[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 writer Kenny Porter to the podcast who's known for his work on Superman, the Man of Tomorrow, the Flash, Fastest Man Alive, DC Mech, the Schlub, the New Space Age, and more. More recently he's been known for doing books like Father of Tomorrow, an Elseworld book that just hit stands, and upcoming books like the Power Rangers Unlimited series, which our friend Joey Esposito as well as Operation Iron Coffin over at IDW Dark, a name print of IDW Publishing. This episode is talking to Kenny, so check that out. But before you do, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, bluesky, Threads, all those places you can rate, review, subscribe over on Apple, Spotify, wherever you find your podcasts. And don't forget, you can watch the video portion of this
[email protected] and as always check out capesandtights.com for so much more. But this is writer K. Kenny Porter talking Superman, Father of Tomorrow, Iron Operation Iron Coffin, as well as Power Rangers Unlimited right here. Enjoy everyone.
Welcome to the podcast. Kenny, how are you today?
[00:01:17] Speaker B: I'm doing great man. How are you?
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Good, I'm doing wonderful. Yeah, it's, it's, it was raining this morning here in Maine and now it's, it's just super hot. It like the mugginess came out so now my office doesn't have, doesn't have the air conditioning in it. I think it's like 78 in here but feels like 90 and so yeah, it's a little hot but you know what then I just gotta go outside and mow the lawn after this. So it's just whatever the glories of homeownership is what I've always said now it's like this never ending battle of this.
But yeah, we're here to talk comics.
We had your writing partner in crime over here, Joey Esposito, who also lives in Maine on a few weeks ago to chat about stuff as well. With Power Rangers and Joey's book also coming out as well over at idw. But we're here to talk to you about your stuff and you've been busy
[00:02:10] Speaker B: moment for a while.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: Yes, I was just thinking that. I was like it's one of those things where like you see a book come up for you. And then also, I know where it's just like, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. It's like all at once. It's just all, you know, trying to get all these out there and talk about these books and things like that. But the big one is, to me personally, is Operation Iron Coffin. I think you have a little bit of skin in the game in all of them, obviously, because there's, you know, Power Rangers Unlimited and Superman, Father Tomorrow and such. But, like, this is your creation. This is something that you've been working on. This is something for IDW Dark. This is something that's fun and different. Obviously, Power Rangers and Superman have their things, but, like, this is when I heard the announcement that IDW Dark was happening and they announced, you know, Beneath the Trees coming over IDW Dark and Exorcism and Smile and all these other, you know, a quiet place. These books that are like, either IP Driven or already solidified as a star. You know, like, you have, like, Beneath the Trees is its own thing, but, like, it's already, like, Eyes Are Nominated and all that stuff. It's already there. I was like, the odd person out was Kenny Porter and Operation Iron Copy to me, and it was just no specific reason, but it was one of those things where these all had followings and it was just like this thing. And I'm like, now this sticks out like a sore thumb to me to the point where I need to know more. And when I got this advanced copy to read this, I was like, ah, it all makes sense now.
You fit right in the group of people.
But you're the first, like, new book that's not attached to an IP to come out on Dark. Do you feel the pressure? Is there pressure here with this coming out?
[00:03:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I definitely felt the pressure. Especially like when they did the. The initial announcement through Entertainment Weekly. And it was like, book based on a movie. Book based on a movie. Also, the British dropped Dracula, the Nazis, like a bomb in World War II. Brand new thing. And some people I think were probably like, is this a movie? I don't remember. And it's like, well, I kind of wrote it. Like, it was a. Like, it was a movie nobody remembers, like, from the 80s or something that fell behind the shelf at Blockbuster. You're like, what the hell is this?
But, yeah, it would have been a great Christopher Lee joint, that's for sure, of him returning to Dracula, fighting his way through, folks. But yeah, it was. It was definitely a lot of pressure, but it was a fun challenge. That Tyrell Cannon and I wanted to do of like, we have to work twice as hard because we don't have. We're not coming in off a book that's already hot. We're not from a property that already exists like a movie. People can attach to it. Like people know Dracula, but this is a whole different take.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: And it's funny because it's not just like, I don't know if I say quiet place didn't have a movie to go along with it. The story sounded like, I don't know, just a horror story that you normally see. This is just a little out there too.
This is not just like a new horror story that's independently created or whatever. This is one of those ones where you're like, wait, what the hell did you just say? Dracula, Nazis train. What? And that to me again piqued my interest in the side of the things like, okay, now I need to know what the hell is going to go on. And it was nonstop fun. And it was like, fun, but like, it was horror.
Tyrell's artwork is just like fits the vibe of it so much. Well, so well too because it has like this not campiness to it, but like this like, animated almost aspect to it that like adds this like.
I've always said that there's certain stories that if you told it with a really like Libra Mehu, like super detailed, realistic looking artwork, you'd almost be grossed out by it. So, like, if all the stuff that happens in Operation Ironman Iron Coffin is drawn by someone who's like super ultra realistic, it might be a little bit like off putting in a sense. Like, it'd be like really well worth looking at. But like, I don't know. I don't know if I could do it. This is what's fun with Tyrell's artwork in this. It actually makes it more appealing and palatable, if that makes any sense.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Oh yeah, totally. His style very much pulls a lot from especially 90s anime of that, like hand drawn, kinetic, like you can feel every frame sort of thing. And in this book, which those of you who, if you're listening and you don't know about it yet, we've said some stuff about it, but essentially it's about Dracula being resurrected from the end of the novel and going on a path of redemption as part of a Faustian bargain for being resurrected. And that leads him to this Nazi train in World War II where he has to fight his way up the train like Snowpiercer John Wick style against Nazi soldiers, Nazi super weapons, and eventually an even weirder threat at the front of the train.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: It's a.
Yeah, it's a story that I didn't expect to have happened after the Dracula. But, like, in the same sense, like, I'm so glad that it's not like, I feel like there are, like, these retellings of old stories that you're like, okay, it's great. It's great you did your own version of it. But, like, there's also these ones, like, I want to know the one that Bram Stoker would have been like, wait, what are you doing with my character? What's going on with Dracula right now? And I think this is one of those. And I think there's that part of it plus, you know, Dracula, the horror character that Dracula is. And then you're like. And then it's Nazis. It's like, you can't help but no matter what, cheer for Dracula at that point. Right? Like, you can't even what Dracula does. It's like, you can't do anything worse than Nazis, right at this point.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: Oh, totally. But also, in the book, we don't let him get off the hook for the stuff that he's done. Like, a lot of it has to do with the fact that, like, it talks a lot about, like, the differences between a classic monster like Dracula and, like, human monsters like the Nazis. While.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: While.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: While there is a ton of, like, over the top incredible action and violence, there's also these really emotional and philosophical moments talking about, like, I realized I was a monster and I'm trying to atone for it, and you're just being even worse than I was, and you don't even have the excuse of being, like, undead and the. And yet, like, your hearts are blacker than mine was sort of thing. So it's really fun to play with an experiment especially.
I'm excited for people to see what comes up next because aside from the fact that there's the big action set piece on the train, we do a ton of flashbacks to his time after being resurrected. So he isn't resurrected right in World War II. He comes back a few years after the end of the novel. So he's around for a while and he Globetrots on this mission. We get to see him in a lot of different areas and see him go through a lot of. A lot of turmoil and stuff as he finds out what the Faustian part of the bargain is that he made in death.
And I can't wait for people, like, as much as people will love Tyrell's insane action and violence and horror in this. They're going to love the emotional, like deep, really sad, character driven stuff that he does on the page as well.
[00:08:57] Speaker A: Well, I feel like it's. What they do in the Shadows is kind of the same, similar, like where it's like, like they're like, oh, it's these, these horrible people. You're also like. But I also feel for them, like having to live and survive and be these people and try to like, you know, change with the times and things like that. It's like the juxtaposition that you really like in a book like that. Because like I said, it draws you in. If it was simple, I mean, I'll like, I.
I've read books recently where it was like just action and gore and amazing. Just violence and it's just so much fun to read. But in the end you're like, not much happened.
It was just fun. But in the same sense I was like, it was fun. I don't care if anything happened. I had a lot of laughs. There's those movies out there. You just watch the movie, you're like, dude, people just kick the shit out of each other and it doesn't really matter because the movie was fun. In the end, the main character had no reason to be there. They didn't affect anything, but someone got their head smashed in with a train or something like that. You're like, this is amazing, but those are fun. But that, like I said, there's some. There's that here. Like, there's a lot of blood, violence, gore, guts in this. But it's also like there is an emotional attachment to redemption, really. Of, of a character you don't think that ever would have redemption.
[00:10:02] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, totally. And that's that to me, always to your point. Like those big crazy action scenes and violence stuff always means more when you're emo, like really emotionally invested. Like, it can be fun just to see it, but you remember it and it sticks with you longer when it's something that you really love and you really get the character and you feel what they're going through and you understand why this is so important to them, why it's so important to everything else. Like whether it's the stakes of saving the world or it's just the personal stakes of the character trying to accomplish something. So, yeah, I completely agree with you.
[00:10:36] Speaker A: Is this a book that you've been percolating for a while? Is this something about. With IDW Dark? Was it before IDW Dark? And then they just Kind of put it in there. How did this get off the ground to the point where now getting it hit the shelves in a couple weeks.
[00:10:49] Speaker B: Yeah. So originally I was just looking for something for Tyrell and I to work on after we did the Schlub with Ryan Stegman at Image, if you guys haven't heard of that, that's about a piece of Dennis who switches bodies with a Thor Superman type character and then tries to win his ex wife back and makes the world progressively worse.
It's like a big action buddy comedy. Like kind of think of it as like a buddy comedy version of Invincible with like a bunch of like a bunch of crazy, like analog superheroes and stuff. Oh, hell yeah. You got the ashcan edition, the black and white. That's awesome.
Yeah. We were looking for something else to work on after that and we come up with some ideas and some of them, they just weren't. They just weren't hitting as well. And then this idea I had after I was thinking about the novel some more and then talking to my friend who read a book that recently had Dracula in it. And there's a part in the novel that's always really stuck with me.
And if anybody's heard other interviews I've done, I've brought this up a million times, but I think it's really important. It's really interesting that in the novel, so spoiler alert, obviously for the end of the novel, but Dracula dies when they behead him. Mina Harker, who. He's been pursuing the whole book. Who in the, in the book there's no, there's no thing like in the movies they make up where like they're star crossed lovers and she's the reincarnation of his wife. Like, that's not in the book. He's just creeping on her, going after her.
She notices his face, returns to a human like content state for a second before he died, before he's fully gone. And that really always captured my imagination. I was like, oh, what's that about? Like, what does that mean? How would that, how would that change things if he was resurrected? Because tons of books have like, or stories have resurrected him like a million times, but nobody's played on. Like, is he more content in death and is he more content as a human than he is as the monster version?
And that's always really captured my imagination. So from there I was thinking about it and then I just started thinking about like, what would be the raddest entrance to a book ever. And that's like the pitch Pages. I called Tyrell and I was like, here's the pages.
Bomber in the sky. It's World War II drops a bomb. We zoom in. It's not a bomb. It's a metal coffin falls through the back of a Nazi train. Boom. Dracula gets out and starts killing Nazis. And Tyrell was like, that sounds awesome, but why the is he there?
So I was like, okay.
[00:13:14] Speaker A: And then.
[00:13:14] Speaker B: Yeah, and then I was like, I went back and did the story and I injected a lot of stuff that I love into it. Like I saw you have a cover right there. Like, I'm a huge fan of Spawn, so there's some Spawn influence in there. I love video games, so there's a lot of like Castlevania, Metal Gear type stuff in there. And from there we built out the pitch and IDW was interested in it. And an editor I've worked with a lot, Dave Wilgas, who's a dear friend of mine and a writer in his own right, he really wanted the project and wanted to do it there. And then they were like, hey, we're doing this IDW Dark label. Do you want to put it under there? I was like, well, that makes complete sense. Like, as long as you guys want like a horror action book.
Because I'm a huge survival horror fan too. Like, I've played like every Resident Evil, Silent Hill and stuff. So I wanted some of that feeling of like a lone character fighting their way through an enclosed space. And they were all about it. So they added it to the line, so it was approved originally. And then they were like, hey, we're going to start IDW Dark. Do you want to be in the line with these other books?
And I was like, yeah, absolutely. Let's do it.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: And it. And it fits and it's cool. And I do like this. Like, to me it's one of those things where like you can see the IDW Dark logo and you're like, okay, I'm gonna like a lot of the stuff that comes out of there because it's in the horror vein of things. Same thing with their new IDW Crime line, which is like, okay, if you're into crime stuff, you're gonna like this. And like, I think that was what I. I think for years. Like there was a couple years ago when, when like Crashing came out with from Matthew Klein and Morgan Beam. Like, that was really good to it over at idw, but it was like a kind of like an ambiguous, like, okay, we have some creator owned stuff here. But it was like, it wasn't like I don't know, not pay attention to, but it was like, it was just there. And with this IDW Dark stuff, it was like, okay, no, we're gonna do some cool stuff with some cool characters and some. Some IP and some non ip, but, like, there's a design to it. And I think that to me is what's changed a little bit to me. And so that to, like, it being not the first. Like, it's not like they kicked it off with this.
They. A couple comics down the line now you're getting this shot to have this book out, which, I mean, it was announced. I don't know how long ago was it announced?
[00:15:21] Speaker B: A while back, because they did.
Yeah, it was. I think it was all the way back in maybe like December or January, like, way ahead of foc because they were. They were just announcing the line and they're like, well, you're going to be a part of the line. You have some art done already. Like, let's show it off.
[00:15:36] Speaker A: And so, like, you've had a ton of time to. Time to think about this and percolate this on this. It's been out there and people have at least known that it's coming and then what's come before it. I love the acquired place part stuff. I love the smile. I love Exorcism at Buckingham palace. And obviously everything that Patrick Horbath touches, I'm going to be reading and interested in. And so they're all good. So, like, it's pushing that. Okay, we can trust IDW Dark. You know, I know Kenny from a couple other things. You know, I want to read this thing.
Tyrell, too, is. It's really cool to see this, and I'm so pumped for it. I'm hoping that this and the excitement and what people will like about it will launch other things for people to try similar things under this title and this banner. So. So the pressure's on, Kenny. It's already here. So. Well now.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: Yeah, we're getting out there.
[00:16:23] Speaker A: The horse has left the gate now at this point anyway. Right. There's no. Really. There's nothing you can do at this point just to. To do anything.
[00:16:29] Speaker B: Right?
[00:16:29] Speaker A: I mean, I'm guessing It's. We're what, July 8th? Is that what it is? And so release date. Yeah, yeah, yeah. July 8th. You're less than a month away, and so you're. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion this is going out and you can't change anything now. So the pressure really kind of shouldn't be on. Because at this point, you can't.
Uh, I think it's exciting. I think, again, to me, it was one of those. The mixture of everything. Like, I like your writing. I like Tyrell's artwork. Uh, I like the IW stuff. I like the fact that I'm, like, wasn't expecting what I got, and that's what I got. You know, like, all of that stuff together made this just such an enjoyable experience. Uh, and I'm hoping that. That other people feel the same way.
You and Tyrell, you said you want to work with Tyrell. Is this because you guys had so much fun on the schlub, or have you guys been friends for a while? Like, what's going on with that? Like, why Tyrell?
[00:17:16] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, it's both. Like, we've been friends for a while, and I love his work. And we had so much fun working on the schlub that we were just like, oh, we gotta work together yet. Like, we'll work together till the end of time if he won't let us. So you guys go out and support this book. We'll keep making books all the time, whether it's Dracula or whatever. We have, like, we have dozens of ideas that we've come up with.
I just love working with them. Like, we like a lot of the same stuff.
We have a lot of the same storytelling sensibilities and things that we care about in a comic.
So any chance to work together. And I talked to him, like, all the time. I'm. I talked to him and a bunch of other comic creators, like, in a Discord all the time, about, like, stuff we're working on or just bullshit and stuff. And so, like, I want to work with the people who love comics as much as I do. And Tyrell loves comics, like, top to bottom, everything about the medium. So it always gets me excited to write something for him to draw.
[00:18:09] Speaker A: I'm guessing that works. I mean, it's a more enjoyable experience when you like the person you're working with. Or know at least know it. Because, I mean, obviously we.
When you work in Big two comics and things like that, a lot of times it's like, okay, here's the writer, here's the artist. You guys are working together and you have to do it, and you can get along with the person. But, like, actually liking the person and actually having a friendship with the person probably helps in the long run.
[00:18:29] Speaker B: Oh, totally. Yeah. And sometimes the big two stuff. Stuff comes together so quickly that you don't even get a chance to talk.
Like, especially if it's like for an event or something and they've got to throw stuff together, I've been really lucky that a lot of the times I've at least been able to connect with the artists a little bit, like an email or on threads or like, as much as I can. I try to get on a call so we can talk about, like, what do you want me to. Is there anything you want me to change? You want me to put in certain stuff that you love to draw? Do you want me to be a little bit looser, a little bit tighter with the scripting stuff? So it's always good to try to like to even try to build those relationships a little bit, even if you guys are strangers when it starts.
But being able to work with your friends is like, is a, is a great gift.
[00:19:11] Speaker A: I can only imagine. I just, I almost feel like. I feel like you can feel that when you're reading a book. It's like these, both. These people enjoy the topic, they enjoy what they're doing, they enjoy working together. And you can almost feel that when you actually read the story. Like, there's this, like, sometimes you read this disconnect sometimes even. And like you mentioned, like the quick event things. Maybe that's why some of those event things don't hit as well because you're like, they really didn't. They weren't together on this as much. And you see that a little bit. I think that it's that creator own side of it too though, right? I mean, like, you like writing for Big two, I'm guessing, like your, your DC stuff, but like writing independent stuff and writing stuff where you have a lot more control over it. I'm guessing that is also a different portion of your mind and different way of doing things that lets it have a little bit more freedom. So that might also. Does that also like, pique an interest in like, why this book might stand out a little bit more than like other books that you've written over the past couple of years?
[00:20:03] Speaker B: Oh, totally. And yeah, I love both. There's just different. It's almost like if you think about it in terms of exercising, it's just like different muscle groups. Like it's like arm day versus leg day sort of thing. Like both are important.
And so, yeah, it's not necessarily that like one's better than the other. It's just like with, with the like Big two stuff or licensed stuff, you get to play with these characters that have meant so much to you and then you get to add to and Share it with other people. And then with creator own stuff, you get to make something that's whole cloth, your own, and put it out into the world and see how people react to it.
So it is fun. It is fun to break up doing the license and Big two stuff with creator own stuff, because then we get to, like, cut a little bit looser and be like, this can be anything we want it to be. We don't have to worry about trying to play within creative constraints and stuff. And sometimes creative constraints can be great because they can. They can lead to newer ideas or new ways of doing stuff. Yeah, the creator stuff definitely gets you really jazzed to be like, this is just any. It could literally be anything because there's no rules sort of thing. So it is for, like I said, it's just, like, kind of different muscle groups.
[00:21:06] Speaker A: But I'm imagining the pressure we mentioned to joke. I was joking about the pressure. But the pressure must be a little bit higher, too, because you have to try to convince people to buy this book that they may know have no connection to it all.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, totally.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: You know? Yeah.
[00:21:17] Speaker B: I can't be like, batman's in it. I was like, there's a Batman?
Technically, yeah.
[00:21:23] Speaker A: It's like I was talking with Griffin Sheridan. He was talking about how, like, Dead Zone or Escape the Dead Zone was this fun thing, but it was like, almost like he was playing in a playground that he was allowed to say the character's name. Like, he was like, oh, playing in a playground for a guy. But I can actually say Godzilla. It's like, I can actually. We could put Godzilla on the page. Like, it's like. Like. Like having that freedom to write this stuff. But, like, you're like, you want to write. Okay, it's a man bat. Wait, it's also a character. I can't do that. It's a Dracula. No, but you're still based on a character that's someone else's. So it's like, it's. You still have at least that in. You have that back. There is a history to this character. This is not like you created your own character. So there's a little bit of mixture there. I'm guessing you still have the freedom, but, like, there is a backstory to this character that was created by Bram Stoker. So I'm guessing, like, that's part of it. It's kind of a mixture, right?
[00:22:09] Speaker B: Yeah, it definitely does help with the elevator pitch. It just being like, listen, y' all know Dracula, but I bet you didn't know he did this too, and it definitely happened.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: That's amazing. He felt and fought Nazis. No, I mean, so you've done dc, you've done a few comics for dc. You. You're doing Father of Tomorrow, Superman, Father of Tomorrow right now, which I thought was fantastic. The first issue came out recently. Yeah, it was so much fun. I. I mentioned this in previous episodes and so people listen, they know I've never really been a DC fan. Like not. There was nothing specific. That's like, I hate D.C. or whatever. It's just I was a Marvel zombie growing up and just Marvel always struck to me and based in real places and so on and so forth. Like, if I went to New York City, I might be able to see Spider man swinging from building to building and stuff like that. Can't go to Gotham specifically. And so to me, a lot of that brought into it. But like, over the recent years, I will say absolute stories have like pulled me in and been like, okay, now I got a chance to make it my own and so on and. And so. But I also can giving people chances. And I think Elseworlds is another place where I can play around in because again, I know a little bit of knowledge from dc, obviously working in this industry and also just being a fan of this industry.
So like I was able to pull it. I'm like. But I like to see the other people's twist on it and like a take on it and like a different version of it. And so I've been able to play with this. And I read Supergirl Survive by Ethan and Griffin and I read this father, Superman, Father of Tomorrow. And I was like, this is amazing because it's like, I know the characters, but different things are going to happen from an origin point.
Did you have this idea or was this something that they came up with? Like, what, what? How does a person like yourself go into creating an Else Worlds comic book?
[00:23:48] Speaker B: Yeah. So luckily it's not my first tango with Elseworlds, because I did. I did DC Mech back in the day, which wasn't under the Else Swords label then, but I think they're going to re release it. At least that's what I've heard is they're going to re release it with an Elseworlds label.
And that was a world where like, basically, what if all the DC heroes had been Mech pilots instead of traditional superheroes? And I'm a giant, giant robot fan, as you can see from my shelf.
So they. So they came to me for that with that one. They just had the title. They were like, we want to do something called DC Mech. What would you do with that? And I was just like, here, here we go, brother. Let me. Let me cook and Balmore Rivas. And I did that with this.
My editor Andrew just reached out to me, was like, hey, I want to get you on another Elseworlds book. What ideas do you have? And so I sent him several ideas. The other ones I won't mention, just in case they ever happen sometime.
But I know he had said he didn't have at the time at least. I was like, who do you have the least amount of pitches for? Like, because I don't want to go in. He was like, well, obviously, like, everyone always sends a Batman one.
I was like, okay, I want to do a Superman one. And this was pretty much my first Superman idea, was more of like a science adventurer Superman.
Originally when I did it, it was gonna be Clark.
And then we started talking about it, I was like, oh, man, wouldn't it be crazy if it was just Jor El? Since he was already a scientist and it was kind of like one of those, like, wait a minute, have we never done that before?
Like, have we never done that before? He's the only one who makes it to Earth. And so, like, that's the book. Like that. And then from there we just thought about what the butterfly effect would be. Danny Earls and I, the artist we were, I'd sent him over a whole pitch of the broad strokes of the story, and he loved it. He messaged me right away. It was like, I'm completely in.
Especially when I mentioned things which are of no secret now because the covers are out and stuff that, like, the Wildcats are in it. Like an. Like an alternate universe version of the Wildcats. Because I leaned into some Wildstorm stuff. Because if you haven't read the Wildstorm books that Jim Lee created that were folded into the line, a lot of them are very, like, science fiction based.
I was like, well, it would make sense that if a lot of that was in opposition to a science fiction based Superman.
So we started thinking about how that would change things.
What the relationships would be like, what his mission would be like, what his allies would be like, his enemies. I will say it's been hinted a little bit with one cover that came out, but you guys are not gonna.
The direction this book takes.
You guys are not going to be able to guess what. What goes on. Because I've seen a lot of people, like, guessing online what's gonna happen after reading issue one. Like, none of you are close.
Like, we follow the ripples to a crazy spot in the pond and we're gonna touch a lot of characters in the DC universe. You wouldn't think we would.
[00:26:49] Speaker A: Which makes it so much more fun to me. And I don't know what.
There's something about that where it's like, I don't know, it's like the DC next level stuff right now where like, there's characters that like, aren't touched with. Touched on that much that are like, oh, this is kind of cool because, like, we get to have a Lobo book and you get to have like a, you know, Deathstroke book and that. You're not seeing that as much. So seeing that. And then there are also characters in those books that aren't touched up much either. And so seeing that in an Elsewhere book like this would be awesome. But I thought, like, when Clark comes to.
Kalis comes to Earth, he's young, obviously, and so he grows up without the previous. Any previous, I don't know, like anything really.
And so when you. If I were to get transported to another, another world, I'd have these previous things that I need to think about or go into and so on and so forth. So like him growing up, being quiet about his powers, being quiet about whatever, it's just his parents or his now his adopted parents teaching him the right thing. Whereas when you're an adult that comes to Earth, you have to like, it's like, it's so cool to see because like, and this is like, obviously spoiled, but like his brother, it's his brother. Like, it's not, you know, like, this is like, it's like, oh, it's my brother, the Kents, or my brother and you know, sister in law, whatever. And so that to me it was like, oh, that's such a cool way of thinking about it. And like how different someone's mind would be with preconceived thoughts from other places coming in. Unlike a baby coming here where there's no real thought of where they are. They just grew up on Earth. They know there's a distance planet that they came from because obviously they've been taught that over the years. But like, I don't know, just to me that was like a. Such a, like a different whole ethical side of things, different whole mindset. And so I don't even know where it's going to go from here either. Like, I was trying to figure it out. And I'm not trying, I'm not trying to guess because I Don't want to be wrong as much. But, like, honestly, like, it kind of, like, frightened me also, like, I have no idea what the hell's going to happen.
[00:28:36] Speaker B: Well, because he's coming, like, Jor El's coming from. Like, he lost his plan. He lost his whole family. His family didn't make it, which we. Which you will see later in the story what happened.
But, like, yeah, he's. He's, like, got all this survivor's guilt. He was a member of. Like, he was a member of a science academy that wouldn't listen to him that the world was going in a horrible direction. And so originally, when he gets here, he's just like, I'm just gonna keep my head down.
I'm not gonna interrupt this stuff. And then we see, like, an inciting incident where, like, he's like, I have to do something to try to make my new planet better.
And as someone who is open, we will. We will see this in the coming issues about where he comes from and who he is. There's going to be people in opposition to that and even more fuel of the fire for classic characters who are like, this dude's from another planet and is an adult and has this. All this stuff. Like, but should we be listening to him? But also at the same time, what he. I'm trying to say this without spoiling it.
He will keep trying to make the world a better place, and the world is going to keep pushing back, and it's going. And it's going to be like a dad trying to raise a kid that he stumbled upon, and the kid just constantly biting him every time he tries to hold out his hand. So we're gonna see what that's like and how that affects all these different characters and who ends up coming after him because of that, what new methods they'll use to come after him.
Because the other benefit on top of him is, like, if. If he has all the powers that Clark has, but he's way smarter, how much harder is that gonna be to take him out?
And we're gonna see some of that in issue two of Just, like, it's not a spoiler because there's been solicits. Like, we do a huge time jump in issue two where, like, 20 years pass and we see what, like, life is now like with a Superman who's been around for 20 years mixing it up with super villains trying to make the world a better place.
We're gonna see how things have drastically changed and how the. The world is responding to a guy with the powers of a God who's also trying to be a philanthropist, you know, and trying to make the world a better place.
[00:30:55] Speaker A: Do you. There's obviously this, like, respect you pay for, like characters that were created before even. You're kind of like tweaking and stuff like that. But like, is it seem a little bit easier that is Jorrell, not Kalal. Because like, the fact that like, you're messing with a new Superman, not technically to me, it's like, okay, these people created this character years ago. Now I'm changing their origin or changing their story or something like that. This is like, okay, this is a new Superman, technically. Does that make it a little bit easier to like, tool around with them and play around with things? Or is it just a matter at this point because you're in Al swords. It's not canon. It's not, you know, it's not like this is going to be moving forward to a bigger thing.
This is what it is. Just think of it that way and create with cool story.
[00:31:31] Speaker B: Yeah, it is different because when. When I, When I sit down to write, because I've written Clark before too. Like, when I sit down to write him solving a problem, even though they both have like, a similar good heart, they approach problems differently. So like in issue one, minor spoiler, like, he has to stop a villain and instead of just going in and punching him using his super speed, build something quick to help mitigate the damage. Because he's like, well, first thing I should do is build something to stop people from getting hurt and set that up. And that's a lot of how he approaches problems and will approach combat. Because, like, even though he's super smart, it's a Superman book. Dude's still gonna get. Dude's still gonna have to throw hands.
And when he does, he will try to do it non lethally and he will try to use tech first before he has to hit somebody.
The powers are like a last resort to him sort of thing.
And so that it's way. It just feels way different in terms of.
In terms of approach of how he approaches problems, how he reacts to people. We're gonna see a lot of that too, of just like how he reacts to villainous factions and. And baddies and stuff. It's. It is. It is a way just different.
It feels like writing a completely different character that's also just trying to be Superman. Like, the core. The core principles of Superman are there, but the driving reasons behind why he makes the decisions are completely different.
[00:33:02] Speaker A: And I love this type of story. And because of the fact that there, you don't have to have anything. You have to have a little knowledge about who Superman is, a little knowledge about who some of these characters are. You need to know that, like, Jor El is Superman's dad. You need to know that kind of stuff. Like, you need to have a basic working knowledge of the DC universe. But after that, it's like, it doesn't really matter at that point. Like, you're building off of that. And I love those kind of stories because, like, you can dive right into them and you don't have to worry about anything else. There's no, like, you know, you know, Superman, Father of Tomorrow Kryptonite. And it's like a separate, like, offshoot that you have to, like, pay attention to as well. Or, you know, like, there's none of these, like, other things. It's like, you just focus on these books, no matter how many issues there are. You just kind of got to read them and stuff like that.
It must be fun, too, like, in that sense of you, like, it must be super fun because you now get to play in this playground with these characters. But, like, you can do things that you can't. Someone's like, oh, no, no, Stegman's over here writing this book. So don't. Like, you can't do that. You know, like, that kind of thing. You couldn't be, like, you have to just deal with whatever characters you have in your. Obviously, there's some. Some parameters. I'm guessing they can say you can use what characters you can use what characters you can't use. But, like, for the most part, you're like, you're doing whatever. Like, as long as the story makes sense and it works, then you can do what you want.
[00:34:12] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, totally. We don't have to worry about crossing over with stuff and everything. Like, obviously, somebody wants to do a multiversal story and bring our guy in there. Happy to have them pop over to another Earth for a bit. I mean, don't tell me there's not going to be some Superman event down the road where they're going to need a scientist one.
Like, it'll happen.
[00:34:31] Speaker A: And I just mentioned this on the previous episode with Griffin Sheridan was the. With Supergirl, Survive was the same thing that, like, we're creating movies nowadays. We're going so far in the movie worlds that they're doing these multiversal things, like Marvel doing their multiversal thing, that it's gonna be at some point where they're like, oh, it Makes sense to have the Superman Father of Tomorrow character come to Earth in this one thing. So it's like, it's one of those things that I used to be. These offshoots in these other universe comic books, the Ultimate Universe, are just their standalone thing. They're fun for people who love comics, but the truth of the matter is, you never know. Fifteen years from now, they could be like, we're pulling out this one small DC mech thing that's coming, or Father of Tomorrow or Supergirl Survive. It's just cool to see this absolute is going to be like that, too. Like, they might just pull these characters in. I mean, at some point, it's going to be an absolute universe movie thing. You know that now at this point. But it's going to be like these things where they just like, oh, this would be a good character. You might show up for a scene in a movie or in another book or something like that. But, like, it's kind of cool to see that, like, they're not, quote, unquote, untouchable anymore. Like this, what you're creating here might.
Doesn't have to deal with anybody else at this moment, but someone else might deal with you in the future, which is.
[00:35:42] Speaker B: Yeah, somebody can pick it up and run with it.
[00:35:45] Speaker A: It's so cool to see that. And so. And you're playing indie world, you're playing DC world.
Now you're playing Power Rangers world. So, like, I mean, we talked to Joey a little bit about it on the podcast, too. But, like, I mean, you're a Power Rangers fan, I'm guessing.
And. But, like, how did this. Like, how do you.
How do you get this. This connection? How do you get to write with a story with Power Rangers Unlimited? With. With Joey?
[00:36:11] Speaker B: Yeah. So I originally was brought in, I was going to do a different separate event for Power Rangers, and I wrote a whole story and stuff, and then the event ended up not coming together and they wanted to pivot direction. But in. In the meetings, like, I talked about how much I loved everything and I was constantly dropping references. So it must have been like, this dork knows his stuff about Power Rangers. So they called me and they were like, hey, we're going to relaunch the line.
We're gonna have three main books.
Mighty Morphin, we're gonna have a book that's focused on the Green Ranger called Power Rangers Green. And then we want to do a new take on Power Rangers Unlimited, where basically the only thing they had was like, we just wanted to be like, team ups. Like a Justice League Unlimited type situation.
And I was like, that is literally what I've wanted to do with the franchise since I was a kid. And like had them team up like ever, ever since I saw. If you're familiar with the. Are you familiar with the special Forever Red?
Yeah, like ever since seeing that, I was like, why isn't this just the show now?
[00:37:17] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:37:18] Speaker B: Which essentially like Joey and I. So then they told me they're like, you're gonna co write with Joey Esposito. I was like, I don't. I have no idea who that is, but great, let's. Let's get on the phone. We did. We became fast friends because we loved all the same stuff about Power Rangers. Every, every text that we have talking about it is just like exclamation points and thunderbolts because we're just like, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. That. Yes, let's do this. Let's add that.
So we've been co writing it and we run it basically like a TV show. Like we have the whole year planned out all the, all the issues. We have a second year planned out. We accidentally planned out a third year if they'll give us a second, third year. So we know all these stories and we have like beat boards and we seamlessly work back and forth to write scripts together.
And when we talked about it, we came up with this idea of a. An organization that works across time and space to literally team up any Ranger ever based on the mission. So every. There is an ongoing story, an emotional through story with our main character who's been revealed since the Comics Giveaway day issue as a future version of Trini, the original yellow Ranger who's in her like, who's about 40 now and is now the striking Tiger Ranger for the unlimited crew, working with this mysterious person called the Operator.
And essentially like their job is to tackle time paradoxes and stuff that shouldn't be happening by sending Rangers through time and space. So it's like a Doctor who Wibbly Wyoming thing of like every issue is a different genre. So like the first issue is a big martial arts crazy expansive thing like the Raid. The second issue, which has been solicited as a horror story, like a straight up horror slasher with a white Psycho Ranger, which was totally dope to introduce that.
Yeah, there's a heist issue. That one's really fun. There's like a Mad Max style like All Cars one. So every mission is like a completely different group of team up Rangers and every single one is like a forever Red setup of like, we have a mission. These are the best people for the job. Let's send them for it. And the mixes, mix ups aren't just like, it's not all yellow Rangers are all blue. It's any colors from any teams.
So you might get like a Red Ranger from one team, a Blue Ranger from another, a purple from another from another season, which has been really fun to be able to think, like, who would be the coolest to put on these missions of, like, who would butt heads and who would be like fast buddies. And essentially, like, the mission statement for it is like, dump out the whole toy box. Which is something that Joey's been saying since the beginning. Like, just dump out the toy box. And. And what I've been adding to that is, like, it's Power Rangers without a budget. Like, we don't need to worry about what costumes we have, how much time. Like, we just have the comic page and we can do whatever we want. And we like, well, the old formula of monster shows up, we fight it, it blows up. We get in the Megazord time honored classic. We don't follow that rule for the book. Like, the book follows the fun genre conventions of whatever we're playing with that week. So, like, if we're doing a Mad Max issue, we're doing Mad Max. Like, we're doing fun car stuff, like big set pieces and everything. The horror one's got creepy dread sort of stuff in it and people getting picked off. Like, it's. It's a really fun, different way to approach. And basically, like, what I would have done with the show and it sounds like. And also what Joey would have done with the show if we were put in charge of it.
[00:40:48] Speaker A: And you guys would be bankrupt, the companies and all. It's okay.
[00:40:50] Speaker B: Yeah, we're like, yeah, first episode, $10 million.
[00:40:54] Speaker A: Why are you paying the money that people spend on Game of Thrones for Power Rangers?
The return on our investment, isn't there? No. I mean, you have to. Something like this series, like, if they, hey, write a series for. For Power Rangers and this is the characters you deal with and so on. You have to have a working knowledge of the Power Rangers, but you probably can get by like this kind of a series. You need people like yourself and Joey at the helm where, like, you have to have a lot of knowledge about these characters to be able to do each issue, have different groups of people and so on and so forth. Because you can't just. You can't be somebody like, oh, why didn't you Put this character in this issue because they would fit perfectly. You're like, well, I didn't know that character existed. Like, that kind of thing too. I'm guessing that's why you two are in charge of writing this, is because you have that knowledge. Am I guessing that right?
[00:41:34] Speaker B: Oh, totally. Yeah. We have, like. We both have Encyclopedia Acknowledge. We do. However, we have a storytelling caveat where we can't just put our favorites in.
Like, we almost treat it like we're actually running the mission. We're like, who really is the best to go on this based on us discussing it and stuff?
And we introduce limits to the technology where they can't always get everybody. So there's like, they'll have a board of, like, you know, like a choose your fighter sort of thing of, like, right now, here's who we can pull through. Who will answer the call to send on this mission? Like, these are the only people available. Who do we send?
So we add limiters to that just so that they're not op and that they have. They have some restrictions. Because it's just like, all right, well, let's send every 6 Ranger in then. Like, every. Every guy and girl with a vest. Just send them in there with shoulder pads and take care of it. It's like, no, we can't.
[00:42:29] Speaker A: He's got restrictions on it. Yeah. And you're.
And you and Joey writing it, but this is your different artists on every single issue. Or is it.
[00:42:36] Speaker B: Are some of them artists who switch back and forth? Okay, so, okay, Alessio Zano has done issue one, and then Frederico Ceresa is doing issue two. And they'll do. Alessio will do the odd number ones and Frederica even number.
[00:42:49] Speaker A: That's. It's just such a cool thing. Because I think. I mean, are you. As a fan, you're probably gonna say no, but, like, are you surprised that there's still this much love and care for someone like the Power Rangers?
[00:42:58] Speaker B: I think it's awesome that there's still this much love and everything, especially since the show's been off the air for a couple years now. Like, there hasn't been a new season in a while. Like, that there's still this much fandom and fervor over it. And I'm a huge fantasy percentai, too. Like, I love the Japanese stuff.
So it's. It's awesome to see people still be really hyped about it and still be really excited about it.
Everyone we know who's gotten a read our issue. Our first issue early has absolutely loved it and loved the approach we've taken on it. So it feels very justifying that we're still coming here. Like people are still. People love it. People love the pageantry of it and the colorful suits and the monsters and the robots. And like when you, when you don't shy away from what makes it cool. Like the campiness makes it cool. Like that's, that's what's so cool about it is like how over the top and everything, everything is or how weird it is.
While we mature a lot of stuff up in our book, like that core element, we're never going to be like, well now the Megazords are all jagged and stuff to try to make them look cooler. They're mostly gray or anything. Like no, like it's, they're boxy, colorful animals or cars or whatever they are.
That's just the way it is. Because that stuff's cool. Because it looks cool the way that it is. It was already cool.
You just have to find new fun and exciting stories to put them in.
[00:44:22] Speaker A: And you're telling stories to hopefully a new audience too because you obviously want more people to pick it up than just the people who like love it. But like a lot of us are nostalgically love the characters too. So like if you changed it too much, you're like, well you're changing what I love. And so I don't want that. So I think you have to keep it a little bit back to the day. And I think that's part of it too. Like I don't think that if you saw like, you know, 10 year old Justin watching Power Rangers on TV, I would have ever been like, yeah, in 30 years people are still gonna be watching this show and still writing comic books on that part would have been like, you're crazy. However, it does make sense how these little times over the years there's been these spikes and things and like, you know, Power Rangers prime was an excellent series and so like there's these, these times where I'm like, oh, this is really cool. And mighty More for Power Rangers is going to be amazing. And the same thing with the Green series, like, but this is like where I'm like gonna pay attention to. It's like, I just think it's so much fun again if week to week there's a different cast of characters and there's different styles and different stories. It just, it adds that like, I can't wait to read the next issue to see what the hell is going to happen. I Think that's what's really cool about this stuff. Boom. Doesn't have a ton of, like, IP stuff, but this is, like, one of those ones that's, like, they've been doing justice to it. And I think that doing this with you guys is somewhat amazing. I'm a big fan of Joey Esposito. You said, you know, he's from Maine or lives in Maine, and I live in Maine. And so, like, we are. We're very protective to the state because we don't have that much to say. That's ours. And so to me, I'm always like, whatever Joey does is amazing. But no, this is. This is gonna be fun. And I haven't got a chance to read it yet, which is. Which is sad. But, like, I'm excited for it. And I'm almost like, I don't know. It's just one of those series that are, like. It's like on that board of, like, these are the series of paying attention to. Like, it was absolute Green Arrow. And, like, this is one of those ones where I'm like, okay, this is next on the. I cannot wait for people to discuss this book. Right? Like, it's gonna be so much fun. I think you're gonna pull in old readers to Power Rangers, but also people who are like, oh, this should be fun. Like, that kind of thing, too, I think at the local comic book shop on that Wednesday, was it July 1, people are going to be in there being like, what's this? Power Rangers Unlimited? People are going to talk about it. That's what I'm hoping for. This. That's what I'm hoping for, at least.
[00:46:28] Speaker B: Oh, I mean, same. And that's part of the reason we use a lot of.
In the book. I'll make sure you get a look at it after this. But we use a lot of title cards so that it immediately describes who they are, what team they're from. Because that's another thing is, like, everybody loves Mighty Morphin, but a lot of people who are fans now didn't grow up on it. Like, they came in on different shows. So that's why we also wanted to make a book where, like, everybody from all the other teams gets a showcase so that, like, you might not know everybody on the team right away until you read the issue, but they'll probably be at least one person from one team. You're like, that's one of my guys. That's one of my girls. Like, that's. Or in some cases, robots.
There are some robots that Are Rangers?
[00:47:13] Speaker A: Well, there was a. I go into the comic book store the other day, and there. Someone's like, what's that Transformer over there? And I'm like, that's not a Transformer.
Get out of town. It's from Power Rangers. I'm like, what? And so I was like, there's this people. Group of people who just don't know Power Rangers that well either. And I'm not a huge encyclopedia, like you mentioned of these things, but I do remember things, and I do have this. I mean, I just. I run the panels. I help a buddy of mine out who puts on two conventions in Maine, and I run. Help run the panels with. With the ability to talk to people. He's like, can you help me run the panels? And I just did one in April with Johnny Young Bosch, who so. Which was awesome. It was like one of those things where I could nerd out the same thing. I asked the same question. I'm like, is it crazy to you that, like, there are people in this question? These people, this crowd here, I mean, most of them are asking about your anime voices, but, like, the people out there that ask you Power Rangers questions that people are still interested in talking about that. He's like, yeah, it's kind of surprising, but it's got this weird following that. It's. There's, like, a group of people that's followed all along. And it's something that I don't think that anybody expected from the beginning, but now is, like, to this point where it's almost. Like you mentioned, there hasn't been a new show in a while. They had the big movies that have come out or the movie came out, but it's almost that the comic books have taken over in a sense, too. It's more impressive what stories are being told in the pages and panels of comics than it is on screen. Which is even cooler for me because I'm a big fan of screen.
But to me, when things happen in comic books and that's where the action's happening, it's just so much more fun for me.
[00:48:40] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, like, I love movies and stuff, like, of all types, but, like, I'm a huge reader, so anytime somebody was like, you got a comic book, then I'm definitely gonna check it out.
[00:48:50] Speaker A: I've actually talked to people who create movies and, like, give me awesome as an adaptation in comic book form of this movie. And they're like, what? I'm like, yeah, I'd love to see what this is happening. Go back I want to do it again and then do, then do the sequel in comic book form, not on tv.
They did that with. What was it? Revol. That was on NBC a while back. They did like a. On Twitter when Twitter was like at its height, where they released like the page, the panels as tweets. Oh yeah, I remember because like the last season was like canceled and they wanted to like finish off on a good. So they ended up having an illustrator and a writer write and illustrate like panels of it. And like every day you went on to a new tweet that was like the next page or something like that. And I thought I found someone, I gotta find. I think I found someone who like took all those pages and put them onto a PDF so you could read the thing. But I was like, that was the coolest thing that ever was. Like a show ended and like, they're like, oh, we want to finish it, so we're gonna tell her in the comic book. I'm like, yeah, that's the way it goes. Go the right way on that. But you know, it's. It's exciting. But like this. My son came home. My son's five. Well, he was four at the time. This is a couple months ago. Came home from. From daycare and he's like, dad, can I watch Power Rangers?
And I was like, where the hell did you get this? Is someone you. He's like the oldest kid at a school, like, who is talking to you about Power Rangers? And I'm like, is someone's parents Power Rangers fans? And they talk about it so and so forth. And so I was trying to put one on and I was like, ah, maybe the TV show, like old TV show like this, like. And then I ended up with Power Rangers the movie.
And he started watching a little bit of it and he got like, actually like, like was like watching it. And I was like, this is fascinating to me. And then he like lost interest. So I'm like, I got to get you. It's like I got him his own copy of the free the Comic Giveaway Day comic book so that he can read it or play around with them. Like, I can't. He's five, so it's really hard. There's certain things he pays attention. He has watched the 4, 5 and 6 Star wars and knows which movies are which, what characters are in which and stuff like that. But there's other things where he has like this brief knowledge he knows something. So I'm like, if I just put this in front of him, maybe he'll just remember Power Rangers. He doesn't remember the story, but like two or three years from now he's like, I want to watch Power Rangers. Then we can watch it all together. That's what I'm looking forward to.
These are the goals of parenting right here. It's like when the kid is forced and subjected to something that you're a fan.
That's not child abuse, people, I promise you. No, My wife, on the other hand, she's like, really? Star Wars. He's like running around the house going like he has a lightsaber.
[00:51:10] Speaker B: I'm like, I'm sorry, you gotta make the sounds.
[00:51:12] Speaker A: I'm sorry. Well, there's a point where I'm like, dude, you need to stop.
Or he almost whacks his two year old sister in the face with a fake lightsaber. I'm like, okay, this is it.
Just pretend like you're a Power Ranger. At this point. No, but yeah, so you have these. It's a pretty big coming up here. I mean, you've got, you know, the just heads Father of Tomorrow come out. You have July 1st is Power Rangers Unlimited, and then July 8th is Operation Iron Coffin.
Are you soliciting anything else at this point? At this point, that's where you're at right now. Right now they have more stuff in
[00:51:45] Speaker B: the pipeline than I hasn't been announced yet, so.
[00:51:48] Speaker A: But like, that's awesome. And then obviously at some point these trades will start hitting and stuff like that too. But like, this is, it's really cool to see some creators that like, this is like the time of year where like it feels like everything comes out. There's like this doldrums in like December and January where like, did people make comics still? And then like this time of year where it's like the budget for buying comics goes like through the roof because you're like, I want to get everything.
[00:52:11] Speaker B: Like the summer box office.
[00:52:14] Speaker A: I always try. I put every week I put together four comics that I'm looking forward to that week. And there's like times in the winter literally where I'm like trying to find four comics to promote to people. And I'm like, now I'm like, God, I can only pick four because there's so many good comics coming out.
But yeah, so those are. That's awesome. So like issue two for Father of Tomorrow is technically when this releases is out now as well, as well as issue three coming on July 22nd. So those are. You should be able to go get those and tell your local comic book shop that you want it. This episode is actually dropping on July 1st.
So actually this is the day they go get Power Rangers Unlimited go tell your go buy a couple covers, got a couple issues.
And then next week according to this episode will be the first day of Operation Iron Coffin. So when you're at the store picking up Power Rangers Unlimited, tell your local comic book shop to hold you a copy of Operation Iron Coffin next week so that they can put it in your book pull list or whatever. You lock it down, make sure you get that copy of that. It's exciting for you, man. I'm really pumped for that. This, this, this, this, this, this busyness for you and I'm hoping that there it doesn't end for you because I enjoy your writing. So I hope you can get more.
[00:53:22] Speaker B: Dude, thank you so much. Yeah, listen, I'm, I'm. I've got notebooks and notebooks full of stories. So you guys keep buying them, I'll keep putting them out. And especially with Power Rangers like we, yes, like I said, we have two or three years worth of stories. So we're guarantee 12 if you guys keep buying it and, and it, and you keep supporting it. Like Joey and I will go on forever like we love. Right.
[00:53:43] Speaker A: And I want more from Joey too. So like if I get both of you guys, that'd be great. Yeah.
I should also pitch a New Space Age is also out in trade. Right?
[00:53:51] Speaker B: That's right. Yeah, that just came out. Yeah, just got selected that one for. For those who haven't heard, that's about a disgraced astronaut whose brother was abducted by aliens when he was a kid. And he discovers that crop circles are instructions for space travel, but not through science, through magic. So he and a magician and an engineer build a ship to go try and find his brother. It's like a big hopeful science fiction story with a very like animated sort of art style by my buddy Mike who drew it.
[00:54:18] Speaker A: It's over at Mad Cave and it just like I said, well as of recording this, it comes out this week. But like yeah, it comes out when this episode comes out.
[00:54:23] Speaker B: So why are the shop. You pick up the graphic novelty, you just get, you just tell them you want all the Kenny Porter related stuff.
[00:54:29] Speaker A: It's funny and I mentioned that to, to Griffin about it too. It's like it is to that point now with these creators that I'm getting to where I'm like okay, if you see on the solicitation it says this name on it, just grab a copy to my local comic book shop owner. I'm like, just do it. Because whether it's good, bad or ugly, I'm going to read it. I'm probably going to like it. Just, just get it. Just don't even worry about it at this point. Because then I'm upset when he doesn't. He's like, well, you didn't tell me you wanted it. I'm like, dude, you should be getting all these.
The store in general deserves these. Forget me. And you need to hold. Everybody needs these books. No, I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat comics here on the podcast.
We'll get you back on in the future when you have more stuff coming out to chat about and so on. But until then, keep it up. Don't stop.
[00:55:09] Speaker B: Promise. I won't.
[00:55:11] Speaker A: Thanks, Kenny.
[00:55:12] Speaker B: Thank you.
