#228: Kyle Starks - Writer of Those Not Afraid

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back to another episode of the Capes and Tights podcast right here on Capesandtights.com, i'm your host, Justin Soderbergh. This episode is once again brought to you by our friends over at Galactic Comics and Collectibles. At galactic comics and collectibles.com we welcome back Kyle Starks, comic book creator extraordinaire. He's just a wonderful artist and writer in the world of comics. This has been on multiple times, but this time he came on to talk about the sequel to to his book Where Monsters Lie. This one's called Where Monsters Lie cul de sac, as well as to talk about his newer series, those Not Afraid over at Dark Horse Comics as well as so much more. Kyle's also known for his work on Rick and Morty. I hate this place. Peacemaker tries hard a couple of books over at Marvel and dc like Lobo and the animal related books over there and stuff. But yeah, we talked mostly those Not Afraid Where Monsters Lie, his love for and passion for drawing dogs and cats and animals as well as murderers and killing people. Yes, that's what you heard me right. But yeah, this is Kyle Starks talking on the Case and Tights podcast. But before you do, check us out on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Blue sky threads, all those places. You can also rate reviews, subscribe over on Spotify, Apple or wherever you find your podcasts. You can also find our video portion of this podcast over on YouTube and as always, check out Capesandtights.com for so much more. This is comic book creator Kyle Starks on the Capes and Tights podcast. Enjoy everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. Kyle. How are you today? [00:01:38] Speaker B: I'm doing good, man. It's always, it's always good to be asked back. It's always good to be somewhere. [00:01:44] Speaker A: It's a good. Well, I ran out of. Guess that's what it was. I needed to go back to the well. That's what it was perfect. [00:01:49] Speaker B: I'm glad, I'm glad I was literally at the top of that list then. [00:01:53] Speaker A: Top of the well. [00:01:55] Speaker B: Yeah. Whenever the new lap begins, get Kyle Starks. That's what we say. [00:02:00] Speaker A: Yeah, that's, that's, that's how it is. You know, Caitlyn, that dark horse is like, are you sure you want Kyle. [00:02:05] Speaker B: Or you, you know, Caitlyn. No, that's not what she said. She said you went, you want a good guest. [00:02:12] Speaker A: Yes, yes, exactly. Exactly. No, no, you've been busy for the past. I mean, it was about like last July, I think you were back on with. With Ryan Brown, talking about Barfly. But you've been busy since then. You've got, you know, the sequel to. To Where Monsters Lie came out. You had those Not Afraid came out some pet things at Marvel. You did Lobo. Yeah. You've been. You've been. You've been pretty busy. I mean, this has been. It's been a lot going on. How's it been? [00:02:41] Speaker B: I got nothing now. Just hanging out, waiting for people to invite me on the podcast. [00:02:46] Speaker A: No, you guys kill them all. Hardcover deluxe. Hardcover comes out. [00:02:50] Speaker B: Right. [00:02:51] Speaker A: You gotta promote that. You're not working on it, but it's like it's coming out. I mean. [00:02:54] Speaker B: Yeah, well, we got Barfly. Barfly just came out in trade. Monsters Live Volume 2 is about to come out. The hardcover is very exciting. I haven't heard any details on that. There's. There's an I Hate this Place video game that's kind of not the video game. I got stuff coming out later. Those Not Afraid just wrapped up. [00:03:15] Speaker A: Yep. [00:03:15] Speaker B: So. Right, like, right. Like I spent. I spent the last eight months working on a project that won't be announced until San Diego and doesn't come out until November. Well, that's kind of a. Kind of a whammy. I'm doing another book at Dark Horse that's. I think one issue is done right now. Man. It's like kind of a holding pattern. It's a weird little period for my life. So he's so busy. I'm like, was I. That was great. I need to be busy again. [00:03:43] Speaker A: Back to that again? No, no. Yeah. I mean, we're monsters. Like the four issue series. The sequel just wrapped up on February. And then those Not Afraid just wrapped up in April. Those two trades are coming out this summer. This summer, which is pretty, pretty fantastic. I just got the trade PDF sent me to me from Caitlin this past week and it was fun to read it all again straight through, which is a lot different and stuff like that. So we figured two things out. You like. You like pets and you like killing people. Is the mo. [00:04:11] Speaker B: Yeah, pets. Pets and violence. Yeah, violence. [00:04:18] Speaker A: Not in the same place. Like they're. They're in separate. It's not even like they cross over that much. It's just. I mean, there's pets in your things, but like, you know, pets aren't really violent against each other really in your stuff. [00:04:28] Speaker B: But, you know, I don't like that. I don't like that. I like for all the animals to be friends. Yes. [00:04:34] Speaker A: Yes. [00:04:34] Speaker B: There Are friends. There are friends, and they're each other's friends. I. I don't think I've had, like, an evil pet. I don't like that. I don't like the idea of that. [00:04:42] Speaker A: That's upsetting to me, but it's actually killing things. Is this what you like to do? Murder, you know? [00:04:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I do like. I do like that. Not to do personally, but I like. I like it for my entertainment. [00:04:54] Speaker A: Listen, I never saw him doing that. He usually wrote about it in his comics, but I never actually saw him killing people. [00:05:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Put him on a watch list. It's always curious whenever there's, like, a spotlight put on, like, the things that you do over and over and you go, oh, yeah, I guess. I guess I do do that. When. When I. When I was very early, and not very early in my career, but. But the first couple of years, I did Sex Castle. I did Kill Them all, which are Hitman books. And then I was about to do another book, and my wife goes, this guy Hitman in it. And I'm like, what? Why do you have to. I was like, yeah. She's like, could you do one without a Hitman? I was like, maybe. Why would I want to? It's like the same thing with dogs. I did a whole year. I did. I did Marvel Unleashed, where I made D Dog for Marvel. I did Peacemaker Trizard, where I made Bruce Wayne the Frenchie for the DC Universe. Then I did Wild Dog, which wasn't a dog per se, but here I am, still doing a dog thing. And then I did who. Who Woofs the Wolfman for dc. What a. What a proud moment in my life. That'll go on the gravestone, probably. So it's like, oh. I was like, I think I should think maybe I should take some time off from pets. [00:06:04] Speaker A: Yes. [00:06:05] Speaker B: And I. I will say, oh, Where Monsters Lie has baffle mud in it. Like, everything has a dog. Everything has a dog in it. And the next book does not have a pet in it. [00:06:16] Speaker A: They see that you're disappointed. [00:06:18] Speaker B: Those Not Afraid doesn't have a pet in it. [00:06:19] Speaker A: Nope. Nope. [00:06:21] Speaker B: But just give me a minute, you know, That's a lot of killing. They'll be back. [00:06:27] Speaker A: I thought it was phenomenal. I thought it was fun. I thought, you know, I'm super, super pumped for. For the sequel to Weird Monsters Lie because it was one of my favor a few years ago. So I was so happy about that and having it come back and how it's the same thing where I loved it so Much where I'm like, how are you going to be able to do this? Like, I just read Patrick Horbreth's first issue of Beneath the Trees, and I'm like, how the hell is he going to, like, catch lightning in a bottle again? And I'm like, holy shit. After I read it, I was like, oh, he did it. It's done. He did it. Well, it's the same thing I felt with Weird Monsters Lie. I'm like, how are you going to do that again? How are you going to. How are you going to do this again to me? And I read first issue, second issue, I'm like, oh, my gosh. And I finished the series. And I was like, you know what? Yeah, he did it again. I don't know how he did it again. I had no faith in you, Kyle, for some weird reason. [00:07:07] Speaker B: That's okay. I don't. I. I think maybe the buyers didn't either. Hopefully this interview changes their minds. I don't think. I don't think that sold out as quite as well as I'd like. But I think that it's not a fault of the book. You know, it's funny is like, when I started, I was like, oh, let's do another one. Because it was so popular. And I think it's popular because it's good. I like. I. I think Where Monsters Lie is a very easy concept. You know, gated communities for slasher monsters where they go between movies, basically. Like, what? I like, what? Where's Chucky go? [00:07:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:32] Speaker B: Like, is he just hiding in a trash can? No way. He's got to take his girlfriend to get chicken nuggets somewhere. Like, what is the logistics of, like, is she in the trunk? I don't know, man. I just like the Sawman. Whenever I watch the Saw movies, I was like, that guy's not digging his syringe pit. [00:07:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:07:47] Speaker B: I mean, there's no way he's got to have a contractor come in there. Just like, who are these people who help these people out? And this. The idea of, like, well, the Sawman, when he's not killing people, he probably just, like, loves video games or something. [00:07:58] Speaker A: Yep. [00:07:58] Speaker B: Like, he's just kind of a regular guy who just loves murdering. I'm so fascinated with that. But I think it's something that, like, the idea that these monsters are very relatable is interesting. And the fact that there's a place where they go and they still have to mow their lawns is very interesting. So I think it's a very relatable concept. And when I said the first one sold out, every issue sold out at the distributor level, it was a huge success, which we love. And when I was like, oh, we're gonna do another one, and I started building this, like, like, very fancy, very elaborate sort of follow up. And I'm as. I was like, what am I doing? It's a horror movie. We just want a bad. We just want a bad sequel. And so I was like, I was like, I threw all that away. And I was like, I'm just gonna make a bad sequel where it's the same stuff but slightly different. And you try to. You try to increase the stakes a little bit. And that's what we did. So there's all new monsters and Special Agent Connor Hayes, who is basically Batman. If Jason killed Bruce Wayne's parents instead of just some random mugger, he spent his entire life training and preparing to fight monsters in revenge for his parents, his mother and I think, his sister being killed by basically Jason. [00:09:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:09:06] Speaker B: So, yeah, just, you know, like, what are we doing? We want. It's a horror movie. We want a sequel. We want a bad sequel. And so that's what we. That's what we did. I hate to pull the curtain back on how it wasn't that hard. Just, like, having fun. Like, that's really, like, to me, like, the primary thing is like, with Where Monsters Lies, like, it has to be fun. I have to have fun. If I'm having fun making it, it's wrong. It's not going to be right. And so that's that one thing I was doing. It's like, there's magical weapons or something. I was like, get rid of that. We don't need that stuff. We just want. We just want to see more monsters. [00:09:36] Speaker A: Being dumb and visualized really well by Peter Kowalski. Again, like, I just. I absolutely love that person's, you know, artwork. It's just. It's just phenomenal if it's the book. So. [00:09:46] Speaker B: Well, yeah, he's a great fit. [00:09:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, I mean, I thought it was. And obviously Dark Horse was obviously smart about. They were like, oh, you know, you sold so well. It's a second series. They didn't. You didn't have to convince them, I don't think. [00:09:58] Speaker B: No, we. We can circle around to that later. [00:10:00] Speaker A: Though, I'm sure at this. Yeah. At this point, are they ready for volume three or. No, no, not this time they're not. [00:10:08] Speaker B: Because it didn't sell. I mean, we could have this later. We're gonna do it Now. No, no. So well, I mean it's, it's, it's relevant. It's relevant. [00:10:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:19] Speaker B: Volume two. Volume two didn't sell great. And you go, volume one sold out. Like what happened? Was there not the promotion was who knows, right? Like there's no. Is it just the state of the. I think promotion was a lot of it. I hand promoted it to stores and I didn't for this one. Was it that there was almost a year between the first four and the second four, but it sold out. I think the stores would impress anyway. So we're like, hey, we're ready for volume three. Everyone loves it. Everyone who's read it loved it. Which is the Kyle Stark story does not know people read it. Yes. The Kyle Starks curse is like, oh, they really like it. But how many people read it? 32. That's not great. So Peter, Peter says he's like, I really want to do it. And I'm like, well, we want to wrap it up because there's always a plan. And if two had. Had sold out wildly then we were like, oh, what's like volume four? They go to space. Because that's what you have to do with like when you jump the shark. Yeah. So I was like, I really want to do it too. I love these characters. I want it to be finalized. I want to see where it goes. And so what we're doing. This is breaking news. This has not been announced anywhere. What we're going to do is in August we're going to do a Kickstarter for a one shot finale to Where Monsters Lie. It'll be a 48 issue, one shot. God willing. We raise the money necessary because I have to pay an entire professional creative team to make this and then pay for the printing. So it's a little. It's. It's not a big number, but it's a big number if you have to get it. So I'm very excited. It's going to be called Dead End. They maybe go to Japan. They maybe go to hell. It's going to be pretty good. [00:11:45] Speaker A: You have to find out when you, when you, when you back the Kickstarter. That's. That's amazing. I'm glad. The funny thing out to me and like the Kickstarter is like I just got my Traveling to Mars Kickstarter and I feel like it took like six years for me to get it. I don't know why it just felt so long. It probably wasn't that long, but it just felt so long. [00:12:01] Speaker B: I'll Say like that type of thing makes me very anxious. I've done for Kickstarters and the way that I. They were mine that I drew, which was Sex Castle, Kill Them All, Old Head and Legend of Ricky Thunder, which was my first one, and the way that I did those is that they were done. So it was a 60 day turnaround, which is when for me and my heart and soul, I go, well, when I do Kickstarter, I don't necessarily want to make something exist. I want to purchase a product. Yeah. But certainly the way that Kickstarter is built is that to allot this opportunity, Dark horse cannot justify spending what it costs to pay Peter and me and Vladimir Popov and our great letter and our great designers to do things. It's like, well, they're Polish, so it's actually like not a ton of money. It's not like trying to do a Marvel book where you'd have to come up with a lot of money. Right. It's a relatively small number and I've broken it. It's a number I've reached every time. It makes me very anxious because it's not a, it's not a 200 page book or 180 page book like I've done in the past. It's a 48 page book and we're going to do varying covers. I'm excited about that because I think it's a really great script I did again, it's. I wrote it the way that we're much like supposed to be done, which is like I was just having fun. I was just having fun and I was exploring these things that we love in horror movies to try to make them sort of more character driven or I don't say silly, but you know what I mean? Like that they're fun. Like they're like just to think about them in a different way and it's sort of how these guys exist in those spaces I think is very interesting. So. Hey, August, keep your eyes open. Hey. I'll not stop talking about it because I want to do it so bad. We got to make that money. [00:13:30] Speaker A: Exactly. It's one of those things that obviously want people to back the Kickstarter, but it's one of those things that if it does well in the Kickstarter and Dark War sees that does that. One of those things where they're like, oh, maybe we'll release a trade, a different like trade version or different version of a one shot later on. Is that like an option for them to do or is that something where There's a. [00:13:45] Speaker B: There's been a conversation about maybe doing a collection. Okay. [00:13:49] Speaker A: With it. [00:13:49] Speaker B: Maybe. Yeah, that would be in it. Yeah. Assuming that it gets made. Assuming they get made. There's sort of two books. There's a theoretical omnibus from Dark Horse and the Kickstarter itself. They're very theoretical because if one doesn't happen, the other one doesn't happen. Right. [00:14:05] Speaker A: We're going to wheel right here. We're going to say, hey guys, you want to pick it up? We know. We don't want you to spend money on anything else. If you have to skip groceries that week, you have to skip groceries that week. You just, you know, you. [00:14:14] Speaker B: We don't know. I'm kidding. But what's the comic cost? You can't buy eggs. No eggs this week. [00:14:21] Speaker A: Yes, yes, exactly. You can't buy a gallon of gas. It's not. [00:14:25] Speaker B: It's hard times, whatever. [00:14:26] Speaker A: So. [00:14:27] Speaker B: So everyone. [00:14:27] Speaker A: Everyone needs to skip someone else's company. No kidding. Don't do that either. [00:14:31] Speaker B: No, we'll do that. [00:14:32] Speaker A: Yes, we'll see. But it's August, so save a dollar every couple of days and you get your money. It's not like you're gonna have to. It's not like you said, it's not like it's a 200 page thing. So it's not like it's going to be a 40 item. It's gonna be approachable. [00:14:44] Speaker B: So yeah, self published is always a little more expensive than you want though. That's just the nature of it. So. But we try to make. We're trying to make it worth it. We're trying to make it worth it. [00:14:52] Speaker A: Yeah. And if you're a fan, here's the deal. There's enough that 32 fans of yours that you mentioned. We'll hopefully back it all. So, you know, we'll be there, we'll perform it. You get us the details and we'll put it out there too, because I want people to have it. But I was excited to see more where monsters Lie because I love the book so much. But then I was like, you know, it's like you gifted us this whole those not afraid book that just like honestly came out of nowhere where I was just like, oh, this book looks familiar. This is really cool. Let me grab Kyle Starks. What the hell is this? And so I was like, oh, I want to. I want to read this thing. And the premise. What's the premise? What do you explain to people what those unafraid is? [00:15:28] Speaker B: Yeah. The premises to serial killers find out that they are within range of breaking the murder record for their state. So they go. They sort of enter into a friendly competition. I say for lovers of true crime, lovers of serial killers. I think it's a love letter to those things, which is a weird watch list thing to say out loud. But each book, you know, I try to make the things I wish existed. Like, I haven't done. I've done horror and I've done horror comedy. And I wanted to do. I wanted to do something that was less comedy and more sort of true crimey. I love true crime. I want to make something that was. That was friendly to anyone who likes true crime that doesn't gatekeep it because it's comics or because of someone's gender or whatever, which I think we have maybe too much of. Yeah, I don't make a fun serial killer book. That's like anyone does. Like anyone wants to do just a fun. A fun serial killer book about friendship and betrayal and lies and murders. [00:16:20] Speaker A: Yes. And that's just what you get. It's cool because to me it was. It doesn't take itself extremely serious. It still has that comedy edge to it. So it's like there's moments where you're like, who the hell would ever, like create. Come up with this idea? And it's like, oh, yeah, Kyle Stark's did, obviously. Kyle did, yeah. It's off the wall a little bit there, though. No, but it has. That has that. And I'm obviously as a podcaster, I was like, oh, I love that little, you know, twist that you have in there in sense in the comic. So it was a fun new killing spree type book from. From Kyle Starks. And I was so super pumped to read it. And I'm so glad that, you know, it was four issues, which is approachable to me and easy to get through. And I was so pumped about it, so I was glad it came out. Is that one been received pretty well from your. From your fans and from the readers? [00:17:07] Speaker B: Yeah, again, you know, we. I existed a vacuum, so it's like, I only know what I know. I just did a. I just did a show in Middle Indiana and I know the store there. Like, we sell out of it like that. We love it like, and that's. That's the trick every time, right? Is like, that's great. Everyone I know, again, people who I know read it have said that they liked it. The Kyle Strikes Curse. So, yes, I think, I think it's fun. I think it's a fun book. I think comics should be fun. It's so funny whenever you're like, it's. It's still kind of silly, like. Yeah, but I feel like it's not. I feel like I'm trying to get. It's like the least silly, but it's like everyone's so charming. There just something about the way I just, I'm bad at, I'm bad at not having charming characters. And charming to me is always a little funny. So even when, like, you know, the Ted Bundy character is doing something super evil, he's kind of doing it with like a wink and a smile in a way that I want you to kind of like the serial, these serial killers, which is also messed up. [00:18:02] Speaker A: Well, I understand that. Like, I understand like, you know, you, you know, Kirkman created like Negan and characters like that. So you'd also like, hate them, but also like them. So it's not like I can understand that. Like, I don't. If it was so dark and so strictly serious. And so I'd be like, I'd be like, I am a sick person for really enjoying this book right now. But because there is a slightly light heartedness to it was like, okay, this is a comic book. This is entertainment. This is not, it's not real. It's not based on a true story. This is based on a fictionalization of what could happen in a world we live in. And so, like, I like that aspect of it. So that's why I was like, yeah, it's the same thing you mentioned. It's like, you know, you don't always go for comedy, but you end up winning me or haven't won Eisner for you. Have you been nominated for three Eisner's for it? But you know what? [00:18:46] Speaker B: You know what? I don't even, I don't even want to win at this point. I just want the nominations. I just want to pile them up. Like Susan Lucci. [00:18:51] Speaker A: Yes. [00:18:51] Speaker B: How many, how many? How many of The Starks have 72? How many has he won? [00:18:56] Speaker A: Well, at that point, do you stop doing that, right? You don't do three times nominated, one time winner. You just say winner, Eisner winner. So you end up losing. The number of, of nominations go away when you win it. So, like, if you could just keep those going. 10 time Eisner nominated winner or nominated. [00:19:11] Speaker B: At some point, like that number people go, you say nominated 32 time nominated. That's where I should be at. Now. Let's count the books. One. [00:19:24] Speaker A: You have to, you have to write 32 more books to get the nominations in there. Oh, yeah. [00:19:32] Speaker B: I should have already had many. That's okay. [00:19:35] Speaker A: Yeah, it's okay. It's all. It's all good. But yeah, I mean, so with. Where did the idea. You said you wanted to weld these things into existence. Where did the idea for this specific those not afraid come from? Do you have this idea, like, in the basket for a while there and you just decided to pull it out and start writing it? Or was this something. [00:19:52] Speaker B: No. Yeah, not that one. It's not like alchemy. It's generally like, for almost any of us, going to be like, well, I was really into this at that time. Right at that time I was really into. We'll say dogs again. Because I'm always kind of into dogs. It's like, of course I'm doing dog stuff. Like, I'm crazy about dogs right now. But I go through. I've been in and I'm sort of. Now I'm sort of on the back end of it probably because I haven't been doing a lot of horror recently. I've been doing this secret projects and, you know, Wolfman and whatnot. But I was very deep into horror and true crime. But I love them. And the true crime stuff, like, especially. It's just something about serial killers that's so disturbing and fascinating and all of them. All of them. And I was way into that and it's like, it's that thing that you do is you go, I'd love to tell a story with this. What's the story that interests me? And it's not. It's like, well, you want more than one? I don't want to do, like just one guy. It's like, what are two? Like, what's their deal? And who are they? It's like, oh, you know, who are your favorites? And you kind of mash them all together. And so that's where it comes from. It's just like, oh, I really want to do. I really want to do something true crimey. Which means serial killers to me. I. Other people would not. They'd be like, no, you could do like a Forensic Files. I'm like, no, I like serial killers because serial killers are like vampires. They're just like, it's a good monster to play with. And what's the story for me? What. What. What do they do that's interesting outside of the fact that they do this thing and. And then how do you do it? In a way, like, they. Can they be the main character because they're Kind of not like the main character is kind of a podcaster. [00:21:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:24] Speaker B: But she's also kind of like the Greek chorus of sort of like letting, like, walking you through so we don't have to show like, every little thing and stuff like that. That's. That's interesting to me because how do you do a true crime book in 2024, 2025, and not have podcasting be a part of it somehow? Because I think it's such a huge part of it right now and of that culture. And. Yeah, you just try to. And you put all the stuff in there that you want. Like, I love. I love. I love a disgrace that dad who finds who redeems himself in his daughter's eyes, which is the. The former sheriff. He's a former sheriff because obviously these two guys are killing everyone all the time, and he's doing a terrible job of stopping them from killing everybody. [00:22:00] Speaker A: He wouldn't keep your job that long if that happened in your. In your town. Probably. [00:22:04] Speaker B: It's not here. It's like the. It's like, it's not even his fault. Like, he's fine. It's like, how do you stop. You just can't stop these guys. They're too good. They're too good at their jobs. [00:22:13] Speaker A: Did you do research on, like. Like what. What the most killers in a certain state are and things like that when you introduce. Because, I mean, the number is pretty high in this. [00:22:21] Speaker B: In this book, at least I. I think. I think that number is way high compared to whatever the average one is. But the thing is, I go is. You have to go, because I think I. You're putting me on the spot because this is stuff from a year ago. I want to say the number. The average number. Because one, like, the best serial killer has like, 25. Like. [00:22:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:41] Speaker B: Recorded kills. Unless there's, like, there's the guy in Southern America who has like 225. [00:22:46] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:46] Speaker B: So usually the number is like 20, 25. But if you're entering a competition, you have to be able to have them kill a lot of people. So you're like, well, for people to notice that they're getting anywhere close you. Okay, well, they're at 15. It's. It's like, okay, well, I can only do 10 more kills. I can only have them kill 10 more people before they break the record. Also, to have to have the previous guy have a ridiculous. Which I think is 85. You might know better than me. I think it's 85, which is a lot. And then they're close. I think they're in the 60s. [00:23:14] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:15] Speaker B: They're killing a lot of people. But you go, well, if them breaking the record is not like the point of the book, but it's like, it's. It's the thing that they've engaged each other in. And it's a finish line of sorts, right? Yes, yeah, it's a finish line of sort. And the type of thing where you could see. And there's two serial killers you could see if you were in that business, being like, well, that's the hall of fame. Like, yeah, breaking. That's. That's the. That's the Michael Jordan scoring record. That's the Cream scoring record. You know what I mean? Where you go, if I can break that, then no. One question. I'm the greatest. And one of them clearly is the type of guy who would be concerned about these things. And the other guy is just kill. Doing his thing, killing people, because that's what he does. Didn't. Didn't know there was records kept, honestly. Probably because he's kind of an awkward little weird man. [00:23:58] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:59] Speaker B: So, yeah, no, I think that. I think. I think the highest one is pretty low. But, yeah, doing the math, I was like, if I do more of these, which I would love to, but again, sales decide everything. And who knows? I haven't heard anything. Why would I know? I'd like to do more. It's like, well, then if they kill 10 more people, how many people do I need to kill? Yeah, how many people do I want to kill? I want to kill at least 25 between each. You know what I mean? They're very busy. So. Yeah, that's. That's the longest short I did. I mean, I did a bunch of research. Like, I was like, that stuff you can kind of fudge for dramatic sake. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then there's like. There's like spree killing, which gets into which I was interested, like. And. Oh, there's differences. Like, there's. They're not the same thing. A spree killing isn't a serial killer. And you go, what? So it's like, there's people who killed, like, spree killers. Number is very high compared to actual serial killer. [00:24:48] Speaker A: Yeah, it's different. [00:24:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I think, again, you put me on the spot. But, like, I think even the night solver, who's like a real creepy one, it's like as many as you'd think. It's like 35, which is a lot. Which is a lot. [00:25:00] Speaker A: Which is a lot. But I was I did some research on, too, because, like, Alex Cormack and Anthony Cleveland's new book, buried long, long ago, about, you know, very old women's woman's serial killer. One of the most prolific women's serial killer ever. And it's like, how many did. They're like, well, possibly 44 confirmed. 3. It was like, right, you know this. So I was doing some research on it, too, and I was like, oh, it was. Wondering what he says. I'm like, to me, I got to the point where I'm like, five kills. Come on. What are you amateur? And so it's like, it's not a lot of the ones even the ones you know about, like, the crazy big, you know, names are not like 50, 60, 70 kills. It's like 15 or 20, 25, like you mentioned. And so it's just kind of crazy like that. I love the fact that you put in this book that the killers found out or know each other somehow, and that's how they obviously, they got to talk to each other to make this contest between each other. Because I just read a book by Sarah Tigo Schaefer prosn novel about. It's called Serial Killer support Group. And it's about, like, how there's a support group for serial killers. And this is one woman who. Who infiltrates the group because her sister was killed by a serial killer. So she's trying to, like, figure out who it is and so on and so forth. But I just love the idea that there would be, like, an actual serial killer support group where people would get together and, like, talk about, like, you know, their feelings and things like that. It brings you out of that what could be real. So that's another thing. It's like, it breaks that. It gives me that to make me happy. Like, I know Nail Biter is one of my favorite comic books of all time, and there's moments of that where I'm like, this is creepy and could actually be real. Like, this is really scaring me. Whereas, like, there's moments in this book where I'm like, okay, I can see where I'm breaking the whole. Like, I could sleep tonight. I'm not worried about a serial killer coming to my house. [00:26:41] Speaker B: Maybe. Maybe the next one. Maybe the next one I'll make. [00:26:44] Speaker A: The fact that they know each other was a fun twist, because how many serial killers out there actually are, like, talk to each other on the phone or see each other at a market or something? [00:26:52] Speaker B: Again, we don't know that there's a lot of Stuff. Assassination does it too. I know. I'm forgetting one where it's very much like, I'm talking about my job. [00:27:02] Speaker A: Yes. [00:27:02] Speaker B: Like, I'm talking about my job. It's like, it's a very isolated job. We rarely get to interact with each other. If we do, we're like, don't you want to talk about the job? Like, we only want to talk about the job. So there's a lot that's very much like, is me going, what if I had a friend? Which I do, but you know what I mean? What if I had something I could talk about every day with this? And of course, one of them. That's. One of them is like, don't you want to talk about it? The other one's like, I don't really care. It's like, I just do this thing. And he's like, really? You don't think about it all the time. He's like, I'm just. I'm just. I'm just killing people. [00:27:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:30] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm just killing people. And that's the guy who's desperate for friendship. So he's actually, like, willing. Willing to enter into a relationship with someone who is clearly deranged, clearly evil, just because, like, well, someone took an interest in my life. I think it's all very relatable. That's just, like, where monsters lie. [00:27:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:27:48] Speaker B: To find. Take these things that are ridiculous and upsetting even. I mean, we become so desensitized. They're like, what, only five? It's like, dude, one is awful. One is a terrible number. [00:28:00] Speaker A: Well, it's like, I was driving to work the other day, and a bird flew in front of me to hit my windshield a little bit, and I didn't even, like, thud. It just did it in a way that probably the wind caught it so strong or the force or whatever, and it was flapping on the ground, and I was starting to get, like, heart palpitations. It's like, oh, my God, I can't believe I almost just killed that bird. I think I killed that bird. Oh, my God, what am I gonna do on the way back? Am I gonna drive over it? So make sure that it's dead? Because it. It's like, flailing. And I'm thinking about something like, there's no way I could kill a human being. In my mind, I'm like, if I was just flipping out about a little bird flying by, let alone 5, 6, 10, 12, 50, 60. [00:28:32] Speaker B: Yeah, you gotta want. You gotta want that. You really do messed up. [00:28:36] Speaker A: Well, I guess the themes do cross over. And I will say that obviously Kyle Stark's, you know, comic book fans are gonna like both these books where monsters lie and those not afraid. But they also have the similarity in that idea that the killers know each other and that there's this camaraderie or even discussion behind talking about their kills and so on. [00:28:58] Speaker B: I love the power of friendship. I love found family. Those are things we were saying earlier. Like, the spotlight shining on. Like, there's a lot of daddy issues. Like, I have themes, man. And they're very clear. They're very. They're maybe too obvious. Friendship. Friendship is a. Friendship is a. Friendship is powerful. And I think this is the first, like, six sidekicks. Like, everyone gets along pretty quickly. Everyone has always. Assassinations. Everyone gets along pretty quickly for your found families. And like, this is kind of the first one where I go, well, maybe this friendship is bad, though. Like, maybe it's really bad because it's just like being like evil dogs. Like, I don't like the idea of friendships being bad, even though obviously they exist. It's like, well, we get to control this world. Like, I get to have murderers in lieu of having people literally killing someone. I think, like, almost every page in one of the books, there's like three or four pages for a while is that, hey, but, you know, friendships aren't bad. You know what I mean? Like, these guys are awful. But friendship is okay. But there's a lot of pretty dire interactions relationship wise in that book that I like, I really enjoy as a true crime, you know, horror fan. But also, it's like, they're not. They're all okay. Yeah, like, there's a romantic. There's a romantic interest at one point that I hope people go, oh, girl. Like, please. No, girl, please. Because that's what I do when I write. It's like, oh, girl, don't. It's like, but I'm writing it. You're like, you're in it now. You messed up. [00:30:17] Speaker A: Well, I mean, there's that. There's that in it. Like a lot of these books about serial killers or true crime or something like that. A lot of the physical killing is the focus of physical. Like the stalking and then killing, like a procedural. And this is more like the characters as the killers and the people around them and less about the kills matter. But it's like a couple of panels here and there of a kill and then it moves on. Just the number is what matters really in this book. And so that's kind of cool too. Because as a people, it's more than just the idea of the murderer and stuff. So it's like, yeah, there's a different layers to it that you would potentially not see. That's the same thing with Where Monsters Lie. I feel like the same thing is there. There's like. There's so many layers to it. It's not just a true crime story. Where I did a book event in New Hampshire last week. I did a beer with Christopher golden, the author and comic book writer, and we releasing it in New Hampshire that night. I got back to the hotel and I'm like, I just want to put something on tv. So I put something on tv and it was the True Crime Files or whatever. The Forensic Files. [00:31:17] Speaker B: Forensic Files, yes. [00:31:18] Speaker A: It's just on tv. I fell asleep to it. I'm like, this is like. But it was like one of those things where I'm like, it's just. It's about the kill and the actual thing and less about the people around them. And I think that this is quote, unquote, because you get to see, like, behind the eyes of the killer. But it's not like them stalking the person. It's literally like a panel of, like, the kill, and then it moves on to the next kill and the next kill. [00:31:36] Speaker B: There's a couple. There's a couple pages. A couple pages of kills. But I feel like. So, like, I feel like the most. Gosh. What is. How do you enter into. I think the most interesting thing about serial killers is they're like, oh, they killed a bunch of people. It's always like, oh, listen to how they did it or, like, why they did it or what weird thing they did. And. And that's established. Like, I don't enjoy people dying. I don't enjoy watching people get killed. I don't. But I think when it happens, it happens for the purpose of being scary or making it more intense or raising the stakes in some way. Because there's a couple. There's one with the sort of Ted Bundy character. That's where they're in the woods. Where he has a couple guys out in the woods. That isn't great, but I don't. I'm not. That's not my thing. I. I love. I love. I love the idea. Or my interest is. Is like, there's these awful people who do awful things, but they're still. I mean, they're probably not human, if we're gonna be honest. There's probably a deeper conversation. But like I said, like, you know, they had To. They had to go. I say Ted Bundy. That's not even right. Ted Bundy. It's. [00:32:37] Speaker A: Yes, Bundy's wrong. [00:32:39] Speaker B: Ted Bundy is not the right character. No, that Mark Andrew Smith is. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Isn't that upsetting character? [00:32:46] Speaker A: So it doesn't really. [00:32:47] Speaker B: Yeah, but there's vibes. Like, there's. There's vibes because there's different types. There's like four different types of serial killers, and they're both two of them. Yeah. So, I mean, look, I did my research. It's just gone now. I don't know why he's wrong. And I'm like, the most famous one ever. Say it. It's not Dahmer. It's who. [00:33:04] Speaker A: You asked me this question legitimately. I'm not gonna be able to answer that question. [00:33:07] Speaker B: I don't know. He had a Netflix. I can't think of his name. It's gonna bother me anyway. Erases. No, Just can't leave it in it. Look how dumb he is. So the thing is, like, we'll say Ted Bundy, who of course was like a super grief. But he started to go by. He still went to Denny's. You know what I mean? Like, that's what's so interesting is, like, even though you have this fucked up hobby, our addiction, our compulsions, like, you still have to exist. And that's kind of what this is. And I think that's part of true crime that's really interesting is like, no one. No one knew. Like, no one knew that this guy was doing these things. Like. Well, yeah, because he was just. He's a wedding photographer or who. You know, the waiter where you work and. [00:33:44] Speaker A: Yeah, Well, I mean, 20 people, right? Is that what it is? Possible victims, Ted Bunny, 35 to 100, but 20 confirmed for Ted Bundy. I was just like. This is also Wikipedia, so I don't know if this is real or not, but I'm guessing it is. But you said there's, like. There's a guy from Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela who killed 193 people. [00:34:07] Speaker B: Oh, it is that. Ted Bundy is right. Momentarily confused with John Wayne Gacy. I was Ted Bundy. All right? I know what I'm doing. Listen, don't come at me, Pascal. I wasn't going to. [00:34:16] Speaker A: I'm sorry. [00:34:18] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So, like, the thing is, like, they're like. And, like, they're both. There's two different. There's four kinds, and I'm not gonna remember, but Dodson is like Ramirez and just a Crazy person, which is like, they sort of do things they seem. With no reason or they're given. They think they're doing the work of God or higher Son of Sam. And then Mark is. Is all the awful. Like, the really bad ones. They get the really bad ones. That's just why they do it, because they. Because they love killing. It's like, okay, that's up. That's messed up. [00:34:50] Speaker A: I don't want to spoil it for anybody, but I do love. We mentioned Dodson in the. In the list. You know, spoiler alert if anybody hasn't read it. But I do love the. The idea that he was like, oh, you have a list. Oh, whose handwriting is it in? [00:35:01] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, Mark. Mark's. Mark's not. He's like. I think it's like he's so happy to find someone to talk shop with. And he's like. He's like, oh, this guy's a little bit off. Which is so funny because you're like, you're. You, man. Like, you're off, too. But it's kind of like he's like. [00:35:15] Speaker A: Yeah, whose handwriting is in his God's list? God put this list together, but whose handwriting it. And who made this list? [00:35:21] Speaker B: Yeah, is there. There's physically a list? What are you doing? And he's like, is my name on it? Like, my name on it? He's like, not yet. It was just a weird thing to say to your friend. [00:35:30] Speaker A: You know, your friend also. If. Yeah. You know, if it's also created by higher power, it's like, well, I don't. Just not yet. [00:35:36] Speaker B: But I have no control over it. And in theory, doesn't I. I would like to do more because I have a little origin story for him, for Dodson that sort of establishes. Because I think he's an interesting character. Again, no spoilers, but he has a. I think from a reader's perspective, he has an arc. [00:35:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:35:51] Speaker B: What he starts as is not what he ends as, but he's what he ends at the whole time, through the course of the whole thing. He's. He is killing, but he's killing for different reasons, and not because of a compulsion, but maybe because of some sort of, like, perceived obligation. And I think his stuff's really interesting, but it's also very subtle. And, like, I think a lot of the stuff in there is very subtle that I think is really interesting about these. About these dudes. Yeah, it's fun, man. That's. It's fun to explain when you really. The best of. Is always when you Go. I'm really interested in this. I want to explore it more. Whether 80s action movies or it's wrestling, you know what I mean? It's like, oh, I really want to. What do these guys, how do they exist in this space? I think is really fascinating to me. [00:36:30] Speaker A: Well, I'll tell you right now, if you are a huge. I mean, I think one of the reasons why I liked it so much was the fact that I am a huge fan of the comic series Nail Biter. I think it has that, that vibe to it. I think that your main character, you know, you talk about this. There's Dodson and there's what you say the guy's name was Mark Andrew Smith. [00:36:47] Speaker B: Am I wrong? I can't remember. [00:36:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And then. But Edward Charles Warren from, From Nail Biter, from. They have similar, like, looks too, and personality sense too. And so to me I'm like, oh, that's why I should dive right into this. And I absolutely loved it because of that too. Because like I said, Nailbutter, it was absolutely phenomenal series. And you know, the comparisons are not close enough where it's like, oh, they're similar, but they're just like, if you like one, you'll probably like the other. And in my opinion, if you're a big fan of Nail Biter, you probably will write like this. And the same thing I'll say about where monsters lie on this. I mean, I feel like there. If you like that, you're gonna like this too. It's a little bit more. There's a lot more. I think it's a little bit more playful. Yeah. Darker. Yeah. Less playful in. In this sense. But. Yeah. So. But you've also gotten. I mean, I have. I'm not, I'm not. I'll tell you right now, I'm not a huge Rick and Morty fan, but I just haven't gotten into it. Not the comic, nothing. But. But you've written some more, Done some more. What's. What's going on? You did some more Rick and Morty the past year too. What's going on with that? You diving back into the world, Rick and Morty, or you just. [00:37:45] Speaker B: I did one more issue, which is we. The issues would always be an A story and a B story. Yeah. So It'd be like 16 pages and then a four page backup. I can't remember. So we did like a 16 and 8. They did a Kickstarter, which I think is over now or about to be over. I don't know where. It's a Box set of the first 148. 48 of those are mine. And I did one more that you can only get through that Kickstarter. It's an unreprintable Rick and Morty issue, which you can only get through that Kickstarter. So I couldn't. My ego is so great, and I spent so many years doing that book and doing. Happily doing it. I think I did really good work on that book. Should have been an Eisenhower nominated. The committee's not around. Okay. But I love the show, especially at that time. And it was an honor to. They want me to do. They want me to do five issues. I did 48. Right. Like, I mean, that's. I'm really proud of that. I'm really proud of the work I did. So to be asked, like, oh, we want to do a special issue. Who. Who do we reach out to? Like, it's. My ego's so big, and I had a story that I wanted to make that I never had a chance to. So it was kind of a perfect situation where I was like, oh, I know exactly what I'm going to do. I know the exact story I'm going to do. And I was ready to go. And it's Rick and Morty. Fun, I think. [00:38:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:56] Speaker B: I think the thing is, is that I do these shows, you know what I mean? And people still love Rick and Morty. They still love Rick and Morty. [00:39:03] Speaker A: I just never. I don't think I've ever watched it. It's not. No, it's not like. It's not even that. Like, obviously, to me, I'm like, one of those things of Rick and Morty is the animated show. So it's like you have to kind of watch that to kind of, like, get the comic. But I guess you could do the opposite way, too. [00:39:15] Speaker B: You probably. Probably not. Yeah, I think it's all. I think it's one of the shows. The. The show's so smart, I think, because you can get. You can kind of step in at any point, and I. That's how I made the comic. It's very episodic. You can almost just watch any episode and you'll be able to figure out what's going on. Oh, it's a crazy scientist with this dumb kid, and they're going on weird adventures, and it's. It's really clever. Like, that's every. It's not hard to figure out, which I think is why it's so. It's so accessible, is what makes it so popular, and also that it's it's legitimately incredibly clever and smart. So, yeah, people still love it. People still love it. It's good to do it. I had a point. But it's gone now. I don't know. We love, we love Rick and Morty. [00:39:51] Speaker A: So you've brought, you, you got, you jumped back into Rick and Morty for that, that, that, that special story, and people are obviously gonna be fans of yours, will love that stuff like that too. But what I want, and I think you're gonna agree me with this, I want more Mars attacks. [00:40:04] Speaker B: Well, talk to Boom. Good luck. I, you know, I, I love. It's funny, before I did that, I, I always liked the Tim Burton movie. I always liked the Tim Burton movie. In fact, there's a, there's a scene that is, that's one of my favorite scenes of all time, which is when the retired washed up boxer, like, fist fights a swarm of Martians so his friends can get away. It's one of my favorite, like, no, I say unironically, it's one of my favorite scenes in cinema. It's shot so well and the emotion of that moment, the drama is so good. But I'd never read, like, the cards, which I'd never seen them and I like that movie. I was like, I like that movie fine. But they reached out to me and people go, people go, oh, how did you get Rick and Morty? Or how did you get Martin? Like, oh, I wrote a book that was objectively funny and if you had a funny property that you asked that guy to do it. I got asked to do a ton of stuff and I said no to a ton of stuff. [00:40:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:40:51] Speaker B: Because I was like, I was like, I don't like, I don't like that. Where they do, like, Rick and Morty and I do like Mars. Like, I like the movie. And I said that. They're like, they're like, you do. I was like, man, I don't know. Like, it's Mars attacks. Like, I don't know. I was like, if I get a good idea, I'll do it. And I got in the shower right after the phone calls and I thought of this. Oh, it's a father. And again, dad issues. A father and her son sort of trying to fix their relationship during the midst of this awful, like, the world's ending. [00:41:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:17] Speaker B: But also they'd send me. I got a book with the cards in it. Like, had the cards in order. And the cards are a comic book. It's a sequential story. Like, it literally tells a story in an order. And I was like, oh, that's the background. Like, it's literally happening during the card. Mars attack. I'm like, that's really interesting to me. I was like, I think this is good. And I, I texted Chris Whitestone is my best friend who drew that book. But I go, I go, I think this might be. You think this is a good idea? He goes, yeah, tell him I'll draw it. And I was like, that's not how you get work. That's how Chris Weitzer gets to work. He goes, yeah, I'll do it. And I was like, oh. I was like, haha. My friend Chris says he'll draw it. And the editor, Kevin Kettner, who's a great editor, said he's like, oh, I love Chris. That's good. Like, that's not how you get work, I guess. [00:41:58] Speaker A: That's not Chris. [00:41:59] Speaker B: I think, I think, like, and also, that book's out of print. You can't even do that. I'd love for that book to be back in print. Is that Chris and I both are, like, incredibly proud of that story. I think it's a very emotionally powerful story. He did a great job. It's violent and it's stupid and it's over the top and it's got, it just, it hits every button that I want a story to hit. Well, it's out of print. You can't get it. But I don't know what another one would be. Yeah, I say that, I say that, like, if asked, I'm excited to figure it out. You know what I mean? I just try not to. And where monsters Lie is sort of indicative of why I've always thought this was smart. And those not afraid. Also, because I definitely see a Volume two is like, I try not to think about things that I can't make myself. [00:42:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:42:39] Speaker B: That I can't control, that I can't guarantee will exist. Because it's heartbreaking and it's a waste of time. It's a waste of my creative energy. I, I, I bet I feel differently about that phrase down the road because it's probably. I go, no, it's good practice. It's good something. But, you know, I'm starting to do big two stuff. You know, I did Wild Dog and Lobo and Harley Quinn and people like, oh, who do you want to. I'm like, I don't. I try not to think about it. [00:43:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:03] Speaker B: Because if I come up with a great blank story and they say no, it's like, it's gone. He Said, well, you could file the serial numbers off. And you know, it's. Now it's called like, great man. You know what I mean? Like, pretty, pretty cool. [00:43:14] Speaker A: That's kind of what Patton and Jordan did with Minor Threats, in a sense. But. [00:43:18] Speaker B: Well, here's the thing I would say. And I'd say, like, that's deconstructionist. My argument would be is that deconstructionist and that. That's. That's what it is. The same as invincible or. Yeah, in that it's not. It's not the same as going, I really want to play. I have a really great Iron Man. We'll say Iron Man. I have a really great Iron man story. It's the best Iron man story. And go, I guess I'll just make a guy in a robot. He's like, sure, you can do that. But if you have a really good Iron man story, it probably relies on that lore. It probably relies on you knowing who Stain is or there's something you need to know about this character, whereas otherwise you sort of have a shorthand. Which is. What is great about Minor Threats is that if you love superhero stuff and I don't know why people aren't losing their mind, I don't get money from them doing well. You know what I mean? But like Minor Threats. Minor Threats, is that. That first volume especially. Yeah, the second volume is good. The first one especially is a great deconstructionist. Fun, character driven comics. That's great. If you love Watchmen, Boys, Invincible. Like you'll love Minor Threats, Minor Threats, the alternates is such. It's so good. It looks good, it reads good. The idea is so good. Basically, when you get vertigoed and then you come back is such a good idea. Yeah. It's like Swamp Thing used to not be Swamp Thing. He used to just be a man thing, you know, like, yes. Used to be this dumb. [00:44:29] Speaker A: Yes. [00:44:30] Speaker B: Free boy, but now he's a guy. Odd. Like, what if you had to go back. What if you had to go back to being just a dream? I think it's so smart. I think. I think the work that Ryan Brown did on Barfly is next level. It's some of the best art I've ever seen. It's so. It's just a. I say it over and over and over and it's the correct series of words. It's a relentless display of creativity. If you wanted to see a person show off how creative they are. I think Ryan Brown's art on Barfly is unbelievable. And so you know, it's a shame because, like, these. These books are legitimately good in a time when Boys and Invincible clearly show that people love this kind of storytelling. Yeah. And they're not like. They're just. There's some disconnect somewhere because they should be selling like crazy. They should be insane. They're having a Netflix show, and maybe once the Netflix show comes out, then people go, oh, let's go buy the books. It's like, yeah, well, suit man, are those books still in print? I hope they are. Like, I hope you didn't miss a chance. It's like, if you like superhero stuff, I say, if you like those books. And if I was a retailer knowing, I. I know for a fact, because I talk to retailers as much as I can, that Invincible is bringing people into the shop. People are coming for Invincible stuff. But there's only so much Invincible stuff. Stuff. And you go, oh, man. If you like that, you know, you should check out if they're adult. They're adults. The boys. 20th century. 20th century men by, like, Denise Camp. Right. Watchmen. But that again, Watchmen's like, master reading, Right? That's a tough one. If you're like, I want to read comics, and someone goes, oh, you should read Watchmen. It's the best one. It's like, that's not where you should start. [00:45:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:45:56] Speaker B: Like, start with something fun and build up to the best one. Right. Because I think these stores should be really pushing these books. They should really be pushing minor threats. And I think they go, oh, Pat Oswald are. Is shorthand to people who are outside of it. Because if you're in the comic industry, why would you care? You want. Ed Brubaker wrote it. You know what I mean? You want, like. Yeah, but I think. Which I think is also, like, it's too bad. They're really good. They're really fun. They're really smart. It's that type of thing where it's like, if you love superheroes and you go, man, who's. Where does Leapfrog do after? It's the same thing that I've been saying this whole time. It's really interesting to think that these are real people. These are real people. They're not. They're not Superman, who has to be perfect, right? This is Leapfrog. This is, like, the most minor. And they've upset Batman, Right? That's such a good. Like, what does the Sister 6 do when they've upset Batman? And, like, he's gonna kill them. Like, he's gonna kill them. That's such a good bit. The city's cool because it has. The city where all the minor threat stuff has all the, like, sort of event comic result. Like, there's giant dead gods that take up traffic. And that's so smart. It's just a smart, good book. I wish more. I really wish more people were reading it, because I think they're really good. [00:47:02] Speaker A: It also shows how much, like, people who discount the idea that it's Patton Oswald in the sense that he's such a big comic book fan, and it shows. It's like a. It's like Patton and Jordan's love letter to comics because it shows so much about. And it's also. Some of. It's like, look how much we know about comics. But in such a good way. In a way that, like, it just. It shines in that sense. You're right. Anybody should be picking up minor threats in general. And then you have, like you said, then the names, like. And I'm gonna put you into that category, too. The names that are in the other books, too, not just Pat and Jordan, you know, Kyle Stocks and Brian Brown, Tim Seeley. It's. It's insane. [00:47:36] Speaker B: That first issue of welcome to Twilight, which is Mike Allred and Matt Fraction, is the best single issue of comics I've read. And I don't. I say that sincerely. I finished reading that. I go, oh, here's what's been wrong with comics for five years, we haven't had Matt Fraction. Like, that's literally. I told him. I was like, here's what. It's the best single issue of comics that I've read in I don't know how long. Welcome to Twilight number one. It's Matt Fraction's return to comics with Mike Allred. [00:47:57] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:47:58] Speaker B: I was like, why isn't everyone talking about that? I don't understand. I just don't understand it from a. From a comics community. Like, yeah, what are you guys reading? Like, you don't want to read the good stuff. And I think there's a thing where you go. Where I go. It's like, well, I'm a comic fan. And whenever. Which happened less because I'm so old. But, like, whenever it's like, oh, this. This celebrity is doing a comic, you go, all right, well, they're just trying to make a movie. You know what I mean? [00:48:18] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:48:20] Speaker B: And I think. I think there's a fair amount of examples of that that exist right now, especially because it's easier to make a comic than just make a movie. Right? Now, but here's the thing. Patton, Jordan Bloom, love comic books. [00:48:30] Speaker A: Yes. [00:48:30] Speaker B: Gordon Patton gave me a full quote on Rock Candy Mountain when it came out, which was 2017. Like, they love Jordan, which is place of entitlement. Shout out to him. I think he just finished the entire X Men collection. Like, I think he has every X Men book now, right? And you go like, that's, that's not. That's from love. Like, these guys love. And there's other guys, and I'm not going to name names Google, but they don't care. They don't. They don't care about comics. Like, I just saw one where two writers, they're like, oh, they came to me. That celebrity. Like, oh, they came to me. And you're like, like, all right, well, we don't care about that. Like, yeah, the patent loves comics. They love comics. And they've read all of them and they. It's all. It's all like sort of, you know, on the nose references that aren't their original. It's that thing that I do, which is probably why they asked me to do it, which is like, oh, it's shorthand for something else. But you twist it, you make it something bigger, you make it more character driven. That's what makes it interesting and relatable. [00:49:17] Speaker A: I mean, you know, if you're a Marvel fan, you know, like these two, Pat and Jordan, love comics. They wrote a MODOC series. Like, that's like. [00:49:24] Speaker B: And then they made the cartoon. They made it. [00:49:26] Speaker A: They made a TV show. So that's like. But I'm just saying to myself, I'm like, you, you don't, you don't get into comics to, to make it into a movie or something like that. If you're, like, gonna write Modoc, it's not like the guy. It's not the flashiest thing in that sense. They ended up being able to do Modoc comic and modok TV series, but that's. That wasn't like, in a connected way that, that, that they tried to get their property made into a film or something like. [00:49:44] Speaker B: That Modoc comic is where they met Scott Hepburn, who is the primary artist for the Minor Threats universe. It's legit. It's legit. They love comics. It's a really good comic. All of them. All of them are really good. [00:49:56] Speaker A: Really good. And there's more coming. There's just not. Hopefully they don't stop anytime soon. And that's also a shout out to Dark Horse at this point too, because they're a Dark Horse. Comics. So, you know Dark Horse today. Yeah, yeah, it's all Dark Horse, Dark Horse, Dark Horse. But, you know, it's been fun. And I think that one of those things with your. With your history in comics and your future, you have this. You can. There's different segments that people like, but there's also this, like, thread that there's comedy, there's killing, there's dogs, there's cats, there's whatever. And I think that your fandom is there. I feel like you. You mentioned your fandom not being that high. I will say that I'm lucky enough. There's two pull quotes on. On. On Where. Where Monsters Lie, Volume two, and on those not afraid. Both have a capes and tights on the back of it. But also I'm looking at it. I'm like, I have one on Peacemaker tries hard. But I was like, thinking myself. I'm like, oh, yeah, maybe I am the only fan of. [00:50:44] Speaker B: You're the only one. No, I don't think that's true. But sometimes it feels like it. But it's a complicated industry. I mean, that's a whole other thing. I'm not name dropping, but I was talking to Ram V at San Diego Comic Con last year, and I was saying something about how I just want to. I want more readers. And it's like, I'm making these things to be ready. And he said, which is where I try to be in my headspace, is that you can only control what you can control. And what I can control is that I'm going to make good, fun stories. And they are objectively that, whether people read them or not. I say that humbly. I believe it's true. I think they're fun. I think they're a good time. I think they're enjoyable reads every time. And that's all I can do. All I can do is make the stories that I wish existed and try to entertain people and hope that they find an audience. And you go, maybe this publisher isn't as good as promoting as a publisher. That's why maybe, who knows? You know what I mean? Like, you never know. And I can only control what I can control. So it's upsetting because, like, it's upsetting to me that Where Monsters Lie, Volume one sold out every issue, and Volume two, like, not even enough to justify, like, a really low number. And you go, what is that? Barfly didn't sell super great either, which is unbelievable because again, Ryan Brown did just for the art, just to see what comic art can be. It's worth what superhero comic art could be. It's worth picking up. But the industry is the industry. There's a lot of stuff, and we're all competing against a lot of stuff. And. [00:52:05] Speaker A: Well, it's funny, I picked up the previous catalog, which I don't even know if it's a thing anymore. Honestly. I was flipping through it at my local comic shop and I looked. And it's funny because obviously when you're a writer of a comic, it goes writer, artist in the rest, you know, like, that's like the. So it's like Barfly, you know, minor threat from the world of minor threats. Barfly. And it's like Kyle Stark's like, hell, yeah. And then I literally was like. And Ryan Brown, like, holy. Yeah. Like, it was like one of those things where I was like, going down the line and I'm like, oh, yeah. Yep, yep, sounds good. I'll be picking this up. And it was phenomenal. We talked about that when you were on in July. But, like, the idea that. That Brian is absolutely phenomenal. And I'm glad that he's doing more with. With Charles Soul, too, with. With Lucky Devils is just phenomenal as well. And seeing that too. But I was just happy. Yeah. Seeing that connection and seeing two of my favorite people in the industry, Kyle, you and. And Ryan, connecting to that, doing this thing. I want to see that again. I want to see some more from you, too, if you can, in the future. But. But I also want to see you killing more people in serial killers and stuff like that. And I. I loved. I hate this place. So I, you know. You know, I was. I knew it wasn't as long as you wanted it to be. We've. We've heard you talk about it. We've heard people talk about it forever. It's. It's. You don't need to go on it again, but like, it. I wish it was longer and I. I wish there was more to it, but, you know, maybe one day down the road there's something you can revisit. But I also like these new stories. So, like, as much as I wanted the sequel to Where Monsters Lie, and I'm glad we got it because I said I thought it was phenomenal. I think everybody should pick it up by volume one and by volume two, it's. You can get the trade. You know, that's another way. I mean, who knows? The trade might sell like gangbusters. I don't know. [00:53:32] Speaker B: It's one of those things. [00:53:33] Speaker A: Maybe just wait. A lot of People wait for and so. But I thought they were phenomenal. I thought seeing that. But then also seeing those Not Afraid being a new story from you, it's like, well, maybe that's what I want for you. Maybe I want more. And I would love to see a sequel to those not afraid 100%. Because I like the book, but maybe it's the next thing. Maybe it's the next portion miniseries. I see you coming out. We'll come out with it. That I may be in love with, but we'll see. [00:53:54] Speaker B: We're working on it right now. I don't know when Darkness is going to announce it, but I will tell you, it is a bloody revenge war. It is the least funny thing I've done for sure. It's. [00:54:03] Speaker A: That's what you think. [00:54:05] Speaker B: I know. I think. I think it's true. I think for this one it's true though. [00:54:09] Speaker A: Okay. Okay. [00:54:09] Speaker B: Okay. [00:54:10] Speaker A: I believe you. [00:54:10] Speaker B: I honestly, honestly never know because it's. It's. It's like a full. It's a full on four. It's four issues of. Of bloody. Like Bloody Violent Revenge. It's awesome. And Peter's. Peter's drawing it because we love Peter and because no one draws violence like a Polish comic artist. Does he. He. He's bringing it. We love that for him. [00:54:30] Speaker A: Yeah. Did you. Do you. Did you read Swarm or see the book Swarm? He did with. Who is it with? It was a graphic novel. [00:54:37] Speaker B: He's doing eight books right now. Like, I don't know. He does so many books. He does so many books. He's got to be the busiest man. The busiest man. [00:54:45] Speaker A: Yeah. It's comics. Yeah. And it's like he doesn't like skim over pages, like, even on. Even on, like where monsters, like there's like bottles on the shelf in the background. He's like drawing all the bottles. And I'm like, most people. Most people just draw like a blank background. He's like, no, I'm gonna. I'm gonna get in there and draw that stuff. [00:54:59] Speaker B: And he cross. And everything's cross hatched. His. [00:55:01] Speaker A: Yes. [00:55:01] Speaker B: Inks are so good. Like you do that thing. I don't. Again, I try not to think of things that I can't control. But when he's sending, like, I was like, man, if it was big enough, we would do like a black and white edition. And people would be like, what is like, Vladimir Popov did a wonderful job on colors. Like, he's part of that. We're monsters, like team. But like Jess's line work Is so. It's so good. Like, it's just like, it's so good. And I've only worked with a couple guys who. You do sort of see inks they send you like that. [00:55:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:28] Speaker B: Mark Ellerby on Rick and Morty. We do that. You'd sort of see everything. Like, man, his line work is so good. His pencils are incredible. And he's like, oh, and now here's the fight. It's like very sort of flat. Like, you kind of lose some of the energy because you're inking over it. But he's one of those guys, and they did that trick or treat, like, Halloween edition of Where Monsters. So it's cool that there's a cover out there that just is line working. You can see how cool he is. [00:55:49] Speaker A: Well, and also if you check out the trade. The trade Collected edition of Where Monsters Live, Volume two, there's a lot of back matter in there, too. One of my favorite things, honestly, in it is seeing your illustrations of the characters. It's awesome. I love it. I was like. I was just seeing your style of artwork. Drawing the characters from this book is like, Like, Like a. Like, I don't know. It just feels like I'm in a different universe, which is awesome. And I believe you have a list of your favorite horror comedy or underrated horror comedy movies out there that you should see. So that's also worth it. So that's what's worth it sometimes for these trades, too, is just like, even if you bought all the single issues, buy the trade. Because it's a bunch of cool back manner. Like, it's really kind of cool. [00:56:22] Speaker B: I think the first one has. [00:56:23] Speaker A: Does it really has my draw? [00:56:25] Speaker B: I think the first one has my drawings in the back of it too. Hold on, I gotta look. I think because Peter's so smart. Yeah. So I don't want. So you can see, like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that. It has my drawing, like, my original drawings, and then it has his great headshots that he sent. [00:56:40] Speaker A: Yes. [00:56:40] Speaker B: We had more back matter for this one. We had way more for this one. But Peter's so smart. One of the things that he does that I think is really smart if you're gonna do this many books and I say smart. Listen, one. One could argue. Maybe it's lazy, but I say it's smart. Is that he'll go. Because he knows I'm a cartoonist. He'll go. He'll go. Just. He's like, just draw it. Just draw it for me. And I'll like, so, like, all the characters, like, he's like, just. He's like, what do you think they look like? I was like, okay. So, like, there's a bit in where monsters, like, too. Because it's. [00:57:04] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:04] Speaker B: My thing is, like, where else would you go? It's like. So then one of the other sites where it's full of monsters, it's just like, the Hillbilly Cannibals, right? Yeah, the Hillbilly Cannibals. Because of course, they're like, those guys don't get to hang out with everyone else. They're weird little nasty country monsters. And he was like. I was like, oh, here's like. I'm like, in the script, like, doing like, this is a good movie. This is a good movie. This is a good movie. And he's like, could you just draw a bunch of. Can you just draw a bunch of them? And I go. I go, I would love nothing more than to draw, like, 30 cannibal, hillbilly characters. So that's cool. There's a page where it's, like, where one of the characters is trying to figure out how they would be the Mother's Day killer. And they've made, like, a dream journal. And I drew that and gave it to him, and then he drew. He, like. He's like, oh, I don't know what this means, because I think there's a language barrier. I think that's a lot of it for some of that stuff. And so. Because you can't translate some things that you say don't translate. [00:57:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:53] Speaker B: Polish. Yeah. And so he. And then to see him, he drew the. I thought he would just, like, use it for reference, but he redrew it. I think that's in there, right? [00:58:00] Speaker A: Yeah. Stuff like. [00:58:02] Speaker B: That's so funny to me. Some of it was like, he could like the script because his failure. I was like, I think here's what happened. And there's a thing. There's basically a Freddy character. Spoilers. And so there's a bit where, like, they're inside his dream, watching his dreams. [00:58:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:17] Speaker B: As an event unfolds. But I was like, this is really cool. A real cool sort of like. Like using comics formula, you know, form in a way that it's. Because you can be in the panel, not in the panel. And. And he's like, I don't. He was like, I don't understand. And I'm like, okay. I was like, I'll just draw it. But I had to keep drawing it because he's like. I was like, because I drew it real loose and then I have to draw it again tighter. I'm just doing pages, you know what I mean? Like, I'm just doing full pages. And he's like, okay, got it. And of course it looks. It looks great because Peter's so good. Yeah, I love that stuff too. And there's not always like, for like my stuff. [00:58:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:47] Speaker B: Whenever I'm doing a book, I don't do. I don't do what he. Like, I'm not doing character designs. [00:58:51] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:58:52] Speaker B: I just kind of start drawing and go, this is what they look like. Oh, I gotta figure out how to draw this thing. But so whenever I do like, my stuff and it's like, let's do back matter. It kind of sucks because there isn't any. [00:59:01] Speaker A: Nothing there. [00:59:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, there is because I just started doing it. But this one was cool. I wish for the first one he sent these dope headshots. Like these pencil headshots. [00:59:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:11] Speaker B: And which are. Obviously, here's what they look like. And he's like, here's my grid one. And basically I designed all these characters except for like Professor Puzzleman, who's probably the best design. Like, Professor Puzzleman's so good. Like, of course, Peterbit. The first one he sent, which I. I think is one of his books, was just like a guy with an eyepatch. And I'm like, I don't know about this one. I was like, I don't know about just a guy. Like a normal looking dude with an eye patch. And then. Yeah, there's nothing. And like the next one was like this unhinged professor, like this mask with like, tape. And he's got a weird, like, grimace and like, geez, like, why. Why is he having me design anything? Like, I don't understand why anyone would ask me anything. If you could come up with. [00:59:46] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. [00:59:47] Speaker B: Marmot. He did. Marmot. I could, I could list all. But he's. He's great. Peter's great. Would work with Peter, especially on these horror books. [00:59:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:59:54] Speaker B: He has fun with it and. And somehow like he has that thing where it's like he gets, I think, from my age, like, I think I like a scary, scary boy, but I think when they horror is like a little. It's got one joke in it, you know? Give me one joke. Yeah, I just think I like it when they're just like. Every now and then you can be a little silly. And I think Peter gets that. Like he exists in that space of like an 80s slasher movie where they. That's where I want to work. That's where I want to be with. So we love Peter. This new book's going to be good. [01:00:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm excited for it. I'm excited for anything. I'll buy anything. I'd say Steve Niles is. When they wrote that Swarm book, it was a graphic novel over at Dark Horse, and Peter was the artist on it, which was awesome, and I absolutely loved it. And I'm glad you mentioned Vlad, because Vlad actually was on for our Star wars podcast. [01:00:42] Speaker B: Live. Thanks, Vlad. [01:00:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Late to the game, Vlad. No, the. But he was just talking about how, like, these different, like, ways of coloring stuff like that, which is really cool to hear because you don't hear that often. A lot of times you just hear from illustrators or writers or, you know, you know, so on and so forth. So it was really cool to see that. But yeah, Vlad's excellent on the colors on this book, too, which is phenomenal on Where Monsters Live. But I mean, the trades are all coming out. The dates. I have the dates here somewhere. Trade hits August 26th for those unafraid in June 17th for Where Monsters Live, volume two, you can get Where Monsters Live, volume one right now. So I think you should do that right away. And then I think it's June 17th as well for the hardcover of the Oni Press thing as of right now that they kill them all. It's again, those things are so fluid and so on and so forth nowadays that I feel like I've gone on to like a lunar and seen like, like this trade comes out this week. Then I'll go next week. It comes out this week and it comes out this week. I'm like, wait, they're coming out three weeks in a row? No, I just got pushed to the next week. To the next week. To the next week. But it is what it is. It is what it is. And the world of distribution right now is. Is insane. So I don't know what's going on. But yes, you know, pre order for sure, if you can. But yeah, I mean, I'm excited for what's coming next. I'm excited for everything. I'm glad that you came back on here, took time out of your busy schedule right now to come on here and do this. But I will say, do you agree with Celtics and six? [01:02:03] Speaker B: I hope so. I feel like. I feel like they are. They are. They are storming to break my heart. Yes, they are storming to break my heart. But I, this was like my, my worst basketball watching year in A while. So I'm kind of like. I don't know. There's something about. I don't know what happened. I mean, I know, I know that I had. I don't want to brag, but I had a bunch of personal shit going on. [01:02:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:02:24] Speaker B: But like, man, I should have been watching more basketball. But you know, I watch with my wife. My. My wife is my best friend. Yeah. She. She's now going to be at 7:30, so it's like I don't have someone. Like I said, I'm not like. And. And what's so not funny but frustrating is I feel like I'm at a point where I've watched everything that I want to watch on all the streaming programs I have. And last Monday I was like, there's nothing on. Like, I'm so annoyed. And I'm just like, I'm watching YouTube or something and my homies, like, my dude's like. He's like, dude, did you see when they lost in overtime? Did you catch the game? And I'm like, there's a game. I could have been like, I could one. How do I not know? Like, why am I so. Just like, I'm so out of it. [01:03:00] Speaker A: I'll tell you, Kyle, I had to. I actually was like, oh, Kyle's a basketball fan. Let me look at this. Right before we got on, right before we started recording, I'm like, Celtics. I just googled Celtics being like, what time? When are they playing it? They're playing tonight, by the way, just so you know. [01:03:12] Speaker B: 6:30 tonight. No, I know they're playing tonight. It's like, I gotta, I gotta go back to watching. But man, those first. I watched, I watched the, I watched the, the second half of the second game. It's just like I'm traveling. I'm. I'm drawing a book right now, which takes all my time. It was like the TVs on all the time. It's like, man, I couldn't have basketball. It's so annoying to be like, I'm so stupid. But I think I had such a, such a. Like emotionally challenging last year. If I watch more basketball, would I've been happier? Like, because that's. I didn't make time. Like I do in the. Usually I just, like, I'd watch three games a night. Like, I'll just sit there and watch three games a night or if I'll go between three games, you know what I mean? And just. I do. I love, I love basketball. I love, I love pro wrestling. I love murder and I love pets. These are all, yeah, true things about me. [01:03:55] Speaker A: It was funny. My wife was like, oh, we're gonna Cancel. We have YouTube TV is how we watched our cable TV or whatever. And she's like, we'll cancel. [01:04:01] Speaker B: Where? [01:04:01] Speaker A: We just closed on the house last Wednesday. So we're like, oh, we're trying to, you know, it was canceled. We can't. I can't, I can't. We can watch basketball. I can't. She goes, you watched a bunch of basketball this year. You didn't you. I'm like, I shut up. Why are you doing that to me right now? That's the kick of me while I'm down right now. I just spent. I spent like a quarter of a million dollars yesterday and you want me to tell me I didn't watch basketball this year? What the hell are you doing? [01:04:20] Speaker B: It's the playoffs. We, we get NBA, we get the league pass every year. Those things. Like, man, I paid a lot for league pass this year to not watch. [01:04:26] Speaker A: Not watch it. [01:04:27] Speaker B: Yeah, near enough. [01:04:27] Speaker A: Well, the NBA needs your money, so. [01:04:29] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I, I say, like, I bet, I bet I watched, I Bet I watched 50 games because, like, I didn't watch 80 games. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't see all this, all these games. And some of it I was telling appears like I, I've never had a team that I like in basketball, which I used to be a Knicks guy. They've never won. I've never had, like, they haven't been good since 1998. And so something about them, like, it's also like, I like them lost the drive. Like, hey, we got it. Like, I can, I can, I can finally calm down. But it's like, I like, it's a really good team. I love it. I'm super glad Peyton won six man of the year because I love Peyton Pritchard. He's one of my favorite all time players probably. I think if. Here's the thing, I don't want to jinx it. If they can be playing New York, which by the way, was my old team, like, yeah, I should be so engaged in this. [01:05:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:05:19] Speaker B: My new team. And I think if they beat the. If they beat the Knicks, which is a big F. Yeah, I think they can beat the Pacers because who probably gonna be playing the papers. Right. I think then they'll get murdered. Probably murdered in the finals. But that's our third finals in like eight years, six years. Like, that's, that's great. That's like I said, the Fact that. [01:05:38] Speaker A: We can watch us all this game, in my opinion now in middle of May is an awesome thing. And seeing that, yes, it's one of those things. One of the things I keep on saying about Star wars things. I'm like, yeah, the Star wars stuff that comes out right now might not be the best thing in the world, but it's still a Star wars thing. I get to watch something that says Star wars on it, which is pretty cool to me. I'm like, yeah, even if the Celtics don't win, I'm like, at least we get to watch basketball in the middle of May and have it be the Celtics. So, like, okay, I'm happy with that. [01:06:02] Speaker B: I did watch all the tournament. I watched all the tournament games, except for, I think maybe the last two rounds, because he was like, oh, I'm done. I want to watch 64 games, not three. [01:06:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:06:10] Speaker B: What's. What's wrong with me? I don't know what's wrong with me. [01:06:12] Speaker A: I'm just pumped about the draft coming up because you know what, what town I'm moving to is Newport, Maine, where Cooper Flag is from. And so we were pretty pumped here in Maine. We gotta see about it. But I love that, by the way, the idea that captures a flag. [01:06:29] Speaker B: I. It's. This is a. I think this is a really, really deep draft, and which is good because we haven't had one in a while. So it's, it's, it's. I think as a, as a hoops fan, because there hasn't been like. I mean, you go Wimby Annie, but it's like, yeah, but you want like six dope players. I think this might have six dope players in it. So it'll be, it'll be cool. It'll be fine. [01:06:47] Speaker A: We're just, we're just excited here in Maine because, like, nothing. It's not even, like, been a player that's been, like, good for Maine. It's like, it's not even like. No, one of those things. Second round pick or a guy that got drafted or assigned whatever. No, it's like literally Maine just been like this little thing in the world. So that to have this person be the number one draft pick is going to be phenomenal for us. So, like, my bank, he's like a standee in the bank. You go into, he's just standing there touting their, like, team credit card. They have their debit card, whatever the hell they have there. And he's just. Him and his brother. And his brother Ace is gonna be Playing at U Main, which is down the street from me, which is pretty cool, too. So get into a good school. Yeah, exactly. Right. No, we. We. The benefit of this west is like, when he gets 21, I work for a brewery and we have nil. We have, like, sponsored athletes. And we're like, well, maybe we can get Ace as a sponsored athlete. We're like, well, maybe we get his mom. Their mom is like, at every game, everywhere, all the time. [01:07:33] Speaker B: And aren't there two more brothers with wild names? Don't they all have, like, Cooper, Ace. Cooper, Ace. [01:07:40] Speaker A: And I don't remember the other name. [01:07:42] Speaker B: Like, they all have. There's four of them. I think they all have, like. Like, one of the name is Cowboy, I think. [01:07:47] Speaker A: Yeah, probably. Yeah. But I'll tell you right now, the school that he used to go to or the Nokomas Regional High School, which is before he left to go to Florida. Kids take snowmobiles to school in the winter time. So there's that. You know, he's got that for him. So he's in the middle of nowhere. He's tough. [01:08:02] Speaker B: He's toug. [01:08:03] Speaker A: Tough. Tough mana right there. No, we're excited and, you know, I'm excited for. For hopefully this. All this. Pull it out, but we'll see. Whatever. If not, I'll just be able to read more murder books from. From my friend Kyle Starks here. [01:08:13] Speaker B: I'll tell you, like, I would rather. I'm a Hoosier. I would rather them lose to New York than lose to Indiana. I would. I. I would rather they lose to New York than Indiana. [01:08:26] Speaker A: I don't want them to lose the Indiana because I don't want them to, like, you know, because of. Because of David Harper. I don't want to. Yeah, that's why I don't. [01:08:33] Speaker B: I'll be getting. I'll be getting texts from him like, like, we own stock in these teams. I'll be like. I'll be like, buddy. I'll be like, buddy, this, this. We've been here. Where were you last year? Were you guys even in this? Like, what do you. I'm happy for you. Be happy for my success. Like, I'm pulling for you. [01:08:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Make it to the next round. We'll sweep. Sweep the Pacers. Just like run them in the ground. Not even a question. 20 point wins every game for four straight games. [01:08:58] Speaker B: I would love it. I. I think. I wish I. This thing I wish I watched was like, how did they get to. On Cleveland? Cleveland's so good. I just. Stuff like that. Like, I wish. I wish I'd seen it, because then it can make more sense to me. And if you ask me these questions, I can go, oh, here's what I think. Yeah, but now it's just like, I'm just like. [01:09:11] Speaker A: I don't know. [01:09:11] Speaker B: I'm. I'm. I'm kind. I'm like a stepdad right now rather than their dad. And I like being a dad. Stepdad's kind of like, I don't know. What's that kid doing? Like, hey, hey, hey, Kyle. Your kids on the streets, like, it's not my kid. [01:09:23] Speaker A: I still love him, but it is not my problem. [01:09:25] Speaker B: Yeah, Yeah. I can't. I can't. I can't do anything with that guy. He gotta talk to his. [01:09:30] Speaker A: That's awesome. Yeah. Like I said, it's one of those things. It's fun because every once in a while you get to chat basketball with you because it's quick and easy. But, like, there's. There's people who out there who don't want to listen to us talk about basketball forever. [01:09:40] Speaker B: So I know, hey, we're monsters. Live really good. [01:09:44] Speaker A: It was at the end. So if people could turn us off, it's not that big of a deal. They turned us off 15 minutes ago. Let's be honest. It's you and I talking. They probably turned us off for the first five minutes. Let's be honest. [01:09:53] Speaker B: Basket. Whenever I'm on a. And they go, let's talk about basketball, I'm like, yes. And when I. Let's talk about person, I'm like, yes. Like, of course I will. No one wants to hear it, but let's go. [01:10:00] Speaker A: I have opinions, but, yeah, that's awesome. So. So grab the trades this summer. You got June, you got Where Monsters Live, Volume two. You got Kill Them all hardcover, you got where my. Those Not Afraid. Coming out this summer in August. Pick those up, pre order them, all that stuff. Follow Kyle Starks on social media for updates and stuff like that. [01:10:21] Speaker B: Big announcement. Big announcement in August, too. Also, we're doing the Kickstarter in August. [01:10:24] Speaker A: Yeah. San Diego, right? So San Diego Comic Con, you gotta book now, something awesome. But thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to come chat comics and stuff with us, Kyle. We'll have you back on at some point in the future, but until then. [01:10:38] Speaker B: Yeah, when you do the lap, Keep it. [01:10:39] Speaker A: Keep it. Keep it. Good. Keep doing things good. Okay. Thank you. [01:10:47] Speaker B: Sam.