Mark Russell Unmasks Racer X, Wonder Woman and more

Comics writer Mark Russell joins me for a wide-ranging conversation about his brand-new Mad Cave series spotlighting Racer X from Speed Racer. This isn’t just high-octane racing—it’s a crime-noir thriller that digs deep into the ex-racer’s mysterious past and explores how he became the legendary masked driver. Mark shares how he blended the danger of the track with the grit of noir storytelling to reimagine one of anime’s most iconic characters.

We also preview his upcoming collaboration with Mike and Laura Allred on Wonder Woman Golden Age, where Russell puts his spin on Diana’s earliest stories through a 1985 crisis alternate earth  lens, paired with the Allreds’ unmistakable pop-art visuals.

Along the way, Mark and I revisit highlights from his past work: the biting satire of his AHOY comedy comics (Second Coming, My Bad, Billionaire Island), his sharp reinterpretations of Hanna-Barbera icons (The Flintstones, Snagglepuss Chronicles), and his heartfelt take on DC’s Wonder Twins. Plus, he teases a bold new sci-fi anthology series coming from Mad Cave Studios—Vanishing Point.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, everybody, Welcome back time again for word Balloon. The
Comic Book Conversation Show. John cuntris here, Mark Russell back
on word Balloon. He's got some fun projects going on currently.
For Mad Cave, he is writing the Racer X book.
That's right, Speed Racer's older brother. Speed doesn't know that
Rex is his older brother Racer X or however the
help they set it back in the narration back in

(00:21):
the day, part time secret agent, part time superhero, part
time car racer Racer X ad at all and Mark
is giving us his spin on the great character from
Speed Racer Racer X. For Mad Cave. He also has
a fantastic sci fi anthology book that he's doing right now,
but we do some callbacks as well to things like

(00:42):
Fantastic four Life Stories and also an upcoming project that
he's working on with Mike Alread and Laura Alread that
is wonder Woman Golden Age. We already got Batman Dark
Age and Superman Space Age. The next chapter is wonder
Woman Golden Age, and he gives us a bit of
inform on that. Lots of great talk with Mark russ

(01:02):
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(02:09):
It's a fun way to support the show and get
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Word Balloon Listeners. Check it out today at patreon dot
com slash word Balloon. Welcome back, everybody. It's time again
for another word Balloon Live the Comic Book Conversation Show.
John stuntrists with you and always happy to welcome Mark
Russell back to word Balloon. Good to see you, man,

(02:32):
good to see you. Wow. I can't tell you how
thrilled I was. I'm thrilled that Matt Cave has the
speed Racer license. I remember in the early nineties when
now Comics was doing new speed Racer stuff, and man,
they got the right guy to do a Racer X.
Here's that first cover, everybody, and I even got the
alternate cover of the first issue. Truly great stuff. Mark.

(02:57):
I really enjoyed that first issue and I love that
it's kind of a great origin backstory to get things started.
But yeah, you know, longtime fan of Racer X.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Oh yeah, absolutely. In fact, you know, I watched speed
Racer on TV when I was a kid. Because there's
this really cheap syndicated Japanese cartoon that was dubbed into
English that didn't cost the TV stations, any money show,
And my favorite character is always rac or X because
he was so mysterious and you're like, who is that
guy and what you know, what's he doing? And yeah,

(03:29):
you seem to be driving a different race than everybody else.
And so when they gave me the chance to write
Race or X, it's like, well, this is like you
rarely get to write. You rarely get offered to write,
a chance to write a character that you just actually
love that you've always sort of really enjoyed reading or
watching on TV. So when you do, you got to

(03:49):
sort of grab it with both dands.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
I hear you, man. You guys have also, you know,
redesigned the number nine car. Here's the classic designed from
the anime. But this great image and I love this.
I should ask, And also there's a good shot of
Rex's modern costume and everything. But tell me about your artist. Yeah,

(04:15):
So Neudo Platty is really good.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
He does sort of a blended style of of sort
of manga esque but not one manga, which I think
works incredibly well for Speed Racer, especially the way the
main series is drawn. And also he's just incredibly good
at drawing really kinetic scenes like when the cars are
going around the racetrack, it just looks like this blur

(04:39):
of action like we would imagine like standing on the
track watching these cars sort of go by it two
hundred miles an hour, and it's hard to describe, you know,
There's nothing worse than describing what something looks like, which
is one of the reasons I think I became a
comic book writer because like, leave all that to an
artists to do, but it but it really gives you

(05:03):
the sense of the It really gives you a like
a visceral sense of being at a car race. And
so what I wanted to do is write part of
a part racing comic, part sort of film noir about
this guy whose life was stolen from him. And and
that's what that's what I'm going for, and that's kind
of what I want. Why I wanted to go over
his origins with the original issue was not only to

(05:27):
explain how he became race or X, but also just
to let people know right from the beginning what kind
of comic this is going to be.

Speaker 1 (05:36):
I get it, and I really enjoy uh your the
way you've told the backstory and you've thrown in other
Easter eggs that immediately if if you're a fan of
the old series, uh, you'll recognize some of the players,
and you even weave in given that it is uh
the the area of car racing and stuff. God, if
people are fans of Ford Versus Ferrari, not only the

(05:58):
fictional movie, but the real story and stuff, you could
see allusions to some of the auto teams and companies
that are that are in the speed racer world. I
don't know, is pepost is David writing the regular speed racing.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Run. Yeah, a lot of it is like just about
how in whether in racing or in like like life,
the the tours, the people who are actually design cars
or do whatever they're doing because they love it tend
to like get drowned out or murdered by the the
people that could just do a lot of it, the

(06:34):
people who have the machinery to to put a team
on the track or to uh you know, mass produce
what it is you're trying to carve, you know, out
of love. And that's largely what the backstory about, you know,
race or automotive versus like alf Automotive and the car
Action team. That's what it is. It's about how does

(06:56):
how does the craft, the thing you love doing or
the thing you do because you actually believe in it
what it is you're doing, how does that survive against
the people who are just trying to use it to like,
you know, control the betting markets.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Absolutely, so all right, good I didn't know if you
wanted to mention some of the name checks that are
that are in that first issue. But yeah, like you
said Alpha Team, and now am I wrong? Is that
the car Acrobatic team or the car Acrobatic Team.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
I don't know where action came. Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
Please, good lord, you know, I sadly this is what's
in my head rather than modern concerns.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
And also if people don't know, and if you have
access to me TV tunes channel Friday nights a week,
they're showing speed Racer for an hour from I got
to get the time zones right, So Mark's in the
West Coast time zones, so it's I think eight thirty
to nine thirty Western time specific time, and it's twelve

(07:52):
thirty in the morning till one thirty in the morning
Eastern I get at eleven thirty and then another one
at midnight.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
But also a bunch of the old cartoons on Prime
that are available on Prime too. Just watch them.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
Oh I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know
they're running on Prime. That's fantastic, that's excellent. Oh my god.
But yeah, God, I forgot how scary that show was.
Are you gonna get weird? I mean, because again I
love the blind. I mean, let's face it, as we
were introduced to Racer X back in the cartoon and stuff,
half half racer, half secret agent, some sort of adventurer

(08:26):
and you know, kind of de facto supergro but I mean,
there really were some scary things and Spear.

Speaker 2 (08:32):
And in my version, he's sort of a vigilante because
he's trying to bring down the uh, the Alpha MA Automotive,
which is run by like a criminal syndicate called the
Tiger Syndicate and and uh and they're there. They control
the race betting. So the more he can cause their
their driver, more he can get speed Racer to win
and get their drivers to like crash out. Uh. The

(08:55):
the more it interferes with their plans, the more money
they lose from from betting on their your own drivers,
which is why they're so eager to kill him because
he's screwing up the money they were getting from fixing races.
I love that story too.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
Sure, absolutely, no, it really is one man against the
mob and or at least the controlling interests of this
faction of that kind of crime organization. I love it.
And is, uh, do you and pepos have to talk
and like, hey man, I want to use for example, uh,
the X three, the Milage or the Mammoth Car, the
gold Car.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Things like that, do you guys have to have a
little backwards and that I you know, when I got Racer,
actually got excited and I wrote like three or four
issues you know, right off the bat. Uh well, while
David still was like finishing up something else and have
time to work hut. So then you know, it occurred
to me, oh, I better I better slow my slow
my role because they was gonna be writing things in

(09:55):
the Means series and I can't be contradicting that because
we said ver early on we wanted the two series
to sort of dovetail and to talk about the same
races from different perspectives. So that's like, you know, slowed down.
And then I started getting the scripts in from David,
and if he was using, you know, a driver that
I was using in a different way. Then I would

(10:15):
just change mine because mine is coming out, like my
issue one comes out after his issue too, and to
my two after his three, and so on and so forth.
So I'm responding to the race that that he's writing about,
and I'm telling the story. At least in the first
four issues, I'm telling the story of the same race
that's in the main series, just through the perspective of

(10:37):
Race or X. But obviously I had to go back
and change things because I don't want to, like, you know,
I don't want I want to want the story to
not contradict, you know, I don't want them to contradict
each other, which makes it better because then you're working
with limitations and you're thinking outside the box a little bit.
And it's also given me the chance to create some
new characters because I couldn't use the one that David's using,

(10:58):
so I come up with a new character. And that's
what That's always a lot of fun for me too,
when I get to like right, not only in Cannon,
it's something I really enjoy, but then to actually add
to it, to create new characters that now have become
part of the cannon and in fact, I created a
love interest for Racer X, which doesn't show up until

(11:18):
later in the series. But wow, cool her name is
hell Kitten.

Speaker 1 (11:24):
Why not? Absolutely all right?

Speaker 2 (11:27):
Donald now tears up the racing scene.

Speaker 1 (11:30):
Don clearly a fan of the cartoon. I got to
do this, like the narrator of voice over Little the
Speed Racer. No, that Racer X is his older brother,
Rex Racer, who left home many years ago, all covered
in issue one of a Mark series. But yeah, or
you need, of course with the filter with the uh
uh inner thoughts filter. Speed doesn't on his brother, you know.

Speaker 2 (11:53):
So Speed has no idea who this guy.

Speaker 1 (11:55):
Is and uh and of course we have to do
an occasional oh I love that show man and I
never knew I I forget. It must have been Cartoon
Network or something when they were running it. And they
ran the Japanese language version of the of the theme song,
and you know it's Maka go go is the is

(12:16):
supposed to go Yeah, I assume I assume it is. Yeah,
but yeah, Maka go go is is the chorus instead
of Ghost Speed Racer. But man, I truly, man I've
been because I have nothing else to do. Look clearly,
ladies and gentlemen, no life here here he is right now.
But honestly, I've been really enjoyed because I hadn't watched

(12:36):
the cartoons in at least thirty years, if not longer,
and man, like I said, they were scarier than I remember.
The music is fantastic and really suspenseful and anything that's
something that's missing from the comic book. Man, it's a
shame you guys can't like have a little MP three
or something code that as we're watching the races, we
can't get that D D D D.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, that's gonna be awesome. Someday they'll be I'll you'll
actually just open the comic and it'll have like a
microscopic MP three player that just sort of like gives
you the soundtrack.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
When honestly, when when they started doing digital comics, and
especially after the iPad came out, I was really expecting
more digital magazines to have not only pros, but also hey,
click on this and here's the video feature. And of
course Marvel did a bit of that with their ar
comics that would have the Q coats and it would

(13:28):
open up a little one minute thing of like an
artist doing a fast you know, page time lapse kind
of thing of a page spread or whatever. So Paul
Yeah Comics, says evening John and Mark, I wasn't gonna
buy Racer X, but then I found out Mark was
writing it, so now I have no choice to pick
it up. And I yes, we're gonna be talking about
vanishing point has been so dang good. That will come

(13:50):
up later in the conversation. So yeah, and that Don
again says that the Racer Rex has been in my
head since childhood. Yeah, that great episode. I wonder if
it's the last episode where he takes off the mask
and finally reveals to Speed that he's Rex. It's like,
oh my god, that was heavy drama when you're a
kid man. So will he Will we ever get to

(14:12):
that point? Are we gonna go to the Astra? And
I think that that point is happening in the main series.

Speaker 2 (14:16):
But but yeah, a lot the fact that like he
can't reveal himself in in my version he can. He
can't really reveal himself to his brother or his family
because the mob is gunning for him, so he'll put
them all in danger if he ever reveals who he
really is sure, and we the only way he can
really protect his family other than trying to help Speed

(14:36):
on the racetrack is by staying as far away as possible.

Speaker 1 (14:40):
And we never got that confrontation of Pops and Rex
after the reveal that happens with Speed, and like I said,
man mate, I'm assuming that was like the last episode
of the original series. But yeah, so, I mean there
is still, you know, track for either you or David
to really kind of explore that beyond Rex Speed. But

(15:00):
the whole Racer family sure.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
Right, No, it's a very rich but fraud relationship that
family has.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
And what about Mom Racer exactly?

Speaker 2 (15:12):
I think she has exactly one line in the first issue.

Speaker 1 (15:17):
And Spritle God, you know, I mean again, you know when.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
It makes an appearance, Chimchim shows up. Although yeah, those
are mostly characters in the main series, but maybe you
make little cameos inc.

Speaker 1 (15:30):
Yeah, so maybe was Do you think Spriidal might have
been a baby when Rex left home, because Speed's pretty
young and when Rex leagues and again, great great stuff
with Rex and Speed in issue one.

Speaker 2 (15:41):
Thanks. Yeah, no, Spidal didn't even show And I think
part of the reason why I just didn't know where
to put in like this, you would, Yeah, you would
have been a baby or a toddler. I just didn't
know where to really use him.

Speaker 1 (15:53):
Sure, no, I understand absolutely. Comics are at San Antonio,
and I'm glad you're joining us, Sir, I believe this
might be the first time you've joined us. Welcome, Hi,
John and Mark A Holy has been doing so much
cool stuff. Indeed, and Mark of course a big part
of it. Any plans to return to the world of Cereal,
explain the question, Mark.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
Well, Cereal is a series I wrote starring the the
serial monsters of Breakfast War, you know, like Count Schocula,
Frank and Berry, Captain Crunch, although for legal reasons, I
wasn't able to actually call them those things. So like
Count Chocula in my world is the Marquis to Cocoa.
Captain Crunch becomes Captain Crackle, you know. But but basically

(16:36):
I wrote them as though they were in some sort
of Game of Thrones, like Universe of Betrayal and Intrigue,
and and yeah, I'm very I'm very pleased with how
the book turned out. I would I don't know if
there's enough material there enough unused Cereal mascots to do
a whole other book. But I would love to write
like a like a return to Cereal Mountain or whatever,

(16:59):
a sort of a one off that sort of goes
back to that world.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
That would be amazing. Man haul Yeah, comics agreeing that
Sarah was so good, Mark, do you know you know,
of course, the comedian Gilbert Godfrey. Are you aware of
his podcast?

Speaker 2 (17:15):
No, I mean I can't wear him, but not the podcast.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
Well, you know, and obviously he's passed away. His co
host Frank santou Padre, who actually has been on Ward
Balloon before, literally two weeks ago on the podcast, had
a fantastic episode of all the breakfast cereals and all
the mascots and you know, so it was all it
was all fair game. And again, you know, growing up
as I did in the in the late sixties and

(17:38):
seventies and stuff, Yeah, I mean, you know, by the
time of Count Chocolate and Franklin Berry and stuff, I
was a weedies guy. And I'm like, maybe a little
too much sugar in my breakfast cereal, but I was
at Kaboom and a lot of the early and certainly
Captain Crunch and everything. So yeah, fruit brout the fourth
exactly the neglected, and then there was like a mummy.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
That was the one. My one regret is that, like,
you know, when it all finished up, I was like,
how when they were used yummy mummy, it was right there,
No yummy mummy.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
Everyone's bringing up your greatest hits mark and by all
means everybody. For there are other away comics you want
to mention.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Yeah, and thanks you. The shout out to AHOI too,
because they are doing the Lord's work. They're doing all
kinds of comics that most publishers would hang up on
you midway through the phone conversation if you pitched them
to them. Uh, and and we're I'm doing a comic.
I'm really proud of what the hoy called Thanksgiving, which
comes out in October, and it sort of uses the

(18:38):
Thanksgiving dinner as a metaphor for the way I think
a lot of us feel about our country, which is like,
I'm not sure I actually know these people sitting across
the table from me, These people I grew up with
that I thought I loved. I you know, is one
of them a serial killer? I? You know? Oh wow,
how did how do we get to this point?

Speaker 1 (19:01):
That's great, Mark, truly and this is what I love.
And in fact, Zach even mentions another book like that
Billionaire Island is a great example of this. Second Coming
is another great example of this. Truly, so much of
your O HOOI stuff, And yeah, man, Max.

Speaker 2 (19:16):
Lawyer of creativity, I think it not only in my career,
but also the industry. I think, you know, the comics
industry is definitely much is well served by having a
hoy around publishing titles that are really their own genre.

Speaker 1 (19:29):
Completely agree, one hundred percent, man, And it's been all
I mean, God, you got to go back to like Madden.
It's prime for that kind of satire and humor in
comic book form. So yeah, I know, I'm thrilled that
the guy's art Ceilien and Tompire and company. And again
you're one of the main writers of all that stuff.
Comic arts reminds us of another seal perhaps that we

(19:51):
forgot the I guess a new one, Carmela Creeper. I
haven't seen that on the shelves.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
Yeah, that's new and to me, yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:59):
I've never heard of it. I want if it tastes
like like uh, cracker Jack being like Carmel, I don't know.
Uh ah, and another subject, and truly everybody, everything's fair bounce.
Not only all that stuff, but you know, if you
want to talk about was it called past what was
the Marvel stuff you did? The past lives?

Speaker 2 (20:20):
No, yeah, yeah it gosh yeah, spider Man life story,
life story, spider Man life story, Fantastic life Story, Spoor
life story. Well yeah, that's a great concept too, where
you let the heroes and you're writing age decade by decade,
and each issue represents a different decade. I loved doing that,

(20:41):
and I thought what Chip did with Spider Man was fantastic.
I really hope excuse.

Speaker 1 (20:45):
Me, yes, yes, that's right, you did ff Chip did
Spider Man? Excuse me? Yes, yes, no, I agree. Well,
and that dovetails into another book of yours that's coming.
And Ken Kramer wanted to know if we can get
an update on the wonder Woman age book you're doing
with like all read and Wonder Woman the Golden Age.

Speaker 2 (21:03):
Correct, that's correct, it's gonna be called the Golden Age,
and we're working at right now. Mike is still drawing
issue number one. I'm finishing up on writing issue number three,
so we're thinking sometime probably Spring twenty twenty six, it'll
come out. But yeah, it's happening.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
Without giving away much of plot, because you had that,
I mean, and in some ways your age comics of
Superman and Batman, Superman space Age, Batman Dark Age, and
now Wonder Woman. Is it? Is it set in the
past again? I don't want you to tell more than
you feel comfortable telling. Yeah, I got to ask. Obviously.

Speaker 2 (21:41):
The basic concept for those who aren't familiar with the
other books is that Superman Space Age tells the life
story of Superman on one of the universes that is
doomed on Crisis on Infinite Earths, so he knows pretty
early on that his world is going to be destroyed.
His own entire universe is going to be destroyed in
nineteen eighty five, and there's not much he can do

(22:04):
about it. So it kind of deals the concept of like,
what what does it mean to be a world's symbol
of hope when there really is none? And Batman dark
Age kind of takes place. It takes place in a
similarly doomed universe. I'll be in a different one than
the first one, and one Woman Golden angelill take place
in the original universe that the Superman one took in.

(22:26):
But it's from one woman's perspective, and it's about you know,
it's about like them trying to like make a final
stand against the Anti Monitor and to keep the world
from having to be doomed after all. So I won't
I won't get away much more than that, but it
very much is in it tells if the way I'm

(22:47):
conceiving it is it's finishing the trilogy that was begun
with the first two, So it finishes the story of
of the struggle of Superman and Batman against the end
of the Earth.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Wanted to know if you had additional age books planned
for d C or was it always just about the
Trimity Trinity.

Speaker 2 (23:06):
Originally it was just about the Superman one. That was
the only one we had planned. But then you know,
we got offered to write the Batman one, and I
had already created so many Batman scenes and writing the
Superman one that I wasn't able to use that it
just seemed like natural. And and then yeah, that gave
me the idea of for like, well, you know, we
really we should, you know, we could. We don't necessarily
need to leave things hanging like this, we could actually

(23:28):
finish the story with the Wonder Woman one. But yeah,
if they offered me, I would keep writing them forever. I'd,
you know, do a flash, I do a like a
like a green hornet, or a green or a green lantern,
or or like a lobo. I do a like a
lobo carnage. I think that would be good. Now. I
would just keep doing them as long as they let

(23:49):
me work with Michael Laura, would just do them forever.

Speaker 1 (23:52):
I can appreciate that. Well. It certainly Mark Mike makes
every and Laura's makes everyone's comics. That's that much prettier.
And it really is perfect because the stories do evoke
an earlier age than what we're currently getting, and you know,
Mike's Mike's all about that with his art, and Laura
Laura does a wonderful channel.

Speaker 2 (24:09):
One of the really fun things about writing that series
is that, you know, and when they were writing Batman, Superman,
and Wonder Woman comics in the sixties and seventies, they
weren't necessarily writing about the events in the sixties and seventies.
They weren't really talking about the Vietnam War, Watergate, or
you know, the Equal Rights Amendment and stuff. They weren't
really writing against the backroup of the history they were experiencing.
They didn't really think of it as history yet. But

(24:30):
when I'm writing something set back in the nineteen sixties
and seventies, I could suddenly talk about these historic events
in the content. I can have the story, the characters
actually you know, interact with with with history, because you know,
I not only do I have the liberty to write
for adults and for people who are interested in history,
but also now sixty years later, we know what matters,

(24:54):
We know which parts of the you know, the happen
the things happened in the sixties and seventies are important.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Agreed, given the success, and I wonder if Josh Williamson
or Scott Snyder gave you a call. In a lot
of ways, the Absolute Universe has a different reason for
being different. But again, when I point to Life Stories,
Fantastic Four and these series as well, you've got these

(25:20):
great alternate takes that stay consistent with the character, but
again surrounds them in different circumstances. Would you ever want
to do an Absolute Universe DC book?

Speaker 2 (25:31):
Yeah? You know, my editor asked me that, like if
I would be interested in doing an Absolute book, not
that they're going to give me one, but just if
I would be interested, And the idea I had which
I would love to do would be Harley Quinn Absolute,
and I would want to do it so that she
goes back to her psychotherapist practice. But she's like a

(25:54):
psychotherapist for villains, like she is, like it's like sort
of like you know, like when you get and you're
in the mob, you have to go to a special
doctor and they remove the bullet from you because they're
not in a hospital. She'd be like that for a therapist,
and it'd be about her trying to like get get
the villains to like raise their game or making them
more effective, making them hurt more form a therapy. When

(26:16):
you're making them actually worse, less remorseful villains.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
That's fantastic, man, Jesus, all right, you gotta call Jimmy,
and you gotta call Amanda and let her average draw that.
God that that's a great idea. That's and again that's
that's consistent with that absolute universe where the villains have
one and they're kind of, oh, that'd be great. Gotta
come on, DC, let's go memo the Clark Bulling Company,

(26:41):
make that happen, man, Jesus is that's a wonderful idea.
Uh God, they're calling up your greatest hits, mart call
you comics. Uh thank you. Yeah, I have to read
Billionaires Island Traveling to Mars, My bat My Bad was excellent,
and anything else I haven't read, just an excellent writer,
very nice.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
My Bad for a while was the repository of all
my rejected Batman pitches. Like if I wrote like a
Batman pitch and they're like, the response I got was
never in a million years I would I would take
that idea and have it run with the Chandelier, who's
sort of my Batman stand in in My Bad. He's
called the Chandelier because his parents, he's the heir to

(27:18):
a lamp fortune. His parents owned a giant lamp company,
so when they were killed, he he became a vigilante
known as the Chandelier.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
And his mask is is it's basically where a really
beautiful chandelier, very lovely combat but incredibly aesthetic. Ours ours
was not opulent, but we had a chandelier in my
house where that I grew up, the dining room and truly.
The hanging crystals certainly reminds me of my parents' sixties
attempt at opulence.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
So yeah, that's only you know, you've got classes, You've
got a chandelier.

Speaker 1 (27:54):
There you go, oh yeah, he's already he's sold, he goes.
You have to say anymore chandelier. I'm in outstanding man, absolutely,
so yeah there. I mean again, this has been the
great thing about getting no more well. And also you're
you're Hannah Barbara stuff man. And as I've told Mark
many times, when I first saw it, was it CP
that dead drew it for you get for you.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
Can do the flintstones. Yeah, yeah, you.

Speaker 1 (28:18):
Know, at first I was like, I don't know, man,
two off model and benness the's somebody's like read it
and I did, and I'm like, oh my god, this
is hilarious. And uh yeah, you know again, just a great, weird,
great hybrid of typical kind of hints flintstones humor. But
take into that extreme. My favorite example of course that
the water buffaloes are the VFW, and then a lot

(28:39):
of them still have trauma from the cave and tree
wars that they all suffered through.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
Yeah, and a lot of it. You know, when I
was adapting The Flintstones, was just like, well, you know,
something like the water Buffalo's Lions Club or like a
gentleman's that doesn't really make any sense. Who who here
is going to remember, you know what, like the Kiwanis
Club was or something. So it's the elks. Yeah, but everybody,
you know, k new veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

(29:08):
So what if I just make it to the water
Buffaloes were actually like an army regiment, and then they
are coming back and like having to deal with the
PTSD and having been in this this horrifying conflict, which
is not what they were sold at all. And then
that's of course where Fred gets his Yaba David catchphrase.
It's like what the the the analysts, the sort of

(29:31):
group therapist tells him to say every time he feels
like he's being overwhelmed by anxiety.

Speaker 1 (29:39):
Wow, God, you know it's the I want to do
the math. I believe it's the sixty fifth anniversary of
the Floodstones this year.

Speaker 2 (29:47):
I think you're right. I think that yeah, at the
beginning of it.

Speaker 1 (29:51):
Yeah, yeah, nineteen sixty Yeah, I believe that's And it's
so great man ABC. You know, back then, the joke
was there's only room for three and a half networks
at cbsnbcctually two and a half networks CBS NBC, and
they only gave ABC half credit. But man, you know,
cartoons in prime time that and they were running Old
Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes cartoons and they were a massive hit.

(30:12):
And it's like, well, you know, and look where we
are today with adult animation. Yeah, absolutely, no, that's great,
and yeah, I really I love that. And of course,
uh snaggle Puss your your take on Snagglepus. Basically as
kind of a I got a thick street card named
desire author Tennessee Williams, Tennessee Williams absolutely one.

Speaker 2 (30:32):
Of the the personal highlights of my career. Maybe the
highlight is they did a stage reading of Snagglepus at
the Tennessee Williams play Festival in Massachusetts, and Marie Javins
and I both were able to go and sort of
watch it performed on stage, and it was amazing to see,

(30:52):
you know, the graphic novel being acted out on stage
at the Tennessee Williams Playfest. Will be taking that seriously,
people loved it too, So I mean, if if I
had died at that moment and the credits are rolling,
I would have I would have considered that a happy ending.

Speaker 1 (31:08):
Hall Yeah Comics once again as another great callback Wonder Twins. Absolutely,
man from Wonder Comics should have been more appreciated. Yeah,
I'm sorry. Was it sales the kind of made that.

Speaker 2 (31:21):
Twins did pretty good? Because originally it was it was
only supposed to be six issues, but then it got
approved for twelve. But yeah, it was always supposed to
be a limited series. But ok, but I think it
did better than expected because it's the one and only
time I've actually had a series, you know, get more
issues I've had. I've got to go the other way

(31:41):
a couple of times. But yeah, no, I'm still very
proud of those and and I never I don't think
of them as a failure by any means. Is asking, uh,
what is it? Who was asking when your Trinity conclusion
with Wonder Them is coming out? Oh? I don't know

(32:02):
for sure, justin, but I think it's spring of twenty
twenty six.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
There you go. Okay, excellent. I was wondering if you know,
because you've also written like we said A Hoy. But
you've also had Awa that was your robots series. What
was that called?

Speaker 2 (32:17):
Again?

Speaker 1 (32:18):
Not all robots, say it again, not all robots, Not
all robots indeed, Okay, And you know they know what
they're getting, and you, I know, A Hoy obviously has.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
A great anybody with you know, that's kind of the
way I feel. It's like anybody who hires me knows
what they're getting into, or at least they should at this point,
so you know, let the buyer beware.

Speaker 1 (32:38):
Well more importantly, that let people discover the graphic novel
as if they can't discover the issues hopefully.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
Yeah, that's kind of the way I feel too about sales,
you know, because a lot of it's hard to sell
individual issues these days, especially if it's not like a
really collectible title and it's not the first appearance of
the punchline or whatever. It's hard to sell individual floppies.
But I don't worry too much about it because I figure,
as long as there's a book, and even if the

(33:05):
book doesn't sell incredibly well at the beginning, it's like,
as long as it sticks around, as long as it
stays in print, I'll hand sell them at cons they'll,
you know, like other things that become you know, the
other people who discover me through other things will then
go back and buy that title. So I always try
to think in terms of the long game, and the
long game is like, don't write them. Don't write a

(33:25):
comic to sell one hundred thousand, you know, in a month,
to be forgotten forever. Don't even write a book. Don't
even write for a book that will you be out
of print in six months. Write something that you think
is going to stick around in book for him for
years and years, and we'll just sell it. Might not
sell gamebusters when it first come out. All hopefully it does,
but even if it doesn't, you could continue to sell

(33:47):
it forever, and people who discover you through other titles
will then have something to go back and read of yours.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
When I see shows like a Peacemaker and what James
Gunn is doing from a humor standpoint with the see
I think of things like One Star Squadron. We've talked
about that before, A wonderful book. Do you know if
gun is aware of your DC humor.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
I know he's definitely aware of it. I don't know
he's gonna use any of it, but for a while
he had one of Mike's drawings as a Superman from
Superman Space Age as like his background on like I
think it was a blue Sky one of the social
media platforms, so I know he's he's definitely read it,
and he shared like sort of panels from from I

(34:33):
think Superman Space Age, but you know, anyone's guess as
to whether he is and he plans to incorporate it.

Speaker 1 (34:41):
Well again, I really think your kind of humor does
dovetail into what James is trying to do.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
If he did use something of mine, I think it
probably would be Wonder Twins. I think it probably would
be something like that that's more overtly funny and just
sort of you know, uses minor characters or one Star Squadron,
something something of that nature, where it's off the beaten
path characters and stories.

Speaker 1 (35:05):
James wants to know and I don't remember this character,
but Red Flag.

Speaker 2 (35:08):
From One Red Flag. I Love Red Flag.

Speaker 1 (35:10):
Tell me about Red Flag.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
He is a guy who goes on a date with
with Jana. She goes on a date with this guy,
not knowing that he's secretly a villain, and he's also
in high school he goes to high school with them,
and he reveals to her later that he's actually a
villain named Red Flag. And the reason why he's called
red Flag is because he hits every red flag imaginable
on their date. Like he is rude to the way staff.

(35:34):
You know, he's like just sort of a jerky and
abrasive and you know it tries to like belittle her
and and she ends up like turning into a cheetah
so she can run away from him. But but yeah,
he was a character and he shows up I think
again later with the the League of Annoyance, which is

(35:55):
like sort of the minor league villain organization that created.
But yeah, I would like to see him show up.
He's someone who might show up in like that like
a James Gun, like the kind of guy he would
show up at like a James Gun movie and then
like get killed within the first thirty eight seconds.

Speaker 1 (36:10):
Yeah, like Suicide Squad exactly, Like.

Speaker 2 (36:13):
Yeah, exactly, like you'd be like the Pete Davidson character
and Suicide Squad right, show up like drop show drop
a few red flags and then get like an annihilated.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
Zach wants to know. He's not sure if it's different
publisher to publisher. But do trade sales contribute to the
life of a book or is it still completely dependent
on the store orders of single issues.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
Oh yeah, trade sales definitely contribute to the life of
a book. And the best thing you could possibly have
for a book would be initial orders of the book.
People like putting in orders of the book before it's
even on sale, but I think that the the trade orders.
If I could pick one thing to get as a writer,

(36:57):
it would be not to have a hit comics here,
but it would be to get like a hit trade
where it gets a ton of initial orders before the
book hits the shelves, because that will let the retailers
know this is not a risky investment and they can
have a bunch to have on the shelves and give
more people a chance to discover it. And to me,
that's that that's when you've got something, because you are

(37:18):
not only selling the people who know about you and
and you know, asked for it to be put in
their pool box, but then just people wandering through the
store who want to read an entire book.

Speaker 1 (37:27):
You know, do you and forgive me because sometimes I
blank out as I look at the chat. Do you
have new stuff coming from ahay.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
Yes, mostly one shots I've got like I mentioned the
Thanksgiving Yes, And I've got another one called The Forgotten
Divine that's currently in the works. That's about these these
occult where every all the members of the cult have
like visions of this bizarre alien race, but they all

(37:58):
like share. They all have these visions independent at least,
they form like sort of a cult which they call
the Forgotten Divine to await the arrival of these these
alien you know, gods. And and then I'm working on
another one called Grave Diggers, which is about a company

(38:19):
that hires people to dig their own graves or it's
like their severiance package, Like if you get fired from
this company, they'll give you thirty days severance package, but
then you have to use that thirty days to dig
your own grave, you know, at the end of which
you will drink poison and be buried in it. So
that one's coming out, that one's being that one hasn't

(38:40):
even started being drawn. Grave Diggers does not even start
being drawn. Who knows when that's coming out, But but
the Forgotten Divine will be out probably early twenty twenty six,
Thanksgiving will be out in October.

Speaker 1 (38:54):
Absolutely, man, no, Ill, we should we should plan to
talk about Thanksgiving when it when it's to be talked about,
So that would that would be great. Also, and again
you don't have to name companies, but I have had
people publishers. I should say I had the Mark Russell
experience and go, yeah, all right, thanks, uh yeah, well
don't call us, We'll call you.

Speaker 2 (39:14):
Yeah. No, I think I think that's the way publishers
usually know. But I worked with a lot of publishers.
Most of publishers I work with, they tend to go
back to just because, like you said, they knew what
they were getting into the first time. So the people
who are like, oh, not this guy, uh, they don't
even bother calling me usually. I can't believe you have
that kind of rupt I don't know if what I

(39:36):
love that camp anymore. I mean, Marvel might be be
oh that's a shame that whether not to call me
back ever again. But but but other than that, I've
had really good experiences with you know, doing multiple titles,
you know, working regularly with companies.

Speaker 1 (39:52):
Let's hope. So Matt Mark Wade joining the conversation. Hey, Mark,
it's Mark. What's it like to co write with Mark
Wade is intimidating.

Speaker 2 (40:00):
I wasn't even gon announced because I didn't feel empowered,
but now I do. So I am actually co writing
an issue of World's Finest with Mark Wade, number forty four,
and it was you know, usually I dread co writing.
Usually it's like, oh God, this is going to be
like a like a like a arm wrestling now. But
that was so much fun. That was like the probably

(40:20):
the most fun I've had writing something co writing or not,
just because Mark's ideas are so good and we're just
sort of bouncing off each other. You know, it's criminal
that we you know that that we actually got paid
for that I think. Don't don't tell DC I said.

Speaker 1 (40:34):
That, but no, they don't watch my stuff. Don't worry
about it. No, that's great and truly know and Mark
knowing a sense of humor and also his deep knowledge
of silver and bronze age and stuff. You guys are
a match made in heaven. That's fantastic. You guys are working.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
No, I'm super excited for it to come out. It
turned out really funny and and in just like working
with somebody who actually understands like the DC cun with
the and it's like, oh, so this is what I've
been doing wrong all this time. But yeah, No, if
you ever for people out there, if you ever get
a chance to collaborate with Mark Wade, I would say,

(41:10):
go ahead, give him a shot.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
Exactly exactly, couldn't hurt. And he says, thanks, it was
a blast. Absolutely, man, that's making you Mark, Thank you
mar for always watching. Absolutely. No, it means a lot
when it means a lot when the other creators are
actually paying attention what the hell I'm doing. They come,
they come for the dessert. They don't come for me, man,
they come for guys like you. Don't get me wrong.
But that's that's terrific. And again I think that's that

(41:35):
I'm excited to see what you guys have cooking. Are
you able to say is it Dan Moore drawing it?
Or is it somebody else?

Speaker 2 (41:40):
Or let Mark get I don't know how much of
empowered to actually say about it.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
I respect that. No, no, no, that's cool.

Speaker 2 (41:47):
As a guest, I'm just a I'm just a tourist
in the world's finest Well.

Speaker 1 (41:54):
Should we talk about the other thing that you wanted
to talk about and you'll have to explain what this is.
And that's a Vanishing Point.

Speaker 2 (42:02):
Yeah. Vanishing Point is a sci fi anthology series. Basically,
the Elevator speeches that if they gave me the chance
to write The Twilight Zone, this is probably what it
would be like. They're very twist heavy science fiction stories,
but also I think with a more sort of existentialist angle.
They're about like feelings of isolation and about how we

(42:24):
are being dehumanized by the society we are creating and
we are alienating ourselves with our technology, which sounds like
a total fun time. I know it sounds like I'm
sure I'm selling a lot of comics here, but I'm
really proud of it. And we got different artists for Originally,
Ryan Alexander Tanner is one of my Portland friends, was

(42:46):
going to draw the whole thing, but then he had
a baby, so he was only able to get enough
time together draw three of the issues, so we had
other artists draw the other three and you just saw
the cover Poration number one, which is drawn by Christian Ward.
But but yeah, so a lot of different styles, both
in terms of the stories and also the artwork and

(43:07):
the good thing I think about doing an anthology is
that if you miss an issue, don't worry about it.
You can read them all independently. You can read them
in any order.

Speaker 1 (43:15):
Who's putting this out?

Speaker 2 (43:17):
That's Mad Cave.

Speaker 1 (43:20):
Oh, that's another Mad Cave book. Fantastic, that's great man, honestly,
Mad Cave. I've been paying close attention the Flash Gordon franchise,
now speed Racer and Vanishing Point. Again. If Mark's running it,
I'm certainly interested. Here's an interior page from a Vanishing Point.

Speaker 2 (43:39):
Yes, it's there's. I mean, the stories I think are
like both work as science fiction and horror. Most of them,
I think they're They're horrifying and but also very human.

Speaker 1 (43:52):
Are they? How long are the individual stories?

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Twenty two pages each?

Speaker 1 (43:57):
Oh? So each issue is is one one one chapter
or one?

Speaker 2 (44:01):
Yes, they're all self contained. So yeah, very over from
one issue to be next.

Speaker 1 (44:05):
Okay, very cool, Mark spilled the beans, Lucas Meyer, everybody
drawing the upcoming World's Finest that we'll have Russell and
Wade together on a story. Very very cool, you know,
But god, I just saw the solicit for the Latest
Action Comics and I didn't realize that Captain comic is
encountering young Superboy in action comics, So I'm gonna have

(44:27):
to I'm gonna have to get way back to talk
about that as well as us other stuff too. You know,
God already killed didn't already do one of the history
of DC Universe issues?

Speaker 2 (44:36):
Or Yeah, that's one of the reasons why Wonder Woman's
taking so long, because he took like a hiatus to
work on that. But yeah, I think I'll be worth it.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
No, we can appreciate that definitely. Man, are you are
you watching Peacekeeper? And and did you watch Superman? Tell
me what I love late Superman.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
I liked it a lot. Uh. My only criticism, it's
not really a criticism, sort of an observation, is that
it feels like they're setting up a franchise more than
trying to give you one complete, cohesive movie, which is good.
You know, I want to I want to know more
about these characters, and I really hope, my big hope
is that it ends up in a mister Terrific standalone movie.

(45:18):
That was my takeaway from me. Or you know, we're
gonna get the Supergirl one and it's gonna be based
on Tom Kane's book, which is amazing. Couldn't couldn't ask
for more for that. But if I can ask for
a second thing I would It would be the Mister
Terrific standalone.

Speaker 1 (45:31):
Movie, yeah, or a TV series. Either one of those
would be great because I think you could do a
lot with mister Terrific. And yeah, I agree with you.
He really he was the best surprise I think as
far as interpretations of characters and stuff and got it
was great because my concern with with as much as
they're thrown against the wall, like all right, we're gonna
have to wait five years for the next Superman movie. No,

(45:53):
two years, great, fantastic.

Speaker 2 (45:55):
The other thing that I think is really sort of
brilliant about Superman is the all the casting was impeccable.
I couldn't think of a better, you know, person to
play like Lex Luthor, the Nicholas Halt or you know,
like Lois Lane or you know, Supergirl. It was just impeccable.
Mister Travy, all the casting was just utterly impeccable.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
I agree, And I also wonder because I I, you know,
oh God just inspired casting one hundred, you know, And
it was weird that we got so little of the
Daily Planet because of the star power in the Daily Planet,
especially Wendell Davis as Perry, and even Beck Bennett as

(46:40):
as Steve Lombard and stuff, and of course Rachel playing
Lois and forgive me everybody, I forget the name of
the actress that play Cat Grant. But all that was great,
but there was so little Daily Planet, and I'm like, oh,
I bet they shot more, and maybe we'll get in
the second movie. Maybe it'll be on that.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
I would take a Daily Planet standalone movie. I think
that would be great, you know.

Speaker 1 (47:00):
And I were talking last night and we're talking about
him and Brubaker and Lark and what they did on
Gotham Central and also like Rucas, like oh god, I
would kill to do a coroner's office in Gotham Police,
and you know, and also even like a Gotham hospital.
And it's like, yeah, these are these are great ideas.
And it's it's clear again that Gunn is maybe coming

(47:24):
up with these ideas and then delegating them. Even on Peacemaker,
I see that he's writing all the scripts, but he
certainly isn't directing them all. And that's good. You know,
he's got to run the studio as well, But no,
I really appreciate the new flavor of the DC film
universe and television.

Speaker 2 (47:39):
I once pitched a Creeper comic that was supposed to
be about like sort of the death of journalism or
it was about like his human persona being like this
sort of like like demagogue, the sort of like Tucker
Carlson type who says all these things and he's like
trying to like undermine the daily planet and like you know,

(48:01):
uh like do everything that they're not doing. And then
at night, as alter Ego feels so guilty about it,
he tries to destroy everything that he does during the day.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
That's a great idea, man, all Right, Wade, you gotta
you gotta forward this too to the editorial side, man,
that would be a brilliant idea. Again, that's the thing
these characters are really. They really sadly fit in today's
crazy world. And I mean I love the way Luther
and not only Luther, but all of his minions working
for him and stuff. That's another tech pro company. Man.

(48:32):
They don't care. They're just you know, it's it's doe shit.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
I don't have good does worry about the the end
of the world. My my quarterly bonus is coming out.

Speaker 1 (48:41):
Absolutely, and I love Miss Testmoker taking her selfies well
on the mayhem.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
That was a that was a great sort of plot
point in the story.

Speaker 1 (48:51):
At Jimmy and Jimmy getting lucky with Miss Testmoker. It's like,
all right, I forget web Toat's or whatever the hell
he called her or whatever it is, creepy uh uh
uh name for her on his cell phone when she
calls and stuff. You know, that was again very funny,
great action, and yeah, I really loved it. Did you
see as a Fantastic Four writer, would you think of that? Ff?

Speaker 2 (49:11):
Yeah, it was good. I U got a I actually
I was there with Mark Wade because we both at
the Fantastic Four premiere because we both had a special
thanks credit in the movie. Although I watching the movie,
you know, kind of damned if I could tell you
what they actually took form my comic. But I was
really happy to be thanked and to be there. It

(49:32):
was a great experience and it was a good movie too.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
Did you meet any of the cast or the directors
or anybody.

Speaker 2 (49:38):
No, I saw. I admired them a form afar. You know,
it was in the.

Speaker 1 (49:44):
Yeah, you're in the Peanut Gallery exactly in the same room. Yes, yeah,
been there, done that absolutely. Man, that's all right, thank
you James. James remembers, of course, that this text smucker's
nickname was Mutant's fantastic. Well that's sorry, two stuff pretty
I I wouldn't stop dating her for her toes. I
gotta be honest with you. So no, that was that
was a fantastic turn. Yeah. I liked it too. Did

(50:06):
you like Thunderbolts?

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Yeah, yeah, I did like Thunderbolts. It was I like
the fact that they sort of got our way from
the interminable final conflict scene, which I always think, this
is what kills a superhero movie for me, when it's
got like a thirty minute climax scene with all kinds
of flying CGI shrapnel. That's when I started looking at
my watch.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
Me too, man, and in fact my friends that are
in the writer's room of film and television. That's exactly
what I'm like, Hey, listen, just my opinion, you got
to come up with a more creative Act three and
then again climax climactic fight scene other than giant CGI
thing and you know again, yeah, because and I get it.
To a degree. But I also think it's like, you

(50:49):
got to be more clever than that. And that's why
we've we thankfully, you know, almost twenty years since Iron Man,
but certainly twenty five and twenty six years since first
Sam Raimi Spider Man and the X Men movie and stuff.
When you consider this modern age of superhero movies and TV, yeah,
I just think, you know, and that's why I appreciate
it in the Superman movie that they didn't do the

(51:12):
origin again, and it's like, no, we know that, especially
a character like Superman. But it's like it's kind of evolve.
It's time to get beyond right.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
If it is going to be to maintain interest, especially
when it's been as popular for as long as superheroes,
it's got to figure out. It's got to stay a
little bit ahead of its audience. It's got to figure
out what the audience has already seen a thousand times,
what they're starting to check out on and change. It's
got to evolve. If it doesn't, then it's just gonna,
you know, disappear. It's going to slowly disintegrate.

Speaker 1 (51:41):
I hear you, man, When aren't we covering? Is there
any Is there anything are prose writing? Are you Are
you going to get back to any short story or.

Speaker 2 (51:49):
I did a book about the brothers grim fairy Tales
called Grim and Grimmer, which I rewrote fourteen some famous,
some really obscure brothers grim fairy Tales. You don't have
any plans for another prose book yet, but I had
a good time writing that, and I do have about
two hundred and seventy pages of a novel I started

(52:09):
writing a long time ago that I put in the drawer.
I would like to maybe someday when I am unemployed
or retired or whatever, I'll dust that often when you're
write again. But no plans to write a prose book
for now.

Speaker 1 (52:25):
How do you see, because I was talking about this
with Greg Rucca last night too, how do you see
the book market from an author's standpoint compared to the
comics market from a writer standpoint?

Speaker 2 (52:36):
They're both pretty grim, But yeah, they're both sort of
I think suffered from the same disease, which is that
nobody really knows how to sell these things anymore, and
so the publishers act like an insect laying a thousand
eggs as opposed to a mammal. You know, giving birth
to a few kids and then taking care of them,

(52:57):
and so you have to hope for great luck. As
one of the eggs, you have to hope not to
get eaten by a stork or whatever, because that's the
fate of most books.

Speaker 1 (53:09):
Yeah, I hear you, man, and I and again I
I that's why so many people are self publishing and
crowdfunding and things like that.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
It makes a ton of sense why people are doing
kickstarter self publishing or you know, the Kindle route because
the publishers don't really seem to I'm not blaming them.
I'm just it's like it's like a confusing time in
the market. Yes, there's the it feels like nobody really
knows how to sell a book that's not going to

(53:39):
sell itself.

Speaker 1 (53:40):
No, and there's very few like Brew Baker and Sean
Phillips doing criminal that they established at d C and
and everything, and well, actually I guess Wildstorm with with
their sleeper and everything. But you know, they built the
brand then an image, and then you know during COVID
when everybody was nervous and stuff, they're cranking out their

(54:03):
original graphic novels and again made enough of a brand
of themselves. Would you say you're a better known commodity
now as a and do you have a community as
a comic writer rather than an author?

Speaker 2 (54:15):
Yeah, definitely. I think I'm definitely better known as a
comic writer than as an author. And uh, and I'm
really grateful for everybody who uh asked me to be
asked for me to be added to their pull lists
when my new titles come out, because a lot of
the titles I write sound like really bad ideas. They
sound like, this is no one's gonna want to buy.

Speaker 1 (54:34):
Oh you want to.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
Write a comic about a silent film comedian. Oh yeah,
that'll tear up that'll tear up the sales charts. Dude,
good good for you. You know. So a lot of
the ideas I did just sound like publishers to just
be garbage sales wise, because they probably are. But uh,
but the fact that there's like a lot of people
who will just sort of like put it in their
pullbox and trust me on faith means that it will

(54:57):
probably get published anyway, that somebody will take a cance
on it regardless.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
Mark, I will very quickly pop out and pop back
in because I've been having weird problems with stream yard,
and halfway through your answer, I lost my audio. So
everybody hold tight and I'll be right back. We'll let
James ask this question, and as Mark answers that I
will come back. James wants to know. Have we seen

(55:23):
James Gunn Super Rain Wilson Superhero movie? Yes, with Elliott Page.
I will be right back, but feel free to answer
the question.

Speaker 2 (55:30):
Mark, I have not. I've heard people talk about it,
but I haven't seen it yet, so I guess I
should probably make up a longer answer until he gets back.
But you know, James Gunn did direct this movie that
I really liked that was before any of it. I
think one of the first movies that he ever directed
was about this office building that gets are you back?

(55:54):
But I was just telling him about how this James
gun movie that I did like because I didn't see
the Rain Wilson one. But it's about this office building
where they decide to you know, it's like they're doing
doing some project there and they decide that they got
to like kill everybody in the office building because the
top secret you know, the nature of the top secret
project they're working on. The project's been canceled. So they
can't let anyone out of the building alive, so then

(56:16):
every the people inside the office building then have to
like arm themselves and fight against the other people in
the office building. It was really good. I forget what
it was called.

Speaker 1 (56:25):
I'm not sure I did see super and it's fun.
And I'm a Rain Wilson fan. Infect Rain and I
went to high school together. We were in a couple
of plays together back in the day, and I appreciated
Elliott Page's work prior to them transitioning. But yeah, I
know supers a super is a lot of fun. So yeah,

(56:46):
I liked it. And I will rewind and get Mark's
story about the movie he was describing that I don't remember,
but at least coming in mid conversation. That's great, man,
I'm trying to think of this. If there's anything else
we haven't come that you want to promote or discuss.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
I think we've gone over just everything that I have
announced in a couple of things that haven't been so
thank you.

Speaker 1 (57:09):
Well, we're all anticipating beyond issue one of Race RECs.
We'll look forward to issue too. Here's the cover for
issue to everybody, So that's cool. And again, Race x
now on the stands from Bad Cave, a great adjacent
title to speed Racer. So that's cool, Oh, James says,

(57:31):
another question, let's ask that question. He wants to know.
Is there a story behind the trademark mark Russell Crazy Eyes.
I feel I can always pick out one of your
books based on the art.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
I didn't know that I had a trademark crazy Eyes,
but I you know, I think maybe they they want
to like give some clue to the psychology of the
character and the characters I write to to be a
little gonzo. Maybe that's it.

Speaker 1 (58:01):
James thinks he knows the movie you were describing, which
is the Belco Experiment.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
That sounds right. I'm going to go with that.

Speaker 1 (58:09):
And while we're talking, and again I think of a
lot of your sci fi books, and like your Robot
book as well. I was talking about this movie with
Rucca last night from nineteen seventy Colossus, the Forben Project.
Are you aware of that one?

Speaker 2 (58:22):
Good?

Speaker 1 (58:23):
It's about AI And again it was made in nineteen seventy,
so this is of course the era when computers took
up you know, walls of space and you know, had
the realtoril machines, on them and stuff, all that stuff,
but essentially that an AI is created to take care
of some of the world's problems and it takes over

(58:44):
the world and it doesn't have a happy ending.

Speaker 2 (58:46):
Let's just leave it at that, imagine.

Speaker 1 (58:49):
But it's a great movie. It's neat and you know,
I guess I'm not a fan of piracy, but I
did find it on the Internet archive, I have to admit,
So if you want to take a chance on it,
it is sitting up there. Everybody Losses before, been project
on my list, fifty five year old movie. Everybody there
you go. So Mark honestly as always happy to talk
to you and really happy to promote the products again

(59:12):
Racer X and we've got Vanishing Point. It's already started, right, Yeah, yeah,
we're already on issue or four is four just came out?
Oh beautiful man? All right, So they're from Mad Cave
Vanishing Point.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
But like me, you can read them in any order.

Speaker 1 (59:29):
Sci fi atology. Yeah, one one story, one issue and
four issues to choose from. So that's great. And eventually
from from Mark and the Allreds, we'll get the third
book and the Age series of Trinity books, and that's
wonder Woman Golden Age. So very exciting, dude, And as always,
I'm thrilled by your projects. I love your sense of

(59:51):
humor and I love when you do serious stories as well.
So keep up the great work.

Speaker 2 (59:56):
Great.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
Thank you so much, John, It's always a pleasure, and
thank you everybody for watching and listening.

Speaker 2 (01:00:01):
Thanks.

Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
When I come back tomorrow night around this time, Sterling
Gates will join us. Because Sterling wrote the Supergirl New
Krypton stuff back in the aughts, pre twenty ten, and
that's when Candor was expanded and given its own planet,
and we found out that Supergirl's mom was in agreement

(01:00:23):
with General Zod, and maybe the stories that Supergirl and
kl Al got were kind of not the real truth.
At least that's what a Laura thought. Thought kind of
put a little division in the Supergirl family. But Sterling
was the writer, Jamal Eigel was the artist. We'll be
discussing that and a new science fiction movie that Sterling wrote.
So all that and more coming tomorrow on We're Balloon Live.

(01:00:45):
I hope you'll join me then. Until next time, everybody,
stay safe, stay happy, stay healthy.