Live from C2E2 2024: A Comic Podcast Crossover Live Show! The Short Box meets First Issue Club meets The Oblivion Bar

This episode was recorded LIVE from C2E2 2024, where The Short Box and The Oblivion Bar and First Issue Club recorded a LIVE podcast crossover episode celebrating the best comics of the year (so far). We also talked about creators on the rise, and what makes for a good first issue, and the best ways to get new people into comics. 

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Transcript

Live from C2E2 2024: A Comic Podcast Crossover Live Show! The Short Box meets First Issue Club meets The Oblivion Bar - The Short Box Podcast Ep. 426

00:01
Intro music plays

00:30
Game faces. C2E2, good morning. How's everyone doing today? Gang faces? Okay. Welcome to a comic podcast crossover live show, the first of its kind. Don't fact check me on that. I'm sure that's the case here. But out of curiosity, how many of you listen to podcasts? How many of you are podcast? Yeah. Let's go. Yes. How many of you have ever attended a live podcast show? Oh, wow. Okay.

00:58
There we go. All right, well look, you guys are in for a treat. This makes it even better. My name is Badr Milligan. I am the host of the Short Box Podcast, one of the longest running comic talk shows. I've been doing this for about 12, 13 years now. So I don't know what that says about me. My mom's not too proud about that. I think Comic Podcast, the cool thing about it is that it almost feels like an extra layer and experience to enjoying comic.

01:27
You get to enjoy reading at your own pace, and then you get to press play on a podcast filled with hopefully engaging hosts that are adding something extra that are bringing a unique experience and perspective to the medium. The really good shows tend to have creator interviews and you get that insight as well. And just overall, I'm glad to be having a panel with some of the best comic podcasters in the industry.

01:57
Let's talk about what you guys are getting into, all right? We're talking timestamps. First and foremost, we're going to introduce the channel. Then we're going to talk pull list essentials. So that's essentially comic books that we feel you can't miss. Then we're going to do champions rows. So these are creators that we feel that everyone should know, that might be on the come up, that are just doing great things. And then we'll open it up for Q&A, and we've got plenty of comics and cool stuff to give away. This is the best picture of Greg I have ever seen. I will be signing autographs after the.

02:25
You need to print some of those out. Those will go faster than our posters. Greg sent me that as a joke to put it as like his picture among all of us. I was like, here it is. This is the moment. This is how I take down first issue club. You should have put like a sound effect when it came up on the screen that was just like, oh, like the doors and was it the Hitchhiker's Guide. Mm.

02:51
All right, first and foremost, I mean, you guys see it already. Uh, oh, we got the music going. Yeah. All right. Coming all the way from Kansas city. We got Greg Lickteig
and Andy Vargas of the first issue club podcast. Yeah, baby. A podcast.

03:12
Hello. I want to go ahead and thank Greg and Andy for bringing 90% of our audience. Shout out to them. Well, they came with us. They came with the noise. Oh, they came with you guys. All right. Next up, let's go ahead and give it up for Aaron Knowles and Chris Hacker of the Oblivion Bar podcast on the far left.

03:32
I like raw you. Yeah, we had Simon Says for ours. Somebody went and went to go see Godzilla Minus One, I see. Anytime we actually reviewed, what was it, Godzilla Minus, or Godzilla X-Con, and every time we heard the Godzilla theme, we were like, da-da-da-da. Just waiting for the beat to drop. Like in the gravel pit.

03:55
If you like Wu Tang and all, you get that reference. So real quick, I don't know how in depth you guys want to go with this introduction, but Chris and Aaron, you guys want to talk about the podcast? Sure. Yeah. So yeah, since it says up here, you know, since April of 2020, Aaron and I, we basically took our friendship that we had prior and condensed it and put a little quality and organization behind it, which is hard for us. We're often going on side quests and, you know, staying off topic. But basically what we do is, you know,

04:24
We condensed that and made it into a show called the Oblivion Bar. Now I don't know if many people know this or not, but the Oblivion Bar is actually, because we get questions like what is the Oblivion Bar? It's actually a pocket dimension in the DC universe where a lot of the darker corner of that universe, you know, you're John Constantine, you're Detective Chimp and such, they all kind of hang out there and it's kind of like a safe haven. So there's no real specific reason why we chose that. I just thought it sounded cool. So there's that. But yeah. As you can see there, we...

04:53
We talk to creators, that's one of our main pillars of the show. We also review movies, we talk about all things comics. I mean, I would say like, Aaron, would you agree that it's mostly centered around just like comics in general? No. No? Not at all? I would say like, we are, yes, we both love comics, but you and I both bring way more to the table than just comics, movies, games, anime. Like we all, we each have our, I said we all, like there's more than two of us. We each have our own little niches that we've grown up with in our own fandoms. And somehow...

05:24
Somehow, we merge it all together cohesively to actually make a product that people, I guess, like to listen to. Yeah. That was our biggest fear, too. You mentioned a moment ago about how when we first started the Oblivion Bar, our biggest fear, or, well, I wouldn't say biggest fear. I'd say one of our larger fears is that we were afraid people were just not going to listen. We were just going to be shouting into the void, and no one would ever listen to us. And that was like that for a while. But for anybody here that has a podcast or...

05:49
If you've ever created any kind of content, if you've ever streamed on Twitch or Kik or YouTube, you know exactly what it's like to sit there for hours at a time and have a viewer count of zero. Or one. Staring you. And the only person chatting is that bot that you set up. Smart child. It was just hanging out in the chat. But that will happen.

06:12
But to kind of finish the point is that like that will happen. You will be shouting to the void for quite a bit. But if you just continue to put effort into it and you continue to put yourself and be genuine with the, you know, the content, I don't want to use that word, right? That's not, you know, you put, you know, affection and genuine, you know, love into your content. People, you will find an audience of some sort. The thing that we learned early on was that.

06:34
much like streaming and much like, and I'm going to say, I'm going to use the D the dirty word almost of the D word. The dirty word is content, much like creating content on any medium. If you start forcing content that you think everybody wants to hear and that you don't want to produce, it's going to ruin everything for you. And so you're just not going to, your heart's not going to be in it. And what Chris said, and what these guys are going to probably echo is that passion and that love for what you're creating and talking about is what genuinely is going to bring genuinely going to bring people to your to your car, to your product.

07:05
Well said. Good stuff right there. Let's give it up for Chris and Aaron of Blooming Park.

07:11
Greg and Andy, really quick, if you guys want to talk about First Issue Club, but specifically, you guys have been doing it for pretty long too. I think on your website it says almost eight years, but imagine that's probably going by .. You guys probably have added a lot more time to that. What keeps you going for First Issue Club? What can you say about it? What do you enjoy about doing it? The fame, really. No, it's just, as we've gotten older, it's been a great way to stay in touch with your friends who enjoy the same hobby as you do.

07:41
buy paper and then store it away in a box and never look at it again. But we started it as a group of, you know, poor nerds who didn't know what to buy every week and we thought there were probably more poor nerds out there who didn't know what to buy and so we wanted to showcase the first issues of the week and we've been having a great time ever since. We've recently added Andy within the last year and a half and he's been a wonderful addition and so it's just been, that's the motivator is to hang out and talk comics and it just kind of refills my, my...

08:10
life energy, if you will. You're loving. One of the things that I'll jump on with what those guys are saying is there comes a point when you are creating that content that you truly enjoy, that you forget that the microphone is in front of you. And it just becomes a conversation with your friends. That's a sweet spot. That's how you know your conversation is good. The friends are good and you're ultimately your output is going to be good. And then along the way, we made more friends like you guys and then people that are on our Twitters and all that. And so it's just kind of grown into this huge.

08:40
amazing community that loves comic books and are like-minded folks that you can collaborate and bond with. Amen. Can we get a round of applause to Andy and Greg for that? Noisy boys. To poor nerds everywhere. Yeah. All right. Let's get on with the main event, the meat of the show. All right. We've got two segments for this. Sexy hair and Ford.

09:03
Chris, what's the deal with this? You went ahead and kind of designed this. I actually had the original ‑‑ I don't know if you guys remember these, but in the 90s ‑‑ It's actually Chris from the future. Yeah, yeah. I hope so. I'd hit it. In the 90s, they had these in libraries and there was a couple different celebrities that had one. I originally had the Shaq one. There's Shaq sitting on like this black box, readings ‑‑ I don't even know. But the Webster's ‑‑ Or in peace. Yeah, yeah. Or in peace. Manual to Shaq foo.

09:26
But it was really poor quality, so I switched to Harrison Ford. That's a good look. All right, so for Pull List Essentials, the goal of this segment here is to highlight the comic books and titles that we're reading, that we're enjoying, that we would recommend to anyone. And there's four particular sections or I guess categories for this segment. It's going to be favorite ongoing series. So you know, favorite ongoing as it kind of says. Favorite single issue. And then favorite limited series.

09:55
And then we've got an honorable mention category, which was kind of free reign. If there was something that didn't fit in one of those previous buckets, that was kind of your free bingo card. So with that being said, we were given the oblivion bar, Chris and Aaron, the opportunity to go first. Gents, tell us about your picks for the show. Yeah, I mean, obviously we're Tom King Schills. Schills? There we go. Schills. Schills. Actually, I really wanted to put Animal Pound in here somewhere as well, but I guess I'll start at the bottom here since they're together.

10:25
Helen of Wynhorn number one through Dark Horse is just, I think, one of the best first issues of a comic that I've read in a long time. And we actually, shameless plug, had Tom on the show to talk about it. And his pitch was essentially if you loved Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow with him and Bilkes Eveli, it's just more of that, but in Victorian times with a fantasy twist to it. So that's incredible. Aaron, I want to kind of pass it. Before I get into Wonder Woman, I'm going to pass the buck to you for Zawa, because that's the book that we both loved.

10:54
And again, shameless plug, we had Michael on the show, Michael D'Ali Nass on the show to talk about it right before issue one came out. We spent about 10 minutes before recording that show, practicing saying his last name. And I'm D'Ali Nass. D'Ali Nass, and I'm still struggling with it. But real quick before I move to Zawa, I know we gotta be quick, but Helen of Winhorn, my first foray into Tom King was Supergirl, and it was phenomenal. Apparently I'm kind of a slut for long winded and long written.

11:23
creators. I loved Stephen King. So Tom King is very much long worded. And so even though Helen Wintorn is, it's so good. The writing is so well done and it fits the arc with, you know, Bilquist's art so well. But Zawa, Zawa's five issues. It's, you know, written, created everything by Michael and it is phenomenally fun for

11:46
just kids and adults of all ages. It has so many layers to it. It has that environmental outlook for it. It has food. It has just love versus nature versus nurture. It has evil versus good. Corporations taking over the world. It's so inviting and welcoming as far as an avenue gateway into the comics world that it's very much recommendable for any age. And the art is phenomenal. Yeah, I mean, he did everything. We only have written and illustrated, but he colored it. He lettered it.

12:16
everything. That's a great one. Like Aaron said, it's very recommendable. It's something you can put in a new reader's hand and go, hey, this is how you learn to love the medium. But also you give it to someone who's been reading comics for 10 years and go, I mean, if you've never heard of Michael D. Alenato's and his work with James Tynan on the wind or the woods as well, I think, through Boom. He's incredible. One of our favorite creators who's just working in comics. Along with that, Wonder Woman. Now, again, I already said that we're big Tom King fans.

12:44
I actually originally had Avengers Twilight number one, and I actually thought you guys were gonna pick it, so I took it off. I know you guys love that book. But Wonder Woman, I actually just read issue eight last night, and what Tom and Daniel St. Pierre is doing with Wonder Woman is, it's really, it's hard to summarize. Wonder Woman is not a book that doesn't sell well, for whatever reason. I don't really know exactly why. I mean, you've had some incredible creators on it recently, and for some reason, it will eventually venture into obscurity.

13:14
Tom King and Daniel Sanpere are doing something really special, and special but also uncomplicated. Like they're just, they're boiling down Diana to her like core. What makes her awesome? Why is she great? And essentially what it is, is that she just does, she does the right thing when everybody else doesn't. So it has political undertones, you know, we tried to bait Tom on the show to talk about it. You tried to bait him. I tried really hard to get Tom to be like, you're a liberal, say it. He wasn't a master at baiting him. He wouldn't do it.

13:44
So we talked about January 6th during that conversation. If you want to listen to that available wherever you listen to podcasts. So my outlook on Wonder Woman is like this is when you have like Zawa, which is absolutely engaging and opening to just about everybody. Around on the ends. Yeah. Wonder Woman is not that, but also it is not as complicated as it looks. It looks like it has sharp edges. It looks like it's going to be too hot to touch. It might, you know, but at the same time.

14:11
you really have to dive into it purposefully to get out of it what you want to understand. For me, I'm not necessarily into that depth of wanting to confront everything that's opposing society and its greatness right now. But you can get that out of that, but you can also get that superficial enjoyment of just a superhero, Wonder Woman story, which I love. Yeah. She does punch folks in that story, which is great for everybody. And then lastly, and not for any specific reason, but I really love Birds of Prey. I don't know if you've read any of this yet, but

14:40
Kelly Thompson and Leonardo DiMero on this book. I actually went through the entire series. That's what I read on my trip from Indianapolis to Chicago. And it's just so good. I don't really know. I think we have a couple of people in the crowd who I've heard talk about how much they love Kelly Thompson and her work just in general. And more of the same. Like if you have not read Birds of Prey for whatever reason, this is me telling you right now, check it out. And then along with that, they're changing up the team every six issues, which is kind of cool. So.

15:09
I wasn't expecting that when I was reading it. When I found out they were doing that, I thought that was a really cool sort of notch. I have not read it, but Big Barda is in that book. And I have, everybody who listens to our show knows I have a muscle mommy kink. So Big Barda, like definitely like. She Hulk, Big Barda. Who else we got? Like there's, if they're above six foot and more muscular than most of the men in the room. Like Titania. Aaron has a weird tingle in his stomach, so. Greg, Andy.

15:33
When you look at their list, is there anything on here that jumps out to you? Have you guys covered any of these comic books on the podcast? We have covered every one of the first issues for sure. Just the issue two. I think it's a great representation of all the great things that are out there in comic books right now. I mean, of course, Tom King, you know, superstar writer who has the pin of gold. And then Kelly Thompson on Birds of Prey, like you guys said, is just like nailing every issue and it's almost seems impossible for her to continue.

16:02
the fantastic streak that she's on with books. Oh yeah. Andy, you want to chime in here? Anything that picks your interests out of their list? Um, so I missed Zala because I'm an idiot. I missed Helena Winhorn because I'm an idiot. But I will say that the representation here is great about the state of the comic book industry right now. Just how you can take any idea that you have, get it made, and it ends up being, you know, fantastic output.

16:31
That's what's exciting to me. Yeah, 100%. Good stuff. All right. Let's give Chris and Aaron a round of applause for putting this list together. Saw the list right there. All right. That being said, let's take it to the first issue clue. Oh, I'm sorry. Wait. Oh, sorry. I meant to mention as well. So in issue two of Birds of Prey, we're in that. So at one point, Diana and John Constantine traveled to the Oblivion Bar. As I said earlier, it is an actual place in the DC universe. So I thought that was pretty cool. I thought I'd show it off to you guys. I'm going to get that panel tattooed. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Aaron on the far left and then Chris's center.

17:00
Right there. Yeah. I'll wear fishnets. I'll do it. If it gets us likes and follows on the show, I will do it. I thought you were saying that I was Black Canary. No, no. You're Patrick Star, buddy. Okay. Sorry. I'm Patrick Star. Do the face. He's an icon. Come on. There we go. See? It's true. I guess. You guys could be brothers. Very emotive. All right. Now for real, for real, let's move on. First issue club, Pull List Essentials. Andy, Greg, how did you guys go about?

17:25
Putting this list together over some of the factors that uh, so with this it was kind of books that came out of nowhere And surprised us in in multiple ways first of all void rivals was kind of a Backdoor reboot to transformers and GI Joe that no one saw coming but in in all seriousness the book void rivals is just a fantastic book about you feuding alien races trying to figure it out and Anybody's watched enemy mine. Yes. Thank you

17:54
a Dennis Quaid movie. It's exactly that, but you know, Robert Kirkman in comic book form. And then with our favorite single issue with Alien Black, White and Blood, it was kind of a fan, it was scarier than any of the Alien movies, I'll say. Yeah. It was, they took it to the degree that I didn't want Marvel to take it because I like my Marvel comics to be a little more friendly and I can read them with the lights on or off, but they told some pretty...

18:23
gruesome stories in that alien book, particularly one with a child trying to get out of an alien infested ship that made my heart race and my forehead beat up with sweat. And that story specifically is super cool. So for anybody who doesn't know, the black, white and blood series is black, white and red, right? Those are the three colors they use. But aliens in the alien series and happy alien day, by the way, 426, the aliens have green blood.

18:51
So that specific story at the end of the issue was black and white for the first whatever, one, two pages, and then transitioned to green. And it was mostly green until you got to the end and, spoiler alert, the kid's okay. Unfortunately. Damn. Darn it. Yeah, the kid's the bad guy. They come at night. They didn't fully take it there, but that's okay. So Rare Flavors, for anyone that hasn't read it yet, is written by Ram V and illustrated by Felipe Andrada.

19:20
beautiful comic books that it's out right now. It has these soft, colored penciled, and then it's some stark, more bold imagery as the story goes on. But it's like a book about a demon making a cookbook and learning about what humans taste like and which humans taste better. Yeah. He's teaming up with this documentarian to ostensibly make a documentary about food, like food across the world.

19:50
and the documentarian thinks he's collecting recipes, the demon's actually collecting the people who make that food. But the art, like Greg said, is pretty soft, it's pretty understated, but it really circumvents the intensity of the story, because it's kind of a murder mystery, kind of a documentary in its own right, as a comic. But it's everything you want. It's...

20:19
understated poignant There are some really good recipes in it, which is a kind of an interesting twist in a comic Yeah, great blueberry muffin recipe that just will knock your socks off Well, they do the tea one in the first issue and it's like comes out of nowhere You're like, why am I reading a tea recipe right now, but it works. It works somehow I want to really love about Rom B too. Just quickly is that he refuses to explain his comics So if you read it, you get something out of it while which is wildly different

20:49
anybody else in the room, that's probably on purpose. If you don't get it, you don't get it. I have no time to explain it to you. I'm Rom V. You know, I appreciate that he doubles down on not dumbing down his stuff for the audience, right? I think it was Chris, your interview with him, where he talks about being such a Chris Nolan fan and kind of embracing the confusion. And I think that's much needed in comics.

21:18
right? Like just having sometimes a nebulous kind of ethereal story that kind of maybe you got to read it twice or three times. I think I can really appreciate what he brings to the table in terms of the story where there's so many multi-layers and there's a lot of readability to his comics too. Yeah, it grows with you over time. You know, you'll read it once and then two years later you'll get something completely out of the story because of who you are at the moment. And it never feels snobby too, right? I think that's a delicate...

21:48
A delicate balance is that sometimes the more high-end comics can come off a little snobby, a little gatekeepy, and maybe they're not so welcoming to a new reader. But Romby, I've never gotten that snobby effect. There's a nice balance. And as you said before, there's a nice balance because of that soft pencil shading, sketching to it. Because that feels very soft, but also that juxtaposition of contrasting it to the...

22:18
really harsh topic that it's covering. It's like, ooh, ah. You know, that nice, fun balance that you get when you read something, it's unexpected, but at the same time, because of how soft the visuals are, that kind of like harsh plot twist that we're all kind of hoping for is presented very delicately, like a good recipe. Oh, wow. You got bars today. Okay. Don't applaud that. He's destubbled upon that. I'm saying.

22:45
You got to give Aaron his flowers when he comes correct. Greg and Andy, I want to go back to you guys real quick because I love how varied and ranged your choices are. And as the purveyors of first issues and putting a spotlight on those, I want to hear from you two. What makes for a good first issue? What are you looking for when you pick up or give a new book a chance? Is it...

23:08
Is it readability? Is it price and the value? What are you guys looking for? I think it's the same thing I look for when I order a meal. I want a lot for a little. You know what I mean? You want two sides? I want two sides of fries. I want a lot of story. I want it at a good price. There's a delicate balance of just telling a story with a nice flow without getting too bogged down with exposition.

23:34
I want something that is new and exciting yet familiar. It's hard to do it, but so often every week we see creators do it so well that that's why we kind of started the show, to showcase these fantastic books that maybe get buried because they're not featuring Superman or Batman or, you know, it's not like a DC or Marvel book. So many of these indie books figure out how to...

24:00
spread out a story and how to introduce characters in fun and interesting ways that aren't being really explored much in the big two. That's what we like to showcase is those new ways of storytelling, new creators who are taking those chances that maybe haven't had the opportunity to showcase those talents at bigger publishers. So, I mean, that's for me, that's what I look for is something new and exciting. Maybe a talking dog would be nice, but it's not, you know, it's not required. Andy, what about you? I'm looking for a minimum 15 variants.

24:30
need ratios and you know, foil variant must. I don't want to read it. No, the thing that always gets me excited about first issues and I think everybody in the room will go, oh yeah, is you get to those last two pages and something buck wild happens, right? You turn the page and you're like, oh, that's what this book is. That's the stuff that gets me really, really jazzed about a story.

24:59
And I think that is the mark of a good, not only book, but creative team. If you get to the end of the book and you're like, oh, I get it. You might pick up issue two and issue three, but if you get void rivals, you get to the end and you're like, oh, it's Transformers? I had no idea. Yeah. After you put your eyes back into your skull, you go, my God. Yeah, exactly. I've done it. And to all the publishers and editors of Marvel and DC and the crowd today.

25:28
Please fully embrace the double issue for first issues. Allow those stories to breathe more and to get more storytelling in, more time to get to know more characters. That is for us. Image Comics does a fantastic, easy way to do that. Most of their first issues are double issues. We as conscious purchasers really appreciate the double issue for the price. For sure.

25:58
Chris and Aaron, I'm going to toss you guys a question. And Aaron, I want you to lead this one, because you've gone on record saying that compared to Chris, like you're the beginner, you've kind of, and I say that respectfully. No, no, no. We don't have a conversation about comics without me mentioning that I am the most junior comic reader here. If there was a drinking game involved, then you'd be dead in 30 minutes of any episode of the Oblivion Bar. But what would be your advice to?

26:23
someone that wants to get into comic books or is just kind of slowly dabbling and maybe needs help in terms of like, how do they go about picking a comic book up from a shop? And in particular, maybe a first issue or something like that. Well, Bader Milligan from Short Box Jack. I actually wish that Chris would have answered this first because I only say that because Chris, honestly, is kind of like my sherpa. Chris, jump in there. No, no, no, I got this. OK.

26:52
Let me build you up before you answer. Tell me when to talk. But, he is like, we had a really good experience, my wife and I, who's sitting in the crowd right now. We went to a comic shop in St. Louis and Chris took her into the comic shop and I got to watch him do his comic book, local comic shop employee spiel about introducing her into what she might like. And it was mind-blowingly welcoming. And I love that. And that's one of the reasons that, you know, we've been friends for years, but

27:21
He continues to impress me and solidify why he is a comic genius slash expert. And so I take most of my way of bringing people into comics and the way I discuss things from him and his kind of expertise. And the way that I look at it as far as comics is when I walk into a comic shop, I'm looking at the wall and I'm overwhelmed. I don't know where to start. I don't know what issue to start on. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles just did the road to 150. And I'm like...

27:49
I love turtles, but where do I start? You know, like a source book. You got 300 issues on G.I. Joe right now. It's like if you want to watch anime, it's like, oh, somebody suggests one piece. Start in the middle. Go ahead. It's like it's a thousand episodes. Where do you begin? And so for me, it's like just find a book, find something that looks fun, that looks interesting. I'm going to throw this other, my first real foray into a full blown story.

28:17
was an LGBTQ story called Alice in Leatherland, which blew my mind. I'd never read a story like that, let alone an entire arc. And it was maybe like seven issues, and it was so beautiful and well done that it just like, it really introduced me into what.

28:36
off-brand kind of comics can be. It was by Black Mask, I think, is the publisher. And then I went and I learned who Mirka Andolfo is and I read Unnatural, which, you know, shout out to muscle mommies there. Shout out to Mirka and the crowd. Mirka, thanks for stopping by. Mirka, thanks so much. No, and honestly, I've loved her work. It has introduced me into the off-brand, the

29:05
like stories that are out there that are not your big two, not your Batman's, not your super, you know, your just all these different characters. Yeah. And I'm just like, find something that looks interesting, that looks fun. And just, you know, grab a couple issues. I mean, shout out to Omnibus, who's actually a sponsor of our show. On their, on their app, you can actually, it has like a section that says great number ones to start with.

29:34
You know the recommendations find somebody who's recommended number ones, you know and just find something that looks fun You know like there's so many new things starting all the time beneath the trees where the teddy bears play You know like there's so many fun good things that are starting and you were mentioning Like these not big you know publishers and like it I'm starting comics in an amazing time indie publishers are coming out with some of the greatest stories, and I'm loving it I'm so happy. I'm here Chris. I mean

30:03
Aaron kind of built you up, so I'm very curious to hear this. Can you give us maybe a condensed version of your intro to comic book spiel? Out of curiosity. Yeah. I mean, kind of similar to what Aaron was saying there. I think the best way, the way I always recommend folks to get into comics is to go to your LCS, find a character that you already like, and just pick up whatever the most recent issue of that is. So if you're really big into Batman, just pick up the most recent issue of Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jimenez's book.

30:33
and just start there because they will catch you up. You're not going to be lost. And if there are parts that you don't understand, you read two issues, you will more than likely know what's going on. So I don't ever recommend people pick up like The Dark Knight Returns or Watchmen as your first book. I know it's always the one that people who often don't read comics recommend. Those are great stories and those are ones that I started off with. But I think you get more out of those stories as you sort of progress and get your feet wet in the medium. So yeah, I mean ‑‑

30:57
I would imagine that the best place to start is usually, like I said, find a character or find even just find some art. You know, if you like an anthropomorphic bear that's killing folks, then pick up beneath the tree where nobody sees and that'll be a great first issue for you. That was the other side of it that I wanted to throw out there is one thing that you don't think about when you're getting introduced into a specific superhero is that they are not the first team to have created it or created a storyline for it. So if you just like an artist or like a writer, find the story arc and where they started.

31:28
you know, or to get recommendations on what you like to read and then how it kind of attributes to that, that creative team, because that will be a good place to start also, because it's a whole new storyline that they're starting off. You don't have to start at Batman 1, you can start at Batman 352, because that's when the penguin iced somebody. Yeah. All right. Well said. Thank you, gents. Let's give a round of applause to the first issue club. Polis, essentially. You didn't even mention Antarctica, by the way, which is a great comic. Yeah. All right.

31:53
Well, actually on the topic, we've you guys have mentioned anthropomorphic bears a few times, which brings me to my pull list essentials. I'm gonna keep this brief. First and foremost, my favorite ongoing comic book is a title called Local Man is being published by Image Comics is written by Tim Seeley, I think drawn by Tony fleeks. I always get this. They both I think they write and draw together.

32:21
crime noir meets superhero kind of action. It centers around the main character, Jack Xavier, who in his younger days was the young buck and superstar of this 90s kind of inspired superhero team called 3rd Gen. There's an incident that happens that kind of forces him to go back home to his small town, live with his mom and dad. And he's kind of trying to find his place in the world now. He's got this incredible ability to

32:49
He's kind of got like a bullseye kind of power where he can always hit his target. So he's very accurate, I guess, if that's a superpower. But you know, he's coming from this high to these very low back home small town, finding his place. There's a lot of shady things going on. It kind of evolved into much more than that. It kind of goes into like a murder mystery that ties into his old roots. And he's, you know, helping to uncover things and really poignant read, especially if you're someone that's from like a small town that can, you know, has just kind of dealt with, you know.

33:19
identity and friends and outgrowing certain things. I'd highly recommend it. It's definitely my favorite ongoing series currently right now. Speaking of anthropomorphic bears, it brings me to my favorite mini-series, which is actually wrapping up on May 8th. It's a six-issue mini-series called Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Seeds. It's written and beautifully illustrated by Patrick Horvath. It's coming out through IDW Publishing. I've seen it described multiple ways.

33:48
But the best way to put it for me is it's Dexter meets Bernstein bears. So you've got this beautifully drawn watercolor comic book. It centers around this cuddly anthropomorphic bear named Samantha who owns a hardware store. Oh, definitely not that cuddly. Don't get that close.

34:10
Bears in general aren't that cuddly, I guess. But she owns this hardware store, and she lives in this perfect suburban town with other anthropomorphic animals. There's a frog that has a bakery shop. I think the cat owns a meat shop. It's so cute, but it's a deep, dark secret, right? Samantha is a serial killer who likes to go into the big town and murder other animals and hide their bodies. And she thinks that she's got it made, and no one's the wiser.

34:37
But one day she starts seeing that people in her town are being mysteriously and gruesomely murdered. So now she's gotta solve this mystery. So there's a lot of, I think I love that meta factor to it and then, you know, just the pose of the artwork, you're like, what the fuck am I reading? Highly recommend it. It comes to an end, at least this first run. I don't know if it's being picked up, but I can't recommend it enough if you want something that completely subverts your expectations.

35:05
Also shout out to Patrick Horvath for being here. Hey Patrick, how are you? Thanks for being here today. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Great hat. So tall. Where'd you get that first issue club shirt? All right. And then my favorite single issue is Transformers number seven. I don't know about you guys. I grew up, I think I might have missed, I just barely missed a boat on the Transformers train.

35:29
You know, it was something that my dad played, did the old cartoons. I just really never really got into it like that. In the movies, you know, I don't know. I just, I kind of missed the boat, but what Daniel Warren Johnson in Skybound has done with the Transformers line has been remarkable. And just as far as like being a good jumping on point, a reintroduction to the characters, writing a great story, a lot of action, great artwork. Issue seven in particular is the start of a brand new storyline.

35:58
They also brought in a new artist by the name of Jorge Corona, which, you know, coming off the heels of Daniel Warren Johnson, I think sets the bar really high. I think a lot of comic- Who's that? Daniel Warren Johnson? I heard about him. Indie creator, small town name. You might know him. That's cool. But issue seven in particular was just, you know, coming off the heels of issue six, which was like this big, you know, end to the first arc, you know, you're kind of like, how do they top that? But issue seven single-handedly just provided-

36:26
They kept their foot on the gas pedal. A lot of action, great artwork. I think Jorge Corona is a great artist to jump on point. And it gives you a badass fight between Starscream and Soundwave. And sometimes that's all you wanna see is two giant robots going at it, right? Isn't that what Daniel Warren Johnson does so well? I think that's what the Bible was about. To be honest. Daniel Warren Johnson has this incredible ability to match just heartwarming.

36:54
thoughtful genuine stories with just badass, just brain candy. There's no, there's only heavy metal. That's how you describe David Wardrox's art, heavy metal. Yeah, 100%. You know, but he also manages to always find the heart in the story. It doesn't matter how badass the art is, how awesome the action is. You a power bomb? Yeah, how incredible. He loves killing off people. Oh my God. And making me feel something on the inside.

37:18
That he does. And I appreciate that he values the emotional aspect on top of like everything that you would love about comic books at face value. My honorable mention, talking about subverting expectations, I wanted to go a different route for honorable mention. But before I reveal that, gentlemen, is there anything? Do any of my do you guys want to add any colorful commentaries any of the titles that I mentioned? Are you guys reading anything? Anything to add?

37:44
We had all three of the ones you have here, Beneath the Trees, Murder by Seas, Local Man, and Transformers on our best comics of 2023 list. So you nailed it on the head. These are all incredible comics. These are books that I would hand folks who either, again, as we said earlier, have never read comics or are long time veterans in the medium. You know, these are all great, great series. If you need something to give you an entire universe to start off with, Void Rivals, which starts off the Energon universe, is a great way to start.

38:10
any kind of like whole world building and the fact that it's all going to come together at some point it's just like i'm just like gripping the table and i'm waiting for it i think beneath the trees is the perfect example of why i read comics is like i go to this shop every week i get my normal stuff you get kind of in the rut for a little bit and then this book comes out of nowhere yes you're just like i was there for it i was there

38:35
The day it came out, I got to talk about it. This is my water cooler moment. I get to say I picked up the first issue of Beneath the Trees. And it gets you, it fuels you for the next six months until something else comes out. I just love the fact that I got to stand next to several people like, man, I didn't get to get the number one because I didn't think it looked cool so I could make money off of it. Sorry, sucker. Yeah, this is one of those rare moments in the medium where it's not only commercially, like, in the aftermarket successful, but it's also, like, critically. People, like, yeah.

39:02
fans like us, anyone can love the story as well. Because a lot of times, I would say in today's world, we don't need to get on a tangent about this, but those often don't mix. This is a podcast, so tangents welcome. That's true. A lot of times when you get those key issues that everyone wants, then the market's hot. It's for first appearances or a high variant or what have you. But sometimes, in this moment with Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, it is because not only is it a great story, but also the aftermarket really wants it as well.

39:29
Yeah, it feels like everything, you know, all cylinders are firing for sure. Andy, you were shaking your head pretty violently in agreement as I was talking about Transformers. You got anything to say about the, are you reading the Transformers series? I am reading Transformers. Defend yourself. I love Transformers. I mean, Daniel Warren Johnson slaps. I will take the opportunity though to pivot and say that Local Man is a book that I will take every opportunity to talk about because...

39:58
It is so good. I'm a Tim Seely shill, like these guys are for Tom King, and giving him the opportunity to team up with Tony Fleek's is incredible because Tim does crime so well, and on top of that he does like, cartoony violence really well. I'm a huge hack slash fan of his horror series, and it takes all the best parts of that like,

40:26
violent action stuff from Hackslash and the crime stuff that he does like he did. What is it? The Eddie Dean book with Harold Schechter. I don't know. If you're a crime fan, a noir fan, a superhero fan.

40:41
If you just moved in with your parents again. Yeah. Oh, yeah. If you're a 90s comic. If you own over a hundred copies of Amazing Spider-Man from Tom McFarland. And I do. I mean, literally all of that stuff is all applicable to this book. If you have ever read a comic book, you will find something enjoyable about Local Man. If anyone else wants to talk about Local Man after the podcast. We'll be here for 30 minutes after the show. Welcoming anyone to come and we'll go yell at Tim about it too. And Tony's here too, right?

41:11
Yes. In the crowd and at the com. Local Chicago. There we go. All right. Why isn't enough suspense building my last but very not least honorable mention. I would not be a responsible comic podcaster if I didn't use this platform to talk about the greatness that is X-Men 97. All right. I know it's not a comic book, but come on now. We're eating good X-Men fans. All right. I know. I know. I cheated. It's not a comic book.

41:41
Considering that, you know, this is, you know, you can make an argument. This is based on the classic X-Men, you know, 90s X-Men comic book series. And just overall, I feel like this cartoon in general has been a, especially this, you know, 97 in particular, it's felt like a giant love letter to all things X-Men, you know, especially the comic books, it's been amazing to watch this current series and see them do an amalgam of so many different iconic and classic X-Men stories from, you know, uh,

42:10
Inferno, zero tolerance, life after death. You know, I think this is this is now set the bar for me. And Invincible has already kind of set that. But I feel like this is kind of pushed that bar a little higher up in terms of how a comic book, an animated comic book show should be. Great writing, really good animation, great action, you know, the gravitas, you know, stakes are there, all of that.

42:37
So, X-Men 97. Can I get a round of applause for X-Men 97? Come on, guys. And shout out to Comic Book Couples' counseling, Lisa Gullickson, for her vocal rendition of the X-Men theme song. Yeah, if Brian and Lisa were here, I'm sure they would probably, they'd be getting embarrassed by that. But yeah, their intro is all the X-Men animated series. But also, I love in the series, just, that's the only thing I want to point in this, for the series is that in Storm in the, is it the first or second episode?

43:01
I can't feel the breeze. Look, they are letting everyone. Here in Chicago, you can definitely feel the breeze. You can feel the breeze. Well said. All right, let's get into our Champions row. So this is the segment where we're going to talk about comic book creators, artists, writers, et cetera, that are just doing the damn thing, that we want you guys to be familiar with, that we want to show some love to. Let's do a little lightning round on this one, considering our time. First, Issue Club. Tell us about these creators you want to spotlight.

43:29
Yeah, so Zach Thompson is one of our favorite writers who has written, as you can see, so many great books, Blow Away, Seminary Hurgits Don't Die, Into the Unbeing, I Birthed a Body. He's like a phenomenal horror, suspense, dramatic writer. He is leading up to becoming one of your most favorite writers here pretty soon. I undoubtedly think he'll be on a DC or Marvel book within the next, hopefully, two to five years.

43:57
a hell of a character that you can bond with and then immediately get rid of him. And then I'll pass it to Andy here real quick so we can talk about Iman. But I mean, he just came out with Blow Away, which is a suspenseful story about two hikers on a mountain that meet their untimely death and this photographer has to investigate it and she's now being hunted by someone else. It's just a phenomenal story. Yeah. We had a conversation on whatever last issue or the two.

44:26
issue club. Last issue, whatever, last episode about how Zach is a writer who's going to have one of those breakout books. It's just a matter of which one is going to be the next, beneath the trees, whatever. Yeah. I was just telling Greg that I just downloaded Blow Way on Omnibus because you guys talked about it last episode. So I'm excited. So thank you for exposing me to them. It's dope. And so we don't actually practice names. So if I mispronounce this, please forgive me.

44:53
Eamonn Winkle is the artist on Principles of Necromancy, and he's done some variants. But this guy, man, if you haven't read Principles of Necromancy, absolutely read it. New publisher. Yeah, new publisher, Magma Comics. But the art in here, I opened it, and immediately I was like, this is something. This felt like. It felt like the first time I saw Daniel Warren Johnson. That's exactly right. The expressiveness of his line work. And it's just like.

45:21
something incredible is here and if this gets to cook a little bit more, it's like sky's the limit. Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean, Daniel Warren Johnson's the absolute perfect comparison. It's truly, truly next level and for it to be, I mean, I think this is his first interiors, don't quote me on that, but for it to be his first interiors, it's wild. And on top of that, he's writing a great story by Colin Kelly and Jackson Lansing. So let's have good choices. Put those guys on your radar.

45:51
on. Oh, I guess I'm next. All right, I'm gonna keep mine short and brief. David Pepos is a crime reporter turned comic book writer. And I had the opportunity to interview him last week. So if you go on the short box feed, it's the most recent episode. But he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met in comic books. Like very soft spoken, not soft spoken. He's very humble, very kind and

46:19
brilliant. He comes from a journalistic background, so he's got that going for him. The crime reporting aspect as well. So I think when it comes to portraying crime, action, and drama, he's got that down tenfold. He has written Savage Avengers. He introduced the new publisher, I'm sorry, new publisher, new punisher, as of the Marvel Universe, Joe Garrison. And just hearing his approach for just that, how he had tackled such a controversial and

46:48
You know, difficult characters to write about in today's lens in modern times. I could put a lot of respect on him for taking that character and that property and making it his own. His latest and newest stuff that he's doing is Space Ghost, which once again is a show that I grew up watching, you know, because of my dad. He put on the cartoon, so I always just have him, you know, in this compartment of, that's my dad's, you know, heroes in cartoons.

47:16
But leave it up to someone like David Peppos to reinvigorate him, revitalize him and bring him to modern times. Issue one actually comes out next Wednesday or this Wednesday coming up. And I guarantee you it is the most badass version of Space Ghost you'll ever see. He's not just a late night show host. No, not at all. But it does make you appreciate who Space Ghost is and how he's been in pop culture. So David Peppos, if you see his name on any comic book.

47:45
pick it up, highly guarantee it. The artist I want to go ahead and highlight, who apparently is a man of mystery, because I could not find a single photo of this guy. He doesn't have any photos. And if I can just interject really quickly, we had him and Rahm on the show together for Dawn Runner. He explicitly said he would only do the interview if I didn't show his face. So he's very private about that. Know what? I will accept that, because his artwork is so damn beautiful. He'd be among us at this moment, and we wouldn't know.

48:13
Evan, there he is right there. He's right next to Daniel Warren Johnson and Tom Breivort. Yeah, YouTube audience. You can't see YouTube. First ghost of Stan Lee over there? Evan, I think it's Cagle. Cagle. Cagle, OK. Evan Cagle, like I said, there isn't much to go off of social media. But this is a prime example of he just lets the work speak for itself. He is currently doing the interiors of Dawn Runner, which is a new series through Dark Horse. Ram V is writing it, who we've talked about.

48:42
earlier in this slide. His artwork is a blend between, I feel like, an MTV animated movie meets Akira. I mean, it's like so much. He's so technically gifted. He can draw giant robots. He can draw giant monsters. He draws very emotional and emotive people as well. I think he's doing the covers for this Dune comic book series and every single one of those covers.

49:09
just captures the overall emotions and what you think of when you think of like high sci-fi. So if you're into sci-fi robots, Kaijus, highly recommend anything by Evan Cagle. That said, I'm going to take it to the Oblivion Bar. Oblivion Bar, tell us about your creator spotlights. Yeah. So Aaron, I'm sorry. I took both of these. So I'll talk about these guys. Number one is Tyler Crook. He's one of my favorite working, not only.

49:36
artist but also writers as well. He recently just did the Lonesome Hunters over at Dark Horse but you also may know him as the artist on Harrow County with Colin Bunn. They were it was an award winning series. But Tyler, we had him on the show recently and I just I couldn't help but be just smitten by his, you know, genuine sort of humbleness, right? Like he doesn't he doesn't understand how much of a unique voice he has in the medium and it's pretty evident when you see his work it's unlike anybody else's and I'm just

50:05
a huge fan of not only him but his work as well. And then Buster Moody who I don't know if you guys are familiar with him. He reminds me of Eman a little bit. Why is he not everywhere? He's a KC guy too. He's on Planet every year. It will be. It will be soon. It's insane. He is like insanely talented. As you can see there from the right, he's done some creator on Kickstarter and whatnot. But I see a lot of his commissions. I actually, I don't have a picture of it. I probably should have included it. But I reached out to him on Twitter maybe back in like 2018, asked for a commission.

50:34
$200, which is insane for everybody who's not familiar with commission rates. He gave me this huge Daft Punk commission that he not only sent me for $200, this is easily a $2,000 commission for literally anybody else. And then he also sent me the colored print that he's going to be selling at different cons and whatnot. Planet, I'm sure. So Buster is someone who I think you should definitely keep on your radar 100%. I think...

50:59
He's going to hop on either a cover or interior in the next couple of years. I think he'll be one of the most unique voices in the medium once he is. I didn't choose either of these, as Chris said. He totally took over the slide. But the simple fact is Chris knows my taste. And the fact that Buster did a Giver commission, I'm already sold. He also did a cover for NT150, the last issue of Sophie Campbell's run. I think that's...

51:26
Only, I mean, he's done some covers, but that's the most recent cover that I can think of. He did a Godzilla book. Godzilla in Hell. He did an issue, issue three. And it's all silent. So it's just his art. I need to find that. It's all his stuff. All right. Well, C2C2, let me go in and say this. I don't, I think we hit our, do we have five minutes left? Is that what you're saying? Two. One? Ten minutes. Oh, we got ten minutes. OK, so we can actually do Q&A. We have eight minutes left. Eight minutes left. Thank you, Time Clock King Aaron.

51:56
Let's do Q&A and open that up really quick. If you have a question. Please no pushing. Yeah, please stop. Ghost of Stanley, stop that. Please. Let Jack Kirby in front. If you guys, if anyone has a question, you can line up behind that mic and ask a question. And as that is going on, I'm going to go ahead and leave this slide up here where if you are curious about checking out.

52:19
anyone shows whether that be first issue club short box or oblivion bar you can scan that QR code we've also got some freebies free stuff up here as well that we'll hand out as we're wrapping up Aaron took my bit. Oh okay so we do got a question from an audience sexy man in the middle what you got there yes young man go ahead yeah oh hi um so uh I'm kind of new to comic grade I don't know if you guys know some kind of new to comic reading.

52:46
I'm curious about your perspective on when you read like a really good issue number one, and then kind of like down the road, obviously, sales kind of dwindle with something that I've, you know, I've overheard from shopkeepers about sales kind of dwindling as the series goes on. What are your feelings when you read like a really good issue one, but then come to find out that it's kind of just like, really dropped off at the end. And I'm going to throw one specific example, but you don't have to use this example as your answer.

53:16
Vanish by Donny Cates. Well that's a difficult one because there's a lot of back issues or back history with why Vanish didn't continue. Yeah, there's a very specific reason why Vanish is not continuing on. Leave it to Aaron to be the most conscious. That's a very good question. Thank you, question asker. What? I'm doing the whole time. You know, I've actually asked a lot of creators, you know, because comic book marketing is an interesting thing because it doesn't exist.

53:45
The creators are meant to promote their own book. And sales do kind of fall off, especially with indie books after the first issue. I would say that as a comic book reader to stay vigilant and dedicated and just because your favorite book isn't getting the attention that it should doesn't mean you should drop off. You could also just wait for the trade or collected editions to just get it all in one sitting. But you know...

54:15
As comic book fan and a comic book podcast host, I'm just like mentally broken to just continue with a broken wheel down the road. So it doesn't really matter to me if no one's talking about my favorite book. I still my favorite book. Yeah. So on the flip side too, I talked about the last two pages, right? Where you flip it and you get that feeling. Sometimes that feeling and that moment you have is just that. You know, a creator has a great idea.

54:43
But you can't stretch it out for 28 issues or 72 issues or whatever. And I'll say as a consumer, that's okay. You don't have to buy the entire run of a comic. You can buy six issues and enjoy them. You can buy 12 issues and enjoy them. But you have to have those moments in books that keep you coming back to keep you coming back, right? If issue six doesn't have a moment, I don't know, don't pick up issue seven.

55:12
Is that a bad answer? Buy more comics, but don't, I guess. If I could caveat just briefly, I think there's really no wrong way, I think, to read comics. If you want to collect... I collect just mostly single... Sorry, excuse me, trades now. I used to be a big single issue collector, but recently I just switched strictly to trades. And I think any way... We're all looking at a way to try to help keep this train rolling, this medium. I think... I don't know who said this quote, but it was...

55:40
the most popular and on the brink of destruction since they began. They're always the most popular and on the verge of bankruptcy at this exact moment and it'll be worse in five minutes. So any way that you can support the industry, the medium, I don't know if there's necessarily a wrong way to do that. My only answer to this is, is that's the question.

55:59
I love that you're answering your own question. I've been here the entire time. I didn't ask the question. But I would just say that we got to think of, you know, anybody in here who's created anything knows how hard it is to put your creation out there for the world to see. So when you as a creator put something out there and it doesn't really sell well or nobody's really talking about it, it can be very hard to deal with. So one thing that I tell people to do is if you really like something that you're reading, don't be afraid to shout out. Don't be afraid to talk about it online. Don't be afraid to tag the artist in.

56:27
like on whatever social media platform. Because if they know that you're enjoying it, even one person, that might mean the world to them. So don't be afraid to do that. And that's gonna invigorate them to continue to create. Next question, please. Next question. Yes, so I'm a big romance and rom-com fan. Are there comics for me? Yes. I have a couple suggestions. Me too. I would say my favorite one to recommend is Blankets by Craig Thompson. That's an incredible.

56:56
romance comic that will literally kick you in your heart. It will reach into your stomach. But it is incredible. I would say a more recent one. I don't know if it's necessarily romance. You guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but Love Overlasting by Tom King. Surprise, surprise. I have a Tom King recommendation with Elsa Chardier. It's another great book that started off on, what was it, Substack and now it's 3img. So yeah.

57:24
Alice in Leatherland is a great one that talks about kind of coming into your own sexuality, kind of introducing yourself into like when you move to a new area and finding and like discovering your whole new kind of like love and romantic language in this new like, you know, kind of undertaking. So I love that one. One thing Chris introduced me to was saga, you know, the romance between the two main characters is so interesting that even if you're new in a relationship versus being in a marriage for years, you can take something out of the relationship.

57:53
between the two main characters in the first real run of saga? Yeah. So to answer your question, yes, there's a ton of romance. Comic books out there. There's a ton of Western comic book. Chef's kiss. Also look up chef's kiss. There's many genres out there. You know, unnatural, like Aaron mentioned earlier, is at its core a romance comic about finding a new set of romance with outside and within yourself. Because it is important to love yourself before you try to love someone else. But great question. You.

58:22
Very handsome. What's your name again? If you have a podcast, let us know. You have a podcast you wanna pimp? Yeah, you got a good podcast voice. You can consider it. All right, C2E2, with that being said, I wanna thank you guys so much for attending our live podcast cross-over show panel. That's a mouthful. But let's give it up for our panelists, Andy Vargas, Greg Ligthi, Chris Hacker, Aaron Knowles. Most importantly, let's give it up for yourselves. Thank you guys so much for attending. Big round of applause for Bodder. He put all this together.

58:50
He organized it. Thank you. One of the longest running podcasts going about comic books. Give it up. He's also really tall. I do this for you, Mom. All right, you guys, like I said, we got some freebies up here if you guys want to come up to the table, grab some freebies. Besides that, you guys have a great rest of your day and enjoy the convention, right? Yeah. Go support some creators. There you have it, Short Box Nation. That's the end of the show. Thank you for hanging out.

59:20
Thanks for being here and a special shout out if you made it this far. If you enjoyed this episode and you have some thoughts or comments that you want to share with us, write us at thes And if you really liked this episode, help us spread the word, share this episode with a friend or someone you know that loves comics as much as we do. And don't forget to leave us a five star rating and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. It takes two minutes tops, and it would mean the world to us. So leave us a review.

59:49
If you want more content like bonus episodes or perks like early access and commercial free episodes, and in some cases free comic books, consider joining our Patreon community at patreon.com slash the short box. It's an easy and very affordable way to support the show and get rewarded for being a fan. Once again, sign up at patreon.com slash the short box. Speaking of our Patreon community, I want to give a big shout out to our current members including Adam Cittani, Tony Aupi, RC Gamet, Blake Simone, Blythe Brumley.

01:00:19
Bo Evers, Brian Brumley, Chad Landenberger, Chris Hacker, Chris Jinx, David Morales, Triple D Mystic, Dominique Jackson, Errol White, Edbot 5000, Generation Jaguar, Greg Hopkins, Greg Ligtide, Henry Hernandez, Hershel, Hydrus96 aka Mac J. Sinner, Jeff Frimmid, Jerome Cabanatan, Joshua Miller, Justin McCoy, Kara Reichart, Cassie Whitley, Corey Torteson, Matt Godwin, Amanda Marin, Nick Wagner,

01:00:49
podcasters Assemble, Stephen Gamet, T-Mix, The Wait For It Podcast, Thomas Pandich, Thurian, Trey Namo, Walter Gantt, Warren Evans, and Zach Armour. Thanks again to everyone that listens and supports this show. Be sure to come back next week for a new episode. And most importantly, take care of yourselves, read a good comic, and continue to make mine and yours short box. I'll catch you soon.