INTERVIEW: Jason Aaron

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Hey, this is Jason Aaron, writer of Thor, Southern Bastards, Action Comics, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and you are listening to the Oblivion Bar podcast.

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Welcome to the Oblivion Bar podcast with your host Chris Hacker and Aaron Knowles.

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Hello everyone.

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I'm your elderly anthropomorphic duck obsessed with money, Chris Hacker.

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And joining me this week is the wildest and most enthusiastic Ninja Turtle, my cohost and BFF Aaron Knowles.

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Wise man say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza.

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That's right.

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Welcome everybody back to the Oblivion Bar podcast.

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This week on the show, we are talking to comic book legend, bonafide, 100 % certified.

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Correct, Aaron.

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Aaron, yeah, legend icon, a living icon.

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Aaron Knowles is here on the show.

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Welcome, everybody.

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Aaron Knowles, the show.

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Yeah, there he is.

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They're not me.

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Another Aaron.

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Oh, another.

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Yes.

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Wrong.

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Oh, OK.

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Yeah, you're right.

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Actually, it is as another Aaron.

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Do I have to do everything?

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You're not even in the conversation.

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Jason Aaron joins the oblivion bar pod carrying this team.

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That's right.

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We all, everyone knows Aaron is the, he's the brain and the beauty here of the oblivion bar podcast.

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I'll buy you this week on the show.

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We are talking to Jason Aaron.

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Uh, Aaron, as you know, it's gonna be weird me saying Jason Aaron, Aaron, I need to like, I need to love you that.

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But, uh, Jason is one of my favorite.

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How many errands are there?

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There's Aaron, Aaron.

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Jason Aaron, you're like Mario Mario Mario.

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Yeah, it's a Mario.

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If I marry Jason Aaron, I'd be Aaron Aaron is Jason Aaron's middle name, Aaron.

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It might be Jason Aaron Aaron.

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OK, whatever.

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What are we doing?

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All right.

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Jason Aaron is joining the show for the second time.

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Aaron, he is the second time that Jason's been on the show.

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The first time he was on, we were talking mostly about Punisher and his Avengers run.

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He has since kind of moved on from his time over at Marvel, which he had been there for a long time, almost 20 years.

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He had been at Marvel.

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And in this conversation, sort of the main theme is that we talk about how Jason is sort of making a transition, a major transition into a new era of his career.

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He calls it in the conversation, the second act.

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He says, hopefully it's not the third act.

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Hopefully it's the second act to where he can kind of spread his wings and try a bunch of different new titles that he's wanted.

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Clearly like a wide variety of different types of.

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of not only IP, but create our own stories across all publishers.

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So we talked mostly about Uncle Scrooge, which is his upcoming one shot over at Marvel Comics.

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He's not completely left Marvel.

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He still has one one title over at Marvel.

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He also is currently writing Action Comics and Batman Offworld over at DC.

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Once upon a time at the end of the world and Berserker, a face full of bullets over at Boom Studios.

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And then I think what most people are most excited about is his upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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relaunch over at IDW.

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So very exciting conversation.

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And you were sorely missed here in this conversation with Jason.

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I am the TMNT Ninja Turtles guy.

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And I was unable to be.

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I think because you were doing this one when I was at my retirement ceremony, I believe.

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Yeah, you're right.

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Get out of the get out of the army.

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Get out of the army.

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So I had to weigh my options and still suck.

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Talk to Jason Aaron be eternally attached to the United States government.

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Yeah, Aaron.

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Government.

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Yeah, I think you chose right.

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You chose right.

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Yeah.

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We'll have Jason on the show again at some point.

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You can pick his brain on the TMNT.

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Before we get into that conversation, Aaron, I want to ask you just kind of broadly, since you weren't there for it, what is kind of like your relationship to the Turtles?

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Firstly, I know you're a big fan, but just like what was the origin of that?

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And also, are you excited?

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Are you going to be following along with this upcoming Jason Aaron run at IDW?

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Oh, yeah, absolutely.

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I I'm a big fan of.

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Jason Aaron in general and what he does to stories.

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And I feel like if you don't really subscribe to what he's doing, you're going to be missing out on some really cool and dynamic ideas that, that really only he can come up with.

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You know, earlier before the show started, you and I were talking about some of the things that he's already implemented into let's just one thing, Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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All right.

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So he created Mighty Thor.

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So we know that, you know, He added in, he created God, the gore, the God butcher.

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Like he basically created love and thunder like hit.

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That was his storyline.

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Turned into that movie.

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And comic is way better, by the way, everybody.

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Like it's totally better.

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Comic is way better.

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So like the obviously the source material is way better than what was inspired by it.

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But that's all him, baby.

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Yeah, it's all me, baby.

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So like, that's what I'm saying.

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It's like we, if you do not subscribe to what Jason Aaron is, is creating, you are going to miss out on some very like.

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Awesome turns and additions to whatever universe whatever sandbox he's playing in Yeah, whether whether it be uncle Scrooge or the TMNT or EC Comics which was recently announced or Berserker with Keanu Reeves like he's doing it all just just talking about for instance Like we were saying you don't you haven't read it yet But you want to Batman Outer Worlds off world let off to me off world like I've only read a few first couple of issues I gotta get my hands on the guy I'm pretty sure I have the rest of them, but I got to get my hands on the rest of them I've read the first three and it is bat shit crazy.

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Pardon the pun.

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It's like it's Batman, but he literally goes off world and out of shirt.

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Cause he's like no shirt most of the time, but he's like doing shit that we've never seen him do before in an extraterrestrial like environment, all these different like new he's learning how to fight new aliens, new creatures.

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It's insane.

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Like I love it.

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So I'm again, But you asked me, I digress.

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You asked me about my relationship with the Turtles.

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All right, my relationship with the Turtles has been, I've been a fan since I was a small boy, a wee pup, a wee pup, a small boy.

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And not just the original cartoons, you know, from the inception in Mirage Comics, you know, dark and grimy and dingy, you know, things like that, to the cartoons, to the video games, to the movies, to the- move to your turtles in concert, you know, like all this stuff recently.

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Mute mayhem like all of it.

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Like I love what the turtles are.

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The turtles are much like the X -Men, much like specific characters in the MCU, much like a lot of characters in the DCU.

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They span these timelines.

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Yeah.

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And no matter where they are on a timeline, they're just fun to read.

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Yeah.

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I actually say that in our conversation, we talk about it, Jason and I, about how the TMNT are some of the most flexible characters in fiction.

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Right?

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Like we're thinking of characters like Daredevil or Batman who, depending on who's writing it is how is your interpretation of the character.

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And I think the TMNT team is among that whoever gets their hands on that property, they can kind of mold them and twist them in ways that are not always done, not done well with a lot of other characters.

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I have a theory about that and like why they're so malleable like that.

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Okay.

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Versatile.

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Why is that?

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And it's, it's because they are never in their own element.

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Okay.

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They are forever out of their element because they are mutant turtles as teenagers.

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Teenagers themselves are already out of their element and never really like stagnant.

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They're never really docile or static.

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They're always kind of changing, moving, doing whatever, discovering.

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Now you have mutants who are growing up and they're in the city.

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They're in this massive city of New York.

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I mean, you can really take the turtles out as a team who are learning to be brothers, who are learning to be crime fighters, who are learning to be a family and put them into any circumstance.

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And it's just, it's just fun to see how they react.

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It's interesting to see how they react.

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Yeah.

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It's definitely one of the best parts about TMNT is to see all of the personalities, Rafael, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello, how they bounce off each other and how they react to situations individually and as a team together.

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And again, we talk about that in the conversation, excited for everybody to check that out here in just a moment.

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Couple notes right off the top here.

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Patreon .com forward slash oblivion bar pod.

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If you want to support the show, that's where you do it.

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You could have access to the grid, which is our weekly bonus podcast episode transcripts.

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What Aaron I used to interview people like Jason Aaron or just stay on track as we will often deviate.

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That's, that's what we do here on the show.

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The transcript is our segue.

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It's our, it's our guiding map.

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That's the way that we keep this show organized.

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If you will, if we didn't have this, this show would be a failure.

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Like Chris would be like pulling us on it.

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beard hair out one one follicle at a time.

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And I would just be constantly just like going off on like I am right now.

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Early access to these episodes you're listening to right now.

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A special shout out at the end of each Oblivion Bar episode, which Aaron will do here in just a bit.

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And it is the best way to support the Oblivion Bar podcast.

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So once again, that is patreon .com forward slash Oblivion Bar pod.

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Aaron, tell the people what we are getting into at the end of April.

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Big, big news.

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I just want to say also the perfect example.

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of why we need a transcript is the Patrick Horvath beneath the trees episode.

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Should we, should we tell the people about that a little bit before we go onto our panel?

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Like I'll just, I'll go cover it real quick here.

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Self admitting I have a problem.

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I just, I really went off on this like weird, like gore, torture porn gore discussion with Patrick Horvath.

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And it was really interesting.

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Beneath the trees where nobody sees.

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Yeah.

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It was really a good conversation.

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Yeah.

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but I just, I got lost in the weeds really bad because I just like started, instead of looking at the transcript, I'm looking at Patrick and I'm just having this conversation.

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Like it, it just me and him.

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It's just me and him.

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So it was a good, it was like you said, it was a great conversation and I'm glad that you went on the tangent in the moment.

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I was like, Aaron, look at the next question.

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Like look down, look at the, look at the screen, but it is great.

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He's like, look at the, but After it was done, and I think even after we were done recording, I was like, bro, you gotta bring it in.

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But when I was editing it, I was like, this is a good conversation.

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This is a good question.

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Patrick was feeling it.

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It totally made sense.

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And while we're on the topic, before we get into our panel, before we get in this conversation with Jason Aaron, good friend of the show, Eisner winning creator, Christian Ward, has told me multiple times on the show that our dynamic is the best part about the Oblivion Bar.

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The fact that I am this tightly wound, Analytical stick to the transcript.

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I am a meat puppet.

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And Aaron is just like he's like Doug from up.

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He's like, well, and that keeps it fresh.

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It's fun.

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It gets us on these side.

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You know, our self -proclaimed sides, side quests that we're on right now.

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It brings it brings in a couple's costume.

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Exactly.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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We should do that.

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You should be the old man.

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And I'll be Doug.

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The wilderness must be exploring.

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Okay, so to actually get to the frickin news here, C2E2 2024, yours truly, your dynamic duo, your hosts with the most, will have another panel at C2E2 with the First Issue Club and the Short Box Podcast.

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It's basically gonna be like a live podcast happening in the moment, but it's gonna be a really fun discussion just like we had back at New York Comic -Con last year.

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It's gonna be Friday, April 26th at 11 .15 a .m.

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If you're in...

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near or around the Chicago area.

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You should try and make it to C2E2 room S405 -B to hear a live recording of our three shows, Getting Together and Talking Comics.

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We'll have exclusive C2E2 stickers, shirts, and posters made by our good friend Elliot Dixon.

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So if you guys have seen, we teased it, we posted it.

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It's all over the place.

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If you came to our one at New York Comic-Con, you'll see the cool, we have a special edition holographic.

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version of our poster we had designed into a sticker.

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It was a holographic sticker.

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Super bad ass.

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Yeah.

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Uh, yeah.

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And so visit the link and our show notes for more details on the panel.

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We would love to see you there.

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Come say hi.

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We're going to try and get a bunch of good, you know, cool stuff to give away.

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And we just love giving free shit away.

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It's very exciting.

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Cannot wait to hang out with botter over at the short box and Andy and Greg over at the, at the first issue club.

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So exciting to get all of us together.

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And again, talk about comics, talk about podcasting, all the things.

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So.

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Without further ado, Aaron, let's quit the preamble.

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Let's quit the segues.

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Let's get back on track because that's what I'm here for.

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I'm here to bring it in.

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You know what I mean?

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To be on segue and Aaron just whizzing by on a segue.

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Let's get into this conversation with comic creator Jason Aaron.

00:13:01.614 --> 00:13:08.073
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And now, this week's special guest.

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Joining us this week on the show is the Eisner Award -winning comic book writer behind titles like Southern Bastards, The Avengers, Conan the Barbarian, Vertigo's Scalped, The Punisher, Marvel's 2015 relaunch of Star Wars, and his iconic seven -year epic on Thor.

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Recently, he has been hard at work on newer titles like Action Comics and Batman Offworld at DC Comics, Once Upon a Time at the End of the World and Berserker, a face full of bullets at Boom Studios, Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime at Marvel Comics, and the highly anticipated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at IDW Publishing.

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It is my pleasure to welcome Jason Aaron back onto the Oblivion Bar podcast.

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How's it going?

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Thanks so much for being here, Jason.

00:14:34.524 --> 00:14:35.494
Appreciate it.

00:14:35.494 --> 00:14:43.333
I wanted to start off the conversation by asking kind of a very broad question, which is you are a proud resident of Kansas City.

00:14:43.333 --> 00:14:45.774
So how was Planet Comic Con this past weekend?

00:14:45.774 --> 00:14:46.494
It was great.

00:14:46.494 --> 00:14:49.374
I mean, it was it was crazy busy.

00:14:49.693 --> 00:14:50.798
You know, I.

00:14:50.798 --> 00:14:54.557
wasn't really there last year, kind of popped in for a hot minute.

00:14:54.557 --> 00:15:00.927
So this was my first time setting up there in a couple of years and man, it was, it was packed.

00:15:00.927 --> 00:15:02.618
It was packed right away on Friday.

00:15:02.618 --> 00:15:03.977
It was packed on Saturday.

00:15:03.977 --> 00:15:05.148
It was so packed on Saturday.

00:15:05.148 --> 00:15:13.138
I heard that all the flushing of the toilets caused a drop in water pressure in Kansas City for like a four block radius.

00:15:13.138 --> 00:15:22.049
The city had to like jack up the water pressure so that then once the convention ended, You know, manhole covers were blowing up out of the street.

00:15:22.049 --> 00:15:26.859
So creative creative plumbing situation in Kansas City.

00:15:26.859 --> 00:15:28.570
That's how big a show it was.

00:15:28.570 --> 00:15:30.809
This was a bigger year for Planet Comic Con.

00:15:30.809 --> 00:15:33.169
This anniversary year, if I'm not mistaken.

00:15:33.250 --> 00:15:33.529
Yeah.

00:15:33.529 --> 00:15:35.649
Twenty five, twenty five years.

00:15:35.649 --> 00:15:36.049
Wow.

00:15:36.049 --> 00:15:36.230
Yeah.

00:15:36.230 --> 00:15:38.450
And it's it's my you know, my local show.

00:15:38.450 --> 00:15:42.629
So I've been going I haven't been here 25 years, but close.

00:15:42.629 --> 00:15:46.070
I mean, I've been I moved in the summer of 2000.

00:15:46.070 --> 00:15:48.077
So I've been going to planet.

00:15:48.077 --> 00:15:57.288
Um, since right after I moved, you know, just as a starting out as a fan met more Wolfman and George Perez there and met tons of great creators over the years.

00:15:57.288 --> 00:16:02.837
And then that was one of the very first conventions I ever did as a professional.

00:16:02.837 --> 00:16:06.177
And I've been there in some capacity every year since.

00:16:06.177 --> 00:16:06.457
It's funny.

00:16:06.457 --> 00:16:13.998
You bring those two icons up at the top of the conversation, because that was sort of the basis of one of our conversations we had previously on the show.

00:16:13.998 --> 00:16:16.590
The first time you were on the oblivion bar, you talked about how.

00:16:16.590 --> 00:16:17.820
You had met George Perez.

00:16:17.820 --> 00:16:23.809
I think it was at Dragon Con when you were much younger and how that was so impressionable for you as a young comic book reader.

00:16:23.809 --> 00:16:31.429
And it's funny to kind of go full circle and kind of be at a con as a creator with those two, again, legends.

00:16:31.429 --> 00:16:31.620
Yeah.

00:16:31.620 --> 00:16:31.970
Yeah.

00:16:31.970 --> 00:16:38.710
George was the first, pretty sure the first, um, comic creator I ever met, like the first creator.

00:16:38.710 --> 00:16:39.850
I mean, he was my favorite artist.

00:16:39.850 --> 00:16:43.210
He was the first artist I could ever identify.

00:16:43.269 --> 00:16:46.238
You know, I was, I would see another.

00:16:46.542 --> 00:16:51.642
cover issue by George and be like, oh, that's the guy who did New Teen Titans.

00:16:51.642 --> 00:16:57.022
So he was the first artist I ever followed from book to book.

00:16:57.022 --> 00:17:09.201
And then first person I ever stood in line for with a big stack of comics, a huge stack of comics to where he asked me to get back in line because I had so many to get signed by.

00:17:09.201 --> 00:17:15.182
And then some of those I got back in those days, he signed them just with a ballpoint pen.

00:17:16.492 --> 00:17:18.073
the inside front cover.

00:17:18.073 --> 00:17:18.833
Oh, yeah.

00:17:18.833 --> 00:17:29.232
So some of those same ones, you know, like my Titans number one, I got signed by him again at Planet, you know, years later, where he signed it on the on the cover with a Sharpie.

00:17:29.232 --> 00:17:31.972
So I've got some double signed ones, which are great.

00:17:31.972 --> 00:17:35.012
Yeah, he was super, super, super nice.

00:17:35.012 --> 00:17:40.212
And his work and that book in particular was a big part of me becoming a comic fan.

00:17:40.212 --> 00:17:47.546
And I think even now, I think when I envision a script in my head, it's always drawn by George Paris.

00:17:47.685 --> 00:17:48.205
Wow.

00:17:48.205 --> 00:17:48.625
Yeah.

00:17:48.625 --> 00:17:52.266
George has missed terribly right now among fans and everyone.

00:17:52.266 --> 00:18:01.885
And to kind of speak on that a little bit, Scott Snyder was that for me, I think when I first started reading comics was around the new 52 era of comic, you know, in the comic book world.

00:18:01.885 --> 00:18:11.826
And I very vividly remember bringing like the first 15 issues of that quarter of Al's run, but, you know, with him and Greg Capullo and similar story, like he was just the nicest ever.

00:18:11.826 --> 00:18:13.069
But I think they had a cap.

00:18:13.069 --> 00:18:18.309
in terms of how many books you could actually have signed, because of course they were like on top of the comic world with that run.

00:18:18.309 --> 00:18:23.710
So I think I maybe was able to get like two or three signed and then I had to either get back in line or pay something.

00:18:23.869 --> 00:18:41.450
So, yeah, it's I mean, I, you know, I find I'm I'm I'm 51 years old now and I vividly remember all the encounters I had with creators as a kid where they were the people who were incredibly kind and gracious, which was which was, you know, most everyone.

00:18:41.450 --> 00:18:42.190
But.

00:18:42.253 --> 00:19:02.094
particular member of George, I remember Mike Allred, remember Steve Rude, Greg Ruck, Garth Ennis, like those were creators who stood out to me of, you know, from when I was a little kid to, you know, when I was a young guy trying to figure out how to break into comics, like all those people were super, super nice to me.

00:19:02.094 --> 00:19:02.953
And you remember that.

00:19:02.953 --> 00:19:08.394
And I always think about that as a creator, you know, cause I still remember all those bits from when I was a kid.

00:19:08.394 --> 00:19:09.102
Yeah.

00:19:09.102 --> 00:19:10.541
I want to go back a little bit.

00:19:10.541 --> 00:19:17.622
So you mentioned, you know, obviously being in Kansas City for almost 25 years now, have you adopted the Chiefs as your team since being there?

00:19:17.622 --> 00:19:19.402
Are you a dedicated Chiefs fan?

00:19:19.402 --> 00:19:23.662
I mean, the somewhat, I guess.

00:19:23.662 --> 00:19:31.221
I mean, on the one hand, no, like I've got, I mean, there's a Steelers helmet and I'm looking at in my living room right now.

00:19:31.221 --> 00:19:32.801
So I'm still a Steelers fan.

00:19:32.801 --> 00:19:33.518
Oh, sure.

00:19:33.518 --> 00:19:34.778
I've certainly cheered.

00:19:34.778 --> 00:19:37.288
I've bought some Chiefs shirts the recent years.

00:19:37.288 --> 00:19:45.018
You know, my partner's a Chiefs fan, so she gives me grief if I'm not wearing a Chiefs shirt in the playoffs or the Super Bowl.

00:19:45.018 --> 00:19:50.988
So I definitely have cheered for them on their Super Bowl runs the last few years, and they're fun to watch.

00:19:50.988 --> 00:19:54.337
You know, my home is just insane, the stuff he can do.

00:19:54.337 --> 00:19:55.678
So they've been fun to watch.

00:19:55.678 --> 00:19:59.337
And I went to the Super Bowl parade.

00:19:59.337 --> 00:20:03.067
So I do my part as a Kansas City resident.

00:20:03.086 --> 00:20:11.226
But if it came down to where the Steelers and the Chiefs were playing in the AFC Championship game, I can't say I'm going to be wearing that Chiefs shirt.

00:20:11.226 --> 00:20:15.566
Sorry, I've just been I've been rooting for the Steelers since I was a kid.

00:20:15.566 --> 00:20:21.026
It's funny because Kansas City is one of those cities that feels like it's us against the world.

00:20:21.026 --> 00:20:31.165
You know, they still get that mentality a little bit where like when you're from Casey, you know, a lot of people you'll know in the first 10 minutes of having a conversation with someone who's from Kansas City, they will let you know eventually.

00:20:31.165 --> 00:20:31.726
Right.

00:20:31.726 --> 00:20:36.486
and to kind of speak on what you were saying there a moment ago about the Chiefs and kind of the run they've been on.

00:20:36.486 --> 00:20:38.576
It's one of those things where I'm a Ravens fan.

00:20:38.576 --> 00:20:39.836
I have been a fan since I was young.

00:20:39.836 --> 00:20:40.655
Oh, geez.

00:20:40.655 --> 00:20:41.746
Don't tell me that.

00:20:41.746 --> 00:20:42.155
I know.

00:20:42.155 --> 00:20:42.685
I know.

00:20:42.685 --> 00:20:45.165
I've been hurt twice in the last 10 minutes.

00:20:45.165 --> 00:20:49.425
I felt that you're a Steelers fan and that we lost the Chiefs in the AFC Championship this year.

00:20:49.425 --> 00:20:51.905
Hey, the Steelers just signed Patrick Queen today, too.

00:20:51.905 --> 00:20:52.965
So I know.

00:20:52.965 --> 00:20:56.955
And well, we got Derek Henry, but I'm very upset about Queen getting there.

00:20:56.955 --> 00:20:59.374
I was to say, though, in terms of like Kansas City.

00:20:59.374 --> 00:21:06.443
Even if you're not a fan of Mahomes and Kelsey and all these guys, you have to like admire that we're watching a dynasty happen in real life.

00:21:06.443 --> 00:21:11.993
Like it's happening in front of us and it would be sour to not be aware of their greatness.

00:21:11.993 --> 00:21:12.794
Oh, absolutely.

00:21:12.794 --> 00:21:18.233
I think you, you know, the, the, but the chiefs have reached the point now where they've become so good.

00:21:18.233 --> 00:21:21.273
You're going to start to be hated by everybody else around the country.

00:21:21.273 --> 00:21:21.763
Right.

00:21:21.763 --> 00:21:22.733
I mean, the.

00:21:22.733 --> 00:21:24.673
Patriots hit that point.

00:21:24.673 --> 00:21:27.443
I'm from Alabama, so I'm an Alabama fan.

00:21:27.443 --> 00:21:30.653
So we hit that point, you know, years ago under Nick Saban.

00:21:30.653 --> 00:21:36.733
So you got to just got to be prepared for everyone who's not from that place to despise you.

00:21:36.733 --> 00:21:39.034
And I think the Chiefs are at that point.

00:21:39.034 --> 00:21:45.673
But at the same time, this year, you know, you brought so many other new fans on board through Taylor Swift, which was awesome.

00:21:45.673 --> 00:21:51.046
You know, I see like Mitch Gerrads on Instagram wearing Chiefs jersey now.

00:21:51.117 --> 00:21:52.718
Yeah, which is great.

00:21:52.718 --> 00:22:00.478
I'm someone who was all pro Taylor Swift bringing in new fans to football.

00:22:00.478 --> 00:22:01.998
Yeah, absolutely.

00:22:02.278 --> 00:22:04.738
Everyone listening right now, we will get to comics eventually.

00:22:04.738 --> 00:22:07.557
I just have one more football related question for Jason here.

00:22:07.557 --> 00:22:10.018
You just mentioned you're a diehard Crimson Tide fan.

00:22:10.018 --> 00:22:13.478
Everyone that's met you or heard you talk knows this.

00:22:13.478 --> 00:22:17.645
How has your mental health been since learning of Nick Saban retiring?

00:22:17.645 --> 00:22:20.175
I mean, it's been touch and go.

00:22:20.175 --> 00:22:21.306
I'm not going to lie.

00:22:21.306 --> 00:22:22.705
Like I was.

00:22:22.705 --> 00:22:26.385
In and outs of just like fading of health.

00:22:26.385 --> 00:22:26.816
Yeah.

00:22:26.816 --> 00:22:32.016
I mean, I get alerts on my phone from some of the sports sites I follow.

00:22:32.016 --> 00:22:34.645
So I was standing here in my kitchen.

00:22:34.645 --> 00:22:43.726
It was like what, three o 'clock, 3 .30 that day when my phone popped up with that first alert of Nick Saban just told his team he's retiring.

00:22:43.806 --> 00:22:51.546
And that day, That was a good day where I think I had, I think my first Superman issue, my first issue of Action Comics was out that day.

00:22:51.546 --> 00:22:52.786
So it was like jazz.

00:22:52.786 --> 00:22:54.346
It's like, oh, people seem to be like it.

00:22:54.346 --> 00:22:55.645
I'm so excited.

00:22:55.645 --> 00:23:00.105
And then come three o 'clock and it felt a little like a family member had died.

00:23:00.105 --> 00:23:10.185
And then it was, you know, it was the day you knew was going to come, but I was not, it turns out I was not prepared for it to be, to be this year.

00:23:10.185 --> 00:23:14.894
And it's still, you know, it was, that was a crazy week where.

00:23:14.894 --> 00:23:24.854
I don't think I've ever been so obsessively following Twitter as I was that way, because it's all the sports writers I follow where I'm refreshed, refreshed, like getting any updates.

00:23:24.854 --> 00:23:29.374
Who's the top candidate now who said they're not taking the job?

00:23:29.374 --> 00:23:32.074
Who's on the plane to Tuscaloosa?

00:23:32.074 --> 00:23:40.753
So there's a lot of uncertainty, and still is, but I feel good about Cailin DeBoer and the staff he's put together.

00:23:40.753 --> 00:23:43.950
And I'm excited to see what he can do with.

00:23:43.950 --> 00:23:46.769
Alabama's resources, but it's never going to be the same.

00:23:46.769 --> 00:23:49.880
You know, there's no, the, the game's not the same.

00:23:49.880 --> 00:23:54.559
The, the stuff coaches have to deal with is so much more complicated and demanding now.

00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:58.349
And there'll, there'll never be another coach quite like Nick Saban.

00:23:58.349 --> 00:24:05.970
So the golden age has ended, but we can still enjoy, you know, the glories of the silver age, whatever they may be.

00:24:05.970 --> 00:24:08.630
Saban essentially created the college football that we have today.

00:24:08.630 --> 00:24:17.417
Like what kind of the format that we're in right now was to sort of level the playing field that Saban had created with Alabama football.

00:24:17.417 --> 00:24:28.637
And to contextualize this for anybody who's listening right now, who has absolutely no idea what we're talking about or who we're talking about, go back in time to when you found out that Jason Aaron was leaving Thor.

00:24:28.637 --> 00:24:32.248
And that's how Jason feels right now that Nick Saban has retired from Alabama.

00:24:32.248 --> 00:24:35.678
That's essentially the exact comparison that I could come up in my brain.

00:24:35.678 --> 00:24:39.125
I appreciate the, I mean, that's the most.

00:24:39.150 --> 00:24:42.950
compared me to Nick Saban, it's the most flattering thing anything's ever said about me.

00:24:42.950 --> 00:24:45.529
I don't think I can live up to that.

00:24:46.450 --> 00:25:05.933
Well, as I mentioned in the intro, and I should note that I'm still absolutely bewildered by this, but you are working on not only an incredible amount of titles, all of which are wildly different from each other, but on top of that, you've sort of planted your creative flag at most of the major publishers across the comic book landscape minus Image Comics.

00:25:05.933 --> 00:25:13.794
You know, you were exclusive at Marvel for many years, so it feels like this is your well -deserved time to sort of play the field and try some new things.

00:25:13.794 --> 00:25:18.834
What's been the most exciting aspect of working on all these new stories at these other publishers?

00:25:18.834 --> 00:25:24.844
The most exciting aspect really of not being exclusive anymore is just being able to do whatever I want, right?

00:25:24.844 --> 00:25:29.013
To sort of take any phone call that comes my way.

00:25:29.013 --> 00:25:34.804
I mean, it really hasn't been a case of me chasing after a bunch of stuff.

00:25:34.804 --> 00:25:36.165
It's just sort of...

00:25:36.269 --> 00:25:41.230
Once it became known that, hey, I'm available, you know, then the phone started to ring.

00:25:41.230 --> 00:25:58.630
I mean, the DC stuff was definitely something I pursued and that I, you know, knew I wanted to do a Batman project, but action comics was something that kind of popped up and got offered to me and Berserker and Turtles and even Scrooge, everything.

00:25:58.670 --> 00:26:01.569
Those were all just things that kind of fell into my lap.

00:26:01.569 --> 00:26:05.549
So it's nice to be able to be in a position where I can.

00:26:05.549 --> 00:26:08.369
say yes to any of those things I want.

00:26:08.609 --> 00:26:17.089
So I think last year after my exclusive expired late 2022, I was still kind of winding down Avengers.

00:26:17.089 --> 00:26:28.859
And I knew that was going to be the end, at least for a bit, of me doing ongoing work for hire titles after 15, 16 years solid of doing two, three, sometimes four of those at a time.

00:26:28.859 --> 00:26:31.029
I knew I wanted to jump off that train.

00:26:31.029 --> 00:26:33.806
And so once that was done, I enjoyed...

00:26:33.806 --> 00:26:54.145
getting back to travel and you know for the first time since the pre -pandemic days and did a lot more shows, did some cool international shows and enjoyed kind of having less deadlines and working a little less and didn't have that consistent, you know, didn't have as many mouths to feed every month.

00:26:54.145 --> 00:27:03.973
Then at some point over the course of last year I, you know, realized I should probably do some more work, you know, because turns out, you know, I don't get paid when I don't.

00:27:04.013 --> 00:27:05.054
do things.

00:27:05.054 --> 00:27:06.423
So more things came along.

00:27:06.423 --> 00:27:07.653
I said yes to more things.

00:27:07.653 --> 00:27:17.854
Most all of them like shorter minis and one shots and then find that, you know, the, the, oh, suddenly I've got a, now I've got a lot of stuff to do and it's all kind of hitting at once.

00:27:17.854 --> 00:27:23.374
So the last few months have been really busy, but exciting that I'm getting to jump from an array of characters.

00:27:23.374 --> 00:27:33.006
I feel like no one in the history of comics has gotten to write, you know, to go from Batman to Uncle Scrooge to Superman to...

00:27:33.006 --> 00:27:38.486
Berserker to the Turtles to even a couple more that haven't been announced yet.

00:27:38.486 --> 00:27:45.125
I just felt like surely no one has done this sequence of characters in a two month of time span.

00:27:45.125 --> 00:27:53.566
So that part was, it's been very busy, but just constantly creatively rewarding from character to character.

00:27:53.566 --> 00:27:56.865
Did you just say that there's some things that haven't been announced yet?

00:27:56.945 --> 00:27:57.566
Yeah.

00:27:57.566 --> 00:27:57.855
Yeah.

00:27:57.855 --> 00:27:58.865
There's a couple.

00:27:58.865 --> 00:28:01.678
I mean, well, there's no, there's three.

00:28:01.678 --> 00:28:08.157
There's maybe three other things I've been working on as some shape or form that haven't been announced yet.

00:28:08.157 --> 00:28:13.718
Now, do you equate that to having just a little bit more free time now that you're not over at Marvel?

00:28:13.718 --> 00:28:19.117
Or do you feel like this just like this new wave of creativity kind of hitting you all at the same time?

00:28:19.117 --> 00:28:20.498
A little of all that, I guess.

00:28:20.498 --> 00:28:24.738
And also, again, just the door being able to be open to any of that.

00:28:24.738 --> 00:28:28.077
And some of it is you all these things sort of pop up.

00:28:28.077 --> 00:28:30.862
I mean, it's like a typical freelancer thing where you.

00:28:30.862 --> 00:28:39.842
Suddenly that's an option, I can do anything and then everything, all these cool things are available and you want to say yes to every single one of them.

00:28:39.981 --> 00:28:44.451
But then you have to find the time and the head space to actually do them.

00:28:44.451 --> 00:28:54.541
So I've been still in the do them point, but in two days time I will be retiring to the happiest place on earth to recharge my batteries.

00:28:54.541 --> 00:28:58.422
My favorite place on the, one of my favorite places on the planet.

00:28:58.422 --> 00:29:00.589
I'm going back to Disney World for.

00:29:00.589 --> 00:29:03.009
short trip for spring break for my kid.

00:29:03.009 --> 00:29:22.420
So that'll be part of my, you know, relaxing a little bit this month before diving into what, with a lot of these things we'd talking about are kind of done and, and, uh, written and that'll be, you know, focusing on turtles and focusing on a couple of other things that I'll be working on the rest of the year.

00:29:22.420 --> 00:29:27.650
Now, can you write this trip to Disney off on your taxes based on the fact that you're doing Scrooge?

00:29:27.650 --> 00:29:28.430
Like you could.

00:29:28.430 --> 00:29:30.990
chalk it up as like this is some Scrooge related.

00:29:30.990 --> 00:29:32.130
That's a good question.

00:29:32.130 --> 00:29:32.670
Yeah.

00:29:32.670 --> 00:29:35.529
Let me ask my text guy about that.

00:29:35.630 --> 00:29:41.059
I mean, maybe if there was more Scrooge related content at the parks, there's really not.

00:29:41.059 --> 00:29:43.160
I have gotten my picture with Scrooge there before.

00:29:43.160 --> 00:29:46.009
He used to pop up at Animal Kingdom.

00:29:46.009 --> 00:29:54.519
I don't know if he still does, but I think they have a, there's a DuckTales treasure hunt around Epcot, I believe, but I've never done that.

00:29:54.519 --> 00:29:57.902
So maybe, like maybe even though I've already written the one shot.

00:29:57.902 --> 00:30:04.832
Maybe I could still swing it like, yeah, I need to need to go explore Scrooge's stomping ground to get in the headspace to properly.

00:30:04.832 --> 00:30:05.832
Taxes aren't due until April.

00:30:05.832 --> 00:30:07.122
We still have time.

00:30:07.122 --> 00:30:08.221
So sure.

00:30:08.561 --> 00:30:11.781
Well, and I want to just kind of ask like a very odd question here.

00:30:11.781 --> 00:30:22.961
But if we could travel back to the early 2000s version of Jason Aaron, who was writing The Other Side and Wolverine and scalped and and ask him, what's your best pitch for Uncle Scrooge?

00:30:22.961 --> 00:30:24.701
What do you think he would say?

00:30:25.390 --> 00:30:29.630
the way the version of me from which from like the early 2000s.

00:30:29.630 --> 00:30:30.670
Yeah.

00:30:30.670 --> 00:30:32.890
I mean, I don't, I wouldn't have had one.

00:30:32.890 --> 00:30:38.750
I had maybe, I can't remember if I had read any Don Rosa stories by that point.

00:30:38.750 --> 00:30:41.548
I feel like I read a couple in issue form.

00:30:41.548 --> 00:30:48.250
I feel like I bought a couple or maybe I was just the, at some point I bought when the Fana graphics released all those hardcovers.

00:30:48.250 --> 00:30:54.061
I bought every one of them and read, read every one of them with my kid as he was growing up.

00:30:54.061 --> 00:30:57.152
So maybe I'd started doing that by that point.

00:30:57.152 --> 00:30:59.301
I can't remember when those hard covers started coming out.

00:30:59.301 --> 00:31:02.961
And that was really where my love of Scrooge came from.

00:31:02.961 --> 00:31:12.001
I grew up, I loved DuckTales as a kid and I've always been a big Disney fan, but I'd never read any of the Bark stories.

00:31:12.001 --> 00:31:20.942
Like reading those Don Rosa stories, the more we read, it just dawned on me more and more like, oh man, these are like really good.

00:31:20.942 --> 00:31:23.182
These are not just cute.

00:31:23.182 --> 00:31:24.882
talking duck stories.

00:31:24.882 --> 00:31:31.301
These are great, really smart, really action -packed adventure stories.

00:31:31.402 --> 00:31:41.801
Globetrotting adventure stories, adventures through all these different parts of history, gorgeously drawn, just rich, rich stories.

00:31:41.801 --> 00:31:50.733
So by the end of reading all those, I'd become the biggest Scrooge fan, then went back and read a bunch of the bark stories too.

00:31:50.733 --> 00:32:00.874
And I actually, Don Rosa is always at Planet Comic Con and I got to sit with him a couple days ago and talk to him for almost an hour and had a really great, great conversation.

00:32:00.874 --> 00:32:40.430
And it was important to me despite, you know, he's got a complicated history with Disney to say the least and a lot of strong feelings that as you rightly deserved in terms of how his relationship with them went and had feelings about what he had heard about, you know, Marvel doing this new Uncle Scrooge comic, though he had a, I think some of the articles I saw published on non -comic sites, like you see sometimes things get filtered through this game of telephone, they made it seem like Scrooge comes to the Marvel universe, like it's gonna, we're doing a story where Scrooge is hanging out with Spider -Man or something, which is absolutely not the case.

00:32:40.490 --> 00:32:46.769
So it was important to me to communicate to him, like, look, if you wanna read this book, I'll bring it to you.

00:32:46.769 --> 00:32:48.557
If you hate it, throw it away.

00:32:48.557 --> 00:32:54.038
I get it, like no sweat, but it was important that he heard from me that this was written.

00:32:54.038 --> 00:32:55.298
This was my idea.

00:32:55.298 --> 00:32:56.727
This is the story I wanted to tell.

00:32:56.727 --> 00:33:07.188
And it was written with 110 % of love for him and the stories that he told because they have a special place in my heart.

00:33:07.188 --> 00:33:17.657
One, just because they're so damn good, but also because it was a thing my son and I shared and he's 18 now and still he and I talk about those stories.

00:33:18.733 --> 00:33:28.074
This is a long answer to your question, but this is important topic to me and really excited that people are excited about me doing Scrooge.

00:33:28.074 --> 00:33:36.733
And I feel like the average Marvel fan, my average fans probably never read a Karl Bark story, probably never read a Don Rosa story.

00:33:36.733 --> 00:33:48.614
So for me, the ultimate goal of this book is you read it, you realize some of the same stuff I realized from reading The Life of Time as a Scrooge McDuck by Don Rose and all his stories is that.

00:33:48.622 --> 00:33:56.882
Oh man, I'm missing out that I haven't read more Scrooge and there is this wealth of awesome stories there waiting for you.

00:33:56.882 --> 00:34:13.422
Yeah, I think maybe the confusion came from the solicitation, which says Scrooge embarks on a time honored Marvel adventure as he explores the multiverse to stop a twisted Scrooge from becoming the all powerful and incomprehensible rich Scrooge above all.

00:34:13.422 --> 00:34:16.237
So I guess I can, you know, of course.

00:34:16.237 --> 00:34:24.936
comic news and the bleeding cools of the world and all of these hearsay articles, the grabby titles and such.

00:34:24.936 --> 00:34:34.077
I'm sure some things were lost in translation, but that does kind of sound like maybe possibly we could see Scrooge interacting with Daredevil and Wolverine somehow.

00:34:34.077 --> 00:34:36.516
Well, I'll tell you right now, you don't.

00:34:36.516 --> 00:34:38.556
That is not...

00:34:38.556 --> 00:34:39.896
We're clearing the record.

00:34:39.896 --> 00:34:41.806
Is it a different kind of Scrooge story?

00:34:41.806 --> 00:34:42.177
Yes.

00:34:42.177 --> 00:34:44.157
Is there like a Marvel flair to it?

00:34:44.157 --> 00:34:46.021
Yes, in terms of the...

00:34:46.190 --> 00:34:52.250
Certainly the amazing lineup of cover artists in terms of the kind of story it is, in terms of the way I write it.

00:34:52.250 --> 00:35:07.550
Yes, there's a different, there are different elements to it, but it is absolutely, you know, fully a Scrooge story within the same continuity as past Scrooge stories and paying homage to them while, you know, trying to do something a little bit different.

00:35:07.550 --> 00:35:13.289
But no, you won't, you won't see Scrooge hanging out with Peter Parker or the mighty Thor.

00:35:13.289 --> 00:35:15.181
I feel very fortunate too.

00:35:15.181 --> 00:35:24.161
as a young 90s kid, you know, growing up watching DuckTales and it's no, it's probably no surprise to most listeners right now, but you are one of my favorite writers in comics.

00:35:24.161 --> 00:35:27.961
Daniel Warren Johnson is another one of my favorite writer artists in the world of comics.

00:35:27.961 --> 00:35:33.362
And the fact that we have both, you know, you on Uncle Scrooge and now TMNT.

00:35:33.362 --> 00:35:35.652
And of course Daniel over at Transformers.

00:35:35.652 --> 00:35:40.181
It feels like early 90 comic fans are eating good.

00:35:41.081 --> 00:35:41.351
Yeah.

00:35:41.351 --> 00:35:43.422
Daniel's been killing it on Transformers.

00:35:43.422 --> 00:35:44.173
That book is.

00:35:44.173 --> 00:35:45.733
It's really, really good.

00:35:45.733 --> 00:35:49.903
I was not a big Transformers guy as a kid.

00:35:49.903 --> 00:35:51.664
I was GI Joe and He -Man.

00:35:51.664 --> 00:35:53.934
Those were my things.

00:35:54.233 --> 00:36:02.594
So I love it when a creator can come in and make me care about characters I have no previous investment in, right?

00:36:02.594 --> 00:36:06.884
Like I don't come to the table in love with the Transformers.

00:36:06.884 --> 00:36:08.884
I don't really know one from the other.

00:36:08.884 --> 00:36:12.974
I know Optimus Prime and the one who turns into a giant gun.

00:36:12.974 --> 00:36:14.614
but that's it.

00:36:15.114 --> 00:36:18.353
I don't know, like I don't know anything else.

00:36:18.353 --> 00:36:26.844
So if I can come into that and understand it and you can make me feel emotionally invested, that makes me really excited when a creator is able to do that.

00:36:26.844 --> 00:36:37.293
And Daniel, I feel like I could do that with anything, but also, you know, the important part is that even if I'm not invested, coming to the table, he is, right?

00:36:37.293 --> 00:36:40.942
And that his passion and investment bleeds through.

00:36:40.942 --> 00:36:42.362
every single page of that.

00:36:42.362 --> 00:36:47.242
So I think that's what we're all should be doing book to book, right?

00:36:47.242 --> 00:36:49.311
Is showing our work and putting on the page.

00:36:49.311 --> 00:36:52.702
This is why you should care about this character.

00:36:52.802 --> 00:36:54.981
And Transformers is a great example of that.

00:36:54.981 --> 00:37:03.762
That's kind of a great transition into what I think most folks are excited for, which is your upcoming TMNT run at IDW.

00:37:03.762 --> 00:37:07.597
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Alpha would number one hit shelves on June 5th.

00:37:07.597 --> 00:37:11.217
You'll be teaming up with Tom Walts and artists, Chris Burnham and Gavin Smith.

00:37:11.217 --> 00:37:16.418
And this will essentially act as a bridge between Sophie Campbell's outstanding run and your eventual run.

00:37:16.418 --> 00:37:17.958
And this is a fair warning here.

00:37:17.958 --> 00:37:22.297
Here's a long winded warning set up for my question here for Jason.

00:37:22.297 --> 00:37:30.338
I know we can't talk about specifics with this series and I'm not going to ask you who your favorite turtle is, even though it definitely could, but I'd rather not, but sorry.

00:37:30.338 --> 00:37:35.117
No, I mean, you know, I wouldn't ask you regardless because.

00:37:35.117 --> 00:37:37.007
First of all, I know you have to kind of play.

00:37:37.007 --> 00:37:39.137
You can't play favorites, but these are like your kids now.

00:37:39.137 --> 00:37:40.137
So you can't play favorite.

00:37:40.137 --> 00:37:41.797
Are you going to ask me who my favorite turtle is?

00:37:41.797 --> 00:37:42.538
I'm not going to.

00:37:42.538 --> 00:37:43.398
I will not.

00:37:43.398 --> 00:37:49.077
I refuse to ask you that question, although I think it should be Rafael if I'm being honest, but I'm not going to ask.

00:37:49.077 --> 00:37:50.628
But I am curious.

00:37:50.628 --> 00:38:02.838
I am curious about one aspect and those Mirage turtle books felt and still feel sort of grimy and unkempt and sort of like the New York City of the late 1980s.

00:38:02.838 --> 00:38:08.224
However, If you've been to New York City recently, it's wildly different from what it used to be.

00:38:08.224 --> 00:38:15.673
Much cleaner, sort of corporate driven, the unfortunate displacement of the working class and low income families within the city.

00:38:15.673 --> 00:38:25.653
And it feels as though the New York City that the turtles were born into and almost acts as a character within itself in these stories no longer exists.

00:38:25.653 --> 00:38:32.557
So my question for you is, your first arc is called Return to New York, which I found both enticing and intriguing.

00:38:32.557 --> 00:38:39.117
How much of the start of your initial run without spoiling anything has you setting up a new status quo for these heroes?

00:38:39.117 --> 00:38:44.177
Yeah, that's a really great question and a great point about New York.

00:38:44.177 --> 00:38:51.858
And I think that title, you know, is very conscious of choosing that title and what it all meant.

00:38:52.297 --> 00:38:56.628
And it's not as there's not a simple meaning to that title, right?

00:38:56.628 --> 00:39:00.097
It's not like they just they've been away from New York and they're coming back.

00:39:00.097 --> 00:39:01.710
There's a lot that that.

00:39:01.710 --> 00:39:04.909
I think will reveal itself as we go.

00:39:04.909 --> 00:39:08.920
And yeah, I think what New York City means, that's a good point.

00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:09.989
I think that's part of it.

00:39:09.989 --> 00:39:16.980
I mean, the first time I ever went to New York was, it was in the late eighties as I was in middle school.

00:39:16.980 --> 00:39:23.230
And we did like a summer trip where we went to Washington, DC and New York.

00:39:23.630 --> 00:39:27.949
And this first time I ever in New York and it was still in the days when, you know, there was like a.

00:39:27.949 --> 00:39:32.670
porn shop right next to a couple of doors down from McDonald's.

00:39:33.030 --> 00:39:37.389
And so by the time I would go back, it was very much not that anymore.

00:39:37.630 --> 00:39:45.030
I mean, I still feel like, I mean, I love, anytime a movie was shot in New York in the seventies, I'm all in.

00:39:45.030 --> 00:39:47.590
I love that look and that vibe.

00:39:47.590 --> 00:39:49.210
I'm thinking like taxi driver.

00:39:49.210 --> 00:39:50.929
Yes, absolutely anything.

00:39:50.929 --> 00:39:55.030
Taking a pellet one, two, three, every movie that was shot there.

00:39:55.030 --> 00:39:55.918
So the...

00:39:55.918 --> 00:39:58.157
Yes, it is not that place anymore.

00:39:58.157 --> 00:39:59.217
You're right.

00:39:59.217 --> 00:40:02.297
I think for me as an outsider, I've never lived there.

00:40:02.297 --> 00:40:11.677
I can still feel that vibe, you know, in times, bits and places here and there, different times of the day, which always makes me happy.

00:40:11.677 --> 00:40:18.458
So yeah, I want the book to have elements of exactly what you're saying that original Mirage book was.

00:40:18.458 --> 00:40:21.947
And you said Unkimped, which I think is a great way of saying it.

00:40:21.947 --> 00:40:25.510
And, you know, I say raw and grimy and...

00:40:25.581 --> 00:40:32.902
I want some of that element just in the tone, the look, the subject matter, everything.

00:40:32.902 --> 00:40:37.922
These first four issues, each one focuses on a different turtle.

00:40:38.061 --> 00:40:41.681
Raphael's up first and he's the focus of issue one.

00:40:41.681 --> 00:40:43.001
Joel on that, right?

00:40:43.001 --> 00:40:45.181
Yeah, Joel Jones is doing that one.

00:40:45.181 --> 00:40:51.952
Then Raphael Albuquerque does Mikey in issue two and Cliff Chang does Leo in issue three.

00:40:51.952 --> 00:40:54.342
And then Chris Burnham's doing Donnie in...

00:40:54.382 --> 00:40:58.442
issue four and in the alpha issue like you mentioned.

00:40:58.442 --> 00:41:07.391
So those issues kind of pick up with where are the guys, what have they been up to, what kind of situation are they in since we saw them last?

00:41:07.391 --> 00:41:10.382
Some time has passed since the end of Sophie's run.

00:41:10.382 --> 00:41:15.262
And those stories again kind of set the bar of this is kind of what we're going for.

00:41:15.262 --> 00:41:21.869
And I think, you know, not just in terms of that griminess, but in terms of giving them a little bit of an edge.

00:41:21.869 --> 00:41:29.889
You know, some of them coming out from the perspective of a father who, uh, my son is 18 now and, you know, is graduating high school.

00:41:29.889 --> 00:41:37.210
And, and in my mind, that's a little, a little bit how I'm looking at these guys, not to pin them at a particular age, but.

00:41:37.210 --> 00:41:42.349
You know, there's still the teenage mutant Ninja turtles, but you feel like they're, they're a little more grown up.

00:41:42.349 --> 00:41:44.489
You know, they're not 13 years old, right?

00:41:44.489 --> 00:41:47.650
Like they've, they've been through a lot, especially for teens.

00:41:47.650 --> 00:41:49.139
Like they have lived.

00:41:49.454 --> 00:41:51.523
They have lived a crazy life.

00:41:51.523 --> 00:41:53.713
And I like them getting to that point.

00:41:53.713 --> 00:42:03.574
When you get to 18, 19, those are, I think for everybody, those are challenging years, years where you're having to make huge decisions that can shape the rest of your life.

00:42:03.574 --> 00:42:07.014
And a lot of times you really don't even know who you are yet, right?

00:42:07.014 --> 00:42:10.286
Like you think you do, you think you've got, I think most of us.

00:42:10.286 --> 00:42:14.545
felt like we had all the answers forever that we're ever going to need when you're 18.

00:42:14.545 --> 00:42:19.106
And then maybe six months later you find out, oh my God, I didn't know anything.

00:42:19.385 --> 00:42:21.686
I thought I was wrong about everything.

00:42:22.846 --> 00:42:28.726
I've wanted to write comics when I was a kid, but I had no idea how to do that.

00:42:28.806 --> 00:42:38.925
So when I was in high school and going into college, I started out as a journalism major and thought I was going to be living in Atlanta writing for the Atlanta Constitution.

00:42:38.925 --> 00:42:41.806
then realized I hated journalism and didn't want to do that.

00:42:41.806 --> 00:42:44.516
And everything kind of fell apart for a bit after that.

00:42:44.516 --> 00:42:57.365
So I'm trying to channel some of that of like, these brothers are in a point in their life where they've, for whatever reason that we'll get to, they find themselves in sort of different spots.

00:42:57.365 --> 00:43:01.215
And it's about, you know, one, who are these guys in their core?

00:43:01.215 --> 00:43:02.246
Who are they always been?

00:43:02.246 --> 00:43:05.545
Not trying to remake them into something they're not.

00:43:05.545 --> 00:43:07.846
But also I just like that idea of...

00:43:08.206 --> 00:43:17.965
four brothers who have been so close, been through so much together now finding themselves in a point in life where they're a little like the Beatles when you get to Abbey Road.

00:43:17.965 --> 00:43:23.525
They're maybe a bit different than they were when they started out, different points in their life.

00:43:23.525 --> 00:43:28.326
And like, how do you move forward when you've all kind of changed a little bit?

00:43:28.326 --> 00:43:36.302
Yeah, that's perfectly said too, because I was going to add, you know, this is not the turtles of mutant mayhem where they're 12, 13 years old.

00:43:36.302 --> 00:43:40.322
maybe going right into high school if they were of that, you know, if they were going to do that.

00:43:40.322 --> 00:43:48.751
But being in your, you know, 16, 17, 18 years old, a lot of times that's where you do start to drift away from folks who you've been friends with most of your life.

00:43:48.751 --> 00:43:56.942
You start to become maybe not the person who you're eventually going to be, but the seeds are planted as a young person, you know, around 18, 19, 20 years old.

00:43:56.942 --> 00:44:04.173
Now, if I could go back in time and look 20 year old Chris in the face, I would probably not like that kid very much.

00:44:04.173 --> 00:44:07.454
But I think that the seeds of who I eventually became were there.

00:44:07.454 --> 00:44:15.014
And I found that really interesting about what you had said there about how like these four brothers, they've been together, they fought together, things have happened to them.

00:44:15.014 --> 00:44:25.534
And when we pick up with your run, it's almost like the sort of splinting, not to make a pun there, the splinting has begun in a sense, and we have to figure out a way to get them back together.

00:44:25.534 --> 00:44:26.523
That's a good title.

00:44:26.523 --> 00:44:28.054
Maybe we'll use that.

00:44:28.054 --> 00:44:33.454
Yeah, I think it's about them figuring out how do you, how do we make this work?

00:44:33.454 --> 00:44:33.903
Right?

00:44:33.903 --> 00:44:46.574
Like, I know how it worked in the past, but I mean, relationships have to change and grow whatever that relationship is, whether that's you and your siblings or your significant other, like as you change, they change.

00:44:46.614 --> 00:44:49.414
You have to figure out how to continue to make that work.

00:44:49.414 --> 00:44:55.934
And I think that's the, that'll be kind of one of the themes of, of the book of return to New York of everything.

00:44:55.934 --> 00:45:02.541
The idea of going back and talking to your 16 year old self and not liking them very much is exactly.

00:45:02.541 --> 00:45:07.931
You know, the point of one of the parts of my Thor run, you know, of like, yeah, that's right.

00:45:07.931 --> 00:45:12.041
Thor is literally hanging out with his, his 16 year old self, right?

00:45:12.041 --> 00:45:21.041
His rambunctious young Viking self and does not like him in the same way that the old, old King Thor doesn't like either one, either one of the younger.

00:45:21.041 --> 00:45:30.574
So I think that's interesting to, you know, in some ways I am exactly the same person as I was when I first picked up.

00:45:30.574 --> 00:45:37.893
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic in probably 1985 was when I first discovered the book.

00:45:37.893 --> 00:45:39.833
In some ways, I'm exactly the same.

00:45:39.833 --> 00:45:47.293
Things I'm into, things I, what I want to do, my passions have not changed one bit.

00:45:47.293 --> 00:45:53.474
In other ways, I am almost unrecognizable would be to that kid.

00:45:53.474 --> 00:45:55.014
He'd be like, what?

00:45:55.981 --> 00:46:07.081
So I find that sort of stuff fascinating in life and let alone just trying to communicate that very, very human struggle in some sense.

00:46:07.081 --> 00:46:19.641
So, cause even though I don't get to hang out with my 13 year old self and my 85 year old self, like those are still struggles that we all, issues that we all have to figure out within ourselves, right?

00:46:19.641 --> 00:46:25.121
And so some of us just trying to speak to that in the form of Ninja Turtles.

00:46:25.293 --> 00:46:27.434
Punching bad guys.

00:46:28.494 --> 00:46:33.193
The Ninja Turtles, the greatest vessel of deciding time and space and all these things.

00:46:33.193 --> 00:46:34.373
They just are.

00:46:34.373 --> 00:46:43.753
And that actually bleeds into my next question for you, which is that the turtles are maybe one of the most flexible characters, not only in the medium, but in fiction.

00:46:43.753 --> 00:46:52.233
You know, they've had multiple different artists portray them, different writers, of course, along, you know, Eastman and Laird and all these folks have obviously put their stamp because they created the character.

00:46:52.233 --> 00:46:52.525
But.

00:46:52.525 --> 00:47:00.766
think of all the different people who have written or drawn these characters are not including the animated series and the live action movies and video games, the whole thing.

00:47:00.766 --> 00:47:08.405
So what kind of special Jason Aaron sauce do you think you want to add to the mythology of the TMNT legacy?

00:47:08.405 --> 00:47:09.606
Well, I mean, that's a good question.

00:47:09.606 --> 00:47:10.295
I don't know.

00:47:10.295 --> 00:47:13.065
I feel like that's maybe not for me to answer, right?

00:47:13.065 --> 00:47:15.766
Like that's for somebody else to figure out.

00:47:15.766 --> 00:47:17.175
I mean, you're absolutely right.

00:47:17.175 --> 00:47:20.398
I think these characters more than maybe any other.

00:47:20.398 --> 00:47:28.918
characters over the course of those 40 years have been able to change and change again and stay relevant.

00:47:28.918 --> 00:47:39.257
Like you said, in a lot of different formats and different ways, and I'm not sure what other character we could say that has done that much over that period of time.

00:47:39.257 --> 00:47:49.838
Yeah, I mean, you know, working in Marvel, I'm working on characters who are much older and have remained relevant, but they haven't had that many different versions over that period of time.

00:47:49.998 --> 00:47:55.878
And the turtles have always been able to buck that trend of feeling like, well, OK, their time is done.

00:47:55.878 --> 00:47:59.248
And they'll drift away into the shadows.

00:47:59.248 --> 00:48:02.998
And they pop right back out in a new and exciting way.

00:48:02.998 --> 00:48:13.217
But as someone who does that sort of thing for a living, and just as a fan, I'm always fascinated by characters that are able to get kind of reimagined and stay relevant over decades and decades.

00:48:13.217 --> 00:48:25.650
So in terms of what I bring to the table, I think some of it, again, is not trying to come in and say, reinvent the wheel and send the turtles off into a radically different direction.

00:48:25.690 --> 00:48:31.929
Some of it is about going back to the very beginning and the root of like, how did I discover these characters?

00:48:31.929 --> 00:48:33.429
What appealed to me about them?

00:48:33.429 --> 00:48:35.889
How did I first connect with them?

00:48:35.889 --> 00:48:41.400
How can I do that in a way that is relevant to today, right?

00:48:41.400 --> 00:48:49.005
Relevant to me emotionally and relevant to the world of today, which again, it's what I try to do in everything I'm working on.

00:48:49.005 --> 00:48:53.215
I feel like with Turtles it kind of came easy and then I knew what my touchstone was.

00:48:53.215 --> 00:48:55.565
It was that original Mirage book.

00:48:55.565 --> 00:49:06.106
I kind of right away saw like what I want that story to be and what I felt like the kind of edge or grit I felt like I could bring to each of those characters.

00:49:06.106 --> 00:49:12.286
This is not going to be a, I'll tell you right now, this is not going to be a story that's going to dazzle you with its shocking plot twists.

00:49:12.286 --> 00:49:14.226
I guess I'll say it's not that kind of story.

00:49:14.226 --> 00:49:19.010
And I think it's important that it starts with issues to focus on.

00:49:19.246 --> 00:49:20.536
the characters, right?

00:49:20.536 --> 00:49:23.365
It's character before plot.

00:49:23.365 --> 00:49:32.036
I mean, I still think we'll show you things you haven't seen before, but it starts with, do you like these guys, you know, or can I make you like them?

00:49:32.036 --> 00:49:39.576
Regardless of who, regardless if you're just like, well, I'm here for Raphael and the rest of the guys can beat it or whatever.

00:49:39.576 --> 00:49:49.485
Like I want to make you like each of them, enjoy hanging out with them and enjoy what happens, the sparks that fly when we throw them all together.

00:49:49.485 --> 00:49:59.425
And I think it's safe to say that throughout your career in comics, you've generally leaned into character based narratives and that would sort of lead your stories in interesting and compelling ways.

00:49:59.425 --> 00:50:04.706
You had mentioned earlier about how the first arc, our brothers, of course, are separated from each other.

00:50:04.706 --> 00:50:09.746
There's been some time that has passed since Sophie Campbell's run, which is ending here soon.

00:50:09.746 --> 00:50:18.126
How much of that decision was based on the purpose of spending some quality time with each brother individually and allowing the reader to get to know your version of Raph?

00:50:18.126 --> 00:50:20.065
Leo, Donnie and Mikey.

00:50:20.065 --> 00:50:30.545
Yeah, I mean, I think it's a large part that it's a time -honored kind of set up to sort of divide the team up and then do a story of getting the band back together.

00:50:30.545 --> 00:50:37.726
But also to me, again, it was an important theme of the story of just kind of showing where these guys at.

00:50:37.726 --> 00:50:44.077
Maybe they've started to go in a little bit different direction from each other and how can they come back and make that work.

00:50:44.077 --> 00:50:46.668
once they're together again, is that easy?

00:50:46.668 --> 00:50:47.518
Is that simple?

00:50:47.518 --> 00:50:52.398
Is it like riding a bike where everything fits and works exactly the way it did before?

00:50:52.398 --> 00:50:53.878
Is it difficult?

00:50:53.878 --> 00:50:55.547
Has it always been difficult?

00:50:55.547 --> 00:50:57.228
Is it more difficult now?

00:50:57.228 --> 00:50:59.427
Is it challenging in different ways?

00:50:59.427 --> 00:51:05.717
I think those are questions we explore over the course of really multiple issues.

00:51:05.998 --> 00:51:11.181
I have one final question for you, Jason, because I feel like if we talked any more about TMNT, I would start to...

00:51:11.181 --> 00:51:14.501
accidentally or purposefully start to try to mind you for info.

00:51:14.501 --> 00:51:15.702
And I don't want to do that to you.

00:51:15.702 --> 00:51:25.342
So we're just going to hope that that little conversation bit was enough for folks to get excited if they're not already, which they should be for your upcoming run on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

00:51:25.342 --> 00:51:33.302
But my final question for you is, and it brings us back around to what we were talking about earlier with the multiple titers you're working on here in twenty twenty four.

00:51:33.302 --> 00:51:41.422
And as we talked about, you've been known before as sort of the company man at Marvel for, you know, helping curate their universe for basically 20 years.

00:51:41.422 --> 00:51:46.601
I know it's only March, but this feels like we're entering a brand new era for Jason Aaron.

00:51:46.762 --> 00:51:49.021
And so I realize this is kind of a big question.

00:51:49.021 --> 00:52:00.842
But at the end of this year, with everyone having already had a chance to read TMNT and Uncle Scrooge and Face Full of Bullets and everything else that you'll be working on in twenty twenty four, what do you hope fans take away from this?

00:52:00.842 --> 00:52:05.501
And ultimately, what do you hope you take away from this year of writing?

00:52:05.501 --> 00:52:07.621
That's a good question.

00:52:07.621 --> 00:52:10.262
It's a little hard for me to answer.

00:52:10.262 --> 00:52:10.733
And that.

00:52:10.733 --> 00:52:17.713
You know, certainly looking, once we're looking back on this year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be one of the big hallmarks for me.

00:52:17.713 --> 00:52:21.114
There may be a couple more that, that you don't know about yet.

00:52:21.114 --> 00:52:33.534
So all those things, you know, we, we mentioned like this, this, um, like I said, this kind of wild array of characters I've, I've been able to work on for me and really for our industry in general.

00:52:33.534 --> 00:52:38.585
I think everybody's hungry for something new and fresh.

00:52:38.797 --> 00:52:51.597
New and fresh, but also in some ways familiar, like fresh takes on characters we know, like Transformers, like the new Thundercats book by Declan Shalvey that's doing so well.

00:52:51.597 --> 00:52:54.057
There's felt like some uncertainty coming into this year.

00:52:54.057 --> 00:53:01.518
There's still a lot of uncertainty, you know, and the election coming in November and just how things are gonna look business -wise.

00:53:01.697 --> 00:53:07.326
And I think all the creators I know are really, really excited to...

00:53:07.501 --> 00:53:18.081
to kind of step up to that challenge and do take big swings, whether that's in work for hire, company owned properties, or that's their creator owned work.

00:53:18.081 --> 00:53:21.422
I think everybody kind of wants to shoot for the stars this year.

00:53:21.422 --> 00:53:33.782
And that's definitely how I felt where I very much have entered this phase of my career that feels like kind of the second act, hopefully the second act, not the third act and the third act still.

00:53:34.829 --> 00:54:01.400
Bit away, but it feels like a big second act and that the you know, the first act was very much like you said focused on Marvel and and creator own work outside of that and now I'm Able to expand my horizons and work on all these different exciting properties, you know all across the map We'll also also be doing some new creator own stuff and then that's gonna be the plan going forward You know turtles will be a thing.

00:54:01.400 --> 00:54:12.134
I'm like I said, I kind of wanted to step away from from ongoing long -term commitments for a bit and I did, and then Turtles came along and I couldn't say no to that.

00:54:12.134 --> 00:54:20.793
And so, you know, that one's a longer commitment and there might be another one, you know, in the mix that fits that bill too.

00:54:20.793 --> 00:54:26.873
But I just feel really excited and lucky that I'm getting to work on all this kind of stuff at once.

00:54:26.873 --> 00:54:33.581
And I feel, you know, I've always felt like I've been lucky and that I'm able to kind of jump from one cool thing.

00:54:33.581 --> 00:54:35.342
the next over the course of my career.

00:54:35.342 --> 00:54:39.722
I feel that kind of, you know, times a thousand right now.

00:54:39.722 --> 00:54:43.101
And just really, really excited about everything I'm getting to do.

00:54:43.101 --> 00:54:43.242
Yeah.

00:54:43.242 --> 00:54:48.282
I mean, it is, it's very exciting, especially, you know, from a fan's perspective, as I said earlier, giant fan of yours.

00:54:48.282 --> 00:54:51.371
And it's really cool to just kind of see you in a sense.

00:54:51.371 --> 00:55:00.882
And this is weird to say about someone who has done as much as you have, but it kind of feels like you're spreading your wings a little bit and kind of getting out there and trying different titles that I would have never expected you to do.

00:55:00.882 --> 00:55:02.541
I mean, go back in time.

00:55:02.541 --> 00:55:06.282
seven to eight years ago and ask me, hey, you know that Thor run you really like?

00:55:06.282 --> 00:55:08.762
What would you think of this guy's also doing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

00:55:08.762 --> 00:55:11.981
I'd be like, I mean, that's really odd, but yeah, absolutely.

00:55:11.981 --> 00:55:12.552
Please do.

00:55:12.552 --> 00:55:13.442
Let's do it.

00:55:13.442 --> 00:55:13.572
Yeah.

00:55:13.572 --> 00:55:15.322
I mean, that excites me too.

00:55:15.322 --> 00:55:27.172
You know, I mean, the just jumping from one title at Marvel to another was exciting, but not not as like a surprising, I guess, like, oh, this this guy's writing one Marvel titles, right.

00:55:27.172 --> 00:55:27.961
And another one.

00:55:27.961 --> 00:55:28.402
Yeah.

00:55:28.402 --> 00:55:31.942
Jumping to these sort of properties were were.

00:55:32.269 --> 00:55:36.469
that feels so fresh and new in terms of everything I've done before.

00:55:36.469 --> 00:55:41.849
That gets me really excited, because that's the way I consume.

00:55:41.849 --> 00:55:45.840
I'm the guy who reads Uncle Scrooge comics.

00:55:45.840 --> 00:55:48.190
I read Berserker.

00:55:48.190 --> 00:55:50.300
I read Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

00:55:50.300 --> 00:55:53.440
I read all these things and already get enjoyment from them.

00:55:53.440 --> 00:55:57.889
I read a variety of different genres and properties.

00:55:57.889 --> 00:55:58.693
And so...

00:55:58.702 --> 00:56:01.391
That's what I want to do as a writer as well.

00:56:01.391 --> 00:56:03.481
I want to churn out all different kinds of stuff.

00:56:03.481 --> 00:56:07.762
And I feel like I'm getting to live that pretty much to the max right now.

00:56:07.762 --> 00:56:12.382
And that's not going to be just my plan for this year.

00:56:12.382 --> 00:56:16.342
That is the plan going forward for me.

00:56:16.342 --> 00:56:21.952
Maybe I get to the point someday where I want to settle down and be exclusive to somebody else again.

00:56:21.952 --> 00:56:26.621
But I think for now, I am enjoying, like you said, spreading my wings.

00:56:26.961 --> 00:56:27.342
And...

00:56:27.342 --> 00:56:29.561
taking any call that comes my way.

00:56:29.561 --> 00:56:30.202
Mm hmm.

00:56:30.202 --> 00:56:30.922
Yeah.

00:56:30.922 --> 00:56:35.802
Well, Jason, I want to thank you once again for coming onto the show and discussing your work.

00:56:35.802 --> 00:56:41.862
You know, as we finished our conversation and I can finally drop this, I've said it multiple times now, so there's really no facade anymore.

00:56:41.862 --> 00:56:47.831
But you are undoubtedly one of my favorite creators working in comics and have been since my introduction in the medium.

00:56:47.831 --> 00:56:56.804
So I'm truly just thrilled for you and everything that you've done so far this year and what you'll continue to do for the rest of twenty twenty four.

00:56:57.070 --> 00:56:57.769
Well, thanks.

00:56:57.769 --> 00:56:58.510
Thank you.

00:56:58.510 --> 00:56:59.710
I appreciate that.

00:56:59.710 --> 00:57:06.059
And also, as we were talking there, I can't remember what point I realized this, but we were talking about Patrick Queen and Derek Henry.

00:57:06.059 --> 00:57:07.539
Those are both Alabama alumni.

00:57:07.539 --> 00:57:09.139
Why did I not connect the dots there?

00:57:09.139 --> 00:57:10.989
Well, Patrick Queen didn't go to Alabama.

00:57:10.989 --> 00:57:11.460
He didn't.

00:57:11.460 --> 00:57:13.550
He was a linebacker for Alabama.

00:57:13.550 --> 00:57:14.679
Was did he go to Auburn?

00:57:14.679 --> 00:57:15.829
Oh, no, he went to LSU.

00:57:15.829 --> 00:57:16.230
Dang it.

00:57:16.230 --> 00:57:16.829
Sorry.

00:57:16.829 --> 00:57:17.429
Never mind.

00:57:17.429 --> 00:57:18.949
Derek, Derek Henry, one of the greats.

00:57:18.949 --> 00:57:22.139
I got a Derek Henry jersey in my closet.

00:57:22.139 --> 00:57:23.909
I love I love Derek Henry.

00:57:23.909 --> 00:57:26.670
Can I can I buy that from you now that he's on the Ravens or?

00:57:26.670 --> 00:57:27.289
No, sorry.

00:57:27.289 --> 00:57:35.050
That one's I break that one out when we, when the team really needs me, you know, I break out when it gets serious.

00:57:35.050 --> 00:57:36.929
I break out the Derek Henry Jersey.

00:57:36.929 --> 00:57:39.829
If it gets really serious, I break out my old shaker.

00:57:39.829 --> 00:57:44.449
Um, but that's only when, you know, times are, times are looking dire, bleeding, cool.

00:57:44.449 --> 00:57:44.809
The beat.

00:57:44.809 --> 00:57:46.070
I know you guys are listening right now.

00:57:46.070 --> 00:57:49.969
Mark it down, make an article, Jason Aaron, super superstitious.

00:57:49.969 --> 00:57:51.690
He is, he's a man of superstition.

00:57:51.690 --> 00:57:56.255
So just know that just when it comes to football and no other areas of my life.

00:57:56.494 --> 00:57:57.554
I'm the same way.

00:57:57.554 --> 00:57:59.273
I look whatever it takes.

00:57:59.273 --> 00:58:00.514
Yeah, exactly.

00:58:00.634 --> 00:58:07.313
Yeah, I have a I have a Lamar jersey that's not even a it's one of those like military jerseys that you know, the military jerseys they don't even wear.

00:58:07.313 --> 00:58:10.873
I wear that Lamar jersey for every major game that we have.

00:58:10.873 --> 00:58:14.554
And I can't anymore because I wore it during the Chiefs Ravens game and we lost.

00:58:14.554 --> 00:58:16.784
So that no longer has any luck in it left.

00:58:16.784 --> 00:58:18.063
I've lost its power.

00:58:18.063 --> 00:58:21.393
Yeah, I have to I have to wash it and pick a new one.

00:58:21.393 --> 00:58:23.483
Maybe you can recharge it in some way.

00:58:23.483 --> 00:58:24.557
That's right.

00:58:24.557 --> 00:58:26.987
Well, Jason, I'm going to pass the baton off to you one last time.

00:58:26.987 --> 00:58:30.277
Is there anything you want to plug or any socials you want to highlight before we let you go?

00:58:30.277 --> 00:58:36.777
No, I mean, I, you know, the easiest way to keep up with me and every everything I'm working on is my sub stack newsletter.

00:58:36.777 --> 00:58:48.277
If you just Google my name, that's easy to pull up and I, you know, post semi regularly and let you know what all I'm working on, what shows I'll be doing.

00:58:48.277 --> 00:58:50.057
I'm doing a lot more shows.

00:58:50.057 --> 00:58:53.838
I might be doing more shows this year than I have ever done in my life.

00:58:53.838 --> 00:58:54.498
Love to hear that.

00:58:54.498 --> 00:58:57.188
I just started working with comic sketch art.

00:58:57.188 --> 00:58:58.708
So I make it so much easier.

00:58:58.708 --> 00:59:02.688
So I'm doing a lot of definitely doing more shows in the States than I've ever done before.

00:59:02.688 --> 00:59:05.077
And maybe maybe a few overseas.

00:59:05.338 --> 00:59:08.458
So there's a chance I'll be coming to your town wherever you live.

00:59:08.458 --> 00:59:20.398
And if you want to come by and say hi and talk about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Nick Saban or pro wrestling, then you know, I'm your I'm your guy.

00:59:20.398 --> 00:59:21.958
Don't ask him what his favorite turtle is.

00:59:21.958 --> 00:59:23.302
He will not answer it.

00:59:23.405 --> 00:59:26.646
I'll tell you who my favorite wrestler is, but I won't tell you my favorite turtle.

00:59:26.646 --> 00:59:28.226
Who's your favorite wrestler?

00:59:28.326 --> 00:59:29.565
Well, you say that now.

00:59:29.565 --> 00:59:31.306
I don't know what I was going to say.

00:59:31.525 --> 00:59:34.925
I mean, my favorite has been MJF, but he's been hurt.

00:59:34.925 --> 00:59:35.985
Sure.

00:59:36.346 --> 00:59:40.186
So, you know, I still a big Kevin Owens fan.

00:59:40.186 --> 00:59:41.786
So I'd probably say Kevin Owens.

00:59:41.786 --> 00:59:42.266
Yeah.

00:59:42.266 --> 00:59:42.585
Yeah.

00:59:42.585 --> 00:59:48.436
We need to get Daniel Warren on the show, Daniel Warren Johnson on the show and have you two talk about wrestling currently.

00:59:48.436 --> 00:59:50.025
Cause I'm from the attitude era.

00:59:50.025 --> 00:59:54.494
I stopped watching and like, like, 2004, 2005.

00:59:54.673 --> 01:00:02.173
So, but you guys, you two both are big into wrestling and I'd love to bring you both on, talk about comics and talk about wrestling at the same time.

01:00:02.173 --> 01:00:02.434
Sure.

01:00:02.434 --> 01:00:02.623
Yeah.

01:00:02.623 --> 01:00:04.273
Daniel and I've talked wrestling a little bit.

01:00:04.273 --> 01:00:04.614
Yeah.

01:00:04.614 --> 01:00:06.063
He's a, he's a big fan.

01:00:06.063 --> 01:00:12.034
And his do a power bomb was absolutely the best comic ever done about wrestling ever.

01:00:12.034 --> 01:00:13.704
Highly recommend it.

01:00:13.704 --> 01:00:14.083
Yeah.

01:00:14.083 --> 01:00:15.514
All right, Jason, I'm gonna let you go.

01:00:15.514 --> 01:00:22.318
We'll have you on hopefully in the future at some point, maybe after the first trade of TMNT is out and we can talk maybe spoilers at that time.

01:00:22.318 --> 01:00:22.547
Cool.

01:00:22.547 --> 01:00:25.277
Maybe then I'll tell you who my favorite turtle is.

01:00:25.277 --> 01:00:27.257
But probably not.

01:00:27.998 --> 01:00:28.307
All right.

01:00:28.307 --> 01:00:29.137
Thanks, Jason.

01:00:29.137 --> 01:00:29.527
All right.

01:00:29.527 --> 01:00:30.777
Thank you.

01:00:30.777 --> 01:00:31.318
All righty.

01:00:31.318 --> 01:00:32.617
There's that conversation with Jason Aaron.

01:00:32.617 --> 01:00:34.128
Once again, thank you so much, Jason.

01:00:34.128 --> 01:00:35.228
We're coming back onto the show.

01:00:35.228 --> 01:00:39.318
This was the second time, as we said at the beginning of the show, such a great conversation.

01:00:39.318 --> 01:00:45.418
Again, I'm just going to reiterate once again here at the end, one of my favorite creators currently and of all time.

01:00:45.418 --> 01:00:50.157
I've said many times in the show that between Saga of Swamp Thing by Alan Moore.

01:00:50.157 --> 01:00:57.338
or The Question by Dennis O 'Neill and Dennis Cohen and Jason Aaron's Seven Years on Thor.

01:00:57.338 --> 01:01:00.498
Those are among my favorite runs in comics of all time.

01:01:00.498 --> 01:01:05.597
So forever will hold a special place in my heart and just very grateful to sit down with him again.

01:01:05.597 --> 01:01:10.277
So Aaron, before we close out episode 152, I have one more question for you.

01:01:10.277 --> 01:01:11.458
Who's your favorite turtle?

01:01:11.458 --> 01:01:12.858
Michaelangelo, duh.

01:01:12.858 --> 01:01:14.197
Duh, Mikey.

01:01:14.197 --> 01:01:15.757
So why Mikey though?

01:01:15.757 --> 01:01:16.097
Why?

01:01:16.097 --> 01:01:19.429
I just felt like, I mean, ever since I was a kid, I've...

01:01:19.438 --> 01:01:23.637
gravitated toward it was either him or Donatello.

01:01:23.637 --> 01:01:33.867
OK, you know, because I was a bit of a nerd, but I also like just loved like the freeness that maybe maybe Donatello is who I am and maybe Michelangelo is who I want to be.

01:01:33.867 --> 01:01:34.197
Oh, sure.

01:01:34.197 --> 01:01:40.697
So like maybe Mikey is your Mikey is your zodiac sign and Donnie is your you're rising your your Venus.

01:01:40.697 --> 01:01:40.987
Yes.

01:01:40.987 --> 01:01:41.487
Yes.

01:01:41.487 --> 01:01:41.728
All right.

01:01:41.728 --> 01:01:42.478
Fair enough.

01:01:42.478 --> 01:01:43.737
Mine is Rafael.

01:01:43.737 --> 01:01:45.568
I've been pretty vocal about how I look.

01:01:45.568 --> 01:01:48.494
And I think I even say in the conversation with Jason that.

01:01:48.494 --> 01:01:54.474
Raphael, I think he has like the Vegeta arc, you know, like he believes that he deserves this.

01:01:54.474 --> 01:01:56.114
He needs to have this.

01:01:56.114 --> 01:02:06.253
If he doesn't have this, if he doesn't have the leadership of the team, if he's not recognized and respected for his contribution to the team, then he has nothing and he'll fight for it to his death for it.

01:02:06.253 --> 01:02:07.784
And I find that so compelling.

01:02:07.784 --> 01:02:14.824
I just, I love a character like that that will work themselves to the bone to prove how good they are.

01:02:14.824 --> 01:02:18.373
But in the end, their vigor and their...

01:02:18.382 --> 01:02:22.942
tenacity will be their monkey paw, essentially.

01:02:22.942 --> 01:02:25.202
It'll cripple them in a way.

01:02:25.202 --> 01:02:27.362
Like the undoing, though it'll push people away.

01:02:27.362 --> 01:02:28.922
And I just find that really compelling.

01:02:28.922 --> 01:02:30.902
So once again, thank you, Jason.

01:02:30.902 --> 01:02:35.121
Next week on the show, Aaron, we're going to be keeping this interview train rolling.

01:02:35.121 --> 01:02:42.961
Next week on the show, we're going to have James Tynan and Christian Ward on the show talking about their new distillery horror book, Spectrograph.

01:02:42.961 --> 01:02:46.797
Now, Aaron, you were here for this conversation with both James and Christian.

01:02:46.797 --> 01:02:51.538
in less than five words, how would you describe that conversation with those two?

01:02:51.538 --> 01:02:52.717
Fucking awesome.

01:02:52.717 --> 01:02:53.938
There you go.

01:02:53.938 --> 01:02:54.818
That's a good one.

01:02:54.818 --> 01:02:55.438
All right.

01:02:55.438 --> 01:02:59.697
And we talked about it before how James is not one to do many conversations here.

01:02:59.697 --> 01:03:04.998
He's very busy with tiny onion and the 38 titles that he's writing currently.

01:03:04.998 --> 01:03:08.097
And then Chris, you know, Christian's been on the show four times.

01:03:08.097 --> 01:03:10.677
So we have a true juxtaposition of these two.

01:03:10.677 --> 01:03:12.617
You can feel it in the conversation.

01:03:12.617 --> 01:03:13.710
Yeah, the conversation.

01:03:13.710 --> 01:03:25.050
It's so good, but we just like, we only got like 45 minutes with them, which is kind of, that's the curse of being in this, of interviewing very successful people with a lot of stuff going on.

01:03:25.050 --> 01:03:31.610
You have to accept that you just don't have all the time in the world with them, but you make use of that time.

01:03:31.610 --> 01:03:33.079
And I think that that's one thing.

01:03:33.079 --> 01:03:41.250
Thank God we got this transcript because we were able to make use of the time that we had, because if we didn't, that would be a shit show.

01:03:41.250 --> 01:03:41.889
100%.

01:03:41.889 --> 01:03:46.253
There were questions that we were, trying to communicate to each other that we wanted to ask during the conversation.

01:03:46.253 --> 01:03:48.534
And we were like, we just don't have the time.

01:03:48.534 --> 01:03:50.193
Like, yeah, like you've said it before, Aaron.

01:03:50.193 --> 01:03:51.173
And I agree.

01:03:51.173 --> 01:03:53.793
Quickest 45 minute conversation we've had here on the Oblivion Bar.

01:03:53.793 --> 01:03:54.313
100%.

01:03:54.313 --> 01:03:55.494
It's a great one too.

01:03:55.494 --> 01:03:58.594
So we're like mentally like, shut up, just shut your mouth.

01:03:58.594 --> 01:04:00.543
Not to not to not to James, but to each other.

01:04:00.543 --> 01:04:01.494
Like don't fucking ask.

01:04:01.494 --> 01:04:02.923
Don't shut your mouth.

01:04:02.923 --> 01:04:04.534
You're coming off stupid right now.

01:04:04.534 --> 01:04:10.541
But but tune in next week for that episode, episode 153.

01:04:10.541 --> 01:04:12.501
Excited for everyone to finally reach Spectrograph.

01:04:12.501 --> 01:04:15.652
Aaron and I were lucky enough to check out that first issue and it is very good.

01:04:15.652 --> 01:04:18.601
It's typical Tynan Ward incredibleness.

01:04:18.601 --> 01:04:22.311
So be on the lookout for that, but that'll do it for episode 152.

01:04:22.311 --> 01:04:25.621
Aaron, please take us out of this episode.

01:04:25.621 --> 01:04:28.481
Taking out.

01:04:28.481 --> 01:04:31.931
Subscribe to our podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Audible, iHeartRadio.

01:04:31.931 --> 01:04:34.862
Wherever you listen to your podcasts, that's where we are.

01:04:34.862 --> 01:04:50.141
Thank you to our patrons, Alex, Alice, Aaron, Bodder from the short box, Brad B, Cassidy, Chris from the Bada Boom Bod, Chris J, Christie, David, Elliot, George, Greg from First Issue Club, Haley, Ham, Six, Jake from SpecTales, Jake S, Jeremy, Kenny, Kyle, Losey, Mac, Miles, Mike, Robert, Sean, Travis, and Brad Leeds from Combo Couple's Counts.

01:04:50.141 --> 01:04:55.661
Like, boom! Follow us on social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Blue Sky, and Threads, Oblivion, Bar Pod.

01:04:55.661 --> 01:04:57.202
Thank you Omnibus for sponsoring the show.

01:04:57.202 --> 01:05:01.641
Use the link in our show notes to upgrade how you read comic books digitally because it's bitchin'.

01:05:01.641 --> 01:05:05.592
Official merch of the show can be found on our website, oblivionbarpodcast .com.

01:05:05.592 --> 01:05:07.702
Thank you Kevin Ziegler for all of our oblivion bar art.

01:05:07.702 --> 01:05:09.601
He's at the ZIGZONE on Instagram.

01:05:09.601 --> 01:05:11.572
Thank you Dream Kid for all of our musical themes.

01:05:11.572 --> 01:05:13.132
Thank you DJ Skyvac for our grid theme.

01:05:13.132 --> 01:05:14.612
Thank you Fantasy Shop for sponsoring the show.

01:05:14.612 --> 01:05:16.572
And don't forget to tip your bartenders 20% or more.

01:05:16.572 --> 01:05:21.641
Oh, you're not pizza shit! I wonder if Erin had a G -Fuel this afternoon, everybody.

01:05:21.641 --> 01:05:22.882
I'm wondering.

01:05:22.882 --> 01:05:23.961
Did you or did you not?

01:05:23.961 --> 01:05:25.454
I had like a sip of one.

01:05:25.454 --> 01:05:33.614
So I had one from like two days ago or whatever the last time we recorded I had it left on my desk and I was like fuck it, Chuck.

01:05:33.793 --> 01:05:35.653
Performance energizes how you do it.

01:05:35.653 --> 01:05:37.393
O -B -P in the O -B -P.

01:05:37.393 --> 01:05:40.313
Feel your grind, feel your grind.

01:05:40.994 --> 01:05:43.514
All right everybody that'll do it for episode 152.

01:05:43.514 --> 01:05:43.833
We will see you.

01:05:43.833 --> 01:05:45.554
I just love hanging out with my friends.

01:05:45.554 --> 01:05:48.514
We are energized by comics and each other's presence.

01:05:48.514 --> 01:05:49.623
And our love for each other.

01:05:49.623 --> 01:05:50.353
And our love.

01:05:50.353 --> 01:05:53.483
All right everybody thank you so much for joining us here on the Oblivion Bar podcast.

01:05:53.483 --> 01:05:54.445
We will see you.

01:05:54.445 --> 01:05:57.565
next week for episode 153.