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Episode 760 - Completely Naive or Totally Self-Assured f/ J. Gonzo
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Longtime friend of the show, member of the crew even, J. Gonzo, joins us for the show once again this week to get really serious about what it means to be an artist in 2026! We get into feeling out of place among professionals, wanting to avoid being perceived as greedy, the speculator market, and a whole lot more!
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Transcript
Introduction to War Rocket Ajax and Hosts
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. 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
Hello everybody and welcome to War Rocket Ajax.
00:00:53
Speaker
and welcome to war rocket ajax This is the Internet's Most Explosive Comic Book and Pop Culture Podcast, and we are your hosts. My name is Chris Sims. With me, as always, is Matt Wilson. Matt, if I had a partner Pokemon, it would be Bulbasaur.
00:01:09
Speaker
You know I love Bulbasaur. earth I would maybe also have a Magikarp, because I love him, and he tries so very hard. However, if I was a Pokemon, I would be Snorlax.
00:01:25
Speaker
That is the most obvious thing. to Possibly B-Ware. I have been favorably compared to B-Ware in the past, but I would be a Snortlax for sure. Matt, what would your Pokemon partner be?
00:01:39
Speaker
And what Pokemon would you be? Now see, this this puts me at a disadvantage because I don't know how many Pokemon I can name. Well, there's a 1,025, guess now.
00:01:55
Speaker
yeah So, get to it. yeah i I think ah if my partner Pokemon would probably be like a Machamp.
00:02:09
Speaker
Or at least of a Machoke. Interesting, interesting, interesting. Because those are the the Pokemon that wear wrestling belts and they're my favorite. Well, there I mean, there are. i think there are enough where you could have a whole team of six.
00:02:22
Speaker
pro-wrestling themed Pokemon. Yeah, those are the original ones that were pro-wrestlers. I don't know about the ah the later ones. i is there There's like a sumo-themed one, I think, maybe? there's ah Yeah, there's Makahita, who's sumo-themed. Emboar is like an oil wrestler. Hawlucha, obviously, is the luchador, which I think is a a good one. And then, of course, Incineroar, who is a heel, specifically.
00:02:48
Speaker
Hmm, Okay. Yeah, I think I'll stick with Machamp. Okay. I think if I were going to be ah Pokemon, but to I would probably be like Meowth.
00:03:04
Speaker
I can absolutely see that.
00:03:08
Speaker
i can that You do have Meowth energy for sure. I think Meowth is like canonically evil, right? Because he hangs out with Team Rocket. The Meowth from Team Rocket is, I wouldn't say evil. He's opportunistic for sure. and Okay.
00:03:26
Speaker
he's He's the ultimate opportunist. I'm definitely Meowth and not Mewtwo. I know that. Or Mew. Mew and Mewtwo are like, they're too they're like too alien to be me. I mean, Mewtwo, you're not a Mewtwo.
00:03:42
Speaker
That's for sure. You don't have the hips for it.
Patreon Support and Benefits
00:03:44
Speaker
yeah Alright, we have a great show for everybody this week. Jay Gonzo is back to talk to us um about personal crises and how we see ourselves. and Hey, this one gets deep, everybody. It's a good one.
00:04:03
Speaker
Yes, there's a lot of discussion of how we wish to be perceived and... Whether or not we have any control over that. so Also, we're going to fix the industry.
00:04:15
Speaker
We're going to try our best. We're going to try our best. So but be here for that. So come back and listen to our interview with Jay Gonzo here in just a little while. But before we get to that, Chris, we do have some business to take care of here at the top of the show, starting with thanking our supporters over on Patreon.
00:04:33
Speaker
Matt Wilson, that's right. Now, Matt, Matt, of course you know. and I had to let my me Matt Wilson joke sink in.
00:04:45
Speaker
But Matt, of course you know these are the people who ah want to support the show. They want to help us out. How do you do that? Well, I'll tell you what. You don't need to go down to 760 Gimmick Street. You don't need no kettlebells.
00:04:56
Speaker
All you need is a web browser that can take you to patreon.com slash warrocketajax where you can kick in as little as a dollar a month to help us keep doing the show. Help us keep recording these intense conversations with our friends, or talking to each other about swords, or all the fun stuff that we do here.
00:05:18
Speaker
And most importantly, right now, especially, that helps us pay those gimmicks they keep sending in the mail called bills. That's right, Chris. I do not have any new names to read on the show this week, but...
00:05:34
Speaker
I do want to make clear that we've had a few ah Patreon supporters who have upped their pledge over the past week, and we do very, very much appreciate that. Thank you for doing that.
00:05:46
Speaker
ah We also do have someone placing a location on Gimmick Street as a member of the Gimmick Street Preservation Society. Now, Matt, that's someone who's at the $15 level on That's right.
00:06:02
Speaker
Who gets to name a location on the ever-growing, ever-historic, the greatest neighborhood in all of podcasting, Gimmick Street. That's right. 760 Gimmick Street has been determined by Witch Hazel, who provides for us this location. Like from Looney Tunes?
00:06:25
Speaker
Yeah. Cool. Witch Hazel provides for us this location on Gimmick Street at 760 Gimmick Street. Them Iskira.
00:06:37
Speaker
Gimmick Street's largest queer bar and LGBTQ plus events venue. this That's good. That's extremely good. Yeah.
00:06:51
Speaker
There you go. That's what's at 760 Gimmick Street. Them Ascira. Now, ah do they also welcome giant ants? You know, time will tell. I think it's a pretty inclusive place.
00:07:03
Speaker
I think it's a pretty inclusive place.
00:07:08
Speaker
Thank you, Witch Hazel. that's That's so good. That's so good. that's so good
00:07:15
Speaker
Thank you, Witch Hazel. Yes, if you would like to help us out here on the show... um I will get to how you can join the Gaming Street Preservation Society in just a second. But if you would like to help us out at all in any way ah and kick in just ah a dollar a month to help us out here on War Rocket Ajax, you can do that by going to patreon.com slash warrocketajax and doing that, signing up ah to become a patron and kicking in as little as a dollar a month. There is a free tier on Patreon, but there are no rewards for that. um At the $1 level, however, you get ad-free episodes of all of our shows. You get ah your own feed through Patreon, through which you can get every single episode of all of our shows completely ad-free.
00:08:02
Speaker
At the $5 level, you can get bonus content that includes outtakes that I cut out from the show and that I put on Patreon regularly. writing that Chris and I have done exclusively for Patreon, and stuff we record, especially for Patreon. Most recently, Chris and I recorded a whole set of Gordy Awards categories that was Patreon-exclusive, only for people at the bonus content level on Patreon. They're good ones, too. They're really good categories.
00:08:36
Speaker
Yes, they were provided to us by Kate Bishop, longtime listener and fan. Kate Bishop, real name. And ah really, really great categories. And...
00:08:47
Speaker
you' You're going to want to listen to that. So if you want to bump up to the $5 level and grab that, you should do it. At the $10 level, you get line-stepping privileges for our segments, which currently include 1 to 10 of Swords and Every Story Ever.
00:09:01
Speaker
At the $15 level, that's when you can join the Gimmick Street Preservation Society and you get the opportunity to put your mark on an address on Gimmick Street.
00:09:15
Speaker
At the $20 level, you get our annual t-shirt. ah We are deep in discussions of what our 2026 t-shirt is going to be. so ah but More on that in the very near future.
00:09:31
Speaker
If you're unable to help us monetarily, you can help us out in other ways. You can leave us a five-star review on the podcasting app that you use, whatever that may be. Wherever you get your podcasts, please just hit that five stars, and that will send more listeners our way. You can also spread the word about the show. Tell your friends and family. Let people know on social media that you like this podcast, WarRocketAjax.com. and encourage the folks you know, your friends and family, to listen. And then maybe they can join our Patreon, and and then everybody's happy.
00:10:08
Speaker
Especially me which is, let's be honest, most important. With that, Chris, now that we've thanked our Patreon supporters, it's time for some checks and recs, what do you say?
TV Show and Game Recommendations
00:10:19
Speaker
Let's do it.
00:10:19
Speaker
So
00:10:23
Speaker
Chris, what would you like to check in with this week? Matt, i have I have two things that could both be checks or recs. But since I believe this one has been reced before by you on the show, ah it's going to be my my check this week. Because it is a thing that is new that I've been spending some time with. And that's a television show on home box office Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
00:10:51
Speaker
Which is The Pit. Oh, I have not recommended The Pit. Benito has, however. Benito recommended The Pit. ah Yeah. Now, was that when when he was ah he was co-hosting?
00:11:02
Speaker
I believe so. i when i yeah When he talked a lot of trash? but Both of you talked some shit about me? It's not so hard doing the intro and outro every week, is it?
00:11:14
Speaker
I have only seen two episodes of The Pit. as of this recording, but I am getting into it now and we'll probably continue to watch it as, as we go.
00:11:26
Speaker
It's good. It's real good. It's a good show. I feel like people might not know this. Cause I don't know. i mean, it was certainly a while back that I would have talked about it, but I have watched all of yeah ER. r Like it's one of AC's favorite shows. And, and last time she did a watch through, I did watch all like,
00:11:45
Speaker
nine seasons of it or whatever. So I know a little something about seeing Mr. Noah Wiley yeah in the in the emergency room setting.
00:11:57
Speaker
Now, I have seen almost no ER. Is it also like pretty much entirely set in the emergency room and nowhere else?
00:12:08
Speaker
I mean, that it is the name of the show, man. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah. ah like But they don't like follow the characters home or anything? i mean, occasionally. like it Not got to the extent of The Pit, where it is... it's It's not a bottle episode, it's a bottle series. It's a bottle show, yeah. Which I which i like. like I think Noah Wiley, in the in what I've seen of the show, Noah Wiley goes outside one time.
00:12:33
Speaker
ah He goes outside in the ah last episode of the first season. And ah in the first episode of the second season, you see him going to work.
00:12:45
Speaker
You do not see his home. He goes to work in the very first episode, too. Yeah. But yeah, yeah. ah But on the off chance that you don't know about it, the deal with the pit is it is one shift in an emergency room in Pittsburgh.
00:12:59
Speaker
So it is it's... it's It's not quite real time, but like each episode is an hour in the shift. You might be thinking, well, how much ah good character development can we get if we're only seeing these characters for one day?
00:13:13
Speaker
The answer might surprise you. There's a lot of really strong characters. There's a lot like a a shocking amount of really cool character stuff that ah that you might not think you would get in ah one of of a oh of these people's lives over the course of like 14 episodes. But you, you really do. ah And I really like I really like almost all the characters.
00:13:44
Speaker
I especially like Dr. Mel. Dr. Mel's great. Dr. Mel is, I feel like a lot of people gravitate toward Dr. Mel because she is us. yeah Dr. Mel having to go outside and wrap Megan Thee Stallion's Savage to herself.
00:14:00
Speaker
To kind of hype herself up. Yeah. is Relatable. That's a moment. So relatable. So relatable. Yeah. Yeah. She's great. ah Dr. Santos is also ah really great.
00:14:13
Speaker
um I'm kind of like. I'm kind of a Noah Wiley stan man. To be honest. i like me some Noah Wiley. I like him in ER. I like him on the pit. I like him on the librarians.
00:14:27
Speaker
I like him on leverage. Doing his little Louisiana accent. I think it's interesting. I mean, I'm sure there will be a shift as the show goes on. I think it's interesting who like the show kind of establishes as villains from the start.
00:14:43
Speaker
Uh-huh. Like Dr. Trinity Santos is is like always needling ah that that one med student. ah Dr. J, yeah. And ah and then ah Dr. Langdon you know seems pretty full of himself.
00:15:00
Speaker
Oh boy, you didn't even know about what's going on with Dr. Langdon yet, Matt. But you're going to find out. But yeah, if you haven't watched The Pit, it's good stuff. it's a And unlike a Grey's Anatomy, this is also something that I see pointed out, because she she loves some Grey's Anatomy.
00:15:20
Speaker
It is a show that... like like The normal stuff is is dramatic enough. like The reason people are at an emergency room is dramatic enough. like like yeah You do occasionally get some like medical mysteries of like what's going on, and obviously there's like a big you know dramatic event in the season that makes this a notable day.
00:15:42
Speaker
But by and large, like I don't want to say subtle, but it is like... It is smarter storytelling than you would get from a a a Grace.
00:15:57
Speaker
And in a lot of ways from an ER as well. It's it's clearly written by people who really fucking know their shit. like i Just in what I've seen, like one of the main thoughts I've had watching the show is, like I don't think I could be on this writing staff because I don't know enough about medicine. Yeah.
00:16:18
Speaker
Do you remember ah Polite Descent with Doc Scott? I will always think about this because he he was a blogger. He used to do reviews of comics from a medical standpoint and talk about like what they got right, what they got wrong.
00:16:33
Speaker
yeah He was a he was a ah doctor. and One of the things that he kept having to say about like anything he watched or read was, like you don't shock a flatline.
00:16:45
Speaker
It happens in everything. You don't shock a flatline. That comes up on yeah on the pit. Someone goes, why aren't you shocking him? And Noah Wiley goes, oh you don't shock a flatline. I mean, the the the only thing that's unrealistic about that is I don't think that person would ask that.
00:17:01
Speaker
They would know that. But like, yeah. like it's I think it's a patient who asks. Like was whatever the patient's wife or something. Maybe it is. I thought it was one of the other, or like ah like a med student or somebody. Maybe. um maybe But the the amount of like, like i don't I'm not saying everything on the pit is like medically accurate, but just like the jargon would be so hard to write.
00:17:28
Speaker
i I don't know. and shit, Matt, we're smart. We could learn. How hard is it to learn everything a doctor knows? Probably pretty easy.
00:17:39
Speaker
Matt, what would you like to check in with this week? So, um I finished Lies of P. I'm done playing Lies of P. And I started a new game plus and was like, yeah, yeah, I'm going to knock out the shit I didn't do the first time I played through. Like, I'm going to do some of the the side quests or two that I didn't get to finish and, like, play through different in a different way and get a different ending.
00:18:08
Speaker
And I hit a point in that New Game Plus playthrough where I realized I had locked myself out of of another side quest. And that was when I was like, fuck this, I'm done. And I stopped.
00:18:23
Speaker
Because I'm not going to play it again. I'm not going to start over again. um You don't have to play all of the game, Matt. You don't have to play all of the game. Although, i like i i if I like a game, I like the notion of Platinum Trophy-ing it if I can.
00:18:40
Speaker
um But I don't think that's going to end up happening with Lies Peace. But i I did end up liking Lies Peace so much more than I expected to. Aren't there games that you have like you do have like the completion on?
00:18:55
Speaker
oh yeah quite a few Okay, I think for I have two on Steam. Okay. i I have games that I have platinum trophies for that I don't know that that would be considered even then 100% completion.
00:19:12
Speaker
But I do like to try to get the platinum trophy often. Okay. um So I do that ah often, but I don't... It's not going to happen with Liza P because...
00:19:24
Speaker
I'm laying my burden down ah on it and and calling it done so I can play Resident Evil 9. I gotta start Resident Evil 9. So you'll be hearing about me starting that very soon, I'm sure.
00:19:36
Speaker
Time for some recommendations. what do you have to recommend, Chris? Matt, would it surprise you to learn that I would like to recommend a Pokemon game to the people?
00:19:47
Speaker
I am not surprised by this, ah but I do want to hear more about it. Nor should you be. ah I would like to recommend Pokemon Pocopia, the new game that I have, in the absence of paying work, been treating as though it was a job.
00:20:09
Speaker
A job that I could bill hourly for. ah it's It's all I've been doing. Gameplay-wise, it is essentially ah Dragon Quest Builders.
00:20:21
Speaker
ah and in fact Okay, i I thought it kind of had as an Animal Crossing vibe about it. There's a little bit of Animal Crossing in it, but it's actually the same developer as Dragon Quest Builders. it it was made by Koei Tecmo Omega Force. Yeah.
00:20:40
Speaker
So there is a little bit of Animal Crossing. There's stuff that does happen kind of on a daily basis. ah There are certainly, like, you know, like the object is to build habitats for all these other Pokemon that show up so that you can get your favorites.
00:20:56
Speaker
I think Animal Crossing is the more direct comparison to most people. But if you play Dragon Quest Builders, it's basically exactly that.
00:21:08
Speaker
Um... It's a fun little building game. Everything's a squi everything's a cube. It's lot of cubes. oh i don't I don't know if there's like any games that have done like a thing where there's crafting and you've got to get cubes from stuff.
00:21:25
Speaker
Before, I don't know if that's ever been done, other than Dragon Quest Builders. I guess Dragon Quest Builders was the first one to do it. Yeah, i've I've never heard of that. Yeah. So, there is that. There's a lot of crafting. There's a lot of building things.
00:21:37
Speaker
Um... There's some interesting elements to it, though, in that like every Pokemon has like a habitat that they live in. But you essentially have to build, like, oh, this Pokemon likes it when a bench is next to a vending machine. This Pokemon likes it when a flower, ah there's a group of flowers next to a tree. This Pokemon likes it when you ah build a little science lab. And once you build these things, the Pokemon will show up.
00:22:08
Speaker
That's mechanically how it goes. Plot-wise, I need everybody who's planning on playing this game, or maybe who isn't that far into this game, to skip ahead a little bit. I'll get this done in less than a minute, so if you skip ahead a minute, you'll be good.
00:22:25
Speaker
Matt, are you ready? I'm ready, yeah. Let's hear it. Okay, folks. Skip ahead now. Matt, this game has the exact same plot as Horizon Zero Dawn. You find out, like, you are a ditto who assumes human form based on your previous trainer because all human beings have vanished from the world.
00:22:44
Speaker
I've heard about that. I've heard about that element of it, that there are no more humans. yeah Yeah. It turns out that the humans, in order to escape a natural, like, like increasingly severe natural disaster, it's all had to leave.
00:22:58
Speaker
They went to space. The world is now in ruins. You find out over the course of the game, you don't really realize it at first, you're in Kanto. You're in... You are in... Viridian City at the start of that game.
00:23:14
Speaker
ah But everything's in ruins, so it's hard to tell. That's wild. yeah You eventually find out what happened and why they're gone. And also, it is kind of bullshit because like...
00:23:27
Speaker
Imagine you had to go to space. Imagine, like, we had to evacuate this planet, an increasingly likely ah sequence of events. And they were like, oh, you can't bring coffee cup.
00:23:39
Speaker
Like, fuck off. You think I'm gonna get on that? You think I'm gonna get on that spaceship without coffee cup? Hell no. I'll take my chances with the hurricanes.
00:23:52
Speaker
Wild. Wild stuff. Okay. fun game, though. ah ah AC and I have both been playing it and really both having a blast. um Being like, oh, did you did you build this thing yet? Did you find this guy yet?
00:24:06
Speaker
All of the Pokemon have wild dialogue that I really like. Much in the way that ZA also gave... The people doing the writing on the Pokemon games and the translation and localization on the Pokemon games, they're they've gone buck wild, dude.
00:24:25
Speaker
Like, people will just, like, stand around talking about depression on the street in a world with Pokemon. They'll be like, the existence of Pokemon is the only thing that keeps me from succumbing to depression. And I'm like, damn, same.
00:24:40
Speaker
Same. If you like a little cozy game, you want something that is going to, like, get its hooks into you and you're going to spend some time with it. ah Pokemon Pocopia. And also Dragon Quest Builders 2 is really good.
00:24:54
Speaker
And you should you should get it if you haven't. It's fun. It's got all the Dragon Quest guys in it. Matt, what is your recommendation?
Discussion on Music and Comics
00:25:03
Speaker
Chris, my recommendation is a an album, a music album, but also music album a music album, that is also but also the accompanying video slash short film that goes with it. um It is the new Gorillaz album, The Mountain.
00:25:21
Speaker
ah which um is is ah is a vibe ah for sure. it's It's got an interesting kind of like mellow vibe ah compared to maybe some other Gorilla stuff, but I've i've been really enjoying listening to it. it's it's I think it's quite good.
00:25:40
Speaker
But what I think is really impressive and really great and and makes it stand out is the ah companion... it's It's not even really a music video because it's for it is for three different songs. it's a It's a short film that has three different songs in it. So it's on YouTube. It's called The Mountain, The Moon Cave, and The Sad God.
00:26:03
Speaker
It is an almost nine-minute animated film that like just legit, like seriously looks like a Disney film from 1960, 1966. Ooh.
00:26:22
Speaker
o Like it.
00:26:26
Speaker
Genuinely has the like animation style and appearance of like an animated film from the mid 20th century.
00:26:38
Speaker
And, um, it is so well done and so lovingly crafted. um, there are elements of it where you could tell like they did some kind of like like off-the-wall animation. I even watched like a little making-of video about it. So there's there's one shot of like a waterfall, for example. like It's a lot of like the band members from Gorillaz walking around in nature. and And I think that's why it's gotten compared quite a bit to the Jungle Book, because like they are walking around this kind of... like
00:27:12
Speaker
ah what seems to be like a South American jungle or, well, there's a tiger, so I guess it would be South Asian. But um there's one shot of a waterfall that like they made just by like filming smoke and then compositing that into the animation and reversing it so it looked like a waterfall.
00:27:37
Speaker
ah There's a lot of that kind of like ah handcrafted, smart, well-done creativity in this. that like like There's nothing in the video or the album or anything about AI, but like I can't imagine something being more of an outright straight up rejection of AI than just making something so handcrafted and so detail oriented and so, uh, lovingly like, so obviously making it, um you know, so clearly human made, you know, um,
00:28:22
Speaker
I was blown away by it when I watched it, and I've watched it a couple times since. it's It's really, really great. so ah if Even if you don't listen to the album, I would say watch the watch the short film on YouTube.
00:28:37
Speaker
It's called The Mountain, The Moon Cave, and Sad God by Gorillaz. And Chris, those are only wait for of the four-hour Lady Emily video.
00:28:47
Speaker
Yes. lady Lady Emily is sure to weigh in at some point, I'm sure. honestly Can't wait. ah i I'm going to have to weigh in when I eventually do the album-by-album Gorillaz podcast I've Been Threatening for Years Primatology.
00:29:03
Speaker
That's good. Yep. ah All right, Chris, those are our checks and recs, which means it's time to talk about some comics. Let's do it.
00:29:14
Speaker
Chris, the texture choice for this week, I think we have to say, is DC cross AEW number two, which I did not realize is the last issue of the series. Yeah, it's it's only a two-shot.
00:29:29
Speaker
It's a two-shot. It's number two in a two-issue limited series. That's right. And we talked about number one when it came out. And let me be very clear. This issue has many of the same problems as issue one did.
00:29:44
Speaker
Namely, that the wrestler likenesses are not very good. are Honestly, kind of extremely bad. Kenny Omega doesn't have red hair. it's ah This is by Steve Orlando and Travis Mercer.
00:29:58
Speaker
like i don't Again, I don't really want to shit on Travis Mercer because the DC characters all look fine and good, and as they should. But i for some reason, the AEW wrestlers just like...
00:30:16
Speaker
aren't good likenesses. Like, even Jon Moxley looks wrong. Like, his beard is way too thick. i don't I don't really get it.
00:30:26
Speaker
Like, what the decision was there. it's I feel like the artist needed to go a little more stylized and exaggerated to kind of, like, get the essences of the characters without trying to do likenesses. Because right now, it's kind of like in a...
00:30:45
Speaker
Like, in a thing where, like, in a weird, uncanny valley where the likenesses are wrong, but they're not quite sty stylized enough to get away with it.
00:30:57
Speaker
Yeah, it's, I would agree. Like, we need, like like, Batman the Animated Series versions of these characters. But again, Kenny Omega doesn't have red hair. And that's... that's i Who did the the coloring on this? That's not Travis Mercer's fault.
00:31:14
Speaker
That's Andrew Dalhouse's fault. ah But also, Kenny Omega has like this scruffy beard that he does not have either. Yeah. It's... I will say this.
00:31:28
Speaker
ah there's there's There is a good amount of stuff to like in this issue. but Number one, Wonder Woman and Kenny Omega do a...
00:31:38
Speaker
a dual finisher called the truth trigger, which is great. but I would say there are, uh, three things extremely of note in this issue. Yeah.
00:31:49
Speaker
Um, I, I will also say Steve Orlando, I feel like generally really nails the voices of the wrestlers. Like every line of dialogue that Tony storm says in this, I could imagine Tony storm say that was one of my three. Like I think more than anyone, any other characters in the book,
00:32:08
Speaker
i It feels like Steve Orlando is having the most fun riding Tony Storm, which is, like, obviously. How could you not? Yeah, of course. Yeah? Of course. Like, if you're not having fun riding Tony Storm, then what are you doing? yeah Her voice is down.
00:32:25
Speaker
Like, it's it's perfect. I don't know about... i don't necessarily know about Hangman and Mox and those. right If anybody's off, it's Hangman. i do wish that I do wish that Will Ospreay had been more like, first of all, been written like a Chris Claremont character.
00:32:43
Speaker
Rough. Yeah. Yeah. ah But also had been so much more conflicted about using the Tiger Driver of the League of Assassins. Will Ospreay is also colored as having red hair, which weird, man.
00:32:59
Speaker
Very weird. um I think Jon Moxley's voice is pretty much right. um I do think Hangman is a little off, and it it is also weird that Hangman is depicted multiple times in this shooting guns. sweet Those are the guns he got last issue.
00:33:15
Speaker
They are. Which I kind of get, because you know he's got that cowboy gimmick. But I guess you don't want to show him going around strangling people. Yeah. But yeah, Kenny Omega becoming the new god of professional wrestling is pretty fucking good, though.
00:33:31
Speaker
That's pretty good. And then the thing that made this the texture choice is there's a part where Batman and Darby Allin are hanging out in the sewer fighting the Joker, and then just like out of fucking nowhere, Sting appears in a splash page. You gotta say it like Tony Schiavone.
00:33:49
Speaker
You gotta say it like Schiavone. It's Sting!
00:33:55
Speaker
This page of Batman and Sting together is all... like I realized upon seeing it, it's all I've wanted since 1990.
00:34:10
Speaker
ah Sting bonks the Joker over the head with his baseball bat, as he as he does. And then his whole conversation with Batman is like...
00:34:22
Speaker
Hey, it's cool that you you're here, but you've got to just be like a two-page cameo. You're retired. yeah We can't have you in this book because people might expect to see you more often on the show. like I do love that Sting's like, hey, what's up? I'm Sting. And Batman goes, I know who you are.
00:34:39
Speaker
Yeah, that's also great. but But Bruce is a little stinger, man. but the but i guess I guess Vince Jr. didn't get into the the Gotham City territory.
00:34:51
Speaker
I mean, yeah. i Well, you know, ah if if anybody was going to be watching WCW Saturday Night instead of Superstars, it would have been little Bruce Wayne. Well, it it would have been Clark, probably, actually. but oh Now, I wonder what would have happened if Joker Sting had shown up.
00:35:15
Speaker
Now, that's a great question. yeah That's going to have to be for the next crossover. you know You know what, Matt? The only thing that's for sure... is that nothing's for sure. It's showtime. It's showtime.
00:35:26
Speaker
But yeah, ah the the Tony Storm sequence, where Tony Storm is, as always, two seconds away from saying, I want to fuck Zatanna. Oh, yeah I mean, she's she's saying it to a degree in almost every line. Yeah, yeah no, it's it's it is, that's great. Kitty Omega becoming the new god of professional wrestling is great. Sting and Batman hanging out is great.
00:35:50
Speaker
ah i and I enjoyed reading this. I wish... i don't Again, I don't know if they needed more time. i don't know if they needed someone different on the art.
00:36:02
Speaker
But the art is not what it should be. yeah And I think that is that is what hurts this more than anything else. But it's still pretty fun. And i do I do like the design of Kenny Omega, the new god of pro wrestling.
00:36:18
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, he should he should actually get that gear, is what I say. i do want to point out, the the match that they have at the end of this to determine the fate of the universe is basically the same way David Arquette won the WCW Championship.
00:36:33
Speaker
That is true. That is true. Which is weird, but only if you know. Also, like, Mercedes-Benz going from heel to, like, full-on Earth-conquering villain is a little bit of a leap, but I'll it to her. think that is perfectly in keeping. And I also like that she's like, Lys got pinned. I didn't get pinned.
00:36:52
Speaker
Hilarious. All right. ah Next up, Chris, you want it you said you caught up. You you you dipped back in. you you've returned. to Tarot Witch of the Black Rose with issue number 144.
00:37:07
Speaker
So let's let's hear all about it. Yeah, i didn't I didn't catch up, because it has been about probably 80 issues or so. Let's see. 63 is the one with the haunted vagina, I believe. So it's been... i mean Oh, so you haven't you haven't read any of it since then? No, i read I read a little bit past that, but I did eventually stop. So it's probably been...
00:37:31
Speaker
probably been at least 50 issues since I've dipped in to see what was going on with Tarot. um you know I check in every now and then, because in these unprecedented times, when so much is uncertain, and we're all so worried,
00:37:46
Speaker
it's it's nice to know that some things have not changed at all. And that is your boy Jim Ballant.
00:37:58
Speaker
And what he likes to do. Matt, you're never going to believe it. There was an attack by vampires, and they kidnapped Boo Cat. Oh, no I know. Taro goes to free her.
00:38:12
Speaker
Cat doesn't want to be freed, though, because, of course, Boo Cat's a sex addict. And so oh she's covered in vampire bites, but they've been sexing her too good. And so... So, okay, so wait to hold on. In the Taro universe... Uh-huh.
00:38:28
Speaker
vampires A vampire bite isn't a metaphor for sex. No, it dave that's just a bite. That's just a bite. And then sex is literal sex.
00:38:39
Speaker
Gotcha. okay Everything is both symbolic and literal at all times. Did you not know that? I mean, I think I did, but I wanted to be i just wanted to be clear. Yeah, so BooCat does like a full like anime...
00:38:55
Speaker
Like, the full hentai ai-gao face ah when they try to rescue her, and then um the evil vampire, whose name is Licky, ah shows up.
00:39:06
Speaker
And I gotta say, this this is why Terra was good, actually! The skeleton man, who sucks, has a like a shotgun with a banana clip of wooden stakes in it.
00:39:20
Speaker
So what does Licky do to counter this, Matt? I don't know. What did you tell me? She throws a bunch of babies at him? Oh, okay. Yeah, ah she's she's abducted a bunch of babies and turned them into vampires, and so she literally... I was going to ask if they were vampire babies. Yeah, no, she turned babies into vampires, and then just like literally hucks a handful of babies at him.
00:39:47
Speaker
And he won't shoot them because he doesn't want to shoot babies, but he does have the line, just because I won't shoot you doesn't mean I won't punch you, and he punches a baby in the face!
00:40:00
Speaker
That sounds about right. That sounds about right for ah for Skeleton Man. ah Then Tarot gets turned into a vampire, but that literally lasts four pages.
00:40:11
Speaker
Okay. yeah ah Before they use a um a magic jar to suck all the vampire essence out of everybody, including the babies. And then they're like, oh, we gave we gave these babies to the cops, and they were all missing, and they've been safely returned home.
00:40:29
Speaker
buddy, Taro might be back in the rotation. Hugging a handful of babies at a dude so he won't shoot you?
00:40:40
Speaker
Hilarious. I haven't really gotten past the cover. like I think this is the like the the safe cover that's like the non-nudity cover, but like You'd have to sell this in a bag at the comic shop, wouldn't you? I mean, we like when I was working at the store I don't think we got any copies of Tarot for the wall. Tarot was special order only.
00:41:03
Speaker
Yeah, i keep it behind the counter. i I don't think you could get away with saying that this is not nudity on this cover. I'm just fucking... I haven't even seen Doctor Doom hug babies at a guy win a fight. That's true.
00:41:21
Speaker
that's ah That's a special ah a so a special move. like that This is the thing with tarot. You have to get out of Your your vagina is haunted. It's not like a line I like, ironically.
00:41:35
Speaker
It's just it's like legit funny and like on purpose funny. Hucking a bunch of babies at a dude, because he's not going to shoot babies even though they're vampires, but he is going to punch a baby in the face.
00:41:48
Speaker
That's fucking funny, dude. and And funny on purpose. That's not like... Fake funny. That's funny on purpose. No, it's it's extremely good. It's extremely good. I think Tarot might be back.
00:42:01
Speaker
One last book you wanted to talk about, Chris, is Usagi Ojimbo Kanto 84, number one. Yeah, now i ah I did think about talking about... um 1776, number five. um which But it just sucks.
00:42:16
Speaker
And ah I really just need somebody to send that in for every story ever so we can talk about how... but I said on Blue Sky, it is maybe the worst written Marvel comic since Trouble.
00:42:30
Speaker
Like, just on a technical craft level, it might be. ah But... But...
00:42:40
Speaker
what we're going to talk about is a good comic, and that is Usagi Yojimbo Kanto 84, which is, I believe, I think it's the first Usagi Yojimbo series not done by Stan Sakai.
00:42:55
Speaker
ah This is Zach Rosenberg and Jared Cullum, and they're doing a oh a Not modern, because 1984 42 years ago. movie.
00:43:11
Speaker
oh but it is a a a in the vein of space is agi It follows a descendant of ah Miyamoto Usagi, in this case Kaito Usagi, who has a brother and is kind of in the Japanese underworld of the mid-80s as a sort of Robin Hood guy who then gets pressured into doing one big job.
00:43:37
Speaker
And... That's pretty fun. That's a good premise. ah This is a a beautiful book. It's like painted. The art and letters are all by Jared Cullum, who does like a really and incredible job with the art.
00:43:53
Speaker
What I will say about it, this is a good book, and I think it's going to be worth reading, and I honestly can't wait to see where it all goes from here. There's a lot of personality. There's a lot of cool stuff. um These are not shoes I would like to fill.
00:44:07
Speaker
like I do not envy the task ahead of these guys. Yeah, it's I can't imagine that being at all easy to try to follow the master. Yeah, and it's and it's not like this is like you know a a corporate spinoff. like This is something Stan Sakai wanted these guys to do But man, oh man.
00:44:34
Speaker
Man, oh man. That is, like I said, not one I would want to try and compare with. Because, like, if you do a Batman comic and it's bad, and again, this comic's very good, but if you do a Batman comic and it's bad, or you do a Batman miniseries and you don't quite stick to landing, that's happened before.
00:44:56
Speaker
If you do a Misagi Ojimbo comic and it's bad, that's never happened. That's new. I don't think they're going to bad job. I am excited to see where this goes. And in fact, I did really love this first issue.
00:45:10
Speaker
ah So I believe they are rising to the challenge. ah But it is going to be It's going to be interesting to see where we go from here.
00:45:23
Speaker
oh yeah Yeah. Really good stuff in this first issue. i really i really liked it. Stylish, fun. um There's a bit in in the back about how Sakai does so much research, so they tried to do as much research as they could to get mid-80s Osaka correct, while also having the book be about rabbits.
00:45:48
Speaker
Which is true to the Usagi Ojimbo formula, for sure. That's the job, baby! Yeah. Alright, that's going to do it for our comics reviews. Chris, that means it's time for us to really get into it with Jay Gonzo. Oh, it's about to get real, everybody.
Interview with Jay Gonzo: Comic Art and Market
00:46:22
Speaker
Joining us for the program this week, we have... I would say a member of the crew at this point. You know him from not only great comics like Lomano Del Destino, not only from incredible covers that he's been doing ah recently for books like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, not only from War Rocket Ajax merchandise, but all of these things and more. Jay Gonzo is here. Gonzo, welcome back to the show, my friend.
00:46:55
Speaker
Hey, how you guys doing today? Doing good. Doing good. How are you? i' I'm good. Do you guys record the the ah the beginning part after the interviews or before the interviews? It depends. Okay, I want to know what the question was today.
00:47:07
Speaker
Usually, it's usually after, so we haven't it yet. So you haven't done the question. All right, damn. Yeah, well, I don't i mean, i don't want to spoil it for Matt, but I do know what the question is. Oh, really?
00:47:18
Speaker
Yeah. Sometimes I don't. so Sometimes I fully – it is what comes into my head as i my brain is on autopilot introducing the show.
00:47:29
Speaker
i asked ah I asked Matt a question the other day, and I'd love to get your input on this, Chris, if I may, if I might break the format a little bit. Of course. So my wife and I were talking about ah all the animal-themed Spider-Man villains. And I'm like, well, of all the animals that haven't been done, what would you like to see as a Spider-Man villain, animal-themed Spider-Man villain?
00:47:50
Speaker
And I think I went with Cassowary. I think that would be a badass dinosaur-themed kind of you know villain because Cassowaries are just modern-day dinosaurs. And then she came up with Wombat, which I think is the superior answer to that. And then Matt, wouldn't you come with it? swear there is a Wombat.
00:48:06
Speaker
Oh, is there a Wombat? I mean, Matt, you might have to chime in on this, but I – 100% believe that there is a wombat. There may be. i'd i don't think there's a character that's just called wombat.
00:48:20
Speaker
Okay. And then what was yours, Matt? I i forgot what you answered. i I said that um Spider-Man fights a lot of other, ah like people who represent other eight-legged oh yeah creatures in nature. And so mine would be a tardigrade.
00:48:37
Speaker
Oh, that's right. Indestructible. Good God. I thought you were going to say the tick. That'd be a good one. I mean, taken, but yes, yes, yes. ah Pistol shrimp. Pistol shrimp. Oh, yeah. I love that. Pistol shrimp. Yeah.
00:48:51
Speaker
All right. There we go. The pistol shrimp. i like I like this. I like it when we have guests on the show for the interview and they ask us questions. Oh, yeah, yeah. We should do that more often.
00:49:02
Speaker
so we We can do that the whole show, man. but We're interesting guys. Oh, I know. That's why I listen to your show. I mean, the the the interesting guys part is the show. it's not the you know It's not the ranking. It's the discussion about the ranking, right? See, you should you get it. yeah This guy gets it. We should have called this show Interesting Guys. You know what was it?
00:49:22
Speaker
go Go ahead. so many people would listen So many more people would listen to it if the show was called Interesting Guys. um Although on occasion, ah you guys will wander into an area, a blind spot, if you will. and And I got to say, listening to the two of you discuss LSD and mushrooms the other day was spoken like people who've never done acid, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, I did try mushrooms. oh not no i get you yeah i don't think and Honestly, I don't think you did enough based on your summary of how they went down.
00:49:52
Speaker
Yeah, I also like... I don't feel like doing it again. Oh, yeah. No, it's – I mean the psychedelics aren't for everyone for sure. ah and i you know And nowadays, you know you never know what you're getting and all of that stuff. So ah you know like when my kids were becoming teenagers, I was just like just do natural stuff, smoke weed, drink, whatever. Like just don't take pills. Don't take anything that was like chemically assembled because you don't know what you're getting these days.
00:50:18
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Okay, so Gonzo, as someone with a little more... This is what the show now, by the way. Now that we're all in our 40s. Yeah, yeah. for Oh, I'm in my 50s, my dude, but yeah, go ahead. that's right.
00:50:29
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I'm an old man. Now that... Okay, so since you have a little more experience in the field than us, u ah what would you guess was the psychedelic gas that was in Norman Osborn's The Green Goblin's Psychedelic Bomb?
00:50:47
Speaker
i mean i would fully you know I would say it was probably ah DMT. ah seems to be okay would be like Matt suggest DMT. Yeah, yeah. when but I said DMT. The businessman's lunch. Or like an MEO 20. But I think MEO 20 would have been like way... forget what effort with the fucking full name of that is. like is like That's new even to me. and i But I stopped doing drugs 36 years ago. so There's so much I haven't done. yeah i I did realize after the fact that I could have said that perhaps it was ayahuasca.
00:51:17
Speaker
Yeah, but ayahuasca is like a tea and it's like several doses. i do believe you you do DMT. I think there is a way to do it like via balloon. And it's a very ayahuasca experience.
00:51:28
Speaker
Yeah, like you fill ah a gas with a – like a nitrous hit. you would You would fill a balloon gas. and Also, Donzo, I am not a man of drugs. Okay, gotcha. I mean nitrous is just whipped cream stuff.
00:51:42
Speaker
No, buddy. Yeah. I did that all for you. Don't worry about it.
00:51:48
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. i mean, I don't listen. I, as a sober person, I think people sometimes think I'm like a priest or a cop about it or whatever. Like I believe in drugs and alcohol. They just don't work for me. Like I just, I can't have a sustainable lifestyle and continue to do them. Cause I do not know what moderation means. um So ah yeah, yeah. I'm not coming ah against them, but I definitely, um especially with psychedelics, I think that, you know, I definitely did them too early. Like I, I didn't really, I hadn't fully assembled my ego before I inflicted ego death upon myself.
00:52:19
Speaker
oh Which was problematic. And and so, um yeah, I think that like but you either have to be pretty, pretty centered with who you are before you kind of go into those sorts of like ayahuasca-esque ego deaths or have no idea at all who you are when you go in there and just like you either completely naive or totally self-assured. But anything in between is going to probably end up trouble. Yeah.
00:52:45
Speaker
See, that's that's interesting to me because I do feel like i am a person with a very strong sense of self. Yes, absolutely. Which is why, man, this is... Hold on a second. Hold on. Let me, I just, um just not to get super deep or, or you know, ah you know um analytical on you here, but um what percentage of that sense of self would you say is attached to ego?
00:53:08
Speaker
ah A great deal. Okay. Like like i was I was about to say, I think that's one of the reasons that being unemployed is so depressing for me, because I think of myself as a writer. ah Like, primarily. but Here's they dude be here's here's my my shaman-esque, you know, you don't need to be employed to write to be a writer. yet You just have to write.
00:53:29
Speaker
I know, but I also do take pride in in the fact that I have made a living as a... Oh, that you're a professional. like yeah yeah So I have a hard time with anyone who puts, like, professional or real in front of whatever they're, whatever they're described themselves as. Like if anyone tells me they're a real artist, they got an agenda, you know, my dude, it's like, if someone tells me they're a real writer and like, ah, they've got some strong opinions on what's not a real writer.
00:53:52
Speaker
Um, I mean, that's just, that is very funny to me because I have countered like, you know, back when I was writing reviews, uh, as my primary outlet, like even back on the blog days, some people would just be like,
00:54:05
Speaker
you know well hey, you're you know why why are you talking like you know what's what? like That's just your opinion. I'm like, yeah, well, I get paid for mine. yeah like My opinion's worth money. so do think a lot of people, including myself, are really into doing the reverse of that. It's what imposter syndrome is. go to a For years years, would go to con.
00:54:29
Speaker
i like for years and years i would go to a con And I would feel like this weird um shame, like I didn't belong there.
00:54:40
Speaker
Oh, my dude. Yeah, up until like last year, I was ready for the president of comics to come kick me out. I'm sorry to give you a long time. I mean, yeah. Never. You're a good friend of mine. Excellent.
00:54:52
Speaker
But like even like even when I started writing at Comics Alliance, like i it took me a long time to – like feel like part of the crew, like feel like I belonged in the group.
00:55:05
Speaker
um And this is true of many aspects of my life, but ah but like, it's just like, I think there's always a comparison of like, they're more of a real writer than me. They're more of a professional than me. They have more acclaim and accolades and attention.
00:55:23
Speaker
And ah it often, for me, it often makes me feel like, you know, I'm not up to the standard. Um, and, and that can be really hard.
00:55:33
Speaker
Well, well, uh, dude, so here's the thing. And I think you and I have even talked about this and this is, this is advice I'll give to Chris and anyone who's listening. And that is like, as, as a creator of comics, of art of any kind, um,
00:55:47
Speaker
95% of my existence is me at the art board and the other 5% is comprised of like ah answering emails and going to shows and you know maybe getting awards and getting paid, whatever. and so If I can't extract joy from the creating part of it, the part I'm spending the the the preponderance of my time doing – Then no amount of money, fans, awards, any of that is ever going to make up for the fact that most of my life is is is miserable or spent in in something that i it's even you know and I'm just spending as a means to an end. So for me, the creating part is its own reward.
00:56:23
Speaker
So it's like, I'll spend you know all day drawing a Marvel cover. I'll spend you know upwards of 12 hours at my studio drawing a Marvel cover, and then I'll go home, and to unwind from having drawn all day, I will draw some more because it's what I love to do.
00:56:37
Speaker
And I'm not saying that like you know that needs to be everyone's practice, but um the creation has to be its own reward, otherwise nothing's going to make up for it. Yeah, and i mean like i think we've I think we've all had the experience of...
00:56:51
Speaker
of making the projects we love that we are not making money on. Oh, oh yeah. I mean, absolutely. Because, I mean, when you love – so, you know, the better part of what we're selling is our affection for what we've created.
00:57:03
Speaker
i think people, especially nowadays with the the abundance of things that we can connect with and the ways that we connect to them, I mean, the way that I interact with Starbucks is the same way that my mom tells me she loves me right? Like, so, you know, we were like you have an emotional investment and interaction with almost everything now.
00:57:20
Speaker
because that's just what we're doing. And, um, so our hackles are up um for like money grabs and inauthentic, you know, uh, uh, you know, leverages against our, our, uh, our appetites. And so if something wasn't, ah we want our, we want our needs met by love. Right. and And so if they're not being met by love, I think we have a inherent suspicion of that.
00:57:40
Speaker
And, um, Yeah, yeah. so I think that like it's important just to like – I always say like i'm not I'm not a good enough draftsman not to love everything I create. you like I can't trick people with just like my artistic career stuff. like you know But but they they will sense the affection for it because i I'll find a way to love anything that I do.
00:57:57
Speaker
So this is this is interesting to me because you said you know like you're leery of people who have like professional or real in front of their names, which i on one level I do agree with, but I do always think about – Like, that that guy that got into an argument with... I want to say it was Bendis. Like, back on on Twitter when that was going concern. And... Like, because Bendis had said something like... Yeah, you know...
00:58:25
Speaker
all you gotta do to be a writer is write. And the guy was like, but I'm a writer and I can't write because I have horrible writer's block and I haven't written for like years and years. And Benis was like, well, mean, then you're not a writer if you're not writing, dude. Like, it's a verb.
00:58:43
Speaker
And I think about that guy and like, And to me, how, like, the madness that it sounds like to say, like, I'm a writer without writing.
00:58:55
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. Listen, man, um what is it, that great Werner Herzog ah letter that he wrote where it's like, it's not the world's fault you decided to become an artist? Yeah. Like, I love that. He's like, just shut up and do the fucking, like, that letter is amazing. If you can look it up, look up, look up that Werner Herzog's letter to, I can't remember who it is, but just put in, like, Werner Herzog's letter, it's not the world's fault you decided to be an artist. And then the rest of the letter is genius. And he's basically just do the drew the work, you know?
00:59:21
Speaker
um Listen, man, I love basketball. There was a time in my life where I played you know every day for years in a row. um and i got fairly decent at it, but I'm 5'6", my dude.
00:59:33
Speaker
like It's just not going to happen. you know like It's not the NBA's fault that I have the genetics that don't allow me to to you know to dunk on dudes who are 6 1⁄2 feet tall or 7 feet tall. like i just you know i i was I was dealt a bad genetic hand, I guess, for the thing that I love. you know Can I enjoy playing basketball, pick up basketball, go out there and do all of that? Absolutely. um Can I leverage that into a professional career? you know Probably not, just because that's not what the industry standard is for the level of player that I can become.
01:00:03
Speaker
But that's stop me from going out and you know and and you know shooting around when I can. So um I don't think that... ah I think that the validity – again, we're back into this. like I think the validity or the validation you get from being welcome into the the bosom of of you know the industry as a professional um needs to be secondary if you really are a writer or you really are an artist. like You'll just make the art if you're an artist. You'll just make – you'll write the the stuff if you're a writer. Yeah.
01:00:34
Speaker
Yeah, yeah like you know and honestly, a little bit of woodshedding isn't going to hurt you. you know like There's so many weird variables to becoming a professional in comics especially that are so beyond your control. Like you know being top of mind with editors. like you know ah You can get wrapped up with an editor at a good company and they just decide they don't want to do it anymore and they go become a lawyer and then you're you're like, that that one in is gone. And then maybe they were a dick at that company and everything that guy touched, everyone's like, well, that guy's gone so we're not doing anything that he had his hands in because like that guy was a dick.
01:01:03
Speaker
so like But the things you can control are you know honing your craft and you know being a good person and and being reliable ah when opportunities do come your way. So you know you know the only way you get better at writing is is writing. The only way you get better at art is to draw.
01:01:19
Speaker
So when you you know when you have those fallow periods, you've got to be woodshedding to a degree. And I hope this isn't coming across as like, get good. you know like this is like It's like, you know bet on yourself, man. Invest in yourself. And then you know start extracting like joy from that that process. Sorry, I didn't mean to get all Tony Robbins on you. No, I think this is this is interesting. like ah Because I do think it's always worth repeating.
01:01:42
Speaker
Yeah. that's it This also dovetails a well into something else I want to ask you. Go ahead. Sorry. I but i got off. like Any success that you have seen from anyone is always a combination of work and luck.
01:01:55
Speaker
Absolutely. And they're both always present in various percentages. And sometimes it's 90% work and 10% luck. But I'll tell you, it's never less than 50% luck.
01:02:09
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Not not at all. I mean, I always say, too, that ah most of my success in comics is more attributed to my stubbornness than it is my talent or abilities. yeah Like, just yeah my refusal to give up and just keep moving in the direction of my dreams, however microscopic that progress is on a daily basis. Yeah, because what do you going to do Not do it?
01:02:27
Speaker
yeah Yeah, exactly. like i'm going to you know Like, I don't draw because I want to draw my dude. I draw because I have to. yeah like it it is It is a compulsion. i mean, you've seen my internet posts where i just've I'm redesigning bad logos. so like No one asked me to. I'm not getting paid to. But I'm going to give you know the the Los Angeles Angels an entirely new branding system, three of them, because I just can't stand their branding. you know like i There's something in me that just has to create.
01:02:50
Speaker
I did really like that Buccaneers logo. Oh, thanks, man. Yeah, yeah. It was funny. Someone accused me of of of it being ai and I luckily had a ah scan of my sketches. so yeah like I just love that anything competent now, it it can just be as dismissed as, like oh, that's just you know AI imagery. I'm like, no, no, here's here's me. Here's my pencil. Here's me making the the art, man.
01:03:09
Speaker
but un But anyway, speaking of the value of things, I wanted i really wanted to talk to you guys about this. So you you guys talk about comics ah all the time, every day, every week, ah and you're quite insightful. I love um that you guys do a really good job of contextualizing the stuff that you put on the Every Story Ever list, ah both in terms of like when it came out and also what the business environment was that it came into.
01:03:32
Speaker
Okay, what did we get wrong? Because I feel like that. Not at all. I'm just saying like one thing one thing that's come into my life recently that I really am processing in real time, like probably as I'm talking to you guys, ah is comics is a commodity. And you guys never talk about that aspect of like the kind of baseball card buying and selling of you know rare books or or you know so you know graded books. i And I realize it's not something you guys participate in.
01:04:02
Speaker
But um real recently, ah the past like three or four projects that I've been a part of, ah most notably being Wrestle Heist, ah Death to Pachuco, and then ah the the big one was Dork. I did a cover for Dork number one.
01:04:17
Speaker
has Has put me in the ah crosshairs. I would say crosshairs. I've garnered the attention beyond my fan base of people who just like me and the stuff that I do of collectors.
01:04:28
Speaker
you know People who who collect comics. And I think that... the value of comics as a collectible is not like, or comics as a collectible is not a subject that you've, that you guys have ever broached. And I, I am a guy who, um, has a pretty firm opinion about that sort of thing. Like it just, I try to like,
01:04:47
Speaker
not engage like I understand it's an aspect of comics, but much like cosplay, it just stuff happening in the show around me. like I don't really understand the economics of it. ah and so I'm also a guy who's pretty open to my fans. like i have I never charge your signatures because I think that's bullshit.
01:05:04
Speaker
and whatever Whoever wants to come at me for that, I understand all of the economics of you know this, that, and the other thing. and Listen, man. If someone comes up to me at 30 books, I'm going to sign all 30 of them. And I know most of those are going on eBay and going to be sold for more than whatever he paid for them. And I definitely didn't charge him anything. And that's his money.
01:05:21
Speaker
I don't care. like i don't I have no gumption to like sign a bunch of books and then put them on eBay and monitor you know auctions and then mail stuff off. um So I'll never sell so that I can kind of keep my hands clean. I'll never charge for signatures. I want to keep my hands clean of like those sorts of ah business models.
01:05:36
Speaker
And then like i'll I'll never buy a slap book. Like all the books I go back issue, been diving for are just garbage books. Like I'm trying to put a whole US one ah run together. I've got like five or six. so that's good That's a good run. It great, man. I've got um I got all the Pander Brothers ah Grendel issues that Kimiko put out like.
01:05:53
Speaker
and everything you know I had to hunt down Iron Man Crash, the the first digitally ah created or computer created comic from Marvel Comics and stuff. but So I'm a guy who does like enjoy collecting, but i' I've never paid more than like, oh, you know what I did get a first appearance of Buona Beast and it cost me like $50. And I think that's the most expensive big book that I own. But it's like an early Silver Age book, maybe late Golden Age. And it's not something that like – there's not a ton of them out there, so I was willing to pay that money. But anyway – But now I'm at a point where um my signature, my remarks, and the work that I've done have become you know this commodity. and and And honestly, kind of like a cryptocurrency. and I kind of refuse to believe that I'm in the business of minting cryptocurrencies. I make comic art, and I would like to keep it that way. But I'm also – now I've bumped up against it where like my stuff is just getting bought and sold for crazy amounts of –
01:06:46
Speaker
of money. And I'm, I'm still trying to be there for my fans, uh, you know, in a way where I'm very accessible. Like I still have my super secret $5 envelope of doodles, but I'm having to like limit that now and be like, okay, now you can only have one. And now you can only buy it after the show's been up, you know, the show's been open for you know at least an hour. Cause I was having other vendors come and just empty that envelope out before the show even started. And then people are coming and there's like nothing for them. Cause you know, somebody bought like all 30 of them or whatever.
01:07:12
Speaker
So, um, Anyway, man, like I just ramble a lot. like what What are your thoughts on... What would you think like for for so for a creator to like remain cool to fans, but entering a world where comics and their involvement in comics are now a commodity, and like a known commodity these days?
01:07:32
Speaker
i I have some thoughts. Matt, do you have a di anything? I mean, I only have my own personal experience. I i don't i don't think I have any thoughts for a creator, for like how to sidestep it because i don't know. i think there's a degree of it that you have no control over. Absolutely. yeah and like you You just got to let it exist. and and I think trying to do stopgaps like not selling your ah doodle envelopes to vendors, you know that's a good I think that's a good rule of thumb. but
01:08:06
Speaker
i I got out of the whole like speculator market thing um i don't know. I just had a realization like around the time I was maybe 16 or 17 that like these quote-unquote investments so that I was making were never going to pan out in any realistic way. like i I just read these comics because I like them and that's fine.
01:08:35
Speaker
And I don't need a reason... To like explain to myself that I'm doing this for some other her like financial or investment reason. Because I did do a good amount of like key issue buying with like the money I made when I was a teenager.
01:08:57
Speaker
like you know, in my first job or whatever. i Do you remember ah Marvel Comics used to have, like, order forms in them for... um Absolutely. Yeah, subscriptions, or or are you talking about the... No, no, no. I'm not talking about subscriptions. i also did subscriptions, but...
01:09:14
Speaker
um I'm talking about like – the one I always ordered from was this company called East Coast Comics. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, I know what you're talking yeah yeah And it would just be like a page in a comic book that had lists, like a list of like a bunch of issues you could buy at a price. And you would like – this was like pre-internet, dude widespread internet. So I would just like type out which books I wanted, essentially make an invoice – send it to them with a check for the amount of money, and then they would send me the books. And that's how I bought like you know the first symbia symbiote costume issue ah and and, I don't know, a bunch of other things that I bought. I bought some of those like variant covers that came with a certificate of authenticity and that kind of stuff. Oh, yeah. yeah
01:10:10
Speaker
Was there one-halves? Yeah. i didn They weren't really Wizard 1 halves, but like they like it was like sketch covers. Well, you know I got some Wizard 1 halves. But like I eventually just reached a point where I was like, this this doesn't... like if If I'm going to go ask a creator for an autograph, it's because I like them and I like the book, not because i need it for some perceived value.
01:10:38
Speaker
so... so like ah pretty much from that point onward, I'd never thought about the speculator market market ever again. like Yeah, it's such weird animal. like I can't think of any other kind of like entertainment that has kind of this... like The thing itself is the commodity. like I don't know that people are like buying and selling like rare DVDs. or v i mean Nowadays, VHSs are are scarce. I'm sure there is like a like more of a vintage like an antique market for for like you know old VHSs or or you know possibly DVDs, but... like
01:11:10
Speaker
I can't think of things that like – when those were coming out, no one was buying like two copies of of you know Fight Club on DVD and and ah you know in keeping one in the case and never to be watched. but you know the other one that you know it's you know It's a rarity thing.
01:11:26
Speaker
Yeah. And so it it seems to – in other industries outside of – cards trading cards Well, that's I think that that is a lot of the problem is I think a lot of the the collector card mentality got just foisted onto comics.
01:11:42
Speaker
Oh, for sure. in a way but like You can slap a card and and read both sides of it. You know you can read the entire card. Yeah, I mean, but that's – they get combined all the time. oh absolutely. Yeah, yeah.
01:11:53
Speaker
Cards and comics and collectible shops, you know. But, like – That's number one, man. You've got to make sure that's in the polybag with the card. That's right. But, like, so many things – yeah, other things don't become collectible until they're old, until they're vintage, until – That was the initial ah that was the initial ah value of comics is that like the paper drive during World War II made a lot of these old comics scarce. And then people who wanted to go back as they gained longevity went back. But then they started they took that information and extrapolated into the future.
01:12:23
Speaker
So they're saying, oh, now this is important and that is important. And then people started manufacturing scarcity you know in the 80s. Well, and and yeah there was also the the element of like you couldn't read – Amazing Spider-Man number one. Yeah, yeah. Like, yeah like ah finding a reprint of Amazing Spider-Man number one was very hard.
01:12:43
Speaker
Yeah, you just had to go back and find it, yeah. Now it's, you know. Yeah, it's on your phone. Everything's on your phone or your your laptop these days. so so So that element of scarcity is gone, too. it' A lot of it it feels like manufactured scarcity.
01:12:56
Speaker
Yeah, I just made the joke that like – while ago I used to do this fake internet news site. It kind of Onion-esque but it had no article. It was just the headlines because no one reads anything anymore, which was part of the bio. But it was like DC to begin selling pre-slabbed comics.
01:13:13
Speaker
Yeah. They're 50 bucks each, but they're all 10.0s because they came hot off the presses. and like it's ah you know It's a comic that no one can read. and yeah and The joke of it was that that there's it's a comic no one can read. but Now it's like – I think that – maybe not DC, but I know they were doing like the blind boxes and stuff. it's like It just seemed like ah you know comic companies were – I think it's starting to back off a little bit. But like even major companies were just starting to become the Franklin Mint.
01:13:38
Speaker
even yeah Chris, what are your thoughts? i I've been talking a lot. ah I say this as a a ah reader, a fan, ah critic ah and ah a a former retailer.
01:13:51
Speaker
um the ah The back market is the worst thing that ever happened to comics. The secondary market is the worst. The collector mentality is the worst thing that ever happened to comics. Because the second you start looking at something as a commodity, you stop looking at it as a story.
01:14:08
Speaker
You stop looking at it as art. um And I think the CGC slabs are the ultimate expression of that because you physically cannot read the comic. Right. yeah They're no longer comics. Now they're just Franklin Mint plates, you know, on your wall. I have held slab to Batman number one.
01:14:25
Speaker
And I see the appeal of wanting to own that. But i i have you know i I would rather spend my money on original art. like i i've I'm literally sitting underneath the watchful eye of a Goku drawn by Jay Gonzo. you know ah yeah man i to me you know so I don't want to yuck anyone's yum though. like I think if someone's getting a thrill out of buying and selling and speculating and you know oh i I got in early on you know like um maybe someone got some early cover I did for you know like an Oni book 10 years ago that like they're like, oh, did you o Gonzo did this cover 10 years ago. And, you know, now that he's like this big deal, you know, in the collector market, like I can, I can sell that. Cause like, you know, nobody bought this tiny little Oni book or indie book. friend man If you figure out how to make money on Oni books, nobody bought 10 years ago. Let me know, dude, I got, um, I did a cover. So that's the thing. So, and the problem, like ah a part of what I want to talk to you this about is like, I want to let people know, like all of this happens outside of me. So every time you see one of my covers or like that dude who was ripping me off selling that metallic print of my dork cover for $300 that somebody bought.
01:15:30
Speaker
And honestly, dude, if you bought that print, find me at a show. I'll sign it for you for free. No problem. Like you earned it. You definitely earned it. And if anybody buys one of my books from one of these retailers for like a ton of money, ah come come buy a show. I will sign it for free. Absolutely. No charge ever.
01:15:43
Speaker
um But to i one of the first kind of inklings of of of this notoriety, of this kind of notoriety was like, I did ah a cover for a book for Oni called, uh, Calaveta PI and they, ratioed it at like 50 to one on this indie book that came out, um, for like a, I think it might've been, you know, Marco's first book he'd ever put out coming out through Oni.
01:16:03
Speaker
And so very few retailers took a chance on, you know, getting 50 so they could get my cover. But the, the cover is honestly one of the, but my favorite things I've ever drawn. And, um,
01:16:14
Speaker
you know Again, because for me, it's like it's about the love of making cool art. and I was just getting messages from fans and people like, went oh my my my shop only got one and they sold out of it already. and I'm looking online it's selling for $110. This is like the day it came out. This is that that Wednesday. I'm like, is it really worth $110 the day it came out? There is no longevity. No time has passed to find out that this was like a cool book that everybody wanted and you know It's gained some kind of like you know place in the com the annals of comic history as as being you know capital I important or whatever. It's just a book that there were a few of that that now is trading for like literally 10 times what it cut know the the cover price, if not more.
01:16:52
Speaker
So um yeah, man, it's just it's hard to get my head around that kind of craziness when people see all of these numbers these big numbers swirling around comics and my name is like right next to them.
01:17:04
Speaker
I just want them know, like, I'm not playing that game. Like, I'm not in that world. Like, all of that, you all the stuff, like, you know, you see my book selling for, you know, $200, $300. Like, none of that's coming my way. Like, if I'm doing... like Yeah, go ahead. ah I like, you know, conceptually, yes I like variant covers. And I especially like variant covers drawn by people like Jay Gonzo and Eric Anderson. it's Like, friends, you know, people I know.
01:17:28
Speaker
And I think... Those are are fine to have. The reason I like them is that I like there being more cool pictures. Yes, absolutely. Of the characters that I like.
01:17:39
Speaker
ah And if you know if it's like a 1 in 50 variant, like that's well, i'm I'm not getting it. Yeah. But i also like I also know what the margins are on running a comic book store.
01:17:54
Speaker
And if you if you're a retailer and you've got to sell that book for 50 bucks, then then that's what you've got to do, I guess. I just like... Action comics, number one, is valuable because it is a a cultural artifact. yeah It belongs in a museum. It truly...
01:18:16
Speaker
it No one should pay a million dollars for Action Comics number one, because you can read Action Comics number one. Yeah. Its value isn't necessarily in in the thing, right? like it's like the What's in Action Comics number one is as important as the actual physical object, I would say. Yeah. i mean like the The fact that it existed as a physical object is important. ah you know thus Thus it belongs in a museum. But like i would... like Like I said, I have held a Batman number one. 1940. First appearance of the Joker.
01:18:52
Speaker
i have never considered purchasing Batman number one. yeah i mean if If I happen to find one for like you know a pittance, I'd probably get it.
01:19:03
Speaker
I mean, I got a – what's it called? Like a loot crate, ah DC loot crate as like ah a prize at a show I was at. um And it had a reprint of Action Comics number one in it. And so I got to read it. What is loot crate?
01:19:15
Speaker
ah Oh, shit. i forgot about that. ah Here's the thing. i like I support the speculator market and the secondary market.
01:19:26
Speaker
As long as it supports the art form of comics, which there are arguments to be made that in many ways it does. like It does enable comic shops to remain open and be profitable. yeah i mean like More artists drawing Michelangelo than Ninja Turtle is always a good thing.
01:19:43
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, and and and arguably, yeah, it leads to more artists getting paid and so on and so forth. But as soon as it starts detracting from the art form, that's when I'm out. That's when I have no time for it. I can appreciate that. I just think that um I am worried, ah ah and i don't I know no one who knows me is going to think this, but there's a lot of people who don't know me who know who now know my name, and I'm worried that it's going to look like I'm squeezing every drop of of money I can out of this industry. And and i've I've, my whole career, I've tried desperately to not do that. Like it's it's, it's hard to make money in comics, but I don't need to squeeze every penny out of it.
01:20:20
Speaker
um You know, and I know a lot of people when they come up to get stuff signed, like literally have money in hand, they're they're prepared to pay me for like a signature. I'm like, oh, I don't do that. You know, and there's a lot of things that like, I just, and I and i know, I mean, i say this and I know anyone who knows me knows it's like, I don't, I don't care about the money. It's never been about the money for me.
01:20:34
Speaker
Like, i don't I don't need to get rich making comics. I would like to stop going broke. but yeah like Yes, yes. That's always what it is. I don't need to get rich from it, but I'd like to not lose money. yeah yeah like Honestly, though, like one, I don't think anybody is begrudging you for making money as an artist.
01:20:54
Speaker
And two, if anybody does, fuck them. them. Okay, yeah that's listen, that's kind of my attitude. Most of why i came on here was to hear that and be reassured by people who who are outside of that kind of swirl. But yeah, like I get it, man. and i But it's hard to like, you know, like this the the kind of cryptocurrency aspect of it is such a torrent stream of cash flowing through the industry that by proximity, I just get worried that I'm going to get swept and solely by it, ah by the current of it all. And I'm trying desperately...
01:21:28
Speaker
to still be there for my fans and the people. like i want I want to be there for the people who were there supporting me when I was just doing Lomano, when I hadn't done the Turtles, when I hadn't done anything for Marvel. I had fans who loved Lomano who were this just there every show waiting for the next issue. I am trying desperately to get this next issue out of the new series. um And honestly, weirdly enough, I'm getting derailed by all of these people wanting me to do covers for them. But i just i'm I'm just trying to... like um not seem like a snake oil salesman. not not i mean There's so many guys that you know you and I know the name of that are just you know these kind of QVC salesmen just on on the pitch all the time trying to fledge you with how rare this is and how limited edition it is and how important this is going to be and how you have to act now. but you know like I'm not that man. I make comic covers. I'm trying to make the coolest art possible.
01:22:16
Speaker
so that ah people can enjoy it. And I honestly want to get it into as many hands as possible. yeah I just don't get to make decisions about scarcity. like that That happens at a publishing level that I just have. like if Listen, if I was at that pay grade, I wouldn't need to draw covers. you know oh i To me, like like you drawing a kick-ass Calavera cover of Michelangelo from the Ninja Turtles, yes like yeah Ultimately, if that leads people back to Lomano, back to the the but back to ah the impending Gimmick Street Good Hats merchandise, then I think like it's an unquestionably a positive thing.
01:23:02
Speaker
yeah um But you know you you actually asked a question on Blue Sky the other day of like would there be interest in a collection, like like a book of your variant covers, like an art book. It's just all the variants that you've done. And to me, I would pay, you know, like that, that is much more valuable to me as a fan of yours than paying, like,
01:23:26
Speaker
paying 50 bucks for a comic, even though only one of those allows the other one to exist. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's kind of why the the book idea came up. It's like, I just, so many people are like, oh, I missed that one. Like the the Shredder one went in like 10 minutes.
01:23:43
Speaker
and i mean like i have i I saw that – I think I saw the Michelangelo one and I was like, hey, out of curiosity, yeah like how much is the original on this bad boy? And you told me and I was like, cool, cool, cool. Good luck. good yeah I have no problem selling like that to someone who's not me.
01:23:59
Speaker
Yeah, that's been – that to me – that secondary market has been great to me. And
Tattoos, Monsters, and Upcoming Projects
01:24:03
Speaker
ah the the OA people are different than the slabbed book people. ah yeah But weirdly now some of the slabbed book people are – uh, elevating interest in the OEA art, you know, now people are like, Oh, what is that book? You know, do you have the OEA for that? and and know And I really stumbled on a couple of these. Cause I just, I have, I have collector friends who like just kind of check in with me.
01:24:25
Speaker
I was selling another piece of art ah to a guy who came to the studio to pick it up. And I just had that dork cover out. And he's like Oh shit, what is this? And I'm like, Oh, you know, it's this book dork. It's coming out, blah, blah, blah.
01:24:36
Speaker
There's like, I kind of dig that. He's like, what's the book about? him like, I explained to him the hook and everything. He's like, Oh, yeah, that does sound cool. And then like, he went home and he's like, I think he took a photo of it. and He went home and he's like, oh I showed my son that, that door cover. Like that looks, you know, that looks cool, man. Like my son digs it. He's like, I think I want it for, for the, for his room and or, you know, for my collection. like yeah, no problem. Like, and I just gave him like the most base level. Like, this is what I sell my art for, you know, price.
01:24:59
Speaker
And I really think i I could have made probably three times that amount after Dork had come out because I've had so many inquiries as to whether or not I still had that OA. like, oh, sorry, it's gone you know from guys I know who who do have pockets deep enough to buy it for three times that amount. But that's part of the game, man. But here's the thing. Yeah.
01:25:17
Speaker
I can go visit that cover now. I know where that guy lives. I can go to his house and i can go see it anytime I want. It belongs in a museum. Kind of. Yeah. Yeah. So, um but so yeah, it just, I think, I think original art is a whole other thing because like, you know, that's,
01:25:35
Speaker
I don't want to get like weirdly metaphysical about it, but like yeah you know Jack Kirby touched that stuff. Oh, yeah, for sure. like Steve Ditko drew that even if he didn't care about it. yeah and like that's That's a whole other thing. All all right. We've got to get to listener questions. I've got to say, before we do that, that thanks for your your sound advice in in me processing this matter. I appreciate you guys. Our advice is always, fuck them.
01:26:03
Speaker
yeah yeah i do I do think that people can very well and very easily tell the difference between the snake oil salesman and somebody who's doing it for the love of the game. And I i i think it's more than clear which one you are. god Thank you. I appreciate that, man All right. Here's our first listener question. If you want to ask listener questions on the show, you can do it in two places. You can do it on Blue Sky, warrocketajax.com on Blue Sky. You can do it on our Discord, which you have to be invited to be a member of. Just ask us nicely for an invitation. We'll get you on.
01:26:34
Speaker
um These are two questions that kind of go together, so I'll ask them together. okay um Hide and Seek wants to know, if Gonzo had to give Matt a tattoo, what would it look like? Hide Oh, ah well, I started yours. I have the um Copernicus Jones ah noir tattoo that is how used to be state like literally used to be right next to me. I i put it away.
01:26:55
Speaker
But um yeah, I think it would just be like Copernicus Jones. And I think it said like hard times or something like around it with like – Yeah, yeah. It was pretty good. See, now you gotta get it, Matt. Now you gotta get it. Yeah, it was like a traditional-looking Copernicus Jones with the fedora, had banners, and it said hard times. I mean, at this point, I would want to put, like, instead of whiskey bottles, like, oil bottle, like, oil canisters that look like whiskey bottles, you Yeah. Yeah.
01:27:18
Speaker
Yeah. Just, and it just said hard times and he just has this kind of like his, like weird, his tilted eyes. So he looks kind of sad, you know like a little downtrodden, but yeah, that's that's what it would be. um I think it would need to be like a forearm tattoo, like something you could, like people could see, like as you reached for things.
01:27:33
Speaker
I like it. I like it. ah I still need to get my companion piece to the one you gave me in trouble. oh Yeah. Yeah. Well, you got to get to a show, man. I don't see you anymore. I don't i don't have any comics. make We'll make comics. We just talked about this. Just make your own comics. Doc Whiskey on our Discord has this related question. What should we look for in a tattoo artist if we've never gotten one before?
01:27:57
Speaker
a portfolio full of things that you want in the style that you want them in. So if you want like you know realistic black and gray, look at the portfolio, make sure they have... And ideally, you want to see healed versions of whatever you're looking for, like maybe two, three years down the road. So if you're looking for you know photorealistic black and gray, find someone who has a portfolio full of photorealistic black and gray, ideally with healed photos three or four years down the road so you can see how those things... Every tattoo looks great right when you wipe it off.
01:28:26
Speaker
you know But like a lot of this ah a lot of stuff that has become popular is so a fine and kind of ah bright that it's not going to withstand more than a couple of years before it's just a few dark spots. ah you know So make sure you look at healed stuff.
01:28:40
Speaker
um And also, you know like a good vibe check, man. like go talk to them. And if your interaction in ah setting up an appointment ah isn't what you want, then go to someone who you feel comfortable with.
01:28:52
Speaker
Stone Cold HCC, an account that exists only to ask questions on Warlock and Ajax. Oh, hell yeah. Hold on. hold on i want I want to just, I want to savor this for just a moment. I fucking love that I'm getting a question from from Stone Cold. Yeah. this This is part of why I came on the show is I just wanted, I wanted a question from Stone Cold. So, all right, let's hear it.
01:29:07
Speaker
All right, here we go. Are the Addams Family monsters or just weird ass freaks? I'm going say weird-ass freaks. Yeah, the monsters are monsters. Yeah, yeah. But the Addams family are just people who are comfortable with themselves in in all of their weirdness. And I think that's the real lesson of them, is that like it's not them who's weird. It's us for like tamping down our weirdness that makes us weird.
01:29:31
Speaker
They were just goths before goths. Well, they had – was it the – oh, no. is the The Munsters had the Caroline, right? they The niece that was like kind of the the normal like walking around. Lily. Lily.
01:29:45
Speaker
Yeah. yu ah Franz Ferdinand 2 on Blue Sky, our buddy Ben, yup wants to know, if you're going to pick a modern masked luchador to suit do a series of adventure and horror movies around, who would it be?
01:29:59
Speaker
um Well, my initial thought would be not a mask but face paint. So I'm i'm going to say kind of is a Thunder Rosa. Like, I was talking about that ah very much in, like, kind of a Lucha Libre, Laura Croft kind of manner.
01:30:13
Speaker
You know, just, like, out in the jungles of Mexico, like, looking for cool shit and then dealing with, like, ah you know, chupacabras and that sort of thing. um And then kind of, like, actual legit, like, masked wrestler right now.
01:30:25
Speaker
Probably Phoenix. You know, I just, like, I would, I think, God, the guy's so dynamic. And I just feel like... his moveset would translate very well onto the silver screen. But I think he's getting up there, right? Isn't he? Like, he's got to be 40 now, something like that. So, you know, he is, he is, he is languishing a bit in w WWE, as I understand. Oh, a word.
01:30:46
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Did the WWE pull in some independent talent and doesn't know exactly how to write for it? Because all they want to do is big, strong guys who like just overpower their fucking opponents. Sorry. Yeah.
01:30:57
Speaker
Penta El Cerro Miedo, who I guess just goes by Penta in WWE, is doing fairly well. And like I think if you're going to do like a series of movies, it's got to be both Lucha Bros. Oh yeah, Lucha Bros. Go ahead.
01:31:14
Speaker
I saw this question when Ben asked it, and I literally had the same thought of Penta and Phoenix as both the El Santo and Blue Demon, but also the Abbott and Costello.
01:31:26
Speaker
like Oh, hell yeah. Meeting Frankenstein. and And I think he really got to lean into the Cerro Miedo of Penta and like have him like never be scared of fucking anything. Yeah, no, like, Phoenix is is shaggy.
01:31:42
Speaker
Like Phoenix is jumping into Penta's arms. See, in my head, it's a little more hawk and dove where like Penta's like, he just goes straight in. Like his, his, his answer is just a fucking, you know, put his fist in it into every problem, you know, like whatever it is. is' like, you know, oh is that a giant ancient elder God? Like, yeah, let me punch it in the fucking face and see what happens. You know, whereas Phoenix is a little more like, let's figure out what his deal is so that we can kind of like leverage that against him if we need to defeat him. But ah I do like this kind of hardy boys hawk and dove,
01:32:09
Speaker
ah The two of them being ah very opposite approaches to things, ah just you know driving around the countryside, you know solve a mystery. sounds ah the The mystery of werewolves and Frankensteins but and whatnot would be fantastic.
01:32:23
Speaker
All right. This is going to be our last question. This is from Beta Ray Ryan. It's what's the last concert you went to and how was it? Oh, Jesus, that's a good question. I think it was Madonna. I think that might have been the last legit concert I went to. ah we and We have talked about your like ah sojourn to go see Madonna in concert.
01:32:40
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah. So i kind of is that my last actual concert? Yeah, it's been I mean, that was like 2023, want to say. So I don't know that I've done a whole lot of shows.
01:32:52
Speaker
Bands, that's like probably a really good question. ah I'm going to say Madonna. I don't know i don't know for a fact that that that that's the last one I really like remember. And it was... everything you would have wanted it to be. I mean, like she puts a fucking hell of a show on. She did start late, which I know a lot of people are kind of grousing about, but she puts on like a three hour show once it starts and she doesn't fucking stop. And you know she played like an acoustic set of, or acoustic guitar version of burning up, which is more close to the demo version, which is the one I fucking love.
01:33:19
Speaker
um I mean, she played, you know, she played live to tell, like she played everything, like all of my favorites, ah you know, we're, we're all there. She played express yourself, which, um, over the past like couple decades has has become kind of like, oh this is a fun little pop song to like, might be the best song Madonna's ever done.
01:33:36
Speaker
like it it is ah It is such a great fucking tune. But yeah, and I loved every minute of it. ah She had a girl DJ open up for her, which I thought was super cool. Yeah, man, Madonna, fucking great. She's an icon for a reason.
01:33:47
Speaker
Our guest has been Jay Gonzo. ah Gonzo, thank you so much for coming on. It's always so fun to have you here. Please tell our listeners where they can follow you, ah what they should be looking for from you in the near future, and anything else you want them to know.
01:34:02
Speaker
ah You know, some Jay Gonzo art on – I think on Blue Sky and on – hold on. Fuck, that's a good question. Definitely Jay Gonzo art on Instagram. Follow me there. I am jgonzo.bluesky.social on ah Blue Sky. Those are two places to follow me. I still have a Twitter for no fucking reason, but don't follow me there. Twitter is bad.
01:34:21
Speaker
And then I just have – ton more covers coming up i don't know what i can talk about uh right now there's a battle beast i did that's ah still up and for sale i think for the for the next like week or so um there is a dork ah three coming up and possibly other dorks coming after that uh so keep your eye out on that um and then i am doing and those are i think those are retail exclusive so you have to like if you follow me i'll put links up or tell you where to find like where to buy them most of those guys do pre-sales so you can kind of, you know, once you're in line, you're going to get one.
01:34:52
Speaker
um that's the easiest way to get it. If you guys wait until they're on shelves are gone, I've got a Spider-Man, uh, amazing Spider-Man 26 coming out, uh, have a variant. I think that might be ratioed. So again, ah Talk to your comic shop about – if it's a ratioed talk to your comic shop about like what you need to pay to get it. But I guarantee you buying it from the shop, even if it's ratioed, is going to be the cheapest you're ever going to get it. like i you know That's not me trying to – it's snake oil salesman, you guys. it's just like day of from a shop is always going to be your best bet because the secondary market is kind of nuts around me right now.
01:35:25
Speaker
um And then I just – follow me on social media. I don't know what else I can talk about. But I do have ah lots of more covers coming out. And then um I am – panically working toward finishing issue one of ah series two of Lomano.
01:35:37
Speaker
I am, I would say like, I don't even want to give a percentage. I am actively working on it every day. ah My personal goal for finishing it is coming up and I think I'm going to meet it. So I'm hoping before the summer and con season, and I will have that issue out in my hands to sell to you guys. So yeah, just follow me on social media and I will let you know when things are available.
01:35:58
Speaker
And it'll cure what ails you. Yeah, absolutely. Our
Closing Remarks and Social Justice Affirmations
01:36:02
Speaker
guest has been Jay Gonzo. Gonzo, thanks for coming on and having legitimately one of the most interesting discussions we've had on the show.
01:36:11
Speaker
I hope it's interesting for other people. Talking about ego death and the nature of collectibles. absolutely Hey, that's what I'm about. and That's who you guys are, too. so yeah Honestly, again, I fully appreciate you guys helping me who straighten this out in my head. This list legitimately helped me. So thank you guys. And thank all the listeners for listening. I appreciate you guys.
01:36:30
Speaker
Thanks once again to Jay Gonzo for coming in for a intense conversation that ah was quite enjoyable. Yes, intense and enlightening, I would say.
01:36:42
Speaker
Good times. Good times had by all. We hope. We hope you had a good time. That's right. Back next week with another friend joining us here on the show. That should be exciting.
01:36:54
Speaker
That's right. Another guest will will be joining us next week. Until then, if you want to get in touch with us, if you want to ah send us a listener question or an Every Story Ever list or 1-10 of Swords submission or get in touch with us for some other reason, like say you want to sponsor the show, you can do that by going to our email address, sending us an email at warrocketpodcast at gmail.com. We are also on Tumblr, warrocketpodcast.tumblr.com. That is where we put the show notes every week.
01:37:25
Speaker
And also you can ask us questions there. We're Blue Sky, as I mentioned earlier. That warrocketajax.com on Blue Sky. You can also ah join our Discord. If you ask us nicely for an invitation to our Discord, we will get you an invitation, and you can be a part of that community, ah which is if I think is a real cool place.
01:37:50
Speaker
Warrocketajax.com is our website. has every episode of the show that we've ever done. WarRocketWiki.com has all kinds of information about this show, WarRocket Ajax.
01:38:01
Speaker
All kinds of stuff that you would want to know about our show. So go check that out if you want to learn more. If you want to find me and my stuff, go to MattDWilson.net to find links to my comics, my books, my other podcasts, and my social medias.
01:38:19
Speaker
Chris, where can people find you? Everybody can find me by going to the-isb.com. That is my website, and it has links to all the stuff that I do here and there around the web.
01:38:30
Speaker
Things you can read. Things you can you can read, mostly, I guess. yeah Listen to. You can listen to some of them. And there's also a link where you can hire me to create things for you so that I get to continue living indoors.
01:38:49
Speaker
Join us next week. We'll have a great show. Until then, do not forget that Black Lives Matter. Trans rights are human rights. As are abortion rights. Drag is not a crime. Cops aren't your friends.
01:39:00
Speaker
Fuck ice. Free Palestine. We love you. We love you. Yeah!