Interview with Rich Koslowski on F.A.R.M. System and Comic Reading Origins

Hey, this is Rich Kozlowski and you are listening

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So, without further ado, it's time to talk about

the comics we're reading right now, here inside

the pull bag. Hello and welcome to the pull bag

this is episode 497 we are three away from 500

folks. That's right It's only taken me a decade

to get a podcast with 500 episodes I am of course

TF2 and Mike and today's episode is a very special

origins in comic reading slash interview. I am

here with comic book creator rich kozlowski did

i say that correctly or did i screw it up perfect

kozlowski yep kozlowski kozlowski in german here

we'll get out good good good uh... rich has been

the comic book industry for three decades or

more he wrote a geek guide to picking up girls

he's written a bunch of other stuff currently

his new book out now farm system when IDW sent

the media information over to me I was like hmm

I was like oh interesting hmm because I am a

huge baseball fan I'm originally from Boston

Massachusetts and if you don't bleed Red Sox

in Massachusetts you don't bleed anything You

still there, Rich? Okay. Yeah, yeah. I'm Milwaukee

Brewers, but I get it. The Red Sox had a very,

very interesting journey with that curse that

lasted, how many years was it? Almost 100 years?

86. Wow. 86 years. 1918 to 2004, I think that's,

yeah. I know it was 2004 when they broke it and

they, yeah, so yeah. Yeah, 86 years. That 2014,

holy crap. So we both love baseball. We both

love comic books. Farm System kind of combines

two of our great loves. It's baseball meets superheroes.

Why don't you tell us all about Farm System?

Give us the pitch, sir. Yeah, it was about 12

years ago now. And like you said, I'm a baseball

fan. I had already done three graphic novels

with a top shelf productions. Actually, I was

working on the third one. BB Wolf in the three

LPs and sometime before that, cause that came

out in 2010. Like you said, I'm a baseball fan

and I was always fascinated more by the, at that

time, you know, business side of it was becoming

big agents and blockbuster contracts. And it

just occurred to me one day, if superheroes were

really out there in the world, they would probably

be going. through a structured system like that

as well, where agents would sign them on at a

young age, realizing their potential, bring them

into this minor league system where they can

nurture their skills under this protective umbrella

surrounded by agents and marketers and costume

designers and naming experts, you know, to further

their brand and build them up and get them the

best possible contract with the best possible

teams out there that need you know, need help

when other heroes go down that are injured or

killed in combat. How do they fill their rosters?

Not everybody out there is a billionaire Bruce

Wayne or Iron Man who can afford to do this out

of the goodness of their heart. Some of these

guys, you know, they need to get paid and they're

risking their lives. And I thought it was an

interesting angle that I hadn't really seen done

before. So I was very excited about it. immediately

pitched it to Chris Starros at Top Shelf and

he was all on board. Let's do this for your next

book. Then life got in the way and bills had

to be paid. So I had to do some other jobs, but

finally here we are, Top Shelf IDW and it's finally

out there. It's been a long road, but it is out

and I am extremely, extremely excited about it.

So it is only coming out in trade paperback.

You're not putting, you're not splitting it up

into single issues. It is one full story, correct?

Right. And we tossed around the idea of, you'll

notice when you do read the book, I don't do

chapters. I do innings, first inning, second

inning. I play with that again, more with that

baseball angle. But we talked about doing it

in chapters as comics, but Chris Dyros is always

about the graphic novel format. And I agree.

I love the graphic novel format. Let's give them

one big chunk, 208 pages, full color. 20 bucks,

which I think is a reasonable price. It's the

equivalent of, you know, like almost 10 comic

books. So I think that's priced right. And yeah,

I was happy. I'm like, yes, I'd rather do graphic

novel as well and do one every year or two. So

that's the way we went with it. Absolutely, absolutely.

Yeah, I read it recently and I just I absolutely

love it. And I will say that some of your. Some

of your little. little allegories and little

slides that get in there. I was like, I know,

I, I, I felt like Chris, uh, Chris Evans, I,

I know that reference, you know, but it's like,

it's one of those things where, uh, as soon as

I saw the one character who is sort of Wolverine

ish heck, even people in the book mistake him

for being Wolverine. Right. As soon as. They

did the snicked snicked. I'm like, Hey, I've

got a clip of that. So I have, I interviewed

Steve, Steve Bloom years ago now, and I have

a clip of him doing say actually saying it. So

I'll throw it in here somewhere. It's absolutely

hilarious. That's fun. Yeah. It's just so fun.

And yeah, I mean, I don't want to spoil the book

for anybody, but There are just so many interesting

things that happen in this book and if you like

baseball and you love superhero You love love

them both baseball and superheroes. You're gonna

like this book. It's very interesting It took

a twist that I kind of didn't see didn't didn't

see coming So that's that's gonna be interesting

for people to find out and and all that and yeah

farm system what a way to get the Get the acronym

in there because farm system is just a name.

It's a system that minor leagues use where they

nurture and grow talent like you would on a farm.

And I took it and acronym did so that we call

it. It stands for something else, which I guess

I can say it. It stands for free agent recruit

management in my book because they didn't want

to get sued by baseball. So they have to cover

all the angles and cover all the bases, so to

speak. And we had to be careful using names like

Wolverine or Superman or identifiable real life

superheroes. We can't draw them in the book,

but we can mention of them. And that was really

important to me because I wanted comic book readers

that have been reading comics for decades and

know who Spider -Man is and Wolverine and are

fans of them to make the connection that my system

exists in that same universe. These guys might

never actually. mingle with those other super

characters, mention them, and hey, they exist

in the same universe so they can familiarize,

they're more relatable, and have more fun with

my characters in that same world, so to speak.

Hence, the Wolverine mistaken identity angle,

which is a lot of fun. Yeah, it was a lot of

fun. And then you even bring it back to comics

with the Golden Age. gentlemen, I forget off

the top of my head what the character's name

is. Bullet Prof. What was it? Bullet Prof. Which

they often call Bullet Proof by accident. Bullet

Proof, yes. And oh, man, those panels of him

at the convention. Oh, people, let me tell you,

it's going to rip your hearts out because I mean,

I don't know that kind of stuff from experience,

but like I said, you've been in this business

for three decades now. I'm sure the reason why

you wrote that part of his story is because that

may have happened to you at some point. Absolutely.

That is my favorite nine page segment in the

book. Um, a lot of what I myself and a lot of

people probably go through in life and their

careers. Is that frustration of I know I could

have made it bigger if somebody would have just

given me the chance, you know, and that's what

this is all about, too. A lot of minor league

baseball players probably are just as good as

some of the guys that did make it. And just by

bad luck or unfortunate happenstance, never got

the call. and they just toil away into obscurity.

And I believe that happens not only in baseball

or in comic books, but in a lot of jobs out there.

They didn't get called up because they didn't

know the right person or the timing was just

off. And that nine page segment with the aging

character called Bullet Prof. really hit home.

And I think a lot of people are going to connect

with it, especially a lot of comic creators that

have been in that situation at conventions. And

we won't say too much more, but definitely was

my favorite. If there was a I told Cristarros

at Top Shelf, if there's a trailer for a movie

at any point, I want that to be the trailer.

Absolutely. Yeah, no, that. Because, yeah, that

would definitely bring bring in the audiences.

I mean, that's just. And then obviously, you

know, you go back to the business side of what

happens afterwards, which we won't get into that.

But let's, uh, let's talk some comic books. So

I assume, and I, you know, assuming is always

an issue, but these first five or six questions

are general comic questions. And, you know, the,

why would you be here if you didn't like comics,

but did you grow up reading comics? And at what

age do you first remember reading or noticing

comics? This question is awesome for me because

I remember the exact place I bought my first

comic, in the exact comic it was, and it's surrounded

by a story of great tumult in my life. I had

to go to the dentist as a seven -year -old boy,

but before we went, we went to say hi to my dad

who worked, he owned a meat department that he...

ran in a PDQ food store and they had a magazine

rack. And I was walking by again, I was only

like seven years old and boom, I saw this phenomenal

thing. What the heck is that? I have to have

it. It was a comic book with a dynamic cover

of two guys fighting in a boxing ring. It was

the thing in the Hulk. It was Marvel Superstars

number one. And I got it and I was so happy and

my mom, oh yeah, yeah, 25 cents or whatever the

cover. Okay, and then I took it to the dentist's

office and I was reading it in the dentist's

office and then I got called in for my appointment.

I got the gas and I came out woozy and I left

my comic book at the dentist's office and halfway

home, oh no, mom, my comic, my comic. And oh,

Richard, we're not gonna turn around and turn

around for a 25 cent comic. It's funny because

I had repressed that memory until like 20 years

ago, because this happened when I was seven.

I'm 54 now. So I was at a Detroit show, Motor

City Con 15 years ago, whatever it was. And I

was going through back issues and I saw that

comic. Oh, the memories flooded back to me. Oh,

just like you'd see in a movie. They just all

flooded back that whole scene. It was like a

punch in the gut. And I'm like, I have to have

this book. I don't I'm going to pay you full.

The guy had full price, 20 bucks or whatever

it was. And I'm paying you full price plus another

five bucks because you just gave me a memory

of a lifetime. So, yeah, from there, it was all

over. I was hooked. I was hooked when I was a

kid. Yeah, absolutely, man. That's just the way

like recently. Try to think it. Yes, it'll probably

open it. Okay. So recently I did a couple of

these origins things I did actually to count

down and then an origins with a cartoon pod guy

that does a cartoon podcast and and He has done

over the last X number of years ten years or

so he's done over 200 episodes with a bunch of

what you all every single voice actor you can

think of he's gotten them and he got Squire Freidel

who was originally Ronald McDonald Wow that that

realized well I wouldn't Squire was Ronald, but

he was the Ronald that all of us 80s kids know

from 84 to 91 So he wasn't the original Ronald.

I don't want to speak out of turn here It wasn't

the original but he was the wrong from the 80s

and he's the one everybody knows Yeah, so as

I'm doing research and figuring this out and

listening to all the interviews that my buddy

Tim has done and whatever else I look at his

name and I look at his face in the makeup. And

then I realize, holy crap, Ronald McDonald is

actually the Toyota guy from the eighties too.

Squire Frydell is that better deals. Like the,

the, the, the old Toyota ad man. I was like,

oh my, like literally I, I had to drop my phone.

I was like, holy crap. That's amazing. My childhood,

even though it's so far in the past, you just

gotten so much better knowing that Ronald McDonald

in his, in his, in his. off time as a car salesman

for Toyota. I'm so confused. Yeah, exactly. I

was like the realization just like hit me so

like a ton of bricks. That's fun. That is fun

stuff. Yeah, because we didn't have all this

social media and 24 hour news cycles where everybody

would know that now. Yeah, absolutely. I mean,

and I remember in the Toyota ads, him saying

his name is, you know, my name is Squire and

I'm here with Toyota or whatever else he would

say, but like I never actually put two and two

together. So as a kid, was there a parent, a

friend who just said, here kid, read this comic,

go away. You bother me. And you already told

your story about your mom taking you to the grocery

store. You're the, uh, the. the story there with

the Hulk. But like, was there anyone else that

kind of like either encouraged it or maybe discouraged

it or anything? Both. I had the opposite because

once I did get hooked and I knew those comics

were at the grocery store. And of course, we

went to visit my dad there often. We lived right

down the road while he was working. So I always

zoomed right over to the to the magazine rack.

And then the grocery manager would always have

to kick me off, say, it's not a library. So I

had the opposite. And I was I was, you know,

living in fear of the the grocery manager spotting

me and kicking me out. But my mom and dad were

always really cool with it. They never thought

comics were bad for kids. And when we would take

road trips, vacations, we didn't have seven elevens

here in Wisconsin, but they were down south.

And any time I spotted a seven eleven, because

I randomly discovered when we stopped at one

once that they carried comic books on a rack.

So from there on in, I was always looking out

the window as we were making our road trips,

looking for another 7 -Eleven. And then I would

beg them, please, please stop. Because we didn't

have comic book stores back then, especially

in the mid -20s. So they were very, okay. And

then I would run in there and run and pick up

comic books. And yeah, so that was my... That

was my youth scouting for comics and finding

them. And then of course I read in the mags that

you could subscribe. So I did that. And yeah,

I was hooked. And very few other kids in the

80s or 90s read comics. And it was kind of at

that time you did, you were a closet comic collector,

especially if you were interested in a girl and

they were gonna come over to your house, hide

all your comics. They weren't cool for a while.

until like all of a sudden the 2000s when the

movies started hitting. Now, now they're cool

again, so. Yeah, that was my move. Yeah, I want

to be young again, right? So as a kid, which

characters were your favorites? As a kid, definitely

Spider -Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers

and then Gosh, it must have been when I was in

eighth grade, seventh or eighth grade, which

is 1980, 81, I discovered the X -Men. And up

until this point, I really didn't pay attention

to who was writing the books or drawing them.

But when I found the X -Men and for some reason,

a chemical, something reaction happened in my

brain that I really connected with John Byrne's

art. That was the very first time I remember

thinking to myself, this looks different. Somehow

and I need to know why and then I paid attention

to the credits and I'm like, oh, it's this guy

John Byron II, you know, I did not name. Yeah.

What is this? Who is this? And he I was a huge

John Byrne fan. I started to draw like John Byrne.

I started to look for everything he had done

prior to that and collecting John Byrne. And

that's what then led me to discover I liked.

other artists like John Buscema and Neil Adams.

And I started tracking down everything these

guys did. Then I was looking for artists, because

at that point, it was all about the art for me.

And then as I got a few years older, then I started

realizing who the writers were as well. And I,

maturing, started to know which fandoms worked

best. which combinations and then the inkers

and all that. So then I was looking for specific

writers and artists. But I was mostly a Marvel

head. I did. I had a Kmart down the road and

they collected those pocketbooks. So in black

and white, I got Legion of Superheroes. I thought

that was a phenomenal book. And I was always

a Batman fan because of the TV show. as a kid

reruns, so always a Batman fan. So I always got

Batman books as well. I have a Batcave in my

basement here that I built a few years ago. So,

yeah. But as a kid, I started with Marvel, definitely

Spider -Man, Fantastic Four Avengers, then the

X -Men, Legion, and then I just everything. After

that, the floodgates open and I just took whatever

I could get. DC and Marvel equally, Dark Horse.

was huge for me for a while there in the in the

in the 90s when I thought Marvel and DC had kind

of sold out with all the foil covers and all

that stuff. Oh god foil covers. Yeah right right.

Oh god. We all got bamboozled by those so yeah.

Yeah the funny thing about Marvel and DC is because

they are now currently in this day and age owned

by two very different companies. Right. My one

wish will never happen. A digital version on

whichever comics app you want to have it on,

DC versus Marvel. Yeah. I have the trade sitting

right here that I... That thing, you know, say

what you will about 90s and what DC and Marvel

did in the 90s and even the book itself, but

like... That was a thing that is probably never

going to happen again, and I've got it sitting

right here on my little table And I'm just like

oh God when I was trying to look for it again.

I was like oh Like I can only find either issues

one and two or two and three I could never and

when I was looking for the trade. I'm like why

is this trade like 70 80 90 a hunt like I mean

I get it. I kind of get it, but I don't know,

but it is what it is, and I have it now. We will

be covering it at some point here soon on the

show. They'll do another one. They'll do another

one. They'll do another DC versus Marvel. I like

that when it came out, too. That was the event

of all events, but I wish some battle scenes.

I wanted more from those battle scenes, more

than two pages. I wanted Wolverine and Lobo going

for 12 pages straight. You know, wasn't it Wolverine

versus Lobo in that one? I think I'd have to

pull it. I'd have to. Yeah, thumb through it

to see Captain Marvel against Thor. That deserved

more than two pages. So, but yeah, they'll do

it again. I bet you they do. Let's let's pitch

it to them. I don't know. I mean, I don't want

to get too far in current era as far as stuff

going on. But DC seems like it's going down with

the rest of the war. I don't know what's going

on at Warner Brothers. I know, but I don't know.

It's like, oh, God. And It just it's kind of

sad. Yeah, so you mentioned you're more of a

Marvel guy, but you do still like DC What is

your what was it? What was your? Besides the

Adam West show. What was your this is why Batman

is my favorite from DC Because like one of the

I just did another interview earlier today and

one of the things about my book that I wrote

about that i find appealing like why is the main

character in my current book the gymnast the

main character and it's because you know there's

superman's and there's thors in the world but

for every superman and thor there's a hundred

of those overachieving good at hand -to -hand

combat acrobatic great leadership capabilities

characters that we as readers know we can't be

superman or thor but hey Maybe if I went out

in the backyard and really practiced, I could

be Hawkeye, you know. So Batman's one of those

guys, too. He doesn't have any superhuman abilities.

He's a guy that's obsessed and driven. And maybe

I could be Batman, you know. Again, you'd have

to come up with the gadgets and it helps being

a billionaire. But I think with a little ingenuity,

you could probably come up with some grappling

hooks and, you know, train in the basement long

enough to become Batman esque. You know, put

on a Kevlar vest and put the little bat symbol

on it and maybe go out there and kick some ass.

So he's just one of those relatable heroes that

maybe I could actually be, you know. So that's

that's where I connect with those kind of of

the superheroes. Yeah, absolutely. And with your

character, the gymnast, I was like, wait, whoa,

that's because you don't see that like. All the

Olympic heroes that we do have and have had over

the generations. Yes. Gymnasts are, you know,

Olympians and everything else, but like, you

don't think it's one of those things where you

don't think that a gymnast could be a superhero,

but he sure is. Yeah. And, uh, that those rings

don't need a power battery. No spoilers, but

the gymnast is awesome. He's an awesome character,

and I hope fans connect and are relatable with

him to the to the same way they do relate to

guys like Batman. And they're imperfect. They

have problems. And my my gymnast guy certainly

has some mountains. He he tries to climb and

he never gives up. But we'll leave it there with

the gymnast. He's he's pretty cool. Well, you

said mountain and I'm not going to spoil this,

but yes. What is like, is that a bad Adam joke?

Yeah, Mountain, yeah. So the other thing with

all, he's a character in my book called Mountain.

It's hard coming up with original names for characters,

by the way. Man, and that's what I also cover

that in the book with the naming agents and the

guys in charge of costume design. It's really,

really hard to come up with original names. So

Mountain is one of my characters who can grow.

Very big and it's awesome and all that but why

is he so awesome? Why isn't he out there on an

Avengers or a Justice League? Well Kim like all

the other characters in my minor league system

Is powerful or as great as they might be all

of them are still floundering in the minor leagues

for a reason Maybe they they have certain vulnerabilities

or inadequacies that they that's why they haven't

gotten the call yet Well, Mountains is, I guess

I can give it away. He's a pretty minor character

in this book. Yeah, in this book, yeah. Well,

Mountain, when I have a new recruit coming and

he's come into the farm system, he just signs

a deal as a minor league contract and he starts

walking the grounds. He sees this magnificent,

humongous guy laying against the hillside and

he's like, what the hell? Why isn't he on a team?

The guy's 200 feet tall. He must be the most

powerful. And one of the other agents goes, yeah,

yeah, he is powerful, but he is expensive to

to fuel him. Literally, food and caloric intake

costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to feed

this guy. And then it's like, oh, I never thought

of that as a reader. Like, holy crap, I never

thought of that. The the amount of energy it

requires for him to maintain that size when he

is at full height is enormous. And sometimes

he goes a little cuckoo for cocoa puffs just

from hunger. and starts eating anything in sight,

including the farmer Joe's cows down the road.

And then they have to pay the farmer off. Sorry,

he ate your herd. So things like that. And let's

face it, if there was a guy who could grow to

200 feet tall, he wouldn't do it in seconds.

It would take days to grow to that height in

a healthy way. So if a battle's coming, Dr. Doom

is attacking. Mountain, we need your help. Well,

I'm at normal size right now, but it's gonna

take me a few days to achieve full height and

a lot of calories. So that's one of the drawbacks

of Mountain and why he's still in the system.

Those are the kind of things. If they know a

battle's coming from the Skrulls and they're

still a million miles from Earth, great. Mountain

has time to size up. He can get big and be ready

in a few days when the Skrulls land. but other

than that he's not good if it's a fast you know

they need him instantaneously yeah he's he's

built for comfort not for speed exactly print

or digital which one both either or and why or

why not i'm an old fart i'm 54 i still collect

my comics i put them in my boxes and alphabetize

them i like touching and smelling that ink The

smell reminds me of the comic book stores I went

to as a kid. And I'm just tactile that way. I

want to hold that book. I want to go to bed and

not put a computer prop up a computer screen

on my pillow. I want to put that book on my lap

and be able to put my bookmark in it and set

it aside. So it's all 100 % for me. Actual printed

books. And I, I agree. For the most part, except

I had to switch to digital a couple of years

ago, just to read them because, and I tell this

story in every single episode, so the listeners

have heard me tell this for the past almost decade

now. We did our first marvelous March. We were

doing our first Punisher Month and I was reading

Welcome Back Frank in the 12 issue Omnibus hardcover.

Sitting there in a chair, reading the book. not

because of the content of the book, but because

of the weight of it. I'm holding it, reading

it, all of a sudden my eyes close, my head goes

back like this, and I hear a crash to the floor,

and I'm like, oh crap, I fell asleep with the

book in my hand. Right next day I went out to

Comixology and I'm like, for reading specifically,

for reading the story and all of that. Specifically,

I was like, yeah, digital for me. But no, absolutely.

I agree with you with the print. Because somebody

said a couple of episodes ago, do people still

smell books? Of course people still smell books.

The first thing I do when my new book came in

the box is I open them up, smell that fresh ink.

Those Omnibuses though, yeah, they're cool. I

got the fantastic four Omnibuses and all that.

They are very hard to read. You cannot read them

laying in bed, no. They're too big and bulky.

Absolutely. Who are some of your favorite writers

and why? Writers top of mind, which is a current

saying now that's very popular. Peter David continues

to amaze me. I've been a fan of his when I discovered

him on his incredible Hulk run, which was also

incredible. And he writes great Star Trek novels

and other novels. Always continues to be coming

up with fresh ideas. His current run, again,

on Maestro, the Future Hulk, is incredible. I've

always enjoyed Kurt Busick's work as a writer.

James Robinson, when he burst onto the scene,

like taking old DC characters, when he did that

Golden Age, I don't remember, it was a three

-issue prestige format thing that came out in

like the late 90s, early 2000s, the Golden Age,

where he re - You know, he regurgitated some

characters we didn't care about, like Our Man

and Doctor Midnight, and he made them super amazingly

cool, like the coolest of the cool characters

that DC had pretty much had on the scrap heap.

Alan Moore, of course, is a phenomenal writer.

Frank Miller back in his heyday was very impressive.

And then I always appreciate the silver and bronze

writers that worked. at Marvel, of course, Stan

Lee and Roy Thomas and some of the others. That's

what I'm collecting now. I'm just going back

mostly and getting that silver, mainly bronze,

those 70s and 80s comics that I grew up with.

Chris Claremont, of course, and John Byrne, a

co -writer. So I would say that those are some

that come to mind. And then there's some independent

writers that I think are amazing as well, like

Seth, his work that he's done over at Fana Graphics.

a lot of the drawn -in quarterly writers. James

Sturm is really good. So I could go on and on

and on, but those are some of those that instantly

come to mind. Very cool, very cool. Yeah, I wish

I... I mean, that's something I'll probably have

to investigate, but... I mean, I read Amazing

Fantasy XV. It was good. It was his origin, but

like... All as I ever remember reading that Stan

ever wrote was either his soapbox or the letters

pages or whatever. I got to look into reading

some more old Stan stuff. Yeah, I mean, back

then, I mean, it was a little more crude and

simplified in some ways, homogenized. But even

for the time, he had some pretty brilliant ideas

that opened that door for the generation of writers

that came after him. I think he sparked. a lot

of potential and other writers brilliantly took

what he started and catapulted those characters

forward even more. But it all started with the

seeds that Stan and Jack laid down, I think.

So you got to give credit for that. You definitely

have to give credit for that. Absolutely. Hands

down. You know, we are not worthy. We are not

worthy. Absolutely. They are. They are amazing.

And they. They were amazing. And, and you're

right, they are people who laid the groundwork

and people have to pick it up from there. And,

and like for me, I was always like you, like

you were saying earlier about how, oh, comics

was kind of verboten in the eighties and nineties,

you know, whatever, but like, me I was always

a cartoon kid so in the 90s when the spider -man

animated I was like oh and that's when I was

like oh I'd like to go to Walden books or wherever

to find some spider -man comics and and and all

this and all that and it's like yeah I mean they

just did such great work that you have to take

it on and honestly for me now 10 years ago when

I started the show I didn't want to just like

By 2013, we all know the standard origin for

Spider -Man. Uncle dies, no thanks to Peter because

Peter kind of whatever and all this and all that,

and he gets bitten. So I didn't want to read

the same old Peter Parker. And then Slott splits

off and does superior, and he puts the villain

in the superhero. Putting Doc Ock as Spider -Man.

I thought that was so ingenious. Yeah, yeah Very

interesting spin again, you know, and it's all

due to the fact of Those guys back in the 60s

who created all these wonderful characters. Yep

not knowing what everyone in the future would

do with them and There have been good runs. There

have been bad runs, but it is what it is. It's

all comic book history at this point Yep, absolutely

For you, what defines a good story? A good story,

I need in comics, I need a pairing. You know,

a lot of people. What's more important, the art

or the writing? By a slight edge, I will give

it to the writer. I mean, you can have the greatest.

You can have the greatest artist in the world,

but if the script is horrible, it's it's going

to come out as a pretty looking turd, you know.

You have to have that great balance of great

art with great writing. I do go for compelling

characters that have, and I think, again, Stan

introduced this, they're imperfect. If they were

just the most powerful person on the planet and

perfect in every Boy Scout way, they'd be pretty

boring because they'd be invincible. Invincible

characters to me, that's why I think Superman

suffered a little bit. plausibility wise when

he could move planets and decided smartly to

reduce that power of his and give him a kryptonite.

Oh, absolutely brilliant. He can't be all powerful,

all omnipotent. I like when they have family

and history. Thor is interesting because of the

the Greek, I mean, I'm sorry, the Norse god mythology

that comes with him. And you get that rich mythology

behind him, but every good hero needs a good

villain. So if you don't have a good villain,

and I think some really interesting characters

have fallen by the wayside, some interesting

heroes, because you don't know who the villain

is and there's really no counterpart to them.

I mean, you name a Spider -Man villain, you can

name a dozen of them. Fantastic Four, you know,

Superman had his great villains, Batman, oh my

God, his rogue's gallery. The villains make the

heroes. So when you get those good villains,

you've got a good hero. I think that's a short,

a good short answer, I guess. I hope so. No,

yeah, no, absolutely. I agree. Yeah, you're right.

The characters, characters in general have to

speak to us. They have to, you know, we have

to find them relatable. We have to find them

whatever and with heroes and villains. The only

way to get a good hero is to have a equally good

enough villain that challenges the heat like.

You know you look at Nolan and the Dark Knight

and everything that he's did as the Joker and

just like all of that twistedness and everything

else and like that made Bales version of Batman

be more at that time back in 2008 on the big

screen. Right, exactly. Yeah, there was gravitas

with those movies. Those movies got you in and

riveted. I just never wanted those movies to

end. I think because I'm younger than you, I'm

only 42, 43, but I've lived long enough to where

it's like... I'm that reader that doesn't necessarily

I mentioned earlier was split with Peter Parker

spy I don't need the origin but I understand

why the movies have to have the origin so for

me Batman Begins the best part of it for me personally

was like the second half after the origin was

already taken care of Yeah, yeah me and all of

us other fellow comic book geeks, you know, we

all know we've read that origin a thousand times

Yeah, we have to slog through it in another movie.

Come on. Let's get the But for the other people

out there, they need to see it. But I think they're

getting smarter with it, like the most current

Batman version of it. They touched on it, but

they didn't hit us over the head with it. We

they pretty much realize at this point, everybody

knows what happened to Batman. So they handled

it, showed it and they didn't they didn't ram

it down our throats ad nauseam this time, which

was great. Yeah, absolutely. So you have just

come home from the weekly new releases at your

local comic shop. You've grabbed a number one

of whatever it is. It doesn't matter what it

is. What does a story have to have to draw you

in? So what is that first issue you have to have

for you to go back to the comic book shop the

next week to get number two? A compelling cliffhanger

for one. I don't even necessarily have it has

to have a good set up. So, OK, well, you just

mentioned that and I did just go to the comic

book store a few days ago and I did pick up a

number one. It was the Batman versus Robin. Of

course, I know these characters. I've been reading

them for, you know, 45, 50 years, whatever the

heck it's been. I love them and all that. And

I was like, OK, I'm intrigued. Batman versus

Robin. Let's see if it's worthy of getting issue

number two, because I'm already familiar with

the characters. Boy, there better be a good set

up here. And I think in this case, mission accomplished.

I definitely want to read number two because

the setup with Robin, why the heck is he fighting

his dad, Batman, and what's making him go cuckoo

for Cocoa Puffs all of a sudden? It was compelling

enough. In this case, they have a built -in audience.

So it's kind of a gimme using that as a reference.

But if it's some new hero, what did I buy recently?

That was another number one, the Berserker, the

Keanu Reeves thing. I bought that on a whim.

I was like, OK, I'll read this. Looks good art.

Good, good cover. All right, Keanu Reeves. I'm

not necessarily a huge fan of his, but a fan

enough. I read it a few months ago. I don't honestly

remember what it was about. So I guess in that

case, it didn't hook me in enough. I don't know.

I don't remember why or for what reason. But

if you give me a compelling character, a hint,

a hint at a backstory that's compelling to me.

But I don't want to know what it is right away.

I just want that hint to keep me going. Like

that's what they did brilliantly when they introduced

Wolverine. We didn't know for years what the

heck was going on with that guy, why he had his

Berserker Rages, where those claws came from,

what happened. That is probably the most brilliant

introduction of any single character I can think

of. Um, so yeah, I need, uh, I need you to string

me along a little bit and keep me interested.

Don't string me along too long though. I'll get

pissed off and I'll stop buying the book because

they're, they're too expensive. Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

I mean, don't get me wrong. Like I understand

why they are somewhere between three 99 and seven,

not depending on page count, but like today's

prices are anywhere from $4 to $8. Four single

issues and this is why I normally wait for like

I don't mind plopping down 20 bucks 25 bucks

for a trade because I know what I'm getting I'm

getting At least like if you do with DC with

volume one, okay, so volume one Okay, this is

the first story arc the second whatever fine,

you know all that so so yeah, I mean Yeah, absolutely

and Wolverine man. He just true boy that guy

Yeah, and these writers and artists have it.

It's tough these days because they do have to

hook you in if they're introducing something

new and realizing, jeez, I better hook them in

really smartly because these are $4 a piece or

$5 a piece. And we might only have one chance

at getting this reader hooked in because of the

price. And for me, I need to go back and fight.

I know it's recent, the new Tim Drake series.

I know people are saying a whole bunch of stuff

about... Look, I care about the character. I

don't care about what... ...insert website name

here is gonna say about what they're gonna put

as their headline to get them to get their clicks,

but... I feel like in modern times, there isn't

enough Tim Drake stories. So I feel like, oh,

there's a new series coming. I need to check

it out kind of thing and see if it's gonna be,

you know, more. And yeah. Who are some of your

favorite comics artists? All right. We already

covered a few. John Byrne was a huge influence

on me as a seventh and eighth grade kid. probably

the biggest impact because that's when I was

blossoming at that time as an artist myself.

So the timing of his career with me as a young

man becoming an artist was probably the most

pivotal for me. And then I discovered Neil Adams,

John Buscema, who else do I love? Different artists,

some more offbeat. Mike Allred is great. I love

Guy Davis, who we don't see enough of his work

anymore, is brilliant. George Perez, rest in

peace, as a kid. Teen Titans, his stuff was amazing

to me. There's so many, so many. I mean, I could

go on and on and on. Alex Ross, of course, is

brilliant. Dan Brereton, I love. His funky style

of watercolor painting is amazing to me. But

yeah, I mean, I don't want to not list some people

because I always forget somebody, but those are

a couple off the top of my head. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, like you said earlier, it's a team. It

doesn't matter what comic you're drawing or writing.

It doesn't matter if it's DC Marvel. It doesn't

matter if it's any of the other individual, like

you mentioned. It's a team effort. The writing

and the art need to complement each other. And

there are so many great writers and great artists

out there. I wish. I don't think he's the last

time I'm behind on most of the stuff, but Alex

Gardner did some of the Batgirl New 52 stuff,

and I was like, oh, I would love to see more

of it. Ooh, technical difficulties. Let's move

on, shall we? Gee, thanks, Joker. I didn't need

those technical difficulties. What's wrong with

you, you stupid clown? All right. What is, you

have a non - God, I can't talk now. Do you have

a non -fave? Not a not. Why can't I? Do you have

a favorite non -superhero title? Oh, non -superhero

favorite titles in the past. I loved Peter Begg's

hate that was done by Fana Graphics. He was one

of the first ones that turned me on to the independent

scene back then. Currently, non superhero currently,

nothing comes off the top of my head right now,

but hate led me to all these other series that

drawn in quarterly did and so forth. Let's see.

Oh, Dan Close eight ball series was phenomenal.

He's another one that I anything he does I'll

get. And like I said, Seth. anything he does,

I'll get he's had some Clyde fans was another

his series was just brilliant autobiographical

stuff that's just riveting to me. So those are

some of them. And I still any time I go to a

show, which, gosh, COVID killed a lot of that

non superhero stuff, a little because I usually

buy those at the shows from the independent publishers

in person so I can flip through them and tell

them how much I love those guys and. Then I support

him at the shows shell out a lot of cash, but

those are some of my favorites from the past

Very cool. Very cool What is your favorite run

or story arc from a series? Who run or story

arc from a series? Oh that run of Avengers with

Korvac and Any Ultron run from those 70s and

80s Avengers issues scared the hell out of me

as a kid. Ultron literally scared me. And I was

like, how could they possibly defeat him? He

had me upset. And the other one definitely is

that Times of Future passed with the X -Men.

That's the very first one I got in the mail of

the X -Men. And that issue that came out, 141,

changed my life where they're all like, All the

posters are hanging on the wall of who's dead

and who's still out there. And Wolverine's on

the cover in the spotlight. That freaked me out

as a kid. I'm like, no, this can't be happening.

You know, I was upset and I had to wait another

month for the second issue. So that and the whole

Phoenix storyline just changed me as a person

and a comic book fan. And I realized how what

heights we could get to with with comic book

writing. and readings. So those are initially

a couple that really jumped to mind. Yeah, absolutely.

Man, the days of futures passing, whoo boy, that

was mind -bending. Yeah, very, very mind -bending.

Very, very mind -bending. There are so many.

As much as people say certain things about 90s

comics, and some of it is true. Absolutely. It

went a little weird in the 90s, but those late

70s all the way through the 80s, even up to the

early 90s, a lot of those big stories like Death

of Superman, Death of Superman didn't just affect

those of us who were either watching cartoons

or TV shows or movies or reading comics that

made national news. Like it's a big thing and

it doesn't matter what any other person in the

world set like comics are not only, you know,

they're obviously written, but they're art. They

are forms of art. And it's amazing and how they

affect us and change us. And I think in the in

the case of the X -Men storyline we just talked

about, those heroes really died in that future

timeline. And that was the first time I actually

saw heroes. Die on the page in front of me Colossus

getting killed and Wolverine just getting you

know incinerated and killed I was like this is

real This is they're not gonna pretend and undo

it like in other books No in that timeline those

characters all got for real killed and that was

Brilliant and brutal to me as a as a kid and

I was like wow. This is what we can do with this

medium. This is amazing And it caught everybody

flat -footed. I don't think that kind of storytelling

was being done until that point. And then we

saw all kinds of those future storylines. They've

done so much with it since, but yeah, that was

very impactful for me. Absolutely. What is one

comic you can read over and over again, single

issue or trade? The ones we just mentioned, for

sure. I have done over and over and over. And

there was a run of Marvel two in one where like

the thing was just brilliantly handled, where

he fought Deathlock. What was that Project Pegasus

storyline? I think I've read that thing 40 times.

And Quasar came in, Deathlock came in. Then he

faced himself, an older version of himself in

issue number 50. Gosh, I've read those. And John

Byrne was the artist, so I was all over John

Byrne at that time. I've read that, like I said,

50 times. The Days of Future Past, I've read

that thing 50 times. There's a few others. The

Dark Knight returns by Frank Miller. Watchmen,

I've read it 25 times. I mean, every year I'll

pick it up. I should read this again. And it

always holds up. Yeah, and and I don't ever think

I never put anything in that I know a lot of

people today were like, oh does it hold up or

I? Mean of the opinion that it's not supposed

to you're supposed to view it in the time that

it was made sure Yes, yes, there are classic

stories that do last the test of time But they

are a reflection on the time that they were made

in like this this d .c. versus marvel thing when

i haven't even got because i'm gonna eventually

review it here on the show i haven't even i've

thumbed through it and what i found was other

than sniffing the hell out of the pages was how

different books were in the 90s versus the way

books are now like some of the d .c. stuff and

some of the marvel d .c. specifically they will

if it's a collected edition they will put like

This is the main covered issue five and then

this is the this is the non color variant version

and then this I'm like This is once you know

this you open them this trade. It's starts the

story the whole story None of the actual additional

covers Happen until the very end the very back

of the book and I was like, oh wow This is I

forgot how different this was It was a big deal.

Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely it was So not that

we want to be negative, but there are certain

things that that tend to happen in comics. You're

in your comic shop. Are there just comics you

avoid altogether? Like you see Batman, Superman,

Iron Man, and then. Larflees or something, I

tend not to think negatively per se, but I'm

at that point, you know, I'm not rejecting something

because I think it's inferior or whatever. Kind

of sad that sometimes I just don't give books

a chance, maybe, unless something really draws

me in, like the cover art. You know, I hate to

say that, but it is true. I will be drawn in

by something obscure because of the cover art

and then pick it up. I don't avoid things intentionally

for any specific reason. There's nothing out

there that I hate. Like, oh, I would never read

that book because I hate that character because

of this. Yeah, no, it's just about like I said,

you're in the shop and you know what characters

you like You know what characters you want to

check out but and Amongst them there is something

that you're like Yeah, I'll leave that for somebody

else. So even though you're not like hating on

it or anything. You just kind of avoid it Yeah,

I would say right now sadly And again, true story.

I was in just a week ago and I did buy that Batman

versus Robin, but I'm like, oh gosh, I should

pick up Detective or I haven't picked those up

in a while. And I look at that wall of 30 Batman

titles, you know, and I got overwhelmed and I

asked the shop owner who I know well, I haven't

seen, I've just recently moved back to Wisconsin

from California, so I hadn't seen him in 10 years.

But I asked the shop owner, I'm like, What's

going on with Batman? Are these all monthly titles?

Yep, they're doing like 25 titles a month of

Batman or whatever. I'm like, I don't know where

to start. So I just shut down. I'm like, I don't

know where to start. So I'm not going to start

anywhere. And then I did see the Batman versus

Robin one. And I'm like, well, I get OK, there's

number one. I guess I can start there fresh.

But it was just overwhelming to me. And unfortunately,

a lot of these titles that I've collected my

whole life, like the Avengers and X -Men, have

become so bloated with all these other titles

and offshoots, I don't know where to start and

I can't keep up. That's why I've fallen back

on, I'm going to go to the back issue bins and

the trade paperbacks and collect those defenders,

issues 12 through 14 trades and just start rereading

those because for one, it's easier to follow

and for two, it's more affordable. But yeah,

I can't get all the X -Men titles now. I simply

couldn't afford it and I wouldn't know how to

follow them. You know, what the heck's going

on? Yeah, I stopped keeping up with the current.

Like the only current thing I keep up with is

whatever Sean Gordon Murphy is doing with his

White Knight universe. That's cool. Yeah, that's

that's that's my Batman currently. And I'll catch

up with the other stuff eventually. I mean. I

don't know how long I'm gonna be doing the pull

bag but we've made it 10 years I'm sure I'll

make it another 10 at some point so I'll have

plenty of time to catch up I don't have that

oh my god I have to go and get whichever like

like you said Batman versus Robin number one

or like I said earlier about the Tim Drave the

new Tim Drake series I'll get it but like I don't

have that urge to rush out and be like Give it

to me now. Right, right. And it's again, when

Wolverine's in 30 different books a month, it

diminishes the character, you know, it dilutes

the character. It's overexposed and the character

becomes less interesting to me. And I think any

time they've got a hot character like Thor with

the movies, then Thor's in every book. And we

just over saturate those characters, miniseries

and five different titles or 20 different titles.

So it's just it's overwhelming. And Unfortunately,

like I said, they get too overexposed. Times

were simpler when Avengers had one title a month,

X -Men had one title a month, and you look forward

every month to that title and you could follow

it and they'd occasionally cross over into other

titles as a guest star. Yeah. Now everything

is all about, you know, cohesion. Everything

has to tie into everything else. Right. Right.

It's too overwhelming. Yep. And that's really

sad. That's one of the reasons. That's one of

the reasons why I wait. And it's one of the reasons

why I'm like, like I said, Beyond the White Knight

by Murphy is the only thing that I'm actively

getting currently issued by. It's only going

to be an eight issue. The way he does his stuff

is it's eight issue series. So, you know, it's

not that bad. It's its own universe. I don't

have to worry about the 90 plus years of continuity

of Batman or however the hell long it's been

now. You know, so it is, it is what it is. Yeah,

that's fair. How large or small is your physical

comic book collection? I've had to transport

those long boxes across country a couple of times,

first to California and then back 10 years later

to Wisconsin. And I tell you, each time I had

to move cross country, the collection shrunk

a little bit because I purged and had big eBay

blowouts. Of course it keeps swelling. So you'll

get it knocked down a little bit and then it

swells over time again and gets knocked down

again and swells probably somewhere in that 40

long boxes right now in my basement, all categorized.

And I've got my core collection that I won't

touch. I'm completing my Avengers run at least

from zero to 400. After that, it got a little

spotty with quality and stuff. I've got a few

core titles that I've got all the essential first

100 of or 200 of that I won't sell. But yeah,

even now I'm doing local comic book shows selling

my own stuff, of course, but I can get a second

table. I'll throw some of my collection out there

and sell them to like stuff I really don't. I

don't collect anymore or the titles a dead title.

You know, Nova was cool when I was a kid and

ran whatever a couple dozen issues, but then

it stopped and it. didn't have that continuity

disorder. Do I really need to save that small

run of Nova Comics? Nah, I can let it go. And

that's, you know, again, if you want to always

reread it, not that you want to be paying more

for it, but I'll just get it in digital. Read

it that way. That way it doesn't take up any

space. So heaven forbid anything happens, but

the family every every human every pet everybody

is safe, but the house is on fire What's the

one comic you'd never live without ever? What's

the one comic you'd run in to save? I'd probably

have to run downstairs quick. I've got an Avengers

number four signed by both Stanley and Jack Kirby

I guess I'd have to I'd have to get that one

Yeah, yeah, that's the one What was the story

in that I don't I How did I get him signed? No,

what was this? Well, yes, but what was the story

for that? What what is the story of Avengers

number four as far as that's Captain America.

They find him in the buried in the ice. That's

okay comes back So yeah. Yeah. Yeah, very good

one. I have assigned a number 11 by Stan Lee

of Avengers and a number three as well. But that

number four is signed by both of them. Both?

Yeah, very. So how did that happen? I assume

it was obviously at a convention. I bought it

from my friend Chuck Rozanski, owner of Mile

High Comics out in Colorado, and he had it in

his safe. And I was like, whoa, he got it signed

by them. And I know before, you know, these certificates

of authenticity and witnesses. But I knew he

was being honest with me. We're friends. I had

no reason to doubt him. And then I did have it

graded and the signatures authenticated, but

I knew they were legit. But yeah, they're authenticated.

So yeah, I just bought it from him like 25 years

ago. I have a stack of comics signed by Stan

as well where I have met him at shows. Even as

far back as when you didn't have to pay for them.

You stood in line for two hours, but Stan was

signing them for free back in the night. Yeah.

But I never met Jack Kirby, unfortunately. The

one I do have signed by him though is legit.

So that's cool. Yeah, it would have been amazing

to meet either one of them. It's just one of

those things. Growing up in the eighties, you

know, the eighties is when toys started. So you,

you know, you have toys as a kid, you lose them

as a teenager and adult. And then when you're,

you know, 42, 43, whatever, 28, whatever it is,

you're like, Oh, I'd like to reclaim my childhood.

So I had a whole toy collection thing, but I'm

into Funko pops now. So what happened to Funko

pops for a while since about 2017. And I have

the it's not signed or anything, but it's just

it's my favorite version of Stan that they've

done. It's the Howard Hughes Iron Man movie version

of him with him in the bathrobe. And I just yeah,

I love I. Yeah, Stan. Stan was always so cool

and so awesome. Yeah, yeah. The few times I met

him, he was always just wonderful. So nothing

but fond and good memories of Stan. Absolutely.

What was the most money you ever spent on a comic

or a comic item? Comic item could be like a replica

batarang or a green lantern ring or something

like that. I Have spent I buy a lot of the statues,

you know, some of those statues are up in those

few hundred I think I spent Four or five hundred

bucks on one of those comics. It might have even

been the Avengers 4 I've never spent like close

to a thousand. Usually I've been smart. I've

purchased stuff, you know, decades ago that are

now worth sometimes into the thousands, but I

got them at 40 or 50 bucks. Original art. I love

getting original art. I have spent hundreds of

dollars on pieces of original art. Again, I don't

think I've ever spent more than five hundred

on a beautiful like painted art by one of my

favorite guys. But I think that's it. I did buy

the Batman bronze statue years ago at the Pittsburgh

Comic -Con. I think that thing was $900, a Randy

Bowen Batman bronze. But I had a gift certificate

from the show that I won at casino night. So

I think 200 of it was covered by that and then

I've shelled out the other 700. So I think those

are some of the things I've spent the most on.

Very cool, very cool. Yeah, I've always loved

the statues, but for me, I only want, again,

I only want specific characters just like anybody

else, but where do you put some of that stuff?

Like, there's always so much space. Was there,

or heaven forbid there ever will be, but did

you ever have a moment when you were just completely

done with comics, you just walked away? Yes.

When I went to college, when did I start? 87?

No, I graduated high school in 85. I started

college in 86. And I sold all my comics, which

I regret so hard right now because those were

like the X -Men, you know, issues 100 through

120 and all those, that peak time of Chris Claremont,

Wolverine, John Byrne. Sold them all to a fellow

classmate. Do I still see today? I sold them

all because I needed beer money. That was very

much more important to me at the time than reading

comics, meeting girls and drinking beer. I wasn't

working because I was in college. Right. I desperately

needed party money and I sold all my comic books

to this guy. And then, of course, four or five

years later, I got back into comics because they

were such a deep part of my life and soul. So

I fall and then I had to rebuy all the comics

that I sold at a high, substantially higher price.

But no regrets, no regrets. Yeah, the one thing

I said thing is the one thing I absolutely regret

is that. Should have waited until right now to

buy that DC versus Marvel thing because I spent

just and it's it's a used book I get it. It's

fine. There's nothing like the pages aren't ripped

the cover isn't right, but it isn't in like Just

shipped to me brand new You know foil wrap condition.

I spent just over $100 on it, and I'm looking

on Amazon now. It's like 76 78 God But I don't

regret now making the purchase at the time because

I now have it and, you know, you need it. I need

it, but I wanted to be it because again, the

firm, one of the hardest things in comics for

me was finding this thing with it all together

and finding it at a semi decent whatever, you

know, and it's just, yeah, but now that I have

it all. I'll probably have somebody spread my

ashes with it eventually. Yeah, it's not going

anywhere. So what are you currently reading right

now and what do you think our listeners should

check out? Well, I just finished, like I mentioned

earlier, the maestro run of Peter David's Hulk,

the future Hulk incarnation, which I just love.

I got the early issues. He wrote a novel. I don't

know if a lot of people even know this, but Peter

David did a Hulk novel with that maestro character,

which is highly recommended. He's such a great

novelist and it was a brilliant novel with the

Hulk. So I just finished that dystopian version

of the Hulk. I have been rereading. I just collected

all those champions back in the day with Hercules

and Black Widow and Ghost Rider. Angel and Iceman.

I just got that run. A lot of fun. That was an

offbeat super team that I wished would have lasted

longer because I loved that book when I was a

kid and I just finally reread it. Super cool

run. I've also been reading all my back issues.

What have I been reading lately? Oh, like those

old Tales of Suspense where they split the book

in two. There was the Submariner up front and

the Hulk in the back. I am loving those. Some

of them are so clunky and they didn't put the

top artists of the bullpen on them at the time,

but they are so charming and I just can't get

enough of those. And it's just a perfect format.

I love those formats where they split the book

into two different headline characters. And I've

also been rereading my old Legion books, Legion,

the Keith Giffen run. Oh, my God. I reread that

where it was that what was it five years later.

And that is a great run that came out, I think,

in the 90s. So I've been rereading that. Definitely,

definitely highly recommend that series. Very

cool. Very cool. Yeah, I. If you're talking single

issues and then having a backup story, I. I wanna

be able to go to whatever book it is. I don't

care what it is, whatever title, whatever character.

I want a book of just the backups. Like for me,

like those backup stories, I'm like, this has

nothing to do with what I just read. Like I feel

like it's a huge disconnect, but I still wanna

read those stories eventually kind of thing.

I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Those are cool. Like

in Thor, they used to have in the back those

little three, four page tales of Asgard. They

were cool. Yeah, it'll take a few minutes to

read and yeah collection of those all put together.

That would be awesome. That would be Heroes heroines

anti heroes and heroines or villains. What archetypes

are your go -to reads? Boy Say it again Heroes

heroines anti heroes and heroines or villains.

What archetypes are your go -to reads? I Still

have the first one. I mean, it's all about good

guys in the end willing, winning, I'm sorry.

I mean, I love The Punisher as an anti -hero.

And I had my day as a Punisher fan, and that

was really cool to me. But ultimately, I think

just like when I was a kid, I want to see a happy

ending. That's one of the reasons I guess I'm

in the minority in this. But the movie Logan,

which a lot of people loved, I found to be sad

and depressing because I felt what were they

all fighting for this whole time if that's the

ending of all these heroes I loved reading as

a kid I want him riding off into the sunset on

the horse and saving the day ultimately and all

ends well in the world so that kind of viewpoint

didn't sit as well with me so I like the heroes

and heroines yeah I want the good guys to win

and the and it prevail over evil. I think that's

something we all kind of hope for, especially

in this day and age where everything seems to

be bad news. Yep, absolutely. Do you have a my

parents got rid of my comics story? Oh, God,

yes. But they've been so generous to me since

I've forgiven them. But yeah, my dad, he wouldn't

do it often, but every once in a while he'd get

when we were kids like ticked. that the basement

was becoming a mess or whatever. Because me and

my older brother, we live in a ranch house out

in Menominee Falls, Wisconsin. In some parts

of the world, there are no basements, but in

Wisconsin, you have basements. And we would convert

them from basements into living quarters, which

was cool. So we were two typical teenage boys,

and we were slobs. And every year or two, my

dad would get ticked off. He's a mild -mannered,

happy -go -lucky guy. He hit his tipping point

and he would just scoop it all up and throw it

in the garbage cans while we were at school.

And I came home one day and all my comics were

gone because I was a pig and I was so mad. And

at the time, they weren't worth a lot of money,

but I would bring up to them 15 years later.

Remember all those X -Men comics that dad threw

away? He, of course, doesn't remember. I'm like,

I'd probably have enough to buy a house right

now if it wasn't for you. doing that. So yeah,

they did it a couple times. Then I got smart

and I learned how to box them and take care of

them. You know, he wouldn't do that again. They

were all put away. Yeah, absolutely. Once you

once you learn how to do that, it's for me personally,

it always comes back to and this is so silly.

The Berenstain Bears and the messy room. That

was the life lesson I got as a kid in the eighties

was don't make sure your room is always neat

and clean and tidy or else mama van popper bear

going to come in there and they're going to clean

it for you. Exactly. Just bring in the dumpster,

folks. And of course, then they found all the

other things I didn't want them to find. You

know, the the Playboy collection as a kid. I

found my dad's Playboy collection once and I

was like, wow. I was like 13 or 14. I was the

right age, obviously. But yeah, that was interesting

times. So what is one item from a comic book

you'd love to have in the real world, basically

functional for the real world that actually works?

Can I include Wolverine's adamantium claws being

part of my body? Uh as long as as long as the

doctors say you're not too old to have the surgery,

sure. Alright, I'll go with Doctor Doom's time

machine. I'd have a lot of fun with that. I'd

have a lot of fun with that. I'd do a special

too because I know all about the butterfly effect.

If I went back to the dinosaurs and I ate a you

know, worm and it reset the timeline, I'd be

very careful but I'd have to have that thing.

Would I save Abraham Lincoln? Gosh, that's a

tough one. I don't know. I mean, what would happen?

Poor Mary. Now they say he was. Did you know

that they've revealed recently that they can

tell by photographs of him the last year of his

life that he most likely had a very aggressive

form of cancer and that he was probably going

to die within the next year or two anyways. I

mean, that doesn't take away from what. No, absolutely

not. Yeah, what happened. it's interesting when

they can find these things out now but yeah it

just i i'm just gonna say it like Stephen Amell

says it and like everyone else says fuck cancer

i have seen in the last this is gonna be released

late late november of 2022 in the last two and

a half to three months i have seen more cancer

stories from people I know, from people I've

loved, from this, from that, and it just sucks.

Yeah, and I think just like peanut allergies

and, you know, lactose intolerance, a lot of

those things I just don't think were as diagnosed.

I hope it's not that these things are becoming

more prevalent. I think there might be more recognition.

I mean, we always had that kid in class when

I was in first grade was puking every day after

lunch. And we were like, oh, Billy pukes every

day. What a weirdo. Well, he probably was lactose

intolerant. We just didn't know it back then.

You know, or Jimmy keeled over in class one day.

Well, he had a peanut, you know, and we didn't

realize he had a peanut allergy. So I think they're

diagnosing more things now. And that's good.

I hope that it's just the becoming better at

diagnosing things, not that we're getting more

cases of them. Because people are living longer,

which is the good upside of it. Oh, Green Lantern's

power ring would be pretty cool, too, to have,

I gotta say. And I think I'd be worthy of it.

I think I would. And I think, Mike, I think I'd

make the right choices with that power ring.

Let's hope. What would be your ultimate construct

that you would want to make with it? Oh, his

power ring? Well, they're temporary, right? I

mean, they're... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Unless you're

consciously... What would I do with it? What

construct would I make with that power ring right

away? I think I'd make a... one of his big punching

bag or boxing gloves. And I go down to the court

systems now and just go through there and just

punch the hell out of her with that oversized

boxing glove. I think that'd be a lot of fun.

That's a pretty juvenile answer, but I think

I'd get a lot of anger repressing. Yeah, we need

a lot of juvenile fun nowadays, because like

you said earlier, I mean, this. This world of

ours now is so dark and it just it just sucks

It really just sucks and that's why when I do

these origins things when I do interviews It's

like I try to keep it as positive and as as you

know But you know sometimes you have to ask like

art like the question earlier about avoiding

comics or whatever else and things like that,

or getting it. So, you know, getting a story

of, you know, how, you know, if your parents

got rid of your this or that or whatever, that's

an interesting story to me because it means that,

oh, I'm, you're telling me something that maybe

you've told other people, but this is the first

time I'm here. Like, you know, I'm all about

getting the, the greatest stories from the person's

life that they can possibly give me in that moment

in time. Right. yeah so it's question 24 is i

mean i'm sure you have plenty of things that

you would love to be able to do but since you've

been in as a comic creator for over three decades

now i'm going to read question 24 but for you

it kind of seems redundant if you could create

any comic storyline what would you want to create

and what characters would you want to create

it with so basically they give you the keys to

the kingdom what would you do As a comic writer

you've already done some stuff but like as a

fan what would you want to do? I'd really love

for DC to give me that call and say hey man we

want you to take the reins. Even if it's for

like a four issue prestige format of either Batman

or Superman and do something I've got I've always

got these ideas and I've got Batman ideas and

I've got Superman ideas but those two are the

holy grail of comics even though I'm more of

a Marvel guy and maybe some of the Marvel characters

are more favorite of mine than those two characters

per se but those are Those are the temple characters.

Those are the holy grail I mean, let's face it,

they are the two that started all of this. And

if I had an opportunity to work on one of those

two characters, even if it was, like I said,

for a one shot even or a brief period or a run,

I would bring my A game. And I've got, like I

said, I've kicked around a few really solid ideas

with those two characters. That would be it.

If I got that call, everything else would stop.

I mean, OK, I'm going to rent a hotel room. where

do not call me do not email me for the next month

I am pouring every ounce of creative energy into

this storyline because this is the Holy Grail

and I'm not gonna screw it up the oh what was

it called it was it's so funny you mentioned

that you're Back in Wisconsin, Karen and I lived

in Gurney, Illinois, and the vacations we would

always take is to Lake Geneva. And we would always

stay at the Mill Creek Hotel, which is literally

right in downtown. It's that whole area. It's

just a great, great hotel. There's great stuff

around there. And yeah, that would be that kind

of like, you know, I'm just going to do this.

I'm going to start writing. I'm going to start

creating and just everybody just leave me alone

for a while. And within the next month or so,

you'll have, you know, whatever. Yeah, I'm so

envious of those other writers and stuff that

have gotten that call. I can only imagine how

their heart rate just immediately tripled. That's

a big deal, man. That is like getting called

up to the major leagues. I mean, that's very

exciting. So if anybody from D .C. is hearing

this. My phone number is. We went through that

off air, folks. It's not what he thinks it is.

It is, I swear. RichKazlowski .com. There you

go. There you go. Final question. What is the

one piece of advice you would give the comics

fandom? The comics fandom. Not somebody aspiring

to be a writer or creator, just a fan. Yeah,

just the readers in general. Well, other than

to buy all my work and cherish me. Boy, as a

fan, just love, love and respect this medium

and this culture and find out if you're a young

fan how it started, because like myself, I was

fortunate enough to meet martin odell the creator

of green lantern before he passed away and stan

lee and guys like shelly maldoff and buy their

works at those conventions the nineties. Cherish

and respect those guys and whoever is still left

there's a few left out there the silver age artists

and stuff go up and find them at the shows and.

and tell them thank you and buy something from

them and let them know how important they are

to you. Because even if you're reading Spawn

nowadays, Spawn started with Todd McFarland,

who started with Spider -Man, who loved Stan

Lee too. So everything that you're reading now

is because of those guys back then. And I think

we all owe them a huge debt of gratitude. Absolutely,

absolutely. Alright folks, we're gonna go to

a quick, quick ad break. We're gonna come back

to close the show. Rich is gonna tell you all

about all the stuff that he does and where you

can buy it, like he already mentioned his website,

but we're gonna get into all things Rich Kozlowski

right after this. Woohoo! Hello geeks! Want a

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.com. Hey, welcome to the last Comic Shop Podcast!

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Hi, I'm Dan, and I'm the host of The Rock Nerd

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and roll out and be sure to check out my content

till all are one. On the Simplistic Reviews podcast,

we talk movies. We talk TV. We talk... Hello,

Julie, what the heck are you doing? Trying to

make our spot sound more exciting by adding explosions.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you could've got the point

across with sound effects, not the real thing.

Come on, come on. Download the show on iTunes

or at simplisticreviews .blogspot .com. I'm sure

your insurance company will cover that. No, they

won't. No, they probably won't. Well, Batsy,

it's been a hoot, as always. But I really must

run. May the Floss be with you. Alright, folks,

not even the Joker could keep us down. We are

back here on The Pull Bag, episode 497. Mr. Rich

Kozlowski, thank you so much for taking the time.

Thank you so much for dealing with the Joker's

shenanigans and everything else that has happened

during this podcast. Tell us again all about

Farm System and anything else you want to talk

about. Yeah, Farm System brand new. I have copies

in hand, but it's technically not coming to hit

your stores until November 8th, 2022. I'll be

hitting the con scene hard in the next few months

and into next year where I will have the books

on hand. Again, it's a minor league system in

a nutshell, a minor league system for. superhero

hopeful wannabes where they get trained and taught

marketing skills and costume designs and naming

rights, all how to better themselves as a brand

so they can land the best deal possible when

they get called up to a major league superhero

team. So that's it in a nutshell. Very cool,

very cool. Alright folks, thank you for joining

us here inside the pullback if you'd like to

get contact with us to leave feedback for the

show There are several ways to do so visit the

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Twitter at geek cast radio for the network at

the pull bag for the I am at TFD one Mike Are

you even on Twitter? Are you not a Twitter person?

No, I'm always at least ten years behind the

times. I'm on Facebook I have my website rich

kuzlowski comm Yeah, but no no Twitter not yet

Someday Maybe someday when it's about to expire

whenever that is soon as soon as soon as mr.

Ellison decides to buy it Yeah, right. Like how

I answered the other name instead of the actual

name, huh? You can check us out on Facebook as

well, QCast, Purdue network, as well as the pull

bag. Next time. I honestly, I don't know. It's

probably gonna be an origins episode all as I

know all as I planned from when I started this

run that this road to 500 was I knew what episode

499 and what episode 500 we're gonna be So, I

don't know what you're gonna get next time folks

for now. I am TF2 and Mike with Rich Kozlowski.

Thanks you everybody for listening Absolutely.

Thank you for being on the show as always make

your greatest game to comics and we will catch

you next time You've just heard the latest episode

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So until next time, make your great escape into

comics and unleash the geek in you. You got a

catcher? Surely. A catcher's name. Today. Today,

tomorrow's 50. Now you've got it. Now I've got

it. I don't even want to... Oh, we got us a couple

of days on the table. I can't help that. Couple

of days. Don't get excited now. Who's getting

excited? Take it easy. Take it easy.