Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back to 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 Zach Kaplan and welcome for the first time, Eisner winning artist John Pearson to the podcast. Kaplan is the creator and writer behind things like Beyond Real, Kill All Immortals, Dark Empty Void, the Midnight Shadows, Masterminds, and the upcoming Only Savage are Left.
Pearson is an artist behind such comics such as Infernals in Bloom and Mindset, which he did with Zach Kaplan a few years ago. He also has an upcoming comic book called the Patron over at Ignition Press. Together they have created a comic book called the Smart Division, which is coming out August 5th from Dark Horse Comics. So we chatted that and so much more. Great episode. Just take a listen, but before you do, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, bluesky, Threads, all those places. Rate, review, subscribe over on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts. And you can listen or video. Sorry. Should watch the YouTube version of this podcast over at YouTube.com and as always, you can visit capes and tights.com for so much more. But this is Zack Kaplan and John Pearson chatting their upcoming comic, the Smart Division. Enjoy.
Welcome to the podcast. How are you two doing today?
[00:01:26] Speaker B: We're good.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: Excellent. Really good.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: I like how Zach's answering for John. That's great.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: Right around his relationship.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: That's what John would like to say, that he's excited to be here, and
[00:01:39] Speaker C: I'm just gonna leave and, like, just put, like, a picture of myself.
[00:01:44] Speaker A: Zach, you have to write the script for. For John.
[00:01:46] Speaker B: All right, so.
[00:01:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:01:47] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:01:47] Speaker B: But John. John. John has the looks. That's why he's here, so.
[00:01:54] Speaker A: No, that's great. No, it's. It's. We talked a little bit before. I'm happy. It's springtime. We're getting there. It's getting to the time where I feel like this is also one of the easier times to really connect. I mean, obviously we had to reschedule this because life happens, but, like, once you get past here, it's like, if I can record with someone around a convention or a deadline or whatever, it's like the winter months are like, yeah, I'm free whenever.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, that's. That's true.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: I feel like that's just life in general. My wife was talking about that. She's like, at this point, to the end of the summer is like every weekend is just playing now. Like in the winter time, someone's like, hey, want to do something on the 15th? I'm like, yeah, I'm open. I didn't have to look at my calendar.
[00:02:31] Speaker B: I'm.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: I'm free.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Yeah. No, it gets busy. The summer gets pawns every month and, and releases and everything. Yeah, it's, it's, it gets busy. I like to hibernate in the winter. That's when the November.
[00:02:46] Speaker C: I feel like that's it.
Winter is kind of taking a step back, maybe kind of working on future plans. But this time of year it's non stop. It's working. It's kind of like social plans getting out. And like we're saying earlier, the sun's nice, like getting outside, going, doing stuff, you know.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: It took me years to realize the rhythms of the comics industry. Like it's actually, the comics industry is nicely built for that sort of situation where like Comics Pro kicks things off in February. And then there's some, there's some kickoff cons like Emerald City and C2, E2 and MegaCon and all those kind of kick things off and there's a bunch of them. And then like the summer gets nuts with San Diego and books come out. But I feel like there were moments years back where like, I didn't understand all that and like, maybe a book came out in the middle of winter or like, you know, came out. And so like I've learned that like, no, you, the winter is when you go and create and work and then you come out with that stuff and you begin to share it at the beginning of the year and then you go down that gauntlet. So the industry is built for it in a good way.
Yeah, it's like farming seeds.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: It threw me off when starting to get into this. I've been a comic fan for years, but four or five years ago when I started doing this, I was like, wow, no comics come out in like December. Like there are comics, but it's like there's like for. And I do my, I do a thing every week which is like these four comics are my featured comics to come out. They're coming out on Wednesday and in the wintertime, it's like trying to find four good comics that you like to promote was like a problem. And then like then in the summertime you're like, oh shit, I have to do like, I can't do six. I can't do so much. It's like you have to pick four and But I used to do a bunch and then these posts used to get like astronomically long. And I'm just basically like, whatever comics are coming out this week, go buy.
But no, now I do only do four. And it's like, yeah, there's this like weird thing in the middle of the winter where you're like, yeah, this comic that I don't really know about, it's coming out, but go buy it. Read some comics. Like. But yeah, it's. It's that we're in that season you've got. Obviously we mentioned before we started recording, John's got the Patron coming up in July. Is that right? I think. Yep, July. And then the, you know, the one we're here to start Talk smart division is August, which that get pulled up because I feel like when Dark Horse promoted that, it was like the fall and it's now the summer technically.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: So I think we always had August.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: I think the press release said fall on it. It didn't even have a date.
[00:05:13] Speaker B: That's possible, but it's close enough.
[00:05:15] Speaker A: It's not like it's like it's in August.
[00:05:17] Speaker B: It's not fall, is it? No, August is my fall.
[00:05:20] Speaker C: No, I feel like the, the scheduling in comics is. Is very fluid.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: That's true.
[00:05:28] Speaker A: I feel like I've recorded with people and they've changed the. Like we've said, hey, come go get it August or whatever. And then they've changed it before the actual release comes out. And now you're like, there's no surprise.
Yeah, but that's awesome. So Zach. People don't want to hear from Zach because Zach's been on here like 17 times. But. But no, I'm just kidding. People want to hear Zach. John, this is the first time on there, so just give it. I mean, so let's start with you. Just a little bit about how you decided you wanted to be in the world of comics. Was it forced on you? Did you choose to do it? What happened? What made it so that you were starting to draw comics and work in comics?
[00:06:02] Speaker C: I mean, it was kind of partly by choice and partly not forced upon me, but it's something that happens.
So I started off kind of doing illustration and dabbling in comics.
And I was doing that part time while working another job. And then over the years, slowly but surely there was more comics work that came in.
And now it's kind of escalated to a point where I don't do too much illustration stuff, is just comics. Like this year I've got two series coming out like in the space of a couple of weeks and maybe something else as well after that. That's not announced yet.
So it's. Yeah, it's gone from.
From very little to a significant amount. But it's weird because I never really intended to just do comics full time. I've always loved comics. I've loved Medium, and I love storytelling.
But I think as I've gotten more and more into the industry and I've kind of experimented and played and met people and met writers like Zach, it's just something that is truly a labor of love. And I like pushing the medium to the extent that I can within the industry and just kind of having fun and challenging myself. And it's. It's weird. It's. It's something different every day, which is crazy when you are just drawing like 20 plus pages a month of comics, but it really is. Every day. I'm like, oh, so what am I. What am I doing here? How am I going to hit these beats? How am I going to communicate this story? How I'm going to elevate what is written in the script and push it further? And I think that's. That's what's kind of drawn me towards comics, and it's what keeps me here, really. It's. It's just something that I love that challenge, and I love thinking about how I'm going to progress my career, but also progress as an artist and progress as a storyteller and how audiences are going to. To be receptive to that and what they're going to take from the stories that I get a chance to take part in telling.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: I've been a fan. I was a huge fan of In Bloom. That was phenomenal to me. It's kind of funny, both of you guys. I've had quotes on the back of both of your books. Kill All Immortals had a quote on it, and Bloom had a quote on it, which is kind of cool. But mindsets where you guys came together, right? Like you two together. Mindset. Either one of you want to, like, how did that happen originally, your mind control comic over at Vault.
It's good right here, if anybody's looking at it. This is my number one.
How did that happen?
[00:08:50] Speaker B: I saw that John had colored blue and Green by ROM V, which is an amazing, amazing book. And did he code? He was help doing the art with Anand and coloring that. And I reached out to him and I discovered that he was also an artist. And I saw his illustrations and he had done some.
Some. I think you'd Done some short comics, and I was just like, holy.
So I. I reached out and. And I. I shared this idea with him, and he loved it. And we.
We got into it and we started to make Mindset. And I think we both fell in love with playing with form, you know, and. And. And we both were really at a point.
I mean, I had been. I had made several comics already. Mindset was my sixth comic or something like that, you know, But I was excited to, like, show that I could play with form and break form and be a little more experimental. And John loves that, and he's so, so amazing at that. And so it was a. It was a really good match. And we. We really, I think, helped push each other, you know, to do more. He pushed me. You know, he didn't say, zach do this, but he seeing his artwork made me go, ah, I gotta step up my game in my. In my scripting. I gotta push the envelope. I gotta give this guy more to. To play with and show off. And we gotta use the story, the medium more to amplify the themes of the story and the characters and the emotions. And so, you know, Mindset.
I don't think I had perceived that Mindset would become as experimental and surreal as it became for me. When I started, it was just this fun thriller about mind control.
But I'm so glad that it evolved into that. And it's one of the books I'm most proud of.
[00:10:56] Speaker A: I love how you said it's like your sixth comic, and since then you've had 12 comics come out.
And that was only like four years ago.
It's like, it was like, oh, yeah, it was only my sixth comic then I'm looking at like, wait, hold on a second. If you look, you're back there now.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: You've had a lot four years ago. Yeah.
[00:11:11] Speaker A: Yes, exactly. But was this something after you two worked on Mindset? We're like, not right away, but we do want to do this again together again at some point. Is that what the plan was?
[00:11:20] Speaker C: At least that in the plan since. Since Mindset. And then I did some covers for Zach for Beyond Real as well.
And then, yeah, this is the.
I'll create a follow up to Mindset. But I think, like, what Zach was saying as well, with what we did on Mindset, it was the collaboration between the two of us trying to push each other and trying to make the story that you wanted to tell just better than either of us could do individually. And it's. I know I always think of my approach to comics as it's not just illustrating the story, it's really conveying the emotional elements and how that can have a lesson impact on the reader. So I think with Mindset, that's something we set out to do, and that's kind of why it went down. That weird, surreal, just evocative approach is the level of impact that was required from a story and how that could be pushed and how it could propel the narrative more. And I think that's what we're doing with the Smart Division as well. That's exactly the type of thing that we want to do. It's a different story, but it's still.
For me, as an artist, I want to connect with the readership and really kind of provide impact for them. When they read the comic, they, holy shit.
This is not what I expected.
But it's something that. That really resonates with them.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: And I think that works with the way that, Zach, you're writing and the ideas that you come up with and these plotting and these stories make you think this is not just a simple, you know, hey, this is a cool comic entertainment here and there, but there's like a more deeper meaning to it. And that's what I think. That's what I got with Mindset, obviously, with the, you know, mind control and stuff like that and devices and stuff. And it was kind of funny. John, you may not know this, but, like, when Zach and I first talked, I think it was one of those comics where I was like, I read Mindset and then I read a future comic from. From. From Zack, and I was like, oh, I really like these. And I. And then I didn't even dawn on me there was the same writer.
Like, it was like one of those things, like, oh, I get it now. No, no, I know why I like these two things. It's like when you watch a movie and it's directed by the same director and you don't realize that. And then afterwards, like, oh, that makes sense why I like both these movies so much or whatever. And it's like that and the same thing. Like, I get this. This vibe. Like whenever I own the Salvager Left, like, they got this vibe. It felt different than any other comic of Zacks, but, like, it still had the same thread, in a sense, like, way through it and this. This. This way of storytelling. And that's what I'm hoping for with. I've seen images of Smart Division, but I want to. I can't wait to read it because I'm hoping that it gives me that Same. No, this is feeling as Mindset.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: This is. Yeah, we, we, all the Smart Division pages are still under lock and key and we're still cooking. And so this is the first chance to get out and talk about it since we've officially announced it.
But very much I think John and I both have something to say and something to explore about artificial intelligence. And it's so funny.
Both Mindset and the Smart Division are thrillers, no doubt, and they're both science fiction, but they're very much of the time, I feel like Mindset coming out today, the moment has already passed.
In 2022, smartphones had become so pervasive and we were all quite aware.
There was all this talk of what the algorithms are doing to us and it was a very kind of topical conversation about how we were being controlled by our devices.
That conversation has passed and there's a new conversation which is what will AI do to our society? And while everyone is focused on like will AI become sentient and, and all this, we're more concerned with like what bad behavior will I allow in the immediate future? Because people can use AI to do, sorry, phone. People can use AI to do all sorts of things right now and there. And while you can go into ChatGPT and you can say do this and there are restraints there, in general, AI does not have a lot of guardrails to it. And so that was something that we were interested in. And I think there's a lot of other kind of themes about maybe what's happening to our justice system these days and the way we kind of treat one another. And so there's a lot of stuff that kind of is seeping into this story in the best of ways. And I'm excited for readers to, to get immersed into, into this world and to experience another very topical conversation.
[00:16:12] Speaker A: You know, I mean, it's, it's. If a President of the United States can just willy nilly use it for image creation of these stupid, ridiculous, whatever images, what will they do with behind the scenes with more invasive technology or more like what, what can it do? Like if you're just really, if you're able to just do whatever you want, what other options, what other things are they going to do to make things worse for us in this, in this world we live in? But yeah, it's a, it's. AI is a big hot topic obviously for many reasons.
And so putting that in, like I said, it's timing. If you would have, if these would have swapped mindset would have come out now and Then this would have come out, you know, four years ago, people would have been like, AI, what are you talking about?
[00:16:54] Speaker B: Yeah, futuristic. It would have felt futuristic. And now it feels like when I talk to people about this premise and I'm like, what. What will happen when people use AI to commit crimes? And how will detectives in our law enforcement system keep up with that? They're like, I feel like that is literally going to be on the news tomorrow. And it's like. Actually, I think, John, I don't know if I told you this, I think I saw a post and I, I kind of clipped it when I was doom scrolling about a case where there was.
They thought someone had used AI to try to outsmart the cops. And so, yeah, I'll have to, I'll have to dig that up and find that. So it is literally right around the corner. And yeah, it's. And it's. You know, I don't like to be cynical. Actually, it's not in my nature to be cynical. I'm generally an optimist.
But I don't know about this one. This one has me.
Well, I guess like mind control. We were, we were laughing all the way as we got controlled by our devices and now we're kind of just gonna laugh as people become better criminals. You know, it's just kind of like.
[00:18:02] Speaker A: Yep.
Well, it's like some of. It's like, well, I mean there's a part of it. You're like, what do you do? What can you do? What can you physically do? Like, part of us feel just hopeless and help helpless with people just, you know, doing like, you can say it as many times, scream it from a mountaintop as many times as you want. Maybe you should just back away from this AI thing just a little bit and don't use it so much and don't do it. And you just still like. I just feel like, I mean, if you think about the creation of art thing nowadays, it's like my Facebook is just flooded with businesses using it to create flyers that are just atrocious.
And I'm a graphic designer by trade, so I designed things and I don't. It just makes me so upset and sad. But then there's like, again, it's just this. I don't know, people just need to back away from a little bit.
[00:18:43] Speaker B: But yeah, we, we put thought into that, into the creation of the look of this for sure.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: You know, I have an image that I saved. It was probably created with chat GPT, but I have an image that I say that it was saying that, like, all AI posters look the same and have the exact same font and all this stuff. And it was just. It was a poster made of that. And I saved it because I wanted to show it to people. Like, this is what you should not do. Because, yes, there's the artist side of things and there's the creator side of things and there's the, you know, fundamental, should you do this? Part of it. But also they all look like shit, too, so that doesn't help.
[00:19:16] Speaker C: Well, I think. I mean, like Zach said, that is definitely something from an art perspective that is very conscious. So, like, this whole series is. I'm kind of paint all by hand, but then it's like digitally colored.
And that's predominantly. So there's the parallel of this story that is about AI and about technology and everything that kind of goes along with that in the current world. And then you'll have an artistic approach that is painterly and on a subconscious level, hopefully, that is making the reader kind of think a little bit more critically about what they're reading and also what they're seeing and kind of connect those dots in the back of their mind. And I think it's also interesting that you're saying about all AI looks the same and people aren't idiots. I know anybody that knows me will probably put me up on that, the amount of time that I say people are idiots. But I think people's media literacy when it comes to AI is actually getting stronger. And people can tell largely when something is created with AI and people don't like it.
And I think that is creating
[00:20:39] Speaker A: a
[00:20:40] Speaker C: different creative output across the board, be it like music, design, everything, where people want something that feels real and it feels made with the human hand and it feels tangible and tactile. So from graphic design, like, there seems to be a big kind of influx at the minute of things where it's that kind of cut and paste aesthetic or things where it's that kind of 90s grunge aesthetic because it feels real and it feels like something that is handmade. And then with music, you've got kind of bands like Angie de Poitrin that have been huge at the minute, where it's like two people making weird music that is fundamentally human and people want that. People don't want things that are made with AI in a creative sense. And that makes me optimistic about the future. So whilst this story is.
I don't know if it's pessimistic or it's complicated. Yeah. But I think with Zach saying that he is an optimist. I think that's true because with the Smart Division and with mindset, voice stories are being, forcing or prompting the reader to be reflective and to think about their own place in technology, be it with smartphones or be it with AI.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: Yeah. So we manifest that with the Smart Division there are two main detectives that are thrown into solving the first crime with the perfect AI crime app, essentially. And one detective is an older guy and he's, he's seen enough to know the end is insight. And he's, he's very cynical and he's, he's very, you know, what are we doing here? This is the writing is on the wall.
And the other one is a, is a young woman who is not seen enough to give up yet. And she's still, still fighting like hell to, to make a difference in the world and solve crimes and stop bad guys and they work together. And that's the kind of existential question, you know that and I don't. And it's complicated. So I'm not going to tell you who wins that thematic, you know, debate and conversation between the two of them. And there's a fantastic drama that unfolds, but at its core it's like, okay, I'm presenting a reality which is AI is here to cause some trouble.
And what point of view are we going to have about it? Are we going to have the defeatist point of view or the hopeful point of view?
And both are complicated. And so I love to make you go, well, of course we're going to have the hopeful point of view. And then I'm going to go, okay, but watch what, watch, what could go wrong with that? And then it's like, okay, okay, so it's a cynical, it's like, no, no, okay, but watch what could go wrong with that? And so it's like, okay, well, what is it, Zach? And it's like, exactly. That's the question is what is. When you dig deep in and you confront the, the conflicts of both, of both worldviews and then you leave the reader. So you don't, you don't give the reader that choice in a two dimensional landscape. You give that reader the choice in that three dimensional landscape where you're like, oh my God, I don't know what the right answer is. And that's, for me, that's the best freaking way to come out of a story. Like when you're like, I need to talk to someone about this. Because it's like, what is the answer?
So So I love. I love complicated storytelling like that and creating drama around different worldviews and. And we're having a lot of fun kind of, you know, manifesting that. Those characters in that world and just giving readers something they can sink their teeth into.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: That just made me think we. I'm part of a book club, a graphic novel club at my local comic book shop. And actually we did kill immortals not that long ago.
And yeah, and we see we.
I was just made me think like the model of binging TV has changed a little bit too, where they're coming back to more like at least a couple episodes at a time or whatever it may be. And I feel like that's created that conversation with other people nowadays too. You go into the office or you go to get his coffee at the shop and someone's talking about something. You can be like, oh, you saw the most recent episode. You can chat about what's going to happen. Whereas binging was all this, like, you've seen all the episodes. I've only seen two episodes. We can't really have a conversation yet. And so I was just thinking to myself, I'm like, this may be a kind of a fun story to read as the book club, but monthly, like, everybody read the issue monthly, and then we'll get together at the end. But in between, we could talk about what happened in the last issue and where's it going to go and what do you think and all that stuff, because that's something I love about, you know, floppy comics and monthly comics is the fact that you can have that if as long as someone's reading along, you can see up to this point, you know, and we did a book club with Absolute Batman recently, and someone's already read Volume two, and most of us only had read Volume one, and we're like, the guy's like, well, this is going to. I'm like, shut up. Don't talk about it.
Monthly comments. You could do that. And this seems like this kind of a story would maybe set up for that kind of conversation to happen while the story is going along.
[00:25:48] Speaker C: That's something that we actually spoke about when we did mindset as well, like the. The. The importance of the single issues and the conversations between them and the cliffhangers that will be left and. And how that would naturally kind of grow the readership by having people chat about it or the intention was there anyway. And yeah, I think it's. It's a very different experience reading comics monthly compared to a collection.
Yes. So I think with this one, that's, that's absolutely.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Yeah, we want to throw some surprises in there. It's this, this is a five issue series.
You know, God willing, we'll, we'll have this out on time. That's always the goal, is to have everything out on time and hit monthly and give readers that ride. You know, there's nothing better than the ride of. Because, you know, a 24 page comic or whatever is short, it gets over like that, you know, oh. And you're like, oh, anymore. So I love, I love the thrill of that and the thrill of like just dropping enough that just, they just, you just feel like, oh, this is such a great ride. And then it brings you to. And then you, if you stick the landing, there's nothing more fulfilling than that. So I love that. Giving readers that kind of experience, that's what we're hoping for here. I definitely think this is the kind of story, I mean it, it surprises on lots of levels because first off, it's a classic twist or turn kind of detective story. And how on earth do you catch the perfect criminal armed with the perfect AI? So it's built for a detective story like no other detective story could be built because it's literally how do you beat AI? And then it's this great character story about how we should feel about this situation.
And then I think infused with some really fun, artistic kind of form things that we're gonna do that are gonna make readers feel like, oh, this is really experiential and this is something that's kind of elevated. I think that, you know, it will have that effect on a lot of levels. So we're, we're, we're ambitious.
We're not like, we're, we're here to make something that stands out and we feel good about it. We're, we're excited.
[00:28:05] Speaker A: And obviously Dark Horse believes in the series. They believe in. I believe in you, Zach, obviously, because at this point there, they just can't get enough of Zach Kaplan. But this, it's, it's the Dark Horse colon. Zach Kaplan Comic Book Company.
[00:28:19] Speaker B: Right. Well, no, no, but, but listen, no, Dark Horse is a great. Dark Horse is a great, a great publisher and they're great to creators. They have a fantastic, they are very supportive, they have a great deal and there's a lot of promising things. And I think that Dark Horse is a prestigious publisher that's built a legacy of books for 40 years. And I'm very excited to be them. And I kind of faced a choice about a year or so ago where it's like, I can spread this all around and I can be at a few publishers that maybe are a little less supportive, maybe don't have as great deals, or I can expand a partnership that's really working for me. And I think Kill All Mortals had done really well enough for me to say, hey, do you guys want to kind of do a little bit more here? And then it gives me an opportunity to kind of pool my resources and bring John in.
This is a get as far as I'm concerned for Dark Horse.
So yeah, it's been an exciting. But I'm not exclusive to Dark Horse by any means and I'm excited to work with other publishers out there.
But yeah, it is the year for me with Dark Horse. For sure.
[00:29:31] Speaker A: I'm okay with this.
Good relationships with a bunch of publishers, but I have a really great relationship with Dark Horse. So that's one of the places that I really, really enjoy. If I need anything, I can really message anybody over there and it's good. So yeah, it was great to hear that too.
[00:29:43] Speaker C: But like.
[00:29:44] Speaker A: And obviously it's, it's. It's the smart division and it's only the Savager left. And then the Kill All Immortals is just the continuation of a series you already had there anyway, so it's not two new comics coming to new comics in one fall. One. One. One continuing comic over there with Kill All Mortals 3. But yeah, it was just kind of funny. I saw that like got the email from you, hey, just let you know this is how many. And then I got the email from Dark Horse and I was just, oh my gosh, it's just Zach Kaplan world over here. It's not anybody else's. No, but they're all great and that's what's great about it. I've never had a comic book that I've read by Zach that has been disappointing. So that's good. So they're getting an all star writer there, but also bringing John over there. It's like, come on, let's go.
And so this obviously has been percolating for a little while. Right. So this is not something that's just come together quickly. So you guys have been talking. Has this been sense like mindset legit legitimately or is this something like little bit of a break and then chatting about making this comic?
[00:30:36] Speaker B: We knew we were going to do another book right after mine. We knew we were going to do another book after our collaboration with Mindset for sure. But I think we, we both wanted to do different things immediately following and.
And so. But we had always been in touch with.
I can't remember exactly when I. But I think at some point a year ago or so, I kind of said, hey, I have the idea.
I have an idea. I don't know how to. Do you remember?
[00:31:05] Speaker C: Because we.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: I know.
[00:31:07] Speaker C: Yeah. Because we've been talking, like, since we were doing Mindset about doing it because, like, I think you.
It was quite a while ago when we. I think we settled on doing this, because I know you would send over kind of like a vague outlines of, like, different stories and, like, how about this? How about that? And then you. And then. But then you'd be like, well, I was thinking of maybe a different artist for this one. Maybe this would be a good fit. So there's always those conversations, because I know, like. And it's obvious to everybody, based on Zach's output, that there's like, 1,001 stories in the back of his mind at any given time. So it was trying to find one that would be a good fit for both of us and how we collaborate and our shared ideas of what we want to do with the medium and what we want to do with comics. So, yeah, so I think this was settled on quite a while ago that we were going to do this particular story.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: I mean, John, on this, obviously working together before on this, did that make it easier? Because obviously it seemed like it was probably a pretty good job and pretty good time making mindset, but it did. It seemed like you had a better way and now, you know a little bit more of how to work with Zach on, like, as the writer in the Artist together. Like, did you have a little bit better idea now going into the smart division, what to expect and what notes you'd get from Zach or things like that?
[00:32:29] Speaker C: Yeah. So, I mean, I think my collaboration with Zach and just how Zach works with anybody is unlike anything else. It is very close kind of personal collaboration where Zach's just trying to get the best out of every single person that he works with and just really push them.
It's amazing. So we'll kind of. At every stage, it'll be sitting down. It's like, okay, so, like, what do we think of this? What's this going to do?
So when we were going through the first issue, it was going to have the layouts, and then we kind of had.
I don't know if I won't spoil or anything, but, like, we were like, okay, so we want these specific panels in these parts throughout. And it was great because I.
I don't think those narrative ideas necessarily would come up independently, but I think it's the collaboration that we have. We can chat about these things, and Zach can give me ideas for the artwork, and vice versa. I can give ideas of what would work well narratively, and it's fantastic. So I think going into this from Mindset, I knew exactly what it was going to be like, but. But it's just kind of going into it now with more and more. More under my belt and kind of having a better idea of what I want to do personally as an artist with a series like this.
[00:33:53] Speaker A: I would say the exact same. Exact same question, but a similar question. Zach, to you, like, now you knew how to work with John and what he was going to do in the output he was going to put out for you for. For this team. It was, like I said, easier, but was it more flowing? Was it like a. Oh, breathable kind of thing? We had such a love.
[00:34:08] Speaker B: We had such a love of deconstructionism in Mindset that even during Mindset, I adapted my scripting process, and it was only unique to John, to be really honest. And I've taken this slightly with other artists since, but not like this, because there's such an emphasis on, okay, these two characters show up at a party, so how are we going to manifest their arrival in an interesting and creative way? And rather than write the script and share it with John, it's just easier to get on Zoom and have a conversation with him prior to that and say, the narrative beat is this. How can we push the envelope visually and let him go? Well, I'm picturing this. I'm picturing that. And go, okay, so then you need a double page spread. I get it. And then I'm going to go. And so, like, it's. It's under. It's getting the.
Giving that opportunity for us, for the. For the art to dictate story a little bit more. And that sets me then up to go back and script. And so we've done that in Mindset and now the Smart Division, and it just allows me. And even, you know, as I'm scripting new Smart Division issues, I'm finding myself not just pushing him, but pushing myself to say, okay, how can I make this more adventurous and more surprising? And really, you know, okay, this is a scene with two people talking, but how can I amplify the form in a way that isn't just moving it dramatically and moving it emotionally, but also moving it visually? And so I find it to Be a very.
I put a lot of pressure on myself to. To try to make it. Make it as good as it can and step up. And. And so I. I love that. I love that.
I love that challenge. And I think we. We both. So it's a very. It's very collaborative, and there's different art teams that produce amazing books without any conversation. And that's just. That's.
You know, I'm. I'm. I like to talk things out, and I like to say, okay, okay, okay, wait, but what about this and what about that? I like to put all the options on the table and kind of say, you know, and listen to my gut and say, oh, no, and this and that. And here I like to hear, you know, okay, what could it be? And what about this? Oh, wait, that's amazing. So spam.
So, yeah, it's become a really beautiful thing of our process, and it makes me excited about the smart division and any collaboration with John.
[00:36:52] Speaker A: I mean, both have your names on it, so you want to both be. Come out the best possible way. So the best way to work on it is working on it together. Yeah, go ahead, John.
[00:36:59] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I think something that we like to do and something we did with Mindset is come up with a visual language for the comic and certain images and motifs that will repeat throughout that will have significance to the characters and to the mood and to the story. So in Mindset, we do a lot of things with characters being outside of the panels, kind of looking in as outsiders or silhouettes to signify the kind of emptiness or the void of somebody or something missing.
And that's something that we developed while we were doing it. And that's the same thing with this. We're kind of playing around with ways in which we can visually signify aspects of the characters and aspects of the narrative that aren't literally spelled out in the script in the dialogue. And I think that's. That's from a. From my point of view, when I'm reading comics, that's something that's so rewarding when I can read something. And it's like. Like Zach said, it's like, oh, two people turn up to a party. Well, if those two people are, like, in different panels, like, in the same scene, then it's like, well, maybe they don't like each other, or maybe they're kind of individual. Or if they're in silhouette and everything else is kind of vibrant and is like, are they kind of hollow? Literally hollow? Like, what do those things mean? And how does that translate to a reader. And I think like when you have things that you don't necessarily expect and things that intentionally break that reading experience and that can have a lot of impacts where you're reading. You're like, oh, what's that?
But if it's done with intention then that can be really powerful because it makes you think. It makes you think, why is it like that? Why is that person drawn that way? Why is that? And code that way? And yeah, that's so exciting for me. And it's great doing that like working with somebody like Zach who is also excited by that. It's like, oh, how can we kind of, how can we fuck with people's heads when they're reading this in a good way?
[00:39:07] Speaker B: How can we fuck with your head is what we're asking.
[00:39:11] Speaker A: Here's talking about the comparisons or the working together on Mindset. In the smart division are fans who read the mindset.
The fans that you're. Are they the same people? I think that are going to read 100%.
[00:39:23] Speaker B: Oh yeah, yeah. I feel like, yeah, I think that there might be a chance to expand. If there are people who missed Mindset and there. And they're or they're new to comics since Mindset, I think there's a chance to obviously expand that. But I mean it's a, if you like a thriller and you like thought provoking comics like this is, this is the book for you. And I feel like we're following in the footsteps of Department of Truth.
We're following in the footsteps of what else is a specific thriller that's, that's like, I mean, well, obviously anything like Brubaker and Phillips stuff that is, is great thrillers. But yeah, I mean we're trying to break form a little. So no, I think it's, it's absolutely the same, the same kind of readership. But I think the really cool thing is that, you know, John has gone off and done Infernals and In Bloom and you know, although those are, that there's a, that's horror, you know. And so I think, I think horror readers can enjoy the smart division. It's not horror, but I think it's, it's a scary premise and a thriller skin. And I think that there's an appetite to grab. You know, I think there's, there's room for other people who like other genres beside to come try this out.
[00:40:48] Speaker C: I mean I think as well that it's, it's a thriller, but it's, it's got that intensity. The Same as something like horror. So I think if you like that intensity, then this is good. But I think as well, it's, it's definitely for people who like mindset, but also for, like you said, new readers comics. If you like the world around you and thinking about things that immediately impact you, like AI and the kind of big issues that may or may not end society, then read this comic because it helps reflect on that and it helps kind of ask those big questions that I think on everybody's mind or at the back of everybody's mind thinking about the problems that something like this can present to the world and, and kind of our place in that as well.
[00:41:45] Speaker A: Maybe one day they'll use your comic as a. See, guys, we should have been listening.
It's in Congress somewhere. They're just.
[00:41:52] Speaker B: Nothing would make me sadder. Yes.
They're like, yes.
I mean, it's, it's gonna happen.
It's. This isn't it? This is an inevitable problem. This is an inevitable problem. And I think in 20 years, the way we view crime is, is, is like this is not on everyone's conversation right now, but everyone's talking about how AI helps them make grocery lists and write emails to, to, to people and you know, do. Do these small things. But human beings are not always good and intentioned. So this is, this is something that is going to become very timely. And if it, if it's not this summer, then absolutely they.
This comic. I don't think that any, you know, I don't think there are too many comics out there looking at AI's relationship with crime yet.
Perhaps we're. We're about to start.
[00:42:50] Speaker A: Well, the funny thing is, it's like, it seems like that way in storytelling nowadays anyway. It's like, it's like everybody has an idea on this. It just trickles out in different times and they all end up being out at the same time. But hopefully, you know, smart divisions first on that, on that forefront of the, you know, AI and crime and things like that. Comes out August 5th this summer at Dark Horse Comics. FOC that is June 29th. And for those people who don't know what FOC is, quickly just let your comic book retailer know, your comic book store, your local comic book shop, that you want it by that date so sooner the better. So they can write it down or the correct number of copies from Dark Horse, because after that it becomes a little bit more of a questionable thing, whether or not they can get it and so on. It's all these things. So June 29th is the. Yeah, June 29th is the day to tell them, hey, I want this comic from, from. From Zepp Kaplan.
[00:43:38] Speaker B: And, you know, I don't know if people who are listening know there's a bit of a, an indie comics boom going on right now. And I, I'm going to be hopeful and hope it will affect us as well, but a lot of indie comics are selling out. Absolute Batman and the absolute, absolute DC universe has escalated everyone's interest in picking up comics and collecting comics, and there's just more of it going on. And so, so it is, it is happening more and more that people go in on Wednesday to pick up the new. A new comic like this and they're super excited about it and they're sold out and can't get it.
[00:44:16] Speaker A: So my friend at the local comic book shop, Galactic Comics and Collectibles in Bangor, Maine, had the best possible free, whatever you want to call it, free comics giveaway day, free comic book day, whatever the hell it's called nowadays, because there's like seven, 17 of them on the same day now. But the best of that thing he's ever had, I mean, he's got a new shop too, so it's twice the size, so that helps. But in the same sense, he was just like, there were more people coming in, grabbing the free comics, but also looking at the trades and trying to get into different things and so on and so forth. And it was like, it was really cool to hear that it's not going the opposite way, that it's actually. Or staying. I mean, even staying steady is not good, to be honest with you, but it's growing.
[00:44:56] Speaker C: I've heard that across the board as well from comic book shops. That free comic day was phenomenal for everybody, which is lovely to hear good news about retailers in comics. It's fantastic. I agree that the absolute line has brought in so many new readers to comics.
It's crazy. It's so good.
[00:45:21] Speaker A: I'll tell you right now. I'm so looking forward to our absolute green arrow. I don't know if anybody else is right.
[00:45:26] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, Brilliant writer. And I would buy anything he. He puts his hands on regardless. But yeah, that, that looks.
[00:45:36] Speaker A: They're all been great, but I was just like, this was the one that's like standing out to me going, holy crap, what the hell's gonna happen? Like, it's just been phenomenal to think about and I'm so excited for that. But, yeah, but, yeah, like I said mentioned, the smart division comes out in August Zach.
[00:45:49] Speaker B: And we've got some great. I'll tell you real quick, everyone, We've. We just announced too, we've got really cool covers in addition to John's a cover, which is obviously a must buy. But we've got friends. Jacob Phillips has a cover which is great.
Matt Taylor has a really cool cover.
Jesse Lonergan has our incentive cover, which means that you have to get your shop to order enough to carry that. And then you can try to collect. Then you need to say, and shop. I will claim that. Get me that cover.
Because there won't be many of them. There'll be like, there'll be like three or four hundred of that. Of that cover printed. And then we are actually going to have a few other surprise covers that might be dropping here there to come.
But yeah, some really cool stuff.
[00:46:37] Speaker A: I wanted to just point this out. I was just quickly looking at the covers on League of Comic Geeks and I thought this was kind of funny because I mentioned the whole. I got an email, saw the Dark Horse email about your comics and all this stuff, and there's one comment on there. Ready for this?
[00:46:50] Speaker B: Oh, my God. No.
[00:46:51] Speaker A: I'm. I'm surprised there's no buzz about this comic. Solid creative team in concept. Dark Horse marketing needs to do a better job. What.
Where. Where have you been?
[00:47:03] Speaker B: No, there is no.
We have just begun on this book. So I. What happened?
[00:47:11] Speaker A: But I've seen it multiple places. I see the people.
[00:47:13] Speaker B: No, no, no. So that guy's gonna get so sick of hearing me talk about this book.
[00:47:19] Speaker A: It was seven days ago, so it's not like.
[00:47:21] Speaker B: So what happened is. What happened is I announced the slate of books that I have for the year at Comics Pro. And Comics Pro was a convention in February where 300 of the top retailers in the entire country come, and we wanted to let them know that. That we've got some exciting stuff coming your way. So that was a chance for me to tell those 300 retailers. I could either be quiet about the smart division and wait for now when it was officially announced, or I could say, hey guys, I have some stuff that needs to be on your radar. And so we did that. We let them know about that in February.
But we. We're not going to start to blow everything or too early. We got to. We got to hold some fun for you guys to see little by little. But that is about to start. So we just dropped. We just dropped the covers. We're going to continue to drop more covers. We're going to start to drop pages and art. We're going to eventually drop a trailer that we're cooking up. So, like, it's. We are. From now until August. I'm not going to shut up about this book. I'm very excited about this book.
There's going to be so much, there's going to be so much buzz.
This book is going to sell out. It's going to be awesome. And that guy is in for a treat. So I appreciate anticipation that.
[00:48:40] Speaker A: Yes. Well, I just also thought it was kind of funny. Well, I use League of Comic Geeks for a lot of information. Like, there's the, there's the solicitation, there's the creators, the covers, all that stuff's on there. And I would say a good portion of the time it's correct. I mean, there's a couple of dates that get moved. They don't end up getting changed or whatever it may be.
But when I was talking about this, doing this recording and talking about this thing, I wanted to look up the official solicitation and there really wasn't one. And it literally just went on the website like a week ago. So it's not even like, how can you have more buzz for something that really literally just got on? Like, it's in August, man. Like, no, we officially comics, technically, a lot of times we hear about comics like two weeks before they come out. Like, this is like, like this is a, this is way in advance.
[00:49:21] Speaker B: June, July, we have three months of promotion.
Like, we've yet just done our promotion. This is the beginning of a three month promotional push.
So yes, I just thought it was funny.
Maybe we let that guy down.
[00:49:37] Speaker A: Yes, maybe he's excited for it. He just was hoping that
[00:49:42] Speaker B: we got it. Don't worry.
Listen, I appreciate that everybody is excited. We're excited. You know, John and I are, we're not going to pull any punches on this book. We're, we're, we're ready to give readers a ride, something that, that hits them. So, so I'll just throw a link
[00:49:59] Speaker A: to this episode in the comments and just be like, hey, don't worry about it. We got it right here.
It's pretty funny that. I guess, like I said, it's one of those things that a lot of times before we talked, it was like, oh, John has the patron coming on over at Ignition Press. And I was like, oh, but that's like sooner than now. And I'm just like, so it's kind of funny. Like you find out about things sometimes really close to publication or really close to foc. At least a lot of comic reviews and things like that are closer to foc. So, like, this is a pretty far in advanced discussion about this. But that's.
[00:50:30] Speaker B: This is.
[00:50:30] Speaker A: It's exciting and it's.
[00:50:31] Speaker B: This is a taste. This is that word. This is the appetizer podcast right here. You just sat down to the table and we've got. The chef has prepared for you a delicious appetizer to just begin your. Your seven course experience.
[00:50:45] Speaker A: So you're going to be so annoyed that you're just going to buy the comic to shut everybody up about the.
In this funny thing is you have this, and this is the world of comics. I mean, if you work in the world of prose novels or something like that, you'd be promoting one book and that's your book you're promoting for the year, or X, Y and Z, or if you're slower or less busy of a writer or artist, you have that one comic in the trade or whatever. But like, both you have to worry about this and try to get the word out about the Smart Division. But you also have the continuation, Zach, of Kill All Immortals coming out. You have Only the Savage are left coming out. Those are all. Both Dark Horse books.
[00:51:24] Speaker B: John, you have another one that's.
Is that other one coming by the end? The secret one?
[00:51:30] Speaker C: The secret one, yes. That should be out towards the end of the year as well. So, yeah, so I've got the Patreon that comes out just before the Smart Division and then something else as well. So it's. I'm. I'm feeling like a right with all these books coming out. This is not what.
This is not what normally happens for me.
[00:51:46] Speaker A: So. Yeah, well, it's fine. It's fine. It's like, it's a cool thing to do. I'm just glad they're coming out separately because, I mean, I. I talked to Joey Esposito last week and he has two comics coming out on July 1st, and I'm like, that sucks for people who, like, want to spread these things out and like, have a tighter budget or whatever it may be. And I was like, yeah. He's like, whatever. It is what it is. But, you know, I'm glad I have two comics coming out. I'm like, yeah, that's a good point.
[00:52:10] Speaker B: We're gonna give people a good way to spend a lot of money this year.
[00:52:13] Speaker A: Yes, that's okay. Yeah, well, I don't like it that. That's another reason why I'm like, zach, why you slow down a little bit is I'm gonna go buy all your comics over here. And I feel like three.
[00:52:24] Speaker B: I feel like three.
Yeah, three's good. You're fine. You're fine, too, though.
[00:52:30] Speaker A: You gotta buy single issues. Then I gotta go buy the trade, too. So it's like, you know, like, it's all that stuff. You're all right, but I'm just looking out for you.
[00:52:37] Speaker B: I'm looking out for everybody out there. I'm not gonna dose you guys too hard. We're gonna just keep the ride nice and even the whole way through. Yeah.
[00:52:44] Speaker A: But, yeah, let me just check it out, because, like I said, I read Only the Savage left last night for the first time, which was phenomenal. It had a.
There's. It's a Zombie is a monster Apocalypse book.
[00:52:57] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a monster apocalypse.
Yeah. It's like. It's like Walking Dead with monsters.
[00:53:02] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's. And it's like. Has this, like, feel that. But it also is. Has this unique spin on that. Like, you say, you can't just say it's a monster story. You just say a zombie monster. There's a unique spin on it that really caught me, and I thought, that's fun, and I'm excited. And you left me hanging there at the end a little bit for the future of the issues and stuff like that, which is exactly what I want. Great covers on that, too. Those are beautiful. The artwork's phenomenal.
[00:53:24] Speaker B: Stephano Raphael is a superstar as a rock star, too.
[00:53:27] Speaker A: Yeah, he's great. Yeah. So I'm excited for that. Obviously. Excited for Kill All Immortals to continue because. Can't get enough of that.
But yeah, and. And the Patron. So I was talking earlier about Ignition. Press has been killing it, too. Like, I just.
I've been a big fan of Jeremy Han for a long time, too, so he's obviously has hands in and everything over there, but the patrons coming out July 29th for that one. Right. It's a week prior to your book together, but do you want to just pitch that a little bit too?
[00:53:56] Speaker C: Well, so the Patron. So Christian Ward is writing it. And the series is about an art collector who murders his artists. So the value of their artwork goes up.
And it kind of. It came from a premise.
We were. Me and Kristen, we were chatting about it a couple of years ago. Now, one of my friends is always joked that the art that he has of mine is his retirement fund and I should hurry up and die. And that kind of just set a light bulb off in Christian, and it kind of stemmed from there but because we're both artists and we are both art teachers as well, the whole series is kind of.
It talks about artwork, it talks about the place that art has in the world around us. And on one hand, it's this kind of murder mystery, and on the other hand, it's amusing on the creativity and art, and it's amazing. So doing that one and doing the smart division, I'm painting both of them. And it's a pleasure for me to kind of do both of those series and kind of really experiment again with the form in different ways for both of them.
But, yeah, the Patron will be coming out just before the Smart division, and there'll be kind of hopefully big stuff for that and for the smart vision at San Diego. So.
[00:55:25] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:55:25] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:55:26] Speaker A: Zach, do you. Do you ever, like, hear someone else talk about comics like John just did and go, crap, why didn't I come up with that idea?
[00:55:33] Speaker B: I mean, I can recognize the genius in that idea for sure. That's a. That is a genius concept. But I can also recognize that, like, there's unique. There's uniqueness to that con that. That concept that is. That there's something about my lane that's just not that lane. And so I. I could hear that constant and go, that's brilliant. But it's also not a Zach Kaplan comic. Like, I can't write.
[00:56:03] Speaker A: Come from these two people.
[00:56:04] Speaker B: That's a different. That's a different thing. Yeah. And it's. And so I write darker. It's. So it's interesting. Like, and, you know, and I. You just find that.
Yeah. And it's the same way when I'm. When I'm sharing ideas with John, you know, to find what's the next idea. It's like you're looking for that, that something inside that. That let's. Lets a creator connect to a concept, because not every creator can connect to a concept. So.
Yeah, no, that's absolutely a Christian War John Pearson comic. And it's. It's awesome.
It's all. Yeah.
[00:56:42] Speaker A: Well, I just love that when you're, like, in the field, you always, like, see someone else do that and like, dude, they're so smarter than I am or. Or whatever. It's one of those things. Like, there's no way I would ever even contemplate that idea.
[00:56:52] Speaker B: There are some cross. There are some. There are some writers that I go, oh, that was. I could have done that one. That one. I is like, I could have that one.
[00:56:59] Speaker C: Name. Names.
[00:57:01] Speaker A: Yeah, no, it's true.
I can see that, though. But I. No, but I can see that, I could see that like that if it's in the same style or Mark Russell.
[00:57:12] Speaker B: I'll give one Mark Russell. I can see some concepts that I'm
[00:57:15] Speaker A: like, oh, I can see that 100%. See that you're doing that.
[00:57:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I would have done that one that. That jerk. Yeah, he's got, he's got great concepts and he, he executes like hell. And he, he'll do a lot of books. And I'm like, God, got cross one off my list. I can't do that thing anymore. Like, so I. Yeah, but I think
[00:57:33] Speaker C: it is interesting though. I.
You do have a kind of specific kind of black Kaplan story approach, but you are not short of ideas. So it's cool that you're just like, oh yeah, that guy. Oh man, if only I come up with that idea first and then you cross it off the list of 10,000 other ideas that you.
[00:57:52] Speaker A: Well, I also love, Zach, that you picked Mark Russell as the person like a phenomenal comic book writer over here. You're like, yeah, I'm like him.
[00:58:00] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, he's, he, he, he, he swims in the same.
[00:58:04] Speaker A: I can see that 100. Because he's the same way. Then you read your comics and you're like, oh shit. I thought, oh my God. That makes you think. And Mark does a very similar sense in that too with the way that he writes in the stories that he writes. Yeah, I could definitely see that. Now what we need is a Mark Russell, Zach Kaplan co written comic.
[00:58:21] Speaker B: Someone like Matthew Rosenberg. I love Matthew Rosenberg's books and you know, some of his concepts are phenomenal. And I'll go, that's so like Abe Lincoln is the only robot left in a robot world. Like, this is so fascinating. But that's just, I couldn't. That's just I, when I, if I'm doing robots, I'm just doing it in a different direction. And so it's like I can appreciate concepts and be like, oh, that's like, oh, that's so fucking good. But like that's not me. And so I love that about comics. I love that there are so many different types of creators that can take on the same topics and same subjects. Like, we're always going to see robot comics, but to see it done by different voices is just so, you know, so cool.
[00:59:06] Speaker A: So it's, you're 100 correct on it. By the way. If destructured be our live, it's phenomenal. I don't know if anybody's a Chance to read that yet.
[00:59:12] Speaker B: I cannot wait to check it out.
[00:59:13] Speaker A: So good. Yeah, that was. I was a early comic book read. He's like, hey, you want to read this comic? I'm like, hell yeah, I want to read this comic. Are you kidding me? But yeah, I think it just drops this week. Actually, I think it drops on Wednesday. Yeah. The day this episode comes out. I think that's the plan. Right? I think May 6th. Hopefully we'll put this out. It's up to you guys. May 6th. But yeah, so you have Smart Division coming out August 6th 5th.
[00:59:39] Speaker B: No, August 5th. August.
[00:59:41] Speaker A: August 5th. FOC's June 29th, so check it with your local comic book shop. The patron is July 29th. FOC is June 15th.
Obviously you can get the trade for mindset. Now just go get that in bloom and kill all immortals and dark empty void and the midnight shadows. You may keep on going or you're good masterminds.
And then infernals.
[01:00:03] Speaker B: Infernals.
[01:00:04] Speaker A: Yeah, infernals.
And then only the savage are left when it. That's coming. I didn't write that.
[01:00:11] Speaker B: It's coming out in a month, June 3rd. And it is gonna be big. We are, we are getting a lot of buzz on it. I just being real.
So, yeah. Very excited about that. Yeah. That comes out in one month.
[01:00:25] Speaker C: Yes.
[01:00:26] Speaker A: It's exciting. It's exciting. It's a summer. Sounds like for everybody. I think it's. I think it's worth.
[01:00:31] Speaker B: And then we get to rest. And then we get to rest in the winter and go back to the lab for 2027 and do it all over again.
[01:00:38] Speaker A: And then I'll get an email from, from Zach being like, I got another comic coming out. Do you want to chat again?
[01:00:42] Speaker B: That's right. Every time.
[01:00:44] Speaker A: No, it's great. I love it. I. To me, it's like there's certain people who are. I'm like 100. Every time you have something out, let's go, let's do this. And then there's other one time guests of the podcast. There's just the. It makes sense to promote their comic and, and, and, and we'll move on and hopefully you'll come back at some point. Maybe not. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna chase them. But if I ever email Zach and I'm like, hey man, wanna get on the podcast? He's always good game for it every time. So I would say that you're probably up there for the. One of the most frequent guests on there. But we also have Always have new stuff to chat about, too. This isn't like.
[01:01:13] Speaker B: That's true.
[01:01:13] Speaker A: Playing the year.
[01:01:16] Speaker B: It's easily been a year. Yeah.
[01:01:18] Speaker A: And not for Zach. Not trying to come on before that. No, she's kidding.
[01:01:22] Speaker B: That's not true. That is not true.
[01:01:24] Speaker A: Thirsty for the podcast. No, I'm kidding. No. But we're both busy, and that's the thing. It's also one of those things that someone reached out to me over the weekend, and I'm like, dude, I can get to you, like, in July. And they're like, what? I go, I just have so many people or things that I want to accomplish between now and July. And they're like, oh, okay, it happens. It is what it is. But yeah. Thank you so much, both of you, for coming on Chat and comics. This is fun. I'm excited. We're across the seas here. We got California, we got England or uk. We got here in Maine. We're spread out here talking comics.
[01:01:57] Speaker B: Yeah. This is a time zone.
[01:01:59] Speaker A: This is a time zone. It is. It is always fun chatting with you, Zach, but nice to meet you, John, and hopefully you'll come back on sometime in the future and chat comics. But until then, buy comics. People tell your local comic shops you want anything from John Pearson and Zach Kapla. Just anything. Just anything. Their name comes across the computer, say you want a copy of it, put it in your poll box, because it's worth it. I'll tell you that much right now. But until next time, I really appreciate you guys coming on. We'll chat soon.
[01:02:22] Speaker C: Okay, thank you.
[01:02:24] Speaker A: Thank you. Thanks, guys.
