WEBVTT

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You are listening to the USDN on the

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DFPN.

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

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What is up, everybody,

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and welcome to the United States

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Department of Nerds,

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where we are for the people,

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by the people, and of the people.

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Before there were cinematic universes,

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before fandom was mainstream,

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before comic culture filled convention

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centers and streaming platforms,

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there was a nine-year-old boy, bullied,

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mocked, branded a social pariah.

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His crime?

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Loving comic books.

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Then one night in the mid-sixties,

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two figures crashed into America's living

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room.

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Batman, starring Adam West as Batman,

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Burt Ward

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as the lovable Robin.

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And just like that, everything changed.

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The bullying stopped.

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The drawings in demand.

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The outcast became the most popular kid at

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Lincoln Elementary School.

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But fame is fleeting.

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TV shows end.

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Families move.

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Receptions fade,

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and sometimes your favorite comic shop

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gets replaced by a cornfield.

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Until one day from out of a tree

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steps the most important person you ever

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will meet.

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Tonight on the USDM podcast,

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we sit down with Mark Dooley.

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creator of the actual semi-true adventures

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of Mark and Dee, and Mark and Dee,

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genesis of a fanboy, a love story,

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a fandom story, most importantly,

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a life story.

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The Council of Nerds is now in session

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with the most wholesome story I will

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probably ever have the opportunity to do

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on this podcast.

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Mark, welcome to the USDN, my friend.

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Thank you very much for having me.

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Well...

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We're getting into way back machine.

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Yeah, definitely.

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Well, prior to, in nineteen sixty five,

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comics was still being considered the the

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hub of juvenile delinquency.

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So and any time you brought up anything

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like Superman or Batman or any of that,

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you basically got a lot of feedback and

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There were some bullies there that

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absolutely had him for me because that was

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a stupid thing for kids to be doing

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comic books.

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And they made life miserable for me for

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a while.

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But basically what happened is one

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November night at a campsite,

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at uh when i was with my my

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grandparents and we were at a thanksgiving

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camp out which wasn't much of a camp

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out it was in a shelter all the

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all the trailers were parked out back oh

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yeah everybody wanted to be in that nice

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warm shelter all my good friends in the

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camping club are running around going

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crazy my grandfather had said a little

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bitty black and white tv set on the

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uh

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on the picnic table and I'm sitting there

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doing my doodles.

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My artwork wasn't much at that time.

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It was like round heads, square bodies,

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three fingers.

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To the Simpsons.

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Yeah, no thumbs, three fingers.

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And I'm sitting there just doodling.

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I'm doing diddling Batman and Superman and

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whatever else is coming up in my head.

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And some of the girls are coming over.

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Oh,

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can you draw me like a cartoon character?

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Yeah, I guess I can, sir.

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No problem.

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Just as puberty starting to rear its ugly

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head,

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all of a sudden in the middle of

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Rocky and Bullwinkle comes this ad.

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Batman is coming.

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And every kid in the entire shelter house

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heard that, turned around, went, what?

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And for the next thirty seconds,

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we were enraptured.

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Everybody just froze in place.

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I'm sitting there just kind of,

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oh my God.

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And then when it came back,

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And they all looked at me.

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And I said, well, you guys won.

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I want a picture of Batman.

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I want a picture of Batman and Robin.

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I want Superman.

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And the twins that were there going,

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we want the whole Justice League of

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America.

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I went, do you see the line?

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Get in the back of it.

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But that was just an amazing, crazy time.

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And we were all waiting for the next

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four weeks for that to pop up.

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And when it did,

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it was like nothing you ever saw until,

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I guess, when Star Wars came out.

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You could not walk downtown and shop at

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any of the shops without...

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You could throw a rock and hit something

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with Batman and Robin on it.

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So...

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And I lived in a really great place

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to get comics.

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There was a Cummins bookstore.

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I lived downtown in an upper apartment

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over a barbershop run by an evil barber.

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And, oh yeah, he was evil.

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You should have seen the faces on this

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guy that he made when he saw the

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Beatles on Life magazine.

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He was just excited because that's a lot

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of hair for him to cut.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Well, he just hated it.

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Those rotten people.

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And my grandmother would be the one to

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take me down there to get my hair

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cut.

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And I was just straight ski jump.

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That was it.

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the uh haircuts that were guaranteed to

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make sure i never i would never get

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near another woman as long as they just

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had an evil pact okay so and uh

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so but right down the road was uh

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was uh cummins bookstore

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And then the GC Murphy's was right across

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the street.

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And they had a nice little comic rack.

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But what made them stand out is they

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had a basement full of toys, models,

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everything.

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Just really cool stuff.

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And then just two blocks down,

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there was Nagel's Bookstore.

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And if you couldn't find it at Nagel's,

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nobody's printed it yet.

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oh nice they they had three they had

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two spinner racks and three wall racks

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loaded with comics and of every type there

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was dc there was these upstarts called

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marvel did anything happen with them i

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think they did okay i think they did

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okay i keep hearing i i i i

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met i met the marvel heroes in the

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worst possible way i asked my grandparents

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could you please get me uh like justice

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league of america

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And they said, okay, we'll do that.

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And they brought me back the Avengers

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issue number five.

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It was the one right after Captain America

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returned.

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Okay.

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And I'm looking at these.

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These aren't the Justice League, Grandma.

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And she goes, well,

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they look like the Justice League.

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And I said,

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I don't know who these people are.

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There's this guy with this red, white,

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and blue trash can he keeps throwing at

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people.

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And there's this long-haired dude,

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some tree-hugging hippie with a hammer

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called Majolnir.

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and here's a pituitary case with a teeny

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weeny little wife and never mind the rich

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guy with the iron lung i don't know

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who these people are so it uh it

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it took about another year after the they

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started appearing on tv and the spider-man

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show came on oh yeah and then

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that just warmed me up to it right

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away so and the fantastic ford which to

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the hamburger version to me is the best

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animated version ever done so they picked

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the right people to do the voices the

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animation but by it was designed by alex

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tot um as close as you get could

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get to jack kirby without throwing off his

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schedule

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And that was a busy man back in

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those days.

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And the perfect voice for the thing,

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Paul Freese.

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Oh, my God.

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I still hear his voice when I'm reading

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Fantastic Four books.

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But anyway, but for those next two years,

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the bullying stopped because they were

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afraid, don't hurt him.

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We may need him for playground stuff,

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you know?

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Yeah.

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He knows all about the superheroes.

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We got a question.

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We don't want him having to bust his

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mouth open or anything.

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Just leave him alone.

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And those two and a half years were

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absolutely great until Batman got

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canceled.

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yes so the batman craze faded and the

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bully in return how did that affect your

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identity as both a fan and an artist

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well because i mean you were the batman

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guy uh well it was basically i the

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plans were by my stepdad to move us

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out to the country where there was very

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little tv reception and i mean everything

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was just fuzzy

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And we were far away.

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We were thirty miles out from anywhere

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near a comic drug store that carried

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comics or the downtown area and

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everything.

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And I was not happy about being moved

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away from my grandparents.

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my lovely little niche at the apartment

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right downtown, the hub of commerce.

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And so I kind of threw a fit.

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And then one day we got new neighbors.

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And my brothers talked me into doing hide

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and seek with the three sisters and the

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brother who were over there.

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And one day I was, you know,

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they got me into this and all of

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a sudden there's a hand comes out of

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the tree and goes, hey, up here.

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And so she she just literally grabbed my

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hand,

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pulled me into that tree like I didn't

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weigh a thing.

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And I was about one hundred and sixty

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pounds, pretty,

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pretty big for a for a twelve year

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old kid.

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And that's where I saw her.

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And it was like, Oh my Lord.

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So, uh, and she was just, we,

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we just absolutely struck.

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I wouldn't say it was love at first

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sight, but it, uh, it came a running.

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So, and, uh,

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we spent as much time as we could

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until finally my mom finally kicked my

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stepfather out of, uh,

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out of the house,

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and we went through a pretty rough night,

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which I have depicted in our comic strip,

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Genesis of a Farmer Boy.

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And we eventually had to move back to

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Columbus because there was no way mom

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could afford on her own to keep that

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house up.

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so we had to break up for just

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a little bit and we still we still

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stayed in touch but uh eventually um she

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came to in my senior year and uh

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we were able to hook back up and

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we had a couple of

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So-so breakups over the years.

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But finally, in eighty one,

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we pretty much amended the deal.

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And then eighty three,

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I got down on the knee,

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hold out the ring and I went,

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do you want to?

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And she went.

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Let me see.

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I guess I can make the time.

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I love it.

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but uh she's just she's just been

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wonderful to me and uh flashed to about

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twenty years later and i finally decided

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you know we gotta make this story in

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a comic book and uh that uh it

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started it started off basically as uh

00:15:31.101 --> 00:15:34.743
retaliating against my the job i did have

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and uh uh because i i knew if

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i if i could just get my head

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into it we could do something really good

00:15:46.188 --> 00:15:49.331
with this and uh and finally you know

00:15:49.390 --> 00:15:51.852
i just decided i just wrote across the

00:15:51.913 --> 00:15:54.394
top of the uh of the first page

00:15:54.494 --> 00:15:56.676
the actual semi true adventures of mark

00:15:56.696 --> 00:15:56.816
and d

00:15:58.331 --> 00:16:02.193
and uh so we started off easy with

00:16:02.374 --> 00:16:05.017
uh me and uh introducing everybody to me

00:16:05.057 --> 00:16:08.119
and d and our our cat then samson

00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:12.923
and uh going to movies and pretty much

00:16:12.962 --> 00:16:16.004
doing a mystery science science theater

00:16:16.024 --> 00:16:20.568
three thousand uh uh uh jennifer lopez

00:16:20.649 --> 00:16:25.212
movie uh enough uh yeah bill campbell

00:16:25.875 --> 00:16:28.557
I went J-Lo versus the Rocketeer.

00:16:29.018 --> 00:16:29.538
Really?

00:16:30.958 --> 00:16:32.399
He's going to have to go get more

00:16:32.438 --> 00:16:36.240
guys.

00:16:36.442 --> 00:16:36.562
So, but,

00:16:36.581 --> 00:16:38.162
but we kind of did a little six

00:16:38.202 --> 00:16:39.623
page riff on that.

00:16:39.783 --> 00:16:40.884
And then I decided,

00:16:40.923 --> 00:16:43.544
let's just go meet the characters at the

00:16:43.585 --> 00:16:44.426
comic cave.

00:16:45.105 --> 00:16:48.827
And so I based most of them on

00:16:49.989 --> 00:16:51.249
my best friend, Michael.

00:16:51.349 --> 00:16:53.691
He's, he's Mickey in this one.

00:16:53.711 --> 00:16:53.791
And,

00:16:56.398 --> 00:16:57.977
The Wookiee aka the Wookiee.

00:16:58.337 --> 00:16:59.219
Yeah, the Wookiee.

00:16:59.639 --> 00:16:59.879
Yeah,

00:17:00.038 --> 00:17:05.359
he always wins So he was he was

00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.759
with us the day we went to see

00:17:09.320 --> 00:17:11.740
Empire Strikes Back We were all in the

00:17:11.760 --> 00:17:11.941
car.

00:17:11.961 --> 00:17:16.221
We're going to Bloomington to see it see

00:17:16.261 --> 00:17:21.663
it there and I like an idiot got

00:17:21.863 --> 00:17:24.703
the paperback like four days and

00:17:25.269 --> 00:17:27.891
before the movie came out.

00:17:28.230 --> 00:17:29.931
And I just said, you know what?

00:17:30.090 --> 00:17:32.451
I'm just going to read the first chapter.

00:17:33.632 --> 00:17:34.472
Just look at that.

00:17:34.532 --> 00:17:37.973
Ooh, nice battle on planet Hoth.

00:17:38.074 --> 00:17:38.493
Okay.

00:17:38.513 --> 00:17:39.114
Yeah.

00:17:39.614 --> 00:17:40.294
And then I say, okay,

00:17:40.433 --> 00:17:41.375
I'm writing it down.

00:17:42.494 --> 00:17:46.076
I got to see that battle with Luke

00:17:46.115 --> 00:17:46.996
and Darth.

00:17:47.517 --> 00:17:48.757
So I'm back there.

00:17:49.297 --> 00:17:52.077
Oh, he lost his hand.

00:17:52.238 --> 00:17:52.357
Yeah.

00:17:54.269 --> 00:18:00.031
luke is what dark vader is who oh

00:18:00.172 --> 00:18:05.095
god and that was that was it and

00:18:05.174 --> 00:18:08.037
then i just knew i had just spoiled

00:18:08.076 --> 00:18:10.337
the crap out of this oh yeah oh

00:18:10.817 --> 00:18:13.700
and well on the way the guy that's

00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:17.241
driving this said uh i heard you read

00:18:17.301 --> 00:18:20.584
the book so you just keep it to

00:18:20.624 --> 00:18:21.364
yourself

00:18:23.652 --> 00:18:24.711
Not a problem there.

00:18:25.192 --> 00:18:27.452
And my friend leaned over and went,

00:18:27.512 --> 00:18:29.973
I know what happened.

00:18:30.013 --> 00:18:31.094
You read the book.

00:18:31.114 --> 00:18:31.554
No, I didn't.

00:18:31.614 --> 00:18:34.575
How did you know?

00:18:34.775 --> 00:18:38.415
And our guy driving says, don't you know?

00:18:38.856 --> 00:18:40.396
The Wookiee always knows.

00:18:40.797 --> 00:18:41.797
He always wins.

00:18:47.058 --> 00:18:50.519
Anyway, but we also chronicled that story.

00:18:51.407 --> 00:18:53.628
that day we went to see star the

00:18:53.689 --> 00:18:57.190
star wars for the first time and the

00:18:57.230 --> 00:19:00.490
comic strip uh which is going to be

00:19:00.570 --> 00:19:03.432
part of our uh our next with the

00:19:03.672 --> 00:19:06.173
kickstarter we just finished uh the

00:19:06.212 --> 00:19:07.993
collection of the comic strips called

00:19:08.013 --> 00:19:11.454
genesis of fanboy and i had to throw

00:19:11.494 --> 00:19:13.076
that in there because that was an

00:19:13.135 --> 00:19:16.217
adventure all on its own we had to

00:19:16.336 --> 00:19:16.696
switch

00:19:17.082 --> 00:19:21.243
cars back and forth because I was driving

00:19:21.424 --> 00:19:24.786
my grandparents old beaten up old station

00:19:24.826 --> 00:19:30.009
wagon that the back window had pretty much

00:19:30.089 --> 00:19:32.871
been shot to pieces and there was no

00:19:32.911 --> 00:19:34.231
way that car was going to make it

00:19:34.291 --> 00:19:37.034
all the way up to Indianapolis and there

00:19:37.054 --> 00:19:40.234
was only one theater running Star Wars

00:19:40.675 --> 00:19:46.398
that summer of the Eastwood Theater

00:19:47.711 --> 00:19:49.952
there will never be a theater like that

00:19:50.093 --> 00:19:53.595
ever ever again because it has cinerama

00:19:53.674 --> 00:19:59.460
screen i mean a curved stream dolby stereo

00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:05.483
system stacked uh a floor high behind it

00:20:05.963 --> 00:20:09.146
and when that music started up we were

00:20:09.186 --> 00:20:12.348
clinging to the back of our seats trying

00:20:12.388 --> 00:20:15.951
to hang on for dear life but uh

00:20:16.650 --> 00:20:19.192
It was just an amazing experience.

00:20:19.632 --> 00:20:22.314
And so we made as many trips as

00:20:22.374 --> 00:20:24.675
we could to go see big science fiction

00:20:24.715 --> 00:20:27.657
films at the East.

00:20:27.698 --> 00:20:28.778
We saw Alien.

00:20:28.818 --> 00:20:34.022
We saw Brainstorm, The Dark Crystal,

00:20:34.624 --> 00:20:37.365
all kinds of stuff until they finally

00:20:37.425 --> 00:20:38.445
closed around.

00:20:39.386 --> 00:20:41.949
They finally shut down because they

00:20:41.969 --> 00:20:44.351
couldn't compete with the multiplexes.

00:20:46.046 --> 00:20:46.185
Yeah.

00:20:46.205 --> 00:20:49.509
So Genesis spans the entirety of your

00:20:49.549 --> 00:20:51.353
childhood through teenage years.

00:20:51.752 --> 00:20:53.715
We're talking triumph, tragedy,

00:20:53.776 --> 00:20:55.538
separations, physical struggles.

00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:59.604
What was it like putting all that emotion

00:20:59.763 --> 00:21:01.987
and life down onto page?

00:21:02.881 --> 00:21:08.425
trying best to remember it in order so

00:21:08.965 --> 00:21:11.347
trying to trying to remember okay this

00:21:11.387 --> 00:21:13.650
happened this happened i almost moved

00:21:13.690 --> 00:21:15.411
forward with something else oh wait a

00:21:15.431 --> 00:21:17.732
minute we gotta put that in there yeah

00:21:18.213 --> 00:21:20.355
so every now and then i had to

00:21:20.715 --> 00:21:23.377
i had to to restructure things a little

00:21:23.417 --> 00:21:25.839
bit sometimes throw out about three or

00:21:25.880 --> 00:21:29.583
four three or four uh strips to uh

00:21:29.603 --> 00:21:31.884
oh we gotta we gotta do this part

00:21:31.904 --> 00:21:32.025
so

00:21:32.449 --> 00:21:35.310
yeah the the the most difficult part was

00:21:35.371 --> 00:21:40.976
trying to uh suss out from dana exactly

00:21:41.076 --> 00:21:43.237
what was going on while we were broken

00:21:43.377 --> 00:21:47.560
up before i we finally got back together

00:21:47.861 --> 00:21:50.482
in because we we didn't see each other

00:21:50.542 --> 00:21:54.105
for like a year and a half after

00:21:54.145 --> 00:21:58.628
that last breakup and uh but uh she

00:21:58.809 --> 00:22:01.711
uh she uh talked about

00:22:02.381 --> 00:22:06.462
uh her time as a farm girl she

00:22:06.522 --> 00:22:09.884
liked being around horses now she's never

00:22:10.164 --> 00:22:13.846
really ridden a horse but i decide you

00:22:13.866 --> 00:22:17.548
know for the sake of a good story

00:22:17.588 --> 00:22:20.310
let's have you ride a horse okay and

00:22:20.330 --> 00:22:20.691
she goes

00:22:25.365 --> 00:22:27.606
So immediately I put her in a Lone

00:22:27.666 --> 00:22:32.310
Ranger outfit and me as Tonto, of course.

00:22:32.330 --> 00:22:33.872
Hey,

00:22:33.892 --> 00:22:35.512
what's a Lone Ranger without his Tonto,

00:22:35.573 --> 00:22:35.933
right?

00:22:36.034 --> 00:22:36.634
Yeah, well,

00:22:36.673 --> 00:22:39.355
this is where the actual semi-true part of

00:22:39.395 --> 00:22:43.219
this comic book comes in.

00:22:43.779 --> 00:22:46.761
But she would not be bad as a

00:22:46.801 --> 00:22:47.942
Lone Ranger, no.

00:22:48.383 --> 00:22:52.247
So I'd be a pretty piss poor Tonto,

00:22:52.267 --> 00:22:52.446
though.

00:22:54.605 --> 00:22:56.006
So I want to send a shout out

00:22:56.046 --> 00:22:58.067
to Alfred over at Page One Comets.

00:22:58.749 --> 00:22:59.809
Good people over there.

00:23:00.470 --> 00:23:02.751
Writes a fantastic comic book.

00:23:03.792 --> 00:23:05.354
He was just on the podcast a few,

00:23:05.454 --> 00:23:07.175
I think maybe a week, no,

00:23:07.296 --> 00:23:11.720
two weeks ago, two weeks ago.

00:23:11.779 --> 00:23:13.902
So Dina faced some serious health

00:23:13.942 --> 00:23:15.703
challenges in this timeframe as well.

00:23:15.743 --> 00:23:18.105
How did that period kind of shape both

00:23:18.145 --> 00:23:20.367
your bond and your storytelling voice?

00:23:20.387 --> 00:23:20.667
Uh,

00:23:21.875 --> 00:23:25.478
One of the things she went through was

00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:28.941
she had scoliosis.

00:23:28.961 --> 00:23:31.623
She had a curvature of the spine.

00:23:31.663 --> 00:23:36.207
She had to spend almost three years in

00:23:36.366 --> 00:23:39.209
a body brace to straighten that out.

00:23:39.368 --> 00:23:40.529
Well, they had a choice.

00:23:41.971 --> 00:23:45.054
They could either do a very difficult and

00:23:45.094 --> 00:23:47.816
expensive operation.

00:23:48.856 --> 00:23:50.377
And there was no guarantees there.

00:23:50.878 --> 00:23:53.259
in either of these whether she went with

00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:55.721
the operation or the body brace there

00:23:55.740 --> 00:23:57.181
would be a there could have been a

00:23:57.221 --> 00:24:00.903
chance that that would not do the trick

00:24:00.962 --> 00:24:04.223
but this was her best shot so they

00:24:04.423 --> 00:24:06.984
the only one they could really afford was

00:24:07.045 --> 00:24:11.346
doing the body brace and uh it very

00:24:11.386 --> 00:24:14.528
much pretty much brought to a halt she

00:24:14.567 --> 00:24:16.288
wanted to be uh she wanted to be

00:24:16.328 --> 00:24:19.029
a cheerleader in junior high and uh

00:24:19.488 --> 00:24:21.028
She was certainly athletic.

00:24:21.127 --> 00:24:21.428
I mean,

00:24:21.448 --> 00:24:23.368
she was able to do cartwheels and

00:24:23.469 --> 00:24:26.189
backflips and all kinds of stuff.

00:24:26.548 --> 00:24:28.970
Pretty much put the tabash on all that.

00:24:29.630 --> 00:24:31.670
Yeah.

00:24:31.730 --> 00:24:34.931
But it was a difficult time for her.

00:24:35.211 --> 00:24:37.471
Oh, I imagine so.

00:24:37.490 --> 00:24:38.872
Not just her, but everybody.

00:24:39.112 --> 00:24:40.791
All her loved ones were right there with

00:24:40.811 --> 00:24:41.832
her going through it, too.

00:24:42.132 --> 00:24:43.372
Yeah.

00:24:44.153 --> 00:24:46.393
But the good thing is she got...

00:24:47.410 --> 00:24:47.630
uh,

00:24:47.670 --> 00:24:50.911
an early reprieve about half a year before

00:24:51.731 --> 00:24:54.413
that thing was supposed to done the trick.

00:24:54.653 --> 00:24:55.792
And the doctor said,

00:24:56.153 --> 00:24:57.354
we're going to let you out of there

00:24:57.374 --> 00:24:57.773
early.

00:24:58.554 --> 00:25:01.214
So, uh, so they, uh,

00:25:01.234 --> 00:25:04.596
they took the whole thing off and, uh,

00:25:04.796 --> 00:25:08.076
and she never really had a problem with

00:25:08.157 --> 00:25:09.057
it ever again.

00:25:09.238 --> 00:25:11.199
So yeah.

00:25:11.439 --> 00:25:14.880
So anyway, but it, uh,

00:25:15.807 --> 00:25:17.669
it was a good story to do about

00:25:17.749 --> 00:25:21.750
her and just all the things she's yeah

00:25:22.711 --> 00:25:24.652
a lot of she put a lot of

00:25:24.711 --> 00:25:28.252
faith in that she would get through this

00:25:28.273 --> 00:25:31.875
with some help from above and oh yeah

00:25:31.954 --> 00:25:33.955
and i'm not about to to step on

00:25:33.996 --> 00:25:36.436
that at all so yeah no i don't

00:25:36.457 --> 00:25:37.637
think that's the person you want to make

00:25:37.738 --> 00:25:41.019
angry i i have seen too many weird

00:25:41.058 --> 00:25:44.401
things in my life happen that i can't

00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:45.121
explain

00:25:46.714 --> 00:25:46.855
at all,

00:25:46.875 --> 00:25:48.476
and I'm not even going to try.

00:25:50.457 --> 00:25:52.858
Mr. Burdenton on Twitch says, yo.

00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:54.539
What's up?

00:25:55.080 --> 00:25:55.441
Hello.

00:25:55.461 --> 00:25:56.642
Appreciate you stopping through.

00:25:58.702 --> 00:26:03.366
So, let's... September the fourth.

00:26:04.007 --> 00:26:05.868
What does that feel like now,

00:26:06.009 --> 00:26:06.828
decades later,

00:26:06.868 --> 00:26:08.790
to revisit that moment through comics?

00:26:09.471 --> 00:26:11.673
Oh, it's crazy.

00:26:11.712 --> 00:26:13.054
We had to do the build-up

00:26:13.705 --> 00:26:14.807
to how that happened.

00:26:14.846 --> 00:26:16.587
Cause we did have that breakup.

00:26:17.367 --> 00:26:22.250
One of the things that happened was she

00:26:22.290 --> 00:26:23.330
had a cousin.

00:26:23.451 --> 00:26:25.511
I've renamed that, that character.

00:26:26.512 --> 00:26:28.854
She's kind of like a combination of a

00:26:28.913 --> 00:26:31.955
couple other people that were in her life.

00:26:32.016 --> 00:26:32.955
And they pretty much,

00:26:33.435 --> 00:26:35.958
she pretty much put an earwig in my

00:26:36.018 --> 00:26:37.397
head saying,

00:26:38.298 --> 00:26:40.420
what do you two have in common?

00:26:41.441 --> 00:26:42.201
I mean, you're,

00:26:42.644 --> 00:26:45.185
got your head in the clouds and stuff

00:26:45.266 --> 00:26:49.048
and she's pretty solid so what what do

00:26:49.087 --> 00:26:51.209
you have in common i don't see how

00:26:51.288 --> 00:26:53.849
you guys can work you know you're gonna

00:26:53.890 --> 00:26:58.792
work this out and and that i was

00:26:58.853 --> 00:27:01.673
acceptable to people saying things like

00:27:01.713 --> 00:27:05.355
that and getting me kind of depressed and

00:27:05.576 --> 00:27:05.675
uh

00:27:08.075 --> 00:27:10.836
I just started having doubts about whether

00:27:11.656 --> 00:27:14.077
or not to, because I was ready to,

00:27:14.097 --> 00:27:18.740
my grandmother had given me the ring,

00:27:18.780 --> 00:27:23.123
her old engagement ring, and said, well,

00:27:23.564 --> 00:27:24.983
if you think you can make it,

00:27:25.625 --> 00:27:26.765
you do it,

00:27:27.145 --> 00:27:29.586
and then I just kind of put it

00:27:29.606 --> 00:27:31.087
away for a while,

00:27:31.147 --> 00:27:31.248
and

00:27:31.895 --> 00:27:34.178
It might have been good that we had

00:27:34.758 --> 00:27:37.220
a couple of little breakups, you know,

00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:40.782
so that we could learn to tolerate one

00:27:40.803 --> 00:27:41.202
another.

00:27:41.222 --> 00:27:44.325
I think that's the most important part

00:27:44.345 --> 00:27:44.786
right there.

00:27:44.806 --> 00:27:45.365
Yeah, yeah.

00:27:45.445 --> 00:27:46.707
It's getting to tolerate them.

00:27:47.086 --> 00:27:50.150
Absolutely make sure that this is what you

00:27:50.250 --> 00:27:51.770
want to do.

00:27:51.891 --> 00:27:58.895
So anyway, so eventually she wound up –

00:27:59.778 --> 00:28:03.759
She wound up getting a decent job at

00:28:04.419 --> 00:28:05.200
a diner.

00:28:05.240 --> 00:28:08.240
She was kind of living in a halfway

00:28:08.300 --> 00:28:12.602
house for a while because she was having

00:28:12.682 --> 00:28:18.644
an out with her parents and some sort

00:28:18.683 --> 00:28:19.443
of deal there.

00:28:19.463 --> 00:28:19.584
Okay.

00:28:20.064 --> 00:28:21.023
I think it's good.

00:28:21.384 --> 00:28:21.904
All right.

00:28:21.944 --> 00:28:22.285
Anyway.

00:28:22.684 --> 00:28:29.426
And then eventually she gave me a call.

00:28:30.746 --> 00:28:34.166
and said why don't we get get together

00:28:34.186 --> 00:28:38.667
someplace so i met her down at the

00:28:38.728 --> 00:28:41.509
library which was this is like early

00:28:41.568 --> 00:28:44.670
summer it was just beautiful down there

00:28:44.690 --> 00:28:47.210
and she showed up in this beautiful yellow

00:28:47.891 --> 00:28:52.551
yellow dress uh and it didn't take long

00:28:52.592 --> 00:28:55.231
for everything to start uh you know the

00:28:55.393 --> 00:28:57.113
the sparks were flying and

00:28:57.983 --> 00:29:00.444
It didn't take long for me to realize,

00:29:00.586 --> 00:29:00.986
you know,

00:29:02.105 --> 00:29:03.727
who else is going to put up with

00:29:03.767 --> 00:29:03.967
you?

00:29:06.568 --> 00:29:08.690
Who else is going to put up with

00:29:08.730 --> 00:29:10.451
your stupid shit?

00:29:10.990 --> 00:29:11.731
Come on.

00:29:11.832 --> 00:29:13.532
She is a wonderful girl.

00:29:14.413 --> 00:29:19.195
Let's just settle down and let's see how

00:29:19.276 --> 00:29:19.955
things go.

00:29:20.277 --> 00:29:22.958
It was like about a couple of months

00:29:22.998 --> 00:29:23.377
later,

00:29:23.518 --> 00:29:25.859
I finally brought the ring out and I

00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:26.019
said,

00:29:27.662 --> 00:29:28.582
Let's do this.

00:29:29.123 --> 00:29:29.423
Nice.

00:29:29.623 --> 00:29:31.804
Yeah.

00:29:32.144 --> 00:29:33.825
Okay.

00:29:33.944 --> 00:29:36.165
So I like it.

00:29:36.185 --> 00:29:37.606
We had some delays.

00:29:37.707 --> 00:29:38.626
Unfortunately,

00:29:38.666 --> 00:29:43.809
we had my grandmother had passed away in

00:29:43.990 --> 00:29:45.171
early eighty one.

00:29:46.431 --> 00:29:51.213
And we were still my grandfather was going

00:29:51.233 --> 00:29:54.535
through some illnesses and I was living

00:29:55.076 --> 00:29:55.516
with him.

00:29:56.229 --> 00:29:57.630
help him take care of him then he

00:29:57.670 --> 00:30:04.736
started dating yeah he's he started dating

00:30:04.796 --> 00:30:09.779
so then he he offered us uh to

00:30:09.839 --> 00:30:12.321
take care of my great-grandmother who was

00:30:12.402 --> 00:30:17.085
at the time and my brother and his

00:30:17.226 --> 00:30:18.987
wife his then wife

00:30:19.582 --> 00:30:21.784
were taking care of her in,

00:30:22.223 --> 00:30:22.744
in a jet.

00:30:22.785 --> 00:30:23.365
They were,

00:30:23.605 --> 00:30:26.448
they had an adjacent apartment next to the

00:30:26.508 --> 00:30:29.309
main part of the house where grandma Brown

00:30:29.349 --> 00:30:29.650
lived.

00:30:30.330 --> 00:30:31.511
And, uh, they were,

00:30:31.592 --> 00:30:33.413
they were moving to their own place.

00:30:33.452 --> 00:30:35.454
So he says, grandpa says,

00:30:36.615 --> 00:30:37.876
could you take care of her?

00:30:38.037 --> 00:30:40.638
And we went, yeah, no problem.

00:30:40.679 --> 00:30:43.181
So, so we, uh,

00:30:43.221 --> 00:30:44.342
took care of her and her,

00:30:45.077 --> 00:30:51.181
and her crazy pomeranian dog buttons it

00:30:51.221 --> 00:30:52.901
had to be a pomeranian you do crazy

00:30:52.941 --> 00:30:55.201
in there yeah yeah he was he was

00:30:55.241 --> 00:30:58.563
so much fun sadly he started getting ill

00:30:58.623 --> 00:31:01.265
his kidneys were shut down and he was

00:31:01.545 --> 00:31:06.247
literally blind his eyesight started going

00:31:06.287 --> 00:31:10.008
so but uh we took care of grandma

00:31:10.048 --> 00:31:12.328
brown for uh

00:31:13.156 --> 00:31:18.739
for right up to about a later in

00:31:18.838 --> 00:31:21.359
eighty four when she wound up broken,

00:31:21.539 --> 00:31:24.500
breaking her hip and she had to be

00:31:24.621 --> 00:31:28.122
moved to a to a nursing home.

00:31:28.142 --> 00:31:29.363
Okay.

00:31:30.163 --> 00:31:33.624
So she hung up for about another five

00:31:33.663 --> 00:31:35.785
or six months and then she passed away.

00:31:36.305 --> 00:31:39.365
So so they had to sell the said

00:31:39.465 --> 00:31:40.646
had to sell the house.

00:31:41.829 --> 00:31:45.310
And we moved to my mom's old place

00:31:45.570 --> 00:31:46.810
on Waymire Street,

00:31:47.211 --> 00:31:50.711
which brought me back full circle.

00:31:51.152 --> 00:31:53.492
Right behind East High School again.

00:31:53.553 --> 00:31:57.193
But we spent the next six or seven

00:31:57.213 --> 00:32:00.694
years there until we got an offer to

00:32:01.134 --> 00:32:03.555
move into another house up by Twenty

00:32:03.634 --> 00:32:05.756
Second Street in Columbus.

00:32:07.136 --> 00:32:08.657
And we spent a few years there.

00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:11.680
Now we're in this nice little apartment

00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:14.661
that's kind of compressed,

00:32:14.721 --> 00:32:17.741
but it's really nice.

00:32:18.123 --> 00:32:23.785
And I've got my – guys like Mark

00:32:23.805 --> 00:32:25.185
Wade, Harlan Ellison,

00:32:26.006 --> 00:32:29.627
and Mark Wolfman and all them guys have

00:32:29.688 --> 00:32:31.969
always said, when you get your own office,

00:32:32.189 --> 00:32:33.329
surround yourself.

00:32:35.152 --> 00:32:37.594
all kinds with what you love.

00:32:37.653 --> 00:32:40.256
By God, as you can see behind me.

00:32:40.276 --> 00:32:42.196
Oh, yeah.

00:32:42.217 --> 00:32:43.838
I was looking at those when you popped

00:32:43.898 --> 00:32:44.278
in earlier.

00:32:44.298 --> 00:32:45.319
I was like, I did.

00:32:45.640 --> 00:32:48.281
So so anyway,

00:32:48.342 --> 00:32:51.604
but so we did we did that.

00:32:51.845 --> 00:32:54.446
And fortunately,

00:32:54.586 --> 00:32:57.328
as I'm getting much older now,

00:32:58.769 --> 00:33:01.031
we don't have to climb as many stairs.

00:33:01.551 --> 00:33:02.653
That's always a good thing.

00:33:03.136 --> 00:33:05.317
Well, we were living in a townhome,

00:33:06.117 --> 00:33:09.519
and the bathrooms were on the top floor.

00:33:10.618 --> 00:33:10.759
Now,

00:33:10.778 --> 00:33:14.059
you come off of a long downtown walk,

00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:15.599
and all of a sudden, uh-oh,

00:33:15.619 --> 00:33:19.780
we got home.

00:33:20.221 --> 00:33:22.541
And by the time we got home,

00:33:23.642 --> 00:33:24.583
accidents happened.

00:33:24.962 --> 00:33:25.363
Yeah.

00:33:26.983 --> 00:33:30.125
So the good thing is we finally decided

00:33:30.165 --> 00:33:33.008
let's move to some place where everything

00:33:33.127 --> 00:33:35.028
is on one floor.

00:33:35.548 --> 00:33:36.289
Yeah.

00:33:36.529 --> 00:33:37.851
And I'll tell you what,

00:33:37.891 --> 00:33:41.093
trying to move the stuff I had to

00:33:41.893 --> 00:33:44.013
this apartment, we're never moving again.

00:33:44.394 --> 00:33:45.775
I don't care how much they raise the

00:33:45.795 --> 00:33:46.095
rent.

00:33:46.695 --> 00:33:48.396
We're staying right here.

00:33:48.777 --> 00:33:49.136
This is.

00:33:49.257 --> 00:33:49.518
Yeah.

00:33:49.538 --> 00:33:51.759
So I was telling him the other day,

00:33:51.778 --> 00:33:53.380
I'm like, I have one more Amy.

00:33:53.559 --> 00:33:55.181
And after that, I'm not doing it again.

00:33:55.559 --> 00:33:58.843
yeah yeah it's it's pretty difficult try

00:33:59.022 --> 00:34:03.145
try moving a a a twenty five thousand

00:34:03.226 --> 00:34:06.888
piece comic collection from one place to

00:34:06.949 --> 00:34:09.291
another oh yeah i can't i couldn't imagine

00:34:09.331 --> 00:34:11.452
having to move mine there's there's an

00:34:11.572 --> 00:34:13.855
albatross you never want around your neck

00:34:14.815 --> 00:34:16.097
oh well i mean i'm dealing with it

00:34:16.117 --> 00:34:17.177
now i mean yeah

00:34:18.405 --> 00:34:20.527
I've got the remnants of it in, in,

00:34:20.748 --> 00:34:22.731
in stacked up in our closet.

00:34:22.791 --> 00:34:24.393
That's, but we,

00:34:24.452 --> 00:34:26.215
we got rid of a lot of it

00:34:26.655 --> 00:34:29.599
a few years ago and I'm not missing

00:34:29.619 --> 00:34:30.300
that really.

00:34:30.320 --> 00:34:33.023
So I kept all the stuff that I

00:34:33.083 --> 00:34:34.465
really need to have so I can,

00:34:35.126 --> 00:34:36.387
I can look at the art and

00:34:36.657 --> 00:34:39.380
you know, get helpful hints and things.

00:34:39.800 --> 00:34:41.782
But, uh, I, I,

00:34:41.802 --> 00:34:44.744
I pretty much have stopped buying regular

00:34:44.824 --> 00:34:45.846
pamphlet comics,

00:34:45.945 --> 00:34:48.668
graphic novels work out just great or the

00:34:48.708 --> 00:34:49.389
collections.

00:34:50.168 --> 00:34:50.389
Oh yeah.

00:34:50.409 --> 00:34:52.951
The Omni buses and stuff like that.

00:34:53.012 --> 00:34:53.291
Yeah.

00:34:53.351 --> 00:34:55.313
Oh man, this, this one they did.

00:34:55.713 --> 00:34:59.496
DC was doing those, uh, those, uh,

00:34:59.617 --> 00:35:03.099
Bray or, uh, showcase, uh,

00:35:03.139 --> 00:35:04.380
book size things.

00:35:05.041 --> 00:35:05.681
And, uh,

00:35:06.250 --> 00:35:10.411
One of the things I lost during my

00:35:10.492 --> 00:35:11.733
time out in New Berners,

00:35:11.853 --> 00:35:15.695
I lost a lot of my classic Spider-Man,

00:35:15.934 --> 00:35:19.356
Batman, Detective comics and stuff.

00:35:19.896 --> 00:35:22.358
And here they all are in black and

00:35:22.418 --> 00:35:22.838
white.

00:35:24.039 --> 00:35:29.681
And that whole period of my life that

00:35:29.922 --> 00:35:33.483
I just adored the work that was done

00:35:33.563 --> 00:35:34.083
in those.

00:35:34.577 --> 00:35:38.219
And now not only are they in black

00:35:38.259 --> 00:35:41.340
and white, I can study the ink styles,

00:35:42.340 --> 00:35:44.342
which is big time.

00:35:44.521 --> 00:35:44.942
Oh yeah.

00:35:46.001 --> 00:35:48.324
Color reproduction back in the seventies

00:35:48.403 --> 00:35:50.164
and eighties was so bad.

00:35:50.905 --> 00:35:51.425
And, uh,

00:35:51.525 --> 00:35:53.626
cause it was done on cheap paper,

00:35:53.646 --> 00:35:53.826
you know?

00:35:53.905 --> 00:35:54.045
Yeah.

00:35:54.065 --> 00:35:57.148
It was basically newspaper.

00:35:57.568 --> 00:35:57.927
Yeah.

00:35:58.047 --> 00:35:58.248
Yeah.

00:35:58.288 --> 00:35:58.847
Basically.

00:35:59.329 --> 00:35:59.969
And, uh,

00:36:00.666 --> 00:36:04.188
And I always look forward to looking at,

00:36:04.228 --> 00:36:05.329
you know,

00:36:05.889 --> 00:36:09.112
as close to original artwork as I can.

00:36:09.132 --> 00:36:10.773
That's why I'm so glad there's so many

00:36:10.813 --> 00:36:14.976
of these volumes coming out with actually

00:36:15.518 --> 00:36:18.860
reproducing the comics page.

00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:21.222
Yeah, the Ashcan books.

00:36:21.742 --> 00:36:26.867
We got a collection of Will Eisner's

00:36:26.947 --> 00:36:29.989
Spirit that is absolutely brilliant.

00:36:31.143 --> 00:36:33.525
drop-dead gorgeous looking there's a

00:36:33.565 --> 00:36:35.166
reason why that man has an award named

00:36:35.226 --> 00:36:38.807
after him oh yeah oh yeah so but

00:36:39.027 --> 00:36:40.648
now if they could just make a decent

00:36:40.708 --> 00:36:44.692
movie about that character now well we're

00:36:44.711 --> 00:36:46.972
getting no that one that one's uh

00:36:47.340 --> 00:36:48.641
I don't know if we'll get that one,

00:36:48.661 --> 00:36:50.081
but maybe, maybe.

00:36:50.382 --> 00:36:50.702
Yeah,

00:36:51.121 --> 00:36:53.503
maybe one day when somebody stops fooling

00:36:53.523 --> 00:36:53.722
around.

00:36:54.583 --> 00:36:57.684
Maybe the same people who they turned this

00:36:57.784 --> 00:37:00.545
over that were trying to handle a Doc

00:37:00.565 --> 00:37:02.445
Savage adaptation.

00:37:02.585 --> 00:37:03.585
It ain't going to happen.

00:37:04.891 --> 00:37:05.271
No,

00:37:05.291 --> 00:37:07.472
but let's talk about the actual semi-true

00:37:07.512 --> 00:37:08.994
adventures of Mark and Dee.

00:37:09.454 --> 00:37:11.554
So that shifts into contemporary

00:37:12.235 --> 00:37:14.215
storytelling at the comic cave.

00:37:14.875 --> 00:37:17.795
Why was it so important for you to

00:37:17.876 --> 00:37:20.737
include in Spotlight a real comic shop

00:37:21.496 --> 00:37:22.518
like that for yourself?

00:37:22.777 --> 00:37:26.539
Well, sadly, it is no longer in existence.

00:37:26.619 --> 00:37:28.039
It was turned into a...

00:37:31.836 --> 00:37:35.179
little block of uh industrial i think

00:37:35.239 --> 00:37:37.521
insurance companies and things like that

00:37:37.900 --> 00:37:41.503
but that was just when i found out

00:37:41.543 --> 00:37:45.387
that place existed i was just awestruck

00:37:46.206 --> 00:37:50.849
and uh and the people there were super

00:37:50.909 --> 00:37:53.472
super nice to me and i offered to

00:37:53.512 --> 00:37:57.275
do paint uh paintings on their windows

00:37:58.652 --> 00:38:01.893
uh and uh in exchange for store credit

00:38:02.135 --> 00:38:05.356
so and we had some really great stuff

00:38:05.476 --> 00:38:07.398
up there i did a lure the rings

00:38:07.757 --> 00:38:12.061
pastiche uh big old spider-man battling

00:38:12.101 --> 00:38:15.043
doc ock uh yeah we have one we

00:38:15.083 --> 00:38:18.143
have one uh one small window on the

00:38:18.224 --> 00:38:21.447
side of the place that had uh pikachu

00:38:22.146 --> 00:38:25.708
and the bust of ben graham smoking a

00:38:25.768 --> 00:38:27.070
stogie and

00:38:28.336 --> 00:38:31.717
and him just going what the heck are

00:38:31.757 --> 00:38:36.998
you and uh we did one one that

00:38:37.039 --> 00:38:40.679
did survive that is owned by somebody else

00:38:40.760 --> 00:38:43.081
now and yeah bless him if he knows

00:38:43.101 --> 00:38:45.101
what to do with it that's why i

00:38:45.141 --> 00:38:49.003
did a superman a golden age superman and

00:38:49.043 --> 00:38:49.943
captain marvel

00:38:51.500 --> 00:38:55.021
uh uh thing with uh clark coming out

00:38:55.041 --> 00:38:57.641
of a phone booth and basically billy

00:38:57.661 --> 00:39:01.422
yelling shazam you know and yeah and uh

00:39:02.123 --> 00:39:04.483
that's the only painting i think that

00:39:04.523 --> 00:39:08.246
survived the the uh tear down on the

00:39:08.365 --> 00:39:11.126
uh on the old place but uh but

00:39:11.166 --> 00:39:13.867
he kept it somebody did a story about

00:39:13.887 --> 00:39:16.288
it in the paper and yeah so do

00:39:16.327 --> 00:39:18.048
you ever want to try to get that

00:39:18.088 --> 00:39:18.628
back as a

00:39:19.351 --> 00:39:21.952
where am i going to put it let

00:39:21.992 --> 00:39:25.833
him have it that's yeah so but uh

00:39:26.313 --> 00:39:28.074
but it was a great place to be

00:39:28.255 --> 00:39:30.635
i love i love doing a story about

00:39:30.675 --> 00:39:36.777
we did the the uh holiday holiday special

00:39:36.817 --> 00:39:40.038
which is almost entirely set in the comics

00:39:40.157 --> 00:39:43.838
comic shop and uh the uh

00:39:44.978 --> 00:39:46.579
And it's just about the people that I

00:39:46.599 --> 00:39:47.478
just loved.

00:39:47.659 --> 00:39:51.360
I wanted to do a little Christmas slash

00:39:51.481 --> 00:39:54.661
Valentine thing to all those people.

00:39:55.103 --> 00:39:57.744
And we came up with a really good

00:39:57.804 --> 00:39:58.443
story.

00:39:58.724 --> 00:40:00.224
And it's still...

00:40:01.286 --> 00:40:02.565
I'm going through it again.

00:40:02.646 --> 00:40:03.987
It just brings me to tears.

00:40:04.547 --> 00:40:06.088
So you have said that that is one

00:40:06.128 --> 00:40:08.809
of the best comics you ever made.

00:40:09.088 --> 00:40:10.570
Yes, it was.

00:40:10.590 --> 00:40:12.570
Because I was able to...

00:40:13.659 --> 00:40:18.282
I put a lot of the kinds of

00:40:18.342 --> 00:40:20.965
characters that I would want to hang out

00:40:21.025 --> 00:40:25.289
with and would have my back if trouble

00:40:25.309 --> 00:40:25.829
ever came.

00:40:26.349 --> 00:40:28.391
And that certainly comes true for,

00:40:28.510 --> 00:40:31.213
it doesn't even focus on me and Dee.

00:40:31.253 --> 00:40:34.675
It's about Mickey, the Wookie Walton,

00:40:35.715 --> 00:40:39.579
Jamal Farrowgood, Mickey's father,

00:40:40.137 --> 00:40:43.878
future uh girlfriend uh tandy breckenridge

00:40:44.619 --> 00:40:47.800
and uh uh and and a bunch of

00:40:47.981 --> 00:40:53.023
street street thug and goons who uh should

00:40:53.083 --> 00:40:55.445
never go up against a hungry wookie so

00:40:55.465 --> 00:41:01.349
but it was uh it was and in

00:41:01.389 --> 00:41:04.369
the end we also have a nice uh

00:41:04.630 --> 00:41:07.351
uh splash page featuring all of my

00:41:08.038 --> 00:41:10.179
all of our families, our friends,

00:41:11.219 --> 00:41:13.722
some who are sadly no longer with us.

00:41:15.344 --> 00:41:20.246
And it was just a good story to

00:41:20.286 --> 00:41:21.288
do for Christmas.

00:41:21.447 --> 00:41:24.429
And so the many comics I made of

00:41:24.530 --> 00:41:25.931
it sold pretty well.

00:41:27.313 --> 00:41:29.594
But eventually what I decided to do was

00:41:29.634 --> 00:41:31.516
turn it into full color and do a

00:41:31.576 --> 00:41:34.237
full size version of it.

00:41:34.297 --> 00:41:35.739
Web are stupid cats.

00:41:39.244 --> 00:41:43.226
so poor little snowflake i miss i miss

00:41:43.306 --> 00:41:47.451
or siren that's siren it says so they

00:41:47.471 --> 00:41:51.614
are gonna hate us for this forever and

00:41:51.635 --> 00:41:54.956
they did oh i imagine oh they look

00:41:54.976 --> 00:41:57.519
so adorable i don't know i kind of

00:41:57.579 --> 00:42:05.487
like it so you also mentioned that steven

00:42:05.507 --> 00:42:05.947
and toby

00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:09.561
represent rpg culture and gen con energy

00:42:09.601 --> 00:42:12.523
how important was tabletop gaming to to

00:42:12.563 --> 00:42:15.403
yourself and d and in the friendship i

00:42:15.483 --> 00:42:19.465
haven't done a lot with their characters

00:42:19.505 --> 00:42:22.047
but i am going to i did okay

00:42:22.067 --> 00:42:24.827
i did run a stretch of early comic

00:42:24.867 --> 00:42:29.030
strips with them actually doing rpg and

00:42:29.351 --> 00:42:31.831
imagining their characters who are of

00:42:31.851 --> 00:42:32.192
course

00:42:32.748 --> 00:42:37.132
far from from the uh scrawny and

00:42:37.213 --> 00:42:42.016
heavyweight these the stan and ollie that

00:42:42.077 --> 00:42:44.920
are in reality yeah they're they're like

00:42:44.980 --> 00:42:48.164
you know uh trolls they're they're like

00:42:48.244 --> 00:42:51.547
well-built trolls and robin hood

00:42:52.380 --> 00:42:57.101
uh uh adventurers and stuff and uh but

00:42:57.161 --> 00:42:59.121
we are going to do a full story

00:42:59.161 --> 00:43:02.143
about them eventually okay probably with

00:43:02.242 --> 00:43:04.603
our probably with our next issue we'll

00:43:04.643 --> 00:43:06.902
we'll do like a backup feature just for

00:43:06.922 --> 00:43:10.784
a warm-up but uh but they uh they're

00:43:10.864 --> 00:43:13.445
they're fun because they kind of remind me

00:43:14.164 --> 00:43:17.585
of monk and ham from doc doc savage

00:43:17.625 --> 00:43:21.505
they will argue and bully each other and

00:43:21.565 --> 00:43:21.826
yeah

00:43:22.380 --> 00:43:24.083
And screw over each other.

00:43:24.163 --> 00:43:25.063
But in the end,

00:43:25.403 --> 00:43:28.166
they will lay down their lives for the

00:43:28.286 --> 00:43:28.547
other.

00:43:29.788 --> 00:43:32.909
That's why I love so much about those

00:43:32.969 --> 00:43:33.670
characters.

00:43:36.172 --> 00:43:37.914
But anyway,

00:43:39.976 --> 00:43:42.079
we're going to do something with them big

00:43:42.139 --> 00:43:42.458
time.

00:43:43.240 --> 00:43:45.804
Let's talk about your Kickstarter, Mark.

00:43:46.023 --> 00:43:47.925
So you have Genesis of a Fanboy,

00:43:48.706 --> 00:43:49.706
Volume One.

00:43:50.387 --> 00:43:52.588
That is going to collect ten years of

00:43:52.630 --> 00:43:55.092
your comic strips.

00:43:55.612 --> 00:43:57.092
Do you have that right now?

00:43:57.393 --> 00:43:58.974
I do have it right now.

00:44:01.777 --> 00:44:03.079
It's all set.

00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:06.181
It's ready to send to the printer since

00:44:06.280 --> 00:44:07.461
our funding comes in,

00:44:07.742 --> 00:44:09.184
which should be this week.

00:44:11.126 --> 00:44:13.387
And, you know, I can't wait.

00:44:13.768 --> 00:44:15.628
I'm probably going to put a rush on

00:44:15.708 --> 00:44:17.550
it because I really want to see these

00:44:17.590 --> 00:44:17.909
books.

00:44:18.650 --> 00:44:20.190
Yeah.

00:44:20.271 --> 00:44:23.112
We send our stuff up to Comics Wellspring,

00:44:23.632 --> 00:44:27.954
and they have done a phenomenal job with

00:44:28.094 --> 00:44:30.655
our books.

00:44:31.717 --> 00:44:33.536
The day they sent this to me,

00:44:33.858 --> 00:44:37.699
we opened that box up and saw this,

00:44:37.800 --> 00:44:38.739
and I just cried.

00:44:39.625 --> 00:44:43.166
yeah this is exactly how i saw our

00:44:43.226 --> 00:44:46.369
comics that just the way i wanted to

00:44:46.449 --> 00:44:50.050
see him and uh it was just amazing

00:44:50.090 --> 00:44:51.692
to see that and i just sent them

00:44:51.711 --> 00:44:54.833
all kinds of you guys just made my

00:44:54.853 --> 00:44:59.637
dreams come true so uh but uh we're

00:44:59.817 --> 00:45:02.838
uh we're gonna we're working on the sixth

00:45:03.800 --> 00:45:06.340
issue of it right now which is all

00:45:06.360 --> 00:45:07.481
about our wedding day

00:45:08.811 --> 00:45:10.092
so i'm glad you bring that up because

00:45:10.112 --> 00:45:14.333
you just closed the campaign february and

00:45:14.373 --> 00:45:16.152
now you're in the pre-launch stage for the

00:45:16.233 --> 00:45:18.353
actual semi-true adventures of mark and d

00:45:18.393 --> 00:45:21.574
volume one correct yeah and we have and

00:45:21.594 --> 00:45:23.155
that's going to issue history right here

00:45:23.175 --> 00:45:26.036
here we go i'm sorry there you go

00:45:26.135 --> 00:45:28.217
oh no no no no that's that's even

00:45:28.257 --> 00:45:32.018
better yeah which i did use this cover

00:45:32.038 --> 00:45:33.619
when i was when i made the video

00:45:33.679 --> 00:45:35.159
to announce this yeah

00:45:37.210 --> 00:45:40.231
This collects the first five issues of our

00:45:40.251 --> 00:45:44.652
book, plus the super special.

00:45:44.711 --> 00:45:44.891
Now,

00:45:44.911 --> 00:45:48.112
the reason this one isn't out there right

00:45:48.172 --> 00:45:50.873
now is because there was a mistake made

00:45:51.052 --> 00:45:52.612
by me.

00:45:53.012 --> 00:46:00.755
We lost page six of the page.

00:46:00.954 --> 00:46:05.195
Yeah, it was we lost one page of.

00:46:06.217 --> 00:46:09.239
the book now it doesn't really screw up

00:46:09.478 --> 00:46:11.739
continuity it's really one about our

00:46:11.778 --> 00:46:15.340
little trip to the movies which isn't bad

00:46:15.699 --> 00:46:18.000
but it's one of those things that when

00:46:18.019 --> 00:46:21.221
it gets into my head i'm going i

00:46:21.260 --> 00:46:23.400
can't see others because we gotta have

00:46:23.420 --> 00:46:27.101
that page so so basically i'm giving it

00:46:27.161 --> 00:46:30.382
to people who just want a little

00:46:30.402 --> 00:46:34.842
introduction to our our stuff and um

00:46:35.916 --> 00:46:38.577
And when we do this new one,

00:46:39.079 --> 00:46:40.219
we will have, well,

00:46:40.239 --> 00:46:42.240
of course we'll have all the pages in

00:46:42.320 --> 00:46:43.202
it.

00:46:43.222 --> 00:46:46.023
We will also have a backup feature with,

00:46:46.425 --> 00:46:49.586
uh, some of my early comic strips.

00:46:49.907 --> 00:46:50.047
Uh,

00:46:50.208 --> 00:46:53.690
basically this one covers when I found out

00:46:53.791 --> 00:46:57.494
I had type type two diabetes and how

00:46:57.534 --> 00:46:59.034
that all build up.

00:46:59.074 --> 00:47:02.677
Just basically me making bad eating

00:47:02.717 --> 00:47:03.259
choices.

00:47:04.318 --> 00:47:04.880
And, uh,

00:47:05.347 --> 00:47:07.829
And then in the front of the book,

00:47:07.969 --> 00:47:09.670
we are going to have what I did.

00:47:09.809 --> 00:47:15.293
I did a six page introduction to send

00:47:15.353 --> 00:47:17.916
to prospective publishers.

00:47:18.215 --> 00:47:21.297
If I had not to do self-publishing,

00:47:22.278 --> 00:47:22.980
send that.

00:47:23.300 --> 00:47:26.202
It was a little like an introduction to

00:47:26.262 --> 00:47:30.304
our characters, a little tour of Columbus.

00:47:30.324 --> 00:47:31.726
Yeah, really cool to do.

00:47:32.306 --> 00:47:34.748
all the architecture and stuff of our

00:47:34.987 --> 00:47:39.648
major architectural wonders.

00:47:41.949 --> 00:47:44.351
And then introduce everybody to some

00:47:44.431 --> 00:47:45.911
future storylines.

00:47:48.391 --> 00:47:51.532
And it was really cool.

00:47:51.594 --> 00:47:53.554
It was just basically a little pamphlet

00:47:53.574 --> 00:47:53.974
thing.

00:47:54.414 --> 00:47:57.576
And I decided about a year ago,

00:47:57.655 --> 00:47:58.976
let's turn it into color.

00:48:00.688 --> 00:48:03.829
And then the new edition that we do.

00:48:05.791 --> 00:48:08.331
So now there will be all that in

00:48:08.371 --> 00:48:10.871
the front of the book to get everybody

00:48:10.931 --> 00:48:12.432
warmed up on stuff.

00:48:12.472 --> 00:48:14.632
And then we go full tilt with the

00:48:14.913 --> 00:48:15.353
stores.

00:48:16.153 --> 00:48:18.094
So when is this new campaign going to

00:48:18.134 --> 00:48:18.534
start?

00:48:18.934 --> 00:48:20.135
In about two weeks.

00:48:20.155 --> 00:48:20.755
Okay.

00:48:21.750 --> 00:48:23.472
I want to get things out of the

00:48:23.512 --> 00:48:26.293
way with Genesis,

00:48:26.733 --> 00:48:28.335
get those books shipped off.

00:48:28.735 --> 00:48:31.938
And so I can spend time doing,

00:48:32.059 --> 00:48:34.021
I do little videos and stuff.

00:48:34.161 --> 00:48:36.643
If you're on Facebook page,

00:48:36.762 --> 00:48:38.605
they're available on YouTube.

00:48:38.625 --> 00:48:40.867
Just look up Mark and Dee and you'll

00:48:40.907 --> 00:48:41.327
find them.

00:48:41.367 --> 00:48:43.628
But I love doing those videos.

00:48:44.530 --> 00:48:45.050
Okay.

00:48:45.331 --> 00:48:46.711
I do find some good books.

00:48:47.411 --> 00:48:50.833
non-royalty music that goes so well with

00:48:50.873 --> 00:48:54.596
some of them um one thing i i

00:48:54.795 --> 00:48:57.577
really would love to do if we run

00:48:57.677 --> 00:49:01.661
into somebody who has more more money than

00:49:01.701 --> 00:49:05.663
common sense some tv producer says you'd

00:49:05.702 --> 00:49:11.746
make a tv show excuse me and uh

00:49:13.327 --> 00:49:14.068
and i would uh i

00:49:15.992 --> 00:49:20.094
There's one song that I would love to

00:49:20.313 --> 00:49:22.373
approach this guy, Justin Hayward.

00:49:22.393 --> 00:49:23.373
Do you know who he is?

00:49:24.594 --> 00:49:25.594
I don't know.

00:49:26.655 --> 00:49:27.675
The Moody Blues.

00:49:28.275 --> 00:49:29.375
He was the lead singer.

00:49:30.695 --> 00:49:31.396
Okay.

00:49:31.876 --> 00:49:35.936
Now most of them are gone, sadly.

00:49:35.976 --> 00:49:37.956
He's doing stuff on his own.

00:49:38.777 --> 00:49:42.556
And he did this one song called Living

00:49:42.597 --> 00:49:43.197
for Love.

00:49:44.498 --> 00:49:45.458
And it's our story.

00:49:46.186 --> 00:49:49.666
It's everything that we have gone through,

00:49:51.228 --> 00:49:53.108
riding through this,

00:49:53.148 --> 00:49:57.769
driving through the land we knew to find

00:49:57.789 --> 00:49:58.969
that sacred ground.

00:49:59.269 --> 00:50:02.471
And when I heard it, I went,

00:50:02.791 --> 00:50:04.672
you know, if we can,

00:50:05.771 --> 00:50:08.413
if through some miracle,

00:50:09.193 --> 00:50:11.114
this should actually happen,

00:50:11.914 --> 00:50:14.815
I will hop on a raft

00:50:15.518 --> 00:50:18.320
And I will traverse the Atlantic Ocean,

00:50:19.101 --> 00:50:20.262
get to London,

00:50:20.742 --> 00:50:22.724
and I will knock on the door of

00:50:22.784 --> 00:50:27.849
Justin Hayward and get on my knees to

00:50:27.969 --> 00:50:29.512
get that song.

00:50:31.112 --> 00:50:33.074
So, and I don't know,

00:50:33.175 --> 00:50:34.856
I've heard some great things about him.

00:50:37.222 --> 00:50:38.782
It could, like, what's her name say?

00:50:38.983 --> 00:50:39.822
It could happen.

00:50:39.842 --> 00:50:41.882
I mean, it could.

00:50:41.922 --> 00:50:42.483
You never know.

00:50:42.563 --> 00:50:42.762
I mean,

00:50:42.802 --> 00:50:45.284
I've seen them make crazier shows out of

00:50:45.923 --> 00:50:46.884
weirder shit.

00:50:47.043 --> 00:50:49.224
Yeah, that's true.

00:50:50.125 --> 00:50:52.346
That Pope who became Catholic one time.

00:50:52.565 --> 00:50:53.045
Oh, yeah.

00:50:55.865 --> 00:50:57.387
So, Mark,

00:50:57.407 --> 00:50:59.786
for anybody who is discovering Mark and

00:50:59.867 --> 00:51:01.327
Dee for the first time,

00:51:01.367 --> 00:51:02.927
where do you think they should start?

00:51:03.442 --> 00:51:06.702
Um, start with my Facebook page, uh,

00:51:06.742 --> 00:51:09.184
cause I'm posting up there almost every

00:51:09.224 --> 00:51:09.583
day.

00:51:09.945 --> 00:51:11.025
It's a true story, y'all.

00:51:11.045 --> 00:51:11.885
He really does.

00:51:12.085 --> 00:51:12.385
Yeah.

00:51:13.085 --> 00:51:13.846
Um,

00:51:13.925 --> 00:51:16.467
if you want to see our archive stuff,

00:51:16.806 --> 00:51:21.309
there is the boss one, uh, blogspot.com.

00:51:21.728 --> 00:51:22.969
That's where I have very,

00:51:23.010 --> 00:51:24.889
you might have to do a little searching,

00:51:25.449 --> 00:51:28.271
but, uh, uh, in the files,

00:51:28.311 --> 00:51:29.311
but they're all there.

00:51:30.132 --> 00:51:31.992
Uh, as much, much as I've,

00:51:32.606 --> 00:51:34.086
I try to keep up with it as

00:51:34.146 --> 00:51:35.347
much as I can.

00:51:35.427 --> 00:51:38.911
So, um, but, uh, there's that.

00:51:39.251 --> 00:51:43.273
And, uh, I, I post on Instagram.

00:51:43.293 --> 00:51:44.715
Uh, I don't,

00:51:44.815 --> 00:51:46.436
I don't make a lot of use of,

00:51:46.635 --> 00:51:51.300
uh, Instagram like I should, but, uh,

00:51:51.320 --> 00:51:53.581
and you can also see our stuff on

00:51:53.940 --> 00:51:54.521
YouTube.

00:51:55.061 --> 00:51:55.202
Uh,

00:51:55.262 --> 00:51:57.103
just do a search for Mark and D

00:51:57.244 --> 00:51:57.923
and we're there.

00:51:58.985 --> 00:52:01.567
And, uh, we, uh,

00:52:02.516 --> 00:52:04.478
Um, and, uh, I would,

00:52:04.739 --> 00:52:07.501
I would reactivate my Twitter account

00:52:07.641 --> 00:52:09.902
until somebody else buys it and doesn't

00:52:09.943 --> 00:52:10.963
turn it into, uh,

00:52:11.364 --> 00:52:13.364
I'm a blue sky guy myself.

00:52:13.565 --> 00:52:13.864
Yeah.

00:52:13.945 --> 00:52:14.085
Yeah.

00:52:14.106 --> 00:52:15.547
I do blue sky also.

00:52:15.867 --> 00:52:16.688
I got blue sky.

00:52:16.748 --> 00:52:18.528
I've got, uh, um,

00:52:19.389 --> 00:52:21.210
if I can never figure out Reddit,

00:52:21.550 --> 00:52:23.152
Reddit's, I don't know.

00:52:23.192 --> 00:52:24.032
That's a mess.

00:52:24.873 --> 00:52:27.054
Uh, but, uh, sub stack, I, I,

00:52:27.255 --> 00:52:29.317
I've got an account on sub stack.

00:52:30.072 --> 00:52:32.092
And I have a Patreon page.

00:52:32.434 --> 00:52:35.054
So just look up Mark C. Dooley.

00:52:36.376 --> 00:52:38.177
But anyway,

00:52:38.838 --> 00:52:42.380
if anybody ever decides to turn X back

00:52:42.420 --> 00:52:44.501
into Twitter, I'm all for it.

00:52:45.782 --> 00:52:48.583
Until then, the floor is lava.

00:52:53.567 --> 00:52:55.188
I like it, Mark.

00:52:55.708 --> 00:52:57.068
I like it a lot.

00:52:57.670 --> 00:52:58.190
Well, it's...

00:52:58.958 --> 00:53:01.500
This is why I retired for so I

00:53:01.519 --> 00:53:04.559
could completely focus on doing these

00:53:04.619 --> 00:53:05.239
stories.

00:53:05.639 --> 00:53:07.940
And I've got so many in my head

00:53:08.440 --> 00:53:08.880
right now.

00:53:08.900 --> 00:53:10.061
I'm pushing seventy.

00:53:11.041 --> 00:53:13.342
So I couldn't tell if you told I

00:53:13.362 --> 00:53:14.681
was where you were lying right now.

00:53:15.382 --> 00:53:19.003
We're running out of time and I'm trying

00:53:19.023 --> 00:53:21.342
to get as much stuff as I can

00:53:21.382 --> 00:53:24.023
get and not throw a hip.

00:53:25.409 --> 00:53:27.971
which i almost did coming up and down

00:53:27.990 --> 00:53:29.992
that silly little hey that's why you got

00:53:30.012 --> 00:53:33.512
rid of the stairs right yeah yeah really

00:53:33.612 --> 00:53:35.494
you know that's i do have to go

00:53:35.574 --> 00:53:38.755
up a little flight of stairs to get

00:53:38.795 --> 00:53:40.476
to the thing but we're we're in the

00:53:40.536 --> 00:53:44.818
basement uh we are super protected from

00:53:44.998 --> 00:53:45.878
storms and

00:53:46.829 --> 00:53:48.389
Tornadoes and crap.

00:53:48.429 --> 00:53:51.590
We've gotten a lot of tornadoes around

00:53:51.630 --> 00:53:51.791
here.

00:53:51.871 --> 00:53:52.032
Now,

00:53:52.052 --> 00:53:54.293
the good thing is Columbus is kind of

00:53:54.313 --> 00:53:56.713
like in a pit when it comes to

00:53:56.773 --> 00:53:57.434
tornadoes.

00:53:57.474 --> 00:53:59.474
So we don't get a lot of touchdowns

00:53:59.574 --> 00:54:02.356
outside on the outskirts of town.

00:54:02.396 --> 00:54:04.338
We haven't seen one come through the city

00:54:04.838 --> 00:54:08.380
for about fifty years now.

00:54:08.460 --> 00:54:12.342
But anyway, so we are a

00:54:13.038 --> 00:54:15.820
we're at a pretty protected area and

00:54:16.219 --> 00:54:16.581
that's,

00:54:16.721 --> 00:54:18.661
that's good because sometimes I have to

00:54:18.722 --> 00:54:21.724
leave her, uh, here by herself.

00:54:21.824 --> 00:54:24.706
And when storms come, it's kind of scary.

00:54:25.007 --> 00:54:25.606
Oh, I imagine.

00:54:25.646 --> 00:54:26.467
Yeah.

00:54:26.568 --> 00:54:30.409
But anyway, before we let you go,

00:54:30.530 --> 00:54:33.291
any parting shots for the people, uh,

00:54:33.813 --> 00:54:36.795
buy our books.

00:54:36.894 --> 00:54:37.394
I love it.

00:54:37.574 --> 00:54:38.335
I love it.

00:54:38.376 --> 00:54:39.277
Buy our books.

00:54:39.597 --> 00:54:40.958
Um, we'll, uh,

00:54:41.590 --> 00:54:43.630
we're going to try to set up a

00:54:43.751 --> 00:54:46.773
website eventually as soon as I can get

00:54:46.813 --> 00:54:48.132
the money together for that.

00:54:48.152 --> 00:54:48.733
Cause right now,

00:54:48.753 --> 00:54:50.074
basically I'm living off of,

00:54:50.333 --> 00:54:55.476
of me and hers, uh, uh, uh, retirement,

00:54:55.496 --> 00:54:57.617
you know, our, our security.

00:54:57.958 --> 00:55:01.039
So money comes kind of hard, but, um,

00:55:01.059 --> 00:55:02.679
that's why we're doing the Kickstarter

00:55:02.699 --> 00:55:03.039
thing.

00:55:03.081 --> 00:55:05.521
Made me build up those funds and get

00:55:05.561 --> 00:55:06.081
stuff.

00:55:06.282 --> 00:55:08.063
Uh, right now my, my concern is,

00:55:09.565 --> 00:55:11.706
I'm not looking for fame and fortune and

00:55:11.786 --> 00:55:12.626
all that crap.

00:55:12.666 --> 00:55:12.945
Yeah.

00:55:13.387 --> 00:55:13.806
Uh,

00:55:13.827 --> 00:55:16.568
I've just got these stories up here that

00:55:16.987 --> 00:55:20.409
absolutely are screaming to get out.

00:55:20.929 --> 00:55:24.911
And, uh, and, and that's what I want,

00:55:24.972 --> 00:55:25.472
you know, as,

00:55:25.612 --> 00:55:27.693
as if the thing can just pay for

00:55:27.773 --> 00:55:31.114
itself, I'm perfectly happy.

00:55:31.855 --> 00:55:34.675
So, uh, that, uh, this is,

00:55:34.715 --> 00:55:36.416
this is why I retired for it.

00:55:36.436 --> 00:55:37.577
So I could absolutely.

00:55:38.170 --> 00:55:41.213
focus on doing these stories and entertain

00:55:41.253 --> 00:55:42.134
people like you.

00:55:43.755 --> 00:55:45.215
I appreciate it so much, Mark,

00:55:45.235 --> 00:55:46.177
for you joining us.

00:55:46.536 --> 00:55:46.878
Thank you.

00:55:47.197 --> 00:55:48.719
I promise the people this would be the

00:55:48.759 --> 00:55:50.440
most wholesome interview I ever do,

00:55:50.480 --> 00:55:52.121
and I think we accomplished that, Mark.

00:55:52.902 --> 00:55:55.583
With a few little cuss words here and

00:55:56.764 --> 00:55:56.945
there.

00:55:56.965 --> 00:55:58.626
I try not to do a whole lot

00:55:58.646 --> 00:56:00.688
of that until somebody gets me.

00:56:01.856 --> 00:56:03.317
I said the majority of them this time

00:56:03.356 --> 00:56:05.197
around, so I will take that one.

00:56:06.197 --> 00:56:07.179
Okay, great.

00:56:07.199 --> 00:56:07.418
Hey,

00:56:07.438 --> 00:56:08.780
it's a good thing I got my teeth

00:56:08.800 --> 00:56:09.340
in today.

00:56:09.400 --> 00:56:13.682
How about that?

00:56:14.603 --> 00:56:16.085
This man is entertaining.

00:56:16.264 --> 00:56:16.885
I love it.

00:56:16.925 --> 00:56:18.467
But I'm going to bring it home,

00:56:18.586 --> 00:56:20.108
and we'll close it out, Mark.

00:56:20.367 --> 00:56:21.208
Okay, great.

00:56:21.329 --> 00:56:21.509
Well,

00:56:21.548 --> 00:56:23.250
thank you so much for having me on.

00:56:23.806 --> 00:56:24.246
Yes, sir.

00:56:24.347 --> 00:56:24.987
Absolutely.

00:56:25.349 --> 00:56:27.391
So some heroes wear capes,

00:56:27.952 --> 00:56:29.275
some wield gadgets,

00:56:29.735 --> 00:56:31.778
some swing from the rooftops and some

00:56:31.818 --> 00:56:32.059
draw.

00:56:33.237 --> 00:56:34.237
They draw their pain.

00:56:34.458 --> 00:56:35.438
They draw their love.

00:56:35.878 --> 00:56:37.119
They draw their childhood.

00:56:37.800 --> 00:56:38.880
They draw their community.

00:56:39.280 --> 00:56:42.103
Mark didn't just survive fandom before it

00:56:42.123 --> 00:56:42.902
was fashionable.

00:56:43.302 --> 00:56:44.304
He documented it.

00:56:44.724 --> 00:56:47.505
He honored it from comic shop laughter to

00:56:47.565 --> 00:56:48.847
Kickstarter campaigns.

00:56:49.327 --> 00:56:51.228
This is what Indie Comics is all about.

00:56:51.668 --> 00:56:54.829
Real creators, real stories, real life,

00:56:55.311 --> 00:56:56.652
panel by panel.

00:56:57.192 --> 00:56:58.112
Mark, again,

00:56:58.231 --> 00:56:59.652
thank you for sharing your world with the

00:56:59.693 --> 00:57:00.094
council.

00:57:00.773 --> 00:57:03.496
And to everyone at home watching or

00:57:03.556 --> 00:57:05.197
listening later when it goes live on

00:57:05.237 --> 00:57:06.478
podcasts and platforms,

00:57:06.920 --> 00:57:08.780
if you believe in autobiographical

00:57:08.820 --> 00:57:09.481
storytelling,

00:57:09.541 --> 00:57:11.143
even if it is only semi-true,

00:57:11.864 --> 00:57:13.666
if you believe in comics that can capture

00:57:13.726 --> 00:57:15.608
love, loss, and loyalty,

00:57:16.047 --> 00:57:18.610
if you believe fandom shapes who you

00:57:18.630 --> 00:57:21.432
become, support this campaign for Mark.

00:57:21.954 --> 00:57:22.914
Follow the journey.

00:57:23.795 --> 00:57:24.215
And also...

00:57:25.019 --> 00:57:27.161
Subscribe to Mark and subscribe to the

00:57:27.282 --> 00:57:28.523
USDN while you're at it.

00:57:28.943 --> 00:57:32.385
Because here, indie comments come to life.

00:57:33.786 --> 00:57:34.507
Ladies and gentlemen,

00:57:34.547 --> 00:57:35.748
the council is adjourned.

00:57:36.168 --> 00:57:38.329
Y'all be safe out there and good luck

00:57:38.389 --> 00:57:39.110
on your work week.

00:57:39.289 --> 00:57:39.891
Y'all be safe.