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Episode 735 - All Your Favorite Tropes f/ Kyle Starks
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Our good pal Kyle Starks is back on the show this week to talk about his Kickstarter for the latest volume of Where Monsters Lie! Plus we discuss how humor comics are viewed in the industry, genre shifts, basketball, and much more!
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Join the WRA Patreon to help us keep doing the show and get rewards!
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Transcript
Introduction to Zencaster
00:00:00
Speaker
This show is recorded using Zencaster. If you are a podcaster or you want to be a podcaster and you want to be able to record remotely, you can do so using Zencaster.
00:00:12
Speaker
They also have hosting options and you can let them know that we sent you. Follow the link in our show notes or in the episode description and sign up for an account on Zencaster now to start recording your own podcast.
00:00:28
Speaker
Right, I'm bored. What plaything can you offer me today?
00:00:39
Speaker
got more Rocket Ajax to bring back his body. Germany, exit! Go!
Meet the Hosts: Chris and Matt
00:00:53
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to War Rocket Ajax. This is the internet's most explosive comic book and pop culture podcast. We are your hosts. My name is Chris Sims. With me as always is Matt Wilson.
00:01:05
Speaker
Matt, I know that you and your friend Benito and your friend Erica
00:01:16
Speaker
always like to make fun of me.
00:01:21
Speaker
no, we don't like to make fun of you. And we don't we we talk about how much we admire and and love you. You're always talking trash about me with regards to my feelings on being scared, which I don't enjoy.
00:01:38
Speaker
We don't talk trash about that ever. ah Constantly. For about an hour and a half every month.
00:01:48
Speaker
ah But I will say this. I do firmly believe that the the scariest ah slasher movie villain that I could beat up, I would kick the dog shit out of Chucky.
A Humorous Take on Slasher Villains
00:02:07
Speaker
You have expressed this before, that like you would just like kick him across the room. which I wouldn't even stop there, baby. but Okay. That's like, I know that's like, this is Benito. Oh, that's a cliche. Like everybody says that it's like, yeah. Okay.
00:02:23
Speaker
I could, I would, I would trounce him, Matt. Hmm. Okay. I would hit him with the razor's edge.
00:02:35
Speaker
Uh, so you would get him up on your shoulders. I would get him up. Yes. Okay, and then and then fall. Razor's Edge won ah an underrated move, I feel like. Very underrated move. I would plant his ass.
00:02:51
Speaker
it would be It would be shocking. Matt, who is the scariest slasher movie villain that you think you could beat up? Oh, I could take every single one of those children of the corn.
00:03:07
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Word.
00:03:13
Speaker
201. I'm getting out of that town. i'll tell you I'll tell you what me and Matt are afraid of. People smaller than us. That's right.
00:03:27
Speaker
Matt, speak of slasher movie villains, we have a great show for everybody this week. We sure do ah We have a great guest on the
Interview with Kyle Starks: Kickstarter Campaign
00:03:35
Speaker
show. An old friend of ours, ah Kyle Starks, is here to promote the Where Monsters Lie Dead End Kickstarter, which you may not be aware is for the third Where Monsters Lie miniseries.
00:03:52
Speaker
ah So go back and read the second one, which is called Where Monsters Lie Cul-de-Sac, and then support... where monsters lie dead end. And then you will have read the whole saga.
00:04:03
Speaker
Uh, but we're going to talk to Kyle about that and about comics genres and, a lot of just kind of shooting the breeze about the state of comics today, with Kyle. So, uh, stick around to hear us talk to Kyle a little bit later in the show. But Chris, before that, we have some business to take care of.
Patreon Support and Benefits
00:04:24
Speaker
The first piece of business is thanking our newest supporters over on the Patreon. Um, That's right, Matt. Now, these the people who, they wanted to support the show. And where did they go to do that?
00:04:35
Speaker
They didn't go all the way down to 735 Gimmick Street. They went to patreon.com slash warrocketajax, where they could kick in as little as a dollar a month to help us keep doing the show, keep doing all of our side projects,
00:04:50
Speaker
They can raise that ah pledge a little bit to help us even more to get access to things, to preserve Gimmick Street in all its glory, and most importantly, help us pay those gimmicks they keep sending in the mail called bills.
00:05:05
Speaker
That's right, Chris. And as you noted, at the $15 level or higher on our Patreon, ah you can join the Gimmick Street Preservation Society.
00:05:19
Speaker
And not only help keep Gimmick Street thriving and weird, you can also name and address whatever you want to put at a number along Gimmick Street.
00:05:37
Speaker
You can put there if you're at that level. And Josh has sent us, what is it, 735 Gimmick Street. it are Our friend Josh?
00:05:49
Speaker
Or a different Josh? Well, he's a friend, but I think it's a different... It's a friend of the show, Josh. It's not Josh Kroc. Not Josh from my D&D game. No, different Josh, but a friend of the show, nonetheless. well what What has Josh ah sponsored here at 735 Gimmick Street, Matt? And also, when are we getting that Keep Gimmick Street weird bumper sticker? Yeah.
00:06:13
Speaker
I smell a t-shirt later for later. ah Josh says at 735 Gimmick Street is a great leading into the New York City sewer system where Kirk Connors the lizard did that thing.
00:06:25
Speaker
No. oh No, I don't want that to have happened on Gimmick Street. Well, it happened in New York City, but the sewer grate that leads to the sewer in New York City is at 735 Gimmick Street.
00:06:39
Speaker
That's weird that that sewer grate that goes to the New York City sewer system is on the same street as the Greensboro Coliseum. it's Gimmick Street is a magical place that goes to many realms.
00:06:52
Speaker
I've noticed that there's a lot of literal intersectionality. Yes, very much so. On Gimmick Street. This block of Gimmick Street, since we opened it up to the people, it connects to a lot of things.
00:07:12
Speaker
It's also weird that this address just has a sewer grate and not a building. Yeah, I guess it's like a lot. yeah And yeah, that's all that's there. ah That sewer grate.
00:07:25
Speaker
ah So thank you to Josh and Also, ah want to let you know about our newest supporters on Patreon. You know, there's that there's that ah area of Chicago, I think it is, it's called Boys Town. Oh yeah, I used to live there.
00:07:38
Speaker
Yeah, this is no Boys Town. Do not go there, boys. If you're a boy, do not go there. Do not go there.
00:07:49
Speaker
Our newest Patreon supporter is Bernal. Thank you, Bernal. If you'd like to be like Bernal or like Josh and join the Gimmick Street Preservation Society, you can go to patreon.com slash warrocketajax and kick in as little as $1 per month to make sure that we keep doing this show weekly, that we do Comics Catch-Up every month, ah which I have read what we're doing for Comics Catch-Up, and boy, I don't think people are going happy about what I think about it.
00:08:17
Speaker
I haven't read it yet, so maybe people will be happy with me. Yep.
00:08:26
Speaker
And also, ah Every Story Ever specials monthly, that's from your support on Patreon. Movie Fighters and Snack Situation, all of those shows are made possible by your support on Patreon. And as a patron, you get every single one of those shows completely ad-free.
00:08:40
Speaker
Then, if you're at higher levels of the Patreon, at the $5 level, you can get bonus content. All the bo bonus content we've ever made is available over there on the Patreon. That includes Stuff We Record Special for Patreon,
00:08:52
Speaker
That includes outtakes that I cut out of the show and put on Patreon. That includes ah writing that both Chris and I have done over on Patreon. Chris more than me. And it also includes, I don't know, like...
00:09:06
Speaker
Other stuff that we've put on up as Patreon exclusive. At the $10 level, you get line-stepping privileges for our segments, which currently include 1 to 10 of Swords, as well as every story ever.
00:09:18
Speaker
And then at the $15 level, you can join the Gimmick Street Preservation Society and name an address on Gimmick Street. At the $20 level, you get a t-shirt. I have a box full of packaged t-shirts in my office right now.
00:09:35
Speaker
I'm going to do my very level best to print out the labels and ship those out ah certainly before the end of August, hopefully next week.
00:09:48
Speaker
within the next week. So if you're at the t-shirt level, look out for your shirt. If you gave me your shirt size, ah this year's shirt is a, as a hoot, I'm wearing one right now.
00:10:00
Speaker
Oh, I can't wait. It's so fun. It's, a it's, it's certainly one of the more involved in complicated designs that we've ever had for one of our t-shirts. ah David Wynn did an amazing job.
00:10:15
Speaker
with the art on this and print it printed up. It looks so good. Uh, so yeah, be on the lookout for your t-shirt. If you're at that level, if you're unable to help us monetarily, you can help us out in other ways. so You can leave us a five-star review on the podcasting app that you use, whatever that may be, or you can just spread the word about the show on social media or wherever else ah you talk to people.
00:10:41
Speaker
Uh, Maybe in person. if you If you speak to another human being, ah tell them that War Rocket Ajax is a podcast that you like and that they should listen to it and they should join our Patreon.
00:10:53
Speaker
That would be a big help as well. Chris, with that, it's time for some Checks and Recs. What do you say? Let's do
00:11:04
Speaker
it. Chris, what would you like to check in with this week?
Chris's Birthday Lego Set
00:11:07
Speaker
Now, Matt, this is the third week in a row that I'm going to be talking about my birthday. So it goes. Birthday month.
00:11:15
Speaker
Birthday month, baby. It's Leo season. For a while yet. ah But I wanted to talk about a ah gift that I received from my ah might beautiful wife, who I love.
00:11:29
Speaker
ah She got me the Deku Tree oh Lego set from The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, and Breath of the Wild.
00:11:41
Speaker
That's right. This thing has three links.
00:11:47
Speaker
It's got a young link, it's got an old link, and it's got a link in his blue shirt. Right. Okay. Got it. Yeah. ah And I just wanted to say, it's a great set. i First of all, I can't believe that there's only one Zelda set.
00:12:05
Speaker
Like there's so many Mario sets. There's so many animal crossing sets. There's one Zelda set legit. That's the only Zelda Lego set at all.
00:12:17
Speaker
It is the only one. Wow. Maybe that will change in the future, but it is, it's, it's what there is right now. Uh, so I do like that, that they go the extra mile in this one and do some very fun stuff.
00:12:35
Speaker
Uh, It's very cool because other than... i think there's like two specific bags of parts out of 25 or so.
00:12:49
Speaker
um You use all the same parts to build the two different versions of the tree. And it's mainly foliage. the fully ah so like You get Koroks in one, and you get a Skullchula in the other set.
00:13:11
Speaker
ah But like the way the Deku Tree looks, the face, it's all like repurposed. oh And you can build it in different ways. And I think that's pretty cool.
00:13:22
Speaker
I, of course, only built the Breath of the Wild version because I am a hater who thinks Ocarina of Time is actually not that good.
00:13:33
Speaker
But here's what I love. here's Here's two incredible details from just the instructions of the Deku Tree set. One, Ocarina of Time Link, both young and old, are left-handed.
00:13:50
Speaker
And Breath of the Wild Link is right-handed. ah True to the games. hu I love that. I love that that Link being left-handed was a thing.
00:14:05
Speaker
i don't know why they changed that for a Breath of the Wild, but I think it's fun that they included both of those. the other thing you think I think it's an interesting way to make clear that the Links are different people, different guys.
00:14:22
Speaker
Yeah, he's a different guy. yeah um I also love that... like That happened because they flipped the art for the American instruction manual, and then they just kind of liked that he was left-handed because it was a little bit more unique.
00:14:40
Speaker
And so it became canon because of that. I think that's great. yeah ah The other thing is, every time you build a Korok, there's a little like starburst in the instruction manual on the last step.
00:14:55
Speaker
Because you found a Korok, so it's like a yahaha! That's fun. Yeah, it's very good. Also, Hestu's maracas actually do have a thing in them that makes them rattle when you shake them.
00:15:08
Speaker
ah It's a great set. i love Matt, I love Zelda. If i thought this show could handle another three straight months of it being my check and rec, I would replay Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom right now.
00:15:30
Speaker
But instead, we gotta move on to the Yakuza games. I do wonder what it would be like to play those games back-to-back. ah Probably pretty fucking good.
00:15:41
Speaker
Probably pretty good. i it's It's... Having a few years between them meant that I didn't remember that map. yeah I mean, the map, like, it was the same map, but it was pretty...
00:15:57
Speaker
vastly changed. There are some big changes. There are some big changes in Tears the Kingdom, plus you have a whole entire second map. and And kind of a third one, too. so Yes. the The depths, I'm not the biggest fan of the depths. I love the depths.
00:16:15
Speaker
It is a different thing, for sure. Well, I love the depths. I love the damn Sky Islands. I love Hyrule. I like the Sky Islands a lot, yeah. I love it all. The only thing I don't love is the the shrines where you have to tilt the the switch to move the ball in the little labyrinth game. Hate that. yeah um There are no Metroid LEGO sets, because I just looked.
00:16:42
Speaker
Make a Metroid LEGO set, you cowards. Make several Metroid LEGO sets. put the essay x ah Give me an SAX minifig.
00:16:53
Speaker
Would you want to build that hor horrifying mother brain creature from the end of Super Metroid? Yes, you would. Give me Zero Suit Samus as a minifig in a like slightly larger set of armor with big ol' shoulders.
00:17:12
Speaker
i love her big ol' shoulders, Matt.
00:17:15
Speaker
Give me a Morph Ball. Damn it. Matt, what have you been up to while I've been building Legos to celebrate my birth? Well, Chris, I've mentioned it on the show before, but I would like to check in with it because i most of my checks lately have been improvised Star Trek, which has concluded.
00:17:33
Speaker
um And to we had a ah really fun run. I hope we get to do more of it soon. ah But while that's been going on, as I've had any free time to do it, I have been doing a YouTube but stream of the Silent Hill 2 remake.
00:17:52
Speaker
And I'm getting ever closer to the end of that game. ah And i I think I recommended it ah recently, but I just wanted to note the playthrough on YouTube.
00:18:07
Speaker
If anybody wants to go watch that, Benito has been watching it and like texting us about things that he found funny in it. So, ah you know,
00:18:19
Speaker
Other people might get a kick out of it. um He has assured me that you are not scared at all. i and i've Yes, he he he pointed out one moment where I walk into a room and I'm expecting one thing and instead it's Pyramid Head.
00:18:35
Speaker
And you could hear me go, oh, it's that kind of enemy I fought before. No, it's Pyramid Head. And I sound scared, but what I am is surprised. Yeah. i like I just want to be very clear that what I am is surprise.
00:18:48
Speaker
ah Anyway... Matt, there was never a fucking second where I thought you were scared.
Matt's Streaming Adventure: Silent Hill 2
00:18:55
Speaker
Yeah. um Anyway, you can go to my YouTube channel or channel and watch that playthrough. I've been having fun with the game, and...
00:19:05
Speaker
and I think it has been a fun stream. Uh, there was one point where like I found a puzzle just completely inscrutable.
00:19:16
Speaker
And, uh, I stopped the stream in the middle of that and then realized that there was just a clue that I had completely not seen before, before that.
00:19:28
Speaker
Um, so maybe skip through that part. I think that's at the end of part nine. Uh, but otherwise, a fun stream and, uh, people should check it out. I've been, I've been doing that, uh, recently, Chris, let's make some recommendations. what do you have to recommend?
Movie Recommendation: K-pop Demon Hunters
00:19:45
Speaker
Matt, I watched K-pop Demon Hunters. Oh, du a lot of people have been wondering what you think about it. Yeah, about 46 people said that asked me, hey, have you seen K-pop Demon Hunters yet?
00:19:58
Speaker
And yes, I finally have. And you know what? get just Start the clock, Matt. It's a hot take coming in. liked it a lot. I thought it was really good.
00:20:08
Speaker
bu but i likes it lot ah thought i was really good Wow. Stop the presses. Really, really catchy songs. Beautiful animation.
00:20:19
Speaker
Like, absolutely gorgeous animation. i Just ah incredible looking. Really fun story. I've had ah one of the songs stuck in my head since ah since Tuesday.
00:20:36
Speaker
So it's just in there. Forever. oh it's It has a lot in common with ah the movie Josie and the Pussycats, which, as you know, is the best movie ever.
00:20:50
Speaker
Uh-huh. Except for also there's swords and demons. oh So, kind of perfect in a lot of ways.
00:21:03
Speaker
ah But yeah, if you haven't watched K-pop Demon Hunters, it's really good. it's It's well worth watching. ah the The animation is not not as varied as, but certainly like
00:21:21
Speaker
reminiscent of and in a lot of ways like comparable to um Into the Spider-Verse. so Oh, okay. yeah Good stuff. Sounds pretty good.
00:21:34
Speaker
ah Matt, what would you like to recommend? Well, Chris, you brought up ah one of my other podcasts, Friends Till the End, that I do with Benito Serino and Erica Henderson.
00:21:48
Speaker
And the most recent movie that we watched for that was Final Destination Bloodlines, which is now streaming on Homebox Office Maximum. And um you can hear me and Benito and Erica talk about it for nearly two hours on that show, so...
00:22:06
Speaker
um I invite you to go do that. But um it is a pretty good movie. And as Benito said, the most watchable of the Final Destination movies.
00:22:17
Speaker
ah I don't know that it's the best because ah Final Destination 3 is actually like pretty good and has easily the best acting of the series ah because Mary Elizabeth Winstead is in it. But...
00:22:31
Speaker
yes ah Final Destination Bloodlines is a pretty enjoyable movie. And if you're looking for a just like a fun,
00:22:45
Speaker
ah don't-take-it-too-seriously kind of horror movie to watch, a summer horror movie, if you will, um then i would say go check that movie out on Homebox Office Maximum.
00:23:02
Speaker
The rare case of me recommending ah movie that I covered on another podcast. Because Movie Fighters movies, all those who are one, I would never recommend.
00:23:17
Speaker
There's a couple. Blue blue Streak, maybe. i have high hopes for the one we're going to watch this month. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see how that how that turns out. um That one i I know will not be good, but could be something you could recommend.
00:23:34
Speaker
Nonetheless. All right, Chris, those are our checks and recs, which means it's time to talk about some of the comics of the week.
Comic Book Highlights: Supergirl & Fantastic Four
00:23:44
Speaker
Chris, I'm going award the texture choice for this week to Supergirl number four. Even though it was Benito who texted us about it.
00:23:59
Speaker
ah Benito called it the most Sophie Campbell thing. And he was correct. yeah Yeah, this is the one where Supergirl and Supergirl's new friend ah ah who was the villain.
00:24:14
Speaker
She was the fake Supergirl. Les Lolar, yeah. Les Lolar, yeah. ah And Lena Luthor all go to the goth club. And dress up in goth clothes.
00:24:25
Speaker
And dress up in goth clothes? Yeah. ye Yep. and And do you find out that Les Lalar is, I guess, seven feet tall?
00:24:40
Speaker
Certainly taller than Supergirl or Lena Luthor. She's wearing very spiked heels. But yeah they are they are all gothed up. ah And it's it's very fun.
00:24:52
Speaker
Very, very fun. And supergirl um Supergirl has a moment where she gets distracted because a Glenn Danzig-ass looking goth dude walks by.
00:25:03
Speaker
Okay, a Glenn Danzig-ass looking goth dude who I think has a Castlevania sleeve. That is what it looks like, for sure. Because it's got it's got a werewolf and death and a castle and a moon.
00:25:19
Speaker
and yeah i Yeah, I think all of his tattoos may be Castlevania-related. Yeah, I think he's got two Castlevania sleeves, which ah i think is pretty cool. Yeah.
00:25:31
Speaker
And he's got an earring that looks that's like heart-shaped, which I think is also a Castlevania reference. Could be. Could be. oh you No, I i love the the relationship dynamic between ah Kara and Lesla and Lena.
00:25:50
Speaker
And now they have a new friend whose name also is a double l which I love because Sophie Campbell gets it. Sophie Campbell gets it, for sure. And the the the conflict of this this issue is that there's like a sort of incel jerk at the Uh-huh.
00:26:11
Speaker
Who thinks he deserves the attention of the goth women at the club. And he's he's like being, you know, a real shit about it.
00:26:23
Speaker
And so Les Lalar uses some of her super substance to punch him. And the super substance gets on him and he becomes like a ah weird...
00:26:37
Speaker
Kryptonian creature that absorbs other people ah with his anger. And so Supergirl has to like go in there and positive her way out of it.
00:26:49
Speaker
um And it's great. Yeah, this issue really cements the the feeling that I had ah that I talked about like a couple of months ago, where it's like this reading this book is like reading Impulse when I was younger.
00:27:06
Speaker
And just like that feeling, that kind of story, that kind of like brisk, zippy, fun ah comic I would give to anyone.
00:27:19
Speaker
And it's an absolute hoot. Yeah, it's it's a great mix of like modern comics with Silver Age-style stories. A lot of thought bubbles. Yeah.
00:27:32
Speaker
A lot of thought bubbles, we time which we've observed before. yeah It's a very introspective comic.
00:27:40
Speaker
I'm ready for the thought bubble revolution ah to happen. ah They're in this book. Let's get them in more comics. Agreed.
00:27:53
Speaker
Up next, we're going to talk about Fantastic Four number two. um Which continues the story from ah Fantastic Four number one, where ah the FF is all stranded in different time periods.
00:28:10
Speaker
And in particular, the Invisible Woman is stuck so far in the future that the device that Reed Richards implanted in a rock that they were all meant to find, ah the tracker is like been destroy has destroyed itself, or has like decayed to the point of not being able to her not to be able to find it.
00:28:38
Speaker
So Reed in the past builds her a bunch of arrows out of diamonds for her to see in the ground. Yeah, pretty great. I really liked the setup of this issue that it's like, okay, it's whoever's last. It's like whoever's the furthest in the future to has to oh ah has to figure out where like how to get everybody back.
00:29:09
Speaker
And that's a really fun setup. I love that you can see like the bits and pieces of Ryan North's other stuff and other interests in the scripts that he writes.
00:29:23
Speaker
But also I love that it never stops being a Fantastic Four comic because the twist in this one is they show back up to fight Dr. Doom and he's like, but how? And Reed explains it to him.
00:29:34
Speaker
And Doom's like, cool, okay, so now I know what to do. um By the way, I invented time travel and I'm the Sorcerer Supreme, so I'm going to just go back in time and do something different.
00:29:46
Speaker
And it turns out that Doom is just killing them over and over and learning how they survive each time. Right, and stopping them, whatever they do each time, to make it so that they have to figure out another way.
00:30:01
Speaker
Yeah. Amazing. Like, very fun. i love the, like, i love the the problem and solution of being tossed through time and and separated and everything.
00:30:15
Speaker
i love that the fucking time sled shows up. You know i love the time sled. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And ah The time slot becomes integral to the end. Yeah. Where Johnny's going to go back and warn their past selves about what Doom is doing.
00:30:33
Speaker
Yeah. ah Yeah, great stuff. It's fun stuff, man. It's it's fun Fantastic Four comics. ah Just, they gotta figure out the logo.
00:30:46
Speaker
They gotta to figure it out. Someday they'll it out. Something must be done about the look. Yes. ah One last book. You said you haven't read it yet, but Chris, you're going to want to read it.
00:31:00
Speaker
ah It's the first issue of Uncle Scrooge, Earth's Mightiest Duck, ah which is written by Jason Aaron, who also had that ah Uncle Scrooge one-shot a while back.
00:31:16
Speaker
That we really enjoyed. ah But this is this is a series. I don't know how many issues it's meant to be. ah But this is this is a series that's going to certainly be more than a one-shot.
00:31:30
Speaker
ah But it's Jason Aaron with art by Mahmoud Asrar, Ciro Kanagialosi, and Giuseppe Comunicoli.
00:31:42
Speaker
ah So it's it's kind of an art jam sort of book. But like this thing gets wild from Jump Street, Chris. Okay.
00:31:53
Speaker
An invading force of aliens takes over Earth, which includes all of Duckburg, and steals everybody's treasures except for Scrooges because he hid everything in his money bin somewhere where no one can find it.
00:32:11
Speaker
Okay. So like from the very beginning, Earth has been conquered in this comic. All right.
00:32:22
Speaker
And ah they can't find the money bin. They can't find what's in the money bin. Well, they can find the money bin, because it's there. But they can't find all of Scrooge's treasure that was in it, because he's hidden it somewhere.
00:32:36
Speaker
And so at one point, they think that it's in a volcano. And so they... get a captured Donald Duck to try to jump inside the volcano. Okay.
00:32:47
Speaker
And he he gets narrowly saved by the nephews. ah But it becomes a thing where these aliens are ah trying to mine Scrooge's mind for information about where the money bin treasure might be.
00:33:11
Speaker
And so it becomes a story ah about that takes place inside the mind of Scrooge McDuck. Oh, that's pretty great. It's, it's very good.
00:33:23
Speaker
Uh, and, uh, you're going to love it. It's, uh, yeah, it's, it's so wild from page one. Uh, it's, what a concept for a comic.
00:33:37
Speaker
Uh, But ah yeah, it does not beat around the bush at all to get into this absolutely bonkers Scrooge McDuck story.
00:33:48
Speaker
So you should, you should, you listeners should check it out, but you, Chris, really should check it out. Yeah, that does sound like the kind of thing i would really, really love. So yeah I will absolutely do so.
00:34:02
Speaker
ah All right. And that's going to do it for our comic segment, which means Chris.
Kyle Starks: Promoting 'Where Monsters Lie'
00:34:06
Speaker
It's time for us to talk to our guest, Kyle Starks. Let's do it.
00:34:26
Speaker
Joining us for the program this week, we are pleased as we always are. to Welcome back to the show. a friend of ours here to talk about i believe the next installment of ah where monsters lie ah it is the franchise himself kyle starks kyle welcome back to the show back on the show guys um back in the studio but here again we we sure all they opened the door they let him in what do they got k starks it's happening
00:34:59
Speaker
This, before you got on the call, me and Matt were yawning. were tired. It's been a long week, been a long day. You've got the energy. You're bringing the energy up, and I appreciate that. um i love being here.
00:35:15
Speaker
it's it's it's It's a drug for me. I wish I could snort it it every day. and it's ah it's a once It's like a once a year special treat for me. You know, we don't talk so much about the War Rocket Ajax studio, where Chris and I are both sitting in front of a big neon War Rocket Ajax, cursive War Rocket Ajax, and and you're sitting in front of a giant upside-down American flag.
00:35:41
Speaker
was curious. I didn't question the decision. that That neon sign is so bright you can smell it. Yeah, yeah. Classic podcast studio.
00:35:54
Speaker
this I know we're here to talk to Kyle. We're here to to let Kyle plug the project and and and and do all that. But i will say, last year for Christmas, I almost bought you a neon sign that said neon sign.
00:36:11
Speaker
That's funny. Because I thought that would be the funniest thing to complete your your transition into into video game streamer. Yeah, I mean, and that's my kind of funny Yeah.
00:36:24
Speaker
yeah You got see um the octagons? The row of octagons? Oh, the the the ones that light up? Yeah. yeah Matt, do you have cat ear headphones?
00:36:37
Speaker
I was about to say. or I was about to say I need a headset with cat ears. Is it wild that a whole generation ah people were like, we need the same pink chair? Wait, like, does that chair...
00:36:52
Speaker
just You might know this, Kyle, because you're big on TikTok now. Yeah, I'm a TikTok man. You're a TikTok guy. Does that chair come... like When you get 50,000 subscriptions on Twitch, do they just send you that chair?
00:37:08
Speaker
Oh, I don't know. That's good question. is that You think so? I mean, a lot of people have it. That's what I'm saying. I just think everyone likes that chair. They're like, what chair should I get? and like I don't know. Get the pink one. Everyone's getting that.
00:37:20
Speaker
I feel like that chair is definitely not comfortable, though. No, but it looks good on cam, though. ah yeah yeah you know what goingnna matches It matches the headphones always. always That's true.
00:37:32
Speaker
That generation is going to have such back problems from sitting in a chair with no lumbar support. whatever what so As opposed to our generation? Slinked over like the Quasimodo. Sneaking brains in jars to Frankenstein.
00:37:51
Speaker
yeah
00:37:54
Speaker
Come on, Matt. That's all. Kyle, what have you been up to lately? You know, I'm just out here doing doing what Kyle's do, making comics, staying above ground. That's what we like say. Staying above ground.
00:38:11
Speaker
I saw both of you this year, which was like a first, I think in six years. It's been a while. I mean, yeah, I went to heroes for the first time in a very long time. I went to Minnesota.
00:38:23
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Uh, You did not see us together like you are currently in the studio. Yeah, it's twice this year I get see you guys. ah ah Where we're sitting ah in chairs that are angled like we are wrestlers watching a TV backstage.
00:38:40
Speaker
Yeah, we're all smoking gigantic cigars. That sign has to be burning. The back of your guys' neck. Slightly concerning. We turn it up to light the cigars.
00:38:52
Speaker
Yeah. yeah It's clean energy. It's dual purpose.
00:39:00
Speaker
So Kyle, tell me about ah tell about Where Monsters Lie, man. Let's let's get yeah let's get right into it. That's a good book. If we can sell stuff, let's sell some stuff. Listen, in hey, my name's Kyle Starks. I'm a three-timeizer and I'm a three-time creator.
00:39:11
Speaker
I make comic books for living. They're pretty good. I made one book. It's called Where Monsters Lie. And here's about.
00:39:17
Speaker
it's about listen It's a world where slasher monsters are real. It's all your favorite tropes. And what do they do between their murders? They probably go somewhere, so why not have a place they go to? They're gated communities for slasher monsters.
00:39:28
Speaker
what where monsters lies about. And then they are discovered by a special agent who's basically Batman if his parents were killed by Jason Voorhees. That's volume one.
00:39:39
Speaker
Sold out, guys. Distributor level. You couldn't get it. Amazing. I mean, I got it. Dog agrees. Volume two? Very good. No one read it.
00:39:51
Speaker
So where does that leave me?
00:39:55
Speaker
so So where does that leave me? Wait, wait, wait. Kyle, I'm sorry to ask this, but is that true? ah Yes, because I'm doing a Kickstarter for Volume 3. And you don't do a Kickstarter if a book sells very well.
00:40:07
Speaker
That's a fact. Or if it sells extremely well, then you do a Kickstarter. But mine was in the former category. That's wild to me because like I read the first volume, really liked it.
00:40:20
Speaker
Read the second volume, really liked it. Yeah. It's like, i don't I don't understand why that would be the case. Well, listen, we could we have theories.
00:40:33
Speaker
We have some theories. i Promotion was a little suspect. Promotion was a little bit suspect. that hit That hit, that pretty good series that sold out at the distribution level, volume two might have came out a year and a half later. That seems like an interesting choice. Irregardless...
00:40:51
Speaker
who knows why the reasons might be that volume two didn't do as well. When I was at heroes this year, people kept people who were fans of mine were kept going, Oh, I didn't know there was a volume two. And I said, we love that.
00:41:03
Speaker
We love that. That's what, that's what you want to hear. I, I never heard of it. I never saw it. i never knew about it. I really liked that one book. I can't believe you made a followup.
00:41:15
Speaker
It's interesting. Uh, So yeah, so ah Peter, who is the artist, Peter Gowalski, who's great, he's drawn, you might know his work from literally everything, horror related. um He does like seven books a month, but he's great. We love Peter.
00:41:29
Speaker
Peter was like, I really want to wrap this up. And I was like I really want to wrap it up too. Volume one did so good, I planned two more arcs.
00:41:36
Speaker
I'd like to do that third one that's in my head. So ah we asked for Dark Horse's permission to print it ourselves, basically, and they said yes. Yeah. And we're doing a Kickstarter. It's halfway through. We got funded in eight days.
00:41:49
Speaker
um It's very good. It's going to be Four Monsters Live Volume 3. We have catch-up things. if you know If you're not familiar, if you haven't read it, the books are in print. If you were like, i that sounds great. Let's get it right now. You can probably get it. They probably have to special order Volume 2 for you.
00:42:02
Speaker
But you can still you can still get both of them. You can still get those books. And then or get PDFs from me through the Kickstarter. It's really good. It's got monsters in it, doing monster things. They're domesticated. It's funny. And it's horror.
00:42:15
Speaker
So wait, do you it's a creator-owned book, right? The whole time, it's a creator-owned book. Yeah. so So asking Dark Horse if you could do the Kickstarter was just like a courtesy.
00:42:27
Speaker
Well, so i mean so there's sort of a gray area. So like images, they're both creator-owned, but they have the right to print it. They own the right to print it. So like I could make a cartoon.
00:42:38
Speaker
I could make a music video. I could some weird um i could do like some weird theater like a modern theater ah but i can't print it so you have to get permission to do the printing i would really love to see the one-man show version of where monsters lie where it's you on a stage and you're like oh hey here i am back in my old neighborhood and adding a stretch goal with all these crazy characters Wow, you guys sure look monstrous, but that guy's mowing his lawn. And that one over there looks like he's doing some gardening. Look at old look at old machete hands sweeping his porch.
00:43:20
Speaker
Waving to Mrs. Machete Hands. those aren't real Those aren't characters in the book. I just made machete hands up. He'll be in volume four.
00:43:29
Speaker
Listen, listen. We'll have to go to get a lawyer and hear about the rights for something that was created on the show. oh But... Why did the neon sign get brighter when you said that?
00:43:43
Speaker
It watches. it It sees all.
00:43:48
Speaker
ah Kyle, I told you this before. I feel like the genius of so much of your work, and I would call it genius and have called it genius for roughly 15 years now, is that like...
00:44:09
Speaker
It all feels like stuff that was right there in front of us. the That nobody did. Like... Like, yeah, the the the the subdivision, the gated community full of serial killers, because they have to live somewhere. They have to go somewhere.
00:44:27
Speaker
and and And so they might as well all live in the same place, because so they don't have to worry about getting found out. Like, that feels like such a... a perfectly logical idea that I had never seen before, before I read ah the first and, of I thought, only volume of Where Monsters Lie.
00:44:51
Speaker
two There's two of them. There's going to be three. Oh, there's a second one? Wow. Okay. Yeah. It's in stores. It's called Cold the Sec. One might be in stores. They can special order it. They can definitely get it.
00:45:01
Speaker
I just checked on numbers today. They they got plenty. um That's real sweet, man. Thank you. Sometimes I get ideas and I go, oh, well, well surely that's been done before. And so I Google it.
00:45:14
Speaker
And when it's not, I'm like, that's crazy. I feel like this is one of them. And ah gun chucks from Sex Castle. I feel like those are my two. No one's ever done that before. That's crazy.
00:45:25
Speaker
I feel like gun chucks I have seen in other places since. ah I couldn't find it. Surely. but couldn't find it at the time. But yeah, would I would absolutely, i would say, if not invented, certainly popularized. Oh, you know what's another one? Is that I have a book called Kill Them All, and that's a title that hasn't been used either. Incredible. There's Kill Them All is is ah is a thing.
00:45:52
Speaker
Yes. You have to fight that one out of your mouth.
00:45:57
Speaker
Kill Them All just got released in hardcover, guys. Is that crazy? i I love Kill Them All. ah Kill Them All. it's Look, I think it's cool that a book like has a long shelf life. like yeah Agreed. People are still thinking about Kill the Ball, which is cool.
00:46:19
Speaker
It's super cool. i have talk I'm very fixated right now on... um how comics are perceived in regards to like time, how they're generally a week or maybe a month at best.
00:46:30
Speaker
you're very lucky, you get like a year, unless you're like one of eight books that get to go on forever. Like we forget about so many books, which is unfortunate, I think for a lot of people.
00:46:42
Speaker
so I started doing this TikTok thing. I'm actually, i haven't done it because of the Kickstarter. It's taking on my time where I try to sort of like spotlight, Books like I don't know why people don't talk about regularly anymore.
00:46:54
Speaker
ah it so it's kind of like you're catching up on comics. I guess it's kind of like you're catching up on comics. It's kind of like a comics catch-up. Did Google that one to see if anybody had done it, Kyle?
00:47:05
Speaker
Comics catch-up? Yeah, it doesn't sound like you did. I have a feeling. I called my but my comics for forever because I thought it sounded good at that very moment. ah But I'm running out of those books, so you guys might need to send me a list.
00:47:19
Speaker
turns out turns out that Turns out there aren't that many good comic books. I'm just kidding. Kyle, yeah kyle ah you say we forget about comics. We don't. No, you guys don't. no Everybody else does. You've got to be careful pulling the string, guys, because they'll just start talking about stuff and it's not happy stuff. and We like to like keep it positive.
00:47:44
Speaker
We to keep it positive. I think the comics community has changed a lot. um over the last several years where we don't talk about comics the same way we used to in a large group.
00:47:55
Speaker
um I know you guys do. I suspect Chris does constantly. He's the exception. I mean, I really talk about them with Matt, and that's kind of it.
00:48:06
Speaker
like It's us and Benito, and like that's I don't even really... like if If anybody follows my Blue Sky account, I will just... like I'll post panels from One Piece as I read it, you know, or I'll put up a ah particularly Looney Tunes picture or panel from Fist of the North Star.
00:48:29
Speaker
But like, I, this show is where I talk about comics. Yeah. i Well, listen, here, this is a, this the smallest version of it. And because you worked at a comic shop, I worked at a comic shop.
00:48:42
Speaker
Right. And the thing that I remember most, and then it seemed like not just in the comic shop, but sort of an extension thereafter for any comic conversation up until almost say like five years ago, if like maybe the timeframe is bad. I think it's post-
00:48:58
Speaker
saga sex criminals southern bastard sort of the window where it used to be if someone's like oh man i really like this you go oh you should read this you know what i mean it was always this oh i like this you should read this have you read this no and it seems like that's gone it's very short timed it's very critical it's very very cover-based the way that the community at large speaks about things i think it used to be um the book that i think about a lot when i think about things that it doesn't seem like people talk about, but it used to be if someone's like, Oh, you like that? You shake it. It's like Zot.
00:49:26
Speaker
Like Zot seems like it's gone the wayside and that's a masterpiece. It's a classic. Right. yeah good but i think there's a bunch of books like that. um I'm trying to think what i have on my shelf over there. And the problem with some of it is like, I'm not going to do things that are out of print.
00:49:40
Speaker
And it used to be, you know, if you want, if someone's like, Oh, have you read? Well, um, uh, have you read, this arc of X-Men, you'd have to go find like the back issues or find a friend who had them. it's like, now it's easy to read those things. We should be more promoting like the past and other like great things. But it's always like, it came out two years ago, it's not talked about anymore.
00:49:59
Speaker
It's a weird thing. Because if it's a book, a good book sells forever. And some of this is on the publishers. I say some. like There's a percentage that's on the publishers, right? Stephen King's publishers are making sure that people are reading Stephen King books.
00:50:12
Speaker
Why hasn't Dark Horse put out a mask in like seven years? That is what always gets me with, like, I never hear anybody talk about Marvel Unlimited.
00:50:25
Speaker
You know? Yeah. Well, and not not well. Not nicely. Yeah. But for, like, for all of its flaws, and I think Marvel Unlimited has a lot of flaws. A lot of flaws, yeah. Which is part of the problem.
00:50:37
Speaker
It's still, like, 50,000 comics that you can get for, what is it, 80 bucks? Yeah. I think it's, I used to know, I think you can get a yearly that's like 60 something. But yeah, it's like about 80 bucks, which is ridiculous. Yeah. Because I know you i know you got that Viz subscription.
00:50:53
Speaker
Yeah, and that's the other thing. is like Shonen Jump is three bucks a month. And you can read all of Dragon Ball. You can read read every all of the Spy Family. You can read all of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
00:51:07
Speaker
All of One Piece. All this stuff that's like super popular. yeah and It's very easy to get into. I feel like Viz doesn't promote i feel like even viz doesn't promote the the Shonen Jump app subscription the way I think they should.
00:51:28
Speaker
But they certainly do a better job of it than the Marvel Unlimited, which is like, hey, do you want to read all the X-Men? You want to all the good X-Men? Yeah, you know, i was like i've been I've had access to the DC one, which I don't know the name of.
00:51:42
Speaker
um And the DC one seems to have everything on it. Like, anything you'd want to read is on there, and that's not entirely true of the Marvel Unlimited. um It's got the entire booster run, guys. The entire booster gold run.
00:51:55
Speaker
All 54 issues, or however many ridiculous number that is.
00:52:00
Speaker
Anyway... Did you guys know i'm doing a Kickstarter? I think it's called d ah DC Universe Infinite, right? does that what is he What a mouthful.
00:52:11
Speaker
What a mouthful. um yeah Here's the thing. though like I think the big change, or one of the big changes, like if you're at a convention and you can just like go pick up a book, it's easy to recommend a comic, right?
00:52:29
Speaker
Yeah. But online... Aside from like sending someone ah link to the bad book website, where they're going to like have to buy the book, like there's nowhere to send somebody to buy a book digitally, like a single book digitally. Yeah, I mean, that's an entirely different conversation. But also, I would say, you know as readership, we're going to talk about happy things, Matt.
00:52:55
Speaker
Okay, sorry. i Listen, here's the thing. there readership Listen, I'm not that smart. I'm like, I'm a certified dummy. But there are certain things I look at and I go, that's weird, right? It's like, readership is dwindling. like read That's a fact. like Readership is dwindling. It's like, well, what are the efforts that an industry could do? It's like, well, we need new readers. But what's a good way to do that? It's to bring, those people are never going to go to a comic shop.
00:53:16
Speaker
Like, God bless comic shops. I love retailers. so It's like, how do you get those people? And it's like, they just don't bother. It's not the answer. Those people will read things digitally. And especially they're super cheap. are i don't know you've ever been to Webtoons, if they're free.
00:53:29
Speaker
And then those books come out. I went to Meyers the other day. You guys have Meyers as a grocery store chain. and don I am familiar with it. I went to a grocery store. That's a grocery store chain. And they had graphic novels. And three quarters of them were Webtoons books.
00:53:42
Speaker
What does that say? It says that model works. It says that model works. why the Superman is the biggest thing in the world. like And it's at Dairy Queen. It's like, where's why aren't we selling comics? These things like drive me insane because like we need readership. and it's ah The monthly comics, the monthly single issues are collectibles.
00:54:00
Speaker
You know? Yeah. i'm and say what i'm saying I'm just saying, 10 years ago, we thought that we we had Jobs, and Cash. yeah yeah But we also had Comixology and like a good version that worked. And ah something like that, again, would be a big help, I feel like, to be able to recommend things to people. yeah i think recommending i think I think that's what the the real culture of comics is, is like sharing...
00:54:28
Speaker
that joy of have you read this? Have you read that? And it's kind of cool. That is the thing that I miss. I do not miss working in a comic book store. And in fact, I still have ah a stress dream about three times a year that the Diamond Order is due and I have not done it and I need to do it right now, um which has outlived Diamond comic distributors. I have been having that dream.
00:54:57
Speaker
Since 2010. ah But the thing that I miss about working in a comic book store, the thing that I miss about going to conventions, and the thing that I miss about like kind of the heyday of of comics blogging, as it was, is exactly that. It's being like, hey, y'all read this?
00:55:14
Speaker
like have youall Like, hey, it turns out US 1 is really fun if you actually read it. Yeah. Intman? Intman? I mean, Nth Man's not... Well, look.
00:55:27
Speaker
Come on. We're not going to disparage Nth Man on War Rocket Ajax. ah were We're certainly not going to disparage Larry. ah Nth Man's never a bad word about Larry Hama. I got my copy of Nth Man number one signed by Larry Hama because he said that was his favorite thing he's ever written.
00:55:45
Speaker
And i do not believe that is true. i think he i think that was a work, brother. Nah, I bet it's his favorite. We'll find out. But yeah, like, but exactly that. Like, if I described the plot of Nth Man to you, you would not believe me.
00:56:05
Speaker
you wouldn't believe me when started talking about the could-be's. But it was fun to like, but i remember we used to, you know, when we would have our big like Black Friday sale at the comic book store, like I would be on the floor for an entire shift in the back issue section when everything was on sale for like, you know, a quarter each or you could fill up a long box for a hundred bucks.
00:56:28
Speaker
And I'd be like pulling out runs and handing them to people. Yeah. I'd be like putting together like, oh man, have you ever read, do ever read Eurohit? The story where Punisher goes to Europe to kill somebody.
00:56:40
Speaker
That's the entire plot. It's Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. It's great. That's I'm talking about. That's what i'm talking about, Chris. yeah with this Yeah. oh That was you know that was the the kind of fun thing, is is sharing like the weird stuff. And it's why like if I ever go to conventions now, like the stuff that I look for 80s black and white boom comics, because those are the ones that nobody ever reprints.
00:57:08
Speaker
But yeah.
00:57:11
Speaker
That's upsetting. Tell you what else i look for is Kyle Starks comics, but I get those from Kyle Starks. but I get those. Get them directly from. i get them pre-ordered. that's for You know what? Pre-orders are important.
00:57:23
Speaker
Kickstarting Kyle Starks. We're doing some Kickstarters. It's for Where Monsters Lie Dead End. It's about gated communities for slasher monsters. It's where they go in between their sort of cinematic murder sprees, their movies, if you will.
00:57:37
Speaker
What do they do? Does Jason Voorhees just stay in the woods for two years? No. Someone's got to house him. How does Chucky get chicken fingers for his girlfriend? What is he doing? is he just Think about... Listen, matt Matt, I've heard a rumor that you're a Chucky expert.
00:57:54
Speaker
ah Is that what you've heard? okay i've heard ah I've heard a rumor. Here's what perfect made me think of Where Monsters Lie amongst any things. One, the Saw movies. Because I'm watching the Saw movies and there's one where there's ah there's a pit filled with syringes. You seen that one?
00:58:06
Speaker
There's pit filled with syringes. Chris hasn't because he doesn't like scary movies. so I actually haven't... I think I've only seen maybe one and a half Saw movies. Well, there's like...
00:58:17
Speaker
um' There's more to see. Well, there's one where there's a pit filled with syringes. And of course, someone gets thrown into the pit with syringes. And i'm watching that I'm watching that movie and I'm going, that old man did not dig that pit.
00:58:29
Speaker
There's no way. Two, how did he get how did he get eight billion syringes? You can't use a local contractor for that. These are great questions. There's one where he has this metal thing where you like you don't i don't know if you don't solve a Ruby's Cube fast enough, it pops your face open. right He's not building that. I've never seen a screwdriver in that movie.
00:58:46
Speaker
I've never seen a blueprint. Someone has to build those things for him. These are the things I'm thinking about. Chucky, you see him do the movie. He's with his girlfriend. Then they're gone for two years. They're presumably like what couch surfing. are so where they Where are they at, man?
00:59:00
Speaker
Are they hotels? Is Chucky just watching Cape? like is he just watching he's like She's like, I gotta go to work. and He's like, okay, I'll just watch TV for another... nonstop because I don't have to sleep these are important questions was like what there was someone to help these guys what if they had a little communities and they all lived there and interacted until they got sent out again to do more murders I called it Where Monsters Lie I've done two of them lot of people know about the second one some people say it's better some people have said it's better the few people that commented that they read it told me it was better and we're doing the third one we're doing it on Kickstarter Where Monsters Lie dead end we're very excited about it it's going quite good
00:59:37
Speaker
Kyle, I wanted to ask you about like genre. Because... like
00:59:46
Speaker
Look, i would never i would never... Me? I would never say that Kyle Starks was pigeonholed in any particular genre. Sure.
00:59:56
Speaker
um But you made your you made your name with a sort of action parody, I feel like, with Sex Castle. I prefer homage, but yes.
01:00:07
Speaker
Homage. Great. And then, like, you did you did the Rick and Morty comics. You were Mr. Rick and Morty for a while doing the the sci-fi comedy kind of stuff. Kill Them All, another action book.
01:00:19
Speaker
Yes. Assassination. Assassination, action. And, like, it feels now, like, even though you've done some other stuff, like Pine and Merrimack is more of just kind of like a mystery story, but, like,
01:00:34
Speaker
It feels like you're in your horror period right now. like Well, it's very it's very popular. Yeah. is Is that the idea? you're You're chasing the trends? No. Well, no.
01:00:44
Speaker
um But it doesn't hurt. I love comedy. like those that's the I love action. I love comedy. I love horror. I love those things. Yeah. Those are my favorite genres for sure.
01:00:58
Speaker
I'm trying to think. And then like wrestling. Wrestling's maybe. Is that a genre? um Yeah, that's a genre. I'd call that genre. That's in the top four in some I love those things. And...
01:01:10
Speaker
and When the pandemic happened, I've told this story for sure, like a million times. When the pandemic happened, I was very concerned about how my my readership wasn't growing because when I make these stories, they're not for the void. They're meant to be consumed.
01:01:22
Speaker
And um also, I'd like to feed my children. Those are the things that are important to me. And two editors and a very famous writer both told me not to do comedy anymore. Because comedy sort of a bad word in in the direct market, which it is. And it's fairly, it's a well-earned sort of bad word in the direct market. So that's what I did. I hate this place, which was like, well, do something very serious.
01:01:45
Speaker
I like horror. um i think I can do a very good job at it because it is the the way in which you tell those stories to have the effects you want is very similar to comedy. It's about pacing. It's about timing. It's about setting things up. it you know It's a murder instead of a punchline, et cetera, et cetera.
01:02:01
Speaker
um So I thought I could do it well. Um, so I did, I hate this place. I'm like, I'm gonna do a very serious, a very horror book. Of course, that book was nominated for best humor publication. So I didn't do a great job of not being a little funny, I guess on accident.
01:02:15
Speaker
Um, uh, I just did a, I did a podcast with David Harper and I'd only mentioned David Harper on another podcast out of respect for the podcast I'm on, but David Harper is a great boy. we love him. Um, and he, he was like, um,
01:02:28
Speaker
Are you trying to shirk... I have a book coming out in November called Devil on My Shoulder, which isn't remotely funny. It's not remotely funny. It's ah it's a dark, gory, bloody revenge story.
01:02:40
Speaker
um And he's like, are you trying to shirk the you know the label of comedy? It's like, I'm not trying to shirk. i'm I'm trying to diversify, maybe. i I like to tell stories that have... everything in them.
01:02:52
Speaker
um And I want to be able to be able to tell those stories without people having expectations past it being hopefully an enjoyable story. Right. So I like horror. It's also, I mean, listen, I'm talking crap about everyone. It's, it's the one thing is the, it is the number one thing to get approved as a pitch.
01:03:11
Speaker
But also I like those. I mean, I, i like, I like them. I like horror a lot. So it works out pretty well for me. It's a bummer to hear that people say that comedy is a bad word.
01:03:22
Speaker
It is. more id believe It is, though. i like Because i love to read a funny comic. 100%. I think most people do. i i think Here's the thing. I think sequential storytelling, I think people like it when it's funny.
01:03:36
Speaker
But if you look at it, we're specifying the direct market here. the history of the direct market, how many things are actually funny? How many things did the big two say, check out our hilarious new book that's not remotely funny?
01:03:49
Speaker
so So you're saying, I mean, the well has been poisoned. And that's true. Yes. yes is that no yeah it's like because because too it's It's too many times people have been like, check out our this hilarious new book. And it's not. It'll be like sight gags.
01:04:02
Speaker
Like almost always. It's sight gags and puns. um And I think because of that, People are hesitant, though. I do believe, you know, I don't think there's anyone in comics who's like Chip Zdarsky. Isn't that funny?
01:04:13
Speaker
Right. Like, there's no way. um I think some guys have earned it. You know, Mark Russell fans are are well-deserved. Like he's ah brilliant. um I think Ryan Brown. I think me. I think John Allison is severely underrated.
01:04:27
Speaker
um we should be talking about John Allison more also as a community because he's unbelievably good. um It's just like the the number of people who do it consistently well, I think, is the problem, because I think there's a lot of stuff out there that's good.
01:04:38
Speaker
um But it doesn't sell as well. I mean, that's it the truth of the matter is like it doesn't sell as well as other things. And a lot of that is because people will take a try on a superhero. They generally like the superhero comics they've read, but they generally dislike the quote unquote comedy comics they read.
01:04:56
Speaker
In fact, this just listen't to this as i again as long as I'm being grouchy, for Where Monsters Lie Volume 1, I said don't say don't say funny, don't say comedy, don't say humorous in any of the in any of the this the previews or any of that. i Don't say it's funny at all.
01:05:12
Speaker
And it's my it's the best-selling. It's sold out. Now, for the second volume, did you say, hey, the the laugh out loud... Can I tell you? I think they did. But I'd have to go back. I was talking about... I think they did.
01:05:27
Speaker
I think they did. But again, it doesn't help that it came out so later. And I think also... in regards, I don't want to harp because I'm trying to be light about it, but is that if the first volume sells out, I think a publisher just assumes it will do well.
01:05:40
Speaker
They just assume it will do well. And like, that's not how it works. Like if people don't know it exists, it won't do well. People are hesitant on s sequels. When i see people, i mean retailers because s sequels don't sell great.
01:05:52
Speaker
Um, especially that far after, like it's really kind of strike when the iron's hot. Um, And that is what it is the The industry is weird right now. It's weird in its setting um and how challenging it is to be successful under a certain line of successful creators.
01:06:10
Speaker
Because we're all trying to be seen at once, you know? Or do some of us are doing Kickstarters? We'll call them monsters lie dead in. It's got two weeks left, guys.
01:06:21
Speaker
So great stretch goals to reach, though. ah Kyle, people are going to know that that's out because they're going to hear about it right here on War Rocket Ajax. And they're going to go to Kickstarter ah and look for Where Monsters Lie, Dead End.
01:06:36
Speaker
And they're going to get caught up. They're going to back it. And I know that's going to happen. But right now, it's time for us to stop asking you questions and time to kick it over to our listeners.
01:06:47
Speaker
Matt, if the listeners want to get in on these conversations that we have with friends of the show, like Kyle Starks, oh How exactly can they go about that? There are two main ways to do it, Chris. One, you can go to BlueSky.
01:07:02
Speaker
BSky.app. And follow warrocketajax.com there. That's our handle on Blue Sky. And wait until Thursday night at 9.30 p.m. Eastern Time.
01:07:15
Speaker
And ask a question there. We'll put out the call for questions there. Or you can be a member of our Discord, and we'll put out the call for questions there as well. And you can ask a question on Discord, just like these questions for Kyle Starks.
01:07:30
Speaker
Our first question, Kyle, for you is from our buddy Ben, Franz Ferdinand 2, on Blue Sky. ah Ben wants to know, how far do y'all think you could get in a Kumite?
01:07:44
Speaker
um Is it like a toddler Kumite? Because I'm running the board on that one. Is it a is it a guinea pig Kumite?
01:07:56
Speaker
Because I'm your grand champion. Yeah. Otherwise, and poorly, extremely poorly. I think I would have a hard time getting to the Kumite.
01:08:07
Speaker
I think I'm going out the first round. we they to To go up the million steps into the Tibetan castle? and I mean, just like driving there? don't like to leave.
01:08:17
Speaker
No, that's... I'm in bed by nine most nights. I love that for you. Yeah, I wouldn't do good at a Kumite unless it was like... um i I'm 48, and I would love to find an over 40 under six foot tall men's basketball league.
01:08:35
Speaker
You know? If there was like a parenthesis, haven't played in a while, you know what i mean? Like, I would love that. if if If that was the type of kumite, under six foot, has never hasn't been in a fight in 30 years,
01:08:51
Speaker
I can get past two rounds. That's that That would be quite the spectacle, I feel like. That's a lot of slapping. It's a lot of slapping. And if you get taken down, if that someone does like a, like a ah what's the wrestle move? Like the double leg takedown? You just go down.
01:09:08
Speaker
You're not getting back. You're just done. You're just laying there Like there's no getting back up. Some rolling. i think i could make it I think I could make it two rounds in that. I'm surprisingly strong. I'm i'm country strong. You didn't know that about me.
01:09:21
Speaker
And oh I'm biter. I'm a biter. um'm a biter ah And I can i can take ah one hit. Well.
01:09:32
Speaker
ah Ashley Buchanan on our Discord wants to know, where do monsters tell the truth?
01:09:39
Speaker
In bed. um I'd say in bed. Yeah, that makes sense. I gotta get on this Discord. I'm just learning about Discord. I'm really learning about things like Discord.
01:09:50
Speaker
ah KateTheHate On our Discord wants to know, pocket monsters or digital monsters? Oh, so I have no personal investment in this.
01:10:02
Speaker
But my youngest daughter, who's now 15, woof, loved Digimon. Adored Digimon. she wrotede She was ride and die with Digimon. So I go with Digimon.
01:10:13
Speaker
okay Also, there's one Digimon, and she always says I'm wrong, and I don't remember it correctly. But I think I do. There's a cactus with boxing gloves. Oh, yeah. My wife has a tattoo of that Digimon. ah Yeah, ah that's the best of all of those things.
01:10:27
Speaker
it's in a It's in a fucking, sorry, it's in a pot. It's still in a pot. I love that cactus with boxing gloves. And I think it and evolves into like a spring-armed thing. That's a good one.
01:10:40
Speaker
Cactusmon. I don't know his name. Also, all of them have monithin with their name, which I think is very funny. I'm Digimon for my daughter, ride or die. I got you, J-Mon. He's upstairs. ah Barely Sushi.
01:10:53
Speaker
Yeah, upstairs from this studio that we're in. Yeah, she's waiting for me to get done. Barely Sushi on our Discord says... heard she's not above that light. Oh, she's catching a of secondhand cigar smoke ah upstairs.
01:11:09
Speaker
Carcinogens. Barely Sushi, sorry. Yeah. You did a vampire basketball book. That's true. What other monsters should play sports and which sports?
01:11:20
Speaker
Whoa. Well, listen, Dracula's great at all the facts. Frankenstein would be best at baseball because you don't have to move around a lot. And if you have good power, he's got like Frank Thomas energy.
01:11:33
Speaker
Mummy can't be good at in at any sport, right? Mummy can't be good. Obviously, ah creature's good at any water polo. um and Invisible Man, probably good at...
01:11:48
Speaker
basketball hockey i guess you'd see a stick though
01:11:56
Speaker
who else was there fan of the opera nothing he might be really good at ping pong fuck that guy he lives in a basement so yeah it's pair werewolf if it's a full moon i think it'd be great at any sport um it had be nighttime sport so half the baseball games are out right basketball i feel like that's the air bud movie that we haven't gotten air air werewolf yeah is that like hey we gotta have the championship game on the night of the full moon every time well i guess that's just team was already out there yeah he was thirty now that i'm saying it i guess that's just team wolf there's a reason why that's a classic because you look at it and you see truth
01:12:41
Speaker
You see truth. Kyle, I think it's so funny that you brought up Frank Thomas. Why? Is that hive mind working? Because there's a lot of kind of fat guys I could have said. Well, I i just, i think of those commercials that he's in for that like male enhancing yeah supplement.
01:13:01
Speaker
He's doing it. Supposedly it's working out for him. Supposedly. According to the ads, it's working out for him. forgot about those.
01:13:11
Speaker
It's called Nugenics, which is yeah once dangerously close to eugenics. they're Too close. too Too close. ah I think that's all the monsters, right?
01:13:23
Speaker
Yeah, you got them all. I think you got them all.
01:13:27
Speaker
Stone Cold HCC, an account that exists only to ask questions on Warrock and Ajax, wants to know, Why'd Target name their mascot after Bullseye? That asshole murdered Electra Nachios. Yeah.
01:13:40
Speaker
I can't believe that dog has a name. Yeah, Bullseye. He's got a name. It definitely came after that character was created. stop Yeah, eat well absolutely. winner He's got the little mark on his eye that is a Bullseye.
01:13:56
Speaker
Yeah. Like the character Bullseye. It retconned. It had the the Bullseye like carved into his forehead. You know, i did it I did a comic called Marvel Unleashed, and now I regret that somehow Bullseye wasn't in there as more of a Bullseye.
01:14:13
Speaker
I bet Marvel's going to follow up with me on that one, so we'll put that yeah and down to. Writing next to Airwolf equals Werewolf and Machete Hands. Getting a lot of work out of this episode. We love this.
01:14:27
Speaker
ah Lokified on our Discord says, Kyle, what basketball player would help you move, no questions asked? oh On the spot, who would help you move, no questions asked? Who's the best?
01:14:43
Speaker
Oh my gosh. Who would be down... Here's the thing. The answer right off Steve Adams. Steve Adams is super strong. Likes showing he's super strong.
01:14:55
Speaker
Sets killer picks. Is a great teammate. He's the active player that would for sure help you move happily. And he's um he's ah from New Zealand. So, you know, he's nice people. i think he's from New Zealand. He might be Australian, I'm pretty sure he's New Zealand.
01:15:11
Speaker
Steven Adams. ah He's got country strength also. He's extremely strong. There's somebody... What team does he play for?
01:15:21
Speaker
ah The Rockets. He plays for the Rockets right now. He plays for many teams, which doesn't make... He looks just like Jason Momoa in many ways. Yes. Steven Adams will definitely help you move.
01:15:33
Speaker
ah Okay. ah Chris, ah same question, but for Power Rangers. Which Power Ranger would help you move?
01:15:44
Speaker
Yeah. No questions asked. I mean... The thing about the Power Rangers is that for being teens with attitude, their the attitude is helpful.
01:15:55
Speaker
Like, the attitude is is full of civic responsibility and kindness. So i I don't think there's a lot of Power Rangers that wouldn't help you move.
01:16:08
Speaker
No questions asked? I mean, what... Hey, I need you to help me move. Like, what is the question that you ask? Oh, well, is there going to be pizza? Yeah, yeah When is it?
01:16:21
Speaker
How long was it going to take? How many things you have move? I mean, yeah okay. in this just question I'm asking those questions but I'm pre-complaining. exactly Exactly. In this situation, have the Power Rangers been to my house?
01:16:37
Speaker
No. I mean, it's it's assuming that you know them all and they're all your friends. Then yeah, they would all help. No, here's what I think the question is. No, you don't even know them. I think Steven Adams would be like, alright, mate.
01:16:52
Speaker
Oh, like... No questions asked. You say they would help a stranger move. They just got done vaporizing Eye Guy. Yeah, that's right. And they they roll back to the Angel Grove ah Youth Center and Juice Bar.
01:17:09
Speaker
I mean, if it's that set of Power Rangers, yeah. I mean... um First of all, if I have all the Power Rangers, that's an easy move. Everybody grab one thing.
Power Rangers Discussion: Bulk and Skull
01:17:21
Speaker
Yeah, like, I mean, you could have the RPM crew in there.
01:17:24
Speaker
RPM crew would Hey, who were the who were the who are the weird bullies that were sort of always on the... Bulk and Skull? Yeah, were they ever Power Rangers? Did they ever get to suit up? Did they ever get the thing that turns you into the suit?
01:17:38
Speaker
No, but there is a really good moment where ah Earth is ah conquered... ah by the bad guys in kind of the the last of the sort of interconnected continuity Power Rangers before they're all kind of standalone seasons.
01:17:55
Speaker
And they do get to have like an I'm Spartacus moment, but it's like, I'm the Red Ranger. right Like, like it's a real, it's a real, uh, this is New York. You miss one of us. You miss him with all of us moment.
01:18:08
Speaker
buts It's very good. Actually. right. That sounds pretty good. And I would kiss his version when see one episode where they were villains and they had to decide like which one was worthy.
01:18:18
Speaker
That has to have happened in a comic, but I did never happen on the show. right.
Fun with Spider-Man Villains: Moving Helpers?
01:18:24
Speaker
Lucas's version of that question for me is same question, but with Spider-Man villains, um, none of them, they're all villains.
01:18:32
Speaker
But I think the one who would be most likely to... it is Because he's got a non-villain form would be Dr. Kirk Connors. Oh, Matt, you don't... but He's only going to be some help.
01:18:47
Speaker
Yeah, he's definitely going to do think one of the... New Beetle, he seems like kind of a dude. Well, ah my other thought was Sandman.
01:18:58
Speaker
Like, reformed Sandman. Yeah, yeah. I feel like... I don't think any of the ah Sinister Six are going to help you move, but I do feel like... You know, I do feel like Boomerang might help you out.
01:19:11
Speaker
Yeah, that's what i'm saying Like, one of those guys... Like, White Rabbit might help you out. She's a weirdo. White Rabbit absolutely is not helping you out. You're right. White Rabbit is not helping you move. White Rabbit is going to steal your VCR. Yeah.
01:19:26
Speaker
Kangaroo, maybe? Kangaroo, maybe. Listen, you know, here's here's what the answer is, but it's not correct. It's leapfrog, but it's not that leapfrog. It's that red-headed kid. Oh, yeah. desperate for Who's desperate desperate for exception acceptance. He would help you move in a heartbeat.
01:19:41
Speaker
He would be laughing and bouncing the whole way. But just a good guy a bad guy suit, you know? Kind of like me. That's what I'm say. Yeah, Kyle Starks. I always say Kyle Starks is a good guy to bad guy suit.
01:19:56
Speaker
Our guest has been Kyle Starks. Three-time eyes are nominated comic creator. Franchise. Hollywood Kyle Starks. ah It is Where Monsters Lie, Dead End.
01:20:08
Speaker
is there a a short ah URL or or should people just go find you, Kyle? yeah You have to just Google it we'll we'll link it. We'll link it in the show notes. it We will link it in the show notes.
Kyle Starks on Social Media and Upcoming Projects
01:20:20
Speaker
And Kyle, where else can everybody find you online? i'm ah I'm at the Kyle Starks everywhere. I hear that people don't do that anymore, but I'm still trying to do it. I think I might be starting a newsletter, guys. I'm thinking about starting newsletter because I think people are gone.
01:20:34
Speaker
um They're not on the socials anyway, and we want to keep in touch. keep in touch So we're doing TikToks, we're doing the Instagram, we're doing Blue Sky. We're still on Twitter, but have you been there? That place is like fucking Escape from New York.
01:20:45
Speaker
um It's... scary over there. I have not been there in months. ah Pop your head and see how many ah see how many message requests you have.
01:20:56
Speaker
A nightmare. Oh, oh no. It's a nightmare. ah You'll have to exit out of a lot of groups. I go there, and i like I'm going to put... Here's what I do. id like I'm going to just put this news update, and I'm going to walk away.
01:21:08
Speaker
And every time I get like ah get like one response, because there are some people over there, and I'll be like, oh, I guess I'll see what they said. And every time I'm like... Stark. I think everyone's spreading out, which is probably good for human existence, but it's hard for if you want to talk about comics and promote comics. so I'm at the Kyle Starks everywhere. i cowsttaks dot com I have a Patreon where i do a sticker club. Two stickers every month for $5.
01:21:32
Speaker
They're super fun. I talk about the industry. I tell you secrets you secret complaints. I do Google Hangouts at patreon.com backslash Kyle Starks. That's not a the Kyle Starks. Devil on My Shoulder comes out in November. You can pre-order before October something.
01:21:45
Speaker
20th who knows it's very good if you love horrors and you're like i wish kyle was doing horrors that weren't funny at all uh i got you covered and big announcements coming up big announcements at new york comic-con i announced something early i know you guys are trying to get rid of me have you heard about have you heard about uh the image book i have coming out december chris no it's called wrestle heist guess what it's about Actually, you did tell me about that when you were hanging out here in ah in Minnesota.
01:22:14
Speaker
And i that was another one where I was like, God damn it. You done done it again. doing It's wrestlers doing a heist. i'm gonna have an ash can of that at New York Comic Con. It comes out December. Excellent.
01:22:26
Speaker
Excellent. Very excited it. It's about wrestlers doing heist. Kyle, thank you for ah coming the show. Thanks for talking to us. Thanks for making them good comics. we We love stepping in the studio. can you It's too hot.
01:22:41
Speaker
The sign's too hot. You're going to need aloe. Yes! Oh yeah, yeah oh yeah it's there's there's UV coming off of this thing like you wouldn't believe. My daughter, my daughter who's 15 and upstairs, just texted me her shoes have melted.
01:22:58
Speaker
You can expense those. oh with no no No, you can't. with with Insurance is not going to cover that. not with Not with us. The shoe company. yeah Guys, thanks for having me. What a treat. We love you guys. We love being here. Let's do it again super, super soon.
01:23:16
Speaker
Love you, buddy. Bye.
Show Wrap-Up and Listener Interaction
01:23:20
Speaker
Thanks once again to Kyle Starks for joining us on the show. Always an absolute joy to talk to Kyle. Go read that comic. It's it's good. It's real good.
01:23:31
Speaker
Yeah, go read the second one so you'll be ready for the third one.
01:23:37
Speaker
Chris, for the first time in memory, we have a little extra time here at the end of the show. um But I think instead of like doing the stuff we used to do that we made into full episodes, like answer listener questions, um we're just going to wrap up because we're both exhausted.
01:23:54
Speaker
So ah this will be just like a somewhat shorter episode because we actually like managed the time this time.
01:24:03
Speaker
Miracles do happen. Yeah, look, the last time we had time after the interview, we were we were younger men. We were. We were. um But thanks for listening, everybody. If you would like to get in touch with us, email us, send us a listener question, send us an Every Story Ever list, send us to one one to ten of Swords submission, ah or let us know if you want to sponsor the show or anything else that you want to let us know about.
Finding the Show Online and Personal Websites
01:24:30
Speaker
You can do that by emailing us at warrocketpodcast.com. at gmail.com. We're on bluesky, warrocketajax.com there. We're on Tumblr, warrocketpodcast.tumblr.com is where you can follow us there.
01:24:45
Speaker
You can join our discord, ah which, ah you have to be invited to be a member of, but if you are nice about asking us for an invitation, you can go over there to the discord, which is a lively place full of discussion about the show, but also plenty of other stuff too.
01:25:06
Speaker
um Just ah let us know if you need want an invitation to the Discord, and we will get that for you. Our website is warrocketajax.com. It has every episode of the show we've ever done.
01:25:19
Speaker
warrocketwiki.com is the fan-run repository of all the information you can want or need about this show, War Rocket Ajax. If you want to find me and my stuff, go to mattdwilson.net.
01:25:31
Speaker
It has links to my comics, my books, and my other podcasts, and my social media presences. Chris, where can everybody find you? You can find all of my stuff at the-isb.com.
01:25:45
Speaker
That's my website. It's got links. It's got stuff you can read. It's got stuff you can buy. It's got all kinds of good stuff.
Closing Thoughts and Social Justice Messages
01:25:55
Speaker
Bye, everybody. ah We'll be back next week with, I think, the start of Hickmania. I think Hickmania is about to run wild. I think it's government inspected. It's U.S. s grade.
01:26:08
Speaker
It's time for Hickmania. Prime.
01:26:13
Speaker
It's going to be good. Now that you say that, Matt, a Jonathan Hickman run on Prime would incredible. That would be pretty dope. I would read the hell out of that. Until then, folks, do not forget, Black Lives Matter.
01:26:26
Speaker
Trans rights of human rights. As are abortion rights. Drag is not a crime. Free Palestine. Cops aren't your friends. But we love you. We love you.
01:26:38
Speaker
Yeah!