:25.889 --> 00:34:27.751
That's why it takes me like ten to

00:34:27.791 --> 00:34:29.153
fifteen minutes to read a page of a

00:34:29.193 --> 00:34:31.076
comic book, because that's what I'm doing.

00:34:31.909 --> 00:34:32.891
And even like,

00:34:32.951 --> 00:34:34.431
if you get a chance to check out

00:34:34.512 --> 00:34:35.193
issue one,

00:34:35.632 --> 00:34:38.335
there's some things in there too, where,

00:34:38.815 --> 00:34:39.096
you know,

00:34:39.135 --> 00:34:41.737
like the size of characters and things

00:34:41.797 --> 00:34:42.878
like that change.

00:34:42.918 --> 00:34:44.480
And it's for, you know,

00:34:44.539 --> 00:34:46.260
like it's for a reason, you know,

00:34:46.282 --> 00:34:47.521
I put, it was deliberate.

00:34:47.583 --> 00:34:49.744
We put it there on purpose,

00:34:49.784 --> 00:34:51.885
but want to kind of let you have

00:34:51.925 --> 00:34:54.768
some fun with why did this change so

00:34:54.827 --> 00:34:57.010
much from one panel to the next kind

00:34:57.030 --> 00:34:57.070
of.

00:34:58.429 --> 00:34:59.911
Now, I like that kind of stuff,

00:34:59.990 --> 00:35:01.451
and it's one of those where I think

00:35:01.471 --> 00:35:04.413
that's an underutilized aspect that you

00:35:04.432 --> 00:35:06.873
can do in comic books.

00:35:07.373 --> 00:35:10.235
More people take advantage of that.

00:35:11.795 --> 00:35:14.376
So you've worked across multiple projects,

00:35:14.476 --> 00:35:16.958
Deathblade, the Five Thirds crew,

00:35:17.478 --> 00:35:20.420
and now Sweet Pea as a creator.

00:35:21.061 --> 00:35:24.282
How have those other experiences sharpened

00:35:24.302 --> 00:35:26.063
your leadership as a storyteller?

00:35:27.768 --> 00:35:31.610
So definitely it was dope because I got

00:35:31.670 --> 00:35:34.713
to work with another writer for the first

00:35:34.753 --> 00:35:35.012
time,

00:35:35.032 --> 00:35:36.273
which was something I was trying to get

00:35:36.313 --> 00:35:39.275
my hands on some scripts to just check

00:35:39.356 --> 00:35:41.838
out and see how other people do it.

00:35:42.157 --> 00:35:47.802
So getting to work on another person's

00:35:47.862 --> 00:35:50.003
script and read it,

00:35:51.105 --> 00:35:55.268
create these panel ideas and layouts

00:35:55.307 --> 00:35:56.748
inside of my head and everything.

00:35:57.465 --> 00:36:02.967
um really opened up my eyes to how

00:36:03.007 --> 00:36:04.728
much more seriously i could take it

00:36:04.748 --> 00:36:06.469
because i did a damn good job with

00:36:06.528 --> 00:36:08.070
with death blade you know what i mean

00:36:08.329 --> 00:36:12.731
and um and i think you know like

00:36:12.751 --> 00:36:14.431
that just showed me that i can take

00:36:14.472 --> 00:36:16.492
this to another level you know i can

00:36:16.652 --> 00:36:18.193
i can take my own work to another

00:36:18.233 --> 00:36:19.914
level and then with the five thirds crew

00:36:19.934 --> 00:36:20.893
that came after

00:36:21.574 --> 00:36:21.974
You know,

00:36:22.295 --> 00:36:24.257
and this is the guy that's just this

00:36:24.297 --> 00:36:27.201
is his first book, second issue.

00:36:27.842 --> 00:36:30.905
First one wasn't really exactly a comic

00:36:30.945 --> 00:36:33.007
book, but it's such an exciting idea.

00:36:33.027 --> 00:36:35.550
That's all you got to make this comic.

00:36:35.570 --> 00:36:39.054
So that one is actually it's like a

00:36:39.255 --> 00:36:39.855
math book.

00:36:40.583 --> 00:36:46.228
workbook but also a comic book and it's

00:36:46.369 --> 00:36:48.952
really really good it's a great idea it

00:36:48.972 --> 00:36:50.733
has you know like it's fully characters

00:36:50.773 --> 00:36:53.036
it's not like the uh the things that

00:36:53.056 --> 00:36:54.577
you get inside the dentist's office you

00:36:54.757 --> 00:36:58.963
know yeah brush man or something like that

00:36:59.003 --> 00:37:00.864
you know this is a full it's a

00:37:00.905 --> 00:37:02.606
full comic book and it has

00:37:03.632 --> 00:37:03.911
you know,

00:37:03.931 --> 00:37:05.932
like these moments where they come up and

00:37:05.952 --> 00:37:07.273
have to solve a math problem.

00:37:07.313 --> 00:37:08.275
So, you know,

00:37:08.315 --> 00:37:10.115
there's space for you on the page to

00:37:10.175 --> 00:37:13.016
write in the book and solve the math

00:37:13.036 --> 00:37:13.496
problems.

00:37:13.858 --> 00:37:14.898
And he had a script.

00:37:14.918 --> 00:37:16.079
Were those given to schools?

00:37:17.295 --> 00:37:18.175
I hope so, man.

00:37:18.255 --> 00:37:19.096
I think they should.

00:37:19.155 --> 00:37:20.936
That would be such a cool concept,

00:37:21.018 --> 00:37:22.038
especially for, like,

00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:24.019
once they get to the second, third,

00:37:24.079 --> 00:37:25.199
fourth grade, you know?

00:37:25.360 --> 00:37:26.101
That would just be, like,

00:37:26.121 --> 00:37:28.983
a fun way to do math.

00:37:29.583 --> 00:37:32.065
I think he's got the golden goose, man.

00:37:32.085 --> 00:37:32.985
Yeah, no kidding.

00:37:33.626 --> 00:37:34.347
That might be it.

00:37:34.967 --> 00:37:37.809
But, yeah, so, I mean, he had, like,

00:37:37.849 --> 00:37:44.554
a word spreadsheet thing for his script.

00:37:45.447 --> 00:37:48.409
so i took that remade it into an

00:37:48.530 --> 00:37:51.052
actionable script that we can actually get

00:37:51.213 --> 00:37:54.175
panels ideas from sent that back over to

00:37:54.195 --> 00:37:57.478
him and you know we got we got

00:37:57.518 --> 00:37:59.780
we went from there so i mean it

00:37:59.820 --> 00:38:02.523
just showed me more of what i'm able

00:38:02.563 --> 00:38:04.746
to offer because for me this is fun

00:38:05.047 --> 00:38:06.307
more than more than work yeah

00:38:08.351 --> 00:38:09.753
I'm passionate about it.

00:38:10.753 --> 00:38:14.016
I get to be good at something.

00:38:14.376 --> 00:38:15.918
It's still catching up to me.

00:38:16.038 --> 00:38:17.559
I'm not trying to pat myself on the

00:38:17.579 --> 00:38:17.719
back.

00:38:17.739 --> 00:38:18.519
I don't want to seem like I got

00:38:18.559 --> 00:38:19.019
a big deal.

00:38:19.039 --> 00:38:20.960
You reach around.

00:38:21.942 --> 00:38:23.463
It's not one of these, man.

00:38:23.943 --> 00:38:24.943
Honestly, for me,

00:38:26.164 --> 00:38:27.505
I know exactly where you're coming from

00:38:27.545 --> 00:38:28.947
because that's how I feel about what I

00:38:28.987 --> 00:38:29.447
do here.

00:38:31.128 --> 00:38:32.630
There's times where I'm just like,

00:38:35.534 --> 00:38:36.974
there's days like today where i actually

00:38:37.016 --> 00:38:38.757
get to sit down and do the show

00:38:39.257 --> 00:38:42.659
talk to you talk to mike again and

00:38:43.059 --> 00:38:45.079
it makes it all the stress and stuff

00:38:45.119 --> 00:38:47.280
leading up to these moments well worth it

00:38:47.340 --> 00:38:51.063
so for sure man it feels good to

00:38:51.103 --> 00:38:53.224
be good at something like this is this

00:38:53.244 --> 00:38:57.666
is my thing right dude exactly that that's

00:38:57.706 --> 00:39:00.168
exactly how i feel man this this right

00:39:00.208 --> 00:39:02.889
here is like where

00:39:04.346 --> 00:39:07.188
I found a niche and I was like,

00:39:08.469 --> 00:39:10.130
why aren't there other people bigger than

00:39:10.170 --> 00:39:12.311
me exploring this niche?

00:39:12.351 --> 00:39:12.492
Yeah.

00:39:12.552 --> 00:39:13.833
I would love to talk to some of

00:39:13.853 --> 00:39:15.253
the bigger creators out there,

00:39:15.934 --> 00:39:16.914
but at the same time,

00:39:16.954 --> 00:39:18.436
if I could talk to guys like you

00:39:19.016 --> 00:39:21.679
and Mike and other indie creators out

00:39:21.719 --> 00:39:24.240
there who I see as the future of

00:39:24.661 --> 00:39:26.702
comic book storytelling to begin with,

00:39:28.083 --> 00:39:32.626
that to me has more depth to it

00:39:32.666 --> 00:39:33.126
because I,

00:39:34.385 --> 00:39:36.146
tomorrow you could be working for Marvel

00:39:36.266 --> 00:39:37.007
or DC.

00:39:37.128 --> 00:39:37.688
I don't know.

00:39:38.469 --> 00:39:39.690
And I can look back and go,

00:39:40.791 --> 00:39:43.873
I knew him before he was over there.

00:39:43.893 --> 00:39:44.634
And, you know,

00:39:44.713 --> 00:39:47.635
I have this proof right here in the

00:39:47.675 --> 00:39:52.039
pudding that he got over there,

00:39:52.460 --> 00:39:53.320
you know what I'm saying?

00:39:54.802 --> 00:39:55.722
He's definitely got chops.

00:39:57.827 --> 00:39:58.407
If I'm there,

00:39:58.507 --> 00:39:59.628
it ain't going to be like I knew

00:39:59.668 --> 00:39:59.909
him.

00:39:59.929 --> 00:40:00.409
It's going to be like,

00:40:00.469 --> 00:40:01.250
I know that guy.

00:40:01.349 --> 00:40:02.809
Yeah.

00:40:03.150 --> 00:40:04.331
I appreciate that.

00:40:04.371 --> 00:40:05.070
Like I said, to me,

00:40:05.090 --> 00:40:07.112
this is where it's at.

00:40:07.132 --> 00:40:08.492
This is where the future is.

00:40:08.913 --> 00:40:11.014
The future starts with indie comics.

00:40:11.094 --> 00:40:13.514
I don't know a single big name out

00:40:13.534 --> 00:40:16.695
there making comics right now that didn't

00:40:16.735 --> 00:40:18.577
get their start in some kind of way

00:40:19.177 --> 00:40:19.998
at this level.

00:40:20.038 --> 00:40:22.318
So that's why I do what I do

00:40:22.378 --> 00:40:26.201
to keep bringing you guys to the forefront

00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:26.820
of people.

00:40:27.521 --> 00:40:28.922
So I love it.

00:40:29.023 --> 00:40:30.423
And I'll do it until I can't.

00:40:30.463 --> 00:40:33.547
I appreciate it.

00:40:33.567 --> 00:40:34.188
We need that.

00:40:34.487 --> 00:40:35.750
We definitely need it.

00:40:36.010 --> 00:40:38.431
You know, like I said before,

00:40:38.472 --> 00:40:39.213
making the book,

00:40:39.514 --> 00:40:41.054
you find it to be I found it

00:40:41.074 --> 00:40:42.996
to be surprisingly easy.

00:40:43.016 --> 00:40:44.117
I ain't going to say it's an easy

00:40:44.157 --> 00:40:44.818
thing to do,

00:40:45.278 --> 00:40:47.461
but it's extremely possible to do.

00:40:48.572 --> 00:40:50.634
selling that book and getting eyes on it

00:40:50.653 --> 00:40:53.916
you know it's really freaking hard what's

00:40:54.135 --> 00:40:58.538
great about this right here is at the

00:40:58.577 --> 00:41:00.518
end of the day i'm going to chop

00:41:00.539 --> 00:41:01.739
this up for you i'm going to send

00:41:01.759 --> 00:41:04.181
you over clips to help you you know

00:41:04.280 --> 00:41:07.581
with that part of the of the selling

00:41:08.222 --> 00:41:08.523
so

00:41:09.880 --> 00:41:12.804
It's pretty crazy how something as simple

00:41:12.844 --> 00:41:14.965
as a clip from a podcast interview that

00:41:15.005 --> 00:41:17.588
you did can help kind of push that

00:41:17.608 --> 00:41:18.789
along to another level.

00:41:18.849 --> 00:41:21.271
So hopefully this will do that for you.

00:41:21.713 --> 00:41:23.614
You can get us up to that that

00:41:23.715 --> 00:41:25.297
fifty, you know,

00:41:25.356 --> 00:41:27.599
pregame backers over on the Kickstarter

00:41:27.998 --> 00:41:30.402
and everybody can get that cool as mobile

00:41:30.422 --> 00:41:31.503
phone screensaver.

00:41:35.190 --> 00:41:35.371
Yeah, yeah.

00:41:35.391 --> 00:41:36.411
I feel free to cut me out.

00:41:36.452 --> 00:41:37.413
You can cut me out.

00:41:37.452 --> 00:41:38.353
You don't have to leave me.

00:41:39.153 --> 00:41:39.853
You just edit it,

00:41:39.954 --> 00:41:42.076
stack y'all's cameras together so it fits.

00:41:42.456 --> 00:41:43.295
I don't have to be a part of

00:41:43.356 --> 00:41:43.436
it.

00:41:43.496 --> 00:41:45.757
I already got my clips.

00:41:45.858 --> 00:41:46.637
Give him his clips.

00:41:46.657 --> 00:41:52.262
Dude, honestly,

00:41:52.601 --> 00:41:53.503
I didn't know if you were going to

00:41:53.523 --> 00:41:54.262
show up or not.

00:41:54.422 --> 00:41:55.344
And I literally,

00:41:56.123 --> 00:41:57.525
when I was putting everything together,

00:41:57.545 --> 00:41:58.606
I was like...

00:41:59.650 --> 00:42:00.010
I was like,

00:42:00.311 --> 00:42:01.532
I don't know if Mike's going to show

00:42:01.652 --> 00:42:01.851
up.

00:42:01.972 --> 00:42:03.974
And I'm like, but if he shows up,

00:42:04.014 --> 00:42:05.175
you know, I'm prepared for that.

00:42:05.315 --> 00:42:05.576
You know,

00:42:05.596 --> 00:42:06.757
he can jump in where he wants to

00:42:06.797 --> 00:42:07.356
jump in.

00:42:08.057 --> 00:42:08.778
But I really,

00:42:09.358 --> 00:42:10.639
I kind of had a feeling that you

00:42:10.679 --> 00:42:13.322
wanted me to put more focus on Aleem.

00:42:13.342 --> 00:42:16.505
I've been like doing that.

00:42:16.565 --> 00:42:17.666
So I don't want you to think that

00:42:17.686 --> 00:42:18.807
I'm ignoring you, Mike.

00:42:19.047 --> 00:42:21.471
Absolutely.

00:42:22.791 --> 00:42:24.713
But so you're,

00:42:25.891 --> 00:42:27.353
You're just not building worlds.

00:42:27.572 --> 00:42:29.054
You're raising five kids as well.

00:42:29.094 --> 00:42:31.838
How has being a father influenced the

00:42:31.878 --> 00:42:32.619
stories you've done?

00:42:32.699 --> 00:42:33.800
I can kind of see that from what

00:42:33.860 --> 00:42:35.443
I've gotten to see of Sweet Pea so

00:42:35.463 --> 00:42:35.842
far.

00:42:36.684 --> 00:42:39.788
But how has that been a big factor

00:42:39.987 --> 00:42:40.409
into this?

00:42:41.110 --> 00:42:42.311
You've hinted on it, but...

00:42:43.226 --> 00:42:43.907
Yeah.

00:42:43.967 --> 00:42:45.847
Well, first of all, just full disclaimer,

00:42:46.327 --> 00:42:47.949
I want anybody reading this book and

00:42:47.969 --> 00:42:52.552
thinking that very well.

00:42:55.235 --> 00:42:56.936
Before we went live,

00:42:56.976 --> 00:42:58.378
he was messaging his kids.

00:42:58.438 --> 00:42:59.277
I swear to you.

00:42:59.358 --> 00:43:01.059
Yeah.

00:43:01.400 --> 00:43:03.141
So the kids are doing great.

00:43:03.422 --> 00:43:04.643
Well, like I said, you know,

00:43:04.663 --> 00:43:08.826
before and fathers prepare, fathers worry,

00:43:08.865 --> 00:43:11.208
fathers consider, you know,

00:43:11.407 --> 00:43:12.849
just something that men do.

00:43:13.456 --> 00:43:13.715
You know,

00:43:13.735 --> 00:43:16.199
we go into a room and analyze threats.

00:43:16.940 --> 00:43:18.141
You know, it's just what we do.

00:43:18.681 --> 00:43:23.005
So, you know, as a father, you know,

00:43:23.146 --> 00:43:25.809
even from a young age, you know, well,

00:43:25.849 --> 00:43:26.590
not me at a young age,

00:43:26.610 --> 00:43:27.791
when I'm looking at my kids at a

00:43:27.831 --> 00:43:28.391
young age,

00:43:30.369 --> 00:43:31.990
Looking at their cute little faces,

00:43:32.130 --> 00:43:34.612
but all of this knowledge of the world.

00:43:34.733 --> 00:43:36.875
And I understand where they're at.

00:43:36.914 --> 00:43:37.655
You know what I mean?

00:43:37.755 --> 00:43:40.378
Everything's all fun and sunshine for

00:43:40.398 --> 00:43:40.637
them.

00:43:40.998 --> 00:43:43.019
As much as we can keep it that

00:43:43.059 --> 00:43:43.940
way, we do.

00:43:44.481 --> 00:43:46.023
You want to protect that innocence for as

00:43:46.083 --> 00:43:46.862
long as you can.

00:43:46.963 --> 00:43:48.344
As long as possible, man.

00:43:48.364 --> 00:43:49.746
And make sure that they get the best

00:43:49.766 --> 00:43:50.806
shot possible.

00:43:51.327 --> 00:43:51.547
But...

00:43:52.960 --> 00:43:55.902
it's a nasty world man it's a nasty

00:43:55.922 --> 00:43:57.844
world and at the end of the day

00:43:58.364 --> 00:44:01.606
we gotta prepare these children to be a

00:44:01.666 --> 00:44:04.489
part of it one day and out on

00:44:04.528 --> 00:44:06.429
their own they gotta leave the nest so

00:44:06.530 --> 00:44:09.833
and that is that for me i ain't

00:44:09.853 --> 00:44:11.132
gonna say it's always been scary i'm not

00:44:11.152 --> 00:44:13.255
like a helicopter parent or anything like

00:44:13.275 --> 00:44:15.717
that i trust that i've um

00:44:16.704 --> 00:44:19.204
giving the kids what they need to go

00:44:19.324 --> 00:44:20.045
out in the world.

00:44:20.065 --> 00:44:21.585
And I'm still there for them whenever they

00:44:21.644 --> 00:44:23.764
need me or whatever.

00:44:23.784 --> 00:44:26.905
So it's not like I'm a nihilist or

00:44:26.945 --> 00:44:27.606
something like that,

00:44:27.626 --> 00:44:28.965
if I'm using that word right.

00:44:29.005 --> 00:44:32.347
But I know what it is out there.

00:44:32.527 --> 00:44:35.766
So that's what I'm putting out inside of

00:44:35.806 --> 00:44:36.286
this book.

00:44:37.367 --> 00:44:39.648
That fear, that worry,

00:44:41.068 --> 00:44:43.728
just following that string of imagination.

00:44:45.342 --> 00:44:47.563
turning it into something that's

00:44:47.722 --> 00:44:51.003
interesting as a comic book, you know,

00:44:51.503 --> 00:44:53.483
for the reader.

00:44:53.523 --> 00:44:55.804
How have you managed to balance all that

00:44:55.844 --> 00:44:58.365
between your family life and what you do

00:44:58.405 --> 00:44:59.146
for comic books?

00:44:59.186 --> 00:45:00.266
I don't know if you have a regular

00:45:00.286 --> 00:45:00.945
job as well,

00:45:01.005 --> 00:45:03.106
but how do you find balance in all

00:45:03.126 --> 00:45:05.648
that?

00:45:08.527 --> 00:45:09.369
Well, first of all,

00:45:09.509 --> 00:45:10.469
I do a very poor job.

00:45:15.789 --> 00:45:20.050
I can do that because mine's in college.

00:45:20.110 --> 00:45:21.911
So I can it allows me to have

00:45:21.972 --> 00:45:23.733
more time to do this kind of stuff,

00:45:23.773 --> 00:45:25.333
which I am thankful for at this point

00:45:25.373 --> 00:45:27.775
because I've done the hard part already.

00:45:29.275 --> 00:45:32.096
I'm still I'm still I got a freshman,

00:45:32.737 --> 00:45:35.597
a college freshman and a kindergartner.

00:45:39.340 --> 00:45:43.262
she's a sophomore so in college so i'm

00:45:43.322 --> 00:45:45.523
kind of like i can hands off and

00:45:45.543 --> 00:45:46.784
just be there when i need to be

00:45:46.804 --> 00:45:51.186
there so that's nice so i mean um

00:45:51.226 --> 00:45:53.168
you know we make do it's easier it's

00:45:53.307 --> 00:45:56.630
it's not easy but it's easier because it's

00:45:56.670 --> 00:45:58.811
something that i'm passionate about doing

00:45:59.311 --> 00:46:00.911
This ain't the same as me going in

00:46:00.952 --> 00:46:02.353
for overtime to get, you know,

00:46:02.393 --> 00:46:04.012
try to get a couple extra bills,

00:46:04.052 --> 00:46:05.432
catch up on some credit cards.

00:46:06.054 --> 00:46:09.114
This is me, you know, betting on myself.

00:46:09.635 --> 00:46:12.195
This is me following my dreams.

00:46:12.215 --> 00:46:14.036
This is me pursuing my passions.

00:46:14.695 --> 00:46:15.815
And, you know,

00:46:16.175 --> 00:46:20.297
when I can get my mental state together

00:46:21.056 --> 00:46:23.498
to lock in,

00:46:23.657 --> 00:46:25.398
I can do some amazing things.

00:46:25.838 --> 00:46:27.619
And once you see once this Kickstarter

00:46:27.659 --> 00:46:28.398
goes live,

00:46:28.893 --> 00:46:31.094
and you see the care that I put

00:46:31.195 --> 00:46:33.916
into that presentation and people start

00:46:33.956 --> 00:46:35.195
seeing these, you know,

00:46:35.215 --> 00:46:37.056
this book and these books that we've made,

00:46:38.197 --> 00:46:40.398
I think you're going to see all of

00:46:40.418 --> 00:46:41.878
that come through there.

00:46:45.094 --> 00:46:45.954
I like it.

00:46:46.034 --> 00:46:46.934
I'm in the same boat, man.

00:46:46.994 --> 00:46:48.155
I got a nine to five.

00:46:49.115 --> 00:46:51.436
The only reason I still keep the nine

00:46:51.476 --> 00:46:53.436
to five is because I got bills to

00:46:53.476 --> 00:46:53.936
pay, man.

00:46:54.336 --> 00:46:54.637
Otherwise,

00:46:54.697 --> 00:46:56.016
I'd be doing this full time whether I

00:46:56.077 --> 00:46:59.898
was getting paid or not.

00:47:00.478 --> 00:47:05.498
If people just watch the videos and let

00:47:05.518 --> 00:47:06.579
me get paid to do this,

00:47:06.699 --> 00:47:08.878
I wouldn't need the nine to five because

00:47:08.898 --> 00:47:10.119
if I was getting paid to do this,

00:47:11.079 --> 00:47:11.980
I'd do it all the time.

00:47:13.036 --> 00:47:14.476
I wouldn't be worried about closing my

00:47:14.496 --> 00:47:14.856
schedule.

00:47:14.896 --> 00:47:15.577
I'd be like, hey, yeah,

00:47:15.617 --> 00:47:16.797
I can fit you in at two p.m.

00:47:16.818 --> 00:47:17.518
on Thursday.

00:47:17.538 --> 00:47:17.757
Let's do it.

00:47:17.777 --> 00:47:19.858
I know it's the same for Mike, too.

00:47:19.978 --> 00:47:25.061
I know you guys are dealing with the

00:47:25.081 --> 00:47:25.960
same things, man.

00:47:26.001 --> 00:47:26.601
We all are.

00:47:27.021 --> 00:47:27.442
Yeah.

00:47:27.521 --> 00:47:29.922
Oh, yeah.

00:47:29.943 --> 00:47:31.083
And me and Mike talked about that when

00:47:31.103 --> 00:47:32.324
he was on last time, too.

00:47:32.603 --> 00:47:32.824
I mean...

00:47:34.032 --> 00:47:36.635
if we could if we didn't have to

00:47:36.655 --> 00:47:38.318
do it we would this would be i'd

00:47:38.358 --> 00:47:42.362
be a full-time creator in a heartbeat i'll

00:47:42.402 --> 00:47:44.443
work into that point you know i would

00:47:44.523 --> 00:47:46.545
i want to be there and that that

00:47:46.585 --> 00:47:50.630
is kind of my goal is hopefully end

00:47:50.670 --> 00:47:53.753
of the year i'll be you know that

00:47:53.793 --> 00:47:55.476
next step closer to being able to do

00:47:55.496 --> 00:47:56.255
that so we'll see

00:47:57.402 --> 00:47:58.485
it's all about the grind.

00:47:58.605 --> 00:48:00.547
And I showed y'all my schedule for the

00:48:00.588 --> 00:48:01.570
month of February.

00:48:02.311 --> 00:48:03.594
We grind in this month.

00:48:04.155 --> 00:48:05.195
We grind in this month.

00:48:05.297 --> 00:48:06.458
It's consistent, man.

00:48:06.539 --> 00:48:09.143
It pays off.

00:48:09.163 --> 00:48:09.543
But, um,

00:48:10.284 --> 00:48:11.885
i wish everybody knew that man i wish

00:48:11.965 --> 00:48:13.067
i knew that from i wish i knew

00:48:13.086 --> 00:48:16.429
this when i was you know kid watching

00:48:16.449 --> 00:48:18.590
batman the animated series and you know

00:48:18.630 --> 00:48:21.413
superman and all that stuff that you know

00:48:21.632 --> 00:48:25.795
oh freakazoid regular people so all those

00:48:25.835 --> 00:48:28.496
great people i've always been i've never

00:48:28.556 --> 00:48:31.278
read the credits you know like i stopped

00:48:31.318 --> 00:48:33.239
when i've never stayed for the credits of

00:48:33.280 --> 00:48:35.141
the show i just watched the shows or

00:48:35.342 --> 00:48:37.003
you know i read the books and then

00:48:37.222 --> 00:48:39.063
i went about my day but those were

00:48:39.224 --> 00:48:39.844
always

00:48:40.664 --> 00:48:44.887
regular people that pursued their dreams,

00:48:45.528 --> 00:48:48.650
followed it, and landed where they are.

00:48:49.311 --> 00:48:52.594
So that's actually a part of my mission.

00:48:52.773 --> 00:48:54.835
And I'll say that on every show that

00:48:54.896 --> 00:48:58.097
I go on, that you can do it,

00:48:58.137 --> 00:48:58.478
man.

00:48:58.538 --> 00:49:01.320
If there's any kids watching and you have

00:49:01.581 --> 00:49:02.101
ideas,

00:49:02.501 --> 00:49:04.961
Start taking them seriously pursue them

00:49:04.981 --> 00:49:07.001
and you know create just even if you're

00:49:07.021 --> 00:49:09.123
just like Hopping on YouTube and watching

00:49:09.163 --> 00:49:10.684
videos of what it is that you want

00:49:10.704 --> 00:49:12.423
to do or what you have a passion

00:49:12.463 --> 00:49:15.324
for And just do it Yeah,

00:49:15.804 --> 00:49:17.266
because I remember when I first started

00:49:17.286 --> 00:49:19.925
doing this I was watching YouTube videos

00:49:20.005 --> 00:49:23.086
on how to do YouTube videos and how

00:49:23.126 --> 00:49:27.188
to podcast and Ways to do it economically

00:49:27.369 --> 00:49:29.449
and and get the most bang out of

00:49:29.489 --> 00:49:30.909
your money so

00:49:32.304 --> 00:49:33.125
Yeah, exactly.

00:49:33.144 --> 00:49:35.206
And I was in my late thirties when

00:49:35.266 --> 00:49:36.146
I started doing that.

00:49:36.206 --> 00:49:39.148
So just imagine if we was nineteen,

00:49:39.208 --> 00:49:42.251
twenty years old, getting it from there.

00:49:42.271 --> 00:49:43.931
When I was eighteen or nineteen years old,

00:49:43.972 --> 00:49:45.773
I don't think podcasting was a thing.

00:49:46.094 --> 00:49:47.315
It was still being on it.

00:49:49.056 --> 00:49:52.237
The way I see it is I do

00:49:52.297 --> 00:49:55.400
a live podcast for the people who like

00:49:55.420 --> 00:49:55.981
to watch.

00:49:57.096 --> 00:49:59.396
but I also know and understand that I

00:49:59.416 --> 00:50:00.577
got a face for radio.

00:50:00.637 --> 00:50:03.820
So it also goes to Spotify and apples.

00:50:05.159 --> 00:50:06.141
Okay.

00:50:06.981 --> 00:50:07.242
Yeah.

00:50:07.262 --> 00:50:09.322
So yeah, man, it's just like, you know,

00:50:09.362 --> 00:50:12.143
just the takeaway is more people should,

00:50:12.525 --> 00:50:13.085
if I could have,

00:50:13.224 --> 00:50:15.126
if I could have built my life around

00:50:15.226 --> 00:50:15.985
comic books,

00:50:16.246 --> 00:50:18.307
I would be happy with wherever the chips

00:50:18.447 --> 00:50:18.568
are.

00:50:19.047 --> 00:50:21.730
Fortunately, you know, like I'm not,

00:50:21.829 --> 00:50:23.190
I thank God for my, for,

00:50:23.250 --> 00:50:26.052
for my life and everything that I have.

00:50:27.545 --> 00:50:28.266
But you know,

00:50:28.387 --> 00:50:30.387
I've got a lot built now that I

00:50:30.407 --> 00:50:31.268
got to maintain.

00:50:31.309 --> 00:50:32.250
So that nine to five,

00:50:32.289 --> 00:50:33.911
not stopping until this takes off.

00:50:33.951 --> 00:50:35.353
And then we can put our full attention

00:50:35.932 --> 00:50:37.134
over here.

00:50:37.293 --> 00:50:40.056
True story right there.

00:50:40.097 --> 00:50:41.978
So without spoiling anything, man,

00:50:41.998 --> 00:50:44.199
where do you see the diary of sweet

00:50:44.219 --> 00:50:45.800
pea headed thematically?

00:50:46.461 --> 00:50:47.722
As this story continues,

00:50:47.762 --> 00:50:49.083
you've been kind of like dropping us

00:50:49.103 --> 00:50:50.826
little breadcrumbs along the way there,

00:50:50.865 --> 00:50:54.027
but without a spoiler,

00:50:54.108 --> 00:50:54.909
where are you headed?

00:50:56.317 --> 00:50:56.657
And, Mike,

00:50:56.876 --> 00:50:58.177
you're giggling down there like a little

00:50:58.219 --> 00:50:58.838
schoolgirl.

00:51:01.860 --> 00:51:02.981
I don't know, Mike.

00:51:03.483 --> 00:51:05.264
You think I can do it without spoiling?

00:51:05.804 --> 00:51:08.766
Some dark places.

00:51:08.987 --> 00:51:09.306
Hey,

00:51:09.347 --> 00:51:10.507
this is one of those where you can

00:51:10.527 --> 00:51:11.789
go, hey, dude,

00:51:11.909 --> 00:51:14.210
I can't do this question without giving a

00:51:14.251 --> 00:51:15.010
spoiler away.

00:51:15.371 --> 00:51:16.532
And I'm going to understand it.

00:51:16.552 --> 00:51:18.173
The people who are going to be listening

00:51:18.193 --> 00:51:20.235
later on the podcast are going to

00:51:20.275 --> 00:51:21.635
completely understand as well.

00:51:21.715 --> 00:51:21.896
So...

00:51:23.034 --> 00:51:24.414
If you can't do it without giving

00:51:24.454 --> 00:51:25.795
spoilers, then by all means,

00:51:25.835 --> 00:51:27.155
we can go to the next question.

00:51:27.175 --> 00:51:30.356
I think you could explain it like this.

00:51:30.476 --> 00:51:34.516
The stages of grief, right?

00:51:34.737 --> 00:51:37.918
She's accepted it,

00:51:37.978 --> 00:51:40.018
but there's one emotion that's pretty

00:51:40.038 --> 00:51:41.878
valid in the stages of grief that you

00:51:41.898 --> 00:51:42.597
got to get through,

00:51:44.139 --> 00:51:49.139
and you won't like her when she's angry.

00:51:49.179 --> 00:51:50.519
That's a perfect way to put it right

00:51:50.539 --> 00:51:50.980
there, Gulls,

00:51:51.039 --> 00:51:52.300
especially if she is

00:51:53.938 --> 00:51:55.500
going through those stages of grief.

00:51:58.121 --> 00:51:59.181
That makes perfect sense.

00:51:59.221 --> 00:52:00.242
And if that's where it's going,

00:52:00.262 --> 00:52:03.003
then I know there's a step in there

00:52:03.043 --> 00:52:04.563
that's... That's what the talk is,

00:52:04.623 --> 00:52:06.824
but the boss said it's open.

00:52:08.686 --> 00:52:09.666
We're still talking about it.

00:52:09.686 --> 00:52:12.427
It's on a pendulum.

00:52:12.507 --> 00:52:13.068
It's on a pendulum.

00:52:16.242 --> 00:52:18.003
but we can skip that one.

00:52:18.684 --> 00:52:19.764
Let me ask you this,

00:52:19.844 --> 00:52:22.786
is Sweet Pea a contained story or is

00:52:22.885 --> 00:52:25.547
a foundation there of something much

00:52:25.626 --> 00:52:26.027
bigger?

00:52:27.128 --> 00:52:27.248
Oh,

00:52:27.268 --> 00:52:29.148
it's absolutely a foundation there for

00:52:29.188 --> 00:52:30.048
something much bigger.

00:52:30.690 --> 00:52:33.871
You know, if this story takes off now,

00:52:34.210 --> 00:52:36.552
we got a lot of things coming down

00:52:36.572 --> 00:52:36.913
the pipe.

00:52:36.932 --> 00:52:38.532
Me and Mike have something that we working

00:52:38.693 --> 00:52:39.373
on together.

00:52:41.731 --> 00:52:43.791
I have some other ideas that I want

00:52:43.831 --> 00:52:44.452
to explore,

00:52:44.492 --> 00:52:46.791
but if this thing really takes off and

00:52:46.811 --> 00:52:48.793
the people are really interested in seeing

00:52:49.112 --> 00:52:50.353
where this story can go,

00:52:50.813 --> 00:52:53.554
there are so many factions inside of this.

00:52:53.574 --> 00:52:55.715
So you have the Bane,

00:52:56.076 --> 00:52:59.717
who are interdimensional creatures that go

00:52:59.757 --> 00:53:01.117
from dimension to dimension.

00:53:01.717 --> 00:53:03.798
creating catastrophic events and then

00:53:03.858 --> 00:53:06.559
harvesting uh the resources from them and

00:53:06.599 --> 00:53:12.163
moving on you have the results who are

00:53:12.222 --> 00:53:15.784
like ancient enemy of the bane also travel

00:53:15.844 --> 00:53:18.846
between dimensions and fighting them you

00:53:18.865 --> 00:53:22.148
know and uh guerrilla warfare tactics for

00:53:23.027 --> 00:53:25.688
hundreds of years thousands of years you

00:53:25.728 --> 00:53:28.030
have the fight fighters in defense of

00:53:28.070 --> 00:53:30.472
humanity or fido who is um

00:53:31.856 --> 00:53:35.922
paramilitary global organization created

00:53:35.981 --> 00:53:38.423
to try to fight against the BAME

00:53:39.579 --> 00:53:40.701
using, you know,

00:53:40.721 --> 00:53:42.561
like this new experimental technology.

00:53:43.182 --> 00:53:45.545
Then you have, you know,

00:53:45.565 --> 00:53:48.347
the average everyday human who also,

00:53:48.527 --> 00:53:48.766
you know,

00:53:48.786 --> 00:53:50.849
like we could focus on people who are

00:53:50.889 --> 00:53:53.530
not powered and trying to survive this new

00:53:53.690 --> 00:53:55.731
hellscape that we all have to deal with

00:53:56.152 --> 00:53:56.813
in this story.

00:53:57.414 --> 00:54:00.255
And then you have the people who absorb

00:54:00.295 --> 00:54:03.538
the energy and become powered individuals.

00:54:04.159 --> 00:54:05.539
You know, it's not just the money.

00:54:06.552 --> 00:54:08.034
You know, she's just, uh,

00:54:08.755 --> 00:54:10.416
we'll get into that issue for, but it's,

00:54:10.757 --> 00:54:12.059
um, you know, you have,

00:54:12.298 --> 00:54:14.322
you have other people too, that, that,

00:54:14.382 --> 00:54:15.101
that have this power.

00:54:15.121 --> 00:54:16.923
So there's a lot of elements, you know,

00:54:16.943 --> 00:54:17.264
there's some,

00:54:17.364 --> 00:54:20.768
there's some things in issue two that I

00:54:20.809 --> 00:54:24.813
could take and make like a graphic novel,

00:54:24.833 --> 00:54:26.614
a hundred and eighty pages easily.

00:54:27.416 --> 00:54:31.498
Issue two could have easily been five or

00:54:31.538 --> 00:54:33.139
six issues alone.

00:54:33.159 --> 00:54:34.898
So we can go some places if you

00:54:34.938 --> 00:54:37.099
guys want to go some places.

00:54:37.481 --> 00:54:38.440
We can explore some more.

00:54:39.762 --> 00:54:40.802
I like that a lot, dude.

00:54:41.222 --> 00:54:44.003
But let's jump into the Kickstarter.

00:54:44.083 --> 00:54:45.264
It is launching in March.

00:54:46.344 --> 00:54:48.766
And what can you tell us about the

00:54:48.826 --> 00:54:53.467
upcoming Kickstarter and what this

00:54:53.527 --> 00:54:55.648
represents for the project?

00:54:56.458 --> 00:54:57.539
Because this is issue three.

00:54:58.541 --> 00:55:00.623
It's pretty pivotal of a four-issue

00:55:00.663 --> 00:55:01.063
series.

00:55:01.083 --> 00:55:06.929
Yeah, so issue three,

00:55:07.010 --> 00:55:08.972
I'm giving it a lot of love and

00:55:09.012 --> 00:55:10.914
care and affection with this Kickstarter

00:55:10.934 --> 00:55:11.394
campaign.

00:55:11.414 --> 00:55:13.757
I'm building it myself from the ground up.

00:55:14.577 --> 00:55:16.077
Coming up with some really fun stretch

00:55:16.097 --> 00:55:18.219
goals, one of which is live right now.

00:55:18.659 --> 00:55:20.320
So in our prelaunch,

00:55:20.400 --> 00:55:22.443
we have a stretch goal where if we

00:55:22.463 --> 00:55:24.684
can get our followers on the prelaunch

00:55:24.704 --> 00:55:25.844
page up to fifty,

00:55:26.266 --> 00:55:28.206
then everybody's going to get that free

00:55:28.827 --> 00:55:30.869
digital screensaver for their phones that

00:55:30.889 --> 00:55:31.548
we talked about.

00:55:32.030 --> 00:55:32.590
And then, you know,

00:55:32.630 --> 00:55:35.572
like we'll probably do something like if

00:55:35.612 --> 00:55:37.152
we can get up to one hundred and

00:55:37.833 --> 00:55:39.054
a desktop wallpaper.

00:55:39.802 --> 00:55:41.043
or something like that.

00:55:41.083 --> 00:55:46.108
But we also have an element where sharing

00:55:46.268 --> 00:55:47.590
is going to come into play.

00:55:48.972 --> 00:55:50.693
I'll have some stretch goals for that.

00:55:51.494 --> 00:55:52.574
For the number of backers,

00:55:52.615 --> 00:55:54.496
we'll have stretch goals.

00:55:54.998 --> 00:55:55.679
And then, of course,

00:55:55.739 --> 00:55:57.960
monetary stretch goals as well to increase

00:55:57.981 --> 00:55:58.061
that.

00:55:59.641 --> 00:56:02.282
I'm only asking for a thousand dollars.

00:56:02.603 --> 00:56:04.063
And if I only get enough to print,

00:56:04.242 --> 00:56:04.822
that's fine.

00:56:04.902 --> 00:56:06.684
Cause it's, you know, I was,

00:56:07.344 --> 00:56:09.204
I bet on myself first with, with,

00:56:09.264 --> 00:56:11.364
with the diary of sweet pea, um,

00:56:11.945 --> 00:56:13.706
I pay for this book out of my

00:56:13.746 --> 00:56:14.186
pocket.

00:56:14.545 --> 00:56:14.806
Right.

00:56:15.445 --> 00:56:17.047
So the book is, the book is done.

00:56:17.666 --> 00:56:19.527
It's edited, it's worded,

00:56:19.626 --> 00:56:21.108
it's lettered and everything like that.

00:56:21.148 --> 00:56:22.467
Now we just got to get the print.

00:56:23.449 --> 00:56:25.971
so if um traction is still low and

00:56:26.010 --> 00:56:27.771
i haven't gotten it out to enough people

00:56:28.391 --> 00:56:30.172
then you know we prep with a with

00:56:30.211 --> 00:56:32.371
a thousand dollars and as high as we

00:56:32.391 --> 00:56:35.132
can take it you know we uh we

00:56:35.172 --> 00:56:36.833
make more it's not you know we definitely

00:56:36.853 --> 00:56:39.494
going to finish diary sweet pea issue four

00:56:40.134 --> 00:56:42.494
because that uh you know it's the promise

00:56:42.514 --> 00:56:44.295
that i made when i wrote issue one

00:56:44.394 --> 00:56:45.695
and put one of four in there

00:56:46.114 --> 00:56:46.815
Which, by the way,

00:56:46.856 --> 00:56:48.717
don't do if you if you if you

00:56:48.777 --> 00:56:49.916
listen to that, you know,

00:56:50.016 --> 00:56:51.557
just let it be issue one and leave

00:56:51.577 --> 00:56:52.259
it at that.

00:56:52.278 --> 00:56:53.079
Yeah.

00:56:53.199 --> 00:56:53.320
Oh,

00:56:53.340 --> 00:56:56.161
like it creates a box that you don't

00:56:56.260 --> 00:56:58.061
necessarily want to have to deal with,

00:56:58.463 --> 00:56:58.722
you know,

00:56:58.742 --> 00:57:01.704
kind of confine the story into four issues

00:57:01.724 --> 00:57:03.786
that could have easily been well with

00:57:03.806 --> 00:57:04.666
thirteen or more.

00:57:05.126 --> 00:57:06.987
So, you know.

00:57:07.702 --> 00:57:09.143
I'm confident that we're going to hit that

00:57:09.182 --> 00:57:09.543
goal.

00:57:09.603 --> 00:57:10.364
But, you know,

00:57:10.443 --> 00:57:11.963
I think that we made something really

00:57:12.043 --> 00:57:16.585
special and it deserves it deserves to be

00:57:16.625 --> 00:57:16.885
seen.

00:57:17.605 --> 00:57:18.885
You're going to want to take a chance.

00:57:18.965 --> 00:57:20.226
I know I'm not the best salesman in

00:57:20.246 --> 00:57:20.686
the world,

00:57:20.726 --> 00:57:22.666
but I'm a damn good comic book creator.

00:57:23.045 --> 00:57:24.527
And this is a damn good comic book.

00:57:24.766 --> 00:57:26.467
So I just think that you get to

00:57:26.487 --> 00:57:27.987
come back the next time and go volume

00:57:28.027 --> 00:57:31.148
to issue one and just leave it alone.

00:57:34.744 --> 00:57:38.447
yeah so the the pitchwater man that has

00:57:38.487 --> 00:57:40.469
we got some got some great graphics for

00:57:40.509 --> 00:57:42.851
you guys um i have some really fun

00:57:42.871 --> 00:57:46.114
tears we have three different books uh

00:57:46.173 --> 00:57:48.496
covers so we four covers that include the

00:57:48.516 --> 00:57:52.719
script the sketch cover yusuf shitu is the

00:57:52.760 --> 00:57:55.922
line artist he's he's the standard cover

00:57:55.943 --> 00:57:57.483
that's also going to be a holographic

00:57:57.523 --> 00:57:59.987
cover that vibrant um purple

00:58:01.612 --> 00:58:03.454
Which one was on the cover that you

00:58:03.494 --> 00:58:05.255
had a cover on there on the press

00:58:06.436 --> 00:58:07.396
release that I sent to you?

00:58:09.458 --> 00:58:11.099
I had some of them that Mike had

00:58:11.119 --> 00:58:11.659
sent over.

00:58:12.320 --> 00:58:12.639
If you want,

00:58:12.699 --> 00:58:14.880
I can pull it up real quick.

00:58:14.920 --> 00:58:22.505
For sure.

00:58:22.525 --> 00:58:22.766
Yeah.

00:58:22.806 --> 00:58:23.326
All right.

00:58:23.346 --> 00:58:25.807
Because this is the one that's been my

00:58:25.827 --> 00:58:27.628
favorite one, to be fair.

00:58:27.648 --> 00:58:29.590
The skydive pose, the all-purple.

00:58:31.693 --> 00:58:36.514
And there was a one on the one.

00:58:36.574 --> 00:58:38.036
Yeah, we got to.

00:58:38.056 --> 00:58:38.655
There we go.

00:58:38.876 --> 00:58:39.195
Yeah.

00:58:39.896 --> 00:58:41.978
So that's that's this is clean.

00:58:43.418 --> 00:58:45.219
Yeah, it's powerful, right?

00:58:46.259 --> 00:58:47.820
Everything about this says I want to buy

00:58:47.840 --> 00:58:48.300
this book.

00:58:50.153 --> 00:58:52.094
yeah so this is this represents like a

00:58:52.655 --> 00:58:54.376
really strong moment that you're going to

00:58:54.416 --> 00:58:56.898
find inside of the book right well not

00:58:56.938 --> 00:59:00.239
this exact picture but this moment is

00:59:00.300 --> 00:59:02.541
contained inside of the book and um you

00:59:02.561 --> 00:59:04.862
know like this is just an example of

00:59:05.742 --> 00:59:09.545
the kind of intention that we have when

00:59:09.606 --> 00:59:12.047
we create and the artwork to go along

00:59:12.086 --> 00:59:14.248
with it the artist first so that's yeah

00:59:14.268 --> 00:59:16.929
that's our standard cover yusuf shitu

00:59:16.949 --> 00:59:17.990
knocked that out of the park

00:59:18.699 --> 00:59:23.344
We actually had a coloring contest with

00:59:23.364 --> 00:59:24.284
the line art from that.

00:59:25.146 --> 00:59:29.469
And me, the colorist, and the line artist,

00:59:29.489 --> 00:59:29.969
Yusef.

00:59:30.530 --> 00:59:32.431
And for the third book now,

00:59:32.612 --> 00:59:36.976
he's beat me on the colors for his

00:59:37.036 --> 00:59:37.275
work.

00:59:37.295 --> 00:59:37.996
Now,

00:59:38.016 --> 00:59:39.757
the moment Mike had sent that cover over,

00:59:39.838 --> 00:59:40.239
I was like,

00:59:40.998 --> 00:59:42.179
i'm going with this cover i don't care

00:59:42.199 --> 00:59:45.481
what anybody else says like that it just

00:59:45.621 --> 00:59:47.740
instantly became like the cover for me

00:59:48.282 --> 00:59:50.802
well we got to use stuff man because

00:59:50.862 --> 00:59:52.782
he killed it on that cover yeah he

00:59:52.802 --> 00:59:54.364
knocked that out we got we got some

00:59:54.403 --> 00:59:56.724
more great artists though uh for our

00:59:56.764 --> 01:00:01.085
variant covers we have uh travis uh jay

01:00:01.126 --> 01:00:04.507
travis smith who's worked with idw and a

01:00:04.527 --> 01:00:05.708
whole slew of other people

01:00:06.601 --> 01:00:08.061
got an alternate cover from him.

01:00:08.262 --> 01:00:09.384
And then Mark McKenna,

01:00:10.123 --> 01:00:11.264
who I spoke about earlier,

01:00:11.905 --> 01:00:14.427
who's been with Marvel since I was a

01:00:14.467 --> 01:00:16.909
baby, also did a cover for me,

01:00:16.929 --> 01:00:18.791
which is amazing.

01:00:19.072 --> 01:00:20.152
I hope they don't throw no type of

01:00:20.193 --> 01:00:21.293
way when I say that,

01:00:21.333 --> 01:00:26.139
but it just blows my mind that me

01:00:26.759 --> 01:00:28.581
and him got to work together.

01:00:28.601 --> 01:00:29.422
This guy has

01:00:34.581 --> 01:00:36.202
and all other kinds of stuff and now

01:00:36.563 --> 01:00:38.505
he's a cover artist for alter ego arts

01:00:38.525 --> 01:00:40.365
the diary is sweepy as well and that

01:00:40.726 --> 01:00:45.489
is just mind-blowing oh dude that that's

01:00:45.650 --> 01:00:48.012
that i love that dude i'd love to

01:00:48.032 --> 01:00:52.675
hear like like i had another guy on

01:00:52.695 --> 01:00:55.277
the podcast not that long ago and he

01:00:55.297 --> 01:00:57.838
had a guy that i personally like admire

01:00:57.878 --> 01:01:00.201
his work uh franco franco bella

01:01:01.295 --> 01:01:02.516
did a cover for him.

01:01:04.157 --> 01:01:07.219
That dude's cover work and just his art

01:01:07.260 --> 01:01:09.041
in general just blows me away every time

01:01:09.101 --> 01:01:10.523
I get to see it.

01:01:10.563 --> 01:01:12.423
Knowing that he got a cover from him,

01:01:13.025 --> 01:01:13.105
A,

01:01:13.144 --> 01:01:19.128
I was immediately envious of it because he

01:01:19.208 --> 01:01:22.992
messaged Chris Ford to do a cover for

01:01:23.032 --> 01:01:23.972
him.

01:01:23.992 --> 01:01:24.353
He's like, hey,

01:01:24.414 --> 01:01:26.175
I want to do a cover for you.

01:01:26.195 --> 01:01:27.195
They did a cover for him.

01:01:27.596 --> 01:01:28.077
I'm just like,

01:01:29.358 --> 01:01:31.840
dude that's freaking amazing so for me it

01:01:31.860 --> 01:01:33.961
was just like when he told me that

01:01:34.041 --> 01:01:35.563
i was blown away by it but it's

01:01:35.603 --> 01:01:38.864
when it goes to show that it doesn't

01:01:38.885 --> 01:01:41.106
matter where you're at there's always

01:01:41.146 --> 01:01:43.947
somebody watching what you're doing and

01:01:44.047 --> 01:01:47.050
are willing to do something for you you

01:01:47.070 --> 01:01:47.670
know what i'm saying

01:01:49.213 --> 01:01:51.215
So to me, it's dope as hell, man.

01:01:51.594 --> 01:01:53.697
Like you got to get a cover by

01:01:53.777 --> 01:01:55.358
somebody that you've looked up to and

01:01:55.398 --> 01:01:56.077
admired.

01:01:57.039 --> 01:01:58.559
Don't meet your heroes,

01:01:58.579 --> 01:02:00.822
but sometimes meeting your heroes gets you

01:02:00.862 --> 01:02:02.824
a cover, you know?

01:02:02.864 --> 01:02:03.784
And then, you know what, like,

01:02:03.884 --> 01:02:05.025
like I said before, I never,

01:02:05.144 --> 01:02:07.547
I wasn't reading the credits to these

01:02:07.586 --> 01:02:08.788
things that I was picking up.

01:02:09.228 --> 01:02:09.548
Right.

01:02:10.750 --> 01:02:12.891
And books, you know what I mean?

01:02:12.931 --> 01:02:16.373
Like I've carried books with his inks on

01:02:16.393 --> 01:02:18.456
there across States.

01:02:20.414 --> 01:02:21.135
You know,

01:02:21.175 --> 01:02:23.195
and stuff like that and passed it down

01:02:23.277 --> 01:02:24.177
to other, you know,

01:02:24.197 --> 01:02:26.259
like my little cousins and stuff like

01:02:26.278 --> 01:02:26.579
that.

01:02:26.599 --> 01:02:28.579
So like it is wild, too,

01:02:28.619 --> 01:02:30.400
because you don't think about the amount

01:02:30.420 --> 01:02:32.143
of people it goes to making a single

01:02:32.302 --> 01:02:35.025
issue of a comic book until you either

01:02:35.085 --> 01:02:35.664
start work.

01:02:39.980 --> 01:02:40.460
So for me,

01:02:40.500 --> 01:02:43.822
when I started doing the podcast and

01:02:43.862 --> 01:02:45.704
working with comic books more often and

01:02:45.724 --> 01:02:46.523
more frequently,

01:02:47.585 --> 01:02:50.146
that I started paying attention to the guy

01:02:50.166 --> 01:02:51.106
who does the pencils,

01:02:51.126 --> 01:02:52.208
the guy that does the ink,

01:02:52.228 --> 01:02:53.409
the guy that does the colors,

01:02:53.429 --> 01:02:54.610
the guys that do the stories,

01:02:54.630 --> 01:02:56.130
the guy that does the productions,

01:02:56.670 --> 01:02:58.072
the guys who do the printing.

01:02:58.952 --> 01:03:03.476
And you realize the writer, the artist,

01:03:04.376 --> 01:03:06.557
and the cover artist are the three people

01:03:06.597 --> 01:03:08.099
who get all the freaking credit.

01:03:09.309 --> 01:03:10.090
You know what I'm saying?

01:03:10.110 --> 01:03:11.931
But there is a bigger team behind those

01:03:11.971 --> 01:03:12.931
three individuals.

01:03:12.952 --> 01:03:15.014
Oh, yeah, absolutely.

01:03:15.313 --> 01:03:18.237
Like the editor.

01:03:18.396 --> 01:03:19.036
Exactly.

01:03:19.878 --> 01:03:23.621
Really severely under positioned to where

01:03:24.621 --> 01:03:25.943
if you didn't have a good editor,

01:03:26.003 --> 01:03:27.585
you could be walking around with a hot

01:03:27.605 --> 01:03:30.146
piece of ass for a comic book.

01:03:31.449 --> 01:03:32.610
I'm honored to be a part of this

01:03:32.650 --> 01:03:33.331
project.

01:03:33.652 --> 01:03:35.054
This came shortly,

01:03:35.954 --> 01:03:37.235
I think not long after my mom had

01:03:37.255 --> 01:03:37.916
passed away.

01:03:38.217 --> 01:03:39.579
And one of the things that I'd taken

01:03:39.619 --> 01:03:41.422
away from what a limit sent me was

01:03:41.461 --> 01:03:42.523
the grieving process.

01:03:43.425 --> 01:03:45.887
And so us just getting along really well

01:03:45.927 --> 01:03:47.170
over the Kickstarter that we were doing

01:03:47.210 --> 01:03:48.130
for him on issue one.

01:03:49.224 --> 01:03:50.286
was just, I mean,

01:03:50.306 --> 01:03:51.246
it's kind of meant to be.

01:03:51.487 --> 01:03:53.130
So when I was asked,

01:03:53.469 --> 01:03:54.351
I couldn't say no.

01:03:55.213 --> 01:03:55.733
And, uh,

01:03:55.773 --> 01:03:57.335
we worked out a price and I've,

01:03:57.596 --> 01:03:59.639
I've held to that standard and we worked

01:03:59.679 --> 01:04:00.559
together ever since.

01:04:00.599 --> 01:04:02.882
And we were working on some other stuff

01:04:02.943 --> 01:04:04.085
outside of sweeping now.

01:04:04.646 --> 01:04:04.726
Um,

01:04:05.626 --> 01:04:07.168
that's kind of exciting and it's really

01:04:07.188 --> 01:04:08.929
really slow because all our schedules and

01:04:08.969 --> 01:04:10.791
all the things we're involved with and of

01:04:10.831 --> 01:04:12.213
course we're trying to put out sweet pea

01:04:12.253 --> 01:04:14.155
and get to get to that issue for

01:04:14.175 --> 01:04:16.237
as fast as we can but but uh

01:04:16.257 --> 01:04:18.398
it's it's it's been a it's been a

01:04:18.418 --> 01:04:20.800
true honor to be honest uh comics has

01:04:20.860 --> 01:04:24.923
not only brought me closer to the industry

01:04:24.943 --> 01:04:26.224
that i wanted to when i finished my

01:04:26.244 --> 01:04:26.786
degree but

01:04:27.567 --> 01:04:28.967
Man, it's brought me friends.

01:04:29.588 --> 01:04:31.750
It's brought me people who are like-minded

01:04:32.690 --> 01:04:35.373
that have allowed me to open up to

01:04:35.813 --> 01:04:37.534
other people who are like-minded to talk

01:04:37.554 --> 01:04:40.277
about the things in the creative space

01:04:40.297 --> 01:04:41.396
that you don't really talk about,

01:04:42.257 --> 01:04:44.099
that readers don't see on the page as

01:04:44.119 --> 01:04:44.880
a product, you know.

01:04:45.574 --> 01:04:46.956
There are some things that we don't talk

01:04:46.976 --> 01:04:48.615
about when we're creating process.

01:04:48.896 --> 01:04:50.416
We just don't talk about it just because

01:04:50.936 --> 01:04:52.358
it's an insecurity or we don't want to

01:04:52.378 --> 01:04:52.978
look dumb.

01:04:54.077 --> 01:04:55.498
We get to talk about those in safe

01:04:55.539 --> 01:04:57.259
spaces with those who are like-minded.

01:04:57.278 --> 01:04:59.579
So that in itself has been a blessing.

01:05:01.141 --> 01:05:02.780
So I'm just tickled to be a part

01:05:02.820 --> 01:05:03.561
of it, to be honest.

01:05:04.121 --> 01:05:05.702
Whatever value I've brought to it,

01:05:06.222 --> 01:05:07.322
I'll let a limb speak to it.

01:05:07.362 --> 01:05:08.543
But it's his baby.

01:05:08.603 --> 01:05:09.603
I'm just helping him polish it.

01:05:09.643 --> 01:05:10.884
And I'm just like, thank you, man.

01:05:10.985 --> 01:05:11.965
Thank you so much for letting me be

01:05:11.985 --> 01:05:12.065
here.

01:05:12.085 --> 01:05:14.266
You sound like Marshall Lynch at the...

01:05:15.744 --> 01:05:17.126
that NFL press release,

01:05:17.186 --> 01:05:21.853
I'm just here so I don't get fined.

01:05:22.054 --> 01:05:25.498
Mike here because Mike did a damn thing,

01:05:25.679 --> 01:05:27.001
man, you know, like that.

01:05:27.621 --> 01:05:30.525
Like I said, you know,

01:05:30.947 --> 01:05:31.788
I don't want to, like,

01:05:33.027 --> 01:05:34.369
want to praise you so much but i

01:05:34.389 --> 01:05:35.931
don't want to i don't want to uh

01:05:36.192 --> 01:05:39.235
you know like give the wrong idea that

01:05:39.396 --> 01:05:41.960
you know like um by the end of

01:05:41.980 --> 01:05:43.882
this episode he's gonna look like megamind

01:05:47.677 --> 01:05:49.159
but it's just like the value of an

01:05:49.239 --> 01:05:52.240
editor first of all like to have an

01:05:52.320 --> 01:05:55.884
editor with a freaking master's degree and

01:05:56.184 --> 01:06:01.027
you know editing related you know matters

01:06:01.248 --> 01:06:05.811
it's just like wow and you know like

01:06:05.851 --> 01:06:10.934
to have somebody that can take your ideas

01:06:11.313 --> 01:06:14.577
and your your script and structure it

01:06:15.429 --> 01:06:18.813
in a way that enhances it to the

01:06:18.853 --> 01:06:20.956
best of its ability is is really

01:06:21.197 --> 01:06:22.518
invaluable it's like it's a really

01:06:22.539 --> 01:06:24.141
important step like you said that some

01:06:24.181 --> 01:06:27.144
people skip you know some people may feel

01:06:27.164 --> 01:06:28.686
like they don't need it but everybody

01:06:28.746 --> 01:06:29.967
needs it you can't do this in a

01:06:30.007 --> 01:06:31.048
bubble it takes a team

01:06:31.630 --> 01:06:32.409
Like you said,

01:06:32.429 --> 01:06:34.110
it takes a team of people that you

01:06:34.130 --> 01:06:36.231
need to trust, you need to, you know,

01:06:36.612 --> 01:06:37.793
be able to vibe with.

01:06:38.152 --> 01:06:40.353
It helps to be able to, like,

01:06:40.693 --> 01:06:42.695
I consider Mike a friend, you know,

01:06:42.855 --> 01:06:44.916
more than anything.

01:06:44.936 --> 01:06:46.577
We can talk about stuff that ain't got

01:06:46.637 --> 01:06:48.277
nothing to do with comics, you know,

01:06:48.317 --> 01:06:50.498
real life stuff that's going on and that

01:06:50.518 --> 01:06:51.099
we deal with.

01:06:52.018 --> 01:06:53.599
Or, you know, like, we could just,

01:06:53.659 --> 01:06:53.980
it's nice,

01:06:54.039 --> 01:06:55.981
it's cool to have somebody to just geek

01:06:56.081 --> 01:06:58.242
out with these ideas with.

01:06:59.340 --> 01:06:59.822
Yeah, dude,

01:06:59.981 --> 01:07:01.342
that's some of the funnest parts to me.

01:07:01.384 --> 01:07:03.646
And that's why I love having indie

01:07:03.666 --> 01:07:06.869
creators here on the podcast is they're

01:07:06.889 --> 01:07:08.371
just as big as nerds as I am

01:07:08.512 --> 01:07:12.155
who understand the writing process,

01:07:12.175 --> 01:07:14.278
the art process, the editing process.

01:07:14.438 --> 01:07:16.681
And we already have a lot of stuff

01:07:16.702 --> 01:07:18.903
in common anyway with comic books.

01:07:20.079 --> 01:07:22.342
and it just like ups the nerd for

01:07:22.382 --> 01:07:24.123
me on that you know what i'm saying

01:07:24.844 --> 01:07:26.144
so it's always fun to me to have

01:07:26.204 --> 01:07:28.266
guys on and not to just speak about

01:07:28.286 --> 01:07:29.847
their projects but just to speak about

01:07:29.907 --> 01:07:32.369
comic books in general you know because

01:07:33.891 --> 01:07:35.913
it's one of those niches you it doesn't

01:07:35.932 --> 01:07:39.135
get a lot of publicity yeah even though

01:07:39.195 --> 01:07:41.237
it's a billion dollar industry

01:07:42.793 --> 01:07:45.514
God, that makes me sick to my stomach.

01:07:45.534 --> 01:07:47.496
There should be comic book creators on the

01:07:47.576 --> 01:07:50.577
stage of The View.

01:07:51.637 --> 01:07:52.838
What you mean women don't read comic

01:07:52.898 --> 01:07:54.239
books?

01:07:54.259 --> 01:07:55.719
I don't know about The View.

01:07:55.800 --> 01:07:56.820
I'll skip that one.

01:07:57.059 --> 01:07:57.800
No, no, no.

01:07:57.820 --> 01:07:58.721
We can't skip that one.

01:07:58.760 --> 01:08:00.320
People talk so much garbage about that

01:08:00.360 --> 01:08:00.440
one.

01:08:00.460 --> 01:08:00.842
Give me Oprah.

01:08:00.862 --> 01:08:01.322
Oprah, hit me up.

01:08:01.342 --> 01:08:04.143
I want to go on Oprah.

01:08:04.702 --> 01:08:05.884
I want to go on Oprah and talk

01:08:05.903 --> 01:08:07.284
comic books with Oprah.

01:08:07.724 --> 01:08:08.445
Let's do it.

01:08:08.565 --> 01:08:09.204
Oprah, hit me up.

01:08:12.056 --> 01:08:13.938
Joe Rogan needs to have some podcast

01:08:13.978 --> 01:08:15.360
individuals on there from the comic

01:08:15.400 --> 01:08:15.840
industry.

01:08:16.240 --> 01:08:16.881
He's had movie stars.

01:08:16.900 --> 01:08:18.722
Joe Rogan, yeah, that's true.

01:08:18.743 --> 01:08:20.543
Where are the comic book people at?

01:08:20.784 --> 01:08:21.645
Let's make it happen.

01:08:21.685 --> 01:08:25.007
I don't even have to come to Texas.

01:08:25.047 --> 01:08:25.307
Oh, yeah.

01:08:25.328 --> 01:08:25.729
We'll do it.

01:08:26.189 --> 01:08:27.109
Yeah, we'll do it right here.

01:08:27.489 --> 01:08:30.813
We'll do it one-on-one through StreamYard.

01:08:30.872 --> 01:08:31.354
Let's do it.

01:08:31.554 --> 01:08:33.496
Let's do it, Joe.

01:08:33.515 --> 01:08:35.016
Let's jump back into this Kickstarter.

01:08:35.516 --> 01:08:37.238
So for readers jumping in on this at

01:08:37.259 --> 01:08:38.059
the ground level,

01:08:39.265 --> 01:08:41.247
What makes this the right time to support

01:08:41.306 --> 01:08:41.846
Sweet Pea?

01:08:41.886 --> 01:08:43.448
And will they have a chance to catch

01:08:43.608 --> 01:08:45.628
up with the first two volumes?

01:08:46.109 --> 01:08:46.389
OK.

01:08:46.729 --> 01:08:49.409
So if you're jumping in now,

01:08:49.970 --> 01:08:52.471
you're jumping in at a great time because

01:08:53.131 --> 01:08:57.694
I think we finally settled into the

01:08:57.753 --> 01:08:59.375
perfect formula, right?

01:09:00.190 --> 01:09:02.051
Issue one and issue two are available.

01:09:02.131 --> 01:09:03.993
Issue one and issue two are great.

01:09:04.554 --> 01:09:06.015
But if all you got to read so

01:09:06.055 --> 01:09:07.815
far is issue three, if you jump in,

01:09:07.855 --> 01:09:09.356
you only want to get a single issue,

01:09:09.537 --> 01:09:10.556
and it's issue three,

01:09:11.438 --> 01:09:15.541
there's enough there for you to be

01:09:15.600 --> 01:09:16.900
interested enough, I think,

01:09:16.980 --> 01:09:18.582
to later come back for issue one and

01:09:18.622 --> 01:09:18.882
two.

01:09:19.582 --> 01:09:23.385
And you're going to get me at my

01:09:23.444 --> 01:09:23.746
best.

01:09:23.805 --> 01:09:25.766
You want to get us at our best

01:09:26.167 --> 01:09:27.047
with issue three.

01:09:27.287 --> 01:09:28.809
It's a solid story.

01:09:29.537 --> 01:09:29.877
You know,

01:09:30.237 --> 01:09:34.118
we're maintaining that tradition of if you

01:09:34.158 --> 01:09:34.599
pick up,

01:09:35.298 --> 01:09:37.180
no matter which issue you pick up,

01:09:37.579 --> 01:09:39.761
you should have a complete story, right?

01:09:40.680 --> 01:09:44.002
Even if there's some back, you know,

01:09:44.323 --> 01:09:44.682
whatever,

01:09:45.987 --> 01:09:49.050
I want to make sure that from start

01:09:49.069 --> 01:09:49.770
to finish,

01:09:50.350 --> 01:09:52.953
you get a completed tale that's also a

01:09:52.993 --> 01:09:54.293
part of a larger story,

01:09:54.753 --> 01:09:57.515
but this alone should satisfy.

01:09:57.536 --> 01:10:00.158
And I think that issue three is just

01:10:00.177 --> 01:10:03.060
the perfect place to jump in to the

01:10:03.100 --> 01:10:05.603
series.

01:10:05.662 --> 01:10:06.363
I like it.

01:10:06.444 --> 01:10:07.805
Issue one and two are available.

01:10:09.073 --> 01:10:10.574
That was going to be my next question

01:10:10.635 --> 01:10:12.976
is, will issue one and two be together?

01:10:13.436 --> 01:10:14.679
Because if I'm going to back it,

01:10:14.738 --> 01:10:16.439
I got to be able to get physical

01:10:16.479 --> 01:10:19.143
copies of one and two because I'm a

01:10:19.182 --> 01:10:20.064
physical issue guy.

01:10:20.083 --> 01:10:20.243
Yeah.

01:10:20.585 --> 01:10:24.408
It's something about the fresh smell of a

01:10:24.609 --> 01:10:29.073
freshly printed comic that just very few

01:10:29.092 --> 01:10:29.894
things come close.

01:10:31.796 --> 01:10:32.457
Yep.

01:10:32.537 --> 01:10:37.701
I'll make sure there's a continuity option

01:10:37.780 --> 01:10:40.443
where you get all three for an agreed

01:10:40.483 --> 01:10:43.024
upon price.

01:10:43.125 --> 01:10:43.425
Yeah, definitely.

01:10:43.444 --> 01:10:44.185
Physical and digital.

01:10:44.404 --> 01:10:44.605
Yeah.

01:10:47.247 --> 01:10:48.528
I know some people who have gone just

01:10:48.587 --> 01:10:49.309
straight digital.

01:10:50.029 --> 01:10:52.131
I myself cannot ever see myself doing

01:10:52.171 --> 01:10:52.431
that.

01:10:53.012 --> 01:10:55.194
I like getting the digital copies to read

01:10:55.614 --> 01:10:56.456
in advance,

01:10:56.976 --> 01:10:58.838
but it's just something about cutting that

01:10:58.878 --> 01:11:00.180
tape off that box,

01:11:00.780 --> 01:11:02.703
pulling out that physical copy.

01:11:03.564 --> 01:11:04.244
Plus, to be fair,

01:11:04.265 --> 01:11:05.265
it gives me more content.

01:11:06.496 --> 01:11:07.695
From the business perspective,

01:11:07.735 --> 01:11:08.997
if you plan to go all digital,

01:11:09.056 --> 01:11:11.957
don't expect to raise much money because

01:11:11.997 --> 01:11:13.056
there's no print involved.

01:11:13.478 --> 01:11:18.679
That particular type of pursuit is for

01:11:18.719 --> 01:11:21.519
those who want to run through a series

01:11:21.578 --> 01:11:23.300
or a story really quickly and only need

01:11:23.319 --> 01:11:25.079
to raise money to make the story.

01:11:25.100 --> 01:11:28.060
You don't even have to go crowdfunding to

01:11:28.140 --> 01:11:29.461
make money with the book.

01:11:29.480 --> 01:11:31.161
You can go straight to Global Comics or

01:11:31.780 --> 01:11:33.822
Amazon and Kindle and places like that.

01:11:33.862 --> 01:11:34.101
It's a

01:11:35.261 --> 01:11:38.182
yeah it's a business decision but unless

01:11:38.222 --> 01:11:39.582
you're someone who's been in the industry

01:11:39.603 --> 01:11:42.663
that's coming back or if you're like the

01:11:42.703 --> 01:11:44.805
creator of swat cats who came and knocked

01:11:44.845 --> 01:11:46.125
it out of the park they went all

01:11:46.164 --> 01:11:48.086
digital they'd have made some money they

01:11:48.105 --> 01:11:49.386
wouldn't have made near as much money if

01:11:49.426 --> 01:11:50.485
they did if they wouldn't have gone to

01:11:50.525 --> 01:11:53.667
print and then they just make a like

01:11:53.686 --> 01:11:56.068
a close to a million of a kickstarter

01:11:56.127 --> 01:11:58.307
it was almost close to a quarter almost

01:11:58.347 --> 01:11:59.988
close to a quarter and they they raised

01:12:00.029 --> 01:12:03.350
enough to make um a motion comic out

01:12:03.390 --> 01:12:04.489
of the comic that they created

01:12:05.256 --> 01:12:07.077
as like their first endeavor for bringing

01:12:07.117 --> 01:12:08.037
SWAT cats back,

01:12:08.057 --> 01:12:09.259
which I'm pretty sure they're in the

01:12:09.298 --> 01:12:12.140
process of pursuing another animated

01:12:12.199 --> 01:12:12.680
series.

01:12:13.180 --> 01:12:14.662
But I was a part of that one

01:12:14.681 --> 01:12:16.042
because I watched them back at the day

01:12:16.082 --> 01:12:18.123
and I'm using it as an example to

01:12:18.184 --> 01:12:18.904
explain, like,

01:12:19.324 --> 01:12:21.185
if you don't have that name or that

01:12:21.305 --> 01:12:22.926
previous nineties nostalgia,

01:12:22.947 --> 01:12:24.488
you're not going to raise a whole lot

01:12:24.507 --> 01:12:24.849
of money.

01:12:25.708 --> 01:12:26.729
Going all digital.

01:12:27.029 --> 01:12:28.909
So, I mean, people want physical,

01:12:28.949 --> 01:12:31.010
tangible things to hold on to and go,

01:12:31.069 --> 01:12:33.070
wow, look at me.

01:12:33.110 --> 01:12:34.070
Look what I have.

01:12:34.711 --> 01:12:36.832
It's part of the process.

01:12:36.872 --> 01:12:37.532
So let me ask this.

01:12:37.572 --> 01:12:39.113
What kind of reader do you think this

01:12:39.153 --> 01:12:42.713
story is going to resonate with the most

01:12:42.814 --> 01:12:44.333
once this campaign goes live?

01:12:47.359 --> 01:12:48.859
Dads for sure.

01:12:50.619 --> 01:12:51.960
Definitely dads.

01:12:52.439 --> 01:12:54.820
I want to say that all readers,

01:12:55.481 --> 01:12:56.981
teenage and up,

01:12:58.182 --> 01:13:00.182
could pick it up and get a lot

01:13:00.222 --> 01:13:01.363
of enjoyment out of it.

01:13:01.524 --> 01:13:02.583
There's a lot of fun there,

01:13:02.663 --> 01:13:04.625
but I think there's some elements in there

01:13:04.645 --> 01:13:06.746
that's really special and specific to

01:13:06.805 --> 01:13:09.787
fathers that I think is going to grasp

01:13:09.827 --> 01:13:11.568
you no matter where you are,

01:13:11.608 --> 01:13:12.608
where you're from in the world.

01:13:12.948 --> 01:13:14.708
I think dads are really going to like

01:13:14.748 --> 01:13:14.788
it.

01:13:18.430 --> 01:13:20.030
I like it, dude.

01:13:20.451 --> 01:13:24.773
So for readers who are just now

01:13:24.813 --> 01:13:27.134
discovering this book for the first time,

01:13:28.435 --> 01:13:30.456
what do you hope they feel when they

01:13:30.515 --> 01:13:32.396
close the book?

01:13:32.896 --> 01:13:35.717
So I know the question sounds the same,

01:13:36.458 --> 01:13:38.579
but this is what do you hope they

01:13:38.619 --> 01:13:40.820
feel when they close the book?

01:13:40.921 --> 01:13:43.341
Once they've read cover to cover,

01:13:43.921 --> 01:13:45.283
what do you want them to feel?

01:13:49.659 --> 01:13:50.980
Oh, you know, I go deep.

01:13:55.969 --> 01:13:56.229
All right.

01:13:56.248 --> 01:13:56.389
Mike,

01:13:56.408 --> 01:13:57.630
you're going to have to follow up on

01:13:57.970 --> 01:13:59.670
this one, man.

01:13:59.930 --> 01:14:01.070
I want them to be hungry.

01:14:01.350 --> 01:14:03.752
I want them to be just slobbering at

01:14:03.792 --> 01:14:04.971
the mall for more.

01:14:05.631 --> 01:14:07.512
I want them to be all over Alem's

01:14:07.773 --> 01:14:08.672
social medias,

01:14:09.672 --> 01:14:11.734
clambering and beating on the social media

01:14:11.793 --> 01:14:12.213
door,

01:14:12.554 --> 01:14:15.295
asking to be let in so they can

01:14:15.335 --> 01:14:17.256
see what's in the frying pan.

01:14:18.576 --> 01:14:21.396
I think you have to get issue one

01:14:21.436 --> 01:14:21.737
and two.

01:14:22.679 --> 01:14:24.841
Cause the context that the emotional story

01:14:24.881 --> 01:14:28.104
bringing to issue three is lost without

01:14:28.163 --> 01:14:28.283
it.

01:14:29.145 --> 01:14:30.286
But at the same time,

01:14:30.305 --> 01:14:31.587
you're going to want to get issue one

01:14:31.627 --> 01:14:32.087
and two,

01:14:32.188 --> 01:14:32.988
and then you're going to want to know

01:14:33.009 --> 01:14:33.890
what happens next.

01:14:33.930 --> 01:14:35.430
Cause issue three is a slammer, man.

01:14:36.457 --> 01:14:37.719
After we got done with this,

01:14:37.798 --> 01:14:40.060
after seeing it all come together in the

01:14:40.140 --> 01:14:43.560
pre-post for lettering, I was like,

01:14:44.622 --> 01:14:46.082
I can't even believe I'm part of this.

01:14:46.342 --> 01:14:47.082
This is so great.

01:14:47.682 --> 01:14:51.824
The moment I finished reading that press

01:14:51.845 --> 01:14:52.324
release,

01:14:52.984 --> 01:14:54.786
I think it's five pages or something,

01:14:55.426 --> 01:14:56.127
but it's just like

01:14:57.219 --> 01:14:59.661
just such a it's like when they slide

01:14:59.680 --> 01:15:01.061
the stake in front of you you know

01:15:01.481 --> 01:15:04.484
yeah you're like oh yeah yeah no but

01:15:04.503 --> 01:15:06.465
they don't give you no silverware and i

01:15:06.505 --> 01:15:09.106
don't know this is another episode in this

01:15:09.146 --> 01:15:10.488
conversation you know it's all about

01:15:10.547 --> 01:15:12.809
building up for the kickstarter and i know

01:15:12.849 --> 01:15:15.291
that i might be presumed biased

01:15:16.239 --> 01:15:18.942
But typically and honestly,

01:15:18.981 --> 01:15:20.422
if I saw this on the shelf,

01:15:20.922 --> 01:15:21.783
I would pick it up.

01:15:22.184 --> 01:15:23.224
But until I read it,

01:15:23.345 --> 01:15:24.545
I don't think it's something I would

01:15:24.604 --> 01:15:25.926
innately just be like, yeah,

01:15:25.966 --> 01:15:26.627
put it in my cart.

01:15:27.894 --> 01:15:32.037
If that purple cover was on the shelf,

01:15:32.198 --> 01:15:34.240
I would immediately grab that purple cover

01:15:34.780 --> 01:15:36.903
and be like, hey, LCS,

01:15:37.503 --> 01:15:39.206
where do I get issue one and two?

01:15:39.225 --> 01:15:43.449
Because if this cover is any indication of

01:15:43.569 --> 01:15:45.391
what is on the inside,

01:15:45.412 --> 01:15:46.432
I'm going to need the other two to

01:15:46.472 --> 01:15:47.012
go with it.

01:15:47.453 --> 01:15:48.954
Which is why the cover is so great.

01:15:49.756 --> 01:15:51.096
and that's that's what i look for in

01:15:51.117 --> 01:15:53.279
covers when it comes to comics does this

01:15:53.338 --> 01:15:56.461
cover have anything to do uh with the

01:15:56.520 --> 01:15:58.101
story i'm going to experience from the

01:15:58.141 --> 01:16:00.264
inside some of it's just flash or they

01:16:00.283 --> 01:16:01.765
got like a guest artist to come in

01:16:01.845 --> 01:16:01.944
and

01:16:02.443 --> 01:16:03.943
and do a little woo-ha and a little

01:16:03.983 --> 01:16:04.422
bit of glitzy glamour.

01:16:04.443 --> 01:16:05.123
Put their name on it.

01:16:07.003 --> 01:16:07.543
Yeah,

01:16:07.944 --> 01:16:10.585
but covers like the one that we all

01:16:10.625 --> 01:16:13.244
voted on to be the cover for issue

01:16:13.265 --> 01:16:13.505
three,

01:16:13.545 --> 01:16:15.985
on top of it being the art was

01:16:16.046 --> 01:16:16.546
elevated.

01:16:17.466 --> 01:16:18.806
I'm not being biased here.

01:16:19.087 --> 01:16:21.167
I'm really passionate about what we all

01:16:21.207 --> 01:16:23.207
just accomplished together inside this

01:16:23.228 --> 01:16:23.847
third issue.

01:16:24.408 --> 01:16:25.007
It's a slammer.

01:16:25.563 --> 01:16:26.724
You got to have one through three.

01:16:26.764 --> 01:16:28.925
So what I would like people to understand

01:16:28.965 --> 01:16:30.525
is how hungry you're going to feel when

01:16:30.546 --> 01:16:31.346
you get done with it.

01:16:31.947 --> 01:16:35.788
Because issue four is really up to y'all.

01:16:36.090 --> 01:16:37.430
It's up to all the backers.

01:16:37.631 --> 01:16:39.332
It's up to everybody who tells someone to

01:16:39.351 --> 01:16:39.752
back it.

01:16:40.231 --> 01:16:42.212
It's up to how well this podcast does.

01:16:43.394 --> 01:16:45.454
It's up to y'all how fast we get

01:16:45.475 --> 01:16:46.155
to issue four.

01:16:46.905 --> 01:16:49.487
for y'all to be satiated in the hunger

01:16:49.506 --> 01:16:50.527
that you're about to feel.

01:16:50.587 --> 01:16:52.606
So I am so happy for y'all,

01:16:52.646 --> 01:16:54.787
speaking to just those who are watching,

01:16:54.828 --> 01:16:56.247
reading, and want to back this.

01:16:56.568 --> 01:16:57.408
But at the same time,

01:16:57.427 --> 01:16:59.748
I'm so very sorry that issue four is

01:16:59.788 --> 01:17:00.609
not here.

01:17:01.908 --> 01:17:03.309
But we want it to be here.

01:17:03.349 --> 01:17:04.890
So please back, back, back.

01:17:04.909 --> 01:17:05.930
Tell someone to back it.

01:17:05.949 --> 01:17:06.609
Tell everybody.

01:17:06.630 --> 01:17:08.170
Tell your friends, your mom, your grandma,

01:17:08.189 --> 01:17:09.710
if they forgot a birthday present.

01:17:09.750 --> 01:17:11.291
You know, I pressed this live.

01:17:14.971 --> 01:17:16.573
It's going to have all the,

01:17:16.672 --> 01:17:17.573
everything in there.

01:17:18.113 --> 01:17:19.635
And then I know, you know,

01:17:19.654 --> 01:17:22.015
Lynn was talking before and he's like,

01:17:22.055 --> 01:17:22.456
Hey,

01:17:22.676 --> 01:17:24.056
I know we're just like kind of building

01:17:24.117 --> 01:17:24.896
up the, uh,

01:17:25.597 --> 01:17:26.898
we're putting the steak on the grill,

01:17:26.938 --> 01:17:28.019
so to speak right now.

01:17:28.738 --> 01:17:31.581
We're actually going live in March, right?

01:17:31.661 --> 01:17:33.881
Like mid-March is what I think it is.

01:17:35.443 --> 01:17:35.523
Yep.

01:17:35.542 --> 01:17:37.543
We're going to bring it back sometime in

01:17:37.604 --> 01:17:39.944
March and we're going to do this again

01:17:39.984 --> 01:17:41.305
properly.

01:17:41.405 --> 01:17:41.546
Yep.

01:17:42.250 --> 01:17:43.210
For sure.

01:17:43.489 --> 01:17:45.371
And you're absolutely right, man.

01:17:45.411 --> 01:17:46.631
My thinking was like, you know,

01:17:46.711 --> 01:17:48.791
if you get issue three, right?

01:17:48.810 --> 01:17:50.931
So I'll just give you guys fair warning.

01:17:51.872 --> 01:17:52.452
Busy guy.

01:17:52.952 --> 01:17:54.131
I want to get out to as many

01:17:54.551 --> 01:17:56.472
conventions as possible.

01:17:56.993 --> 01:17:59.412
But I'm not the easiest to find right

01:17:59.472 --> 01:18:00.474
now for sale.

01:18:00.493 --> 01:18:03.394
So this Kickstarter, you know, issue one,

01:18:03.413 --> 01:18:05.314
two, and three are going to be available.

01:18:05.595 --> 01:18:08.595
And probably the easiest way for right now

01:18:08.734 --> 01:18:10.695
for you to get your hands on all

01:18:10.735 --> 01:18:12.115
three copies of this book

01:18:12.235 --> 01:18:13.877
you know we'll look into getting inside

01:18:13.896 --> 01:18:15.979
the stores and getting out the conventions

01:18:15.998 --> 01:18:18.261
i love doing conventions i just gotta have

01:18:18.400 --> 01:18:20.342
you know the time and money to get

01:18:20.422 --> 01:18:22.184
out to them i love going out and

01:18:22.224 --> 01:18:24.246
meeting people so if i can you know

01:18:24.326 --> 01:18:26.828
i'll be there as many as possible for

01:18:26.847 --> 01:18:29.170
this kickstarter if you if you walk away

01:18:29.229 --> 01:18:31.192
only with issue three you might be

01:18:31.231 --> 01:18:32.893
disappointed because you're going to want

01:18:32.972 --> 01:18:34.394
you're going to want issue one and two

01:18:34.533 --> 01:18:38.256
once you read issue three for sure all

01:18:38.277 --> 01:18:38.837
right fellas

01:18:40.195 --> 01:18:41.457
We're at that part of the show where

01:18:41.497 --> 01:18:44.661
I'm going to ask y'all to plug yourselves.

01:18:45.841 --> 01:18:47.604
Tell everybody where they can find y'all

01:18:47.783 --> 01:18:48.984
at.

01:18:49.024 --> 01:18:51.667
Liam, we'll start with you, man.

01:18:51.707 --> 01:18:54.150
So you can find me on Facebook and

01:18:54.251 --> 01:18:55.072
Instagram,

01:18:55.591 --> 01:19:00.337
Alty Eagle Arts or Sweet Pea Comic.

01:19:00.356 --> 01:19:00.837
Both of those.

01:19:04.270 --> 01:19:05.472
MJF, it's your turn, buddy.

01:19:06.814 --> 01:19:08.176
Like in the last episode, man,

01:19:08.195 --> 01:19:09.436
you can find me on Facebook.

01:19:09.917 --> 01:19:13.640
I'm on MFoodForThoughts on Instagram.

01:19:14.162 --> 01:19:16.444
I also have a few websites and you

01:19:16.465 --> 01:19:19.328
can find me on the IMP sub stack,

01:19:19.807 --> 01:19:20.868
Inevitable Media Press.

01:19:21.829 --> 01:19:22.989
And also on Alignable.

01:19:23.489 --> 01:19:26.331
Alignable is a social media for B-to-Bs or

01:19:26.350 --> 01:19:28.430
businesses and people who have small

01:19:28.470 --> 01:19:29.131
businesses.

01:19:30.112 --> 01:19:32.752
Sole proprietors can go and connect with

01:19:32.771 --> 01:19:33.972
people who have services.

01:19:34.872 --> 01:19:35.972
That's not a paid marketing.

01:19:35.993 --> 01:19:37.412
I'm just explaining it because I didn't

01:19:37.432 --> 01:19:38.594
know what it was and how cool it

01:19:38.634 --> 01:19:38.913
was.

01:19:39.354 --> 01:19:40.493
I met a lot of comics people on

01:19:40.533 --> 01:19:41.073
Alignable.

01:19:41.894 --> 01:19:43.135
That's where you can hit me up to

01:19:43.274 --> 01:19:45.555
find editing services and find out how I

01:19:45.574 --> 01:19:48.256
can help you turn your product into what

01:19:48.275 --> 01:19:49.636
I'm doing for a limb right here with

01:19:49.655 --> 01:19:50.015
Sweet Pea.

01:19:52.055 --> 01:19:53.055
I like it.

01:19:53.136 --> 01:19:54.737
Even though you were the hardest guy to

01:19:54.756 --> 01:19:55.296
get a hold of.

01:19:55.617 --> 01:19:57.237
I'm not even shitting anybody, y'all.

01:19:59.056 --> 01:19:59.917
Message his ass on Facebook.

01:19:59.938 --> 01:20:02.938
He's guaranteed to see it.

01:20:03.238 --> 01:20:04.679
I did CC a limb and let him

01:20:04.719 --> 01:20:06.279
handle it because it's kind of his baby.

01:20:06.319 --> 01:20:09.359
To bridge the gap, yeah.

01:20:09.380 --> 01:20:10.399
I do apologize for that.

01:20:10.899 --> 01:20:12.399
I'm actually really easy to talk to.

01:20:12.500 --> 01:20:13.039
Ask a limb.

01:20:13.300 --> 01:20:14.320
Easy to talk to.

01:20:15.921 --> 01:20:16.961
It's the getting in part.

01:20:18.020 --> 01:20:18.881
I got a little bit of a white

01:20:18.942 --> 01:20:19.221
rabbit.

01:20:21.962 --> 01:20:23.502
All jokes aside, man, hey,

01:20:23.542 --> 01:20:25.304
it was a pleasure to have both of

01:20:25.344 --> 01:20:27.043
you on tonight and to talk about Sweet

01:20:27.064 --> 01:20:29.005
Pea with you all for one.

01:20:29.385 --> 01:20:31.465
I'm going to shoot you over the schedule

01:20:31.484 --> 01:20:32.024
for March.

01:20:32.744 --> 01:20:34.985
I'm not kidding when I tell you February

01:20:35.025 --> 01:20:37.567
is full and March is looking like it's

01:20:37.587 --> 01:20:39.527
going to fill up just as fast.

01:20:39.546 --> 01:20:40.367
So if you want to come back in

01:20:40.386 --> 01:20:40.606
March,

01:20:40.627 --> 01:20:41.627
you're going to have to jump on the

01:20:41.667 --> 01:20:42.328
schedule now.

01:20:44.893 --> 01:20:45.673
Ladies and gentlemen,

01:20:46.134 --> 01:20:49.055
and that's the thing about indie comics.

01:20:49.076 --> 01:20:50.556
They're not just stories on paper.

01:20:50.997 --> 01:20:52.457
They're lived experiences.

01:20:52.958 --> 01:20:55.159
They're grief turned into strength.

01:20:55.661 --> 01:20:57.881
They're creators who understand that every

01:20:58.221 --> 01:20:59.762
panel counts.

01:21:02.838 --> 01:21:04.458
isn't just telling a story with the diary

01:21:04.479 --> 01:21:05.119
of sweet pea.

01:21:05.180 --> 01:21:07.500
He's building a world rooted in emotion,

01:21:07.939 --> 01:21:09.701
intention, and craft.

01:21:10.060 --> 01:21:10.440
So you,

01:21:10.541 --> 01:21:13.061
if you believe in creator owned comments,

01:21:13.462 --> 01:21:15.842
if you believe in stories that look as

01:21:15.903 --> 01:21:16.882
good as they read,

01:21:17.443 --> 01:21:19.083
and if you believe in supporting the

01:21:19.123 --> 01:21:23.024
people bold enough to make them,

01:21:23.104 --> 01:21:23.864
you know where to look.

01:21:25.423 --> 01:21:26.246
Ladies and gentlemen,

01:21:26.365 --> 01:21:28.649
this has been the Chairman and the United

01:21:28.670 --> 01:21:31.213
States Department of Nerds for Indie

01:21:31.253 --> 01:21:33.056
Comics Come to Life.

01:21:33.819 --> 01:21:36.122
Y'all be safe and stay warm.

01:22:14.471 --> 01:22:15.367
I love the outros.