Interview with Bryce Carlson on Writing Hit

Hi, this is Lauren Lester, and you're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. You are now on

the inside of what I like to call the circle

of trust. We are all connected in a great circle

of life. You know something, Bert? I think you

and I are going in circles. It feels like we're

going in circles. The circle is not complete.

When I left you, I was but the third. Now I am

the last. Because it's a circle. Yeah, we heard

about the circle. Yes, we're familiar with shapes.

This is Greg, and also Greg. And this is Dan,

and we are Talking in Circles, brought to you

by the GeekCast Radio Network. As you heard,

Chuck is not here today, but it's okay, because

today we are very, very special guests, and yes,

that's two verys. He's an editor with boom comics

and also a writer His recent work hit will be

available on trade paperback form on december

12th And i'm very very proud to have brice colson

onto our podcast today. Thank you for joining

us today Great to be here. Thanks for having

me. Awesome. Awesome. I hope your thanksgiving

holiday went well It was it was uh, very gluttonous

and yeah, it was I've gained at least 10 pounds.

I'm pretty sure i'm still i'm still working my

way back into the throws of everyday normal life,

but I think I'm going to be okay. Nice, nice.

Yeah, I'm right there with you. Get the beauty

of two turkey dinners with the wife's family

and my family. So it's nice. So you got to take

advantage of that when you have a lot of family,

just like make it a total free food for for all.

Yeah. You're like, I'm not doing it for me. I'm

doing it for them because I don't want them to

feel bad if I don't eat. You got to you got to

rationalize the gluttony. It has to be done.

It's for them and it's for Americans. But yeah,

like I mentioned, you're a writer of I know recently

you've just been spending a lot of time in Comic

Con land, traveling the globe, seeing the world

through Comic Con. So what's that experience

been like being able to kind of see what the

world what the United States offers just through

Comic Con? You know, it's great. I ended up doing

a lot of cons this year, especially in the back

half after San Diego. I mean, there's a few that

I go to every year. Emerald City, San Diego,

WonderCon, New York, you know, maybe some of

the local shows like Long Beach or, you know,

Kamikaze. But, you know, this year I went and

checked out a couple new ones I'd never been

to before. I went to Baltimore, which was great

because I got to go to the Harvey Awards, which

was a really cool experience. And that show in

general was nice, especially, you know, I love

all the shows I go to, but that one's great because

it's very comics focused and... You know people

are there Strictly for comics rather than being

there for some sort of huge multimedia spectacle

and being like, oh cool. There's comics here

as well Yeah, so that was really refreshing as

you know, especially in September, you know in

the middle of two really big shows That was that

was nice. I went to Mondo con in Austin. It was

their first year Love that show those those people

you know, it's the people who run Mondo, you

know, they do the posters and limited edition

prints and they've been doing some some new cool

stuff like vinyl records. They did some stuff

with DC this year, but they did their their first

show this year and it was awesome to check it

out because it was super small and they did it

like on purpose, they wanted to make sure that

everyone got a chance to talk to all the creators.

And, you know, they really did a great job creating

this, this warm environment. And there's a bar

sort of like in the middle of it. So, you know,

that helps a little bit. I know, because I actually,

that's how I learned about your comic, of course,

at Baltimore Comic -Con and getting to speak

with you. I know you mentioned you even had some

opportunity to check out the confines of Cannon

Yards. Oh, yeah, my first night there, the Orioles

were playing and I was like, you know, I'm a

baseball fan. Well, you know, I don't give any

chances to go to Camden Yards and they were they

weren't going to be there for the weekend. So

I was like, I'll just go over there. I bought

a ten dollar ticket and cruised in. That place

is great. I saw I was there for maybe like four

innings and saw like two home runs and some awesome.

Catches in the outfield. I'm just like wow this

place is magical Yeah, that was our season this

year until you know we kind of got eliminated

in the playoffs, but you know oh well Yeah, I'm

an angels fan, so I know that all too well that

crash and burn Yeah, it was I mean, I don't know

the rails machine just couldn't get stopped this

year Yeah, I was that was a rough one, but they

get on your comic hit I know going through a

comic and reading it and looking at the history

of it What I found really fascinating about it

is that it's actually based upon a true story

that you heard from a former la police officer

And can you kind of go into that and like how

you came about this? Crazy story about police

squads and how what that was like like learning

about that history of the la police force Yeah,

I mean there's a ton of interesting history when

it comes to the la pd, you know, I happen to

just be listening to some old cop stories and

it was very much just a candid conversation of,

hey, you know what? There was a time when people

just sort of found justice in their own way.

They went out on their own. They made their own

rules and they did what they thought was right

at the time to get justice in situations. Thought

that was so interesting and as you dive deeper

you you can see so you can find so much of it

I mean, you know gangster squad came out Whatever

that was a year or two ago and that was about

a very specific intimidation squad Of the time,

you know, there there's been a lot done and written

on the hat squad Which was around the same time

which was another intimidation squad I realize

that there's another never anything that was

like hardcore like no, this is like hit squads

would go out and not just rough you up, but just

take you off the streets for good. There's definitely

a story there to be to be told. And it's it's

interesting because as you sort of look deeper

into it, and you see how this all sort of is,

oh, it's not still probably there's not still

hit squads or anything like that. But the LAPD

does have a special this section the special

investigation section the SIS which is super

small hardcore like they go out and they're the

ones who you know they watch someone rob a bank

and then they get into a gunfight you know out

in the street rather than than stopping the crime

from happening in the first place. that's rather

rather insane but it's interesting no doubt that's

kind of that is rather fascinating and you mentioned

like you mentioned gangster squad and a few other

works of fiction that have kind of used this

as inspiration as well. But I think what I really

noticed with Hit though is that, like with Genghis

Trotting specifically, it's very stylized, almost

like over stylized in a way, but with Hit, it

almost a little bit more grit to it. It felt

a little bit more real. Was that your intention

to kind of take that and really kind of ground

it in more of a reality and more of like, yeah,

this is actually more factual than necessarily

some of the other places that maybe have more

added a little bit more style to it? Yeah, you

know, that was a big thing that I wanted to focus

on when we were doing this book is I wanted it

to be genuine. I wanted it to feel real world.

I didn't want to make a genre mashup or anything

like that. I just wanted to do a straight crime

story and have it feel of the period. Because,

you know, for me, the 50s are such a cool part

of time. I didn't really want to like mess with

that. You know, it's already so interesting.

Like I don't need to add anything to that. Just

sort of let the world live and breathe in its

own way. Yeah, it's kind of like I kind of equate

it to kind of like Mad Men. That's very much

in that style of the 60s. So much of that of

like hit where it feels very much of the time.

And I like you. I love that style. I love that

genre in general. And then just like living in

that world is just kind of interesting seeing

how. how our perception of it and the reality

of it can be kind of different. But it's still

just a really cool world to live in. I feel like

at times I would, I was born in the wrong era,

because I have all that style. I can't pull it

off. But the style I find very fascinating. We

call that hipster or something if I try to pull

it off, but I don't have the frame for it, as

they say. Well, it was it was cool, because actually,

you know, I lucked out with Vanessa, because

she grew up grew up in Cuba. And, you know, they've

always been sort of a little bit behind. So she

basically grew up with still 50s style all around

her. So it was very, it was very easy for her

to tap into that to do a lot of the, you know,

the set dressing and the backgrounds and the

cars and the clothing and all of that stuff,

which was which was really cool because she was

able to really bring a level of visual authenticity.

that the book you know calls for and it was great

because you know I obsess over details and things

stuff that no one's ever going to notice you

know like oh what kind of guns were there at

the time and what kind of guns can have silencers

and you know was this car out yet or you know

had this team switch you know just paying way

too close attention to those things that no one's

ever going to ask me about but just for my own

Self -gratification sure is right. You know,

I feel like I owe it to the era Well, you never

know because sometimes people the amount of research

someone will do just worth reading something

They'll be like well that that style hat was

not quite out yet. But right Yeah, you mentioned

Vanessa and her artwork is really fantastic for

the book. It's very eye -catching I know that

it was her first book, which I find really insane

that this was her first like real Comic with

her work. It looks like she's been doing it for

years So, you know with hit and with the war

in general like atmosphere is obviously very

important in establishing that and how much Collaboration

did you have with her in kind of making sure

that you're the story that you want and match

kind of what she was she was doing I mean quite

a bit like the you know a lot of writers and

artists work in different ways but the way that

Vanessa and I were working together was that

you know I would do scripts and then would basically

give her the freedom to improvise or if she wanted

to change something you know if I had something

if I had a sequence set up as three panels and

she wants to do it as five or if i have something

as six and she won't you know she thinks she

can do it in two or something i was like yeah

go for it all you know i can i can go back and

and scripts around that because you know it wasn't

important to me that she have a voice in it especially

since it's her first comic you know obviously

i want her to have a good experience while she's

on the book because she's really passionate about

comics so you know that was a thing where I was

like well you know let's make this a good experience

and also you know it was my first time working

closely with an artist every anything I had done

before that was sort of you know sending stuff

into my editor and then they sort of takes you

know they show me some things here and there

but not really having a chance to have that collaboration

where like I turn a script I see Vanessa's pages

gives me a chance to re -script it so that she

is really putting in a big piece of the work

and the storytelling on every page. Yeah, well,

I think you can definitely tell that just because

they do match really well So you can definitely

see that I think each of you had It feels like

you're both being able to tell the story in your

own way And this is also your your first book

because I believe before this you've just really

been editing But this is the first your first

solo adventure. Is that correct? Yeah Yeah, everything

any other comic writing stuff. I've done has

been Just kind of smaller things or licensed

stuff here and there But yeah, it's my first

original series and, you know, really going for

it. Which, you know, and it was fun. I mean,

I couldn't have asked for a better experience,

both, you know, with boom and with Vanessa and,

you know, being able to do stuff like this is

super cool and still kind of weirds me out, you

know, that talk about this book. But, you know,

I'm stoked. Nice I could imagine so has this

been a story that you've had for a while and

finally you're being able to tell it Or was this

was something that has just come to you recently

It was I came up with the idea in 2009 and that's

when I originally pitched it So it definitely

had some gestation time a lot of development

sort of slow -cooked and you know got to and

also waited for the right artists. I mean I'm

a big believer in timing and things happening

when they should and it was like had hit you

know came out in 2010 or 2011 I don't think it

would have been the book you know that it is

I don't you know I wouldn't have gotten Vanessa

to be a part of it wouldn't have been able to

probably reach as many people just from the sheer

fact that you know Booms numbers and reach wasn't

than what it is now or what it was last year

when we did the book. So it was really cool to

see it all kind of come together in this way.

It definitely exceeded my expectations. Very

nice. Greg, I know you had a few questions, so

I didn't want to hog them. What were the few

things you wanted to ask? I was wondering, since

we've been talking about Vanessa a lot, I was

wondering how did you actually meet up with Vanessa?

How does a writer go about finding their artists

for in the comic book world? I did not discover

Vanessa. It was actually Daphna Plebin, who's

an editor here at Boom. You know, every editor

goes through the artist hunt. You know, that's

just part of the job where you're scrolling through

various websites and blogs and Tumblr and whatever,

trying to find, you know, new, exciting talent.

And she had found Vanessa's tumbler and some

you know, she had a couple pages on there from

just like some small short stuff that she had

done and so, you know, she reached out and contacted

her and we actually had her test for a different

series that she Didn't ultimately get picked

for but then when we were sort of doing a round

of artist consideration for hit right? Well,

what about? What about you know, we sort of like

we're like, you know if she doesn't work out

for this thing It would be cool to have her sort

of test for hit and see what she does because

her sample pages were super Noir and and awesome

and you know She did two test pages and crushed

it and they I mean they're published like they're

her her test pages are in the book. Oh cool What

pages are those? I believe it's issue one and

I want to say it's pages 12 and 13. It's the

it's the one page is where Slater and Sticky

are in Laurel Canyon's last page of that scene

where they're looking at the body by the pool.

And then the other page is the the guys doing

a hit in Santa Monica, right before they discover

the girls with the weed in their stomachs. Oh,

yeah, that's a very haunting image It comes up

every time like without fail that Page that she

did with the with the with the drugs and the

belly Busting. Yeah every time my mom was yeah,

she was like what is wrong with you? I could

see that maybe because I know at least recently

she's been doing art for the story, The Empty

Man. And I see like maybe someone saw that and

put her for that book, because some of the brutality

in that is definitely those who correlate nicely

together. Yeah, you know, it's it's interesting

because that was like some feedback that we got

when we were doing hit as people. You know what?

There's almost like at times it feels like horror.

you know almost you know in certain scenes just

because what Vanessa does on the page it's like

you said it's haunting it like kind of grabs

you and it takes you off guard because I think

it's approaching the genre like in some places

like in ways that's not typically done in in

comics you know a lot of crime culture just kind

of straightforward and awesome and a lot of blacks

but she finds a way to like twist things just

a little bit so it's off -kilter But along with

Vanessa, you were also blessed with a very talented

and actually a pretty well -known artist for

the covers as well. Yeah, Ryan Suk is one of

my favorites. I've always enjoyed his work. It's

another funny story because I was talking to

him for a while because I was just like, hey

man, I want to jam on something together whenever

your schedule is free. Let's do some covers.

And with Ryan, I was very much like, what do

you want to draw? Because I mean, Booms line

is very diverse. So chances are be able to find

something in the genre that he's most excited

about. And he gives me, you know, because I wanted

him for some other books, again, like higher

profile books, where I was like, hey, you know,

he would be great on this. And he goes, you know

what I'd really love to do? Like a historical

fiction. Story like maybe like some crime or

something. I was like, oh crap. He just pitched

me book like right back So I was like, hey man,

like how do how do I pitch you on my book without,

you know seeming too too self -indulgent and

he was he was he was stoked on it and he was

all about it and we just you know we worked on

some layouts and things together and he just

I mean he's amazing those all four those covers

he did just top to bottom yeah I especially love

issue number three with the car just lighting

up that that that gravesite and the shovels and

the couple on the hood of the car and everything.

I just thought that looked really great. Really

brought you in because it's so dark that in one

corner it just draws your eyes up into the top

left. But like you were talking about, pitching

back and forth to each other. I was just wondering,

what is the pitching process like if you have

a story that you want to take to a publisher?

What kind of stuff would you have to do to make

that happen? Well, you know, every every publisher

is different in how they handle submissions and

anything like that. There's some publishers that

have, you know, like like, you know, image. Has

a model where you know, you're basically submitting

like you're doing some work and you're submitting

your stuff You know, that's a little bit more

like putting together your full art team and

producing pages and things and sending that in

Some publishers, you know, they'll take you know,

one -page pitches or proposals for stuff You

know some places you you kind of need to like

know somebody to to get in So you're not sending

it on solicit submissions. It really varies But

you know, really, what I would say for anyone

who wants to submit stuff is to just do something

first, because most places aren't just going

to take blind submissions, but will pretty much

always take samples like no one's going to turn,

turn down samples of published work. And it's

a lot easier for an editor to look at something

that's already been produced rather than reading

a script or, you know, reading five pages of

world building and stuff like that. And ultimately,

you know, if you're if you're unknown, you know,

you that's what editors are going to want to

see. You know, anyone can have the great idea,

but are they going to be able to execute it?

So it's really like having having something to

show and then just staying in contact in the

community. That's the biggest part. You know,

take advantage of any local cons or any creator

communities in your area and just kind of work

it and build a network and you know it's one

of the things I love about comics is you know

you get to work together whenever your craft

is you know whether you're a colorist or a writer

or you know what have you like there are people

that you can start a community with and that

always always helps you know knowing someone

who knows someone and just being a part of the

you know comic book industry fabric just leads

to opportunities. Yeah, that's great advice.

I'm sure there's a lot of people out there listening

that would love the opportunity to bust into

comics and write something so great like you

have done and have a story in their minds like

you had that they want to get out there. Yeah,

it's also researching. Research the different

publishers, see how they handle that stuff, and

take stock of what publishers are publishing.

get a good sense of what their brand is. Taking

one idea to one publisher might not make sense,

but it will for another one. And it's also just

being willing to talk to any publisher and getting

excited about making colleagues. You mentioned

the previously but you did wear that hat as an

editor in Being that part would did that help

you out in creating your own story knowing that

you were in that role and Helping you write your

own or are those two completely different roles

that they really don't correlate to each other

all that much Yeah, I mean I didn't do you know,

you know, Eric harburn was my editor on hit and

But you know being an editorial for you know

as long as I had been when I started writing,

it did affect my process. Just because it's,

you know, you got to sort of break yourself away

because so you're not just like sitting there

editing yourself to death every page. You know,

for me, it was really cutting loose of like,

all right, just let's plow through. Let's get

some let's really let's write some bad stuff.

Let's write, write bad comics and go back and

then make it better, which As a process makes

way more sense to me, you know, coming from an

editorial background, because it's like, oh,

yeah, let's help massage this and make it better.

Starting with something I think comes a little

bit more naturally than, you know, just doing

that perfect page the first time I write. I'm

in no way a first draft writer. I applaud anyone

who is. But yeah, that's that's not the I'm a

big rewriter. If I have time, I love taking a

couple days just to sort of clear my head and

then come back to it fresh eyes. And I really

try to not be precious with anything. You know,

if there's something that's, you know, I like

to stay open to like, you know what, this isn't

working. You know, maybe I like it. Maybe there's

something a clever piece of dialogue, but ultimately,

like it's not the best service of the story.

And then, you know, and I think that goes into,

you know, why I was able to work with Vanessa

so well, too. Because if she changed something,

I didn't take it personally. I wasn't like, oh

no, you're killing my baby. I was just like,

let's make something new. Just being up for change

and making it a little bit more of a free flow

jam as opposed to a sausage making context or

something. Though I think she could probably

draw killing a baby really nicely. That's true.

That's true. I have no doubt. I know with like

the you know hit is very much within that genre

of noir and crime and with that genre like Similarly,

we mentioned horror. There are certain tropes

and certain Expectations going into it. I was

curious as a writer How do you kind of stay within

those tropes? But also not like be beholden to

them making sure that you know, this is unique

but also True to the genre that you're writing

in. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know crimes always

been my favorite genre, you know I started sort

of my recreational reading with James Elroy a

long time ago, and that kind of just spiraled

me down into the crime hole. So, you know, those

were always my favorite movies, too. Like, you

know, the detective and the mystery stuff was

always an interest of mine, so I spent a lot

of time with the genre. Which I think just was

like it's it's easy for me to sort of like tap

in to some of those tropes when I you know the

thing to be mindful of those like You know, am

I repeating something that I've read somewhere

or that I've seen, you know, like that's kind

of Where it gets interesting and I you know,

whenever I am writing or like when I was writing

hit I wasn't reading any crime stuff. I wasn't

watching any crime stuff because I didn't want

to like accidentally pull something without knowing

it. I'm always worried about that. And it happens

all the time because you don't think about it.

Oh, you know, it'd be cool. Is this twist right

here? And you don't even realize that it's something

that you just absorbed. So, you know, that it

is it's a it's a tightrope for sure. But I think

for me, I always look at it. I'm like, even if

it feels a little bit familiar, I'm like, but

if this is if this is the story, like as long

as it's fits the story and I'm doing it with

my voice and it feels unique and I'm obviously

not doing anything with malicious intent then

I you know I feel good about it I'm pretty sure

I haven't ripped anyone off intentionally Yeah,

besides that might be some there might be some

familiarity just because of the genre. But yeah.

Well, yeah, but you can also take something,

twist it and make it your own. Something that's

out there as long as it's something a little

bit different, a little bit just making it yours.

Totally. There's only so many stories you can

tell. I mean, exactly. I think there was that

old line what they're like 12 different plot

lines that you can tell. And just playing within

those that really make something unique and Within

him. What do you think is like the unique factor

to it that makes it different from other crime

genres films or comics? Well, you know one of

the things and people bring this up to me too

Which is like I you know, I did it with a third

person narrative narrator an omniscient narrator

That's not in the story. You know, it's not Slater's

voice. It's not any other characters voice It's

just this the sort of all -seeing perspective

I think that just felt true to me to the genre

and especially some of some of the older crime

authors Were you you just you followed these

detectives and it wasn't from their point of

view It was someone who was leading you and it

was just someone who had it, you know I was just

joking recently about how like the narrator of

hit is way cooler than I am. Just like cooler

than anyone I know. I'm just like, man, that

guy's really cool. I don't know what you know

what his deal is. But you know that I think that

plays into it on the writing side. I you know,

I think obviously Vanessa makes it unique. There's

just there's no one else doing a crime book right

now who who quite does what she does. I mean,

yeah. If you look at her raw inks, if you look

at when she adds in the toning and stuff, she's

doing things in a way where the genre is not

being approached that way in other places. So

it's really kind of a double -edged sword that's

just coming down on the genre and trying to make

something cool. And we're having fun with it,

which is what's really important. Something that

I thought was really unique was the ads that

you had in the back of the book that kind of

tied into the story. Yeah, those were fun. That

was something I wanted to do. I think I originally

just wanted it. I was like, oh, let's try this

in the first issue. That would be really fun.

I thought it was really fun. It was one of my

favorite parts when I got towards the end. I

was looking forward to reading those. Yeah, you

know we did we did a couple a couple things differently

with it that we sort of never done before You

know one of them we had done like ads and back

matter I'm a big fan of like in -world stuff

that sort of continues beyond the comic and we

also we did a treatment on like all of the like

normal boom studios house ads and stuff to make

it look a little bit older to fit with everything

and it was like the first time we ever you know

did anything like that we're just like oh you

know what let's just throw some grunge and some

some fades and stuff to make it all feel like

it's a an older comic it's also like the you

know is the first comic we we printed on all

matte paper instead of gloss which you know the

feel the feel of the book when you hold it is

actually feels more like an old uh you know crime

book or something So you're trying to take us

in at all different levels? Yeah, you might as

well embrace it. For me, it was like, all right,

well, I got one sort of, you know, shot at this.

So I want to I want to do it right. And have

fun with it. But yeah, those ads were a blast

getting to, you know, write that ad copy is it's

a it's a good little exercise for, you know,

trying to be quippy and ridiculous, but also,

you know, make it read like an ad from the time

and all that kind of stuff. But then they also

really tied in with the story as well. I forget

exactly what it was. I think it was the explanation

of some kind of cleaning agent or something about

cleaning up. I forget her name at this point.

I'm terrible with names. My memory is terrible.

Bonnie, that's it. was cleaning up after the

crimes and you kind of mentioned it with the

name of the cleaner. And then there's just a

whole bunch of innuendo in there that you can

kind of see as you read the story. And I just

wanted to get to the end so I could see what

fit into where. That's awesome. I mean, yeah,

they were a lot of fun. I just tried to, you

know, find these these little moments in the

story that could be accentuated. I mean, Maybe

I'm wrong, but I always felt like those issues

were relatively dense. There's a lot of characters,

there's a lot of story and plot points going

on in different things. So it was cool to sort

of like grab these moments and play with them

in a unique way afterwards. Was that the same?

Because I noticed... Greg's talking about the

back of the book, and I noticed in the front,

the very first page of the hit series is you

have like a little clipping from a newspaper.

I couldn't tell if it was actually from a newspaper

at the time or if that was just potentially put

there just to kind of set the stage of the fact

that this was based on some sort of reality and

that this was factual. Was that also kind of

playing into your theme of like adding in all

these different layers? Totally. Yeah, the inside

front cover. That design is based off the LAPD

police bulletin that used to go out to all the

cops. So, you know, basically just got that design

sort of just like recreated in our way that would

make sense for credits page. But yeah, that's

what it's based off of. That's what it's meant

to be. Like you're getting the little download

the same as, you know, if you were an officer

getting your morning briefing or something like

that. Very interesting. So yeah, I did like all

those little touches that were added to kind

of make it Feel like you were part of like a

world that was you know ongoing and moving. That's

good. That's good to hear One thing too. I know

like like I mentioned there does feel like a

world that is Ongoing and there's certainly a

lot here to top into is is there any chance that

we'll see more from You know hit in the future

beyond just the four issue series Well, we just

yeah, we just did the pen and ink that came out

the trade, you know comes out next week. And

there's actually a original prose short story.

That's all new that's going to be in the trade.

That's about Bonnie. That just kind of picks

up her story after the series, which is a fun

little add on and that's, you know, a little

extension of the universe. But uh, yeah, I you

know, I I would not be surprised if if you hear

about you know Something more with it in the

future Interesting interesting. I know beyond

it too. You've you mentioned being able to write

for different licensed properties and I know

recently I think you did a story for you and

like a venture time for the Halloween special.

Yeah. Yeah, I did two adventure time stories.

I guess that was last year Yeah, I did the one

in the spooktacular with Fraser Irving who's

you know, I've known Fraser for a lot of years

and and work with a little bunch of stuff and

You know, it's kind of like hey, man Like would

you be down to do a really weird and creepy Adventure

Time story and he's like absolutely and it is

like one of the creepiest Adventure Time stories

I've ever seen because his art is just frightening

It also women with drugs in their stomach and

that that was that was like the best part is

watching um anytime people were talking about

hit and they were bringing me up and they were

like trying to attribute a credit like the most

relevant credit was adventure time so it was

always awesome to see these things they're like

oh yeah you know Bryce Carlson's doing this really

gritty crime series and it says adventure time

in parentheses i'm just like oh god yeah that's

that's great Hey, I mean you can make anything

you know, it's you know, I've I've never I get

like kind of made fun of a lot from different

friends, but I've never really got into the Adventure

Time world. But I know I know there's just a

huge popularity there. And it's kind of it's

rather interesting because I know Boom has a

lot of great licenses and especially with like

Sands of the Sons of Anarchy and Planet of the

Apes and things like that. So it's quite interesting.

Yeah, it's it's fun to get to work on all kinds

of different things, for sure. And I know you've

been there for quite a long time Like what's

it been like being able to see boom kind of expand

in the last like five or six years? Oh, it's

a trip man. I mean I started a boom in tooth

in April of 2008 and at that time It was tiny.

It was small operation. I mean I came in sort

of just As you know, I came in as a temp, you

know, they were doing the Warhammer license at

that time and they had this huge order that had

to go out. So I came in because I needed work

at the time and it was it was a steady gig for,

you know, it was two weeks of work every day.

And I was like, I'll take it. You know, when

the recession was kind of gnarly and yeah, just,

you know, really worked my ass off. And they

brought me on as the executive assistant. So

and then you know gone through that so I've really

been able to see it from all facets and what's

most interesting to me is that in all the ways

that it's changed and progressed and moved forward

um the same spirit and philosophy is maintained

I mean it's crazy to I mean when I started I

think there was only maybe I don't even know

if there's 10 people in the office. And now we've

surpassed that by a ton. And still, it's like

you come in the office, it's very warm. Everyone's

very excited about comics. There's nothing that's

changed with that energy that's in the air, which

is super cool. um but at the same time it's crazy

to see the the successes and things and the stuff

that were I mean if you would have you know told

me back in 2008 that we're going to basically

have a first look deal with with Cartoon Network

with any new properties that they're putting

out and that Boom's going to have a first look

deal with 20th Century Fox. I just feel like

you're crazy. You know, that's that's nuts. But,

you know, here we are in 2014. And, you know,

that's just kind of a little bit of the puzzle,

which is which is fun. It's exciting to come

to work every day, which is which is rare in

Los Angeles. You know, like I meet up with a

lot of friends who just, you know, bitch about

their jobs for, you know, an hour. And you're

like, oh, yeah, I really like my job. I'm the

weirdo. Yeah, I mean I myself like I I think

my first introduction was into boom was probably

irredeemable and And then I you feel like I blinked

and now they have just all these great books

and You know from suicide risk to like all these

different, you know different stories that I

always felt like I feel like they take ideas

that Margo and DC are afraid to do and they do

them and do them really effectively like with

deathmatch I felt that was a really great idea

that that I wish like why aren't more people

doing this? And I don't know. I feel like they're

they take more risk. I would say yeah, definitely,

you know, we like to do stories of all different,

you know, shapes and sizes. And, you know, personally,

like, I love being a place where someone can

be like, hey, you know, I'd never be able to

do this and another publisher, can I do it with

you? Like, yeah, let's do that. That sounds awesome.

You know, being able to even have that ability

and that freedom is cool, because there are a

lot of, you know, stories and like, you know,

suicide risk and death match are perfect examples

of like, of things that, you know, like, you

know, People want to do do that stuff, but you

know, they're not gonna be able to do it, you

know with big mainstream superhero franchises

So it's cool to be able to have the opportunity

to do it here Boom is all about So there's anything

you right now that you're currently reading that

you you you've really got into you know, either

inside of boom or outside Yeah, I mean, I wish

that I always wish I was reading more. And that's

just, you know, how it is me get busy with stuff,

but catching up on so much. But I've been I've

been really enjoying Southern Basterds. Oh, yeah.

I mean, Jason Aaron and Jason Latour are a fantastic

team. I've been just loving that. I mean, I've

always been, you know. a Jason Aaron fan. So

I just I just love that he's doing other things.

And I mean, this story especially is just feels

like something different for him. But he's, you

know, he's nailing it. You know, Brubaker and

Phillips are doing great stuff off the tail.

And I need to catch up on the fade out. I've

only done the first issue, but. Yeah, you know,

I tend to just kind of pick up things like here

and there and I mean the the boom stuff like,

you know, dead letters is a great one that I

enjoy from Chris Sabella and Chris Visions. It's

a really fun one. Hext is cool. Obviously Hext

sort of already was a thing back in 2009. I think

it was. from Michael Allen Nelson. It was actually

the first book that Emma Rios ever did in American

comics. But this new artist, Dan Mora, who's

on it is phenomenal. I mean, he's just this guy

that no one's ever heard of who's insanely talented

and just, you know, ripping it up. But what else

was I just reading? that one summer that was

a graphic novel I picked up recently yeah well

I mean my pile is bigger than the hours in the

day that I have for it but you know something

from everybody Yeah, you always have that like

I have this huge pile of comics that I bought

and this pile that I've read That's like, you

know one quarter of that because it's always

like you said it's hard to find time Now there's

so many great books out there. I mean there It

feels like every publisher is is putting out

something awesome that I want to read which is

great You know, that's a testament to to the

industry, you know doing well and having a Wealth

of creative right now Definitely and I think

even see people like, you know Brian K von who

did like the panel syndicate doing their own

like outside of the different companies It's

there is so much like you said just to try to

take in it's hard to start to keep up Which is

a good problem I have but still I need to catch

up. I think I'm a couple stories behind on the

private eye But yeah, that's that one's great.

I mean, that's so cool Yeah, and that's that's

or actually kind of got me into the the danger

to all the digital comics because it's like I've

been really hardcore and we've talked about it

in the podcast a few times just like the digital

verse the physical form and You know what it's

what it's the how there's something about owning

a comic Physically compared to digitally, but

still there's a convenience level of digital

comics. That's harder than I Within comics, you

know a big huge aspect of it The popularity has

certainly increased with like the huge rush of

of comic book movies and things like that And

I definitely feel like hit has a cinematic Mindset

to it in some ways like would you would you ever

be in favor of seeing an? Adaptation of hit outside

of that of comics whether it be like TV or movies

or anything like I want to be opposed to it You

know, I think you know that would that would

totally be cool I mean, for me, I'm always, you

know, my passion for it is the comic, you know,

the story that I tell or, you know, the way I'm

approaching it as a comic. And, you know, I think

my attitude's always like, hey, if something

happens at some point, like, awesome. Like, that's

kind of, you know, just great for everybody.

But yeah, you know, I'm always trying to just

focus on the comic and doing the best one I can.

Are you working on anything else currently be

besides it or anything else you have coming up

in your future? I'm working on something that

hasn't been announced yet But I think it'll be

announced this month. I'm pretty sure What you're

saying and that's what boom is yes Well, definitely

be looking forward to that But yeah, I definitely

I mean I do again. I appreciate you coming on

here I think I think I took enough of your time

away from you came me. That's the best way to

start the week, man Yeah, yeah definitely I mean

I am a little bit jealous that we're getting

a snowstorm tomorrow and you're out there in

Los Angeles I'm sure you guys have what a low

of 50 60 degrees. Yeah, I think we might get

a drizzle tomorrow, too Yeah, you'd be surprised

I know we mentioned that hit will be available

on trade paperback form on December 10th so if

you probably get that your local comic book store

But if they wanted to keep up with you keep in

touch with you know, whatever you have coming

down the pipeline How could they do that? Yeah,

you know, I'm on I'm on Facebook. I'm on Twitter

My handles Bryce are Carlson do you know most

of my updates are through Twitter and then you

know for for hit There's a hit Facebook page.

I think it's just slash hit comic book That has

some updates here and there, some extra looks

at art and stuff, which is always cool, letting

people know about when the collection was coming

up and things like that. But yeah, I guess that's

probably the easiest way. That's where I live

online. Like I said if you had had the opportunity

go on and check out hit like we mentioned it's

a great comic book I've talked about it even

before brush was on because that's kind of why

I wanted to get you on the podcast because I

found it really a Fascinating story once I read

it. I try to get Greg and Chuck to read it to

him. You should probably read this comic It's

really actually did read it even though it didn't

sound like I did since I was forgetting names

Hey, you remembered Bonnie's name. It just took

you a sec, you know, I noticed To be to be fair

Greg Forget my name. I forget a lot of people's

names. I seriously wanted to start calling you

Brian Cranston at the beginning of the podcast.

I have the comic right here in front of me, so

I remembered. Because I keep going, Brian Cranston.

No, that's the dude from Breaking Bad. That's

not right. I wouldn't have been upset. I would

have taken it as a compliment. I figured you

would. Good storytelling, acting, good storytelling,

acting through us later and all the others. Yeah,

yeah, you just have to shave the head sell some

math and you know get any nickname Heisenberg

and you'll be us another weekend You know, there's

a license. I'd love to see I'd love to see a

Breaking Bad comic I'm sure that that's a there's

some potential there if there's not oh, yeah,

definitely I mean the show was was amazing now.

We got better call Saul coming up. It's very

very excited And they just released a trailer

or like a teaser trailer not too long ago, and

they're bringing back some of my favorite characters

from Breaking Bad. So you're a fan of Breaking

Bad? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's a good

time. But yeah, thanks again for joining us and

check out his stuff and check out Hit and other

Boom comics that we've talked about today. And

overall, there's a lot, like we mentioned, a

huge variety there from hit stuff to more mature

and adult comic books. That'll be it for us for

this week. We'll be back next week same time

same channel same podcast feed But for now, this

has been Chuck and this has been Greg or P This

has been Dan and we've been talking in circles.

We'll see you next week I remembered more from

the thank -you pace that I did from everything

Because I'm like who is he I want to know who

he is I am so this weekend was very rough for

me. Yes. Yeah I'm a Giants fan. So I you know

giving the Jaguars the biggest comeback of the

year their career their franchise history is

kind of Yeah, that's tough. So I think I would

have taken that over the 52 to nothing blowout

But yeah, that was that was like the one thing

like wow, so The jags won a game today and the

raiders lost. That's exciting. Yeah They're chasing

that number one. Yeah, exactly right now we're

doing our job right now Yeah, we could be like

the buccaneers and you could be a game away from

winning your division or game away from getting

the first Oh god. Yeah, that division is just

garbage. It doesn't make any sense And they're

gonna get a home play. Yeah Yeah, there's gonna

be a team that has home field advantage For the

first round that has a losing record Yeah, and

probably six wins, which is crazy and I'll be

the same and I'll probably win there. Yeah Yeah,

well that was Chuck's pick I picked the Colts

that was my pick Me too I picked the Colts and

the Colts and the Eagles because I figured that

way, if I'm wrong, that's okay because I'm not

a kid. And like everything, I forgot my picks.

I'm not surprised, Greg. I forget everything.

He doesn't forget it. I was glad he remembered

the podcast. I did. I had to ask what time it

was though. Time zones can be tricky.