Interview with Dane and Jake on Podcasting

Hey, this is Steve blue and you are listening

to the geek cast radio network You're listening

to cast radio network Punisher. We really appreciate

this. We're nothing but white blood cells. Hunting

the infection called crime. A sickness that sneaks

in through the cracks. The way that Brussels

sprouts sneak onto a plate of delicious macaroni

and cheese. Sure, the city looks safe. Just push

the Brussels sprouts to one side, right? Raw,

no matter where you put them, their vile vegetable

juices corrupt the whole plate. I'm out here

to keep those stinking sprouts off the mac and

cheese. Keep them from leaving the store in the

first place. So this episode of GeekCast Radio

is being recorded live in the back alley of a

Dollar General store as Linda Flynn Fletcher

would say on Phineas and Furby, it's grody back

here. I am your host Dave Joe and Mike and we

are continuing on with the syndication nation

spotlight and this time around we have The Punisher

body count guys Dane and Jake. Hello guys. How

are you? How's it going Mike? Hey Mike. It's

it's going it's going all right, so We've talked

with the GI Joe guys. We've talked with the star

Joe's guys who they're more so all about all

the eighties properties. And now we talked to

two guys who started a podcast about one character

and have managed to go over you guys to 200 yet

or over 200. What are you talking about? Episodes?

People? Yeah. No, I'm not asking your age. No,

we all know Jake is a thousand years old anyway.

This is true. No, we're only at episode 65. Yeah,

I mean really technically it's a little bit more

because we had like these joke episodes like

episode zero to test An episode point one or

point five to make fun of like how Marvel remembers

things But technically yeah, not more than 60.

We're still in the mid to late 60s. Really? That's

it. Yeah, we'll see One of my favorite eras eras

of comic books are is what I like to call the

chromium age which is the stuff that took place

in the late 80s early 90s and one of the things

we like to do on the show is make fun of The

weird things that comic book companies do so

we put out an issue point five because I don't

know, companies do that for some reason. And

then when Marvel tried to do their point one

episode issues, we did a point one episode. And

then we re -released our test episode as an episode

zero. So yeah, we like to do weird shit like

that on our show. One of these days, we're going

to do a chromium cover episode. Oh, that'd be

great. Yeah, I don't know how we're going to

do that, but it's coming. There'll be a holographic

sponsor card. Inside Interesting yeah interesting

Alright, so what made you guys want to do a podcast

in general? not just we'll get to why you picked

Frank Castle later, but what made each of you

want to Become podcasters day and you can go

first that's interesting cuz like I was thinking

about this a few days ago of how well I even

knew or understood podcasts before Jake brought

it up to me. It's kind of fuzzy to me. I knew

podcasts certainly existed, but I don't think

I listened to many of them until Jake said we

should start a podcast. and he explained it's

like an internet radio show and we can like as

soon as he said that said oh he's going to talk

about x -men because him and his wife emily have

like practically every x -men up to a certain

point right we actually have every x -men comic

up to the reboot or whatever the uh whenever

they renumbered so yeah we have we have a full

run of Know whatever x -men you want to call

the one that they did in the 90s. We've got all

of that We have all of the original uncanny so

from 1963 up until what 2011 or 2012? Yeah, I

mean and so with that kind of collection I thought

oh, it'd be about x -men, but Jake said no like

there's already a podcast called uncanny X cast

Let's not step on their toes, but basically I

was going back home because Grad school was wrapping

up for me and my sister was getting married Yeah,

what people might understand was me and Dane

were living in Indianapolis at the time Oh, yeah,

and then and then he's moving back to Pennsylvania

around the time I pitched the podcast to him.

Yeah, and it's and we both Realized like man

work. I'm really gonna miss you, dude, like I'd

go over to Jake's house and he'd invite me to

dinner. I went to Thanksgiving with Emily's family

when I couldn't make it to my own family's Thanksgiving.

Emily's my wife. Yeah. And I realized, I'm really

going to miss you people. And you know how it

is, you try and keep in touch, make phone calls,

friend them on Facebook, but people get distant.

And Jake realized like... Gotta think up like

a project or something to keep us together or

like I think that was your thinking right Jake

Well, yeah, I want to put words in your mouth

I think I should have let off on this question

since the gas was ultimately my idea. It absolutely

was yeah Yeah, actually this is gonna sound stupid

and shallow and I think people will take me less

seriously after I say this but I was listening

to the Uncanny X cast and a few other podcasts

and I was amazed at like how these people were

really involved in the comic book world discussions.

Like they got to talk to creators, people actually

cared about their opinions on things. And I'm

like, Hey, I'm people too. Why don't people care

about my opinion on comics? So I was like, I

need to start a podcast. But here's the thing

like a lot of our show is pretty much stolen

from the uncanny X cast. The general format is

in a lot of the things that we do. And one of

the things that Rob on the uncanny X cast says

is you can't just do a general comic books podcast

anymore because so everyone has one pretty much.

So you really want to be in a niche somewhere

and I knew that I wanted to do a podcast with

Dane, A, because he was moving away and I thought

that would be a good way for us to stay in touch,

which was also stolen from the Uncanny X cast.

That's the reason why they did it. You have to

understand something about hanging out with Dane.

He's very quick witted. He has this uncanny ability

to come up with an obscure reference. that's

obscure to where only nerds will get it. But

if you are a nerd, you're going to get it immediately

and laugh. He's got a good comedic misdirection.

And I just knew that me and him had a good chemistry.

We could talk for hours. And I knew he'd be the

perfect person to podcast with. So now all we

have to do is find a niche somewhere. And 90

% of the conversations we had were about The

Punisher. So it was just like, hey, let's do

Punisher. And then everything kind of snowballed

from there. That's what she said. She said nothing

of the sort. No, as soon as Jake said that, all

I can think of is, no, Sylvan didn't snowball

him. I snowballed him, clerks. Yeah, no, I get

it. That was very clever. Yeah, that was tough.

All right. So, like, yeah, you're right. There

are a million different general comic podcasts

out there. But the only general podcast I listen

to is The Bull Bag. Thank you. Yeah. Your show

is surprisingly listenable when it really has

like, we're just going to talk about what we

feel like talking about. Unless you're a talented

comedian, that's podcast kryptonite to me because

I just go like... I'm sorry, dude. I didn't want

to cut you off there No there. Well, there there

is a plan. It's the the pull bag is not grab

bag at all There is a complete plan Whereas it

also 11 o 'clock comics is a complete grab bag

well, if you've ever the show no, I I didn't

The pullback is evolved as my comic tastes have

evolved or I should say as certain comic companies

have pissed me off With what they're doing with

their storylines And I've gravitated towards

other things like the majority of the pullback

now in the middle of the second year of the podcast

is um a lot of franchise stuff you know a lot

of IDW books and stuff like that because Even

DC. I am just I used to be a huge DC fanboy I

was until they killed Nightwing, right? Yeah,

pretty much Even though they brought him back

as the new Nick Fury the DC universe still it's

not the same So are you saying the pull bag has

become the IDW bag? No Because snow sometimes

we throw in some dynamite sometimes an image

we can't we mix it up Image is coming actually

because Kyle Higgins who wrote Nightwing is doing

his creator creator own series cowl about What

if superheroes hit a labor union in 1960 Chicago?

You see that's how you do it. You're right superhero

comics You go do your own thing and then you

go back to that DC Marvel teat when you need

to eat It's a it's a cruel cycle. Well, he's

still he's still working at DC. That's the Batman

Beyond thing. So that's right But yeah, no, I

mean, I've heard of a lot of Batman podcasts.

I've heard of a lot of Spider -Man podcasts.

I've heard a lot of them, you know, X -Men podcasts,

but Punisher? That's right. To steal a line from

them is really yeah, man. I mean, I mean it's

not I I have nothing against character I absolutely

even though some of the episodes in the 90s were

really really bad. I loved his appearance and

in the spider -man cartoon In my personal opinion

2004 is the best movie the other two can go fall

off a cliff So I was you know when I I forget

how you guys did you guys apply to the network?

How did we yeah, okay? Once again if there's

any new idea or bold direction you can just assume

it was spearheaded by Jake I think the most innovative

thing I've done on this show beyond like what

Jake says like he can say what he thinks sometimes

when he doesn't fuck up names, but Like the biggest

thing I've contributed to the show is like bits

Like I can I can use a voice changer and then

make things funny a little like that's it But

yeah, so go ahead Jake. Like what what exactly

Jake? Here's one thing I I want to know like

what made you notice the key cast radio network

What made you want to sign up to it? Like because

you just said I want to do this and I said, okay

sounds cool Well, Mike will be happy to hear

this because it's his his advertising is working.

I listened to Star Joe's. I really like Chuck

and Ryan and now Robert Atkins. Robert Atkins

is one of my favorite artists out there. Great

guy. So yeah, I listened to Star Joe's and you

know, I would hear the ads from Geetcast and

I was like, okay, they play ads on their shows

and I really want to expand what we're doing

here. So let me see if I, I thought everyone

just paid for advertisement on, uh, star Joe.

So I contacted, I was like, Hey, uh, can I buy

ad space on your show? And they're like, Oh yeah,

absolutely. You know, here's our rates. Uh, the

geek cast guys, you know, they get, uh, it's

a quid pro quo deal for being part of the network.

I was like, Hmm, let me see if I can join the

network. Uh, you see, that's the pragmatic Jake

I know of. Yeah, it's one of those things where

I view podcasting as something anyone can do,

but you do have to have, you know, once you start,

you have to grow your, your, your, your knack

for doing it. You're your talent and you have

to learn. I mean, I've been podcasting for six

years now and I would not be where I am unless

I've made all the mistakes that I've made in

the past six years. Um, but podcasting to me

is It's just friends talking about what they

like it's not like Even though 90 % of my day

is working for stuff on geek cast radio comm

and getting podcasts ready cuz I'm a voice on

I'd say probably 65 % of the shows we do it's

one of those things where Because in my own personal

life, I have disabilities and limitations, so

a real job is not an option. I can't go to Walmart,

stand up eight hours a day, because I actually

tried that back in 2002, and I nearly fell down

walking home. But anyway. Wow, Mike, I didn't

know this about you, dude. Yeah. So I basically

have every single hour of the day available to

me to do pretty much whatever I want. Um, and

at the time in 2008, I'm like, Hmm, I've been

listening to podcasts for a while and I'm like,

Hmm, I can do this for a while. And one of the

best things that, that, uh, one of the podcasters

I was listening to best of pieces of advice he

gave me was just, if you're going to do a podcast

and make sure it's something you really, really

are passionate about, whether it's, you know,

if you're really excited about it or whether

you want to tear it to shreds. And it was one

of those things, okay, and at the time, I had

a live -in resident job. It's basically an apartment

manager. I mean, I worked probably four hours

a day. And I got a stipend every two weeks. It's

one of those things where that started, and I've

been going ever since now. I mean, I can get

up in the morning, work nine hours on, you know.

10, 15 different podcasts, or I can work on one

podcast that has five or six episodes already

recorded, get that edited, and be done with it.

So for me, it's one of those things. Podcasting

to me is everyday people. There are some that,

you know, do stuff like, I wouldn't say Kickstarter,

they do stuff like Patreon and GoFundMe and stuff

like that, and that's all well and fine. For

me, podcasting - That is not all well and fine,

but we can get into that in a minute. Oh yeah,

I think - Well, okay, I have an opinion about

that too. In one minute. Here's the thing. What

I've learned is that in - Six years of me podcasting

five of those years the GCR and it's been online.

This is our fifth year There are costs and Because

I live on a strict, you know a fixed income You

know, I buy budget my money well ever, you know

from from month to month But at the same time

it's like usually at the you know middle of the

month I'm you know bills have taken up 90 % of

it So, you know, I've upgraded my equipment and

everything else And it's one of those things

where, at this point, I've gotten a fan base

enough for the network and for myself that if

I need help, I can ask. And if people step up,

that's fine. But I'm not gonna sit here and say,

oh, well, I did this two and a half hour podcast,

you should pay me 99 cents. I'm no way in hell

I would ever say that, because... To me, podcasting

- Now we are on the same page with that. I have

bought some podcast episodes on iTunes. Okay,

like, for me - Then you are a Rube. Wait, wait,

wait, Rube, you've bought - Oh, I'm a Rube. No,

like, see, I have very different feelings about

paying for types of content or paying a content

creator. It depends on what it is. Like, there's

some people out there that - Okay, the only example

I can think of is Kevin Smith. He does his podcast

with ads that is free. And then he'll say, okay,

well, if you want ad free, you can pay for this

if you want ad free. Honestly, to me, it doesn't

matter where the ads are on a show. I don't know.

I discovered listening to podcasts in 2006, 2007.

I'm like, oh, free stuff. That's good. Yeah,

first off Jake and I I think we can both agree.

We don't necessarily mind ads in In podcasts,

I mean we even adds at all No because in fact

on many podcast apps on Android and iPhone like

for instance I have an app called downcast and

they actually have skip buttons go forward 30

seconds or even forward two minutes Because some

people just put them right in the center of the

show Sometimes they front load them every podcaster

has a system for that. I never um I never get,

this is a strong word, but I never get offended

by a podcaster trying to make money. But I guess

the only time I do take offense is when it's

something, it's something they have fake enthusiasm

about. Because the thing is, once you have a

fake enthusiasm on your podcast, that kills its

soul and it will eventually creep in to how other

people feel about the podcast itself. True Jake

thoughts Yeah, I just really don't like podcasters

who are begging their listeners for money essentially

I don't want to call any podcasts out by name,

but but they'll say oh this shows only made possible

because of member contributions and you should

join our membership plan and oh we're gonna give

you 15 bonus minutes of material and blah blah

blah and I'm like Get out and get a **** job,

dude. Like, I, okay, this is gonna have a lot

of parallels to the art community, okay? And

maybe, maybe I have my own head up my **** and

people are free to disagree. Address your email

to Jacob at PunishYourBodyAccount at gmail .com.

But I'm not gonna pay you to podcast, okay? Podcast

is something you do because you love it and you

wanna have your voice heard by the community.

and you wanna hang out with friends and talk

and shoot the breeze or do whatever. That's what

podcasting is for. Podcasting isn't for you to

get a back door into being a radio DJ, in my

opinion, which is what a lot of people seem to

wanna do. And there's one podcaster in particular

that I listen to a lot that, I don't know, he

does all of his... He gets his full income from

selling his shows or through memberships. And

I think that that's shitty, in my opinion. You

hit the nail on the head, Jake. For me, personally,

I'm going to podcast whether people listen or

not. I do it for myself. I do it because I have

the art. No, I don't do it for the art. It depends

on what decade the arts in when it comes to comics.

Anyway, it's one of those things where um really

it's more so like I said before I wanted to get

you know I wanted to see if I could take a crack

at this and I've always wanted to be in radio

I mean ever since I was a kid I loved listening

to morning radio DJs and everything else I'm

like oh that would be a cool job and yes I know

they don't get paid crap but it's just one of

those things where this allows me to do whatever

the fuck I want to Thankfully, the FCC has no

control over podcasting. Because that was one

of the things I told Steve Megatron when we started

GCRN. I said, look, dude, I usually have to censor

myself in real life because I'm around a whole

bunch of people that don't really get me saying

a whole bunch of curse words. And it's one of

those things where I am podcasting for people

like us, people our age, people who You know

have the same interests as us. I'm not podcasting

for children. So all of them all of the Network

podcasts at this point after five years have

always been tagged explicit. I do know that at

some point Steve Wanted to start a parenting

podcast that that you know, that's fine. That's

you know that obviously that doesn't need an

explicit tag, but it's one of those things where

I love to fucking curse sometimes and there are

just so many fucking things that just piss me

off that I'm like oh okay I can do all this and

say all this now and I like I said I love the

whole process I love the recording the editing

even though I get backlogged sometimes I still

love sitting down in front of my editing software

and Ooh, what kind of cool clip can I throw in

here or here or where should I place this at?

Usually most of the podcasts I edit the ads are

at the end of the show There might be something

like when we did our five -year anniversary contest

thing I put that at the beginning of the show

to let people know that there was a contest going

on But but yeah, I mean I podcast for me honestly,

okay. Well Let me just say this about Because

I really do disagree with Jake and I did and

I disagree with the notion that with like People

that podcast or create comics or make music or

create content in general on the internet Like

they're doing something bad when setting up a

patreon account or something because here's what

happened Here's two main trends that have happened

really in less than ten years one The internet

and technology itself has made the creation of

content and the retrieval of said content Really

easy and available. That's wonderful. Another

thing that's been happening is that people have

shown up like on a financial trend on economically

they're more willing to There will always be

a group that will spend 60 bucks for a video

game And maybe someone out there will pay like

30 bucks for a criteria on blu -ray but most

people these days are more willing for entertainment

purposes to throw like 99 cents at an app or

a couple bucks to subscribe to something they

like like eight bucks for Netflix They're more

willing to donate money for a digital smile essentially

something that entertains them What I like about

Patreon is that if you're a nobody and you set

up a Patreon account, you're gonna stay a nobody.

If you create a Kickstarter to make a really

cool RPG with RPG Maker using sprites you didn't

make, well then you're a talentless 14 -year

-old and no one's gonna donate except maybe your

mom. But what these systems are in place for

are for passionate people. That would like to

create more content, but they had to do a double

shift at Kmart And so they couldn't create that

extra piece of content for people allowing people

to fans that have been listed The most successful

people on patreon or donations or kickstarter

whatever or indiegogo whatever system they use

They are successful because they have been Podcasting

for years because they love it and now they'd

like their fans to see like if you'd like me

to create more Let's work together on this. That's

the system I see in place and I can tell you

like I've contributed to certain people on these

things simply because like Want to see more work

from them and it's not a sin to do that to ask

for that Jake it doesn't make them less passionate

That's my only thing every like we're laying

back owner get a job. They do have jobs They'd

still like to get some income True, I don't know

like you make some good points, but I guess at

the end of the day. I'm just not buying it It's

okay. It's okay to not like behind it. It's okay

not to follow that what they're doing. That's

not that's fine. It's just the the idea of someone

like they're rubbing you somehow by asking you

cuz there's like there's there's one particular

podcast I listen to where if you get the quote

unquote premium content, you're just getting

like 15 extra minutes of bullshit, right? They

were going to record that extra 15 minutes no

matter what. They didn't have to do a double

shift at Kmart to create that content, right?

So that's bullshit that they're asking money

for that, in my opinion. Whereas there's a certain

other podcast that me and you listen to, Dane,

and if they could produce more content... By

getting the money, maybe I can see it. I'm personally

not going to donate, but certainly if you're

if you're truly getting more out of it, then

maybe it's worth it. I don't know. But most podcasts,

generally speaking, they were going to do it

whether you donated money or not. So, oh, yes,

absolutely. Yeah. And those people are the jerk

offs. Thanks Jake because I guess I fall into

that category um it's one of those things for

me I would podcast anyway, and I've said this

many times in the past six years that I've podcasted

I'm glad I don't get a Paycheck like an actual

job for doing this because I enjoy what I do

now if people want to Send me stuff for review

or whatever. If people want to contribute money,

it's going to go back into the website. And all

podcasts do this. Most of them. I think we're

talking about two different things. I mean, I

don't hear you on the pullback going, oh, this

is a great show. It's only possible by Geek cast

contributions and go ahead and send me money

and you can get this extra five minutes of bonus

I don't hear you do that. So you're not Wow.

Yeah, there's a podcast right there It's like

five minutes of me telling you my feelings about

Batman out there. There's there's a guy Somewhere

and he's got a pet unicorn like the thing is

most podcasters these days They they have that

they have those donations. So you here's the

thing like if you buy an app like a free app.

It's like, let's say the free to play games that

I've played. They're often really broken games.

It's like, here's a free dog. By the way, three

of its legs are missing, but it's still a dog.

Don't bitch. But if you give us 20 bucks, we'll

give you two legs for two days. Have fun. 50

bucks. You get the gold dog. But we don't get

that with podcasts, podcasts. And a lot of people,

like I say, working in web comics, they're sending

out a standard You're not missing one thing.

I love about the way technology is set up now.

We're still getting the steady supply We're not

getting a jipped deal like the free -to -play

apps We're getting for the most part like a regular

amount of content, but if you'd like more If

you'd like some bonus content, have at it. That's

my favorite kind of DLC. I've started getting

back into video games. I see how sneaky they

can get with certain shit. Yes, they can. Yeah.

Video games eat you alive. Absolutely. But sometimes

it's like, hey, we've unleashed an entire continent

for you to explore for five bucks. And I see,

wow, that took some people some time to make.

I'll send you five bucks to explore that land.

That's fine. To like hey, we'll give you a flame

effect on your sword for two bucks fuck you That

is something someone made in an afternoon like

that's not okay But I don't see the flame effect

in people asking for the most part I'm sure there's

some people showing like Jake said like the problem

that Jake and I was getting to is that We build

up these straw men in our heads and then then

it's like well you disprove mine first asshole

And then we make a dick joke and then we continue

on with the show 37 in a row Oh, it's much more

than that on our show Yeah, I know What has been

the best and worst thing about having a Punisher

podcast? Jake Jake Well, I think the best thing

has been the creator interviews Getting a chance

to talk with Greg Rucka Tom Jane Mike Baron.

That's been, I don't know, that's been more than

I ever thought was possible. You know, even though

we did a punish this site engineer, you had kind

of asked like, why did we choose the Punisher?

I mean, it was something that me and Dane really

liked and we had a mutual interest in. But also,

it was going to sustain a podcast, right? The

Punisher's a flagship character, or he's an A

-list character, so he's going to have at least

one series at any one time, so the new issues

were going to be there. He had tons of back issues

to discuss. He's going to pop up in pop culture,

right? Yeah, he's going to be on the bumper sticker

of someone's pickup truck or a Marine's tattoo.

Or some troubled 14 year old teenagers t -shirt

So which I owned three. Yeah So yeah, I mean

getting to interact with this character and it's

also bonus that no one else had a podcast about

it So we kind of got into a monopoly situation

there But what's the worst thing about it Thunderbolts

Having to kind of figured you were gonna say

that Well, it may be you can more broadly speaking

having to buy and read stories that are just

utter garbage that I normally would not have

got if it were not for the fact that I had a

Punisher podcast. Mm hmm. It is amazing how Jake

and I have to try and squeeze blood out of stones,

not only when they're bad stories, but when they

are set up for the like Jake and I have mentioned

this before, and I'm sure you've noticed this,

Mike, just the the six issue made for the trade

format. And so you're like, oh, this is just

the issue. Everyone's just going to sit down

and talk and then maybe something will happen

at the end. And that's fine. Like when I'm that's

fine. Decompression for me is a tool. It's like

any other tool it can be fine on its own but

when something's six issues and sometimes writers

just don't have six issues of story and that's

been practically every issue of Thunderbolts

they just can't make this concept fun for maybe

it could have been fun in three maybe not because

there have been times where it says nah this

is just bad and then we have to talk about it

and it's funny because like there is a culture

for online critics like There is a true culture

of just creating hysterics and making comedy.

Look how bad this movie is. Let's make fun of

Birdemic for an hour, and people will do that.

And that gets fun, but then it eventually makes

things a little bit toxic, because Jake and I

quite enjoy talking about good things. That replenishes

your soul after a bit. It surprises me how much

the geek culture Will turn on you if you're overly

negative like Dane said people will be like,

uh -huh That's kind of funny, but then after

too long, they'll be like, do you guys just like

anything? You guys are just jaded, you know,

why don't you stop doing this and Yeah, I feel

we Dane and I always try to have honest discussions

You know if we hate something we hate it and

if we like it we like it and we try to always

give it straight And we try and at least explain

things because one thing is that when you're

podcasting Don't think I mean you certainly have

the right you have the right to say whatever

you want But I think you have something of a

responsibility to go further than like what your

friend would Say about a movie like hey, you

see that Captain America 2. Yeah, you like it

sucked balls Why it just did it just did sue

me like if you're on a podcast you have to explain

What exactly made the ball sucking occur like

what what happened? And that's what I feel that

Jake and I try and do even when we say like this

is really really bad. If you like it, that's

fine. But I'm going to spend the next 15 minutes

talking about why it's bad. And maybe you should

feel a little bad. And that's a lot better than

just making like a making fun of something and

much worse, which we really don't do is making

fun of someone for enjoying something. That's

something that all that always makes me turn

on a reviewer. Like look at the dipshits that

like this thing and I go You know what? We all

have our things. Some of us have like everyone

has their football. Everyone has their dumb obsession

that an objective sense means nothing. And it

should be made fun of. I don't know. I'm sure

there's exceptions. Well, we make fun of Deadpool

fans. That's about it. Yeah, that there are mortal

enemies in a way, even though I have a lot of

Deadpool merchandise and such. I will save my

Deadpool shirt in a separate drawer from the

Punisher shirt And I keep it tucked away under

many ties and I go no one must know no no He's

a closeted Deadpool fan ladies and gentlemen

um Here's the here's the thing I I have never

read Deadpool. It's not that I don't have an

interest in it, but I just I'm not a Marvel guy.

I know the general Marvel stuff. I know X -Men.

I know some Spider -Man. I know some Iron Man.

I know Cap and Wolverine and all this and all

that and everything else. And I know a little

bit about Punisher after the first annual Punisher

month on the pullback last year. It's one of

those things where... I don't know, Deadpool,

I just don't get it. And then I saw that... Teaser

thing that they did for the supposed new film

or the new TV series or wherever it's supposed

to be and I just laughed my ass off Probably

the probably the only Ryan Reynolds thing that

I actually enjoyed Well, generally speaking I

think Deadpool is for like 13 year old boys Because

what is that? What is first of all? What does

a 13 year old boy enjoy doing? He enjoys hacking

video games and makes it to where he can run

around kill everybody No one can do anything

to him And then he just makes wisecracks about

how you suck and he's awesome, right? That was

actually my favorite thing to do with video games

when I was 16. I'm not shitting you. I would

be like, well, nearly got in my head, bashed

it in a locker and had to punch someone in the

ribs to survive today. Man, middle school's fun.

I'm going to kill a thousand things in my video

games today. Where's the god mode code? Oh, my

God. Jake is absolutely right. And now what does

Deadpool do? He is like the god mode guy that

says witty lines and here's the thing there are

Deadpool is a fun character and he actually does

have a certain depth to him which is kind of

sad because Marvel does put put their hat on

Wow, isn't he so lol random? Don't you like him?

But there are plenty of great runs like the machia

run. I'm sure I'm saying isn't it nice to see

a run There's the legendary Joe Kelly run Gail

Simone did a excellent run of the character and

gave him like a nice group of cast members that

still survive to this day. But like Jake said,

just like when there's any group you can point

at and laugh about certain things about them,

like when we point Fonda Deadpool fans, like

we don't go like, ah, what a what a subtle, subtle,

yet powerful run by Joe Kelly. It's all man,

shimmy changas. Am I right? Motherfuckers like.

That just sticks them right in the ribs just

shit like a prison shiv Yeah over the years I've

gone Short podcasts long podcasts back and forth

back and forth some people like long podcasts

some people like short podcasts Do what I find

now with well what I find now with the pullback

Jake you guys mentioned the six -issue trade

and all that stuff what I find now is With the

pull bag doing mostly trade, you know coverage

in trade form now They tend to be anywhere from

an hour and 50 minutes to I think the longest

one We've got to this point is three hours and

30 minutes That's a pretty long podcast yeah,

that's Joe Rogan level right there Is there a

question here or is this a subtle way to make

fun of how long our show is? No No, what I'm

saying is I I find that because of The way I

do the pullback now with trades versus single

issues the coverage and discussion tends to last

longer like the episode we have coming up or

Well, the episode we had that released a little

while ago was like I said three hours 30 minutes

One hour and 44 of that is one trade. The other

hour and 44 of that is basically two trades in

one show. It's just one of those things where

sometimes it can go... it just depends on the

book. The Transformers... so far the Transformers

coverage on the pullback and the TNA's and Ninja

Turtles coverage on the pullback is the longest

coverage at this point. I think I've got over...

in total amongst... Eight episodes in the two

years. I've gotten over 13 hours of transformers

coverage on the pull bag. Yeah Well Here's the

thing about Punisher body count because for those

who may not listen to the show our shows tend

to be anywhere from an hour 45 to about two and

a half hours long And we have a format to the

show We do like a quick little greeting to kind

of get our chemistry set up for the show and

tell some funny stories to loosen up the audience.

Then we do news. We talk about, you know, upcoming

Punisher news, geekdom news in general. Then

we answer fan mail. And then we talk about the

new Punisher comics. We talk about the old Punisher

comics. And then we kind of sneak in our general

pop culture segment at the end, which is our

compromise of focusing just on the Punisher,

but yet doing a little bit extra at the end.

And so we're going to discuss everything we have

until we go through our segments and we make

to get through all of our talking points before

we move on. And Dane can also be a little long

winded. So when it's all said and done, we're

just always at the two hour and some mark. And

I think Yeah, I like podcasts to come out regularly

like I I listen to like the 7 a .m. newscast

on a on NPR that of course that comes out, you

know every day and there's also certain podcasts

that give out like 10 -minute bursts like grammar

girl or financial financial help and they always

give off some quick tips and I like those those

are fun bursts for my 15 -minute commute to work

or whatever but when you're dealing with the

episodic format of comics, we are lucky that

we have a character like the Punisher, where

at least they'll throw us a bone and have a miniseries

or a side series that Punisher shows up in, or

maybe we'll just load on some more comics to

the flashbacks page. But really, we've have rarely

done a show that did not feature a new Punisher

comic unless there's like an interview. movies

that we're reviewing like and so that restricts

often how often the show can come out so we put

up like the quantity of time rather than the

quantity of episodes it's I think it's a fair

trade oh yeah I mean you know as far as when

podcast should release I'm of the mind that once

you set a schedule for the listeners not necessarily

yourselves, but for the listeners. In the first

episode of a podcast, if you tell the listeners,

okay, this show is gonna come out every week

at this time or every week on this day, at some

point during this day, or it's gonna come out

every two weeks or it's gonna come out once a

month or it's gonna come out two days a week

or whatever else, you need to stick to that as

best you can. Yes, sometimes life does happen

and things get in the way and that's all well

and good. but it's one of those things where

to me personally it's you have to live up to

what you set for like if you sit if i sit here

and say okay the pullback is going to come out

once a week and then i record an episode in august

and i don't record another or i don't release

another episode until december then there's something

wrong yeah as long as life does like Say for

example someone dies in my family heaven forbid

that ever happens. Yeah, it has happened in the

past stuff like that You know, it's the best

example. I can think of you know You know sure.

I'm you know Actually for me probably dealing

with a grief like that would probably be to not

necessarily just bottle it up But kind of put

it to the side of my mind and just go ahead and

plow through You know what as many as many podcasts

as I can to kind of get my mind off of it but

Mike I don't like I just want to let you know

I definitely understand that like there was a

family tragedy with my family there was a tragedy

in my family a few years ago and The last the

first time I really felt like free and that I

could be Dane And not like all look at this poor

guy because that's like that's the pity people

give you and that's fine They mean well, but

just being able to do the show And like do jokes

and feel happy again like it really is true people

say like throwing yourself back in your work

You don't want to go overboard, but it can save

you in a way. Oh, absolutely I have always been

super thankful for the podcasts. Um for that

and the people listening Yeah, absolutely. All

right. What has been? Good like, you know Don't

want to be egotistical here, but I actually did

have answers for the best and worst part. Oh

No, it's okay. Sometimes I forget no, it's okay

like especially like that with this conversational

atmosphere like we switch off and that's fine,

but they were they were just Quick things I wanted

to bring up like the best thing for me doing

this podcast has been the fan base like I remember

Jake and I would often get into conversations

when we first started like we are like when you

first start when you're two guys starting a project

you always think big and you'll always go look

and then we sell the t -shirts and then we can

take it on tour it's something when we Didn't

have any listeners, but then when the podcast

grew I think Knew okay. I am talking about the

Punisher, which is a violent antihero vigilante,

and I'm also talking about comics People will

eventually really hate us or there'll be a segment

that just fucking hate you for your opinions

Like forget Republicans versus Democrats like

let's talk to someone who like let's let's know

forget that small potatoes talk to someone that

Likes the dance slot run and also thinks that

the dance slot run of spider -man is Satan incarnate

that you'll see two people willing to rip each

other's faces off Like that's and that's the

mentality I walked into with the Punisher and

we've made mistakes and like Jake said we've

talked about comics We don't like what the people

love but the the thing that has taken me off

guard Like I really was waiting for the other

shoe to drop for someone to hate me and because

I've seen it with other people I've seen it with

bloggers and everything. It never happened with

us. Not really. No, it hasn't happened yet. We

should say. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, obviously

it hasn't happened yet. Like I can't tell them

the future, but every time we say something wrong

or we we bash something that we just really didn't

like the politeness that comes from Punisher

fans and the enthusiasm and they're willing to

contribute to the show. Like. You know what,

I'll get mushy. It's downright heartwarming.

Like, just because it makes me want to do the

show more. If people just constantly said, Dana,

Jake, suck ass, these guys are awful, I'd like

to think I have the kind of skin to plow through

and go, hey, screw you guys, we're doing it anyway,

it's fun. I don't know. Really don't know where

I'd be on episode 65 or there would be one, but

it's the enthusiasm of the people and how Great

and active and how gosh darn nice people are

about a psychotic vigilante on that We all know

and love It's wonderful and even the creators

that we've interviewed have talked about how

great and supportive the fan base is And we only

wish it was a little bit bigger. So like most

series don't tap out around issue 28 or whatever

And let's see here the worst thing honestly is

and I've brought this up the Looking back on

previous episodes, and I'm sure you know what

I mean by that Mike like well work You've done

two years ago. Just makes your just makes your

teeth clench. Oh, man. Why'd I do that? Why didn't

I understand? Why didn't I understand the noise

removal control on audacity back then god damn

it? Don't eat someone recently left an iTunes

review on Tombcast classic which has been retired

for Two or three years now. Yeah They said basically

all as I said was the show would be alright if

they would check the mic levels. Well We were

learning back then. Yeah, but hey, it's on the

internet It's there unless you want to like try

and switch out the files and change history And

I'm sure some people have done that Jake and

I haven't But Jake doesn't mind like you're okay

with like you go. Hey, it's the past right? Well,

it well I get what you're saying with the technical

issues. It does kind of make me Grit my teeth

a little bit, but when I've gone back and listened

to the past episodes I think the key is the content

is good like one of my favorite old episodes

is when we discuss diehard in the big easy Yeah,

which that was this crazy ass Punisher story

where Punisher goes down to New Orleans and fights

a voodoo witch doctor. You broke up there for

a minute. You're breaking up, Jake. No, I hear

him now. I hear both of you. But yeah, he was

fighting the voodoo witch doctor. Yeah, he was

fighting the voodoo witch doctor. The voodoo

witch doctor cut open the chicken, poured the

blood all over Frank and then buried him in a

coffin with the chicken. and that was just a

fun story and we had a ball discussing it and

the mic levels were pretty bad. We were just

using shitty USB mics and even though the sound

quality isn't the greatest, like the discussion

is really good and after a while, you can tune

out the bad audio. Yeah, you can get used to

it and I remember we laughed so hard with that

voodoo man Well, like the mics popped like we

hit a limit because we were screeching so like

like to me that shows that we were having a great

time and so I consider the whatever the mics

pop or whatever that's a That's a badge of honor

for those old shows because we were really when

Jake and I entertain each other that much It's

a good show Dane cringes when new listeners like

oh, I'm going back and listening to the old episodes

No one has really complained. What do you recommend,

guys? Ignore all of them! Ignore all of them

up to like episode 20! Just fucking stop! It's

like, but you actually interviewed Mike Barrett!

Fuck that! That was our first interview! It was

awful! Don't do it! Everyone gets really like

oh, I'm sorry like I actually had to stop doing

that because it made people feel like assholes

for liking the earlier ones and I never Intended

that like this. Well, I liked your earlier stuff

Well you that kind of what does that say about

you if I if I hate it like so I stopped that

because Like people are not as harsh of critics

as you are on yourself often Dane it's kind of

the equivalent of telling people not to watch

Citizen Kane just because it's in black and white

Yeah Exactly. Oh and the like the other the worst

thing honestly about the show like this is just

obviously I said previous episodes, but this

is actually something the previous episodes I'm

kind of glad like you said they're a learning

experience and Jake and I have worked very hard

to improve our audio levels and Just the regular

production of the show but one thing like I just

noticed is the the change of language a little

bit like One thing that make that listening to

shows me made me realize like when I was first

starting out I said wow, I'm a grown -ass man

and I'm calling things I don't like as gay and

I know like other people say like well that has

a different connotation or whatever, but I realized

like I can probably I mean I'm an English teacher.

I can probably step it up a little bit with like

with how I describe things and let's make let's

make no bones about it Jake and I have a podcast

where like we swear like sailors Like both my

like my father's friends have found the show

and think it's hilarious that I have this side

to myself and we talk about sexual stuff, but

Like a lot of people talk about the First Amendment

and freedom of speech and stuff like that, but

I never wanted to create like Show that would

make people feel you know bad or feel out like

outcasts and so like Jake and I I had to say

like One thing I'm really glad is that we kind

of stopped like using stuff like that Like I

think at one point one of us made like a tranny

joke and then we both decided like let's not

do that like let's Not screw with these people

or something and that's the thing like I kind

of cringe listening back to earlier episodes

But I'm glad because I still have a fear someone's

gonna find it So what's gonna find that that

fucking joke that we made or something or some

remark and that's gonna end us or whatever But

we've improved over time. We're still horribly

immature people When it comes to the equipment

and the upgrading yeah, what I've found in five

years of the JCR and being online is Don't ever.

Unless it's like, unless you find it in a radio

station dumpster, do not ever use a headset USB.

That's what we started out with. Oh my God. Yeah.

Thanks for telling us. Actually, no, what's even

worse. Here's a time machine, Mike. Well, it's

one of those things where I found out the hard

way because you have to adjust the headphone

and then you have to adjust the microphone. And

even if, even if you touch even just your index

finger. your thumb to not the microphone itself

but the actual piece of plastic it'll pick it

up unless it's a condenser like I can sit here

and put my hand around my mic and it's fine because

it's a it's a condenser mic and it's I mean unless

I sit here and go flick Jake in the head no one's

gonna hear it yeah the funny thing with a condenser

mic and I notice is when I'm recording if people

are I live in a complex now where there's a lot

of children around and not Parents aren't so

watchful and they'll run around screaming at

the top of their lungs We'll hear it during the

record yet when I go back to edit. I don't hear

any of it It's amazing All the clicking Jake

and I used to do like yeah, let's move on to

the next part of the show It'd be like hair white

right in the mic here Yeah, yeah, actually what's

that is? Well, the uncanny X cast they don't

use condenser mics to the best of my knowledge

They said they just use the shitty USB game mics

So that's what I had us start off with but Dane's

cheap ass. He's like no. No, I got this one that

just plugs in with the regular stereo jack I'll

be fine. I use the same kind of mic. You saw

Bob Barker use on the price But it was even more

plastic and shitty Like I know exactly how I'm

gonna end this episode now, let's play plico.

Let's go It was just like auxiliary cord. Oh

my god, it was bad I It's not because I don't

want to it's not because I don't know how to

use the technology My setup works fine for me

now, especially now that I have these giant can

noise canceling headphones from JVC Everyone

I know says oh you got to get a mixer you got

to get a mixer well number one I don't have room

on my desk for a mixer even though my desk is

six foot by nine foot I just don't have the room,

and I don't have the patience to learn it You

know I've had this microphone since Late 2009

and it hasn't failed me yet if this microphone

ever does die I'll go back and buy the same damn

thing because if this thing has lasted me You

know from 2009 and now obviously if I buy another

one of the same thing It's gonna last me from

whenever to whatever wait so your mic just jack

straight into your computer Mm -hmm, okay Yeah,

it's it's well. It's it's it's USB, but it's

yeah, I get that Yeah, yeah cuz Dana. We have

a small mix. We have the exact same Setup equipment

and we have a small mixer it doesn't have much,

but I'm actually wanting to expand into a mixer,

because we have this fantasy where we actually

do a morning zoo -type episode, and we want to

get a soundboard and all this kind of thing.

Plus, it would make doing our little bits a lot

easier. Man, if you could, is there any way Dane

can send you one of our funny bits? you can tag

it onto the show. Because some of these bits

are hilarious. Dane really knows how to meta

some of these situations. I think one of my favorite

ones is when we think that Frank is going to

die in Thunderbolts, and Dane's just metagaming

it going, no, I'm going to a brand new series,

guys. It's going to be OK. Go to a better place.

You mean heaven fuck no out of this series and

into my own. It's gonna be great And then he

turns it into like a giant Seinfeld thing at

the very end Having a soundboard would make doing

things like that so much easier Yeah with with

the call recording software that I bought the

license for X number of years ago. It used to

have a rich mood or a Used to have a built -in

soundboard, but the stupid thing it only allows

you to use wav files now I have nothing against

wav files, but mp3 is much better Mp3 all the

way you go you go mono you go mp3 you condense

that to 96k motherfucker. That's the way to do

it Alright, we ain't making a Skrillex album

here. We just talk about comics Okay, so we're

gonna go to a quick clip from Punisher Body Count,

and we're also going to include a quick clip

from the show that we haven't talked about this

entire hour, which is the fact that Jake's wife

actually made Jake and Dane get classy. We'll

be back after this. If so, join me, Emily Williams,

as I class up the Punisher Guys on Dane and Jake

at Classy, or like the Oprah Book Club of comics.

You'll hear us discuss famous works like The

Dark Knight Returns and The Grove, along with

graphic novels no one else is talking about,

like Blue Monday and Blankets. You can find us

at daneandjakeatclassy .wordpress .com or on

iTunes. Guys, I don't think I'm gonna make it

through this one. What tipped you off, genius?

The internal bleeding or the fact that you can

see your own intestines? You're right, leader.

But before I go, there's something I need to

tell you. And what would that be? Come a little

closer. Alright, but I don't see why I should

- Jesus Christ, Frank, you cared him again? I

can't believe you did that! I can't believe he

did that with two broken arms. Radical! Isn't

there any way we can save Frank, guys? No, don't.

It's okay. Just let me go. I'm going to a better

place. You mean heaven? No, even better. My own

series. We're three issues in, and it's by a

pretty solid creative team. I'm sorry, Elektra.

You probably don't know what I'm talking about

right now. Go fuck yourself, Frank. Hey man,

you wanna see this sweet ass feather before you

go? Frank, my magic angel feather fixed ya! It's

a miracle! Now you can go on even more adventures

with us! Yay! God damn it! Chimichangas! All

right, so there you go, folks. There's a sample

of Dane's witty editing skills. And of course,

Dane and Jake get classy. Go check that show

out. Go check out Punisher Body Count. Where

can they get this content, guys? Well, our main

show can be found at PunisherBodyCount .com.

That's all one word. You don't need the www.

You can find it there. You can also find us on

iTunes. If you just go to the Google machines

and type Punisher podcast, we're the top result.

We're also on Stitcher. And then our side podcast

that we didn't get a chance to talk about, Dane

and Jake Get Classy, where we look at either

classical graphic novel works, up and coming

independent works, or just... Don't know something

that just no one else or talking about or a dark

night returns or dark night returns The classic

that falls under the classic. Yeah, like we always

go like, oh we go into the more classic independent

stuff And then we go and Batman but Dark Knight

Rises. No, we didn't do that one. That was a

movie Yeah, but that one can be found at Dane

and Jake get classy one word dot wordpress .com

or on iTunes That one's not on Stitcher or GeekCast.

No, we're not. It's still a babby podcast. It's

still a little babby. Yes. You can also head

on over to GeekCasterHero .com to check out Punisher

Body Count under the Syndication Nation banner.

Coming up next, I believe we are going to jump

into the Hooniverse with Mark 42's Hooniverse

after that. I'm not sure. I think it's Geek Scholars,

Movie News. and other stuff. You can check out

Punish Your Body Count on Facebook. You can also

get us on Facebook, Geekcast Radio Network. I

think that's gonna do it. You guys have anything

else before we leave? No. Friend us on MySpace.

You might get our top eight. We stay in touch.

Like, fuck Instagram. MySpace is coming back.

Instagram is just Twitter for people who can't

read. Oh my God! And we will catch you next time

for the regular Yeah, here it is man phone in

for my check out the merchant I don't know what

you're into but Amazing Spider -Man number 129

mint condition worth a thousand bucks. Comic

book. No, it's not just a comic book. This is

the first appearance of the Punisher. This is

the holy grail of comic books. You call that

comic books? It's so cute. Cute? It's very rugged

and manly. It's just a bit geeky. You've just

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