Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back to another episode of the Capes and Tights podcast right here on capesandtyce.com dot. I'm your host, Justin Soderbergh. This episode we welcome back David Pepos to the program to discuss his latest comic over at Dynamite Entertainment. Space Ghost, a wonderful new superhero story over at Dynamite, a story that if you're into superheroes, you're going to love. If you're into other things and Sci-Fi related, you're going to love. It's a real starting on point. If you don't know who Space Ghost is, no worries. An awesome comic book to check out. So we chucked, we chatted that. We chatted a little bit of the devil, the devil that wears my face, David's independent comic book with Alex Cormack over at Mad Cave and much more. So enjoy this episode with David Pepos, award winning writer of Space goes. But before you do, check out Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, bluesky threads, follow us like us, share our stuff, all that stuff, as well as rate review, subscribe over at Apple and Spotify and all our major podcasting platforms. Check us out on YouTube as well as capesandtice.com dot. This is David Peppos, award winning writer of space Ghosts at Dynamite Entertainment. Enjoy, everyone.
Welcome back to the podcast, David. I hope you're doing well. I hope you're basking in the glow of Space Ghost.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: It's amazing, overwhelming in the best possible way. But I couldn't be more excited and more grateful to see how excited everyone has been about our new space Ghost series. And yeah, I hope everybody sticks around because the fun is only just getting started. We've got a whole year's worth of stories planned out with room to grow. And yeah, I'm just, I couldn't be more excited. So thank you so much for having me.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Absolutely. So let's get started. Are you a space Ghost fan? Is this like one of those, is this like a dream come true job just because you get to write an iconic character? But is this, like, iconic in your own mind, too? Is this like one of those things that when they, when you got this job, you're like, oh, crap, here we go.
[00:02:06] Speaker B: It was one of those things that when Dynamite first approached me to take on this book, I immediately, I could see the ingredients, like. And I think that was the thing that really drew me to this project, was not only was Dynamite saying like, hey, what do you think about starting off for a year? So giving me a really long Runway to work, but also, I just knew Alex Toth was throwing out fastball after fastball with space Ghost. And for me, he strikes me as a character that has all the ingredients of an a lister. You could say that it's like, what if Batman fought crime in the Star wars universe? But he's got that amazing design that's endured for 60 years. He's got this wide array of powers with his power bands that give him power over lasers and fire and ice and force fields, and his inviso belt that lets him turn invisible, and the Phantom cruiser and Ghost planet, his headquarters. He's got a really cool, engaging supporting cast. He's got his three sidekicks. It's Jan and chase and their pet monkey, blip. And then this deep stacked bench of villains like a rogues gallery that's every bit as iconic as something that Batman or Spider man or the Flash might have. And the fact that there's a character that has all of these things and in terms of a superhero storyline has really only been explored in five minute increments with the original Hanna Barbera cartoon. And as far as comics go, there was a mini series and then space ghost sort of popping up as almost like a bookend supporting character in the pages of future Quest. It all felt like unexplored territory in a genre that's usually been so thoroughly mined. And for me, I was just like, this is a character that has all these things, and no one has told a story with all of it. And so it just was an irresistible opportunity for me.
Of course, as I've been promoting this book, it only occurs to me the day of release that I was like, oh, this feels like ultimate Space Ghost to me, where it's brand new continuity and easy jumping on point, like a perfect way that if you don't know who Space Ghost is, we're going to make you fall in love with him and we're going to show you why he's the greatest superhero in the galaxy. And, yeah, that's, you know, it's one of those opportunities that it really doesn't come up very often to have this amazingly vibrant and robust superhero universe, and nobody's, nobody's touched it. And so, yeah, I feel so fortunate to be able to take on a project like Space Ghost. It's been one of the most fun books I've ever written. I haven't had this much fun on a book since Savage Avengers. And, yeah, it's just been, I hope the enthusiasm shows on the page.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: This is a savage Avengers.
[00:04:44] Speaker B: Oh, hey, I see cloak and dagger back there. That was one of my favorite covers in the entire run. Jenny fries.
[00:04:51] Speaker A: Yeah. The funny thing is the best one of the things I thought was kind of cool about it, too, is like, first of all, I didn't, I knew of space Ghosts and I knew some things about space Ghosts and that it really hadn't been really touched in a while. And so that was cool to me. But also, it's, I felt like it's like on this side of things and having talked to you before and knowing behind the scenes kind of stuff and things like that, that space doing it is cool because there's not very many people who have said, like, well, David didn't do it as good as so and so or is doing it better. Do what? I mean, like, when you saw him gets daredevil, it's like, chip gets daredevil. It's like, oh, cool. But you didn't do Bendis Daredevil. I mean, did you see Ben? And it's like, it's kind of cool because it's like there is, this is like you can't be like, well, I tried to take some things from this person and it's like you really have very limited, in a sense, things to pull from, too. And so, like, it has to be almost a new story. And I thought that was kind of cool in that aspect that like, this, to a lot of younger generation people might be like a new character in their mind. Like that they don't actually know this actual history of from the 1960s like this. They may not even know it's been around for a while.
[00:05:55] Speaker B: Exactly. Well, you know, and I think it speaks to something that we regularly overlook, I think, as creators and publishers and people in the industry is that we're used to, a lot of us are lifers. We've been at this for a long time. But there's churn in this business, there's churn in the readership. And I think it's easy to underestimate how many new readers have shown up. And so for me, like, you see, like Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti did their space Ghost miniseries in 2005, sort of, it felt like a Batman begins kind of origin story for the character, very standalone.
But that was almost 20 years ago. There's a whole generation of readers that have shown up since then who have no idea that book exists or even future quest. Future quest came out. What it was, I think, like 2016. 2017. So that was right when I started as a creator. And so there's been a whole new shift of readers who have no idea that that book exists. And so I think that's been the thing that in certain ways, it's been an interesting realization for me is that there are a lot of people who, especially the ones who weren't sure about, like a serious superhero take on Space Ghost, where they don't know that this is even the first time that it's been done. But I do think that this is the first time that it's been done to the, to the scale that we're doing it. We really are treating this as almost like the long Halloween where we want to do kind of the Space Ghost world tour, where we want to explore a supporting cast, his relationship with Jan and Jason Blip, and how that evolves and changes over the course of the series. But we're also doing primarily done in one adventure. So we're able to hit all of the Rogues gallery, every member of the Council of Doom, plus a few deeper cuts that you might not expect.
We're really trying to, if we have a year worth of Runway, I thought this was a great way to do a distinct beginning, middle and end, and really distill everything I love about the space Ghost universe into one cohesive narrative.
[00:07:52] Speaker A: And the idea that you have such a long Runway is also an unheard of, in a sense, in the comic book industry. And also I think that one of the reasons even middle generation here, who knew about the early two thousands, uh, space Ghost and even the 2016, 2017, uh, iteration is that, um, when it's at a bigger, like a bigger publisher, but one of the big two is like DC or something like that, it still confuses, I think, some readers that I don't know the continuity of DC that well. So I might not understand, even if it's not connected in a way. And so with being at dynamite and being like a fresh, you know, Dynamite's put some energy and effort behind it. Obviously, you've been on, on the, on the road doing these kind of things on social media and all that stuff. It's like, it feels like a new beginning that no one should say, well, I don't know much about spacecraft, because you learn enough and it sets you up enough in this first issue that you can go, okay, now I'm ready for the future. I'm ready to buy at least twelve plus issues. At least. I mean, that's pretty cool about it.
[00:08:55] Speaker B: My thinking is you nailed it on the head, which is there's a whole generation of fans who have no idea who Space coast is, or they only know them as the talk show host from Space coast, coast to coast. They have no idea, um, that, you know, this is a, this is a cartoon that's lasted for. For decades, um, you know, or that that is, that is endured for decades, uh, dating back in 1966 with the original Hanna Barbera cartoon that kind of came right on the heels of Adam West's Batman. And so you see a lot of the shared DNA in those old cartoons. And then you have the 81 revival, which was kind of as a contemporary to super friends and Spider man and his amazing friends. You can see a lot of shared qualities there. Um, and then, yeah, of course, coast to coast, kind of really distilling the MTV generation, that sort of ironic comedy. And then, yeah, then even, like I said, joe Kelly's run, you know, it came out right before Batman begins, but you can see, like, the shared zeitgeist between them. And so for me, it's like space Ghost is always a product of his time. And so for me, that was really the fun challenge of this was how do we bring in a brand new continuity, an easy jumping on point. You don't need to know who space Ghost is. I've done the homework for you. How do we do all of that through the lens of modern day storytelling techniques?
Something that, you know, like I said, we're doing a lot of dawn in one stories for that reason. So we can cover as most the maximum amount of ground possible through all that. But also just, yeah, like, I think there are a lot of people are like, oh, I know, I know that costume.
And for me, that's what's been so exciting, is there's so much potential beneath that costume.
And to be honest, that's the benefit of the original cartoon, is they didn't have any backstory, they didn't have any continuity. It's very easy to honestly connect those dots. And you'll see by our second issue, you'll be up to speed with everybody about as much as one needs to be. And, yeah, it's just seeing how enthusiastic everybody's been. I think space Ghost is the kind of superhero that people want. They want stories that are easy to jump onto, that aren't bogged down by continuity, that you don't have to read a bunch of other titles to understand but also have done in one self contained adventure. So, you know, every month you're going to get, like, a cool story, and at the same time, you know, trying to tell a story that has a little bit of a longer Runway, that you're able to kind of invest a little longer in it. And so that's, you know, I've been listening, you know, everything that fans say they want, I've been trying to do for a book like space Ghost. And it's been really heartening, you know, at least in these early days, to see that it's been really paying off.
[00:11:30] Speaker A: You mentioned doing the research. Did you watch a bunch of the old stuff? Did you read everything?
[00:11:36] Speaker B: I watched every episode of the original cartoon. I watched every episode of the eighties revival in Space Stars. And I took detailed notes on every single episode.
My pitch document that I sent to dynamite was over 30 pages long.
The notes document was almost 50 pages.
You know, I reread all the old comics. You know, I read the 2006 run. I read the future quest. I read future quest presents. I read Mark Evanier and Steve Rood's comic co. One shot. I wrote the gold key. One shot.
Anything that I could find with space Ghost, even when Space Ghost teams up with Batman and the brave and bold, I rewatched that and took notes on that. So, yes, I kind of know that core universe backwards and forwards at this point.
And, yeah, I think there's just, like I said, alex Toth, I read somebody referred to him as the Jack Kirby of the Hanna barbera stable, and I think that is like, a perfect way to describe him in that, that guy. His designs were so iconic and eclectic that they endured for 60 years, and they led, they added so much to each character in a show that didn't have time for character development, that didn't have time for backstory or continuity. You know, you see Zoraki example and you're like, oh, that looks like a, like a sadistic, evil, homicidal praying mantis. And that was, you know, those are qualities that I was then able to kind of latch onto for my take on Zorak. And what kind of wrinkles could I add on to that character? You know, you see it with brack, you know, where, like, that guy's more blue collar in his aspirations. He's a space pirate. He's knocking off the nearest gold freighter with his brother Sisto, things like that. And that was a show that existed exclusively on vibes.
And that's what's been so exciting for me is that, like, oh, like, I can latch on to each of these characters and be like, there's something about them that really stands out to me. What can I add to those characters to play up that quality? And I think that's been a really fun exercise, and it's really kind of, it's allowed me to explore how vibrant the villains are and then being able to contrast that with this really cool found family narrative that we have with space Ghost and his sidekicks. As space ghost kind of is struggling not just to be, like, this space faring crime fighter, but also really the ultimate single dad. And how this kind of found family comes together and the friction that they have against one another and how sometimes they have setbacks and how sometimes they kind of learn and heal from one another and how space Ghost ultimately reclaims that lost humanity that he pressed down so long. So, yeah, it's. It really checks all my boxes. I love this book, and I'm very excited for people to see, kind of.
[00:14:23] Speaker A: We can't tell you love it at all.
No. So when you do research, and this is not just. I guess this is not just a space ghost question. This is a question you did. You've recently just, you know, wrapped up punisher over at Marvel.
You. You know, you established Avengers. Do you look back at some of these things and, you know, research these to know the characters, but also what stories have been told? So you try not to tell those stories as well. Like, so you are originality on it, but, like, is there, like, some. I'm guessing it's a multifaceted research. This isn't just a I need to learn about the universe kind of thing.
[00:14:53] Speaker B: Yes, 100%. And it does depend on the project. Like, you know, if it's something like space Ghost, for example, where I'm like, I know I can watch all the original cartoon, and I can watch all of space, the revival, I can feasibly do that. Whereas, like, you know, if I was, you know, writing Daredevil, you know, there's no way I could read all of Daredevil.
That would be a lot. But also, like, I'm lucky when I'm working on something at Marvel, you know, where, like, I would be reading Marvel every week even if I wasn't working there. So I'm usually pretty up to speed on stuff, but even, like, yeah, savage Avengers. When I started on that, I reread all of Jerry's run just because I wanted to get a sense of what was going on in that book. And for me, it's less about where do I draw from in terms of continuity. A lot of times, it's exclusionary. It's okay. I know this person did this. You know, for Joe Kelly, example, the Joe Kelly run on Space Ghost that was very focused on space Ghost himself. It was very much how this character went from being a space cop, to being betrayed by his unit, to being left for dead, and then kind of coming back as this new vigilant anti identity. And so I knew rereading that, I was like, I don't want to retread that ground. And that was kind of the reason why I wound up positioning Jan and Jace as our point of view characters, sort of the way that Kitty Pryde was the POV character when she appeared in X Men, because I thought, oh, that's a perspective that hasn't been told yet. Janet Jayce kind of only appeared very sporadically in that Joe Kelly miniseries, and so. And same thing for, you know, for Savage Avengers. Like, I read it, and while there was the initial kind of semi team, ad hoc roster in that first arc, after that first arc, it was. It was Conan teaming up with various members of Marvel Universe. And so I thought, okay, like, the first thing I said when. When I was offered the assignment was, I want to give. I want to have a permanent team. I want to have a permanent roster because that's something that. That run hadn't had.
So, yeah, that's kind of, you know, I do as much research as I can to just get a sense of what has been done elsewhere, so I don't double up on that.
You know, like, even, like, when I wrote Moon Knight, city of the dead, like, I reread all of Jed McKay's run, which I love.
[00:17:11] Speaker A: Fantastic. It's fantastic.
[00:17:13] Speaker B: It's a fantastic book.
And so it was like, okay, how do I, you know, that was part of the reason why I put him in the city of the dead was I was like, okay, that's like, a different thing than what Jed's been doing. And that's actually the reason why I wound up doing. Using narrative captions in that book was, I was like, okay, like, I don't want to come across as somebody who's going to try to parrot Jed and do a worse job at it. So let me try kind of like, a different sort of thing with that. So, yeah, but also, you know, the research is fun. You know, like that. You know, it's sort of. It's in the same way that I get to write off buying comics on my taxes, you know, like, I get to be like, oh, I get to read comics for work, and I'm actually doing work. This is fun. You know, it feels like I'm kind of goofing. Goofing and cheating the system a little bit. So, yeah, it's whatever I can get my hands on. And then, of course, like, obviously working within the deadline. Yes. I try to absorb as much as I can, um, just to kind of keep the character fresh in my mind and figure out, like, the more I read, the more I can kind of get a sense of, like, oh, that's something that stands out to me.
[00:18:17] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: About that character and kind of extrapolate from there.
[00:18:21] Speaker A: This is obviously still someone's intellectual property. Like, when you were writing for the big two at Marvel or DC, like, someone created this character, and now I'm guessing, uh, dynamite has a license for space ghosts. But how much do you have freedom? Do you have freedom to create characters?
It's pretty open mind.
[00:18:36] Speaker B: It is.
[00:18:37] Speaker A: It's.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: It is crazy the amount of freedom that Dynamite and Warner brothers has given us on this book.
You would not expect how much freedom they've given us. I'm in the middle of writing issue five right now, and I think I've gotten three notes since we started the process, and I can tell you one of the notes was, I'd asked if we wanted to give Janet Jayce superhero names, and the licenser was like, I don't think we need that. I was like, cool.
I think one other line. They had one line note where they were just like, oh, could we make this line, like, sound a little more spacey? Sure.
You know, it was an issue. One where Tanza.
I had him say, holy, flark.
I had originally just had him say, holy. They're like, could we make it a little more space? And I was like, holy, flark. Done.
Warner Brothers has been the best licensor I have ever worked with by a country mile. They are enthusiastic about what we're doing. They immediately understood the vision. They were so excited. I've seen some of the notes they've given us, and I can tell you, having worked with a lot of license, I've worked with Lucasfilm, I've worked with Conan properties to have a licensor who I can literally read the comments being like, that rules.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:19:49] Speaker B: That's exciting. That is so refreshing. That is so wonderful.
They've really given us all the latitude that we need and could ever want to really explore space Ghost in his universe and to develop it in what we think is the most dynamic in character driven way possible. It really, like, I've never had a book like this before where I really get to have all the fun of the superhero genre and all the tools of the superhero genre and none of the structural obstacles that come with it. And that's not disparaging anything. It's just when you're usually, when you're working on a shared universe or you're working on licensed ip, when you're in a shared universe, you know, you have to, the toys, you have to, you know, that's, that's a lot of what your editors do is they know where all the bodies are buried. They help you navigate the flow of traffic. Traffic. Whereas if you're working on a licensed IP, the licensors, understandably, can be very protective of that sort of thing, where they've got their own priorities of, like, this is what sort of makes the lore make sense to them, or this is sort of where they think a character can and should go, or here's where they want to steer you away from. And so having none of that, being able to say, I want these toys, and here's what I want to do with them, and, uh, everybody's like, yeah, that's cool, run with it. Um, it is such a gift.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: Somewhat like a, you're writing a creator own title in a IP world. Like, it must, like, basically, like, it's not your creation, obviously. Let's get that by, you know, obviously David creates base because, but having the ability to have the freedom to really go, I mean, you just basically, you and Alex were able to go wherever you wanted to go with the devil. That wears my face because it's your title. Whereas, you know, if you were to go over to immediately and continue, instead of doing four or five issues of Punisher, you're doing a year's worth of Punisher. There's a lot more limitations on than you're going to get. A year is with the space Ghost, which is really cool.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. So it's been, it's been a real kind of like, pinch me sort of book. But like I said, you know, the way that I've been approaching it, it's sort of like ultimate space ghost in a lot of ways where we're able to sort of, you know, throw you in. You'll get to, we'll tell you what you need to know as you need to know it, but otherwise, like, just buckle up for the ride. You don't need any backstory. You don't need to read anything else. I've had a lot of people ask, like, oh, do we need to read Joe Kelly's miniseries or any future quest? And for me, it was both an ethical and pragmatic and probably legal standpoint. No, you don't have to do any of that.
It didn't feel right to try to crib off of another publishers or another publisher's continuity. Space Ghost, in fact, has already had two different continuities at DC.
So I was just like, better to just start with a clean slate. Like, you know, all you have to do is read issue one to get in on this. But also, yeah, legally, I didn't even know if it was. It was permissible to do something, so I just figured it was. It was safer all around. And I know Warner Brothers was very encouraging and enthusiastic about all that.
[00:22:49] Speaker A: That's amazing. And then you have, obviously not just you, we're talking to you. So that's, you know, you're the focus of it right now, but you have your creative partners and stuff, so it's like Jonathan and Andrew and that team. Is it like the twelve, like your years worth of people?
[00:23:03] Speaker B: As far as I know.
[00:23:04] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: You know, I know Jonathan Lau is moving at a Terminator speed, you know, and as far as I'm. As far as I know, you know, I think he's. I think he's booked in the book for the long haul. I certainly hope he is.
Yeah, he's been fantastic on this book. You know, Jonathan really, he's nailed everything. Like, he's able to switch gears between these big, bombastic hero moments, and then he's immediately able to turn on a dime for these really heartfelt, emotional character moments. And I think that's really important for a book like ours. You know, a lot of what I like about this book is, yeah, of course, we've got, like, the high flying, you know, Sci-Fi spectacle of it all. And by the virtue of the diversity of how many villains space Ghost has, we're able, and by the way that we're structuring it is primarily done in ones. We're able to tell a lot of different stories with a variety of different flavors where we're drawing from a variety of influences and inspirations and genres.
But I think ultimately, the big part of our book, the through line of it all, is it's a coming of age found family story.
It's not Space Ghost year one, but it is kind of Jan and Jace year one. And so that's what's really exciting for me, is that I didn't want space go sidekicks to be seen as accessories. I think that's the big difference for me, beyond the space setting is that you have Batman, for example. You can tell stories with Batman without Robin, and they still feel organic. I don't think you can tell a space go story without those three sidekicks. I think having three sidekicks is a very pointed.
A very pointed statement. And so, for me, I really wanted to play into that. And so that's why, for me, Jan and Jace read like, Babs Gordon and Dick Grayson meets Lex and Tim from Jurassic park. And I do think, like, that dynamic of Lex and Tim with Doctor Grant in Jurassic park. That is kind of the Rosetta stone of our book in a lot of ways. Like, space Ghost is a great cosmic vigilante. You put him in a room with a pirate, he knows exactly what to do.
Raising two kids and a pet, that is a little beyond his expertise. And so there's a degree of friction that goes into that. And you'll see it, especially in issue two, is one of my favorite things I've ever written, because that's Jan and Jace's first night on Ghost Planet. And it predictably does not go great for any of them.
But that's, I think, the core character trajectory that. That we're experiencing this entire book is that space Ghost being the survivor of his own tragedy, being the sole survivor of ghost planet. And that is what has sort of put him on his quest for fighting pirates across the galaxy.
He's had to push his humanity way down. He's been isolated. He's been by himself. And I think having these two kids with him at all times, it sort of is forcing him to kind of look in the mirror more bit. It's forcing him to kind of rocket with that humanity. I mean, even the name Space Ghost, this is a man who's playing it, being a monster, and suddenly he can't do that anymore.
And at first, like, anybody who has a problem, when you're confronted with it, you resist it a little bit, because then you have to admit that you have a problem. Then you have to admit that not only do you have to change things, but that problems inevitably cost you something. And that's sort of. That's, I think, a lot of fun that we're having with this series.
Is that like seeing that ongoing dynamic, seeing Jan and Jace as their own sort of yin and yang, you know, Jan being sort of the. The responsible one, but also the feisty one. She's a crack shot with a. With a blaster. Because she is the only girl in the family. She's had to think things through where her impulsive brother does not. And she feels like if I don't keep an eye on things, my family's gonna. What little I have left, I'm gonna lose.
[00:27:05] Speaker A: And so is it that princess, Princess Leia and Luke yeah, you're right. It is.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: It is. You know, I had not thought of it until you just said it that way, but you're dead. It is like. It is like little Princess Leia where. Yeah, you know, she takes charge. She's the one who calls out, space goes to a space, and, you know, space goes. He would rather just, like, fly to an asteroid field than, like, deal with the wrath of a 13 year old girl. That'll too much for him.
But I feel like Jace, meanwhile, you know, he's the impulsive one. He leaps before he looks. He's the natural gearhead, the pilot, the engineer. He's also the comic relief. You know, I say that he's closer in emotional intelligence to blip, the monkey that he is, Jan, but he's also. He feels like he has to be the one making jokes. He has to keep morale up. He has to. He's trying to keep things light, because if people aren't laughing, he worries he's going to lose what little family he has left. And that always breaks my heart. He's probably my favorite character in the whole run. So seeing Jan and Jace kind of play off each other as this yin and yang, and then space Ghost is the straight man. It's a real fun dynamic, especially because space Ghost, he has a little bit of a biting sense of humor that comes out often, is kind of like a real sharp zinger at the kid's expense.
Again, this doctor Grant, you know, personality where, you know, it's like. It's like Jace is like bothering him about, like, how do your power bands work? And he's like, if you ask me one more question, you're sleeping in an arrow.
And I think that makes space Ghost a really fun and complex character. I mean, when you first meet him in this issue, you see him in a remove. He's like a force of nature. You know, he's scary to the point where the kids are scared of. It's only by the end that you see like, oh, there's more to him that there's like a complexity to him. There's an inherent goodness and nobility that he's willing to take in these kids because there's nowhere else for them to go.
But there's also sort of this begrudging. You know, he was a bachelor. He was living his life in his own way. And now suddenly, you know, you've got these kids where he feels responsible for them. He feels like he's got to protect them. He feels like he's got to train them up to defend themselves, which is how they become his sidekicks. But they start to grow on him. And that's the issue for him, is that like any parent, having a kid means it's your heart running around on the outside. And in this case, he's got two of them plus a monkey, and.
[00:29:36] Speaker A: That'S.
[00:29:37] Speaker B: Going to weigh on him as the series progresses. He's going to find himself more and more protective of these kids. And ultimately, they all come from kind of complementary tragedies. And that's what I love so much about this book, is that we're going to see that dynamic, like, coalesce and come together.
They're all going to kind of heal each other, but there is going to be a little bit of back and forth. Sometimes there's going to be a step back before there's a step forward.
But I think it allows us to keep evolving these characters and to keep having emotional goalposts. And every single issue, every single issue, I've thought, how does that relationship change?
And that has made this, I think, a really, it's the best of both worlds because ultimately you can have all the Sci-Fi spectacle in the world, but if you don't find a reason to love these characters, it doesn't mean anything. So I'm hoping that as people read this book, they're going to fall in love with these characters just as much as I have.
[00:30:30] Speaker A: I think that there's a thing to be said about this space ghost being at dynamite and being a superhero story. You know, I mean, it's a straight. So if you're a fan of something like Superman or Iron man or any people, you can be a fan of this. But also, it's important everybody, like, it's not just for, I mean, I think you really have to be into like, Sci-Fi kind of style comic books to actually get this. But like, but even that is like, you know, we mentioned continuity earlier about how you really don't need any is that we have a book club at my local comic book shop every month in which we do trade paperback. And there was like this comment made about how we were like, it was like week after or month after month we were doing independent comics. It would be, you know, something's killing the children and it'd be nail. But it's like, it's so hard to pick a big two trade paperback that has very little lead up to it that you have to be like, well, if you read the series before this one, you really understand this. And, but also like a superhero comic at a big two comic book is a superhero comic. Like, there's not very many, you know, emotional depths to a lot of these comics. It's, oh, shit, the world's about to come to an end. We need to save it. I mean, I really like Jed McKay's blood, the new blood hunt. I don't know. Did you read it yet? I really liked it. I haven't been excited for a Marvel crossover event. I don't know how long. And this, this was like, I'm so excited for this. And even that, though, started off with, like, bombastic, like, world ending, like, stuff. It wasn't even, like, like, obviously it's, there's a, you learn more in, like, moon Knight Vengeance and stuff like that. But, like, this is like, there is that, but there's, like, some emotionalness to it and more heart to it. And I think that even if you're like, I don't know. I don't know if, I don't read superhero stories. Like, I feel like there's something here that you could, like, give this a shot. Give space goes a shot. Because it's a different superhero story. And I think that's ultimately what I'm looking for nowadays is, like, something different. And that, you know, that's, that's, that I don't know. And that space goes to me. And again, I've been a fan of your writing, so that, that helps too, when you see the detachment of a character that I'm interested in and a writer that I'm interested in. And then I fell in love with, with Jonathan's artwork because, again, it has the big two ness to it, like the superheroes to it also has that independent feel that's like, it's a mixture of everything. And I just love it.
[00:32:45] Speaker B: Yeah, he's got this really hyper kinetic style. I've been a huge fan of Jonathan since his work on Green Hornet with Kevin Smith years ago, and I think he's only delivering the work of his career. And the best part about this book is that every issue he gets better. Every issue looks better than the one that came before it.
[00:33:01] Speaker A: I hope it doesn't get worse.
[00:33:03] Speaker B: No, I mean, it is frightening. It is frightening how good mess and looking.
And it really, and he's so fast with it. I mean, he's drawing at least a page a day and sometimes more. It is like I said, it is like being stalked by a terminator.
I have to turn in issue five by the end of the week because I know that if I don't, he's going to be.
He will not have pages to draw. That's how fast he moves. And so, yeah, I think, yeah, he's.
I think he understood the assignment immediately, which was just like, this is an ensemble book ultimately, you know, he knows to make space Ghost look really cool, but he also knows that, like, this is also the kids story.
[00:33:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:33:50] Speaker B: And the fact that, like, he draws the kids as kids, you know that immediately. I was like, oh, thank God. When I saw him draw Jan and Jayce for the first time, I was like, great. Like, we're in good hands. Um, because I think it would be so easy to either draw them as adults or draw them, you know, show them in the background, uh, rather than, like, it's a coming of age story. Uh, you know? And so, yeah, I, uh. But I think to speak to your other point, I, you know, I think, um, the cool thing about space Ghost is, and I think a big difference between him and Batman. For example, Batman's a character that is designed to run continuously for 60 years at this point, has almost run for almost 100 years, which is crazy.
And space ghost, I don't think, is built that way. And I'm certainly not writing in this way, in that we're not writing this to have him last for a decade uninterrupted.
We want to have a beginning, middle, and end. We want to have a satisfying trajectory. And I think that's what having that other approach is sort of what leads to what we call the illusion of change in a lot of superhero titles where, like, you can change things, but, you know, inertia. You know, like, nothing lasts forever.
You know, like, and sometimes it's sort of something changing. You know, it just changes to the next change. You see it, like Daredevil, for example, where that sort of almost is like an exquisite corpse of, you know, one writer comes up with something, and then he leaves the book on a cliffhanger, and he gives it to the next writer, and the next writer's got to figure it out. Yeah, but, you know, also, like, there's, of course, there's a, you know, anything changes, and eventually it goes back to the status quo or something a little bit more familiar. You see it all over the place. Space ghost. We don't have to do that. Space ghost. We really can say, like, okay, how do we change these characters? Not from, like, like, concept perspective, not from, oh, we're gonna give space goes to brand new costume. We're gonna give space goes brand new powers. And I understand that feels a little counterintuitive in the market, because, of course, whenever you do that, you know, you get a little pop.
[00:35:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:35:56] Speaker B: For me, it's more of like, okay, like, space ghost starts to care about these kids, and these kids, meanwhile, are starting to, you know, think, you know, they have their own thoughts and opinions about the mission. That and seeing those sorts of things change and evolve, that's what's interesting to me. And being able, you know, I think not having to worry about, well, can this character sustain for another ten years uninterrupted? I don't have to worry about that. I'm just going to tell this story as a story, you know, and I think as people read it, I think that might be a little refreshing to them, you know? And I think that's the antidote that I would love to introduce into the business is that, like, I know it's so easy to just kind of be like, well, let's throw in, like, a big world changing concept change. And don't get me wrong, that's fine. But I do think that we have done that so often that sometimes there becomes this expectation that every book needs that or it's not worth it. And I just want to kind of remind readers that, like, what it's like to just love a superhero story for it being a superhero story, for being characters that we enjoy and fighting interesting villains and putting them on interesting adventures and not having to just constantly reinvent the wheel, you know, because I think. I think, conversely, readers are also tired of that. You know, readers, I mean, Lord knows, I certainly heard it a lot during my Punisher run where, you know, we, you know, we did a legacy punisher. I can't tell you how many people were mad that, like, oh, why can't we just tell a Punisher story?
Well, there are reasons why we did a legacy punisher because, like, sometimes you do have to change things up. But, like, all right, I'm listening. I hear you. And we are a space ghost story. And I think that. I think that's enough. You know?
[00:37:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:37:52] Speaker B: People get to explore this universe. Like you said, it's new, it's unexplored territory. That's enough.
[00:37:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that's exactly. And having to.
So, like, you, if people who become fans of Daredevil are fans of Daredevil, like, and then they can then take their preconceived notions of what daredevil is. I mean, I guess my friend Paul and I, for Star wars, our Star wars week, we're recording this ahead of when it comes out, but we recorded it. It comes out. It's been out now, so everybody will listen to it. No, we recorded reviews of the first three Star wars movies, four, five and six. And it's like, you know, if people hate 789 because, not because they're bad, it's because in their mind they go, this is what I want a movie 789 to be. And then they didn't do that. And now they're pissed that they, you know, Lucasfilm didn't get into your mind and take your ideas and put them on screen. And that's why they're mad. And that's what they don't say that. But that's most of the reason why people get mad at these continuity characters in these larger universes is that you're not telling the story that I want to hear, and that way, therefore you're wrong or therefore it's bad, and so on and so forth with this. It's like, I can read this. And there are obviously some older stories. We mentioned this came out in 1966. This is a older character. But to me it's like, you can't write anything that's going to piss me off because I don't know where you're going with it because there's no rulebook all new.
[00:39:18] Speaker B: I saw somebody mention this to me the other day, and I've been thinking a lot about it where they had said, I don't know what a space ghost comic is supposed to be. Yes, and I think that's a broader question that you could ask about a lot of books is like, but I think that that is a question. I don't know how we got ourselves to this point. Point. But I think that's a question that I would ultimately love for us to kind of move away from is it's not, you know, these characters are, are more flexible than you think. And I think Space Ghost is a perfect example of it because like I said, he's existed his 1960s Adam west camp. He's existed as coast to coast surreal humor. He's existed as both as, like, you know, a hardcore standalone superhero origin as well as part of like, a diverse Hanna Barbera universe. It's all valid.
And I think that's the thing for space goes sort of, you know, our sort of ultimate space goes kind of take is that it's all valid. And I think the more, the more people can sort of interact with the work, that they can engage with the work for what it's trying to do versus. Well, yeah, if it's an entirely different thing that you don't want. I mean, of course, like, listen, if you're in the mood for steak and I'm taking you out for McDonald's, like, yeah, then, you know, you'll. You'll want to read a different book that, that gets you that steak feeling, but that doesn't mean that my book has done something wrong. That might be you're looking for the wrong sort of story for what the book is. And so that's something that, that I'm hoping to sort of correct a little bit in my own personal way is that, like, I just want to tell a good story and sort of, you know, no expectations involved, you know, just kind of tell the best possible story I can with these amazing ingredients that I've been given. And I think to see so many people who have given this book a shot and have said, like, oh, yeah, like, I didn't know who space Ghost was. You're our target audience.
You know, I, there was a time I didn't know who space Ghost was. You know, it wasn't until I was in college that I knew who space Ghost was.
And I can certainly tell you, as I did research on this book, I learned a lot more about space goes that I wasn't aware of. And so if I'm the perfect demo for this. You're the perfect demo for this?
[00:41:37] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:41:38] Speaker B: So, yeah, it's just been, it's been really nice to just see everybody giving us a chance and coming away seemingly really satisfied.
[00:41:46] Speaker A: That's awesome. And dynamite, it's a win win for Dynamite, in my opinion, too, because Dynamite's been doing a lot of things more recently. I mean, I'll tell you, I've been collecting comics for years. I took a break, and then I went back into it, you know, ten years ago, whatever it was, and so on and so forth. I used to be a Marvel zombie. It was like every Marvel title on my poll list and nothing else. And then it slowly went to the, you know, some other ones, and then, and then now, I think in more recent weeks, it's like, if I pull ten comics, it's like, seven Marvel and three or, sorry, seven independent, three Marvel. And it's just slowly gotten that way. And they mentioned a little bit about the crossover events being not as my favorite things that have come out, and a lot of my pickups from Marvel are, like, City of the dead or Punisher or, you know, these one off stories Marvel unleashed from Kyle Starks, those unbelievable people and those things. But, like, so dynamite, I don't know, prior to potentially their pickup of gargoyles. And, like, you know, those ones, dark winged duck. I don't know if I had ever bought in a dynamite comic book, and that just happened to be, I'm not a vampirella fan. You know, I'm not. Those that, you know, we like to.
[00:42:58] Speaker B: Call booby books is very generational. I totally understand.
[00:43:01] Speaker A: Yes. And so I'm not into that. And so, like, part of me was like, okay, that's what dynamite publishes. And then I see, you know, like, I mentioned dark winged gargoyles, and then you see them doing a lot of, like, the Disney, you know, the villains and stuff like that villain stuff is awesome over there, too. And then something like this, and I'm like, okay, you got a customer out of me, too. You got me some buying some things. And then dynamite does a wonderful job on their variant program. So, like, they have a number of variants you could pick up for us. Not only are you getting me to get Matina's cover a, you're getting me to buy the blank variant, you're getting me by, you know, and so, like, they just, I think that would win for them, honestly, I think, you know, you hit.
[00:43:39] Speaker B: Hit on something really interesting, which. And I think it speaks back to that earlier thing that we were talking about, which is, yeah, you're exactly right. That, like, there are people, I've heard people say, oh, well, like, you know, I have this perception of dynamite, or dynamite only publishes these kind of books, and I'm not into it. And I think it goes back to the idea of what is dynamite supposed to be?
And I think it's something that I understand why we've gone into this place. There's so much stuff to choose from in terms of entertainment and content, and you only have a limited budget. You only have a limited, finite amount of time and also a finite amount of time to choose. But I think the, you know, if you can. If people can steer away from, like, oh, well, this is what I think this is supposed to be because I think that's so limiting, and I think it closes you off to really interesting stuff, but it also closes you off for an opportunity for somebody to surprise you. And I think, yeah, like, dynamite has been on this amazing upswing. I'm so proud to be part of this new Warner Brothers lineup because you have people like Declan Shelby on Thundercats with Drew Moss. You have Joe Casey and Sebastian Paris on Johnny Quest, and you have Kelly Thompson and Paulina.
I'm going to butcher her last name.
You have them, and it's like, oh, to be a part of that, it feels like you're part of the Yankees, you know, like a big up and coming team. And, yeah, seeing the way that dynamite, you know, I admire that they're a hungry publisher, that they are a publisher who, you know, they'll email me and say, hey, like, what do you think we can do to help push this?
You know, and that's. I've never gotten an email like that before, you know, from a publisher, you know, this book is not a statistic to them.
And I think, uh, and it's certainly not a statistic to me. Um, and I think, I think that has been what's so great about this book is that, like, I know they've got other books that they got to promote and other books they got to work on. But for me, this is my big swing for 2024. Like, I'm, I'm working on some big two stuff that I think will be coming out next year. But, like, I am, I am committed to space goods. Yeah, I'm on this book for twelve issues in an annual, at minimum. Um, I'm committed.
[00:46:01] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:46:01] Speaker B: So, yeah, I think, um, seeing the way that dynamite has really stepped up their game in a time where the market needs every publisher to step up their game, needs every publisher to try something new and take the biggest possible swing, it makes me feel like I'm in the right place. And yet it's just, we're trying to offer retailers something fun for them to sell, something easy for them to sell, but also giving readers just something to be excited about. I remember when Krakow came out, that got me through the pandemic. It is my dream to deliver a book that's half that good, that gives people even half that kind of feeling that I had knock on wood high aspirations. But that's what gets me out of bed every day, is certainly trying to reach those heights. And I couldn't be prouder be part of dynamite doing that.
[00:47:00] Speaker A: Well, I will say also dynamite, I used to mention the dynamite's now one of my regular pickups, I think every week, because I think there is one either Disney villain or Leo's stitch or whatever coming out every week. And now space goes. But my LCs owner, Paul Eaton, who owns Galactic Comics and collectibles here in Maine, is a huge fan of the devil wears my face, too. So you got space ghost here, but you did a wonderful run on Punisher, too. And it's like, but devil warriors, my face is like, like one of the independent comic books of the year. In my opinion. And that, you know, it's wrapping up as of timing of this episode recording. But I think by the time this actually drops, it will be May 8.
And then what I do like about mad cave, too, is I think the trade comes out in June, right?
[00:47:41] Speaker B: June or July. Yeah, July. I just looked that up last night. So, yeah, you're not gonna have to wait very long.
[00:47:47] Speaker A: I love that aspect. Too many times I've looked up like a, you know, a big two thing. It's like, the book ends in February, you'll see it in October, and it's like, come on. If you missed out on the first few issues, you have to wait a year to actually read it. Like, come on.
[00:48:00] Speaker B: Whereas devil. Yeah, you can pick that up. And I'm so happy with how that book came out. Alex Cormack is one of the best collaborators I've ever worked with. Lovely guy, very gracious and extremely freakishly talented. And inhumanly fast as well.
Yeah, I'm so excited for that book. It's face off meets the exorcist. It's about a Vatican priest who is performing an exorcism, and the ritual backfires, and so he finds himself trapped in a stranger's body while a demon is taken over his body to wreak havoc on the Vatican. And, yeah, issue six, it's been a long time coming.
We've got a twist that's going to turn the whole series on its head a little bit.
We've laid out a few breadcrumbs that nobody spotted yet, but it's very personal to me, and I think as you read it and anybody who sort of knows anything personal about me, you'll sort of get a sense of like, oh, this is why Pepos wrote this book. And so I'm very excited for all of that. You know, I've been sort of chomping at the bit for people to get to read it, and I think it's some of the best creator owned work I've had the pleasure of being a part of. I cannot wait for people to read issues six. So call your local comic shop, make sure they get you a copy of Devil the wears my face. If you missed out on the book, definitely have them order you the trade. Because I think this is a book that it's been really fun in singles, in trade. It's going to read or reading it all in one shot. Yes, it's going to be a really better experience, I think.
[00:49:33] Speaker A: And I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it ends up on our list. Of things to read for book club because they said Paul absolutely loves the book so much. I love it, too. I'm just saying he loves it so much that he's just like, oh, you're talking to David. Tell him how much I love it.
[00:49:44] Speaker B: I'll sweeten the pot. Tell him if he wants to do it, he wants me to zoom in. I will do it. I will. I will show up.
[00:49:47] Speaker A: There you go. See? Look at that. Also, just let everybody else know one of my favorite books you've written is scouts honor. So I'm just going to go there and tell you that.
[00:49:55] Speaker B: Thank you.
That was a really fun book that honestly changed my career.
And I think now with stuff like fallout and silo and the last of us out, I think post apocalyptic is in. So definitely order scouts honor through your local comic shop, you know, book about a post apocalyptic boy scout cult.
And, yeah, I was really proud of how that book came together. That book got me my career at Marvel, so I'll always be grateful for it.
[00:50:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm grateful that. Yeah, but, yeah, definitely. But, yeah. So space Ghost is out now. I mean, like I said, the first issue dropped. It's been. I've seen what I've seen and I've been paying attention to because of, obviously, you coming on the podcast and talking. I've been paying attention a little bit more of how the reviews and the receptionist to it as it comes out, and it's amazing. You get some big people out there going to bat for you and things like that for it. It's wonderful. I can't wait to see where it goes. Like I said, I think it's up there in near perfect first issues because it gives you groundwork without giving too much away. And I didn't feel lost because I didn't know who Space coast was. And that's just like, that alone is huge for me. So that's amazing. It's beautifully made, too. So there's that too.
[00:51:03] Speaker B: Thank you. You know, honestly, like, I. We're trying to make this book for as big and broad of an audience as possible. I mean, the only. The only people who won't like this book is if you don't like sidekicks. If you don't like sidekicks, you're not gonna like this book. There's nothing I could do to change that. But if you don't like sidekicks, you're not gonna like Space Ghost as a character. So that's really.
[00:51:21] Speaker A: Maybe I like it so much because I'm a huge Scotty young fan I feel like all of his independent work or his creator own stuff is like, person and a sidekick and a person in a sidekick.
[00:51:28] Speaker B: So I will say, like, like, when we have sidekicks, they're not hostages. Like, I think, I think we've been working really hard to, like, make them capable and have their own agency and just have them be fun and funny and intelligent and capable and so, yeah, you know, I'm really enjoying writing my babies. And just wait because the font is only just getting started. You can still preorder space ghost number two and three. Local comic shop. Yeah. Issue two is our first night on Ghost Planet. Lots of fun stuff. And then issue three, we're introducing the next member of the Council of Doom, the villainous known as the Widow. Jonathan did a spectacular job bringing her to life, and I can't wait for everybody to see it. It's a really cool heist adventure with space Ghost and company and lots of twists and turns, as well as some clues as to our overarching narrative for the rest of the series.
[00:52:21] Speaker A: That's amazing. And by the single issues people, because I'm a floppy guy, I absolutely love single issues. And I do, a lot of times I end up buying a trade afterwards, which is like, great because you guys get double dipping on me. Um, but is there a plan for like a halfway trade and then a trade at the end, or do you think it's going to be collecting at the end or do you think, you.
[00:52:38] Speaker B: Know, I'm not sure. I, you know, I gotta ask that, my question. Um, I would imagine this is just me guessing. So if it doesn't turn out this way, don't, don't, don't, don't pull out the pitchforks. Um, but I imagine probably be similar to what they're doing on thundercats. You know, I just announced that they're doing a trade for the first five issues and I, the way that I've paced it, that would be a good trade point for us as well. You know, she's one through five for the first trade, but I don't know the answer to that. I will. I guess I'll email them and ask.
[00:53:06] Speaker A: Them because they say I'm a big, I'm a big floppy kind of guy. But I understand, like, I can, I can, I can sympathize with the people who are trade waiters because, you know, they like that format. If it's better on their shelves, they like reading it all at once. It's the same thing with people.
[00:53:20] Speaker B: Like, I want traders notes, you know, because I, you know, they're always fun to sell at conventions, so I totally, you know, I don't know the answer to that, but I would. I would venture a guess that if they're doing something similar to what they're doing on, they'd probably do something similar for us as well.
[00:53:34] Speaker A: That makes sense.
[00:53:35] Speaker B: But, yeah, you know, I mean, also, though, if you're buying it month to month, I mean, I didn't really touch upon it too much. But, you know, I look at books like Ryan North's Fantastic Four or Steve Orlando on Scarlet Witch, where they did a really great job doing a lot of dawn in one adventures. And so that was something that I think was really important to me, is a lot of people don't know who space Ghost is. So if we do a bunch of dawn in one adventures, we're sort of racking up the adventures, and so people get to know him better, because instead of just doing what I've done in the past, where it's a five issue arc, no, that means that we're having four or five adventures, individual adventures. Across those first five issues, we're only doing a handful of two parters. For space Ghost, most dangerous villains really reclaim the power of a cliffhanger event. But otherwise, I wanted to make sure that if somebody drops in for a month, they get a full adventure. They get a beginning, middle, and end. They get a sense of who the villain of the month is. They get a sense of where space goes to. The kids are. And it's been a really great way to structure the books, honestly.
It sort of allows me to.
It's like running a marathon, but doing it at sort of a sprinter's interval where I'm able to sort of break it up, where I'm like, okay, this month, I'm kind of feeling like doing like a horror kind of thing.
[00:54:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:54:55] Speaker B: Cool. All right. Two parter Zorak.
Or, hey, I'm going to do like a heist issue this month. All right. That's something with the widow, you know, or, hey, I want something like a bigger, bombastic superhero, you know, slugfest. All right. You know, something fun with Metallis coming up. You know, maybe something that's a little more offbeat and heartfelt. Well, stay tuned for creature King later this year.
And that really allows me to, I think, shift gears in a way that I don't exhaust myself where I think it's very easy when you're doing a full standalone, five part arc where you got to lock into one tone and you have to maintain that tone for the entire time. That can exhaust you. And I don't have to do that with space Ghost. I get to just kind of follow my art, follow my instincts, and doing it as an issue to issue basis.
Hopefully that'll make this book as accessible for anybody who's curious about the book.
[00:55:50] Speaker A: That's awesome. I said I'm pumped about it. Not that I'm the end all, be all of opinions here, but I'll be all.
And obviously, like I said, it does help when a creator like yourself is so amped about it as well, too. When you have this love for it and this passion for it, you wouldn't be creating it unless you wouldn't be working this hard on it unless you loved it. And if you love it, you're going to work harder on it. So that's really cool, too. But also the devil wears my face. Buy that, too? Yes, please. Honestly, if you want a good read by anything that has David's name on it, first of all, but I'm a huge Alex Cormack fan, too, so that just helps a lot too. So there's that. But devil wears my face is out in the final issues coming. And then the trade paperback is out soon as well. And then the trade for punishers out in May, right?
[00:56:39] Speaker B: Yes, I believe it's the end of May. So pick that up at your local comic shop.
[00:56:43] Speaker A: There you go. So there's all that. You got all kinds of stuff on there, but keep an eye on space goes from dynamite and from David and from Jonathan Lau and Andrew Dahl. House did amazing colors on this, too. I'm going to drop that out there. And Taylor Esposito is letters are phenomenal as well. I wanted to quickly throw that in there before we wrap up here, too. He's fantastic. And you get a dream letter on there. Except for right now, it seems like any letter you get that's notable as a dream letter at this point.
We've got a pretty rogues gallery of letterers right now on the market, so this is pretty cool. But yeah, thank you so much, David, for taking time out of your day to talk space ghost and so much more. I know you're busy, man, and I'm glad you came out to talk to us here on the podcast, of course.
[00:57:25] Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. And yeah, thanks to everyone listening. And yeah, tell your local comic shop to add space goes to your poll list because we've got lots of fun stuff coming.
[00:57:34] Speaker A: And check out the covers. There's many covers to it and it's really cool to find the COVID that suits you the best. No one's asking you if you want to buy multiple ones, buy multiple ones. But no one's asking to buy multiple ones. Just pick the one that works the best for you. That's my opinion on variant covers right now.
Thanks. Thanks a lot, David, I really appreciate it. And have a good one. Okay? Thank you.
