August 19, 2025 • 48 mins
Yet another instant classic interview, this time we welcome Omari Malik, the mind behind Blacktooth Publishing, the independent comic book company responsible for Dogpile, Snakebite and Adastra! We speak.to Omari about how he turned his personal grief and life experiences into strength and success in the comic book industry! If you want to know how to bring your own ideas to life, all while owning your own properties? Then press play and get put up on game.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's up, y'all, and welcome to another episode of the
four All Nerds Show. On this episode, we welcome Omari Malik,
the founder and publisher of Black Tooth Publishing, an independent
black ass comedy company. What's good everybody, and welcome back
(00:30):
to another episode of the four All Nerds Show. And
as always on the four All Nerd Show, we are
bringing you that heat and of course we have yet
another exclusive, amazing interview in store for you. We have
Omar Malik in the building. Amar is the founder and
(00:51):
also you know, one of the creators at Black Tooth
Publishing LLC, a Brooklyn, NY based publishing company which, like
I said before, he founded, focused on giving creators a
platform to express themselves unapologetically through literature. They have three
flagship titles, A Dastra Did I get that right? Yeah,
(01:12):
I'm okay good. I was pure guest, really loved it,
but you know I had to guess of the name.
Dogpile is their second title, which off top was my favorite,
and State Fight. Omari was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia.
The aight, o'fo, you already know, man, you already know. Look.
I will get into that in a second. My lover Richmond.
(01:38):
Like any great superhero story, Malite's stories run of both
tragedy and triumph. After losing his father at seven years old,
he turned the comic books and music as an outlet.
And it's seventeen year old. Seventeen years old, Maliite moved
to New York City to attend college with less than
two hundred dollars in his name. Through prayer and perseverance,
Malik graduated both a bachelor's degree and master's degree. Shortly
(02:00):
after graduating, the inner corporate America blah blah blah got
tired of that and turn it to a real superhero
and found it black to publish. And I don't mean
I got tired of your intro. I just mean you
got tired of that world.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Welcome to four, all Nerds and Mari.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
How you feeling today, I'm good. Thank you guys so
much for having me. I really appreciate it. And I'll
mention it here because I mentioned it, you know before
we recording. I have been a fan for a minute
because of my standship for you know, Carrie Randolph and
Brandon Thomas and all those guys. So I've been with
four a minute, man, so this means allowed to be able.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
To be here, and as I've been doing, I'm gonna
give you praise for listening and doing what we asked.
Make sure if you have any projects, you have any
amazing things you're working on, to hit us up. That's
what a Mari's team did, and that's why we got
to read all of his great work and have him
on the show the day to talk to him. So
please make sure you're hitting us up. Contact thefoall nerds
(02:57):
dot com. Thank you so, Cary, you've read through that.
I guess what we got, Like the full compilation, I
had all three titles in it, right, all right, I
want to start because I think that's probably our favorite one.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Dog Pile tell us like for people who.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Don't who's never read it, like and all, it just
sees this black ey surrounded by a bunch of dogs.
Can you give them some more context about what this
story is about?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Yeah, so I'll give you guys, like the quick convention pitch.
I do a bunch of conventions, so random people walk
up to my table, I like to tell them, hey man,
Dog Pile ta manga. The main character loses his family
in a mysterious accident. Now alongside seven Dogs, is trying
to figure out what happened to just kind of go
about his day and you know, live life and try
to be on the upside of everything. So that's the
(03:41):
short version with I'll give him away too much initially,
but obviously, you know, we'll talk more about everything, but
you know, feel free to fire away or if you
let me go out will rainbow all times.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Okay, let's you know, back up a little bit, because
you founded the whole Black Tooth, you know, and everything,
and you were working in corporate America, you know, toiling
away and the minds and trenches and so what really,
what was your moment when you were like, oh man,
fuck all this, I gotta you know, what I gotta do.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So I'll say, well, there's there's technically two moments, so
and I guess I'll start it for me. I've always
been a comic book kid. Like my dad was a
big comic book collector. So my dad, I grew up
around long boxing. So and when I say long boxes,
like I grew up around like nineties DC Milestone Image,
(04:31):
like those nineties books like I've had. I mean, I
know he's getting in a bit of craziness online. But
I grew up around so many Chuck dicks and books,
so many Todd McFarlin books, like so many Denny O'Neil
books and No Man's Land and all that nineties, you know,
comic book stuff. So that was always in my house.
And I like to laugh and tell people it's like
(04:53):
I was a marketing person's dream in the early two
thousand slash late nineties, because if you had a cartoon
and a toy, I was going to yell in Walmart
or KB Toys until I got it. So I was
always in that short of into that sort of stuff.
And I didn't realize that people worked at Marble or DC,
Like I didn't realize that was a job. Like I
(05:13):
just saw names on books and I was like, oh, well,
they clearly made everything. Especially when you're reading like Image
books or Milestone books and you're seeing Dwayne McDuffie's name there,
and then it's like he also created Static. You're seeing
Ton's name, and he created Spawn and you know, I'm
also early two thousands of kids, so it's like you're
seeing Toriyama and he created dragon ball Z see Kishimoto
(05:36):
and he created an arts so it was like, oh,
if I want to do this, I have to make
my own stuff. And so it started there. So I'm
always kind of like doodling, Like I never was a
kid that was trying to draw Batman three hundred times.
Like I was trying to draw my own stuff and
make my own stuff. And I had parents that you know,
(05:56):
when you when you grow up in Richmond and you
say you want to be a power book artist or
comic book writer, you know, you look around and it's like,
we don't do that here. That's unheard of. So they
pushed me into you know, for good reason, and I
really appreciate it. They pushed me in a direction to
do something practical, which is why I ended up going
to Saint John's and getting a bachelor's and getting a master's.
But after I graduated, like I literally just sat there
(06:19):
like with my degree, before I'm about to start grad school.
I liked to my girlfriend at the time, I was like,
I don't want to do this, Like I have a
job lined up them up to start grad school, but
like this is never what I wanted to do. Like
I'm a comic book kid that's in the punk rock
like I don't want to work in a cubicle. But
then I got to. Then, you know, I started the job,
(06:40):
made money, good money, and you enjoyed that and kind
of got distracted until like the pandemic hit and when
I wasn't going into the office every day and there
wasn't waste for me to waste my money on Jordan's
and all types of other things, I was like not
spending as much money. I've been constantly rewriting every TV
(07:02):
show I've ever seen. Every time I watch something I
pissed people off, and I'm like, this would be really
cool if this happened, or they should have done this instead.
So you know, I went back to my mother's house,
pulled up those old sketch books and just got started,
like you literally just got to work and came up
with ideas and like I I mean, even though we're
not together, I always have to shout out my axe
(07:23):
because she really pushed me in the direction of like,
you know, I came up with ideas because it was like,
all right, I want to start. I don't want to
just be a one title guy. You know. It's like
if I want to come up with books, I want
to come up with multiple things too. I have a
bunch of different interests, and you know, I like a
bunch of different stuff. And originally I was going to
launch for four titles, and one of them she was like,
(07:46):
it's god awful, which made me like scrap that to
you know, kind of bring dog Palus to the forefront.
She told me another thing was kind of reductive, so
I scrapped that and like stole the villain from that
and made him the main character and snake Bite and
you know, a dast was pretty clean and Dasher was
the most solid idea, didn't have to go through any
(08:06):
you know, ex girlfriend revisions and you know, and then
here we are.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So but so your second moment was when COVID hit
and you're just like, okay, I just need to do
something other than this exactly.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So it's like the first moment, like I said, definitely
graduating and getting ready to start working and be like, oh,
I really don't want to do this. This is not
what I want to do. But then you know, I
was tentre deep in that at that point, like I
had to degree already signed the offer letter, so did
it and enjoyed it. And then when COVID happened and
things slowed down. I was like, oh, yeah, I didn't
(08:39):
want to do this. I shouldn't be enjoying this, Like
this isn't what I want. I got to get out
of here.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah. And like you were saying you grew up DC
and it, I was like the opposite, because I was
definitely marveled. Like even when you say Chuck Didson and
he's done some on the band and I'm like, I
can't evenmber what he wrote back there. I know the name,
but I don't, you know, like I have no idea
what Chuck wrote, you know, back then or now?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Yeah, now, Chuck is he was big in the night
Wing he oh that's right, yeah, night Wing also like Robinson,
well Tim Drake as Robin at first solo series.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I have that. I think I met him. Yeah wow,
all right, yeah way back then. I think I did
when that joint came out. But now my other question
on that note was, so you're already an artist, you're
already a writer, you're already a creative, but you're also
diving full into the world of publishing and all this,
and I assume you pretty much knew nothing.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, so I'll say you.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Get in like, you know, for people who want to
know this, you know, because I mean you already had
the stills at least, but the business side of it
is a whole other thing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
So that's why I can be mad at my parents
for like pushing me to go to school because I
have a business degree. Like I have a bachelor's depress management,
and then I got an NBA and executive management and
I was a broker, so I was a finance bro
and you know, being a broker, being a finance bro like,
I had to learn a bunch of different aspects of
(10:08):
business because I'm obviously acting on other people's behalf. So
you know, bringing myself up to speed with an industry
or familiarizing myself with something is just a skill set
that I have, Like you know, being able to being
a risk being, having a bachelors in risk management and
being able to jump into something and accept the risk.
You know, trying to come up with strategies is a
(10:29):
skill you know that works for me. Man, I like
the problem solve. I'm a storyteller, so you know that
aspect of it in the business world, like being able
to read books, and you know, I wrote I read
so many books like how to write books, you know,
how to start a business book, like how to get
into publishing, like publishing for Dummies and all those things.
(10:49):
So looking at that obviously like muscle watching documentaries, you know,
you watch the rise of images, you watch all these
things of how people did it, and you know that
was a big aspect of it, like a bunch of
like research. It's just understanding in my general business knowledge.
And then I also like want to shout out, I'm
a mentor man, so like I was a comic, I'm
(11:11):
a comic book kid. So I used to go in
to conventions being small creators. And one of those small
creators that I met and I reached out to was
Greg Anderson LSA the creative is not. And you know
I reached out to Greg. I'm like, hey, man, like
I understand all this practically, like I got the numbers
of figuring it out. I've read the books I read,
(11:32):
you know, Alan Moore's book on how to write out
of read Bendis's book, like Dinny O'Neill's, like I done
read everything, how you really do this? And you know,
shout out to Greg for my gatekeeping and being super
helpful and you know, walking me through and telling me
different things and putting me on a lot of game.
Those soft skills of having a mentor and then having
(11:53):
a practical knowledge made it a very easy transition. I'm
not going to say it was smooth and like painless,
like you know, dealing with people, dealing with artists, being
able to navigate, you know, making sure you line things
up correctly for a printer and understanding dimensions like it's
a learning curve like anything. But I was able to
avoid a lot of pitfalls that I know some artists
(12:15):
that aren't as business minded, you know, kind of fall
victim to.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
So what would be one of the big pitfalls that
you managed to avoid for people who are trying to
get into this themselves.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
One pitfall is over asking. And when I say over asking,
like over asking for like, if you see somebody's art
and it looks really cool on Instagram and like they
might not have a portfolio, You're like, oh, like let
me see some mower stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You know, like.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Because just like people understand what a portfolio is, but
the portfolios for your highlights, you put your best stuff there.
But it's like if you're drawing a book, you have
to draw street, you have to draw an apple on
the table, you know, so you want to ask to
see as much as possible. You also like when I
say like not being afraid to ask, Like you want
(13:05):
to jump into a book, like I would tell people
if you're coming up with a cast of characters, you
don't need somebody to draw turnarounds for fifty characters or
the mom and dad. But it doesn't hurt to ask
for a sketch to make sure the main characters' parents
look like them, you know, just like little solve things.
And then like it costs to be a boss, like
(13:27):
if you know good art costs. You know. Also, this
is a small community, so everybody's trying to make a living,
So I don't believe in being cheap to people like
I just everybody can negotiate. But I'm not low balling
any artists, like I'm not trying to stop anybody from eating.
We all have to do this. So if it takes
a while for me to raise the capital for a book,
(13:48):
or if I have to save, or what should be
a forty page book needs to be twenty because the
artist cost a little bit more, and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
You have to make those adjustments and how do you
raise money for a book?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
So for me, because I've been a bit of a
finance bro, like luckily, I've had a little bit of
startup capital that I was able to do my own.
And then at this point, after my initial investment that
I made of like personal like you know, balls to
the wall money, now it's I go to conventions often.
I literally just got back from Boston. I was a
(14:20):
Boston fan x well. And then for me, I also
did a kickstarter, So I did a kickstarter for pre orders,
like I fronted the money to make the initial book,
and then the kickstarter is to you know, raise more
money for the next thing. In addition to that, also
raised money for printing and whatnot.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Okay, good, And the reason why we asked like this
is really critical information and it's really helpful because we
have a lot of careers as you know, that are
listening to this and watching this and trying to figure
out how did you get to where you got? And
with all of that said, like I do want to
go into inspiration, Like now you have your this big
background about where you came from and what you've gone through,
so what inspired these stories?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
So I like to every story is kind of inspired
by an aspect of my life or you know, or
a hypothesis of what would happen if this were to
go on. And like I know, we initially started talking
about dog Pou, dog Pout to me is about light
about life and dealing with trauma and just dealing with grief.
(15:19):
Like that's kind of what that story is about. And
I liken it to me being in my early twenties
and fresh out of college and like knowing I wanted
to do something, but not knowing what I wanted to do.
And if you read that book, I hope people get
that feeling from the main character to Kwan, it's like,
you know, he wants to do good. He's just trying
(15:40):
to make it through, but it's like, what does that
bigger purpose so that good really look like? When we
have so many other things going on, you know, when
life just you know, life is life and it's not
always highs or lows or even like you can't help
you can't help what's going on. So you know, being
(16:00):
able to encapsulate that into a book, you know, for
a dashtra that's inspired by my younger sister. I'm a
younger sister, that's a Gemini and for that anybody that's
in the Zodia XN like to say geminis to multiple people.
So that's kind of a hypothesis of when you tell
somebody they can be anything they want, what happens if
they really can't? Like what happens when you can shape
(16:22):
shift and you can be anything you want to be
and you're struggling to be yourself, you know. And last
when I least, like with snake Bite, like I was,
I mentioned it like I was a punk rock kid.
So I started playing guitar, like when I got into
eighth grade and like ninth grade, and that was a
crucial time for me because while I was starting to
(16:44):
stay in the house to learn how to play guitar, like,
my friends in my neighborhood started to go outside. And
when I say go outside, like, that's when that's when
trouble started finding us. You know, that's when the older
that's when you know.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
It to do. But cook shout clips exactly. That's Virginia.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah, that's what you know, things started being being real.
It's like, oh, yeah, we don't like them because they
go to this other high school. They all now and
they drive and you saw them coming through the neighborhood like, oh,
oh oh wait, that's what they calling their crew. Now,
oh we got to come up with a name for us.
Are they wearing them colors? Like those sort of things
(17:27):
started happening, and it's like, those are also the people
I went to school with. Those are the people that
lived that the street from me. Those are the people
I hung out with all the time as I was
doing something new and playing guitar. It's like, had I
not found punk rock and like wanted to pretend I
was like in Suicide Silence or all these other death
metal and hardcore bands, Like.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I was going to ask you, what are you listening to?
I mean, you're still punk rock. I see the gauges
in your ear. You're clearly still on that on that
type of time. Okay, so we're talking about death metal, Okay,
So I would say I was.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I was.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
I was a seene kid. Like if anybody the people
that know, they'll know like I.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Was in early two thousands types of exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
So I was seeing kid like it started off with
like Green Day and my Chemical Romance, and then it
just started getting heavier and heavier and being from Richmond,
Like we have a very big hardcore punk scene, so
like all those straight auts hardcore bands. Man, it's like
hate breed down, nothing, embracefore and like very intense things
that would make you know, people clutch their paroles and
(18:26):
stuff like. That was what I was all about. But
that's what I kind of wanted to sneak back to
be like all of our decisions and you know, having
one foot in and one foot out and trying to
navigate that, especially when you get something that might be
unexpected like Superpower.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Yeah, well, it seems like these stories are like kind
of portions and elements of your own life just intertwined
with fantasy, intertwined with you mentioned, you know, even anime,
and then of course the typical superhero stuff.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Yeah for sure, for sure, for sure, that's very cool.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
I really like how I mean talk about how it's
inspired by your own life. And this is something that
I really enjoyed when writers can do without making it
like the straight up to be corny basically is to
jet like blackness into the writing, but not when pandering,
you know, like or you know this with the you
know whities will think is black, you know type of right,
(19:22):
like in Dog Pile when the dog and just the
dog's dialogue throughout the book is one of my favorite
parts about it because they're just so semi abrasive. You know,
they're not you know, they're they're very straight up to Homie,
like they don't pull any punches with them. But just
when the dog was saying, how you know, oh she
(19:42):
got them church lady arms. You know, I know she
can cook. And that just hit me in my soul
because you know, I grew up in a Baptist church
and church lady arms used to actually steer me when
I was little, like women, when women had the big giant.
I was like, yo that, you know, that's a lot
of arms, but you know they can cook. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
The stories are very unapological, unapologetically black American code, and
I mean that's you are a black man in America,
and it's just really refreshing to get stories that reflect that, like, yeah,
you have black CREATI ay things like that, but even
the names of the characters that you chose, that's it
feels very Black American. And I know that there are
(20:20):
a lot there are a lot of people who feel
like there's not enough attention put on the fact that
a lot of the the black culture kind of stems
from Black America, So I like that that's kind of
centered here too.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Yeah, that's definitely, you know, that was something I wanted
to do, like even with the mission statement for the
company to be unapologetic, like being such a media kid
like you hearing things of like, oh, Dave Chappelle left
The Chappelle Show because they were telling him what to do.
Aaron McGruder left, you know, Boondocks because they were telling
him what to do. It's like, that's another reason why
(20:52):
I'm so passionate about wanting to do my own things,
because I want to be able to do whatever I
want to do and have people that if you don't know,
you won't know and you won't understand that it means
something for people like like you guys mentioned like with
the names like I have a weirder name, like granted,
my name is like a musclem name of Martin Leak,
but it's like I've never been able to go to,
(21:14):
you know, a touristy shop and find my name on
a keychain and things like that, or exact like being
being in a situation where you know, I never walked
in the store and been able to see that. But
it's like I grew up in a neighborhood where I
knew several day kwans. I knew lass, like, yeah, this
(21:38):
is typical. That was such a common name. But it's
like I can't think of a main character named the Kwan.
I can't think of the main character name a Desia
or you know, Imani's or you know, like all names
that to me, like I was normal, Like if I
put my old I knew in high school, I knew
I went to school with a girl named two million, like.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Two million, two million dollars.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Two million was her name.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
I swear to God, wherever you are, two million, I
hope you got two or three million by this point.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
God.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
But it's like I hope that name came true for you.
You know, she couldn't afford a car name the daughter
of Like.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Like I'm not joking, Like that was like bro, Like
I know.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
I used to date someone from Richard for a very
long time, so I've been there. I used to call
that a two hotel town, but you know it's not
the biggest of cities, you know what I mean? And
should go down when in them little towns.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Virginia is, especially when you're on I ninety five, you
can't get down south without coming to Richmond.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
I'm like Christopher Burg rowing up Harrisburg, Blacksburg. It doesn't
matter which of them towns you in Virginia. He's a problem.
You mess around, you gonna find out.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
So yeah, yeah, we both really liked all the different
art styles for all the stories through through all the books,
Like the art was unique in every story and it
was different, and I think that's like what's more popular
that popular now, Like even though there are different stories
when you read it as an anthology, like being able
to go through different environments and different characters and just
(23:26):
seeing it presented in a different way, you know, from
illustration like that as you see that in things like
Spider Verse, right, you said, and I just started watching
to Be hero X. I don't know if we watched that,
but like being able to see that and then kind
of work through that and have your own imagination about
what the characters could sound like things like that, Like,
I think that's really makes the stories and just makes
(23:48):
your work that much more interesting.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yeah, I appreciate that. That was another thing that it's
like I don't want to say it's super calculated, like
I'm some mastermind and give myself a bunch of products.
But it's like I wanted everything out of different feel
like a dancer for all intents and purposes. It's a
teen drama, like I wanted it to look like a
Saturday morning cartoon, you know, Dolfoule. I wanted it to
have that manga edge to it, like I wanted it
(24:12):
to be manga driven, and for Snake White, like I
wanted it to feel almost like every comic book on
the shelf, like something that you might see from Answer whatever,
Marvel and GC book. But it's like a story that
you can never get from one of those companies where
it's like this gets fresh out of Juvie and he
has tattoos, he's tatted up, like what is happening here?
(24:35):
You know?
Speaker 1 (24:35):
And then also like in Snake Bite, it's not just
that he's fresh out of jeuviy, but it's all said
that he's just a normal black kid trying to make
it And like I love that because their minded me
and me and my friends in high school, you know,
lying about girls. You know, I wasn't hugged up on her.
You know, I got her number and all that when
you know she took his number, etcetera.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
It's all that type of thing. It's a really human
take on these characters. Instead of just being like, well,
you know, he's a juvenile delinqud you know, and you know,
and how can you avoid the gang life you know
and all that type of stuff, It's more like, Yo,
how can you get this girl and avoid I mean,
you know, we all have to avoid the game life
as well, but we're all trying to just live life
(25:14):
as well.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yeah, And like you mentioned, like especially like with the
gang aspect being a big part of it, It's like,
I feel like people don't necessarily always hear accurate stories
of when you're in those scenarios because if you listen
to drill music or you listen to you know, more
aggressive hip hop, it seems like everybody's an aggressive But
(25:36):
when you live in those neighborhoods, bro, everybody everybody playing defense. Yeah,
everybody's playing defense. Man, we don't. And even on both sides,
everybody's playing defense. Like when they get to the party,
the guys that live in that neighborhood at the party
are like, why are they here? Yeah, they're just as
(25:57):
defensive of why are they here as we don't do
anything for me.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
It's always like, ah, these North Side gonna be up
in here, and I oh, it's gonna be a problem
tonight because on the South side, you know, and that's
how it goes.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Yeah, definitely appreciate the fact that you just provided real
situations that they again has been mentioned. That reminds me
of like the Spider Man neighbor Friendly neighborhood Spider Man,
where like, you know, there was a gang part and
it's just like it's the typical like wrong side of
the tracks and now I gotta get my life right,
Like there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
It's just like, can.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
I just have a story where it's just like, you know,
I'm just trying to be mentioned meet this girl, or
you know, I me and my brother's going to seven
to eleven, you know, just some something regular. Like I
think there's a lack of just stories about regular occurrences
that happen every day.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
You know, me and my friends sitting on a stoop
talking to each other about.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Whatever like that.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
It seems to happen very rarely in comics and story
orson even more so in stories that are centered on
black characters.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
For sure. For sure.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
That said, though, I do appreciate whole sneak fite in
the days you're representing like two black kids from different worlds,
different backgrounds. Like I think that's also important, right, Like,
so everybody's not in this holy negative situation. No, not
everybody's in juvie and all other stuff. There's also girls
who have the mother and the father and sister, the brother.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Everybody's there.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
You have all the resources in the world and you
just not trying to You're not all that type of time.
You just want to you know, you just want to
go what did they seen in the comedy show? You
just wanted to have big fun in Baltimore, right, And
sometimes that's how it is.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
And you know, again, as mentioned, we really appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Yeah, And I mean a lot of people we always
say like black culture isn't a monolith, But then the
moment we don't see something that aligns from where we
came from, we kind of attack it to be like
this is weird or this is different, and this is that.
But it's like I wanted to be able to show
both and not say that one was better than the other.
Like you know, I also I would say I'm not
(28:00):
a happy Indians guy. And when I say I'm not
a happy in These guy, it's like in life, I
don't believe in happy indings because in life, you wake
up the next day, even the best day of your life,
like the next day, like not to say it'll be terrible,
but it's like after your wedding, like that next day,
you still got to clean up the reception hall, you
got to do all that sort of stuff. So you know,
like with my stories, you know, I just try to
(28:22):
make it as normal as possible. So you know, like
at the end of dog Pole, like it's not a tragedy,
you know, it's not a super win. Same thing with
a dash for It's like I did all this and
then life goes on. The same thing with Snake, but
it's like, all right, this is cool. But it's like
they didn't They're not to say nothing was fixed, but
(28:44):
it's like there's more world, Like we have to wake
up tomorrow. Things are still going on. Like my stepdad's
still my stepdad. I still don't like him. He still
doesn't like me, Like you know, stuff is still happening,
like I know that.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Like, oh my goodness, I know that life.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
That's also good because you want to give people something
more when they come back for issue too and go on.
So you know you can't just solve everything in the
pilot episode otherwise have five seasons of course, of.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Course, And I will say that your stories do differ
and have any perspectives enough where people of that respond
to like different approaches, will like that.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Like I think you could.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
You could grab a very wide set of people with
how you've done it. From the way the animation stocks
like ID thatsked her she It's very cute.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
It's like very cute, see like really bright colors.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
I like the lines there, and then you have something
that's like dog Pile's more like Grungey Sharper lines like
I think you will as someone who likes animation and
different illustrations like and respond differently depending on how it's
his it's presented.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I think you're going to get different people too.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Ben.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Did you have any more questions here because I think not.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
No, I did have one more about the art. So
you did the art on all three of these books.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
So no, I hire different artists. I am the guy
that gets very terrible outlines and layouts and clean up
everything about I.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Was like, damn, this man over here cooking art everything.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
I mean, that'd be amazing. But now I saw that
art work involved.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Yeah, and how you know, since we're mentioned them, you
know how that team come together, just like mentioned people
you just saw on the internet and was like that
come through or.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
A little bit. So when I like, that's what I
mean when I say you always like it doesn't hurt
to ask for different things, like with dog Pile, like
a little bit of trial and error, like you can't
avoid that. That's a part of the process of like
finding a guy that I thought was good and then
it's like, all right, man, you have those phages done.
It's like, no, it's been a week. Oh my god,
(30:47):
well it's been three weeks. It's like all right, bro,
like I have to move on. And you know with Snake, right,
it's like, oh, this guy's art is really good, Like, oh,
why does this not look like what's in his portfolio?
You know? And happening okay exactly, so you know happen.
But that's why I tell people like you have to
(31:08):
vet things. It's always okay to ask for a question
and like it costs. It calls to be a boss
and they're like, you want this many revisions, you want this,
You want me to do a test sketch, Like I'm
not doing a test sketch for free, Like wow, it costs,
and you know it's a part of the process because
you know, for me, I'm because I was raised on
(31:31):
Big two books, which are the highest level of professionality
when it comes to making comics. M I have a
very keen eye to where it's hard for me to
see something and like it be a terrible comic book
and I'm like, oh, like it's hard for me not
to accept like great artwork and you know, even not
be critical on myself where I'm like, I know I
(31:52):
can't do this, Like I need someone to come here
and like do this properly.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
So you know, yeah, awareness is key, Yeah, very very key.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Right. Sure. I think you survived the interview portion of
For All Nerds show, and you know, as a long
term listener, I know you know what comes next. We
have the rap sentiment, rapid fire questions. Yeah, I mean
hopefully hopefully you've been practicing these all these years you've
been listening. So we shall see Luke Cage or black Panther.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Black Panther, because I don't think I could come up
with a Luke CA's pitch, but if I needed to,
if I was on a spot, I could come I
have a black panther pitch in the back my back pocket.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Very good.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Magneto Professor X Magneto, The Wire are Breaking Bad, The.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Wire except I hate I hate everything in season two
that doesn't have to do a Springer a lot.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
So, wow, you just dispredited. I mean you might have
said breaking bad and kept your you know, like.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
Just breaking bad. I like Breaking Bad. Breaking Back is solid,
definitely like one of them. It's a solid show. But
I love the why more I tell you.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
But if you got it, you might need to go
rewatch season two.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Brothers. I didn't care about the long Showman or.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
The girls, and I didn't I did it. I get it.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
That's how the drugs got there.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
But yeah, there it is. You said it. There it is.
It's it's a genius of the show. Plus it's a
great story.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
I hated what was his.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Name, sigg or Come on, man, you hate he's got
the best he's got the best going out line ever
is what I am? That's character? You get it.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
All right? My Chemical Romance or Fallout Boy.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
And I definitely m c R. Because they're also common
guys like Wade and they both made comics.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Brother Academy. I didn't really like it, but you know,
they made it.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Like the book, you didn't like the show.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I like the Bush. Yeah, the show definitely. I fell off. Yeah,
I fell off hard. That that's the show where it's like, yo,
there were no black people in that writer's room because
the way that the way they treat time travel on
black people. So you're like, sure, guy, okay, I guess yeah.
In the book, I just I liked it, it was
just doom Patrol, you know, yeah, yeah, it's two Patrol.
(34:24):
It's it's you know, it's you know, it's well done
doom Patrol. But yeah, but that's not you know, it's
all you know, if you you know, copy, you know,
imitation of the greatest former flattery, et cetera, how you
do it. I ain't mad at that. And it was
well done, and then they got a whole show out
of it. So you know, Superman or Batman.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Batman, Star Wars or Star Trek.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
I have a controversial take here. I'm gonna say Star
Wars because I'm a very good star. I'm a baby
big Star Wars, and I kind of hate Star Trek,
but I love it. Just doesn't do anything for me.
But this is the hot trick. I love Star Trek parody,
like I love the Black Mirror episode that's like a
Star Trek. Yeah, anything that's like a Star Trek parody.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Or about that the Orpheus was exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
From Family Guy.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
That ship is the Orville Orville.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Yeah, I love stuff that spoofs or parody Star Trek,
but actually Star Trek exactly, actual Star Trek, like.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
That clown Star Trek.
Speaker 4 (35:32):
Not know you don't you know Star Star Trek exactly,
No problem, you know, I'm certain that what's the same.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Like I like, I like certain Star Trek though, but
I also love like Galaxy Quest was my joint. That
Black Mirror episode of one of the few I've ever watch.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
That's like, yeah, yeah, you're right. I never don't about that.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Even like the Futurama episodes. Yeah, this is awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Oh. I used to love it when they pown it
on a living color. That's because I'm trying to think of, like,
what was the earliest clowning of Star Trek. I saw
and in living color, and I thought.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Anybody doing the Williams Shattner in personally?
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Oh yeah, yeah, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
I love But I just sit there and watch an
actual Star Trek episode.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Jason Clark is coming back on the show to rip
you a new one.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
I see, like, yeah, somebody do the wild out Shatner impersonation.
Didn't watch Shatner do it himself? Right? I didn't. I
never thought about it like that. But that is all right,
that's a great one. What's your favorite superhero movie of
all time? Oh?
Speaker 3 (36:46):
This is I love Black Panther. Before Black Panther, I
would have said the First Store. I loved that First
Store movie. Wow, I don't know what that That really
did it for me.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Controversy is the name of the game today, folks.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
For what you said, those are obviously great. I mean
I was there day one, like for the Dark Night,
So I love that. Like that back when you could
go to a movie theater and get little lift little
gramds and go to Circuit City and like buy the
DVD and get little prizes and toys like that, like.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Man, you threw it back, he said, Circus City.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
I was all over it about that store, First City.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
It's like when you buy the DVD, like you get
a little like a bobble head ten sets like stuff
like that. Like I love stuff like that. I really did,
like Zack Snyder's watching him when that came out.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Have you ever read the book?
Speaker 5 (37:46):
I did, but like I I had to be great.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
I was like in seventh or eighth grade.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
And I was all over that, Like that's over.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Seven eighth grade when the movie came out.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Exactly, and I was still super into it, like I
have well on this bookshelf.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
If I was eighth grade, maybe too, but yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
I loved it, loved it even when another one that
like that, the First in City, not a dame to
kill for the First in City movie. That's like a
big one for me. But I would say Black Panther,
Black Panther is my one.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
You said, keep it, keep it on until we're gonna
get that black.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
That's the good cari to say before Black Panther.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
I mean I would have said that, but it was
still good.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
But I give you that. I wouldn't have said that
if Black Panther never came out.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
We're with you, man.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I was amazed if somebody came on here and said, so,
you know, stand on it. That's what I mean. You
gots stand on telling.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
You one of my favorite movie anytimes. When he's in
the cafe and he drinks the coffee, yeah small, this
is a glass like another one. I'm like, this is me.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
I love this.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
I was like, people should never make me famous because
I'm walking in restaurants and smashing glasses and saying another like.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Yeah, I mean I stand on my iron Man three low.
So you can stand on.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
That, oh God, and any medium like a book, movie song, whatever.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
What's character's death hurt you the most.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
People are gonna call you crazy for this one.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
But Bishop when he gets toasted in uh.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
No, Bishop from Juice when he falls sho.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Oh with Bishop falls.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Off the roof of Juice, I was like, my man,
he had murdered the crew.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
It's not complete.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
Bo I was there like, no, I love Tupac more
than this man, but I'm still like that manant was
you know it was time for Bishop to go?
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Did I want him to get rid of everybody. But
it's like it's for me, Like I said, I like village,
So it's like I wanted him to pull I wanted
him to pull up Q and then like clap up
in Q fall like I wanted.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
You ain't got the juice.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Now, like like like obviously a psychopathic like when he's.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
You do know that that's how the movie ends, right then, No,
I'm you know, because I'm not sure I seen you. Like, well, okay, well,
Tupac is dropped off a building by q Omar and
then Omar EPs then walks back like because you're not
at the top of roof, So he walked back to
the people were standing there watching, you know, because they're
(40:43):
all standing by the door to the roof, and a
random dude who has never seen or spoken to Omar's
character this whole movie, he says, you got the juice now,
like nobody is all that in there in this whole movie.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Because you guys, see the.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
Name of the movie. In the movie, you're not like
you've have been talking about how you know, if you
kill somebody, you get the juice or something. This is
blood thurstay cycles mind.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
You been doing things that would have gotten them juice,
like taking care of his bullies where he could have
earned juice when doing.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
That, or he murders his whole crew. It's a psycho
path and then it's dumped off ability by his best
friend you know, who's really obviously tractically hurt at this
whole sequence of events, and some random other sociopaths is
telling him how he's got to choose. It's one of
the greatest endings of any movie you ever made.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
So ridiculous if you watch it, watch it. I want
you to watch it in between two horribles like don't
just watch it.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Don't watch it's like a palate cleanser.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
No movie until it's like I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
I'm a laugh at No.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
No, I don't. A lot of people watch Juice as
if like, oh, we're gonna watch Friday, We're gonna.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Watch know what it's about.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
It ain't that, but but people think it's an urban
you know, like whatever movie not even on a Friday,
Minister Society or you know, but it's a it's straight up,
it really is a horror movie as.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
A horror movie, like don't watch it, Like oh, yeah,
we're gonna watch Juice.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
And then boys and yeah, no, yeah, I feel you. Yeah,
because it's straight up it's a horror movie.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
Watch Carrying Juice and then My Bloody Valentine and like
you're gonna have a great double feature.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Juice reclassified as horror that's crazy, and Tupac is one
of the greatest horror Freddy Jason, We're gonna have to
start asking Freddy chasing.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
Flash movie. It's slash it.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
It is, it is. There's just no streaming woman though,
you know what's the final girl? They don't have a
final I guess Omar is.
Speaker 3 (43:12):
Just like just like just like the dude and Freddy two.
Why that's what you do? You watch Freddy too, then
you watch the Juice because of mail Center horror movies.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
So this is a great breakdown. But ship, if you
couldn't have anyone superpower, what would it be?
Speaker 3 (43:34):
I want to say, like teleportation or phasing, like to
be able like the Kitty Pride, to be able to
phase or nightcrawlers teleportation.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
I'm not sure if you've ever had somebody say Kitty Pride.
So that's a good one. Yeah, yeah, facing is definitely
a good one. And I'm not sure anyone's ever gone
for that, okay, cause.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
I was saying, I'm trying to see the.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Flaws that what's the point.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
Whenever I think if I had facing, it's like, Okay,
I'm gonna go rock Banks.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
So for me, I'm a big concert because of enemies.
Like I'm a big concert guy. So it's like, I
I need to tickets nowhere.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Nice, that's a great yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:12):
Walking through Yeah, and then you there.
Speaker 1 (44:16):
No lines anywhere, no minds at any point if anyone
ever sees you walk through the walls over So you're
gonna have to plan that out. You just can't like
walk through the wall the concert.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
But you can always find a random gate.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying. Random gate? Oh yeah,
because you have vi P is easy because you've got
in the back of the cog, the back of the
stadium and just walk in and you in the back
with all the roadies and ship you in there.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
You only limited by your imagination. You get in there.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Well, you survived the raps segment and you have survived
for all nerds. Thank you so much for coming on
as a guest. This was fantastic. We had a lot
of fun, learned a lot about you. Please let thee
well the and family. Please let them know where they
could find you, where they could find your work, all
about Blacktooth Publishing. Anything you want to tell us.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
Yeah, so Blacktooth Publishing dot com. Add black Tooth Publishing
on Instagram. I've because I'm an artist, I've started like
documenting me drawing and like picking up more art skills
and things like that. I have a separate Instagram and
TikTok called Premium Artillery and stuff like that. It's it's
(45:27):
I don't miss spell words I misspelled like black names,
but not not my ad names, so.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
You know, And so anyone if they're looking for a
copy of the book, they can get it at Yeah.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
So yeah, digitals are on my website, Blacktooth Publishing dot com,
and then physicals are on Amazon, so they'll be to
you super fast so you can chears my name, omar
League or research the titles.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
That share the names of the titles once more.
Speaker 3 (45:52):
At Astronom, Snake Bite, and Dog Power. They're all one shots,
like you guys mentioned like, they're pilot episodes. Working on
the first complete arcs right now. Got a novel coming.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
Out soon, So what's the novel about that? Secret.
Speaker 3 (46:05):
I will tell people. I'm gonna give you the tagline.
It's Folts Class and a tale that's growing fast. So
that's the first part. Cults like Olts class and a
tale that's growing fast.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
All right, intriguing.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Yeah, we'll be looking for that.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
Yeah, you have to come back once you put that out, definitely.
All right. Well, thank you very much Amori for joining us,
and as always, fan fam, thank you for joining us
as well. Everyone out there. I hope you're doing well,
living life, enjoying it, all that good stuff, and we
will be back with more fall.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
Not Hey, what's up? Internet's in the fan fam?
Speaker 4 (46:50):
This is Tatiana King for four All Nerds and I
want to thank you so much for listening and watching
the four All Nerds. Make sure you like and subscribe
to us only on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
For All Nerds Shows a member of the Loudspeaker's Network,
where we would always say rest in peace to our founder, combat.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
Jack for All Nerd Show is powered by our listeners.
Speaker 4 (48:11):
Everything we do, from our podcasts, live events, our website
are all independently funded. Please continue to support us through
our Patreon page at patreon dot com.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
Slash for All Nerds
What's up, y'all, and welcome to another episode of the
four All Nerds Show. On this episode, we welcome Omari Malik,
the founder and publisher of Black Tooth Publishing, an independent
black ass comedy company. What's good everybody, and welcome back
(00:30):
to another episode of the four All Nerds Show. And
as always on the four All Nerd Show, we are
bringing you that heat and of course we have yet
another exclusive, amazing interview in store for you. We have
Omar Malik in the building. Amar is the founder and
(00:51):
also you know, one of the creators at Black Tooth
Publishing LLC, a Brooklyn, NY based publishing company which, like
I said before, he founded, focused on giving creators a
platform to express themselves unapologetically through literature. They have three
flagship titles, A Dastra Did I get that right? Yeah,
(01:12):
I'm okay good. I was pure guest, really loved it,
but you know I had to guess of the name.
Dogpile is their second title, which off top was my favorite,
and State Fight. Omari was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia.
The aight, o'fo, you already know, man, you already know. Look.
I will get into that in a second. My lover Richmond.
(01:38):
Like any great superhero story, Malite's stories run of both
tragedy and triumph. After losing his father at seven years old,
he turned the comic books and music as an outlet.
And it's seventeen year old. Seventeen years old, Maliite moved
to New York City to attend college with less than
two hundred dollars in his name. Through prayer and perseverance,
Malik graduated both a bachelor's degree and master's degree. Shortly
(02:00):
after graduating, the inner corporate America blah blah blah got
tired of that and turn it to a real superhero
and found it black to publish. And I don't mean
I got tired of your intro. I just mean you
got tired of that world.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
Welcome to four, all Nerds and Mari.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
How you feeling today, I'm good. Thank you guys so
much for having me. I really appreciate it. And I'll
mention it here because I mentioned it, you know before
we recording. I have been a fan for a minute
because of my standship for you know, Carrie Randolph and
Brandon Thomas and all those guys. So I've been with
four a minute, man, so this means allowed to be able.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
To be here, and as I've been doing, I'm gonna
give you praise for listening and doing what we asked.
Make sure if you have any projects, you have any
amazing things you're working on, to hit us up. That's
what a Mari's team did, and that's why we got
to read all of his great work and have him
on the show the day to talk to him. So
please make sure you're hitting us up. Contact thefoall nerds
(02:57):
dot com. Thank you so, Cary, you've read through that.
I guess what we got, Like the full compilation, I
had all three titles in it, right, all right, I
want to start because I think that's probably our favorite one.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Dog Pile tell us like for people who.
Speaker 4 (03:12):
Don't who's never read it, like and all, it just
sees this black ey surrounded by a bunch of dogs.
Can you give them some more context about what this
story is about?
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Yeah, so I'll give you guys, like the quick convention pitch.
I do a bunch of conventions, so random people walk
up to my table, I like to tell them, hey man,
Dog Pile ta manga. The main character loses his family
in a mysterious accident. Now alongside seven Dogs, is trying
to figure out what happened to just kind of go
about his day and you know, live life and try
to be on the upside of everything. So that's the
(03:41):
short version with I'll give him away too much initially,
but obviously, you know, we'll talk more about everything, but
you know, feel free to fire away or if you
let me go out will rainbow all times.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Okay, let's you know, back up a little bit, because
you founded the whole Black Tooth, you know, and everything,
and you were working in corporate America, you know, toiling
away and the minds and trenches and so what really,
what was your moment when you were like, oh man,
fuck all this, I gotta you know, what I gotta do.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
So I'll say, well, there's there's technically two moments, so
and I guess I'll start it for me. I've always
been a comic book kid. Like my dad was a
big comic book collector. So my dad, I grew up
around long boxing. So and when I say long boxes,
like I grew up around like nineties DC Milestone Image,
(04:31):
like those nineties books like I've had. I mean, I
know he's getting in a bit of craziness online. But
I grew up around so many Chuck dicks and books,
so many Todd McFarlin books, like so many Denny O'Neil
books and No Man's Land and all that nineties, you know,
comic book stuff. So that was always in my house.
And I like to laugh and tell people it's like
(04:53):
I was a marketing person's dream in the early two
thousand slash late nineties, because if you had a cartoon
and a toy, I was going to yell in Walmart
or KB Toys until I got it. So I was
always in that short of into that sort of stuff.
And I didn't realize that people worked at Marble or DC,
Like I didn't realize that was a job. Like I
(05:13):
just saw names on books and I was like, oh, well,
they clearly made everything. Especially when you're reading like Image
books or Milestone books and you're seeing Dwayne McDuffie's name there,
and then it's like he also created Static. You're seeing
Ton's name, and he created Spawn and you know, I'm
also early two thousands of kids, so it's like you're
seeing Toriyama and he created dragon ball Z see Kishimoto
(05:36):
and he created an arts so it was like, oh,
if I want to do this, I have to make
my own stuff. And so it started there. So I'm
always kind of like doodling, Like I never was a
kid that was trying to draw Batman three hundred times.
Like I was trying to draw my own stuff and
make my own stuff. And I had parents that you know,
(05:56):
when you when you grow up in Richmond and you
say you want to be a power book artist or
comic book writer, you know, you look around and it's like,
we don't do that here. That's unheard of. So they
pushed me into you know, for good reason, and I
really appreciate it. They pushed me in a direction to
do something practical, which is why I ended up going
to Saint John's and getting a bachelor's and getting a master's.
But after I graduated, like I literally just sat there
(06:19):
like with my degree, before I'm about to start grad school.
I liked to my girlfriend at the time, I was like,
I don't want to do this, Like I have a
job lined up them up to start grad school, but
like this is never what I wanted to do. Like
I'm a comic book kid that's in the punk rock
like I don't want to work in a cubicle. But
then I got to. Then, you know, I started the job,
(06:40):
made money, good money, and you enjoyed that and kind
of got distracted until like the pandemic hit and when
I wasn't going into the office every day and there
wasn't waste for me to waste my money on Jordan's
and all types of other things, I was like not
spending as much money. I've been constantly rewriting every TV
(07:02):
show I've ever seen. Every time I watch something I
pissed people off, and I'm like, this would be really
cool if this happened, or they should have done this instead.
So you know, I went back to my mother's house,
pulled up those old sketch books and just got started,
like you literally just got to work and came up
with ideas and like I I mean, even though we're
not together, I always have to shout out my axe
(07:23):
because she really pushed me in the direction of like,
you know, I came up with ideas because it was like,
all right, I want to start. I don't want to
just be a one title guy. You know. It's like
if I want to come up with books, I want
to come up with multiple things too. I have a
bunch of different interests, and you know, I like a
bunch of different stuff. And originally I was going to
launch for four titles, and one of them she was like,
(07:46):
it's god awful, which made me like scrap that to
you know, kind of bring dog Palus to the forefront.
She told me another thing was kind of reductive, so
I scrapped that and like stole the villain from that
and made him the main character and snake Bite and
you know, a dast was pretty clean and Dasher was
the most solid idea, didn't have to go through any
(08:06):
you know, ex girlfriend revisions and you know, and then
here we are.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So but so your second moment was when COVID hit
and you're just like, okay, I just need to do
something other than this exactly.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So it's like the first moment, like I said, definitely
graduating and getting ready to start working and be like, oh,
I really don't want to do this. This is not
what I want to do. But then you know, I
was tentre deep in that at that point, like I
had to degree already signed the offer letter, so did
it and enjoyed it. And then when COVID happened and
things slowed down. I was like, oh, yeah, I didn't
(08:39):
want to do this. I shouldn't be enjoying this, Like
this isn't what I want. I got to get out
of here.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah. And like you were saying you grew up DC
and it, I was like the opposite, because I was
definitely marveled. Like even when you say Chuck Didson and
he's done some on the band and I'm like, I
can't evenmber what he wrote back there. I know the name,
but I don't, you know, like I have no idea
what Chuck wrote, you know, back then or now?
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Yeah, now, Chuck is he was big in the night
Wing he oh that's right, yeah, night Wing also like Robinson,
well Tim Drake as Robin at first solo series.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I have that. I think I met him. Yeah wow,
all right, yeah way back then. I think I did
when that joint came out. But now my other question
on that note was, so you're already an artist, you're
already a writer, you're already a creative, but you're also
diving full into the world of publishing and all this,
and I assume you pretty much knew nothing.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, so I'll say you.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Get in like, you know, for people who want to
know this, you know, because I mean you already had
the stills at least, but the business side of it
is a whole other thing. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
So that's why I can be mad at my parents
for like pushing me to go to school because I
have a business degree. Like I have a bachelor's depress management,
and then I got an NBA and executive management and
I was a broker, so I was a finance bro
and you know, being a broker, being a finance bro like,
I had to learn a bunch of different aspects of
(10:08):
business because I'm obviously acting on other people's behalf. So
you know, bringing myself up to speed with an industry
or familiarizing myself with something is just a skill set
that I have, Like you know, being able to being
a risk being, having a bachelors in risk management and
being able to jump into something and accept the risk.
You know, trying to come up with strategies is a
(10:29):
skill you know that works for me. Man, I like
the problem solve. I'm a storyteller, so you know that
aspect of it in the business world, like being able
to read books, and you know, I wrote I read
so many books like how to write books, you know,
how to start a business book, like how to get
into publishing, like publishing for Dummies and all those things.
(10:49):
So looking at that obviously like muscle watching documentaries, you know,
you watch the rise of images, you watch all these
things of how people did it, and you know that
was a big aspect of it, like a bunch of
like research. It's just understanding in my general business knowledge.
And then I also like want to shout out, I'm
a mentor man, so like I was a comic, I'm
(11:11):
a comic book kid. So I used to go in
to conventions being small creators. And one of those small
creators that I met and I reached out to was
Greg Anderson LSA the creative is not. And you know
I reached out to Greg. I'm like, hey, man, like
I understand all this practically, like I got the numbers
of figuring it out. I've read the books I read,
(11:32):
you know, Alan Moore's book on how to write out
of read Bendis's book, like Dinny O'Neill's, like I done
read everything, how you really do this? And you know,
shout out to Greg for my gatekeeping and being super
helpful and you know, walking me through and telling me
different things and putting me on a lot of game.
Those soft skills of having a mentor and then having
(11:53):
a practical knowledge made it a very easy transition. I'm
not going to say it was smooth and like painless,
like you know, dealing with people, dealing with artists, being
able to navigate, you know, making sure you line things
up correctly for a printer and understanding dimensions like it's
a learning curve like anything. But I was able to
avoid a lot of pitfalls that I know some artists
(12:15):
that aren't as business minded, you know, kind of fall
victim to.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
So what would be one of the big pitfalls that
you managed to avoid for people who are trying to
get into this themselves.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
One pitfall is over asking. And when I say over asking,
like over asking for like, if you see somebody's art
and it looks really cool on Instagram and like they
might not have a portfolio, You're like, oh, like let
me see some mower stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You know, like.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Because just like people understand what a portfolio is, but
the portfolios for your highlights, you put your best stuff there.
But it's like if you're drawing a book, you have
to draw street, you have to draw an apple on
the table, you know, so you want to ask to
see as much as possible. You also like when I
say like not being afraid to ask, Like you want
(13:05):
to jump into a book, like I would tell people
if you're coming up with a cast of characters, you
don't need somebody to draw turnarounds for fifty characters or
the mom and dad. But it doesn't hurt to ask
for a sketch to make sure the main characters' parents
look like them, you know, just like little solve things.
And then like it costs to be a boss, like
(13:27):
if you know good art costs. You know. Also, this
is a small community, so everybody's trying to make a living,
So I don't believe in being cheap to people like
I just everybody can negotiate. But I'm not low balling
any artists, like I'm not trying to stop anybody from eating.
We all have to do this. So if it takes
a while for me to raise the capital for a book,
(13:48):
or if I have to save, or what should be
a forty page book needs to be twenty because the
artist cost a little bit more, and whatnot.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
You have to make those adjustments and how do you
raise money for a book?
Speaker 3 (14:00):
So for me, because I've been a bit of a
finance bro, like luckily, I've had a little bit of
startup capital that I was able to do my own.
And then at this point, after my initial investment that
I made of like personal like you know, balls to
the wall money, now it's I go to conventions often.
I literally just got back from Boston. I was a
(14:20):
Boston fan x well. And then for me, I also
did a kickstarter, So I did a kickstarter for pre orders,
like I fronted the money to make the initial book,
and then the kickstarter is to you know, raise more
money for the next thing. In addition to that, also
raised money for printing and whatnot.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Okay, good, And the reason why we asked like this
is really critical information and it's really helpful because we
have a lot of careers as you know, that are
listening to this and watching this and trying to figure
out how did you get to where you got? And
with all of that said, like I do want to
go into inspiration, Like now you have your this big
background about where you came from and what you've gone through,
so what inspired these stories?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
So I like to every story is kind of inspired
by an aspect of my life or you know, or
a hypothesis of what would happen if this were to
go on. And like I know, we initially started talking
about dog Pou, dog Pout to me is about light
about life and dealing with trauma and just dealing with grief.
(15:19):
Like that's kind of what that story is about. And
I liken it to me being in my early twenties
and fresh out of college and like knowing I wanted
to do something, but not knowing what I wanted to do.
And if you read that book, I hope people get
that feeling from the main character to Kwan, it's like,
you know, he wants to do good. He's just trying
(15:40):
to make it through, but it's like, what does that
bigger purpose so that good really look like? When we
have so many other things going on, you know, when
life just you know, life is life and it's not
always highs or lows or even like you can't help
you can't help what's going on. So you know, being
(16:00):
able to encapsulate that into a book, you know, for
a dashtra that's inspired by my younger sister. I'm a
younger sister, that's a Gemini and for that anybody that's
in the Zodia XN like to say geminis to multiple people.
So that's kind of a hypothesis of when you tell
somebody they can be anything they want, what happens if
they really can't? Like what happens when you can shape
(16:22):
shift and you can be anything you want to be
and you're struggling to be yourself, you know. And last
when I least, like with snake Bite, like I was,
I mentioned it like I was a punk rock kid.
So I started playing guitar, like when I got into
eighth grade and like ninth grade, and that was a
crucial time for me because while I was starting to
(16:44):
stay in the house to learn how to play guitar, like,
my friends in my neighborhood started to go outside. And
when I say go outside, like, that's when that's when
trouble started finding us. You know, that's when the older
that's when you know.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
It to do. But cook shout clips exactly. That's Virginia.
Speaker 3 (17:04):
Yeah, that's what you know, things started being being real.
It's like, oh, yeah, we don't like them because they
go to this other high school. They all now and
they drive and you saw them coming through the neighborhood like, oh,
oh oh wait, that's what they calling their crew. Now,
oh we got to come up with a name for us.
Are they wearing them colors? Like those sort of things
(17:27):
started happening, and it's like, those are also the people
I went to school with. Those are the people that
lived that the street from me. Those are the people
I hung out with all the time as I was
doing something new and playing guitar. It's like, had I
not found punk rock and like wanted to pretend I
was like in Suicide Silence or all these other death
metal and hardcore bands, Like.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
I was going to ask you, what are you listening to?
I mean, you're still punk rock. I see the gauges
in your ear. You're clearly still on that on that
type of time. Okay, so we're talking about death metal, Okay,
So I would say I was.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
I was.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
I was a seene kid. Like if anybody the people
that know, they'll know like I.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Was in early two thousands types of exactly.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
So I was seeing kid like it started off with
like Green Day and my Chemical Romance, and then it
just started getting heavier and heavier and being from Richmond,
Like we have a very big hardcore punk scene, so
like all those straight auts hardcore bands. Man, it's like
hate breed down, nothing, embracefore and like very intense things
that would make you know, people clutch their paroles and
(18:26):
stuff like. That was what I was all about. But
that's what I kind of wanted to sneak back to
be like all of our decisions and you know, having
one foot in and one foot out and trying to
navigate that, especially when you get something that might be
unexpected like Superpower.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Yeah, well, it seems like these stories are like kind
of portions and elements of your own life just intertwined
with fantasy, intertwined with you mentioned, you know, even anime,
and then of course the typical superhero stuff.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Yeah for sure, for sure, for sure, that's very cool.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
I really like how I mean talk about how it's
inspired by your own life. And this is something that
I really enjoyed when writers can do without making it
like the straight up to be corny basically is to
jet like blackness into the writing, but not when pandering,
you know, like or you know this with the you
know whities will think is black, you know type of right,
(19:22):
like in Dog Pile when the dog and just the
dog's dialogue throughout the book is one of my favorite
parts about it because they're just so semi abrasive. You know,
they're not you know, they're they're very straight up to Homie,
like they don't pull any punches with them. But just
when the dog was saying, how you know, oh she
(19:42):
got them church lady arms. You know, I know she
can cook. And that just hit me in my soul
because you know, I grew up in a Baptist church
and church lady arms used to actually steer me when
I was little, like women, when women had the big giant.
I was like, yo that, you know, that's a lot
of arms, but you know they can cook. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:00):
The stories are very unapological, unapologetically black American code, and
I mean that's you are a black man in America,
and it's just really refreshing to get stories that reflect that, like, yeah,
you have black CREATI ay things like that, but even
the names of the characters that you chose, that's it
feels very Black American. And I know that there are
(20:20):
a lot there are a lot of people who feel
like there's not enough attention put on the fact that
a lot of the the black culture kind of stems
from Black America, So I like that that's kind of
centered here too.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Yeah, that's definitely, you know, that was something I wanted
to do, like even with the mission statement for the
company to be unapologetic, like being such a media kid
like you hearing things of like, oh, Dave Chappelle left
The Chappelle Show because they were telling him what to do.
Aaron McGruder left, you know, Boondocks because they were telling
him what to do. It's like, that's another reason why
(20:52):
I'm so passionate about wanting to do my own things,
because I want to be able to do whatever I
want to do and have people that if you don't know,
you won't know and you won't understand that it means
something for people like like you guys mentioned like with
the names like I have a weirder name, like granted,
my name is like a musclem name of Martin Leak,
but it's like I've never been able to go to,
(21:14):
you know, a touristy shop and find my name on
a keychain and things like that, or exact like being
being in a situation where you know, I never walked
in the store and been able to see that. But
it's like I grew up in a neighborhood where I
knew several day kwans. I knew lass, like, yeah, this
(21:38):
is typical. That was such a common name. But it's
like I can't think of a main character named the Kwan.
I can't think of the main character name a Desia
or you know, Imani's or you know, like all names
that to me, like I was normal, Like if I
put my old I knew in high school, I knew
I went to school with a girl named two million, like.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Two million, two million dollars.
Speaker 3 (22:03):
Two million was her name.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
I swear to God, wherever you are, two million, I
hope you got two or three million by this point.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
God.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
But it's like I hope that name came true for you.
You know, she couldn't afford a car name the daughter
of Like.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Like I'm not joking, Like that was like bro, Like
I know.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
I used to date someone from Richard for a very
long time, so I've been there. I used to call
that a two hotel town, but you know it's not
the biggest of cities, you know what I mean? And
should go down when in them little towns.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Virginia is, especially when you're on I ninety five, you
can't get down south without coming to Richmond.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
I'm like Christopher Burg rowing up Harrisburg, Blacksburg. It doesn't
matter which of them towns you in Virginia. He's a problem.
You mess around, you gonna find out.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
So yeah, yeah, we both really liked all the different
art styles for all the stories through through all the books,
Like the art was unique in every story and it
was different, and I think that's like what's more popular
that popular now, Like even though there are different stories
when you read it as an anthology, like being able
to go through different environments and different characters and just
(23:26):
seeing it presented in a different way, you know, from
illustration like that as you see that in things like
Spider Verse, right, you said, and I just started watching
to Be hero X. I don't know if we watched that,
but like being able to see that and then kind
of work through that and have your own imagination about
what the characters could sound like things like that, Like,
I think that's really makes the stories and just makes
(23:48):
your work that much more interesting.
Speaker 3 (23:50):
Yeah, I appreciate that. That was another thing that it's
like I don't want to say it's super calculated, like
I'm some mastermind and give myself a bunch of products.
But it's like I wanted everything out of different feel
like a dancer for all intents and purposes. It's a
teen drama, like I wanted it to look like a
Saturday morning cartoon, you know, Dolfoule. I wanted it to
have that manga edge to it, like I wanted it
(24:12):
to be manga driven, and for Snake White, like I
wanted it to feel almost like every comic book on
the shelf, like something that you might see from Answer whatever,
Marvel and GC book. But it's like a story that
you can never get from one of those companies where
it's like this gets fresh out of Juvie and he
has tattoos, he's tatted up, like what is happening here?
(24:35):
You know?
Speaker 1 (24:35):
And then also like in Snake Bite, it's not just
that he's fresh out of jeuviy, but it's all said
that he's just a normal black kid trying to make
it And like I love that because their minded me
and me and my friends in high school, you know,
lying about girls. You know, I wasn't hugged up on her.
You know, I got her number and all that when
you know she took his number, etcetera.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
It's all that type of thing. It's a really human
take on these characters. Instead of just being like, well,
you know, he's a juvenile delinqud you know, and you know,
and how can you avoid the gang life you know
and all that type of stuff, It's more like, Yo,
how can you get this girl and avoid I mean,
you know, we all have to avoid the game life
as well, but we're all trying to just live life
(25:14):
as well.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yeah, And like you mentioned, like especially like with the
gang aspect being a big part of it, It's like,
I feel like people don't necessarily always hear accurate stories
of when you're in those scenarios because if you listen
to drill music or you listen to you know, more
aggressive hip hop, it seems like everybody's an aggressive But
(25:36):
when you live in those neighborhoods, bro, everybody everybody playing defense. Yeah,
everybody's playing defense. Man, we don't. And even on both sides,
everybody's playing defense. Like when they get to the party,
the guys that live in that neighborhood at the party
are like, why are they here? Yeah, they're just as
(25:57):
defensive of why are they here as we don't do
anything for me.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
It's always like, ah, these North Side gonna be up
in here, and I oh, it's gonna be a problem
tonight because on the South side, you know, and that's
how it goes.
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Yeah, definitely appreciate the fact that you just provided real
situations that they again has been mentioned. That reminds me
of like the Spider Man neighbor Friendly neighborhood Spider Man,
where like, you know, there was a gang part and
it's just like it's the typical like wrong side of
the tracks and now I gotta get my life right,
Like there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
It's just like, can.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
I just have a story where it's just like, you know,
I'm just trying to be mentioned meet this girl, or
you know, I me and my brother's going to seven
to eleven, you know, just some something regular. Like I
think there's a lack of just stories about regular occurrences
that happen every day.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
You know, me and my friends sitting on a stoop
talking to each other about.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
Whatever like that.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
It seems to happen very rarely in comics and story
orson even more so in stories that are centered on
black characters.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
For sure. For sure.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
That said, though, I do appreciate whole sneak fite in
the days you're representing like two black kids from different worlds,
different backgrounds. Like I think that's also important, right, Like,
so everybody's not in this holy negative situation. No, not
everybody's in juvie and all other stuff. There's also girls
who have the mother and the father and sister, the brother.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Everybody's there.
Speaker 4 (27:23):
You have all the resources in the world and you
just not trying to You're not all that type of time.
You just want to you know, you just want to
go what did they seen in the comedy show? You
just wanted to have big fun in Baltimore, right, And
sometimes that's how it is.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
And you know, again, as mentioned, we really appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
Yeah, And I mean a lot of people we always
say like black culture isn't a monolith, But then the
moment we don't see something that aligns from where we
came from, we kind of attack it to be like
this is weird or this is different, and this is that.
But it's like I wanted to be able to show
both and not say that one was better than the other.
Like you know, I also I would say I'm not
(28:00):
a happy Indians guy. And when I say I'm not
a happy in These guy, it's like in life, I
don't believe in happy indings because in life, you wake
up the next day, even the best day of your life,
like the next day, like not to say it'll be terrible,
but it's like after your wedding, like that next day,
you still got to clean up the reception hall, you
got to do all that sort of stuff. So you know,
like with my stories, you know, I just try to
(28:22):
make it as normal as possible. So you know, like
at the end of dog Pole, like it's not a tragedy,
you know, it's not a super win. Same thing with
a dash for It's like I did all this and
then life goes on. The same thing with Snake, but
it's like, all right, this is cool. But it's like
they didn't They're not to say nothing was fixed, but
(28:44):
it's like there's more world, Like we have to wake
up tomorrow. Things are still going on. Like my stepdad's
still my stepdad. I still don't like him. He still
doesn't like me, Like you know, stuff is still happening,
like I know that.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Like, oh my goodness, I know that life.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
That's also good because you want to give people something
more when they come back for issue too and go on.
So you know you can't just solve everything in the
pilot episode otherwise have five seasons of course, of.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Course, And I will say that your stories do differ
and have any perspectives enough where people of that respond
to like different approaches, will like that.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Like I think you could.
Speaker 4 (29:23):
You could grab a very wide set of people with
how you've done it. From the way the animation stocks
like ID thatsked her she It's very cute.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
It's like very cute, see like really bright colors.
Speaker 4 (29:32):
I like the lines there, and then you have something
that's like dog Pile's more like Grungey Sharper lines like
I think you will as someone who likes animation and
different illustrations like and respond differently depending on how it's
his it's presented.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I think you're going to get different people too.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Yeah, yeah, totally.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Ben.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Did you have any more questions here because I think not.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
No, I did have one more about the art. So
you did the art on all three of these books.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
So no, I hire different artists. I am the guy
that gets very terrible outlines and layouts and clean up
everything about I.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
Was like, damn, this man over here cooking art everything.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
I mean, that'd be amazing. But now I saw that
art work involved.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Yeah, and how you know, since we're mentioned them, you
know how that team come together, just like mentioned people
you just saw on the internet and was like that
come through or.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
A little bit. So when I like, that's what I
mean when I say you always like it doesn't hurt
to ask for different things, like with dog Pile, like
a little bit of trial and error, like you can't
avoid that. That's a part of the process of like
finding a guy that I thought was good and then
it's like, all right, man, you have those phages done.
It's like, no, it's been a week. Oh my god,
(30:47):
well it's been three weeks. It's like all right, bro,
like I have to move on. And you know with Snake, right,
it's like, oh, this guy's art is really good, Like, oh,
why does this not look like what's in his portfolio?
You know? And happening okay exactly, so you know happen.
But that's why I tell people like you have to
(31:08):
vet things. It's always okay to ask for a question
and like it costs. It calls to be a boss
and they're like, you want this many revisions, you want this,
You want me to do a test sketch, Like I'm
not doing a test sketch for free, Like wow, it costs,
and you know it's a part of the process because
you know, for me, I'm because I was raised on
(31:31):
Big two books, which are the highest level of professionality
when it comes to making comics. M I have a
very keen eye to where it's hard for me to
see something and like it be a terrible comic book
and I'm like, oh, like it's hard for me not
to accept like great artwork and you know, even not
be critical on myself where I'm like, I know I
(31:52):
can't do this, Like I need someone to come here
and like do this properly.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
So you know, yeah, awareness is key, Yeah, very very key.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Right. Sure. I think you survived the interview portion of
For All Nerds show, and you know, as a long
term listener, I know you know what comes next. We
have the rap sentiment, rapid fire questions. Yeah, I mean
hopefully hopefully you've been practicing these all these years you've
been listening. So we shall see Luke Cage or black Panther.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
Black Panther, because I don't think I could come up
with a Luke CA's pitch, but if I needed to,
if I was on a spot, I could come I
have a black panther pitch in the back my back pocket.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Very good.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Magneto Professor X Magneto, The Wire are Breaking Bad, The.
Speaker 3 (32:43):
Wire except I hate I hate everything in season two
that doesn't have to do a Springer a lot.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
So, wow, you just dispredited. I mean you might have
said breaking bad and kept your you know, like.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
Just breaking bad. I like Breaking Bad. Breaking Back is solid,
definitely like one of them. It's a solid show. But
I love the why more I tell you.
Speaker 1 (33:06):
But if you got it, you might need to go
rewatch season two.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Brothers. I didn't care about the long Showman or.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
The girls, and I didn't I did it. I get it.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
That's how the drugs got there.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
But yeah, there it is. You said it. There it is.
It's it's a genius of the show. Plus it's a
great story.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
I hated what was his.
Speaker 1 (33:26):
Name, sigg or Come on, man, you hate he's got
the best he's got the best going out line ever
is what I am? That's character? You get it.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
All right? My Chemical Romance or Fallout Boy.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
And I definitely m c R. Because they're also common
guys like Wade and they both made comics.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
Brother Academy. I didn't really like it, but you know,
they made it.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
Like the book, you didn't like the show.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
I like the Bush. Yeah, the show definitely. I fell off. Yeah,
I fell off hard. That that's the show where it's like, yo,
there were no black people in that writer's room because
the way that the way they treat time travel on
black people. So you're like, sure, guy, okay, I guess yeah.
In the book, I just I liked it, it was
just doom Patrol, you know, yeah, yeah, it's two Patrol.
(34:24):
It's it's you know, it's you know, it's well done
doom Patrol. But yeah, but that's not you know, it's
all you know, if you you know, copy, you know,
imitation of the greatest former flattery, et cetera, how you
do it. I ain't mad at that. And it was
well done, and then they got a whole show out
of it. So you know, Superman or Batman.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
Batman, Star Wars or Star Trek.
Speaker 3 (34:44):
I have a controversial take here. I'm gonna say Star
Wars because I'm a very good star. I'm a baby
big Star Wars, and I kind of hate Star Trek,
but I love it. Just doesn't do anything for me.
But this is the hot trick. I love Star Trek parody,
like I love the Black Mirror episode that's like a
Star Trek. Yeah, anything that's like a Star Trek parody.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Or about that the Orpheus was exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
From Family Guy.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
That ship is the Orville Orville.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Yeah, I love stuff that spoofs or parody Star Trek,
but actually Star Trek exactly, actual Star Trek, like.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
That clown Star Trek.
Speaker 4 (35:32):
Not know you don't you know Star Star Trek exactly,
No problem, you know, I'm certain that what's the same.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Like I like, I like certain Star Trek though, but
I also love like Galaxy Quest was my joint. That
Black Mirror episode of one of the few I've ever watch.
Speaker 3 (35:51):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
That's like, yeah, yeah, you're right. I never don't about that.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
Even like the Futurama episodes. Yeah, this is awesome.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Oh. I used to love it when they pown it
on a living color. That's because I'm trying to think of, like,
what was the earliest clowning of Star Trek. I saw
and in living color, and I thought.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
Anybody doing the Williams Shattner in personally?
Speaker 1 (36:16):
Oh yeah, yeah, you're right, you're right.
Speaker 3 (36:18):
I love But I just sit there and watch an
actual Star Trek episode.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Jason Clark is coming back on the show to rip
you a new one.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
I see, like, yeah, somebody do the wild out Shatner impersonation.
Didn't watch Shatner do it himself? Right? I didn't. I
never thought about it like that. But that is all right,
that's a great one. What's your favorite superhero movie of
all time? Oh?
Speaker 3 (36:46):
This is I love Black Panther. Before Black Panther, I
would have said the First Store. I loved that First
Store movie. Wow, I don't know what that That really
did it for me.
Speaker 1 (36:59):
Controversy is the name of the game today, folks.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
For what you said, those are obviously great. I mean
I was there day one, like for the Dark Night,
So I love that. Like that back when you could
go to a movie theater and get little lift little
gramds and go to Circuit City and like buy the
DVD and get little prizes and toys like that, like.
Speaker 2 (37:25):
Man, you threw it back, he said, Circus City.
Speaker 1 (37:28):
I was all over it about that store, First City.
Speaker 3 (37:32):
It's like when you buy the DVD, like you get
a little like a bobble head ten sets like stuff
like that. Like I love stuff like that. I really did,
like Zack Snyder's watching him when that came out.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Have you ever read the book?
Speaker 5 (37:46):
I did, but like I I had to be great.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
I was like in seventh or eighth grade.
Speaker 3 (37:55):
And I was all over that, Like that's over.
Speaker 1 (38:00):
Seven eighth grade when the movie came out.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Exactly, and I was still super into it, like I
have well on this bookshelf.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
If I was eighth grade, maybe too, but yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
I loved it, loved it even when another one that
like that, the First in City, not a dame to
kill for the First in City movie. That's like a
big one for me. But I would say Black Panther,
Black Panther is my one.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
You said, keep it, keep it on until we're gonna
get that black.
Speaker 4 (38:30):
That's the good cari to say before Black Panther.
Speaker 2 (38:34):
I mean I would have said that, but it was
still good.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
But I give you that. I wouldn't have said that
if Black Panther never came out.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
We're with you, man.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
I was amazed if somebody came on here and said, so,
you know, stand on it. That's what I mean. You
gots stand on telling.
Speaker 3 (38:54):
You one of my favorite movie anytimes. When he's in
the cafe and he drinks the coffee, yeah small, this
is a glass like another one. I'm like, this is me.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
I love this.
Speaker 3 (39:04):
I was like, people should never make me famous because
I'm walking in restaurants and smashing glasses and saying another like.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Yeah, I mean I stand on my iron Man three low.
So you can stand on.
Speaker 4 (39:14):
That, oh God, and any medium like a book, movie song, whatever.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
What's character's death hurt you the most.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
People are gonna call you crazy for this one.
Speaker 1 (39:26):
But Bishop when he gets toasted in uh.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
No, Bishop from Juice when he falls sho.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Oh with Bishop falls.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
Off the roof of Juice, I was like, my man,
he had murdered the crew.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
It's not complete.
Speaker 5 (39:43):
Bo I was there like, no, I love Tupac more
than this man, but I'm still like that manant was
you know it was time for Bishop to go?
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Did I want him to get rid of everybody. But
it's like it's for me, Like I said, I like village,
So it's like I wanted him to pull I wanted
him to pull up Q and then like clap up
in Q fall like I wanted.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
You ain't got the juice.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Now, like like like obviously a psychopathic like when he's.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
You do know that that's how the movie ends, right then, No,
I'm you know, because I'm not sure I seen you. Like, well, okay, well,
Tupac is dropped off a building by q Omar and
then Omar EPs then walks back like because you're not
at the top of roof, So he walked back to
the people were standing there watching, you know, because they're
(40:43):
all standing by the door to the roof, and a
random dude who has never seen or spoken to Omar's
character this whole movie, he says, you got the juice now,
like nobody is all that in there in this whole movie.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Because you guys, see the.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
Name of the movie. In the movie, you're not like
you've have been talking about how you know, if you
kill somebody, you get the juice or something. This is
blood thurstay cycles mind.
Speaker 3 (41:16):
You been doing things that would have gotten them juice,
like taking care of his bullies where he could have
earned juice when doing.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
That, or he murders his whole crew. It's a psycho
path and then it's dumped off ability by his best
friend you know, who's really obviously tractically hurt at this
whole sequence of events, and some random other sociopaths is
telling him how he's got to choose. It's one of
the greatest endings of any movie you ever made.
Speaker 3 (41:46):
So ridiculous if you watch it, watch it. I want
you to watch it in between two horribles like don't
just watch it.
Speaker 2 (41:56):
Don't watch it's like a palate cleanser.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
No movie until it's like I don't want to.
Speaker 2 (42:01):
I'm a laugh at No.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
No, I don't. A lot of people watch Juice as
if like, oh, we're gonna watch Friday, We're gonna.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Watch know what it's about.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
It ain't that, but but people think it's an urban
you know, like whatever movie not even on a Friday,
Minister Society or you know, but it's a it's straight up,
it really is a horror movie as.
Speaker 3 (42:22):
A horror movie, like don't watch it, Like oh, yeah,
we're gonna watch Juice.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
And then boys and yeah, no, yeah, I feel you. Yeah,
because it's straight up it's a horror movie.
Speaker 3 (42:30):
Watch Carrying Juice and then My Bloody Valentine and like
you're gonna have a great double feature.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
Juice reclassified as horror that's crazy, and Tupac is one
of the greatest horror Freddy Jason, We're gonna have to
start asking Freddy chasing.
Speaker 3 (42:58):
Flash movie. It's slash it.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
It is, it is. There's just no streaming woman though,
you know what's the final girl? They don't have a
final I guess Omar is.
Speaker 3 (43:12):
Just like just like just like the dude and Freddy two.
Why that's what you do? You watch Freddy too, then
you watch the Juice because of mail Center horror movies.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
So this is a great breakdown. But ship, if you
couldn't have anyone superpower, what would it be?
Speaker 3 (43:34):
I want to say, like teleportation or phasing, like to
be able like the Kitty Pride, to be able to
phase or nightcrawlers teleportation.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
I'm not sure if you've ever had somebody say Kitty Pride.
So that's a good one. Yeah, yeah, facing is definitely
a good one. And I'm not sure anyone's ever gone
for that, okay, cause.
Speaker 2 (43:53):
I was saying, I'm trying to see the.
Speaker 3 (43:55):
Flaws that what's the point.
Speaker 1 (43:57):
Whenever I think if I had facing, it's like, Okay,
I'm gonna go rock Banks.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
So for me, I'm a big concert because of enemies.
Like I'm a big concert guy. So it's like, I
I need to tickets nowhere.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Nice, that's a great yeah.
Speaker 3 (44:12):
Walking through Yeah, and then you there.
Speaker 1 (44:16):
No lines anywhere, no minds at any point if anyone
ever sees you walk through the walls over So you're
gonna have to plan that out. You just can't like
walk through the wall the concert.
Speaker 2 (44:28):
But you can always find a random gate.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
Yeah, you know what I'm saying. Random gate? Oh yeah,
because you have vi P is easy because you've got
in the back of the cog, the back of the
stadium and just walk in and you in the back
with all the roadies and ship you in there.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
You only limited by your imagination. You get in there.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
Well, you survived the raps segment and you have survived
for all nerds. Thank you so much for coming on
as a guest. This was fantastic. We had a lot
of fun, learned a lot about you. Please let thee
well the and family. Please let them know where they
could find you, where they could find your work, all
about Blacktooth Publishing. Anything you want to tell us.
Speaker 3 (45:07):
Yeah, so Blacktooth Publishing dot com. Add black Tooth Publishing
on Instagram. I've because I'm an artist, I've started like
documenting me drawing and like picking up more art skills
and things like that. I have a separate Instagram and
TikTok called Premium Artillery and stuff like that. It's it's
(45:27):
I don't miss spell words I misspelled like black names,
but not not my ad names, so.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
You know, And so anyone if they're looking for a
copy of the book, they can get it at Yeah.
Speaker 3 (45:38):
So yeah, digitals are on my website, Blacktooth Publishing dot com,
and then physicals are on Amazon, so they'll be to
you super fast so you can chears my name, omar
League or research the titles.
Speaker 2 (45:50):
That share the names of the titles once more.
Speaker 3 (45:52):
At Astronom, Snake Bite, and Dog Power. They're all one shots,
like you guys mentioned like, they're pilot episodes. Working on
the first complete arcs right now. Got a novel coming.
Speaker 2 (46:02):
Out soon, So what's the novel about that? Secret.
Speaker 3 (46:05):
I will tell people. I'm gonna give you the tagline.
It's Folts Class and a tale that's growing fast. So
that's the first part. Cults like Olts class and a
tale that's growing fast.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
All right, intriguing.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
Yeah, we'll be looking for that.
Speaker 1 (46:25):
Yeah, you have to come back once you put that out, definitely.
All right. Well, thank you very much Amori for joining us,
and as always, fan fam, thank you for joining us
as well. Everyone out there. I hope you're doing well,
living life, enjoying it, all that good stuff, and we
will be back with more fall.
Speaker 2 (46:43):
Not Hey, what's up? Internet's in the fan fam?
Speaker 4 (46:50):
This is Tatiana King for four All Nerds and I
want to thank you so much for listening and watching
the four All Nerds. Make sure you like and subscribe
to us only on YouTube.
Speaker 1 (48:01):
For All Nerds Shows a member of the Loudspeaker's Network,
where we would always say rest in peace to our founder, combat.
Speaker 2 (48:08):
Jack for All Nerd Show is powered by our listeners.
Speaker 4 (48:11):
Everything we do, from our podcasts, live events, our website
are all independently funded. Please continue to support us through
our Patreon page at patreon dot com.
Speaker 2 (48:20):
Slash for All Nerds
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