INTERVIEW: Danny Earls

Hey there listeners, this is comic book artist Danny Earls and you are listening to the Oblivion Barre podcast. Welcome to the Oblivion Bar podcast with your host Chris Hacker and Aaron Knowles. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 180 of the Oblivion Bar podcast. I am Chris Hacker, one of your co-hosts here and joining me, we are back everybody, my BFF, Aaron Knowles. And we're back. And we're back. And we're back. Aaron, we are officially back for 2025. We have taken our month off.

We are refreshed. We're feeling good. We're looking better. How are you feeling? I feel back. I feel back. that a... Are you doing Will Ferrell from SNL? I guess if the moon were made of cheese, would you eat it? That is one of my favorite skits of all time. Same, same. Especially the fact that Jeff Goldblum in that, in that skit, like he's like looking around, he has no idea what the fuck is going on. It is one of my favorite skits of all time. Let me ask, what's your favorite planet?

I don't have a favorite. I find them all fascinating. They're all part of a... Mine's the sun! And I just love Jeff Goldblum in general. So it's even funnier to see him kind of. It's my birthday. My birthday. Hi, everybody. Well, like we said, we are officially back for 2025. We're excited to bring you another year of things related to comic books and movies and television and video games and anime and all things related.

And we're starting off 2025, Aaron, with, I think, one of my favorite brand new artist in the industry. I say brand new. He's been around since 2023. But this week on the show, we are talking to Danny Earls all the way from Ireland. We just spoke to him a couple of moments ago, a little peek behind the curtain. And I'm still just reeling from that conversation. How just what a guy is. Right. Yeah, it's again, it's so crazy to see how people rise quickly.

Like once they get discovered in this industry, like this guy just a few years ago was playing, you know, professional soccer. And then now he's like drawing like covers for the big two. And it's incredible and his work is incredible. And if, and you know, we're going to cover during the, during the discussion, lot of his, you know, work past and present. And I think that people really need to check out what this guy has done and what he will continue to do. Uh huh.

Yeah. If Danny Earls is not on your radar, please place him there and actually put him near the top of your list, because I don't think there's anyone that does covers quite like Danny. And he speaks on it a little bit in this conversation about how his work. doesn't really look like anybody's. says that humbly, of course, and we're saying that humbly, but let us brag for him. He is one of a kind, like truly his. And I say it in the conversation.

He's got sort of this, you utilize his like silhouettes. He's got this visual hierarchy where he will center what he wants your eye, where he wants your eyes to go. And then has this like huge landscape or like these buildings or what have you extremely detailed. It's just, again, it's like nothing else. It's like a mixture of like Chris Somney. And, Akira Toriyama. don't, I don't know.

Like it's like, he's got like a little Akira in him, but he's also got like a little bit of Somni Magnolia in there somewhere as well. It's hard to describe him because of his unique qualities. Cause generally you have these comic nerds who are artists. Yeah. You know, but he is an artist at heart who is a comic nerd.

Like this is a guy, like when you hear him talk during the conversation, he talks about like really loving what he's drawing, whether it's scenery, whether it's graveyards, whether it's, you know, like silhouettes against the moon. Like you hear that and his artistic terminology like chiaroscuro shading and his origins, Tony is so just unique. Like he is again, he, Chris, you said it. He is one of a kind. Yeah. And it goes to show that the path to comics has many roads.

If there's not one surefire way. to get into comics. There are many people who have gotten into it in random ways, whether you're Robert Kirkman and you lie about what the walking dead is and then you eventually become Robert Kirkman. Or if you're Brian K. Vaughan and you started off at the Stan Hatton project and you were an intern at Marvel, or you're Danny Earls and you approach Gail Simone at Thought Bubble and show off your portfolio. There are many, many ways to do this, folks.

And Danny and his story and his work deserve highlighting. So we're so excited to bring this conversation to you all. Before we get there, Aaron, as we alluded to a moment ago, we took a little bit of a break. We do every single year. We take off January, sort of recharge, reshuffle, do all the things. How was your break? What did you get into while you weren't, you know, listening to me berate you, you know, about the podcast?

Honestly, January was kind of a blur because again, mid December, I got in a hit and run. And, you know, because of that, I've had to do like some medical stuff. but I am starting off, the year with a bang. You know, I did release my, my book. I released, you know, my, book on AI and it's called the algorithmic frontier that is available on Amazon. I am also starting, I am pursuing a certification in meditation instruction. So, that's something I'm excited about pursuing.

And then also looking at potentially getting back and streaming for the show. But one thing I'm really excited about, especially for the grid is some great, cool functions of Riverside that I'm hoping to really use to invigorate the grid, our Patreon exclusive show. Yeah. People don't know we use riverside.fm for our recording here. I don't know people know this or not, but Aaron and have done, I think, two episodes in person. Is that correct? Yep. Every other episode has been remote.

So if you think that we sound like we're right next to each other, that's a nice little illusion for you guys. That's the magic behind the scenes. The the where the where the powerful Oz behind the curtain pulling lovers and releasing smoke. But during my break, Aaron, I just kept doing things with the podcast. I just kept doing things with the show, which I'm still very excited about. I want to start doing more with YouTube.

I think that's sort of my big takeaway at the beginning of twenty twenty five is that. We don't utilize YouTube well enough and I want to change that. be on the lookout for that. you're not following us on YouTube, check out the link in our show notes. There's a lot of that there. And speaking of show notes, everyone, if you want to support the show, check out patreon.com forward slash oblivion bar pod for your support. You could have access to the grid. Aaron alluded to it a moment ago.

It is our Patreon exclusive weekly bonus podcast where we let our hair down. We let our freak flag fly. We removed the filter and we just talk about. Whatever we want to talk about. What did we talk about last week? Do you remember? I believe we spoke about wasn't that one episode 150? It was 150. And it's available for everybody if you want to listen to it. So we talked about Jason Aaron and his TMNT run. The funny thing about the grid.

And I'm going to say this because it's a little bit of a distractor from me not remembering everything we talked about on the grid is we always talk about it being 30 minutes of a show. but it's always like 48 minutes plus. It's just us hopping on camera and talking. And I apologize, Aaron.

I remembered as I asked you that to remember what we talked about in the grid, but you have self-proclaimed that you've got bad brain and sometimes you got a bad brain, you know, and, that'll happen sometimes you can't always remember things, but I do recommend that folks go and listen to that free preview of the grid. is on our normal feed. That's you get every single week over on Patreon.

You also get Episode transcripts the things that we use to record the episodes you'll get a chance to look at those you get patreon polls Aaron guys finger up What do you got we talked about Captain America brave new world and our excitement for it? We did that we did and we on the count of three on a scale of one to ten How excited are you for Captain America brave new world one two, three seven. Look at that.

It's almost like we you finish the others Sandwiches, that's what I was gonna say Once again, patreon.com forward slash oblivion bar pod. Go check it out. If you want more of what Aaron and just did right there. Without further ado, unless Aaron, you have something you want to get into our conversation with Danny Earls. A bad back, bad back, bad brain, that great face. Huh? Someone argue. It's arguable. Debatable. All right. Let's get into this conversation with Danny Earls.

And now, this week's special guest. Joining us today is the 2024 Ringo Award winner for Favorite New Talent and the artist behind recent projects like DC Horror Presents, Darth Vader, Black, White and Red, DC's Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun and the ongoing Incredible Hulk series with writer Philip Kennedy Johnson. It's our absolute honor to welcome all the way from the Emerald Isle, Danny Earls. Welcome to the Oblivion Bar podcast. Thanks a million Aaron, I appreciate it mate.

Thanks for having me, Chris. I'm looking forward to a good chat, man. What an absolute pleasure it is to get you finally here on the Oblivion Bar podcast, And we'll talk about it a little bit more here in just a bit about how we all sort of first met, because I think it's really interesting to the conversation. But I think I want to start off sort of at the beginning, if I can. I think at the beginning here, we'll talk about a quote from January 4th.

2023, and this comes from comic book writer Gail Simone. She tweeted this. says, okay, dear editors at DC, Marvel, Image, Dynamite, and elsewhere, I'm about to do you a tremendous favor. At Thought Bubble, a gentleman brought me one of the most astonishing portfolios I've ever seen in 20 years of cons. His name is Danny Earls, and this guy can cook. His art was amazing, and it looks even better in person. I asked him if he would do some sample pages of sequentials so I could show them around.

I just got them this morning and holy bleep. So since then, since January 4th of 2023, it seems like Danny, you have been on a meteoric rise in the comic book world with your covers that masterfully utilize silhouettes and visual hierarchy or your interior work, of course, like Aaron said over there with Philip Kenny Johnson at the Incredible Hulk. So Danny, this is my long winded way of asking you. How did you decide to get into comics and what sort of forced you to pursue this career?

It's funny you read that tweet. I hadn't read it for a good while. I'm paying Gail royalties and every checkout make just goes straight into Gail's bank account. like, thank you, thank you, thank you. She's amazing. What a vouch to get. Gail is just a phenomenal person. sure. A really quick story on that. I'll go back to it in case you don't mind. I was going to knock out at Gail's table. I was at Top Bubble.

I tabled with Rory Coleman, he was kind enough to let me table with him in Top Bubble two years ago. I am no one but I was no one then and it was like he was just kind enough and people coming to the table, I like, it was funny one guy came up to my table right and it was like this is pretty much, just before I broke in he was like can I see your art? And I'm like yeah mate of course and most people were pretty complimentary and one guy came up and he was like see that art. It's not for me.

And I was like, right. was like, I'm to show this guy. I'm to show this guy. So. What a dick. Walk away. No, no. Listen, it's like it's subjective. Right. I don't mind that. I had a good laugh about it. But I was going to leave the con that day and I was like, it wasn't dejected. I had a great time. was just tired and I seen Gail's table and I was like, that's Gail Simone. I can't go to Gail's table. She's like, she's way too big. Who am I? And I was like, you know what? I left the convention.

I left it. And I came back in at the door. guy's like, do you have a band? And I took my band off. got it off the ground, rubbed it in my pocket and I was like, look, I have it, I have it, I wanna go back in. And I went back in to Gail and I went up and I was like, listen, like trembling. I was like, would you mind taking a look? Like really quiet. She's like, speak up, I can't hear you. And then she, don't happen. She's like, honestly, not just that, she's so kind anyway, like just in general.

But since then, behind the scenes and everything, she's been like, I mean, like, like just a rock, a star. I've had so many questions for her. She's like pretty much taught me along with other people, like the whole industry, the internet, because I didn't have it. I didn't have a clue what I was getting into and she's been amazing for me. But yeah, listen, sorry, going back, that was on the side. Going back, there was all the stuff. I obviously played football. grew up in Ireland.

I loved comics and stuff growing up, but football was my absolute love. Like adored it. That's all I taught about. That's all I did. And I was lucky enough to go professional in football. When I wasn't playing football, I was drawn. Do you know what mean? But it wasn't like, if you had a Vassie back then, it was football, not comics, you know? And that's kind of... Sometimes I think that might hurt people's feelings in the industry. I still adore comic books, but I love football as well.

And I was like, it was weird because now it's cool. Like you see football is now at Marvel tattoos and back then I like had comics in my gear bag and I was like, I can't show these. People are like, what are you reading? I'm like, don't worry about it. We remember those days Danny. We remember when it was like, when it wasn't to love these things. Now we have podcasts and MCU and all the things. I was like somewhere in between. I wasn't cool either, but like I still played football.

Like when he's a popular, I like, I was good footballist. are like, he's cool enough. but I'm like reading comics, so I'm like in between. I always tried to like merge everyone. was like, guys reading comic books, guys playing football, let's all come together. So yeah, then I went away to England when I was 16, moved away. So I've been like pretty much kind of making a living since I was 16 and luckily enough to do it professionally.

And I mean, my kind of thing to say is when I got comic books, I'm so lucky that I've worked hard at both things, but I'm just lucky that I found two passions. Not many people in life are lucky enough to find one. I'm just grateful that I have that, you know, so. When I kinda was playing football in America, I was like, okay, I'm gonna have to do something after. And I always wanted to draw, I didn't know what it was, whether it was like animation or kids books or whatever.

Then I walked into Barnes and Noble one day and found Hush, Batman Hush. And it was like, just seen the comic section of Barnes and Noble. I always make the joke of like, it's like the Bruce R. Moody film where it's like, hi. Like the heavens just opened up in this comic section. I was like, what is this? I'll never forget. It was like I was 20. I'm not sure what age I was. No, was younger than that. I must have been 19.

I knew comics, I read comics growing up and stuff, but I didn't know there was sections dedicated to it in shops, because that's not like it is now. I literally sat there for five hours on the floor with a million comic books. And I was like, I cannot believe this is a thing. And from there, I just put a structure in place on how to kind of get to talk to people and get to know comics and kind of learn the industry kind of from the bottom up, you know? Well, it's funny you say that.

I love the inclusion of your football career because we actually had a point in our transcript, our questioning here. about that football career. And actually, I want to go back and play a quick clip here. Let's go and get to that. The flow of things offensively, ball taken away. Now, do you remember that moment? Do remember that kick that was just played?

Do you know what, mate, when you don't see the video and you play the commentary, American commentators, you don't know what sport you're watching. like, that's not football, That's out of space. He's like, is he talking about? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I do, mate. I do actually. That's been played quite a few times. That was like in Pittsburgh, I think it was against Toronto, it might have been. Um, one of the very few goals I scored my career, mate. So was lucky to get that on camera.

looks like I scored goals at that every week. didn't. Well, and you were, cause you played defense, correct? I played midfield mostly, mate. It was defender and midfield, but mostly midfield. Gotcha. Okay. Well, Aaron, I don't know if I can speak for you here or not, but neither one of us have any knowledge on soccer or football as it's known everywhere else. Aaron, do you have something? That's wrong. I grew up playing soccer. I was, I was a defender. I played, you know, I played goalie.

I played right wing. I played it for plenty of years. didn't know you were athlete, Aaron. You wouldn't believe me looking at me now. My shape is not conducive to a right wing player, but I have points that I want to argue with you, but also that I appreciate that you have a Aaron, I'm Irish. Be careful. We could be here all night, mate. I'll argue with anyone. That's fine. Let's go grab a couple of Guinnesses because I love Guinness and we'll talk it out, man.

Especially next time you're here, you're here in New York. We're going to go out for a Guinness or two. But the one thing I love about, especially like society these days is, I think I've told Chris this before, is that it used to be, you used to walk through a parking lot and you'd look at the back of cars and the only thing you would see were like sports teams. You'd see football, you'd see baseball, celebrities, all this stuff.

Now you walk through a parking lot and it's like, you know, the Triforce, see like, know, Stickers, Doctor Who, see all this, this nerdy shit. So it's cool to be nerdy. and, but I understand the facade of having to walk into a probably a locker room with your comics stuffed in there. So you don't get stuffed in a locker, you know?

So I find it interesting that you have that almost very interesting perspective of being an athlete who reads comics, especially when we have these days, we have celebrities like the, I think it was Jake or Logan Paul, one those guys walking into his boxing match with a million dollar Charizard card around his neck, you know?

So it's okay these days to be a nerd, but When you came, when you kind of like transitioned from, you know, in full time into comics is I guess I'm assuming now it's full time comics. Like what was that feeling of kind of stepping away from? there a was there a transitional time or what was that emotional emotion like going from athlete to I mean, you can still be an athlete, but you know, artist. Yeah, it's a good question there. And people kind of ask that a lot.

You know, to be honest with you, I don't watch a ton of football myself. I watch it like a little bit, but like I rinsed my football career. 15 nearly nearly 15 years out of my career and I every day I tried as hard as I possibly could. Do know what mean? So if I hadn't have done that and give it me all, I would probably have a few hang ups and thinking, I could have get more.

But it was that I kind of tried to coincide retiring from football and going into being not quite a full time artist, but like enough to get me by. You know, I didn't make a ton of money in my football career. So. Some people kind of think that I had all this money saved up and just took time off and being an athlete. wasn't, I still working. came home and worked, my sister owns a gym and I worked in the gym for the last five years. I still work in it now.

I work a couple hours a week still just to kind of help out and not kind of just leave her in the lurch a little bit, you know? And I love the gym. gets me out of the studio. But going from that, I'm very like disciplined. That's kind of, I'm not, when I talk about being creative, I'm not very kind of airy fairy with that. I don't kind of think creation hits. I'm not a genius. I'm not Alan Moore or I'm not Frank Miller, right? So what comes to me comes to me through discipline. that.

That actually helped me with my football career. So everything in football has to be super disciplined as an athlete. And I just tried to transfer that over. said, listen, I know how to train. I know how to try to get better at something. Can the same thing be applied to artwork? And I literally just done that. I kind of considered drawing and practice training. It was like, you don't get better at something unless you train it. And I literally just kind of transferred it over.

So it was actually brilliant. You might think that I'd miss football. I'm still working out kind of every day as much as I can and keep things going that way. But it really worked out great having that. first career to bring me into comic books, to kind of also do like long days and kind of just stay in it. It's not necessarily loving things every day. didn't love every day in my football career.

You kind of have to wake up every day and say you don't love it, but the discipline is to bring you there and just make sure you do it. And then you find ways of loving it in your day. What little parts can you take from your day that you do love? You know what mean? Like when I say that I love drawing comics, but it's hard work and it's long work. But I absolutely love that. There's something in me that like loves kind of sitting at a desk for.

and kind of produce something at the end of the day and say, okay, that day was fulfilled, you know. So I had that in my football career and then being able to kind of deal with criticism or whatever kind of bumps in the road. Football taught me a lot to bring me into the comics career. You wouldn't kind of think the parallel that they have parallels like that, anything to be professional or to be somewhat successful, quote unquote, whatever success is for you, you have to be disciplined.

And that kind of taught me that in the comic book world, you know. I love that approach. Somebody similar, as somebody similar, you know, I retired from the army last year. And I've kind of, you know, had to completely change my perspective as I enter like a new phase, a new chapter of my life and the things that I want to do, whether it's creative or just anything. So I find it awesome that it's almost the same story, just kind of, but completely different with athlete and creativity.

Cause you're, you're right. You have to take that discipline and those morals and values that you've learned in your previous career, such as you for soccer and apply it to what you do now. Do you find that those those pieces of discipline that still kind of ring true in you. Is it helping you with your timelines, with your, know, your suspense dates of having to turn in like, you know, art? Is that helpful? Yeah, like discipline. Like I have no innate artistic ability.

Like, mean, that I'm not like people are humble. Like you might see someone like Alex Ross that like is humble. I have none of that. mean, like I cannot draw. I couldn't draw a stick figure growing up. So anything I have now is only down to discipline. Like I mean, it's like I kind of have like, generally you're younger, you say you're 19, 20, you're talking with your friends, you have these like grandiose dreams of what you're gonna do when you grow up and stuff.

And then you hit a certain age and it's like, okay, now they're talking, that's the stop, right? And I have a tattoo on my arm, it's the only tattoo I have, and it says, will separate us. And someone told me that and they're like, what that means is like, when we're all on on like a deathbed, right? It's like, you'll either have talked about doing something or you'll have done something.

And like, I kind of got to a stage where it was like, right, I talked about wanting to be a comic book artist and doing this. It's like, okay, at some stage the book stops with you, you have to either do it or you don't. And when we, when we're both lying on a deathbed, it's like, there's my work or there's what you talked about doing. So that kind of like draws me every day where it's like, it sounds a bit cynical. It's not, I love it more than that.

But like I adore, it's become my passion, like my obsession. Like it's all I think about. It's all I want to do. Getting better at drawing is all I ever think about. But the discipline, it wasn't there to start. Like you're drawing for two hours a day, then you go to four hours, then you go to six hours. You have to teach yourself to do that. Like it's not, I didn't just sit down day one and start drawing for 16 hours. You know what I mean? It's like, you have to teach yourself to get there.

in the process along the way you get better and you get more discipline and it becomes more fun because as you get better drawing becomes more fun because you can do more things so like it's it's kind of like a snowball effect when you get better and it becomes more fun you want to do more of it and see how much better you can get so it's kind of an infectious thing and that's where the obsession comes in and like do i have like probably a healthy lifestyle as in anything else

No, I'm happy with that. Yeah, I'm okay. I'm doing well mentally. Like it's good. I have a fiance. We love each other. I have a great family. I see everyone. So like I'm happy with my life. Do know what I mean? It's like I work all the time, but it's not work because I absolutely adore it. It's long hours, but I don't consider it work if that makes sense, you know? Yeah. Yeah. 100%.

And not to compare podcasting to doing Batman covers for DC, but you know, Aaron will be the first to tell you and a little bit of context. I also was that nerd that also secretly played Pokemon and read comics on the side. know, I played football, like I played American football in high school and it was a big part of my life. And I left that nerd in me. I left it away for a bit. Came back to it in the army when I met Aaron and Danny, I'd love to get your thoughts on this.

I approach the podcast like this. I approach any sort of creative venture like this, where there's a little bit of ego in me where I'm like, come on, man, like they did this. I think you can figure out how to do this. Now do it. Right. Do you feel like that at all in your like in your creative process? Do you mean like order podcasters? You kind of comparing yourself to order podcasters? Is that what you mean, Chris?

I would say just in quality of anything I do creatively, not just with the podcast, you know, also it's his philosophy. He sees something that somebody else is able to do and I can I can I can speak to this and Chris, I'm going to I'm going to elaborate on what you're trying to say for me here. He he sees the quality of something. of what he's doing and he sees somebody else or hears somebody else doing something and he's like, ours should be that or better.

And he is unstoppable when it comes to meeting that and then exceeding it. Chris, Chris has that discipline. that's like, I think it's the key, right? Like you always, you always think you're the hardest working person in room until someone else works and it works harder than you. You know what I mean?

So like mice talk about like, I'm sure we could add like a polo and stuff, like you said, Chris, but like, When I first broke in, I listened to an interview with Capullo on Kevin Smitney, talked about how much you worked. And then I seen the quality of his work. So I latched on to him and it was more so for it. I love Greg's style. He's unbelievably incredible, like a comic book artist, but like more so his drive and discipline. I set my sights on that.

for me, was when I wanted to break in, was Greg Capullo, Jim Lee, John Paul Leon, all these people. I was like, I got to reach that. If I got to break into comics, that's where I have to reach. So like I didn't even look around. And not in an arrogant way at all, I just didn't even take notice of people around me because I was like, I'm not that I'm not worried about you, that's not what I mean. It was like, I'm so focused on trying to hit these guys. So like they're at the top, right?

So like I'll never like those guys are Mount Rushmore. And like that's all I'm ever trying to strive for. I'm my own biggest critic, like at all times. I said recently to someone, it's like, don't like over 300 pages for Marvel and not one page I've ever been happy with, right? Like. They're the best I could have done. I poured my life and soul into them, but I still look at it go, I can do better. Right. So I love the process of drawing. That's why you have to love the process.

But like I'm always thinking I have to be better every single time. Like every piece I do, I try to work on something tiny. If it's a muscle in a neck or a leg or a rock or a texture, can I get better? And I'm always trying to compare it to the greats of the greats of the greats. So like, agree with you, Chris.

It's always like, I'm not sure technically how like kind of podcast and stuff works, but like technically those guys are like... levels ahead so it's like there's always that room to get better like and when I say my own biggest critic it's like that's the one thing in football and art it's different sometimes in football where you're taking the likes of Moby and some Frank Miller out of this equation right because they're just geniuses that are like Mike Mignola on a

different level but like in football there's certain attributes that will hold me back if I'm not tall enough if I'm not quick enough if I'm not fit enough there's only so much you can control do you want to mean if I'm if I'm five foot I'm nine, but we'll say 10, right? And if I'm playing against like a Ronaldo or a Didier Drogba, I can't do so much against their physique. in comic, I said to myself in comic books, like the ceiling is what your ceiling, what you want your ceiling to be.

Like obviously to an extent, but like I will be as good as an artist when I die as I made myself. And I love that feeling. Sometimes that terrifies people. I'm thinking, no, let's rinse this. And like the kind of super power is comic books are amazing. I adore them, but like I just want to be a better artist and let's just. a better storyteller all the time.

like when I hit, like I said, it sounds a bit dramatic to where I'm talking to you about death beds and legacy, but it's like, how, how good can I be by the time this runs out? know? Sure. Yeah. And I, you know, I have, I sort of live my life in the way of, I'm definitely not going to be the smartest person in the room when I walk in, but I can, I can decide to be the hardest working. And that's how I always approach any of this.

And since we're kind of already on the topic, Aaron, I'm going to pass the baton off to you because I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Todd father and Mr. Greg Capullo as well. Well, before I ask this question, there's one thing that I just want to address with you and your art style and how you could you keep kind of talking about yourself and like a negative light a little bit. him be humble. Let him be. I'm going to I'm going to let him finish. But I'll let you finish. Let you finish.

But all I want to say is this is it's easy to see, especially hearing because the first time you know, you and I met and we'll talk about this later on is the first time you and I met was at New York Comic Con this last year, 2024. you know, Christian Ward introduced us, but before I'd even met you, I'd heard your name many, many times during that, like that weekend already.

And people walking around with your prints, people walking around with pages from your book, like talking about your xenomorph work, all this stuff like, like, and, I didn't even realize to be honest, cause I, again, I don't have a lot of knowledge about comic writers, artists, things like that. But I had seen your stuff before. And one of my favorite things that I had seen, you actually had drawn one of my favorite panels in like possibly 2024.

it's the DC Horrors Presents Number Four, where you draw the Joker in the Catwoman suit, like laying on the bed. It's so iconic and it's so like uniquely. your style. when you read, like when people look at your art, like it's easy to see that it's your art and it is amazing, especially going back and looking at things like Hellfire. It's you have such a unique style and it's so like you have such a good variety to it. I'm We'll talk more about that later.

I just wanted to gush over that one panel a little bit real quick because I'm not going to send you a reference picture for that, right? God. We'll talk about that. I will be your best friend if you ever send me anything about that panel. If you have an original, I will buy that one. That means a lot. Those words mean a lot. Thank you very much. No problem. But let's talk about what Chris was alluding to, which is you really haven't been shy at all.

And we've brought it up several times in this conversation already. about you admitting that creators like Todd McFarlane, Greg Capullo have been like huge inspirations to you. And Chris and I were huge fans of obviously both of those more private Greg Capullo, think. But you've even posted awesome really, excuse me, you've posted some really awesome photos. I wanna say it was New York City Comic-Con 2013.

You snagged this picture with Greg Capullo and I think it's in the foyer of the Javits Center here in New York. I kinda wanna talk about that meeting Todd. meeting Greg Apullo and kind of the operatic scale and the use, your use of shadow in your work. It feels similar to kind of their style, something they do very well. And are they like heavy inspirations in your artistic voice? Or would you say that your kind of inspiration comes from different sources? Yeah, it's, you know what?

People kind of ask me to nail down that bit. And it's a tough question for me. Like I'm influenced by so many people, right? But like, Obviously, Greg is incredible and I love Spawn and I love Todd and what they do and stuff. I don't draw anything like them. Like they're like the way they kind of drew from Image and 90s and stuff like not Greg and Image, but like those books are incredible. like I didn't funny enough, I didn't learn from comic books how to draw. Right.

Like when talking about meeting Greg and stuff like this is like someone. Think about like me in Ireland, right? Like my family in Northern Ireland, one in Ireland knows anything about comic books. it's like, this is like, so when I get so kind of giddy and I don't hide that at all, I don't care. I tell my editors how much I love this. People are like, you gotta hold this stuff close to chest. And I'm like, nah, I'm drawing Batman. Like I don't, I love this. Do know what I mean?

It's like, I I show it and I try, I love being enthusiastic and I love when editors are as well. And like, I try to make it come across my work and stuff, you know? So meeting Greg Capolo is like, It's weird because being in football, was like I was kind of, not grandfathered in, my dad was big in football and I was always my grandad, so you know the rules of football. I didn't know anything about comic books.

So to have that picture of Greg back then to meet him, my fiance came last year in 2023 to do a comic con. I came in, I tried to kind of play it down as tabling beside Greg and she was like, look who you beside. And she doesn't know any big comics, she just heard his name a million times. She was like, Jesus, who is that? So like those moments, I don't shy away. I love those moments. This is why I do it for like, why wouldn't I get excited about that?

You know, it's like, and it's not this weird thing where it's like, you're a weird pedestal. Like I just adore them and I adore the work and I'll never kind of shy away from that. But as far as the influences, I learned kind of how to draw traditionally through like the golden age of illustrators. I've done that course. it's like, it's like a seven folder course, right? Like Austin Briggs and all these kinds of guys, real technical artists. So that led me on to John Paul Leon.

And then seeing John Paul here, John Paul can like, used to like steep everything in shadows. I just, I love that language of comic books. Like, like say take Mobius writing like his Western books, like Blue Green stuff. There's no, he's an absolute genius, but I would way prefer read a look at John Paul Leon or Mike Mignola comic book because of the deep shadows. That's what I, the Kira Skoura is what I kind of fell in love with comic books for.

And having the confidence to be good enough to kind of get. Understand why to put shadows places where that was what kind of made that was what made me grow up It was like right you want to do this and if you my older stuff I kind of flirt with it and I'm like, oh that looks cool. It doesn't look right.

So to be a consummate Artist coming in comic books for me It's like placing those shadows correctly and having it like having confidence in a big black bold strokes like being confident in place and blacks because it's if it's not right It looks not right, you know, so it's really important for me to do that So John Paul Liam, but then obviously those guys like to pull out dude, like definitely like we're influences, but it was all about storytelling for me, aren't funny enough.

was like, right, my artistic ability a couple of years ago wasn't where I wanted to be. It's still not. I still have way like so far to go. But if I get if I'm a good storyteller, at least then I can maybe get a job in comic books and work on my craft and work on being a draftsman and being like fundamentally good at art. But then kind of my art got somewhere where I wanted it to be. Like I said, I'm still so like so far away from where I do want to be. But in talking about styles.

I suppose, I'm not saying my style is unique, because that's very kind of an arrogant thing to say, I don't mean that, but it doesn't really look like anyone else in comics, because it's not learned from comic books, if that makes sense, you know? So like I haven't kind of looked at someone the way someone connects their shoulder to a tricep or something like that, or to a bicep.

So it's kind of my own voice in that respect, but there's a ton of people that do ink washes and a ton of people that draw the way I draw. It's just kind of me picking from all these different places and then... being, I suppose, confident enough in my own ability that I know the human body to be able to put it on paper how I see it, if that makes sense, you know? Absolutely.

Let me just compliment you real quick, because I want you I don't I'm going to gush a little bit just whenever I get the opportunity. I'm Irish, mate. I wear my compliments here. I can't can't do it. don't do it with compliments. Let me just give you one more in your creator owned Hellfire. There's this scene where you used I forget I can't pronounce it. Todd. I'm not sure how to pronounce it.

So there's a scene where he like looks around and he's like in the dark and it's like this, use a lot of the dark dead space around him, but there's shadow on his face. Like you're shadowing that. And then there's a scene above the church with the skull in the cloud and the lightning storm. Like you nail shadows so well, even, with this book so early on. I'm just saying you like, you're just going to keep getting better.

I, and I, and Just to give you a compliment on the shadowing since you mentioned that. No, thanks. Sorry, Chris, you're going to say something. Oh, I was just going to build off that with the batwing in front of the moon. I think that was the Catwoman story. Some more thing, like even though it's not, I guess it is kind of a shadow of the batwing, but incredible work. Like what a great way to showcase that without, it's basically just a cutout of, you know, the batwing and the moon. It's great.

For sure. Thanks, mate. Yeah. I feel like that's that's the beauty of comic books, like learning the comic book language. You can have things that just look cool. you know what Batman looks cool. Anytime you draw him, like, how can he look the coolest? at all times, you know? But understanding compositionally then how that reads, that's what fascinates me. How can you arrange an image into something that looks pleasing to the eye without someone actually knowing why it does?

But my favorite genre is horror. I love it. It's just, I could draw that stuff all day, every day. watching those movies growing up and if, the way I would describe my work, if someone said, they feel the atmosphere. That's like the biggest compliment to me, because that's my job done. That's all I want someone to feel is like, they feel like they're there, they feel the atmosphere of everything.

So like, that's all I'm ever trying to capture really, like anything else, like gestures and anatomy, hopefully is correct and looks great. But the feel of something, it's like something in tangible that you can't really put your finger on, like why you feel that way when you look at it. If I can capture that, that's like, and horror with all the black shadows really lends itself to that. So it's kind of understanding where to place everything and making it feel right, you know?

Well, since we're already here, let's go ahead and get into the conversation of horror because since 2018 when Marvel launched Al Ewing's Immortal Hulk, it feels like the horror centric status quo of the J giant has just been constantly building. And what you and, you know, Philip Kennedy Johnson, good friend of the show, Nick Klein, what you guys have done with the Age of Monsters there with Incredible Hulk is sort of in the same vein, but I found it really refreshing.

And it kind of feels like. every three to four issues is almost like a mini arc, which I really love. I want to speak specifically about the Frozen Charlotte, which was your first arc in the Hulk. actually, brag, I have a page of your work from that run and I love it. So let's start off with how did you meet Philip Kennedy Johnson? How did you guys first connect? And without giving too much away of sort of the overarching story, how did he pitch this run of Hulk to you in that moment?

Yeah, the first thing I want to say is go is like the It's super important for me. Like that's Nick's book, right? Like Nick Klein's book. It's like he, he is, my God. Like talk about an artist like, he is so good. It is not even funny. Like a year before I got on that book, issue one came out and I went straight to my comic book shop that day on the Wednesday. It came out and I picked it up. was like, this is the book that I need to read. I seen this transformation scene in the preview pages.

I'm like, this is my favorite book ever. Right. And it's like, You're right, what you said, Chris, it almost reminds me of Hellboy where it's like backcountry America, like Richard Corbin's Crooked Man. It's like, it feels like that. Like it's not like Al Ewan's. It's a little bit more kind of condensed than that. But there wasn't any pitching here, Chris. I got an email from Marvel and they were like, want to draw a Hulk? And I was like, yes, in three seconds.

I was like, capital yes, thank you. And then I went to New York City Comic Con and Will Mossey, the editor, up to me and he introduced me to Philip. And Philip said he was a big fan of my work. And I was like, That's a bit of a thing as well where it's like, now I'm getting more used to it when people kind of come up and say, oh, Danny, but then I was like, what do you mean Philip Johnson knows me? What are you talking about? It's like, yeah, I'll work on your book, but you don't know me.

You're only lying. lying. You don't know me. Exactly. like, he's a good actor. He's a good actor. now Philip, like, so then to kind of like working on that book, when I say Philip's the man, he's like a brother for life now. Like genuinely, he is. We've got a long story where I forget, almost forget comics, like just like as man, Philip is like. He's exactly what I kind of look for in a fella like his character and all that. He's amazing.

But as a creator, for my first kind of ongoing at Marvel, Chris, it was like a dream come true. He'd ring me and say, hey, what do you want to draw? And I'd be like, monsters looking cool. He's like, cool. And like he would like just run over and buy me. He talked about New Orleans because I used to do these cool graveyard warm ups. And he was like, do your graveyard stuff. And I was like, oh, Honestly, Chris, I'm not joking. It's like people talk about comics all the time.

I love drawing all this backwards horror stuff. I'd prefer to draw that over cars and stuff, right? But every book, I know with comic books you have to draw everything, but every book was cooler and cooler. I picked the next two issue arc and I was like, are you joking me? I get to draw ancient Persia. It's like, what is going on? This is the coolest gig. I wake up every day and get to draw a monster thousand years ago. like, this is ridiculous.

just working off of him and like... I was super conscious to always give Nick credit because he has built everything and like he, Nick has been like phenomenal to me. He's a real good friend now as well. And we talked to each other and sent each other pages and that kind of both seeing pages back and forth. The first time I sent an issue on for the whole great, the next day Nick sent me his issue and I was almost my editor.

I was like, Hey, can I have my issue back and spend another month on it please? Exactly. But now it's a phenomenal kind of relationship that we built. And hopefully me and Philip, I'm not working on the Hulk anymore. Hopefully me Philip are working down the line now on something else. But it was just a dream come true for Nine Issues. Guys, I know that sounds probably cliche, but it genuinely was. I got to draw monsters and Hulks on my favorite characters and the transformations.

It was just a dream. It was a dream. Yeah. Yeah. It's funny. Weird sidebar for Aaron and I here at the Oblivion Bar. Philip Kinney Johnson was our very first interview during episode 25. Yeah. When we first started the show. first 25 episodes, we were starting to get into the interview game. You we wanted to start talking to creators. Why else would we have a reason to be able to reach out to you folks, you creative geniuses out there and have you on the show, talk about your process.

And, know, obviously, as you know, Philip Kenny Johnson was it was or is still in the army and Aaron and I, met while we were in the army. So that was like an immediate thing. And he was about to start Alien and Superman at that time. So we wanted to get him super early on before he got a flood of interview requests and all that. And it's just been it's been incredible to see him sort of take on all these new characters, new story arcs and just absolutely kill it.

And, you know, to kind of build off what you were saying there, issue 20 and 21. I want to say the 20 just come out or 20 just came out. Correct. 21 just came out. Actually, 21 just came out. Twenty one's last issue for you. That's issue. The whole thing. Yeah. Yeah. Do you know what, Like, to be honest with you, it's a bittersweet. It's like a. kind of moving on now and I have other things in the works, but mate that book is like, it's almost like Nick keeps sending me the issues.

I'm like, man, like I could have drawn that book for 10 years. You know what I mean? It's like, was such a fun book, but like, listen, that's comic books and the nature of it, you know, and it's Nick's, it is Nick's book. I always, like I was supporting Nick on it. And how can you compete with Nick anyway? There's no point in even trying. So just do your best and just stay afloat, you know, but I had so much fun on it.

And I think, I think we did create something because of the kind of chemistry with us are we created a cool little kind of run of issues there that really kind of hopefully I don't want to say standard tests of time, but hopefully fans like anyway, know? Sure. Sure. And this most recent arc is the, uh, that werewolf by night storyline, which is the wolves of the old world. And, um, I want to take a step back. We sort of got on this topic a little bit and then we moved on to the Hulk.

I want to talk a little bit about. like horror specifically, horror, horror, you know, you it like you've gravitated more so to the horror genre. Of course, Aaron and I spoke on it, but Hellfire, which was your first creator on work, it was through Don't Tell Me, Don't Tell Me. was a road comics. That's right. Correct. That's right. Yes. And which is out of print. I I had to scour the dark web to find these these pages, which I'm happy I did. It was awesome.

But I want to ask you sort of broadly. What is that relationship to horror like for you? Where did it start? Why is it so important to you now? And you know, is it something that you have grown into or did you immediately love? It's something I'm really passionate about, When I say something I love, I was terrified as a kid. I walked around terrified, scared of my own shadow. I what is going on here? Why? I had to grow up quickly because I left home when I was 16. So I lived on my own quickly.

it was like, there's something to kind of actually deconstruct all that to something in. I think most Irish people's DNA, but definitely in my DNA, that innately has a, I don't know if it's due to the Catholic guilt of the church, but Catholicism runs through Ireland and it still does, but we were raised in that. We were raised Catholic. I'm not anymore, but we were raised that. It's constantly, don't do this or you're going down there. Don't do this. It's like you were terrified, mate.

And you always were kind of, it's what old wives tales, the band she was creating in Ireland. when you look at all these things that Halloween was created in Ireland, like there's a real DNA in this country of in Celtic kind of mythology of all this stuff. I think- You guys have some of the best lore, the best like crypto lore. It's amazing. Like some of your, some of your horror, like, like what do call them? Like the old like, like wives tales and the old just like legends.

Like you guys have some crazy ones. I've been huge into that for years. But it's amazing. I mean this from the of my heart. You could meet an Irish man that's 60 and as stoic as they come, goes to work, goes home, goes to bed, and he believes in the Banshee. It's this weird thing where it has a hold on people. There's a story going up in my town.

About 10 minutes down the road from my house, we used to walk to school every day, and there was this big old down-lick pillar outside the house, there was always a Banshee. There must have been a cat or something that lived close by but the Banshee was always told to be sitting on this pillar and we used to walk home from school and as the winter comes in and it gets dark, about four o'clock it'd be kind of dark and you're thinking, I can hear that Banshee. It had to have been a cat, right?

Or it was the Banshee, I don't know. don't know. Or it be the Banshee. Exactly. But it's like those sort of things ring true with me. And then to create Hellfire it was like... I just love like the atmosphere anyway, like the kind of dark spookiness. I could have it rain 24 seven and be the happiest man on the planet. I love it. Like I love that type of weather anyway, candles and all that sort of stuff, know, but Hellfire, never forget.

I went down to Hook Head is where Hellfire is based, right? It's an old, it's a peninsula down in Wexford. called, it's Hook Peninsula. So my, mom was from there. been there three times and every single time I'm not, it sounds like I'm being a comic book artist and creating this whole story. It's not, I used to drive over the line from Wexford to Hook. and there'd be storm clouds and it would not be storming. I'm thinking this is insane like every time. And there's an old haunted house there.

It's called Loftus Hall. It's like the oldest haunted house in Ireland. And I went to visit there and there's an old kind of legend that takes place in Hellfire. That's the legend I tell in that story. So it's technically like a real horror story. Now apparently the same story is told all around Ireland. I actually didn't know that at the time of writing Hellfire, but it's an old kind of again, wives tell us scare kids and stuff.

But that's, was like, have to, I There was something just compelled me to, I was like, have to write about this. Cause I felt as well, there wasn't enough Irish, there's not, there's amazing writers in Ireland, like literature and young kids and all that. Like there wasn't enough horror that I was like really latching onto.

It's funny cause there's a lot of Irish directors now that are doing good horror films in Ireland, but I didn't feel there was enough kind of like mythology and lore that built on from our old kind of mythology, you know? So I kind of tried to bridge that gap. And that Hellfire is like planned for 18 issues. I'm actually talking to a publisher now to kind of, I want to deal with that. Like that's, that's really- You just took the question out of my mouth.

was going to ask you, I'm going return to it. Thank you. you. Definitely. It's like- I need to know more. At the moment, it's obviously big two work is like super important. I love those characters because I love working on them, but Hellfire is like right at the top of my list. I'm desperate to finish that. I feel like I have, like it's, it's a, when I, it's a scary story. It involves kind of monsters. It involves witches. It involves- Catholic Church in the Vofs Ireland. So, do you know what?

Whether it's compelling or not, it's compelling to me. It's something that I want to tell. And it's it's almost like cathartic doing it. It's like, get rid of the Catholicism in me. It's like that stuff. There's like, build up that guilt, that shame. It's like, get that on the page. It's like, right, we're done. I shout to my mom and be like, look, this is what you've done to us. You did this mom, you. Exactly. Exactly. See that monster getting his throat ripped out? His throat ripped out?

That's cause we were raised this way. Oh, that's good. But yeah, no, it's just it's in my DNA. To answer it broadly, it's in my DNA, I think. I'm really happy to hear that you're continuing that. Yeah, that's awesome. That's good. Same because that was that that story like as soon as I did not. The one thing that I was like so bummed about was like to be continued. I'm like, where's the rest? Where's the rest? When did that come out originally? Was it it 20? It came out five years ago, Chris.

That was the book. The reason I drew it and wrote it because I wanted to.

write that story but I wanted to teach myself comic books every aspect of it like writing and drawing editing like I don't know how I'll book myself and that's I kind of wanted to date they always said like you want to learn comic books learn everyone's job so you can be a good cog in the wheel rather than kind of a standout you know so I wanted to be the donker what to say to pick a comic book the hardest thing but nothing I've ever done in my life mate because I hadn't a clue how to do it

I could do it now in 30 days because it's 30 pages back then, mate. Jesus, it was a slog, but I'm glad I got through it. It showed that I could finish something anyway, so it was good, you know? Quick question. Sorry, Aaron. I just had to ask this really quickly. I've always heard that the hardest job in comics is lettering. Do you find that to be true or was it something else? I found it fun.

I'm sure as a letterer, and that doesn't work with an artist maybe that like isn't kind of in sync with them. I'd say it's super hard and they get no time, right? Like they're there to last at the last. It's so hard. But I found it really fun actually, Chris, to try and figure out how to... I would redraw issue one actually, we're talking about the publisher, I'd actually do it in my style now. But I found it the sound effects and kind of make it the whole comic book language.

Like Willow is just a big influence, the way he kind of incorporates everything together. I found it really, really fun. But in saying that, I had no deadline. I'd that book in like two years, mate. So it's like if had a deadline, I'm sure I'd be like, I hate lettering. I feel like like that's kind of like an ass backward approach because I feel like most artists, most creators in the comic industry don't start off with their own creator own thing, like wanting to learn all of it.

Like that's something they take on later on. But I think also that speaks part in the pun volumes of your dedication to the industry into the artistry of creating comics. So I, you know, I, you know, I'm I admire that dedication. So, so well done because again, to even do it, it's like so well on the first go is, is completely insane. I don't want to speak like a man.

Like if anyone's trying to break in, cause I'm still feel like I haven't, I'm still trying to kick down the door, you know, but like the biggest thing is the editor has always said was complete something. You have to have something complete. So I would bring, I drew hell fire to show to an editor. That's essential. was a glorified portfolio, but I also had sample pages. So I brought it to shows and was like, here's a comic book I completed. There's 30 pages, wrote it, lettered it.

drew it, everything. But also here's your characters in a sample page. And that's like, oh my God, I couldn't tell you how much that stood me in good stead with editors. They were like, this guy is serious. They took me serious. know what mean? It's like, and that kept the line of communication open. anyone if there is anyone listening that maybe is trying to break in that I think it's the best thing you can do. And it teaches you the importance of finishing something out.

Cause it's always at the start. I'm sure you guys are the same maybe as a writers or artists. It's like an idea is like, oh great. And you're flying at 30 % of the way you're like. I hate this. I don't want to complete it. And then the last 10 % you get that back and it's like, I'm back again. You know, so it's just about seeing something out, know?

Yeah. And I love that you're saying this because like, I'm looking at, know, your Twitter right now and you've got this iron giant commission on here that you posted yesterday and it's already got like 21,000 views, 143 shares. And it's just like, He's like, Oh, I don't know if I, if I've broken do it. don't know if I've made it, I don't know if I've done it right or not.

You got people all over the fucking world talking about, know, your, your commissions and your, and your portfolio and your pages. So I think there's a good sign there, but again, we're getting ready to kind of wrap up this conversation and it's been amazing. So thank you for being here, but we have like, I have one final question for you. It's something that we generally, we like to ask the creators that come onto the show. Uh, we like to end the conversation by asking you.

What you've been enjoying recently, like any kind of form of media works is whether it's comics, movies, video games, any podcasts, whatever you've been loving and want to highlight, like let us know what it is so we can find some inspiration as well. I'm probably going to be your most boring guest ever. Guys, I don't tend to listen to a ton of stuff when I work. can't really, so I'll concentrate. And it's too late to watch some. when I got home.

it's like, Jesus, I'm still trying to like finish shows from 10 years ago. But when I listen to Rob's observations, obviously Rob Liefeld's podcast, and I watched something the other day. no, I didn't. I watched Iron Man 2 with me fiance who hates who hates Superman films superhero films. So was like, you're sitting and watching this and that. I wish I could keep up. Like, I wish I could keep up and everything, guys. I really do. There's just so much.

I've gone so far past it where it's almost like it's overwhelming to start back again on all these things. So it's like. I don't even know where to start, yeah, I can't listen to things when I'm at Atone. So I'm so bored. I sit like I'll do a coffee shop and people are like, have you seen Netflix? I'm like, no. Have you seen this? Have you seen that? I'm like, no. Have you seen Iron Man 1? Because I love that. What's the fiance think of Mickey Rourke's whiplash? I want my bird.

I won't, I won't my bird. Not my bird. You lose. Not my bird, yeah. She was asleep after about 11 minutes and I just watched it on my own for rest of that. that was it. pass out. That's Actually, do you know what I did listen to actually when I was watching me Bulldog recently? listened to a Batman podcast. I don't know what it's called. Is it the Riddler one or was it? No, they don't.

They don't have one last year and it I'm going to forget to name it, but it's about Harvey Dent and Tally Al Ghul comes into it. But it's it's it's like a it's like a And yeah, it's like, can't remember what it's called. Urban something maybe. But yeah, but now that was actually phenomenal. I quite like those. I haven't really been in 10 before audio books or so, but that was quite enjoyable here and all the different voice actors and that.

So, yeah, that's again, like I'm to the most boring man ever on a podcast with these guys. So I think it was at Batman Unburied. Is that the way that's exactly it? Yeah, I really enjoyed that. That was amazing. Yeah, I think I had Coleman Domingo voicing Batman, which I love. Great as that voice. Oh, man, I can't I didn't even think about that. He'd be he's probably a great Batman. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Danny, as Aaron said, that's all we have for you here.

And it's been truly a pleasure having you here on the show. And we've sort of been teasing it. We didn't really have a chance to talk about it. But I do remember getting back from New York Comic Con and sort of reflecting on that conversation that you and I had that Friday morning and like how much of a pleasure it was to just sit there and chat.

And, know, there are these conversations that you have with people sometimes where you're looking for that out to sort of like get away and, you know, just move on or keep the conversation flowing somewhere else. But I feel like I came over that morning to you. And I just wanted to be like, Hey, Danny, huge fan of your work and then keep it moving. Cause I had things to do. You had things to do, but you and I, sat there and chatted for 40 minutes and it was a, it was such a pleasure.

I just, I loved it so much. So, you know, I knew as soon as I got back here to Indiana and you know, we all kind of got back to reality. I knew that I wanted to get you here on the show as quickly as possible. Aaron and I have been sort of buttering you up this entire conversation, but I'm going to do it one last time here. You know, you are. truly one of kind here in the medium. And it's so easy to be a fan of yours, not only because you are so talented, but just who you are as a person.

again, if people listening right now, if you aren't getting that somehow in this conversation, just know Danny is the fucking man and you should be supporting him in some way or another. Plus he's got that Christian Ward stamp of approval. That's right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I just want to actually just one sec Chris on that. I'm not sure how much people know of your story Chris, and I won't.

I won't reveal anything if not, but when I sat and chat with you, not just because of that, you know, you told me that it's usually people's identity that is and it wasn't. You revealed that to me like 30 minutes in, but chatting with you pal was an absolute pleasure pal, genuinely. was, you got along straight away, but you're such a genuine person. You could sense that from someone, can't you?

You know, and I said that to my fiance when I met you that day, she came down and I was like, just make a name Chris. And mate, it was genuinely such a pleasure pal. Then we had the, we had the pleasure of getting on the live as well in New York Comic Con. You were amazing, did the whatnot. So like it was. Honestly, pal, I mean it like it was such, such a pleasure, pal. And hopefully we can meet each other like more and work together more in the future.

But I'd love to just stay friends anyway, pal. That's that's the least I can ask for the same to you as well. you know, you're not getting rid of us for sure. You've already came out of the show. Right. Yeah. Well, before we let you go, is there anything that you want to showcase the listeners? How can they follow you at your career and all those things? What can they how can they look out for you? Yeah, just everything pretty much all across my social media. It's Danny Earl's 16 once.

That's my soccer number, so I'm trying to keep that going over somewhat. Mine's his name, it's Chacker41. I do the same thing. Yeah, there you go. Exactly. But as far as work, there's not a tone I can talk about right now, guys. have jocks. I have loads of covers that will be coming out periodically over the next couple of weeks, but interior-wise, I can't talk about a lot. I'm heading to New, actually a big one is I'm heading to Megacon.

I'm not sure when this is coming up, but I'm to Megacon to start the start of next week. If anyone's there, give me a shout. If this is later than this, if you said hello, thanks. But yeah, no, that's kind of it guys. I'll be hitting a few more commissions, but then the year I was 16, that's pretty much it until my interiors are gonna announce stuff. Nice. How long is the flight for yet? It's seven hours to Boston and then three and a half down to Florida.

And it's not so bad, know, can just, it flights nowadays, man. It's like a glorified hotel. get your date, you know, you get your movie, you know I mean? It's just go asleep when you want to. So I've, I've, I calculate recently in my football career, I've taken pretty much nearly a thousand flights. So that's second nature. Now I just go to sleep. can sleep on command these days, which is good. I think it was, Aaron, think it was Louis CK.

said, All you on flights now, you just watch a shitty Adam Sandler movie and take a runny dump and you're there. That's essentially, that's all you do. That's all you do on long flights. That's so true. I've watched too many bad Adam Sandler films. Well, on that note, Danny again, such a pleasure. Can't wait to have you back on the show here in the future and we'll talk to you soon. Real pleasure guys. Thanks a million for having me.

Alrighty. There's that conversation with Danny Earls as we said to the beginning of the show. How can you not love the guy? I mean, honestly, when you hear him speak about not only his career, you know, his, you know, his previous career with soccer or football as he calls it and the rest of the world calls it because we're dumb Yankees. We call it soccer, but just everything about Danny and his work, not only his actual work, but who he has as a person.

It's so easy to root for him and continue to follow his work. Right. Swoon. Swoon city over here. We're the swoon bar now. Swoon bar. Yeah. He's a, he's a, he's a handsome gentleman. Yeah, I didn't mention this in the conversation, but it's worth noting that he has this really powerful thing that when you're talking to him, he's got great eye contact. He'll actually say your name while he's talking to you. So, know, that he knows what your name is.

I, and I, we've talked about this in private, how we have this problem sometimes where we meet someone and we like forget who they are almost immediately as we, as we're talking to them and like we'll walk away and be like, do you remember his name? It's not that there's no problem like that with Danny. Danny, he will. reaffirm and reassure that he knows who you are. heard what you said and here's going to be an interesting rebuttal.

Yeah, he has this interesting way of drawing you into the conversation and feeling like the most important person in the room. Yeah. And also it feels like every time that we had a question for him during the show, we wanted to respond to like three things that he said afterwards, right?

Like Aaron, I, we have a pretty good repertoire now we have a good handshake where if one of us want to talk in a conversation we'll let each other know through like the word document or just through social show notes. Yeah. The show notes are chaos while we're having an interview. You guys let me know what we're typing back here. We're just like F bombs and dildos all through the, through the transcript, but there's a dildo emoji.

But through this conversation, you probably won't be able to talk cause I'll edit it, but Aaron and I are like fighting each other to respond cause we're just having a great time with Danny. Yeah. Yeah. It's such a, it's such a, he's an easy conversationalist. He is an easy person to like open up to.

And like, you just want to know more about him because he's so humble and he's so, and again, we say every time we talk about him, he's so unique with his, his origin story and his road and his path, the comics and talking about being this, you know, athletic, you know, soccer player and, you know, hiding comic books in his bag in the locker. And it's like, it's just like, the are you to be this talented? It's not fair, guys. It's not fair. It's not fair.

Well, speaking of not being, speaking of not being fair of how talented people are and excited to talk to them, next week on the show for episode 181, we are talking to the creative team of Out of Alcatraz from Oni Press. The first issue comes out in February. I'm forgetting the date off the top of my head. I should have that ready for us, but I don't. But it comes out in February and it is being written by Christopher Cantwell and it is being drawn by Tyler Crook.

So we'll get to talk to both of them about out of Alcatraz already read that first issue. And it is an early contender for favorite comic of twenty twenty five. It's so early in the year to say that. As I said it, I was like, well, it's January. So of course, it's probably early contender. Best movie of twenty twenty five releases January 1st, twenty twenty five. I mean, but it is incredible. If you guys have a chance to check it out when it comes out, I highly recommend it.

And we've already had Tyler on the show before. It was a great conversation. Can't wait to talk to him and Christopher Cantwell. Very excited. But Aaron, I think that'll do it for episode 180. I'm excited to finally be back with the Oblivion Bar another year of nerdy content. And here's to hopefully 2025 being the best year in Oblivion Bar history. Nerdy content and tasteful news. Put that on a t-shirt. Aaron, take us out here. All right.

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