INTERVIEW: Jim Viscardi

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Hey, this is Jim Viscardi, the host of Image Comics talk show, Let's Talk Comics, 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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Joining me today is the co-founder of Common Book.com and current VP of Business Development over at Image Comics.

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He is also the producer and host of the recently revived Let's Talk Comics, which brings common book creators on to discuss their journey into comics, in-depth conversations about their current work and everything else in between.

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It is my pleasure to welcome Jim Viscardi onto the Oblivion Bar podcast.

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What's going on man, how are you?

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Very good, Jim.

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Thanks so much for being here.

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What a pleasure it is to get.

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Oh, you know, that's always my favorite reaction when we bring people on is we give these like and here's a weird.

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is a weird sidebar as soon as we start the conversation.

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But I feel like I can share this with you because, of course, you are a fellow podcaster.

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Right.

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I sort of stole this method from Pat McAfee, who I'm not like a giant fan of.

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I don't really watch his show.

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I've seen a couple of times.

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I actually watched a lot when he first had like the original Indianapolis Barstool back in like the 2010 odds somewhere in that range.

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And he used to bring people in with these super long winded, very like verbose intros.

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And I was like, you know what?

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And then we started the podcast here, the building bar in April of 2020.

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I was like, you know what?

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These comic creators, these folks that we get on the show, they're sitting in a room, drawing, writing, what have you all the time by themselves.

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I'm going to really like prop them up when we're here.

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And people always seem to like it.

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Look, I take every cue for everything I do.

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steal it all from wrestling and and intros.

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Intros are they're just they're they are important.

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If you're not if you're not hyping up who you've got on the show, then your audience isn't going to give two craps about about who they are.

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I don't know if I can curse or not.

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So I'm going to.

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can.

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Yeah, please.

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OK, sorry.

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It's it's late.

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And then at this point, my inner Long Island comes out and just I mean, I'm not going to, you know, behave, but.

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No, please let it all hang with the oblivion bar.

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It is the oblivion bar after dark here.

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And then, know, it's funny is that you bring up wrestling and how much you love it.

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I actually, I it was actually deals with my first question that I have for you here.

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And I want to get into the most important stuff.

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We'll get into like, you know, let's talk comics and your history in comics and all the things.

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talk about wrestling.

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You recently shared a photo of you and I'm guessing your daughter at WWE Monday Night Raw.

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That was, you know, at the time of this recording, that was only maybe a couple of days ago, maybe yesterday.

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can't remember.

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that her first experience at Monday Night Raw?

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No, we've been so.

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Let's see, it must have been her third event, maybe fourth event.

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We did a TNA show.

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We went to a TNA show when they did a lot of shows out here closer to around the pandemic because they were doing stuff at a Skyway Studios here.

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And a friend of mine is Eric Young, who wrestles for them.

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And so he always got us in.

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And then.

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I we did a RAW and then we did a Smackdown and this will be her second RAW.

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So three WWE events.

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And honestly, it's one of those things where, in general, I've been a lifelong wrestling fan.

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My kid doesn't necessarily care about watching wrestling too much.

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She likes watching the pay-per-views.

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She really only likes watching women's wrestling matches.

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Going to a live wrestling event is an experience unlike anything else.

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If you don't like wrestling or you don't or you're not, you don't get what wrestling is about or whatever, you will never fully understand it.

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If you only watch it, you will only fully understand it.

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If you go to an event and see it in person, it is, it's, it's better than going to a football game.

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It's better to go into any live sports.

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is truly the total package.

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And so now for me, to see it through her eyes.

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like she's totally bought in on the face and heel side of things.

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She's rooting for good guys and bad guys and whatever.

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And she knows all of that stuff.

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But to her, she understands that these wrestlers are playing characters, right?

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She knows Chelsea green is not a bad person, but love, just, but like, you know, but we'll boo her because she knows she's the best.

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She's She's the heel in the situation.

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And so to see that and get to experience that with her is such a blessing for me because it really is something special.

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We had phenomenal seats last night and I am so, I never take it for granted.

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I have been able to meet and meet a lot of people, make a lot of friends in the business during my time at comicbook.com.

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One of them, I'm gonna sound like a name drop all the time on the show.

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I'm sorry.

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It helps put into context.

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I actually do that too with, with Conqueror's.

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like, Oh yeah.

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I was talking to Christian Ward the other day, blah, blah, blah.

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Right.

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And they're like, what?

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I'm like, Oh, you know.

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So Cody Rhodes is someone who happens to now be the face of WWE, right?

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He is someone that I have interviewed time and time again over the last 15 to 20 years in his career.

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So way, way back when I used to work for Marvel, I used to work for Marvel.

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And when I was doing that, really got to, we learned and figured out that a lot of wrestlers are big superhero fans, big comic book nerds.

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And I tell people all the time, wrestling is just live action comics.

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It's the power fictionalized, serialized storytelling, good guys and bad guys, funny costumes.

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It's rest.

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It's it's comics, right?

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That's what it is.

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And so Cody was just getting his start over there and in his gear started to do some like callbacks to some comic stuff he had.

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a vest where he would invoke Archangel sometimes Magneto sometimes and a few other things.

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so, so he and I, I became like his go-to nerd interview person for that stuff.

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And so I interviewed him a few times for, for marvel.com.

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And then when I left to go to comic book, he, he had left WWE and was in his ROH and TNA and independent circuit days is Japan stuff.

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And I've interviewed him all through that.

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And then basically now up and through this.

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And so now I'm really fortunate that anytime WWE comes to town, I can I can call on my personal, very close best friend, Cody Rhodes, and say, Hey, can I get some tickets and you get you get some damn good tickets?

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That's awesome.

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That's cool.

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You know, it's it's good to know people and it's cool.

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Also, I think from a more like not only from a fan perspective, but from a friend point of view, when you see these people that you make connections with, that you watch them, you see that stock rise, you know it.

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It has been my entire career.

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It's one of the biggest reasons why I'm so excited to be back at Image now.

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Or not be back at Image, be at Image, but back in comics now.

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Because I'm getting to work with so many creators who I got to work with in the very early part of their careers when they were just getting in at Marvel and or DC.

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Jason Aaron, Kieran Gillen.

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you know, the the Rick Remender, the list kind of goes on and on.

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All of those creators are putting out new work at Image and it's, you know, and they've only grown in as a creator during that time.

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And so now I'm getting to help instead of helping them promote their work for hire stuff.

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When I was at Marvel, I'm helping them promote their their babies basically.

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Right.

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In Image, there's a You know, there's a totally different level of involvement and, and things in that nature.

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And so it's become that much more gratifying in a sense for me and rewarding in that I get to do that now, having seen some of these creators, you know, go through all of it.

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I want to take a quick step back to wrestling just for a quick moment.

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Hopefully I can do that.

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I want to ask you about all of that from, you know, WWE Raw the other days, because I recently watched the Mr.

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McMahon miniseries on Netflix.

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I'm you probably watched that one as well.

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And it took me back because I was a huge wrestling fan growing up.

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I'm 33.

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So I'm of that age where the attitude era and I think going into the ruthless aggression era, that was sort of where I maybe dropped off halfway through the ruthless aggression era.

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And watching it really invigorate something in me to sort of go back and see what's going on.

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guess not go back, but go into what's currently happening with the WWE and with the current reshuffling of Monday Night Raw being on Netflix.

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And I obviously have Netflix.

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I watched that Mr.

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McMahon doc.

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So I was going to watch that first episode.

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And I hate to disappoint you, Jim, here in our first time meeting on the Oblivion Bar.

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But when I watched it, I was I understood the appeal.

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first episode was a commercial.

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Like that's that.

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That's that.

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The entire thing was a commercial, right?

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They had like sponsors in the ring.

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They had to, well, mean, yeah, I mean, but like, like, look, I think it's one of those things where it's really weird, right?

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Because here is this thing that has often been seen as a sideshow, you know, right?

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A traveling circus, if you will.

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And and now is being even further legitimized in a way by, you know, in a sense, by being on streaming, reaching a huge audience.

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And so, you know.

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That stuff costs money.

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And so that means they got to stick a logo in the middle of the ring or in the turnbuckles.

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I get it.

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I get it.

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Someone's got to get paid.

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it but it is.

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It's so weird because for the longest time it sounds crazy to say, but like wrestling was niche in a sense or or had a stereotype.

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A certain person kind you know, watched wrestling.

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And no one, then it was like, you know, wrestling's fake, right?

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It's like, all right, you take a back body drop and you tell me that's fake.

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Right.

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Okay.

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You go through a table and you tell me, you tell me that's fake.

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Right.

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And so like, so, you know, but no one wanted to like everyone understood it, but no one wanted to, because, because the outcomes aren't real.

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Right.

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And for me, wrestling is so much more than that.

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There's so much storytelling.

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That goes on and like yeah, are you gonna get your weird costume characters doing weird crazy shit?

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Absolutely, but like the last three years of the bloodline story has been some of the best television anyone has ever I put it up against severance like whatever It's the Roman Reign stuff I was watching this and I'm like, what is, is he related to all these people?

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It has been hands down one of the strongest and without that storyline, WWE doesn't get to Netflix in my opinion, right?

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Without Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman and Cody Rhodes and all those guys doing what they're doing, it doesn't get to Netflix.

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And I think that's it, right?

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I think people are starting to realize that some of the storytelling that goes on in this, not only just in like the actual stories or whatever, but the stories, that get told during matches, right?

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And, and how a wrestling match can tell a story is, is fascinating stuff.

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And now that it's like, people always like to say, nothing will top the attitude error.

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And I don't hate to tell you that is nostalgia speaking.

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And it is a, it is a potent drug and you need to cut the supply, open your eyes and realize that no wrestling right now is the biggest it's ever been.

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And And more people are coming to the table and more people are wanting to come and experience it.

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And again, right?

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That's one of those things where I if there's a wrestling event that is coming to your town, go there.

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It will.

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It will 100 % make you a fan immediately.

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If not just like a fan to watch week to week, it will make you appreciate what goes on and how it all comes together.

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I will step off my soapbox.

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No, I set you up for it.

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And I'm just fine.

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I'm glad you did, because after watching that WWE Raw, it was obviously being promoted that the Royal Rumble was coming to Indianapolis.

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That's where I currently live.

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It was coming to Lucas Oil.

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And I thought to myself, again, watching the Mr.

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McMahon doc and then seeing the sort of, as you said, sort of the upgrade in everything with the WWE and in terms of like broadcasting and everything just looks way better than it used to.

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I thought, you know, it'd be fun.

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to just go to an event and see if maybe that changes my mind.

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Because while I agree with you that like people need to hop off the attitude era IV that they've been, you know, that Kool-Aid they've been sipping on, you know, things can progress and whatnot.

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I wanted to see it for myself and I went to, maybe this was stupid of me, but I went to like Ticketmaster, StubHub, and for like the worst tickets to Royal Rumble, I'm talking nosebleeds and Lucas all holds.

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I want to say like 88 to 90,000 people in its stadium were seats nosebleeds were 496 with fees per ticket.

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It's a tough one because Royal Rumble to me is basically WrestleMania.

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Like I love the Royal Rumble.

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The Royal Rumble is of the pay-per-views over the year, it's WrestleMania obviously is the granddaddy of them all.

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if, like gun to my head, I had to pick one to go to.

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I'm going to the Royal Rumble.

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That Royal Rumble match is so unique and just it's, there's nothing like the anticipation of that countdown.

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That countdown hits, you don't know who's coming.

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And if it's going to be like a hall of Famer or someone's making their debut or whatever, I don't care.

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Like I, it's, I went to, I was at the one that edge came back at.

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And when I tell you, I, there's the, you know, the saying like the roof is going to pop off this place.

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I legitimately thought the roof was going to come off.

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That's how loud of a reaction he got.

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And as someone who, you know, loves edge and loved him and you know, during the, the attitude era and beyond, like that was you, you, no one thought we were going to get that again.

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Like she had, were rumors and things like that.

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There was coming back, but like his injury was one of those career ending injuries and there was no way he was going to do it.

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Was it the neck?

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that?

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It was the neck.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I thought that was what it was.

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Yeah.

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And so, so yeah, so I'm not, mean, it sucks that they were that expensive, but I'm not surprised.

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Okay.

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Let me ask you one more wrestling related question before we move on.

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Favorite attitude era wrestler and then favorite current wrestler today.

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God, you can't ask me that one only because I love truly terrible attitude error wrestlers.

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Yeah.

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No, I look like I am probably the only the only person who will who will pick hardcore Holly.

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wow, with the head?

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No, no, that was Al Snow.

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Hardcore Holly.

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Hardcore Holly was even more boring than that.

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He was just, I don't know.

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There was just something about him that I just, I absolutely loved and Goldust.

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I really love Goldust.

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Yeah, exactly.

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And to see Dustin Rhodes kind of end up where he's at now with that character is phenomenal.

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But like, those are like my two favorites.

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Like, yeah, sure.

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Do I love Stone Cold?

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Absolutely.

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I don't say like.

00:16:22.538 --> 00:16:31.192
Of the three, like the Holy Trinity of like the big three or whatever, like Triple H, The Rock and Stone Cold, I will always stand for Triple H.

00:16:31.192 --> 00:16:31.623
Sure.

00:16:31.623 --> 00:16:31.962
Yeah.

00:16:31.962 --> 00:16:34.066
And he's still making the impact today.

00:16:34.808 --> 00:16:35.089
Yeah.

00:16:35.089 --> 00:16:37.864
He's the one running this running the show essentially of what it sounds like.

00:16:37.864 --> 00:16:39.317
And it's funny you say that.

00:16:39.317 --> 00:16:42.620
I don't know if he's still around today, but Chris Jericho was my favorite as a kid.

00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:45.182
yeah, he's over there in AEW doing doing some stuff.

00:16:45.182 --> 00:16:47.470
Chris Jericho was great today.

00:16:47.470 --> 00:16:49.955
Man, today's that's also a tough one.

00:16:52.096 --> 00:16:58.561
It sounds super biased only because I've known him for so long, but like Cody is Cody's must see TV.

00:16:59.361 --> 00:17:02.303
I say like right now, though, like in the moment.

00:17:02.303 --> 00:17:04.625
And I got to experience a bit of it yesterday.

00:17:04.625 --> 00:17:05.786
How over J.

00:17:05.786 --> 00:17:07.006
Uso is.

00:17:08.130 --> 00:17:21.539
I mean, he comes out and that entire arena is yeet in their way to the thing and like in he they his entrance yesterday was like five extra minutes long.

00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:26.067
And my kid is just going yeet yeet and it was it was it was great.

00:17:26.067 --> 00:17:28.011
That's the most over thing right now.

00:17:28.011 --> 00:17:28.902
Yeah.

00:17:28.902 --> 00:17:32.013
Growing up, the only one that I went to was Smackdown and it was at RCA Dome.

00:17:32.013 --> 00:17:35.236
If you remember that, that was the stadium before Lucas Ola here in India.

00:17:35.236 --> 00:17:36.527
But yeah, it was a random Smackdown.

00:17:36.527 --> 00:17:36.988
It was cool.

00:17:36.988 --> 00:17:37.907
But all right.

00:17:37.907 --> 00:17:38.858
I think we've done enough.

00:17:38.858 --> 00:17:40.088
We've done enough.

00:17:40.088 --> 00:17:41.390
Everyone.

00:17:42.006 --> 00:17:43.244
It's safe to come back now.

00:17:43.244 --> 00:17:44.758
We're going to talk about comics.

00:17:44.758 --> 00:18:00.624
Everybody that came here to hear us talk about comics and podcasting tune in because, you know, Jim, since co-creating the site and a decade plus over at comicbook.com, you've recently again made that switch over to Image Comics, accepting that position as the head of business development.

00:18:00.624 --> 00:18:06.640
So it's been about a year since that was announced and you've taken on this year in April.

00:18:06.779 --> 00:18:08.882
How's that transition been for you so far?

00:18:08.983 --> 00:18:10.473
It's been phenomenal.

00:18:10.734 --> 00:18:18.656
mean, was starting comic book was to me looking back on it, like a once in a lifetime kind of experience.

00:18:19.676 --> 00:18:28.179
The early years sucked in a sense where I didn't know necessarily what I was getting myself into.

00:18:30.819 --> 00:18:38.342
was an experience that has afforded me so many once in a lifetime ish kind of things.

00:18:38.645 --> 00:18:58.040
for a lot of like even for just like even, you know, kind of for anyone in a sense, getting the opportunity to go to go to movie sets and see how those get put together to go to junkets and do some interviews with, you know, some bucket list people I can ever like I've, I've loved Joaquin Phoenix for a really long time.

00:18:58.040 --> 00:19:00.271
Did I ever think I'd have the opportunity to interview him?

00:19:00.271 --> 00:19:01.592
No, absolutely not.

00:19:01.592 --> 00:19:05.634
More, more than that, I ever think I have the opportunity to make him chuckle.

00:19:05.634 --> 00:19:07.246
No, and I did.

00:19:07.246 --> 00:19:10.306
for Joker and I was like, oh, okay, here we go.

00:19:10.566 --> 00:19:25.086
But more importantly, the team that I was able to put together there is hands down, will say is one of the best digital editorial teams that anyone could ever ask for.

00:19:25.425 --> 00:19:33.306
And I have seen that digital business change a lot over 10 years, right?

00:19:33.306 --> 00:19:36.230
Because the hardest...

00:19:36.258 --> 00:19:40.799
heart of that is there is so much of it that's not in your control.

00:19:42.521 --> 00:19:59.000
Where you're at the whim of distribution algorithms, whether it's Facebook or Twitter or Google or whatever, really managing the like that stuff, managing the flow of your traffic, especially in the early years is hard because you're not a destination yet.

00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:05.294
You're not someone you're not a place where people can go to reliably for x, y or z.

00:20:06.134 --> 00:20:09.536
And so we had to figure out what our niche was going to be when we started it.

00:20:09.536 --> 00:20:14.778
And so the site got started at a time when Avengers had just come out.

00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:21.801
Age of Ultron was was about to release maybe a little bit.

00:20:22.383 --> 00:20:33.239
And you either had comic book sites like CBR where they were they were very much a comic book site and not necessarily a movie and TV site or you had movie and TV sites.

00:20:33.239 --> 00:20:35.039
You didn't have anything in between.

00:20:35.733 --> 00:20:52.057
And so I took some advice I had gotten when I was at Marvel in promoting some of those books and applied it to like the ethos of what the early days of comic book would become where we were going to be the in between site.

00:20:52.057 --> 00:20:54.380
That was the void we were going to fill.

00:20:54.380 --> 00:20:59.433
We were going to be the place that was new reader friendly in a sense.

00:20:59.433 --> 00:21:04.798
So someone who sees Thanos at the end of the movie in the post credit scene.

00:21:04.915 --> 00:21:15.450
has no idea who Thanos is, but needs to bone up and learn so they can tell their friends and be the smartest person in their friend group can come to comic book and figure that out and understand why.

00:21:15.450 --> 00:21:21.413
But also comic book will be the place that tells you why Thanos in the in the MCU is a huge deal.

00:21:21.413 --> 00:21:29.516
And then on the flip side of that, here are some great Thanos stories that we either that like the new reader can go read to catch up.

00:21:29.516 --> 00:21:34.938
But here here are the must read Thanos stories that we think is going to influence.

00:21:35.862 --> 00:21:39.002
whatever character's role in the MCU was going to be.

00:21:39.383 --> 00:21:41.344
And there was nothing like that at the time.

00:21:41.344 --> 00:21:49.586
Also at the time, everyone was writing these very long articles buried under not so great headlines.

00:21:50.205 --> 00:21:59.949
And if an interview had come out with a star or a comic creator or whatever, so much good stuff would get lost in a bad headline.

00:22:00.589 --> 00:22:02.630
And we...

00:22:03.564 --> 00:22:11.240
would look at that stuff as like a Christmas dinner turkey and we would carve it up until there was nothing but the bones left.

00:22:11.421 --> 00:22:14.423
And we bite-sized served all of it.

00:22:14.423 --> 00:22:25.071
So if there were three really good things said in that one big interview, it was gonna be three different stories on comicbook.com.

00:22:25.292 --> 00:22:38.223
My thought process was if someone were to just come to comicbook.com and just scroll get two or three swipes of the homepage, they would feel caught up.

00:22:38.365 --> 00:22:40.506
And if they wanted to dive deeper, they could.

00:22:40.506 --> 00:22:46.847
If they had an extended bathroom break, they could read an article or two or whatever, right?

00:22:46.847 --> 00:22:49.920
And that was the foundation in which we built it on.

00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:50.829
And it worked.

00:22:50.829 --> 00:22:53.621
it's what people wanted.

00:22:53.621 --> 00:22:58.353
And so I learned so much about audience development in a sense, right?

00:22:58.353 --> 00:23:00.117
And how...

00:23:00.226 --> 00:23:04.577
you know, a lot of people like to throw the phrase clickbait around and you know, things like that.

00:23:04.577 --> 00:23:15.374
And it's like, look, just because you had to click into a story to read what someone said or whatever, like every headline is clickbait, right?

00:23:15.374 --> 00:23:24.319
Like, and so like you're, you're not clickbait is if you click into something and you don't get what you're looking for, right?

00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:25.920
That is clickbait.

00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:33.748
If, if something is obscured in a headline, because the person wants you to click in to read to find out.

00:23:34.248 --> 00:23:36.929
One, clearly you're interested because you want to find out.

00:23:36.929 --> 00:23:39.010
Two, you're going to get your answer.

00:23:39.010 --> 00:23:40.030
It's not clickbait.

00:23:40.030 --> 00:23:47.805
If we don't tell you X character shows up in a thing, but we tell you a very important character is going to show up, we're not going to put that spoiler out in the headline.

00:23:47.805 --> 00:23:49.484
We're going to put it in the story.

00:23:49.484 --> 00:23:50.736
We're going to bury it.

00:23:50.736 --> 00:23:53.876
And so that's the whole point of a headline.

00:23:53.876 --> 00:23:55.544
The whole point of a headline.

00:23:55.544 --> 00:23:56.162
Right.

00:23:56.162 --> 00:23:59.913
Like if you just like if you not open that's gonna sound crazy, right?

00:23:59.913 --> 00:24:01.535
Like have you not opened up a newspaper?

00:24:01.535 --> 00:24:03.385
Like you're reading a headline.

00:24:03.385 --> 00:24:06.967
If you want to find out more, like it needs to catch your eye.

00:24:07.208 --> 00:24:14.111
But it's but it's but like so but then but like the explosion of social media happened during over the course of those 10 years.

00:24:14.111 --> 00:24:15.622
Twitter changed immensely.

00:24:15.622 --> 00:24:17.472
Facebook changed immensely.

00:24:17.472 --> 00:24:23.311
And they became, and then they almost became echo chambers in a way, right?

00:24:23.311 --> 00:24:28.556
Like you had the whole Snyder verse cult grow kind of out of that.

00:24:28.556 --> 00:24:34.339
And you really got to see the good, the bad, and the ugly of what these platforms then had to offer.

00:24:34.339 --> 00:24:36.971
so it became hard, right?

00:24:36.971 --> 00:24:37.471
And interesting.

00:24:37.471 --> 00:24:48.450
so like, so, but then at that point, like we grow our video operations, we do some podcasts, you know, we get bought by Paramount, which at the time was just CBS.

00:24:48.450 --> 00:25:01.376
But we inevitably start working for Paramount and then we become a soft marketing arm for the company just to make sure that we can get stuff, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailers and things like that, whatever.

00:25:02.097 --> 00:25:03.919
But we always had our independence, right?

00:25:03.919 --> 00:25:08.280
If we didn't like turtles, we could say we didn't like turtles.

00:25:08.281 --> 00:25:11.363
They never got involved with us that way.

00:25:11.844 --> 00:25:16.326
But the thing that begins to drain on you is the everyday news cycle.

00:25:17.288 --> 00:25:24.930
And it is I am I just turned 37 and so you know I'm not that is a young person's game.

00:25:25.450 --> 00:25:35.690
And like I had that I believe everyone again I had the best team in the business to do it and I didn't have to worry about it necessarily as much as I as I got older and got through it.

00:25:35.690 --> 00:25:41.089
But like those early days like if you're not first you're last in a sense.

00:25:41.089 --> 00:25:44.998
And so if news broke you needed to get it up it needed to it needed to come out.

00:25:45.006 --> 00:25:48.165
All of that stuff needed to happen immediately.

00:25:49.086 --> 00:25:53.945
And like I said, those early days were tough.

00:25:54.105 --> 00:25:55.705
They were long hours.

00:25:56.625 --> 00:25:58.326
You know, it wasn't great for my mental health.

00:25:58.326 --> 00:26:03.625
It wasn't great for my personal relationships because I needed this to be a success.

00:26:03.625 --> 00:26:06.925
I had already devoted so much to it.

00:26:06.986 --> 00:26:08.645
I obviously had equity in it.

00:26:08.645 --> 00:26:15.077
so the ultimate goal was to sell it if it didn't work.

00:26:16.268 --> 00:26:20.672
I would have wasted X amount of years of a career not really doing much of anything.

00:26:20.672 --> 00:26:22.542
And so I needed it to work.

00:26:23.263 --> 00:26:27.317
And so it's like I said, you know, I got to travel the world because of it.

00:26:27.317 --> 00:26:32.551
I got to do all, I got to moderate a ton of panels, which I love doing.

00:26:32.678 --> 00:26:43.622
I got to help people who inevitably would become friends of mine, like make sure that people, you know, paid attention to some of their projects that they were putting out.

00:26:43.726 --> 00:26:48.185
And so it was super gratifying and a lot of people say, oh, you know, it's a very powerful position.

00:26:48.185 --> 00:26:53.026
I was like, okay, if that's like weird conspiracy shit, like, yeah, sure.

00:26:53.026 --> 00:26:57.246
Did I have the, did I have the biggest comic book site in, the industry?

00:26:57.246 --> 00:26:57.986
Yes.

00:26:57.986 --> 00:27:02.746
Did, did I have a site that was as big as the Hollywood reporter and variety at one point?

00:27:02.746 --> 00:27:04.286
Yes, absolutely.

00:27:04.286 --> 00:27:06.425
Did I take any of it for granted?

00:27:06.425 --> 00:27:07.326
No.

00:27:07.826 --> 00:27:17.425
But inevitably my heart was always in comics and, and, and it was As the site began, the movie and TV stuff started drawing the most traffic.

00:27:18.006 --> 00:27:24.066
I always needed to make sure that there was still very solid, competent comics coverage on the site.

00:27:24.066 --> 00:27:31.945
were one of the, when IGN used to review every comic book that came out on a Wednesday, when they stopped, I said, we're doing it now.

00:27:32.726 --> 00:27:34.965
we're going to, you know, right.

00:27:34.965 --> 00:27:40.127
And so, and we did basically bullet reviews for every Marvel and DC book, almost every image book.

00:27:40.127 --> 00:27:55.671
And then, you know, the, the bigger of the other smaller independent publishers, because for me, as a comic book reader, as a fan growing up, like I got into comics late, I didn't get into comics until 2008 when Ed Brubaker killed Captain America.

00:27:55.671 --> 00:27:58.614
And I saw it, was, it was front page of the daily news.

00:27:58.614 --> 00:28:00.414
I was living in New York city at the time.

00:28:00.414 --> 00:28:02.636
It was on every news channel.

00:28:02.636 --> 00:28:05.690
My parents are calling me about it, asking me what the hell is going on.

00:28:05.690 --> 00:28:07.902
And I'm like, I don't know.

00:28:07.902 --> 00:28:19.363
But like, them being able to get that mainstream with that kind of story that came out of the comics made me want to do what I inevitably made my career out of.

00:28:19.363 --> 00:28:23.526
wanted to bring, I was always a superhero fan growing up.

00:28:23.526 --> 00:28:24.938
loved, you know, Marvel and DC.

00:28:24.938 --> 00:28:26.338
So I just didn't really read the comics.

00:28:26.338 --> 00:28:27.950
Like I read a few here and there.

00:28:27.950 --> 00:28:31.834
And then, like that, like that was the moment, Captain America 25.

00:28:31.834 --> 00:28:33.394
I read everything.

00:28:33.973 --> 00:28:35.666
I went to Midtown Comics.

00:28:35.666 --> 00:28:40.481
I subscribed to, I said, Give me every book that's coming out of a civil war.

00:28:40.481 --> 00:28:41.772
was the initiative era.

00:28:41.772 --> 00:28:43.032
It was Avengers Academy.

00:28:43.032 --> 00:28:44.854
All that was like, me everything.

00:28:44.854 --> 00:28:49.406
And then I read everything back, basically as far back as I could.

00:28:49.406 --> 00:28:51.718
And I picked and choose like where I was going to go or whatever.

00:28:51.718 --> 00:28:53.659
But like, that's where I got started.

00:28:53.659 --> 00:28:57.820
And like I tell, it's the thing I tell like wrestling fans, like you don't need, you don't need the history.

00:28:57.820 --> 00:29:00.762
Like the history helps, but like jump in.

00:29:00.762 --> 00:29:03.884
If you're going to get a good story, great.

00:29:03.884 --> 00:29:07.046
And then comics will give you an experience like nothing else.

00:29:07.074 --> 00:29:10.797
There is no medium that can do what comics does.

00:29:10.836 --> 00:29:16.481
And when you see how a good story is told in comics, you will be hooked forever.

00:29:16.481 --> 00:29:30.083
so, my love for comics, even though I came to it later, rooted itself so deep into my entire personality that I needed to make sure that that coverage remained on comic.

00:29:30.083 --> 00:29:36.508
And so because of that, I got to meet people like Robert Kirkman and Todd McFarland.

00:29:36.778 --> 00:29:48.162
and Eric Stevenson and Rob Liefeld and all that who I got to a point in my comic book career and I have been talking for a very long time so I am sorry.

00:29:48.162 --> 00:30:07.200
I got to a point in my comicbook.com career where the burnout was really starting to set in and I wanted to be doing more in comics and you ask anyone who has gotten out of comics and gotten a quote big boy job.

00:30:08.161 --> 00:30:14.644
Why someone would go back to comics, you only go back to comics if you absolutely love comics.

00:30:15.464 --> 00:30:17.246
And I absolutely love comics.

00:30:17.246 --> 00:30:19.557
I love every single aspect of it.

00:30:19.557 --> 00:30:23.930
I love the creators that put that are putting these stories together.

00:30:23.930 --> 00:30:26.761
I love the stories that are coming out from from these careers.

00:30:26.761 --> 00:30:28.272
I love the direct market.

00:30:28.272 --> 00:30:36.832
The direct market is the only retail system in place that exists as it does.

00:30:36.832 --> 00:30:48.257
You've got your hobby shops and you've got your card shops and things like that, but there is nothing like the direct market and comic shops for very long time have gotten a real bad rap like the don't get me wrong.

00:30:48.257 --> 00:30:56.720
There are some there are some not great comic book shops, but for every not great comic book shops, I guarantee you there are two or three really fucking good ones.

00:30:57.020 --> 00:30:59.713
and you just and once you find one of those.

00:30:59.713 --> 00:31:00.193
That's it.

00:31:00.193 --> 00:31:00.795
Game over.

00:31:00.795 --> 00:31:01.414
You're there.

00:31:01.414 --> 00:31:04.997
And the communities that pop out from them, that's what it's about.

00:31:04.997 --> 00:31:05.577
Right.

00:31:05.577 --> 00:31:11.471
And no matter at the end of the day, you can have your discords, you can have your Facebook groups, you can have your online communities.

00:31:11.471 --> 00:31:12.922
Those are all very, very important.

00:31:12.922 --> 00:31:13.592
Don't get me wrong.

00:31:13.592 --> 00:31:14.383
Reddit, right?

00:31:14.383 --> 00:31:15.103
Absolutely.

00:31:15.103 --> 00:31:23.688
But there's nothing like getting together with friends, hanging out in a comic book shop every Wednesday, talking about new books, talking about what's going on or whatever.

00:31:24.269 --> 00:31:25.969
There's there's nothing like it.

00:31:26.925 --> 00:31:39.105
And so when the opportunity, you know, there was an opportunity that came up at image that was like, Hey, we would love to have someone who has your skill set to do X, Y, or Z, X, and Z of these things.

00:31:39.105 --> 00:31:41.965
And it was like, you know, it was build, it was build more community.

00:31:41.965 --> 00:31:43.605
was reinforced the image brand.

00:31:43.605 --> 00:31:51.046
was, um, you know, help creators like really get an understanding of like social media and new promotion and new media promotion and things like that.

00:31:51.046 --> 00:31:52.165
And they're like, you've done all of that.

00:31:52.165 --> 00:31:52.865
I was like, yes, I have.

00:31:52.865 --> 00:31:55.266
And I was like, I would love nothing more say less.

00:31:55.266 --> 00:31:56.726
I'm in basically.

00:31:56.726 --> 00:31:57.226
Right.

00:31:57.226 --> 00:32:07.028
And so now I get to say, not only do I get to say like my bosses are now Todd McFarlane, Robert Kirkman, Eric Stevenson, Eric Larson and that group.

00:32:07.028 --> 00:32:07.949
Right.

00:32:08.449 --> 00:32:13.371
But like, they're also my coworkers, which is appears like boom.

00:32:13.371 --> 00:32:14.330
Right.

00:32:14.411 --> 00:32:21.893
And and so like, like to be able to like hop on the phone and talk to Todd about how to promote an upcoming issue, a spawn or a new book that he's got coming out.

00:32:21.893 --> 00:32:23.473
Fucking pinch me.

00:32:23.693 --> 00:32:24.654
Right.

00:32:24.654 --> 00:32:27.478
Only in comics Only in comics.

00:32:27.837 --> 00:32:44.917
And and so like so I'm so again, I I am so blessed because I know this is a position and it's a career that so many people would legitimately take my life for and just body snatch me and replace me and whatever.

00:32:44.917 --> 00:32:48.938
And so to be able to do what I do is is truly a godsend.

00:32:48.938 --> 00:32:50.837
And and I love it.

00:32:50.837 --> 00:32:57.603
And and like honestly, the biggest thing that being an image now lets me do is it lets me be creative again.

00:32:59.505 --> 00:33:18.637
working on the social for Image and doing the podcast and coming up with ways to get people excited about stuff flexes a creativity muscle that I have not been working out for a while because I got so caught up in the last days of comic book doing a bunch of real boring middle management bullshit.

00:33:19.338 --> 00:33:21.941
And so yeah, I think that answers the question.

00:33:23.554 --> 00:33:30.959
I think there's a lot to chew on there and I'm glad I got the long version because I feel like there's so much we can build from there.

00:33:30.959 --> 00:33:34.020
I do want to say firstly that like I'm in the same boat as you.

00:33:34.020 --> 00:33:43.228
Growing up, I was someone who was constantly loving some form of comic book related media, but not reading comics until I got into about high school.

00:33:43.228 --> 00:33:48.891
So similar time frame, I'd say like around 2008 to 2010 era, somewhere in that range.

00:33:48.891 --> 00:33:52.430
was actually for me, it was the Court of Ous storyline with Snyder and Capullo.

00:33:52.430 --> 00:33:53.198
Right there, yeah.

00:33:53.198 --> 00:33:55.758
Yeah, that was the first book that I ever put on a pool.

00:33:55.758 --> 00:34:01.337
was the first book that I went to my comic shop each month, you know, for the new issue.

00:34:01.337 --> 00:34:02.528
it's Scott's Scott.

00:34:02.528 --> 00:34:06.855
earlier run on detective to me is still some of the best back in stories ever told.

00:34:06.855 --> 00:34:07.134
Yeah.

00:34:07.134 --> 00:34:07.895
Black mirror.

00:34:07.895 --> 00:34:08.266
Yep.

00:34:08.266 --> 00:34:09.327
All that.

00:34:09.503 --> 00:34:10.443
Yeah.

00:34:10.443 --> 00:34:10.934
yeah.

00:34:10.934 --> 00:34:12.746
And, know, I've talked to Scott here on the show.

00:34:12.746 --> 00:34:14.818
I'm sure you've talked to him at some point throughout your career.

00:34:14.818 --> 00:34:21.054
And it's funny to hear him talk about that time era because he was he's he's still to this day says I shouldn't have been there.

00:34:21.054 --> 00:34:22.704
I should have been right in the book.

00:34:23.505 --> 00:34:26.648
They didn't give me any sort of prompt on what to do next.

00:34:26.648 --> 00:34:31.793
So I just sort of made Dick Batman and then made Commissioner Gordon's son crazy.

00:34:31.793 --> 00:34:32.914
And then we went from there.

00:34:32.914 --> 00:34:33.224
Right.

00:34:33.224 --> 00:34:38.376
Like and it's just I sort of love that sort of serendipity within comics and.

00:34:38.376 --> 00:35:09.010
you sort of articulate it really well and I want to sort of echo it all is that when it comes to working in comics and I don't want to pretend that the oblivion bar is like you know comic journalism we are so not that we are I think what best describes the oblivion bar is we are just sort of a hub for celebration you know we want to we want to promote the medium and that's what we have to do I think if you could take anything from what you know Jen what you just said there and what I often will try to promote here on the podcast is that if we want good and world of comics.

00:35:09.010 --> 00:35:11.909
If we want good in the medium, we have to be the ones that put that out there.

00:35:11.909 --> 00:35:12.269
Right.

00:35:12.269 --> 00:35:21.809
Because there are people like you were saying when you worked at comicbook.com, you know, and not all Steiner Bros are jerks, but let's be honest, a lot of them kind of were in some capacity or another.

00:35:21.809 --> 00:35:27.510
And there are people out there that will hate read books and then complain about them on the internet.

00:35:27.510 --> 00:35:36.949
And some people who aren't privy to like comic book discourse or where to find proper comic book dialogue think that is what fandom is.

00:35:36.949 --> 00:35:38.155
And it's so not.

00:35:38.155 --> 00:35:50.851
what you're doing at Let's Talk Comics and what I hope we're doing here at the Blooming Bar, what Brian and Lisa are doing at the Comic Book Couples Counseling, what Greg and company are doing at the First Issue Club, Bodder and company are doing at the Short Box and so on.

00:35:50.851 --> 00:36:03.157
What we're all trying to do, and this is my long-winded response to yours, is that we're all just trying to participate in this in some way, in some fashion to show that comics are fucking awesome.

00:36:04.108 --> 00:36:04.447
Yeah.

00:36:04.447 --> 00:36:10.041
mean, like, look, like you're so right in that it's there.

00:36:10.101 --> 00:36:15.123
This is an industry that loves to talk about its doom and gloom more than anything I've ever seen.

00:36:15.123 --> 00:36:16.324
Right.

00:36:16.565 --> 00:36:20.807
Every fucking day, the comic book industry is the margins.

00:36:20.807 --> 00:36:21.228
Yeah.

00:36:21.228 --> 00:36:27.431
And like, there's just like to go back to use a wrestling term, right?

00:36:27.431 --> 00:36:33.916
Like there is there is a wrestling term for fans who think they know how the business is run there.

00:36:33.916 --> 00:36:35.847
They're called smart marks.

00:36:38.027 --> 00:36:47.351
the mark is mark is more usually used as a as drug or term is like someone who thinks they know, but they don't know.

00:36:47.351 --> 00:36:51.793
And like they got they got got by the story in a sense, right?

00:36:51.793 --> 00:36:56.215
Smart marks are even worse because they think they know how the story is going to go.

00:36:56.215 --> 00:36:58.567
And they're going to tell people, well, this is how it's supposed to be.

00:36:58.567 --> 00:36:59.681
And this is what's going to happen.

00:36:59.681 --> 00:37:01.878
And then when it doesn't happen, they look like assholes.

00:37:03.570 --> 00:37:06.070
There's a lot of that in comics.

00:37:06.152 --> 00:37:10.753
But I think at the end of the day, it all comes from a good place.

00:37:10.753 --> 00:37:14.485
think people just, want to feel included.

00:37:14.485 --> 00:37:21.527
They see comics as potentially being a home for them to find some friends and things like that.

00:37:21.527 --> 00:37:28.320
And so there's always going to be the friend in a group that knows everything.

00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:36.673
And think everyone always wants to be the person that someone has to go to for knowledge, right?

00:37:37.635 --> 00:37:52.157
And comics, unfortunately, for whatever reason can sometimes be a bad place where bad actors kind of come in and the grift happens and we've seen them come, we've seen them go, they will always exist.

00:37:52.157 --> 00:37:53.367
They exist in every industry.

00:37:53.367 --> 00:38:04.356
It's not, but I think for comics, they get a bit more of a magnifying glass put on them because it's just, it's, it's just that much smaller of, of an industry.

00:38:04.958 --> 00:38:10.639
And, but inevitably at the end of the day, or like here's a good example.

00:38:11.201 --> 00:38:26.610
I did a, I was, I did an interview on CBS news about, where the question, the question that gets thrown all the time when they talk to someone who's a professional geek in the space is, Well, talk to me about superhero fatigue.

00:38:26.610 --> 00:38:28.389
Like, is it is it real?

00:38:29.190 --> 00:38:34.909
I was like, and so and and my go to line is no, there's not superhero fatigue.

00:38:34.909 --> 00:38:37.349
There is mediocre content fatigue.

00:38:37.349 --> 00:38:37.929
Right.

00:38:37.929 --> 00:38:38.530
There is.

00:38:38.530 --> 00:38:51.670
There is too much mediocre bullshit, whether it is on television, on your streaming service, movies being put out and comic books on your shelf.

00:38:51.670 --> 00:38:54.195
There is too much.

00:38:54.195 --> 00:38:56.567
shit out there.

00:38:56.567 --> 00:39:05.518
And so people are tired of getting suckered into buying something they think is going to be quality and realizing it's not.

00:39:05.518 --> 00:39:06.750
can't there.

00:39:06.750 --> 00:39:09.440
Netflix cancels like 30 shows a week, it feels like.

00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:14.751
And half of them, you don't even know what they were that they even had a season one, let alone a season two.

00:39:14.751 --> 00:39:15.652
Right.

00:39:15.952 --> 00:39:19.454
That needs to happen in other industries more, I think.

00:39:19.454 --> 00:39:21.094
Like there need to.

00:39:22.059 --> 00:39:36.980
It's a while because the during the pandemic, we're still feeling the move, the ramifications of the pandemic in movies because there are still less movies coming out than there were at the before the before the pandemic.

00:39:37.141 --> 00:39:43.644
But for whatever reason, again, from a quality standpoint, it all just feels right.

00:39:43.644 --> 00:39:45.806
Like there's something.

00:39:45.806 --> 00:39:45.976
Right.

00:39:45.976 --> 00:39:47.347
And the strikes to right.

00:39:47.347 --> 00:39:50.190
We're like it's something that's like not actively bad.

00:39:50.190 --> 00:39:53.192
but there's also stuff that is not actively exciting.

00:39:53.192 --> 00:39:58.556
And so the problem is, is the good stuff, the really good stuff gets lost in the mix.

00:39:58.556 --> 00:40:03.918
And so because it gets lost in the mix, it doesn't have the opportunity to thrive and survive.

00:40:04.460 --> 00:40:06.199
And so like, there's no superhero fatigue.

00:40:06.199 --> 00:40:13.076
It's just like, we just need to get through this rut of just mediocre content in a sense, right?

00:40:13.076 --> 00:40:20.119
And, you know, I don't want to toot my own horn here, but an image We got the goods.

00:40:20.119 --> 00:40:22.478
We got good shit.

00:40:23.260 --> 00:40:25.161
We got that good good.

00:40:25.161 --> 00:40:25.820
Right.

00:40:25.820 --> 00:40:36.864
I can list off any number of books that we're putting out and I would put them toe to toe with 90 percent of the line that Marvel is putting out 90 percent of the line DC is putting out.

00:40:36.864 --> 00:40:45.489
You will have more enjoyment reading the power fantasy which is everything that Marvel told Kieran Gillan he couldn't do on X-Men in this book.

00:40:45.489 --> 00:40:47.070
And it's better for it.

00:40:47.070 --> 00:40:47.960
Bug Wars.

00:40:47.960 --> 00:40:49.070
comes out this week.

00:40:49.070 --> 00:40:56.474
It's everything that Marvel told Jason and Momma that they could not do in Conan, they are doing in Bug Wars.

00:40:56.474 --> 00:40:58.835
And it's better because of it.

00:40:59.255 --> 00:41:10.822
Radiant Black by Kyle Higgins is everything that Boom and Hasbro said he couldn't do in Power Rangers, he's doing in his own book, and it's better because of it.

00:41:10.822 --> 00:41:11.262
Right?

00:41:11.262 --> 00:41:16.557
It's one of those, now I'm about to like, we're going to church right here in Ascent.

00:41:16.557 --> 00:41:23.498
So really, before you go on, there's no comparison to this, but I was reading Dennis Camp's assorted crisis event.

00:41:24.777 --> 00:41:27.918
it's like incredible stuff.

00:41:28.077 --> 00:41:32.918
the big ideas that that guy has that you see on display in Ultimates.

00:41:32.918 --> 00:41:33.518
Oh, look, don't get wrong.

00:41:33.518 --> 00:41:34.938
Ultimates is a good book.

00:41:34.938 --> 00:41:39.137
so that's a book that, okay, pay attention to that book.

00:41:39.137 --> 00:41:40.898
That's a good one, right?

00:41:40.898 --> 00:41:44.398
But you can see the big ideas happen in that book.

00:41:44.398 --> 00:41:49.137
And assorted crisis events, that book is not out yet, but it needs to be on your radar.

00:41:50.577 --> 00:41:52.878
Every good idea needs a boundary, right?

00:41:52.878 --> 00:41:53.898
You need...

00:41:53.898 --> 00:41:58.463
Every world being created in these, every story needs rules.

00:41:58.903 --> 00:42:05.951
And the way Dennis follows the rules he makes for the books he creates makes his books better.

00:42:06.492 --> 00:42:09.516
And he's got such big ideas.

00:42:09.516 --> 00:42:14.521
And when he's paired with an artist like Eric, it is just like, is gorgeous.

00:42:14.668 --> 00:42:17.925
Not to mention Jordy And Jordy and his son, right?

00:42:17.925 --> 00:42:20.367
Like that's like that's the other thing.

00:42:20.847 --> 00:42:23.688
There are just there are so many talented people in this business.

00:42:23.688 --> 00:42:27.449
It is it is just freaking crazy.

00:42:27.509 --> 00:42:31.449
But like but but like, OK, so but like here's here's where I am.

00:42:31.449 --> 00:42:33.931
I will probably get myself in some hot water, so I'm sorry.

00:42:33.931 --> 00:42:41.103
There there are plenty of, quote, creator owned publishers out there that are that are not creator owned.

00:42:41.103 --> 00:42:44.523
They are creator participation, creator participation.

00:42:44.523 --> 00:42:44.934
Right.

00:42:44.934 --> 00:42:46.027
Your booms.

00:42:46.027 --> 00:42:49.018
your own ease, your distilleries, whatever.

00:42:49.018 --> 00:42:56.742
Image is the only publisher that a creator comes in and they own everything.

00:42:58.963 --> 00:42:59.784
And it's crazy.

00:42:59.784 --> 00:43:01.844
Image has been around for 33 plus years.

00:43:01.844 --> 00:43:11.728
It's the same deal that the founders themselves put together for themselves is still the same deal today.

00:43:12.509 --> 00:43:13.389
Right.

00:43:14.050 --> 00:43:15.054
Dennis Camp.

00:43:15.054 --> 00:43:19.833
has the same deal as Todd McFarlane, right?

00:43:19.833 --> 00:43:22.614
It doesn't exist anywhere else, right?

00:43:22.614 --> 00:43:23.994
Now don't get me wrong.

00:43:24.873 --> 00:43:32.373
Does that mean there are different, are there different, is a different set of challenges potentially doing a book and image than potentially anywhere else?

00:43:32.373 --> 00:43:34.273
Yes, absolutely.

00:43:36.313 --> 00:43:40.793
Has there been a lot of changes to try and make some of those challenges easier?

00:43:41.034 --> 00:43:42.853
100%, that's why I'm here.

00:43:42.853 --> 00:43:43.554
And no, we're wrong.

00:43:43.554 --> 00:43:47.259
The team that we've got there is They're some of the best in the business.

00:43:47.259 --> 00:43:58.684
Alex Cox, who manages the direct market sales, Kat Salazar, who does PR, Margot Wood, who manages the book market, all under the leadership of Eric Stephenson.

00:43:58.684 --> 00:44:08.990
These are some very talented people with an insane amount of experience doing the good work.

00:44:08.990 --> 00:44:14.722
it's like, have, it's the reason, reason, I know we were going to get to this.

00:44:14.722 --> 00:44:24.644
The reason Let's Talk Comics is back is because if I were to do it during my time at Comic Book, it wouldn't be mine.

00:44:25.405 --> 00:44:29.846
And when I did it the first time, I had so much fun doing it.

00:44:29.846 --> 00:44:34.766
The community that I was able to grow around it, I absolutely loved.

00:44:35.527 --> 00:44:38.009
And I thought about it once a year.

00:44:38.009 --> 00:44:39.418
Maybe this is the year I do it.

00:44:39.418 --> 00:44:40.818
I really miss doing it.

00:44:40.818 --> 00:44:43.610
I want to be able to do this.

00:44:44.302 --> 00:44:48.342
I couldn't bring myself to make it happen.

00:44:49.041 --> 00:44:53.461
And so when I started at Image, Eric had said, we had a podcast.

00:44:53.461 --> 00:44:55.481
We'd love to bring a podcast back.

00:44:55.702 --> 00:44:57.621
Would you do it?

00:44:57.621 --> 00:44:59.742
You have experience doing it.

00:45:00.001 --> 00:45:01.601
And I said, yeah, sure.

00:45:01.601 --> 00:45:03.322
But let me pitch you this.

00:45:03.581 --> 00:45:05.961
Can I bring back my old podcast?

00:45:06.322 --> 00:45:09.358
And can it still be mine?

00:45:09.358 --> 00:45:11.882
Can I create or own that whole podcast?

00:45:12.181 --> 00:45:16.844
Talk Comics is the podcast version of the image deal at image.

00:45:16.885 --> 00:45:32.233
And it's why for them to let me do it that way and still get to and I look that they don't know one at image tells me who I have to talk to or who I can or can't talk to.

00:45:32.233 --> 00:45:33.614
I could talk to whoever I want.

00:45:33.614 --> 00:45:34.885
And I have a guest list coming up.

00:45:34.885 --> 00:45:37.795
People who are very much outside of the image space.

00:45:37.795 --> 00:45:40.478
Am I talking to people who all have books and image right now?

00:45:40.478 --> 00:45:40.927
Yeah.

00:45:40.927 --> 00:45:41.858
Absolutely.

00:45:41.858 --> 00:45:46.981
like, these are, I don't shy away from any of the work that they've done previously.

00:45:46.981 --> 00:45:48.231
We talk about their Marvel work.

00:45:48.231 --> 00:45:53.894
We talk about any of their other work for hire stuff and the challenges and stuff that come from it.

00:45:53.894 --> 00:45:58.436
And so it's not, but is there time reserved at the end for their upcoming image book?

00:45:58.436 --> 00:46:04.329
Yeah, but it makes sense because it's, because everything that they've done to this point leads to this.

00:46:04.856 --> 00:46:09.199
Plus, think people would come to Let's Talk Comics to hear about image books.

00:46:09.199 --> 00:46:10.621
think that's fair.

00:46:11.606 --> 00:46:12.746
Yeah, absolutely.

00:46:12.746 --> 00:46:22.461
like, does that, but like we just talked about, like Cody Rhodes is going to be on the show and like we're going to talk about, we're going to talk about nerding out and his love of just geek culture and stuff like that.

00:46:22.461 --> 00:46:22.751
Right.

00:46:22.751 --> 00:46:23.072
Sure.

00:46:23.072 --> 00:46:23.793
Sure.

00:46:23.793 --> 00:46:25.353
So I can do stuff like that too.

00:46:25.353 --> 00:46:31.056
I could look, if I want to go talk to James Gunn about comics and DC or whatever, I can go do it.

00:46:31.056 --> 00:46:32.157
It's fine.

00:46:34.018 --> 00:46:35.518
and believe me, I'm going to try it.

00:46:35.518 --> 00:46:35.918
Right.

00:46:35.918 --> 00:46:42.282
Like I want to, I want to, if I can make that happen, I will because look at the end of the day, Here's what's gonna happen.

00:46:42.641 --> 00:46:48.101
If I can book James Gunn as a guest on my show, that's gonna bring a lot of people to the show.

00:46:48.362 --> 00:46:49.822
And you know what my hope is?

00:46:49.822 --> 00:46:52.601
Is that they go, wow, this show's pretty good.

00:46:52.601 --> 00:46:54.541
Let me go check out some other episodes.

00:46:54.541 --> 00:46:55.681
You know what they're gonna find?

00:46:55.681 --> 00:46:57.621
A bunch of fucking image product.

00:46:57.664 --> 00:46:59.014
Yeah, that's right.

00:46:59.297 --> 00:47:02.360
You just unlocked our marketing strategy as well.

00:47:02.521 --> 00:47:02.952
Wow.

00:47:02.952 --> 00:47:04.554
This Tom King interview is really cool.

00:47:04.554 --> 00:47:05.467
Let's see what else.

00:47:05.467 --> 00:47:07.108
Let's see who else they've talked to.

00:47:07.318 --> 00:47:09.992
That's that is the aim of the game.

00:47:09.992 --> 00:47:13.005
And if you don't get it, then you're in the wrong fucking business.

00:47:13.005 --> 00:47:13.806
OK.

00:47:14.599 --> 00:47:24.563
Yeah, you've so you've pretty much set me up perfectly for my next question, you know, and it totally was about sort of the beginnings of reinvigorating the Let's Talk comic brand.

00:47:24.563 --> 00:47:26.744
And, know, you sort of talked about it here just a moment ago.

00:47:26.744 --> 00:47:29.833
But here are some of the guests that Jim's had on the show recently.

00:47:29.833 --> 00:47:38.869
So you've got Rick Verminder, Jason Aaron, Kyle Higgins, Marjorie Lu, Junie Ba and Mahmoud Al-Sarar.

00:47:38.869 --> 00:47:39.643
OK, just make sure.

00:47:39.643 --> 00:47:39.889
Yeah.

00:47:39.889 --> 00:47:43.460
OK, so and So, and I actually prepared everyone.

00:47:43.460 --> 00:47:45.822
if you're listening now, you, I would prepare a little clip.

00:47:45.822 --> 00:47:48.909
Here is Jim talking to Marjorie Lou here just a couple of weeks ago.

00:47:48.909 --> 00:47:52.650
Then I watched the X-Men cartoon on Fox.

00:47:53.809 --> 00:47:56.690
And I think as many people did in the 90s.

00:47:56.710 --> 00:48:00.849
And I was like, oh shit, this is the X-Men?

00:48:00.849 --> 00:48:03.190
This is what everyone's been talking about?

00:48:03.190 --> 00:48:05.570
And I didn't understand.

00:48:05.869 --> 00:48:07.190
Like, oh fuck me.

00:48:07.190 --> 00:48:09.130
Cause it was so good.

00:48:09.329 --> 00:48:14.469
It was the most amazing thing I had seen ever.

00:48:14.610 --> 00:48:18.222
And I became obsessed with the cartoon, the Animated series.

00:48:18.222 --> 00:48:20.981
point in showing that is basically a awesome job.

00:48:20.981 --> 00:48:23.902
You know, talking to Marge, honestly, all these interviews are incredible.

00:48:23.902 --> 00:48:27.702
But also, you know, the and you sort of already spoke on it.

00:48:27.702 --> 00:48:29.202
So I'm just going to sort of elaborate here as well.

00:48:29.202 --> 00:48:30.362
I'm going spend my wheels.

00:48:30.442 --> 00:48:32.961
But the amount of talent you've had on the show is incredible.

00:48:32.961 --> 00:48:39.981
You talk to any podcaster, especially in the podcasting space, they'll tell you and we're at a point of privilege, I think, with the Oblivion Bar.

00:48:39.981 --> 00:48:41.461
We've had a lot of great guests on recently.

00:48:41.461 --> 00:48:44.981
We've made great connections with a lot of publishers, including Image.

00:48:44.981 --> 00:48:45.661
Shout out to Kat.

00:48:45.661 --> 00:48:46.318
Shout out to Kat.

00:48:46.318 --> 00:48:48.538
both cats actually KNC.

00:48:48.737 --> 00:48:57.237
So, you we've got that, that in our tool belt, you, on the other hand, have a rocket launcher strapped to your back.

00:48:57.518 --> 00:49:04.137
And you're, just gliding above all of us that have been doing this thing for, know, we started the podcast in April of 2020.

00:49:04.137 --> 00:49:10.940
So this is our fifth year, but my gosh, mean, Jim, I, and I have a And look, I had a little bit of a head start.

00:49:10.961 --> 00:49:15.025
I know, and I'm not trying to like downplay the beginning of Let's Talk Comics.

00:49:15.045 --> 00:49:22.250
you know, I just, want to reiterate that my whole point in saying all this was the sky's the limit with Let's Talk Comics.

00:49:22.250 --> 00:49:27.661
do a fabulous job talking to these creators, but also again, the reach is phenomenal.

00:49:27.661 --> 00:49:33.161
Look, here's here's here's how I see it, because I I recognize that in a sense.

00:49:33.161 --> 00:49:33.961
Right.

00:49:33.961 --> 00:49:38.382
I am always a believer that we were just kind of talking about it.

00:49:38.382 --> 00:49:38.501
Right.

00:49:38.501 --> 00:49:42.101
Mediocre content is that the people are tired of that.

00:49:42.101 --> 00:49:42.342
Right.

00:49:42.342 --> 00:49:49.362
But when people find the good stuff, they will they will stick with it and they will love it.

00:49:49.501 --> 00:49:56.661
And I think the comic book podcast are they're in the very same boat.

00:49:56.661 --> 00:49:57.601
Right.

00:49:58.038 --> 00:50:06.239
And I think one of the things that you guys have been able to do is show that you guys do an immense amount of preparation for, for your stuff.

00:50:06.239 --> 00:50:09.960
And you guys are also good at thinking on your feet.

00:50:10.380 --> 00:50:16.643
And like, that's something that I think I always, I've, I've told this to every, every person I ever had do interviews at comicbook.com.

00:50:16.643 --> 00:50:21.054
said, if you are reading your questions off of a list, you will fail.

00:50:21.054 --> 00:50:30.043
You you only, if you only stick to that list, you're fucked because you can't say, well, how did you prepare for this role?

00:50:30.043 --> 00:50:34.757
And then have them answer the question and then say, what was it like working with so and so?

00:50:34.757 --> 00:50:38.010
Because there's one, there's a good chance they're going to tell you what it was like working with someone.

00:50:38.010 --> 00:50:48.818
And if you're not immediately off the bats trying to come up with a follow up to that question to at least thread you to your next one, you're doing it wrong.

00:50:48.818 --> 00:50:49.398
Right.

00:50:49.398 --> 00:50:53.021
And like, look, but that's a skill that you have to learn.

00:50:53.021 --> 00:51:01.688
And the only way you can learn is by just is by listening by taking in good examples of what you're trying to do.

00:51:01.688 --> 00:51:05.360
Chris Van Vliet is a big wrestling podcaster.

00:51:05.360 --> 00:51:13.213
He got his start doing junkets and Hollywood junkets for one of the other one of the television networks or whatever.

00:51:13.954 --> 00:51:17.237
to be, in my opinion, hands down, one of the best interviewers in the game.

00:51:17.237 --> 00:51:24.661
I listened to every single one of his episodes, not because I'm a wrestling fan, but because I want to because I want to learn from him.

00:51:24.661 --> 00:51:25.541
Right.

00:51:25.981 --> 00:51:27.054
My hope.

00:51:27.054 --> 00:51:47.554
in doing Let's Talk Comics is that not only am I, you not only do I happen to get access to some pretty big names, I'm very fortunate in that sense, but my hope is that if someone then likes an interview with, Marjorie Lue, or likes an interview with Jason Aaron, and they say, wow, that guy's pretty cool, not me, Jason.

00:51:47.753 --> 00:51:53.914
If they go looking for other Jason Aaron interviews, my hope is that they find another good one, right?

00:51:54.193 --> 00:52:07.641
And because I, because I, That was how Let's Talk comics got started in the sense where I have to get, I should say this because it may come up and they're going to listen to this and I have to say it all the time.

00:52:07.762 --> 00:52:17.592
give my entire, I give all of the credit for my, the starting point of me in this industry to the I fan boy podcast.

00:52:18.253 --> 00:52:20.222
If it wasn't a lot of a lot of us.

00:52:20.222 --> 00:52:20.681
Yeah.

00:52:20.681 --> 00:52:37.400
If it wasn't for Ron, Josh, and Connor putting in a good word for some dumb Long Island kid who was going to school in the city who needed an internship at Marvel, who needed an internship and wanted to intern at Marvel, I have a very different story, right?

00:52:37.400 --> 00:52:44.835
But they were doing creator interviews that were so good that I wanted to listen to more interviews.

00:52:44.875 --> 00:52:47.326
And at the time, there weren't that many, right?

00:52:47.326 --> 00:52:50.402
was, either had iFanboy, you had Comic Geek Speak.

00:52:50.402 --> 00:52:52.313
You had John Suntras doing word balloon.

00:52:52.313 --> 00:52:56.445
And like, that was kind of it in a sense.

00:52:57.545 --> 00:52:59.106
Those are the OGs.

00:52:59.706 --> 00:53:09.666
And so I started Let's Talk Comics to hopefully be another place where people could go, in a sense, to find another interview or listen to something else.

00:53:09.666 --> 00:53:10.543
Fortunately, I was able to grow.

00:53:10.543 --> 00:53:24.304
And like now, now it's my hope that in what I get to do with Let's Talk Comics is that like, hopefully, It either inspires someone to do it better than me and say, fuck you, Jim, I'm going to do it better.

00:53:24.304 --> 00:53:25.746
Just you wait and see.

00:53:26.614 --> 00:53:27.309
Or.

00:53:27.309 --> 00:53:28.878
Which would be the image way, by the way.

00:53:28.878 --> 00:53:30.318
which would be the image way.

00:53:30.318 --> 00:53:39.661
Or more podcasts get a spotlight because then people want to go see and search more.

00:53:39.663 --> 00:53:49.697
Because podcasts, as prevalent as they are in pop culture in a sense, as big as they are, they still feel niche in a sense.

00:53:49.697 --> 00:53:50.416
Because here's the thing.

00:53:50.416 --> 00:53:51.081
Here's the thing about it.

00:53:51.081 --> 00:53:53.007
Here's what makes a good podcast.

00:53:53.027 --> 00:53:57.882
A good one feels intimate and it...

00:53:57.882 --> 00:54:02.365
And when you're listening to it, feels personal.

00:54:02.525 --> 00:54:09.532
It feels like you're in the room with whoever the hosts are in the show and you're hanging out with them.

00:54:09.532 --> 00:54:10.413
Right.

00:54:10.512 --> 00:54:34.768
And more often than not, fans and listeners don't necessarily feel, not the need to want to like, go tell someone else about a podcast that they found or whatever, but Because that experiences can be so singular to a person in a sense, it's a special thing, right?

00:54:34.768 --> 00:54:48.518
In that comic book podcasters in the way that, in the subject that we talk about and the people we talk to about them is just as important as the books themselves in a sense.

00:54:48.518 --> 00:54:53.101
Because the good comic book podcasters are good storytellers.

00:54:53.320 --> 00:54:57.422
And good stories, inevitably at the end of the day, is all anyone wants.

00:54:57.422 --> 00:54:58.282
Mm hmm.

00:54:58.282 --> 00:54:59.422
Yeah.

00:54:59.422 --> 00:55:00.592
And it's funny you say all that.

00:55:00.592 --> 00:55:08.706
I'm so glad you said this, because one of the things I was going to ask you or at least comment on during our conversation, this is the exact thing that I had in my transcript.

00:55:08.706 --> 00:55:13.748
Something I really enjoy about your show and your interview style is you give the creator space to talk.

00:55:13.748 --> 00:55:17.251
There are some stammers, a little bit of dead air, maybe some curse words.

00:55:17.251 --> 00:55:25.057
Looking at you, Marjorie, again, refer back to the clip a moment ago, but it makes it an intimate, authentic listening experience.

00:55:25.057 --> 00:55:26.088
And I think that's so important.

00:55:26.088 --> 00:55:27.009
I'm so glad you said that.

00:55:27.009 --> 00:55:30.764
I'm so glad that that's the goal with Let's Talk Comics.

00:55:30.764 --> 00:55:39.085
have the unfortunate reaction to over edit sometimes and it's something that I know is a problem and I'm trying to work on that.

00:55:39.085 --> 00:55:42.027
But it's something I really love about what you do over on your show.

00:55:42.027 --> 00:55:42.288
Right.

00:55:42.288 --> 00:55:45.621
It's a It's a it's a it's a choice.

00:55:45.621 --> 00:56:02.257
I make the choice because what it forces me to do is I have become a better public speaker because of it, because I listen to every single one of my episodes about four times, twice during the edit, once after once after the fact.

00:56:02.257 --> 00:56:03.918
Where where did I stammer?

00:56:03.918 --> 00:56:07.532
How many times did I say like how many times did I say or or whatever?

00:56:07.532 --> 00:56:08.097
Right.

00:56:08.097 --> 00:56:10.862
I can see an on an audio track before I even get to it.

00:56:10.862 --> 00:56:12.202
Oh, 100 % right.

00:56:12.202 --> 00:56:18.282
But like, what you'll find is the more the more I go on, the less it happens.

00:56:18.802 --> 00:56:29.641
And I am who I am warts and all, but like I don't, but I don't ever want the ums and the uhs and the pauses or whatever to be distracting.

00:56:30.181 --> 00:56:31.501
And so for me, I do it.

00:56:31.501 --> 00:56:40.681
I feel like I do it a lot less now only because I put a lot of work in upfront, but there are a lot of podcasts out there that, that cut a lot of that out.

00:56:41.077 --> 00:56:49.204
And to me, I to me, they they feel they feel a little bit less authentic.

00:56:49.204 --> 00:56:49.574
Right.

00:56:49.574 --> 00:56:55.510
And that like in that in that in that the the podcast is a product and like, yes, it's a product.

00:56:55.510 --> 00:56:59.572
But if the product is more important than the content.

00:57:00.875 --> 00:57:02.856
That's then I think that's where you begin.

00:57:02.856 --> 00:57:10.012
You begin to have some issues because the content is the product, not the podcast itself.

00:57:10.068 --> 00:57:12.219
The podcast itself is the vehicle.

00:57:12.750 --> 00:57:20.369
Yeah, I guess the way I defend the over editing and I hope everyone listening right now, please let me know if I'm mistaken here.

00:57:20.690 --> 00:57:30.010
I wanted to be a if this is your first time listening to the Oblivion Bar, you go, damn, what a what a well produced show like that was an easy listen.

00:57:30.010 --> 00:57:33.489
You know, there weren't a ton of like for me.

00:57:33.489 --> 00:57:35.150
And I'm trying to think of an example.

00:57:35.150 --> 00:57:39.501
David Harper, for instance, over at off panel, who I, you know, very similar to I fanboy was.

00:57:39.501 --> 00:57:41.461
And David, if he's listening, he's good friend of the show.

00:57:41.461 --> 00:57:43.481
For some reason, you're listening right now.

00:57:43.481 --> 00:57:46.442
You're going to turn red, I'm sure, because I'm to brag on you.

00:57:46.661 --> 00:57:57.181
The quality of that show is so great because it feels like it's a smooth question asked question answered responses, rebuttal question asked so on and so forth.

00:57:57.181 --> 00:58:05.581
It feels all very natural, even though if you've edited a podcast, you know, I can see when I listen to him like I know David is adding something here.

00:58:05.581 --> 00:58:07.222
I know he's adding something here.

00:58:07.222 --> 00:58:07.481
Yeah.

00:58:07.481 --> 00:58:08.422
So.

00:58:08.684 --> 00:58:10.123
That's sort of the goal, right?

00:58:10.123 --> 00:58:19.077
Yeah, but I think that the biggest difference though in David's show and David's got a phenomenal show is that the conversations are still authentic, right?

00:58:19.077 --> 00:58:25.101
Like it's not, it's not question, answer, question, answer, like someone's reading them off a card.

00:58:25.101 --> 00:58:31.853
It's question and it's follow up and you know, is it a bit more clipped?

00:58:31.853 --> 00:58:32.905
Yeah, sure.

00:58:32.905 --> 00:58:36.235
But you know, but that's not necessarily to...

00:58:36.286 --> 00:58:39.688
say that that is a detriment to that show because like I said, he's been doing it.

00:58:39.688 --> 00:58:40.128
Fuck it.

00:58:40.128 --> 00:58:42.690
Fuck 400 plus something episodes like God bless him.

00:58:42.690 --> 00:58:50.994
I like like I think he and I started at the at around the same time and I dipped when I started comic book and he kept going and God bless him for that.

00:58:51.994 --> 00:58:54.405
but there's a reason why he's so good.

00:58:54.405 --> 00:59:03.601
And there's a reason why he's one of the best comic book podcasts that are either nominated because he's because he's authentic in a sense.

00:59:03.601 --> 00:59:03.840
Right.

00:59:03.840 --> 00:59:13.561
And like that's I feel like that there is always sometimes a need to feel that you, you always want to come to something like this well prepared, right?

00:59:13.822 --> 00:59:16.103
But it's okay to not know something.

00:59:16.103 --> 00:59:25.188
And I think the minute that like that either comes up or happens during something, someone immediately thinks that is, that is something that I don't want someone to see.

00:59:25.188 --> 00:59:27.650
And it's something I should be ashamed of in the sense.

00:59:28.333 --> 00:59:37.679
And it all depends on context and things like that, where sometimes I will get chronological things wrong with the creator's work and I just keep going.

00:59:37.740 --> 00:59:40.382
Could I have gone back to edit it and re-ask the question or whatever?

00:59:40.382 --> 00:59:42.728
Yeah, no, I just acknowledge it and I keep going.

00:59:42.728 --> 00:59:45.735
go, yep, you're right, I was wrong.

00:59:45.735 --> 00:59:52.010
That doesn't make me any less prepared, only because I'm so much more prepared for everything else.

00:59:52.931 --> 00:59:55.552
And so I'm like, that's fine, it happens.

00:59:55.552 --> 01:00:09.760
But yeah, no, but to your point, I leave a lot of the ugly in there, but I think that there is something to be said in letting, letting the creators talk and letting them share their stories.

01:00:09.760 --> 01:00:19.134
And it's, and it's my job as the host to just keep us on, keep us on track and, know, and just, and continue the journey.

01:00:19.134 --> 01:00:20.005
Right.

01:00:21.385 --> 01:00:25.190
And so So thank you for noticing that.

01:00:25.190 --> 01:00:31.610
it's like, it's one of those like, cause like, it's one of those things where it's like, people are going to think I'm just lazy as shit and I don't want to edit the ums and uhs out of my podcast.

01:00:31.610 --> 01:00:34.710
I was like, no, I think that's part of the allure.

01:00:34.753 --> 01:00:35.454
No, absolutely.

01:00:35.454 --> 01:00:36.155
It is 100%.

01:00:36.155 --> 01:00:42.938
I absolutely, it kind of feels like you're sitting in on a conversation, which in one hand, I think is sort of the appeal of a podcast, right?

01:00:42.938 --> 01:00:43.798
Right.

01:00:44.099 --> 01:00:48.742
And I think I have a question here for you, but I also want to, I'm to go back a little bit here.

01:00:48.963 --> 01:00:54.606
We were talking about, you know, I fanboy and David and sort of their work in the medium.

01:00:55.847 --> 01:01:06.213
Are there any show, any podcast, any comic journalists, anybody that you sort of Maybe not try to emulate necessarily, but someone that you notice their quality and you go, you know what?

01:01:06.213 --> 01:01:11.786
I want to take this and sort of attribute it to let's talk comics or you know.

01:01:11.786 --> 01:01:19.248
Chris, what Chris Van Vliet does is like I like I would love to be the Chris Van Vliet of comical podcasts in a sense.

01:01:20.349 --> 01:01:24.161
It's a my format is my format is my format.

01:01:24.161 --> 01:01:26.382
It's the format that I that I had 10 years ago.

01:01:26.382 --> 01:01:28.342
It's the format that I have that I have today.

01:01:28.342 --> 01:01:31.273
It is a it is a walk down memory lane.

01:01:31.373 --> 01:01:41.697
It is talking about the early part of someone's career, the middle part of their career roadblocks that they came across any funny stories that they have kind of along the way.

01:01:41.967 --> 01:01:46.760
the, the last third of it, then we usually takes a turn towards craft.

01:01:47.442 --> 01:01:53.806
and in the storytelling process and putting stuff together, taking what they've learned over the course of their career, how do they apply it?

01:01:53.806 --> 01:01:57.630
And then we talk about the project, the new project at large, and then we send everybody home.

01:01:57.630 --> 01:02:01.733
That structure for me has, been, has been what, what it is.

01:02:01.733 --> 01:02:04.405
Could it, could I allow for a bit more flexibility?

01:02:04.405 --> 01:02:05.596
I think so.

01:02:05.596 --> 01:02:11.990
The other thing that I do that I, that I may start changing up is I usually only talk to one creator at a time.

01:02:12.831 --> 01:02:14.291
I don't talk to creative teams.

01:02:14.291 --> 01:02:24.503
I don't talk to multiple people at the same time, because one, the shows are long enough already and I never know when I may get the opportunity to talk to said creator again.

01:02:24.503 --> 01:02:39.085
And so I do it because I really want to be, I really want that episode for whoever I'm talking to be not to be the definitive oral history of said creator.

01:02:39.085 --> 01:02:41.327
But I want it to be close, right?

01:02:42.048 --> 01:02:49.414
There's a bonus episode that's launching the Wednesday that Bug Wars comes out, which as we're recording this, comes out tomorrow morning.

01:02:50.596 --> 01:02:58.324
When I did the episode with Jason, I had asked him about the research he had done for bugs, the bugs in the book and things like that.

01:02:58.324 --> 01:03:01.563
And he had some pretty funny anecdotes and things like that.

01:03:02.286 --> 01:03:18.896
And I thought to myself, how fun would it be to put Jason in a room with an entomologist and an entomologist for those for those looking up the word in their phone dictionary right now is a professor of bugs basically.

01:03:19.637 --> 01:03:27.016
And so I reached out to a few and I happened to hear back one of the first ones I heard back from was Dr.

01:03:27.016 --> 01:03:28.039
Adrian Smith.

01:03:28.039 --> 01:03:40.706
He's the head of the biological bug stuff at North Carolina State and he runs the that part of the natural history museum that they have over there.

01:03:40.867 --> 01:03:43.929
He also happens to be a giant Jason Aaron fan.

01:03:43.929 --> 01:03:46.181
And so this as he should be.

01:03:46.181 --> 01:03:51.686
And this morning I put the two of them on a zoom in and I framed it as a bonus episode of the show.

01:03:51.686 --> 01:03:55.259
I asked maybe two or three questions to just get them started.

01:03:55.259 --> 01:03:58.981
And then the two of them just started talking to one another and it was phenomenal.

01:03:58.981 --> 01:04:00.038
It's one of those.

01:04:00.038 --> 01:04:03.851
Jim, those are my favorite interviews where I can like, this is a good example.

01:04:03.851 --> 01:04:04.300
That's what I mean.

01:04:04.300 --> 01:04:09.775
This like as a total compliment where I can say my question and then just shut up, get the fuck out of the way.

01:04:09.775 --> 01:04:10.668
It's my favorite thing.

01:04:10.668 --> 01:04:11.329
That's it.

01:04:11.329 --> 01:04:12.625
That's how they should be.

01:04:12.625 --> 01:04:13.036
Right.

01:04:13.036 --> 01:04:14.581
Like that's like again.

01:04:14.581 --> 01:04:14.922
Right.

01:04:14.922 --> 01:04:17.793
It's it's here to hear me talk.

01:04:17.793 --> 01:04:20.369
They really talk enough on the show, especially during interviews.

01:04:20.369 --> 01:04:23.307
If you want to hear me talk, go listen to our flash movie reveal.

01:04:23.307 --> 01:04:24.217
You know what mean?

01:04:24.217 --> 01:04:24.878
Right.

01:04:24.878 --> 01:04:25.188
Yeah.

01:04:25.188 --> 01:04:25.878
A hundred percent.

01:04:25.878 --> 01:04:32.541
And so, and so, yeah, so that's, so that hits tomorrow and it's, it's very, it's a very different kind of show than I normally do.

01:04:32.541 --> 01:04:35.413
I'm very curious to see how, how people react to it.

01:04:35.413 --> 01:04:36.603
I'm sure people are going to love it.

01:04:36.603 --> 01:04:42.565
And then I'm going to get stuck doing that for doing this kind of thing for a whole bunch of other, different things, but that's fine.

01:04:42.565 --> 01:04:43.117
That's fine.

01:04:43.117 --> 01:04:43.306
Right.

01:04:43.306 --> 01:04:45.827
That's the, that's, that's why we do what we do.

01:04:45.827 --> 01:04:51.550
But, but yeah, but no, but really it's at the core of it.

01:04:51.574 --> 01:04:53.777
My show is a chat.

01:04:53.777 --> 01:04:55.159
It's an interview show.

01:04:55.159 --> 01:05:03.052
so anything I would take from another podcast is more just how to make the conversation better.

01:05:03.474 --> 01:05:04.516
That's what I listen to.

01:05:04.516 --> 01:05:05.742
That's what I listen for.

01:05:05.742 --> 01:05:09.822
Which to speak on what you're saying a moment ago, you could attribute that to any great interviewer.

01:05:09.822 --> 01:05:14.882
It doesn't necessarily have to be, know, a great podcast, a great comic book podcaster.

01:05:14.882 --> 01:05:15.202
Right.

01:05:15.202 --> 01:05:15.981
Right.

01:05:15.981 --> 01:05:23.621
You know, when we I actually call this I call this my ram ram, however you want to say his name, my ram V rule.

01:05:23.621 --> 01:05:24.262
Right.

01:05:24.262 --> 01:05:34.954
And it's the way I approach interviewing today in twenty twenty five for the Blooming Bar is that I try to listen to at least two episodes of an interview or two interviews before I have them on the show.

01:05:34.954 --> 01:05:42.786
And I try to ask them questions that they haven't often been asked because when we had Ram on the show and this was such a great lesson and he was so respectful.

01:05:42.786 --> 01:05:49.260
I'm not trying to make it sound like he was a dick or anything, but he just didn't want to explain his work at all.

01:05:49.260 --> 01:05:50.251
Like he just didn't want to talk.

01:05:50.251 --> 01:05:59.443
He didn't want to like explain Dawn Runner to me, which I now I get right at the time I was like, so I see a little bit of Evangelion here.

01:05:59.443 --> 01:06:03.045
I see a little bit of Pacific Ram, maybe, you know.

01:06:03.373 --> 01:06:04.313
Tell me your process there.

01:06:04.313 --> 01:06:08.054
And he's like, without saying it, he was like, no, I wrote it.

01:06:08.054 --> 01:06:09.153
I put it out there.

01:06:09.153 --> 01:06:14.273
I had Evan Cagle draw some of the most beautiful artwork you've ever seen in your entire life.

01:06:14.273 --> 01:06:16.454
We put it out there and now it is yours.

01:06:16.454 --> 01:06:17.833
I don't explain anything.

01:06:17.833 --> 01:06:20.114
You take what you want from it.

01:06:20.114 --> 01:06:24.554
And then that's that just like like total mind explosion.

01:06:24.554 --> 01:06:27.253
It was a total mind effort because they're going forward.

01:06:27.253 --> 01:06:28.353
was like, you know what?

01:06:28.353 --> 01:06:33.454
When I had when I talked to a creator, I'm no longer going to be asking them the boilerplate.

01:06:33.454 --> 01:06:35.135
process questions and all that.

01:06:35.135 --> 01:06:37.617
I want to ask them questions they haven't been asked before.

01:06:37.617 --> 01:06:39.119
And that has been my goal ever since.

01:06:39.119 --> 01:06:41.197
it's, it's worked out really well.

01:06:41.197 --> 01:06:42.557
in a little secret.

01:06:42.577 --> 01:06:44.237
That's the fucking cheat code.

01:06:44.237 --> 01:06:46.597
And that's how easy it is.

01:06:46.677 --> 01:06:46.878
Yeah.

01:06:46.878 --> 01:06:48.117
People don't realize it.

01:06:48.117 --> 01:06:51.938
People don't like it's all you have to do is put in.

01:06:51.938 --> 01:06:57.318
And I'm not saying that that like doing the homework is not a lot of work because it can be right.

01:06:57.318 --> 01:07:00.918
Especially if someone hasn't been interviewed in a while or whatever.

01:07:00.918 --> 01:07:03.358
But like that's step one.

01:07:03.358 --> 01:07:04.978
That like that's that's the cheat code.

01:07:04.978 --> 01:07:09.777
That's what that's what that's what the people you're talking to what they don't want to answer the same questions that they've been asked.

01:07:09.909 --> 01:07:12.349
45, know, 45 different times.

01:07:12.349 --> 01:07:13.809
They've already answered.

01:07:13.909 --> 01:07:14.510
Right.

01:07:14.510 --> 01:07:15.750
They yeah, they don't know.

01:07:15.750 --> 01:07:15.909
Yeah.

01:07:15.909 --> 01:07:18.590
If you could write for Marvel, who would what character do you want to write?

01:07:18.590 --> 01:07:20.030
They don't give a fuck.

01:07:21.210 --> 01:07:21.849
No.

01:07:24.489 --> 01:07:27.230
And so, yeah, like, that's it.

01:07:27.230 --> 01:07:29.349
Like, that's that's that's the secret.

01:07:29.349 --> 01:07:33.230
Like, we're really like, well, how do you how do you like why is your podcast so good?

01:07:33.230 --> 01:07:33.610
I don't know.

01:07:33.610 --> 01:07:34.550
I ask different questions.

01:07:34.550 --> 01:07:36.889
I don't ask the same question that everyone asks.

01:07:37.469 --> 01:07:38.369
That's it.

01:07:38.369 --> 01:07:46.697
That's all you have to do! The last time we had Tom King on the show, I was trying so, so hard to get him just to admit that he's a liberal and he just wouldn't do it.

01:07:46.697 --> 01:07:49.800
I'm like, I listen, Tom, I've read Animal Pound.

01:07:49.800 --> 01:07:50.291
Okay.

01:07:50.291 --> 01:07:51.512
I've read Wonder Woman.

01:07:51.512 --> 01:07:51.873
All right.

01:07:51.873 --> 01:07:53.193
I get what you're saying.

01:07:53.193 --> 01:07:53.784
I'm reading it.

01:07:53.784 --> 01:07:54.375
I'm seeing it.

01:07:54.375 --> 01:07:54.835
Okay.

01:07:54.835 --> 01:07:55.715
Just admit it.

01:07:55.715 --> 01:07:58.128
You know, and he just, and I get why I'm just joking.

01:07:58.128 --> 01:08:00.780
wasn't trying to do it, like without saying, without asking.

01:08:00.780 --> 01:08:01.402
Sure.

01:08:01.402 --> 01:08:03.081
But you know, It's the most fun.

01:08:03.081 --> 01:08:17.693
Honestly, when I first started doing the Oblivion Bar, I don't know if you ever felt like this throughout your entire career of podcasting or journalism or what have you, but when I, our first interview on the podcast was Philip Kennedy Johnson, who at that time was just about to start Superman and aliens.

01:08:17.693 --> 01:08:20.225
And I remember being so incredibly nervous.

01:08:20.225 --> 01:08:25.649
And this is a guy who, I mean this respectfully at that time hadn't done a ton.

01:08:25.649 --> 01:08:26.599
He had done The Last God.

01:08:26.599 --> 01:08:29.470
He had done that one book, The Last Sons of America.

01:08:29.470 --> 01:08:30.894
I think it was over at Boom.

01:08:30.894 --> 01:08:34.514
He'd done a couple of books, but he wasn't Philip Kenny Johnson that is today.

01:08:34.594 --> 01:08:35.934
But I was so nervous.

01:08:35.934 --> 01:08:44.213
I put these guys, I say guys sort of broadly, I put these people on a pedestal because of my love of the medium, how much I love comics.

01:08:44.673 --> 01:08:54.213
But what I learned in that conversation, what I continued to learn very quickly throughout this process, and if there's any podcasters listening to this, I hope you take this and sort of run with it.

01:08:54.213 --> 01:08:56.453
These are just talented nerds.

01:08:56.533 --> 01:08:58.413
These are just people.

01:08:58.670 --> 01:09:00.130
They're talented nerds.

01:09:00.130 --> 01:09:01.489
That's all they are.

01:09:01.489 --> 01:09:05.710
So and they want to be treated like as such, like they want to be treated as normal people.

01:09:05.710 --> 01:09:09.109
You you like you compliment them too much.

01:09:09.109 --> 01:09:17.890
Or if you like like I see it because I also sidebar Jim is that when I work at comic conventions, I work for a company called Comic Sketch Art.

01:09:17.890 --> 01:09:19.489
I run there like what not shows.

01:09:19.489 --> 01:09:21.810
I sort of do the hosting and I talk to the greater.

01:09:21.810 --> 01:09:25.637
I talk to the people at home back and forth, back and forth and.

01:09:25.996 --> 01:09:31.390
A lot of times when those folks get on camera, all they want to do is talk about their work in the most casual way possible.

01:09:31.390 --> 01:09:33.270
Not even like interview questions necessarily.

01:09:33.270 --> 01:09:37.314
They just want to talk with people who get it, who like this shit, you know?

01:09:37.314 --> 01:09:41.176
And that's essentially, I think what you're doing really, really well.

01:09:41.296 --> 01:09:44.719
What I hope we're doing, you know, in a similar way.

01:09:44.719 --> 01:09:46.680
like that's what this is all about.

01:09:46.680 --> 01:09:47.520
Yeah.

01:09:47.661 --> 01:09:48.043
Yeah.

01:09:48.043 --> 01:09:56.981
I tell you what, the one thing that you guys have going for you, in addition to the multitude of things I think you guys have going for you, is you understand the social media game.

01:09:56.981 --> 01:09:58.302
And a lot of people don't.

01:09:58.302 --> 01:10:01.385
I think you guys, cut out smart clips.

01:10:01.926 --> 01:10:05.529
You do a great job of packaging all of that stuff.

01:10:05.529 --> 01:10:06.990
It looks good.

01:10:08.131 --> 01:10:11.494
And that's hard.

01:10:11.494 --> 01:10:15.188
That's a big barrier for a lot of folks to get through.

01:10:15.438 --> 01:10:24.099
And so for you guys to do it at the level that you're doing it is like that's that's where I think the extra kudos needs to I appreciate that.

01:10:24.099 --> 01:10:38.894
Yeah, it's definitely been a labor of love to try to get into all that and the sort of murky landscape that we're currently in with social media and sort of the, you know, we're both from the era of like the Twitter town hall sort of timeframe.

01:10:38.894 --> 01:10:41.054
You only needed to go to one place and that was it.

01:10:41.054 --> 01:10:42.014
Everyone was there.

01:10:42.014 --> 01:10:44.993
Now everyone's in 45 different fucking places.

01:10:44.993 --> 01:10:46.073
None of it makes an impact.

01:10:46.073 --> 01:10:47.713
Why the fuck do we do it?

01:10:47.713 --> 01:10:49.094
Like it makes a why?

01:10:49.094 --> 01:10:50.246
Why do we do it?

01:10:50.261 --> 01:10:55.893
And just because what you're saying, like now I get good at this now, now that we're all on seven platforms.

01:10:56.529 --> 01:10:58.846
great, I figured it out now that no one's fucking here.

01:10:58.846 --> 01:10:59.373
Great.

01:10:59.373 --> 01:11:00.413
Right.

01:11:00.434 --> 01:11:05.694
Yeah, I make the best clip I've ever made my life and it gets 400 views and 17 likes.

01:11:05.694 --> 01:11:07.314
I'm like, wow, that's awesome.

01:11:07.314 --> 01:11:08.054
Very cool.

01:11:08.054 --> 01:11:08.694
Good deal.

01:11:08.694 --> 01:11:11.514
I had this incredible conversation with John J.

01:11:11.514 --> 01:11:14.453
Pearson and Michael Conrad and it gets 70 views on YouTube.

01:11:14.453 --> 01:11:16.194
like, okay, great.

01:11:16.613 --> 01:11:20.453
But we're not going to make this about my self loathing it with the podcast.

01:11:20.894 --> 01:11:23.213
Jim, you have been so gracious with your time.

01:11:23.213 --> 01:11:26.993
We're over just an hour here and I told you I was going to keep you for like 45.

01:11:26.993 --> 01:11:30.185
So I wanted I want to ask you what we're having a good time.

01:11:30.185 --> 01:11:31.826
hope we're having a good time.

01:11:31.826 --> 01:11:32.345
Yeah.

01:11:32.345 --> 01:11:33.666
I want to ask you one final question.

01:11:33.666 --> 01:11:36.645
This is again, this is something we always ask everyone that comes on the show.

01:11:36.645 --> 01:11:44.886
You know, is there some form of media comic movie, video game, podcast, whatever that you've really been loving and you want to sort of share with the listener?

01:11:46.351 --> 01:11:51.997
If my wife had her way, Marvel rivals would never have been released.

01:11:53.453 --> 01:12:00.551
Top three characters go It has taken over my life in a way that's bordering on unhealthy.

01:12:01.113 --> 01:12:03.434
I fucking love that game.

01:12:03.673 --> 01:12:06.335
And I played a bunch of Overwatch.

01:12:06.335 --> 01:12:08.136
There is just something else.

01:12:08.615 --> 01:12:11.356
Honestly, it's that Marvel touch.

01:12:11.356 --> 01:12:17.119
You get to play as heroes that you like, and the play styles are so unique and different and whatever.

01:12:17.359 --> 01:12:18.930
don't have top three characters.

01:12:18.930 --> 01:12:21.921
my top three characters, I'll pick one per class.

01:12:22.426 --> 01:12:36.390
My strategist, AKA Healer, is probably Seustorm right now, but I'm getting a lot better with Loki, and I think Loki is probably the best, has the highest ceiling for Healer in the game, and so I want to get better at Loki.

01:12:36.390 --> 01:12:39.810
But if I'm not playing Seustorm, I'm probably playing Cloak and Dagger in that point.

01:12:39.810 --> 01:12:40.951
So they got that.

01:12:41.311 --> 01:12:49.413
I am incredibly lucky that in the Duelist role, your DPS role.

01:12:49.934 --> 01:12:55.113
My favorite character happens to be the best one that I have that the best one I'm with and that's Moon Knight.

01:12:55.854 --> 01:13:00.793
I know Moon Knight mains get a lot of shit because you're just throwing.

01:13:00.793 --> 01:13:03.894
You're just aiming at the ground and hitting people and whatever.

01:13:03.894 --> 01:13:04.493
That's fine.

01:13:04.493 --> 01:13:05.293
Whatever.

01:13:05.373 --> 01:13:08.613
There's there is strategy to be held with with Moon Knight.

01:13:08.613 --> 01:13:13.453
If you're flanking the right way, your on placement needs to be on point.

01:13:13.453 --> 01:13:14.993
Look, here's the thing.

01:13:15.145 --> 01:13:23.659
If you're if you let's say you pick a different character or whatever and that and the other team has a Loki and there's not a moon night on your team like each one of those Loki dupes.

01:13:23.659 --> 01:13:30.613
Those are free onks because people are going to be standing around them trying to heal and you're going to be getting extra hits.

01:13:30.613 --> 01:13:36.154
So if there's a Loki on the other team and you're not playing moon night, you're passing up a good time.

01:13:37.296 --> 01:13:43.677
My tank is I'm mostly a Penny Parker tank.

01:13:43.981 --> 01:13:49.746
I am learning to get better with Groot and my dive tank of choice.

01:13:49.746 --> 01:13:56.310
Like if someone is Groot or Penny and we need another tank on the team, my dive tank is Thor.

01:13:56.310 --> 01:14:09.621
And like the fact that I even know what a dive tank is than anything else means I have means that my Instagram, my Instagram algorithm is knows my sickness and is feeding it.

01:14:09.621 --> 01:14:11.481
And I'm watching too many.

01:14:11.891 --> 01:14:14.493
here's how top 500 players play this character.

01:14:14.493 --> 01:14:16.222
And I go, I could do that.

01:14:16.762 --> 01:14:19.463
borrow rivals is 100 % the thing.

01:14:19.463 --> 01:14:23.175
And then like, if my kids in the room, she's like, she goes, how come you're not Jeff?

01:14:23.175 --> 01:14:24.445
How come you're not squirrel girl?

01:14:24.445 --> 01:14:26.036
And like, I'll play squirrel girl all day.

01:14:26.036 --> 01:14:32.328
She's, she's my number two, DPS because again, like I suck with aim.

01:14:32.328 --> 01:14:35.322
Like, like I can't be, I can't be star Lord.

01:14:35.322 --> 01:14:36.542
I can't be punisher.

01:14:36.542 --> 01:14:40.229
I can't be any of those characters that require too much aim because I'm terrible at it.

01:14:40.229 --> 01:14:43.806
But like, I was getting my squirrel girl the other day when I was playing it.

01:14:43.806 --> 01:14:48.537
exploding acorns that I could just lob into a doorway and not let people get out.

01:14:48.918 --> 01:14:49.645
I'll do that.

01:14:49.645 --> 01:14:50.652
I love it.

01:14:51.265 --> 01:14:51.626
Yeah.

01:14:51.626 --> 01:14:55.426
I hopped on the other day because I've only played maybe once or twice.

01:14:55.666 --> 01:14:57.546
I really enjoyed it too.

01:14:57.546 --> 01:15:01.265
Yeah, as I say, I just I've like purposefully and I've thought about a couple of times too.

01:15:01.265 --> 01:15:03.286
I was like, you know, I have a little free time today.

01:15:03.286 --> 01:15:04.284
I've already edited the show.

01:15:04.284 --> 01:15:05.966
Why don't I go and hop on rivals?

01:15:05.985 --> 01:15:06.685
That's the beauty of it.

01:15:06.685 --> 01:15:07.646
You can get in and out.

01:15:07.646 --> 01:15:08.476
that's what I mean.

01:15:08.476 --> 01:15:09.877
Before that, I was a pretty big.

01:15:09.877 --> 01:15:11.628
I was a pretty big Fortnite player for a while.

01:15:11.628 --> 01:15:16.742
But to me, I'm such a social gamer that I can't play Marvel rivals by myself.

01:15:16.742 --> 01:15:18.653
I have to be playing with somebody else.

01:15:18.932 --> 01:15:21.654
I have to be playing with a friend.

01:15:21.814 --> 01:15:24.076
Otherwise, I just get I just get bored.

01:15:24.076 --> 01:15:25.317
Yeah, I am.

01:15:25.317 --> 01:15:27.618
But I've always been I've always been the.

01:15:29.059 --> 01:15:33.121
Ever like I go back to the original Xbox and Halo, right?

01:15:33.121 --> 01:15:35.362
If my best friend wasn't sitting there next to me.

01:15:35.362 --> 01:15:42.650
doing co-op We're going to be telling our grandkids about LAN parties when we get.

01:15:42.650 --> 01:15:44.345
Right.

01:15:44.345 --> 01:15:47.086
That's going to be a fond pillar memory.

01:15:47.086 --> 01:15:54.225
That's one of the things that like God bless Nintendo for, because it's the only console left that really encourages that couch couch co-op base.

01:15:54.565 --> 01:15:58.565
Because because young is like, you know, my kid loves playing Kirby.

01:15:58.565 --> 01:16:04.485
We play a lot of Mario Party and, you know, without the switch, I don't get to have that experience with her in a sense.

01:16:04.485 --> 01:16:04.725
We do.

01:16:04.725 --> 01:16:06.734
We do play a lot of Minecraft, too.

01:16:06.734 --> 01:16:07.934
That's my game right there.

01:16:07.934 --> 01:16:12.554
That's if I'm so I love I love a video game here and there, but I just sort of speak on rivals.

01:16:12.554 --> 01:16:16.913
I purposely keep my keep it at arm's distance because I will lose myself to it.

01:16:16.913 --> 01:16:17.394
Right.

01:16:17.394 --> 01:16:27.293
So what I like to do is when I do have that itch to play a video game, a lot of times it's Minecraft where I'll play it obsessively for five days and then I'll I'll put it down for six months and then come back to it at some point.

01:16:27.293 --> 01:16:31.493
But when I played rivals, it was Punisher and Winter Soldier for me.

01:16:31.493 --> 01:16:33.253
But I don't have like the class knowledge.

01:16:33.253 --> 01:16:35.234
I don't understand the strategy yet.

01:16:35.234 --> 01:16:39.005
But I had a good time playing with Punisher and I liked the Gallat gun that you can eventually get.

01:16:39.005 --> 01:16:40.295
The Turret.

01:16:40.295 --> 01:16:41.636
Yeah.

01:16:41.676 --> 01:16:42.645
I need to hop on more.

01:16:42.645 --> 01:16:47.337
But Jim, what a pleasure it was having you here on the Oblivion Bar podcast.

01:16:47.337 --> 01:16:58.060
know, again, as we were sort of talking about throughout this conversation, not only not only am I thrilled to have another comic book podcast here in the landscape, but it's great to have you at the helm of, again, one of the better ones.

01:16:58.060 --> 01:16:58.911
And I mean that wholeheartedly.

01:16:58.911 --> 01:17:00.350
I'm not just saying that because you're right here in front of me.

01:17:00.350 --> 01:17:05.918
So, you know, it's a pleasure to have What a fucking blowhard that guy was.

01:17:07.518 --> 01:17:12.037
Everyone, I'm happy to, and again, long-time listeners of the podcast will know this.

01:17:12.037 --> 01:17:13.578
I am usually the long-winded one.

01:17:13.578 --> 01:17:17.037
So it's nice to have someone who's more long-winded than me.

01:17:17.037 --> 01:17:19.231
And again, I mean that in the most respectful way possible.

01:17:19.231 --> 01:17:20.573
Of course, of course, absolutely.

01:17:20.573 --> 01:17:26.568
Yeah, I do want to say I want to get I need to get sales mini for a second.

01:17:26.568 --> 01:17:29.881
Again, I did a little bit beforehand.

01:17:29.881 --> 01:17:42.220
But one thing that I would love to just encourage people to do that I don't think enough people do often enough is go to your local comic book shop whenever you go to pick up your new books or whatever.

01:17:42.921 --> 01:17:49.275
Pick up a book, pick up just one book that you wouldn't have have necessarily thought to pick up.

01:17:49.666 --> 01:17:51.587
My hope is that you pick up a good book.

01:17:51.587 --> 01:17:55.229
And if you want to err on the side of caution, you pick up an image book.

01:17:55.248 --> 01:17:58.180
But, but yeah, right.

01:17:58.180 --> 01:17:58.990
Exactly.

01:17:58.990 --> 01:18:08.846
But I, but, but it's the only way this industry grows at that level because so often we get caught in, I'm only, I only read Spider-Man books.

01:18:08.846 --> 01:18:10.106
I only read Batman books.

01:18:10.106 --> 01:18:14.859
I only read a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Transformers, right?

01:18:14.859 --> 01:18:15.680
I'm guilty.

01:18:15.680 --> 01:18:20.305
We make Transformers and don't And don't necessarily branch out.

01:18:20.305 --> 01:18:24.365
you're not like maybe maybe you think you're not into horror books.

01:18:24.445 --> 01:18:25.185
Try one.

01:18:25.185 --> 01:18:27.025
I mean, it's not like you're to get jump scares or anything.

01:18:27.025 --> 01:18:28.386
Will something be a little creepy and gross?

01:18:28.386 --> 01:18:29.086
Yeah, maybe.

01:18:29.086 --> 01:18:32.645
But it's like it's not there's no jump scares or anything that we get in the.

01:18:32.725 --> 01:18:35.525
But but like but like here's a perfect example.

01:18:35.525 --> 01:18:35.786
Right.

01:18:35.786 --> 01:18:40.126
Ice Cream Man that we put out is one of his hands down.

01:18:40.126 --> 01:18:47.590
I don't think I don't think anyone would argue me argue with me on this is hands down the best horror book you can get.

01:18:47.747 --> 01:18:50.087
on in comic book form.

01:18:50.444 --> 01:18:54.820
And that last issue was incredible that Zoe Thurgood story was so mean, they're like, yeah.

01:18:54.820 --> 01:18:57.412
And he does such.

01:18:58.033 --> 01:19:01.877
It's like it's an anthology book in a sense, right.

01:19:01.877 --> 01:19:04.418
It's a bunch of short stories and things like that.

01:19:04.418 --> 01:19:17.009
But the thing is, it's like what he's able to do with the comic book as the medium in that book is unlike anything else you're going to get in a Batman book or a Spider-Man book.

01:19:17.850 --> 01:19:21.523
And so like, yes, would I prefer that someone go pick up an image book?

01:19:21.523 --> 01:19:22.693
Absolutely.

01:19:23.021 --> 01:19:28.761
But I think unless you take a chance on something, you don't have to do it every week.

01:19:28.761 --> 01:19:31.202
Do it once a month to start, right?

01:19:31.202 --> 01:19:38.381
Take the chance on something that you wouldn't necessarily have thought to pick up and see if you like it.

01:19:38.381 --> 01:19:42.341
And if you don't, you're out three bucks for them if you do it one month.

01:19:42.341 --> 01:19:49.542
But it's those chances that keep this business alive, that keep the dreams alive.

01:19:50.601 --> 01:19:57.309
And I think it's the most It's one of the most important aspects of this hobby that we love.

01:19:57.309 --> 01:20:04.753
And so if you want a chance to support it outside of your DC and Marvel books, just try some.

01:20:05.314 --> 01:20:10.619
You know, it's funny you say that and I'll sort of end it here is that that's how I found saga.

01:20:10.619 --> 01:20:16.164
One day I went into the comic shop, just picked up a image first, which by the way, are we ever going get those back?

01:20:16.164 --> 01:20:17.537
Can we get the they're back.

01:20:17.537 --> 01:20:22.192
Look, you're you're if your comic shop is empty on them, tell them to order more.

01:20:22.192 --> 01:20:22.823
There's plenty.

01:20:22.823 --> 01:20:23.154
All right.

01:20:23.154 --> 01:20:23.904
I haven't seen him in a bit.

01:20:23.904 --> 01:20:31.399
So I was just wondering, but I picked up an image first of saga and now saga is my all time favorite comic.

01:20:31.399 --> 01:20:33.501
Brian is my favorite all time writer.

01:20:33.662 --> 01:20:38.295
I had the, you know, the very distinct fortune of having him on the show to talk about saga.

01:20:38.295 --> 01:20:42.488
Like it all was built from that one random day of picking up one random comic.

01:20:42.488 --> 01:20:44.988
And now it's all the rest's history.

01:20:44.988 --> 01:20:46.350
yeah.

01:20:46.350 --> 01:20:50.632
Once again, Jim, what a pleasure it was having you on the show before I let you go though.

01:20:50.632 --> 01:20:52.314
How can the folks follow you?

01:20:52.568 --> 01:20:56.597
Tell, give it, give us one last pitch for lesson.comics, all the things.

01:20:56.597 --> 01:20:58.699
Jim Viscardi everywhere.

01:20:58.699 --> 01:21:01.862
Let's talk comics everywhere at Image Comics everywhere.

01:21:04.805 --> 01:21:05.546
Follow me there.

01:21:05.546 --> 01:21:14.493
If you like very long creator conversations, Let's Talk Comics is the show for you.

01:21:15.814 --> 01:21:23.872
The show is for people who want to aspire to be in the business in some creative form or fashion.

01:21:24.278 --> 01:21:31.358
As I continue on, I will have more guests of different positions within the business.

01:21:31.358 --> 01:21:41.432
going to plan on talking to some of my favorite episodes in my first run were talking to editors like I mean, like, good God, this industry needs another Steve Wacker.

01:21:41.432 --> 01:21:43.930
Well, like no one like no one else.

01:21:43.930 --> 01:21:48.604
That guy was one of the best colorists, etc.

01:21:48.604 --> 01:21:53.485
Like the you know, the the first couple have been frontloaded with with some writers.

01:21:54.465 --> 01:22:01.280
I just had Junie Bha on who, you know, if you're a DC fan, you may have picked up his boy wonder, which was a phenomenal book.

01:22:01.280 --> 01:22:02.712
He has a new book coming out.

01:22:02.712 --> 01:22:08.746
the second in a series called the monkey batch, monkey meat, second summer batch.

01:22:09.434 --> 01:22:15.971
it's again, that's a, that's a writer artist combo double threat that is just crushing it.

01:22:16.412 --> 01:22:20.036
doing all kinds of weird, weird and very cool things.

01:22:21.176 --> 01:22:22.887
There's only one Junie Bha.

01:22:23.622 --> 01:22:30.908
You know, Mama Das where I just had on, you get to hear from a comic nerd entomologist tomorrow.

01:22:33.171 --> 01:22:35.893
so yeah, so that's, that's, that's the show.

01:22:37.074 --> 01:22:41.877
I, when I start, I swear I'm going to, I'm going to shut up in a second.

01:22:41.878 --> 01:22:46.002
When we brought it back, I told cat an image who heads up our PR.

01:22:46.002 --> 01:22:50.565
said, all right, I think I have time in my schedule to like, do, do it twice a month.

01:22:51.430 --> 01:22:54.595
I don't want to I don't want to go too hard too fast.

01:22:55.139 --> 01:22:56.931
And we're close.

01:22:56.931 --> 01:22:59.787
I'm closing in on four weeks and I have seven episodes in the can.

01:22:59.787 --> 01:23:00.628
So.

01:23:01.110 --> 01:23:02.193
Good job, Jim.

01:23:02.193 --> 01:23:03.073
Great.

01:23:03.662 --> 01:23:04.845
This is not what we do, though, right?

01:23:04.845 --> 01:23:06.686
As podcasters, we overload ourselves.

01:23:06.686 --> 01:23:11.421
It's a drug until it's stressful, but it's always rewarding when it's all done, when it's out there.

01:23:11.421 --> 01:23:12.043
Thank you.

01:23:12.043 --> 01:23:12.503
Thank you.

01:23:12.503 --> 01:23:13.737
Thank you for having me on.

01:23:13.737 --> 01:23:17.033
I haven't done one of these in a while.

01:23:18.077 --> 01:23:20.230
And you made it real easy.

01:23:20.230 --> 01:23:21.014
So thank you.

01:23:21.014 --> 01:23:21.425
Of course.

01:23:21.425 --> 01:23:21.625
Yeah.

01:23:21.625 --> 01:23:22.436
Thank you so much.

01:23:22.436 --> 01:23:28.015
Hopefully sometime down the road, we can get back on either your show, my show or the otherwise or otherwise.

01:23:28.015 --> 01:23:29.006
So we'll do it.

01:23:29.006 --> 01:23:30.613
Yeah, it'd be it'd be.

01:23:30.613 --> 01:23:32.296
It's only fair if we do a podcast pop.

01:23:32.296 --> 01:23:34.253
I'll have you on the show at some point.

01:23:34.431 --> 01:23:35.533
Don't threaten me with a good time.

01:23:35.533 --> 01:23:36.630
All right.

01:23:36.630 --> 01:23:37.774
All right, Jim.

01:23:37.774 --> 01:23:38.460
Well, I appreciate you.

01:23:38.460 --> 01:23:39.029
We'll talk to you next time.

01:23:39.029 --> 01:23:39.399
Okay.

01:23:39.399 --> 01:23:40.492
Talk to you.