Hey, this is Jason Aaron, writer of Thor, Southern Bastards, Action Comics, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and you are listening to the Oblivion Bar podcast. Welcome to the Oblivion Bar podcast with your host Chris Hacker and Aaron Knowles. Hello everyone. I'm your elderly anthropomorphic duck obsessed with money, Chris Hacker. And joining me this week is the wildest and most enthusiastic Ninja Turtle, my cohost and BFF Aaron Knowles.
Wise man say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza. That's right. Welcome everybody back to the Oblivion Bar podcast. This week on the show, we are talking to comic book legend, bonafide, 100 % certified. Correct, Aaron. Aaron, yeah, legend icon, a living icon. Aaron Knowles is here on the show. Welcome, everybody. Aaron Knowles, the show. Yeah, there he is. They're not me. Another Aaron. Oh, another. Yes. Wrong. Oh, OK. Yeah, you're right.
Actually, it is as another Aaron. Do I have to do everything? You're not even in the conversation. Jason Aaron joins the oblivion bar pod carrying this team. That's right. We all, everyone knows Aaron is the, he's the brain and the beauty here of the oblivion bar podcast. I'll buy you this week on the show. We are talking to Jason Aaron. Uh, Aaron, as you know, it's gonna be weird me saying Jason Aaron, Aaron, I need to like, I need to love you that. But, uh, Jason is one of my favorite.
How many errands are there? There's Aaron, Aaron. Jason Aaron, you're like Mario Mario Mario. Yeah, it's a Mario. If I marry Jason Aaron, I'd be Aaron Aaron is Jason Aaron's middle name, Aaron. It might be Jason Aaron Aaron. OK, whatever. What are we doing? All right. Jason Aaron is joining the show for the second time. Aaron, he is the second time that Jason's been on the show. The first time he was on, we were talking mostly about Punisher and his Avengers run.
He has since kind of moved on from his time over at Marvel, which he had been there for a long time, almost 20 years. He had been at Marvel. And in this conversation, sort of the main theme is that we talk about how Jason is sort of making a transition, a major transition into a new era of his career. He calls it in the conversation, the second act. He says, hopefully it's not the third act.
Hopefully it's the second act to where he can kind of spread his wings and try a bunch of different new titles that he's wanted. Clearly like a wide variety of different types of. of not only IP, but create our own stories across all publishers. So we talked mostly about Uncle Scrooge, which is his upcoming one shot over at Marvel Comics. He's not completely left Marvel. He still has one one title over at Marvel. He also is currently writing Action Comics and Batman Offworld over at DC.
Once upon a time at the end of the world and Berserker, a face full of bullets over at Boom Studios. And then I think what most people are most excited about is his upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. relaunch over at IDW. So very exciting conversation. And you were sorely missed here in this conversation with Jason. I am the TMNT Ninja Turtles guy. And I was unable to be. I think because you were doing this one when I was at my retirement ceremony, I believe. Yeah, you're right.
Get out of the get out of the army. Get out of the army. So I had to weigh my options and still suck. Talk to Jason Aaron be eternally attached to the United States government. Yeah, Aaron. Government. Yeah, I think you chose right. You chose right. Yeah. We'll have Jason on the show again at some point. You can pick his brain on the TMNT.
Before we get into that conversation, Aaron, I want to ask you just kind of broadly, since you weren't there for it, what is kind of like your relationship to the Turtles? Firstly, I know you're a big fan, but just like what was the origin of that? And also, are you excited? Are you going to be following along with this upcoming Jason Aaron run at IDW? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I I'm a big fan of. Jason Aaron in general and what he does to stories.
And I feel like if you don't really subscribe to what he's doing, you're going to be missing out on some really cool and dynamic ideas that, that really only he can come up with. You know, earlier before the show started, you and I were talking about some of the things that he's already implemented into let's just one thing, Marvel Cinematic Universe. All right. So he created Mighty Thor. So we know that, you know, He added in, he created God, the gore, the God butcher.
Like he basically created love and thunder like hit. That was his storyline. Turned into that movie. And comic is way better, by the way, everybody. Like it's totally better. Comic is way better. So like the obviously the source material is way better than what was inspired by it. But that's all him, baby. Yeah, it's all me, baby. So like, that's what I'm saying. It's like we, if you do not subscribe to what Jason Aaron is, is creating, you are going to miss out on some very like.
Awesome turns and additions to whatever universe whatever sandbox he's playing in Yeah, whether whether it be uncle Scrooge or the TMNT or EC Comics which was recently announced or Berserker with Keanu Reeves like he's doing it all just just talking about for instance Like we were saying you don't you haven't read it yet But you want to Batman Outer Worlds off world let off to me off world like I've only read a few first couple of issues I gotta get my hands on the guy I'm pretty
sure I have the rest of them, but I got to get my hands on the rest of them I've read the first three and it is bat shit crazy. Pardon the pun. It's like it's Batman, but he literally goes off world and out of shirt. Cause he's like no shirt most of the time, but he's like doing shit that we've never seen him do before in an extraterrestrial like environment, all these different like new he's learning how to fight new aliens, new creatures. It's insane. Like I love it.
So I'm again, But you asked me, I digress. You asked me about my relationship with the Turtles. All right, my relationship with the Turtles has been, I've been a fan since I was a small boy, a wee pup, a wee pup, a small boy.
And not just the original cartoons, you know, from the inception in Mirage Comics, you know, dark and grimy and dingy, you know, things like that, to the cartoons, to the video games, to the movies, to the - move to your turtles in concert, you know, like all this stuff recently. Mute mayhem like all of it. Like I love what the turtles are. The turtles are much like the X -Men, much like specific characters in the MCU, much like a lot of characters in the DCU. They span these timelines.
Yeah. And no matter where they are on a timeline, they're just fun to read. Yeah. I actually say that in our conversation, we talk about it, Jason and I, about how the TMNT are some of the most flexible characters in fiction. Right? Like we're thinking of characters like Daredevil or Batman who, depending on who's writing it is how is your interpretation of the character.
And I think the TMNT team is among that whoever gets their hands on that property, they can kind of mold them and twist them in ways that are not always done, not done well with a lot of other characters. I have a theory about that and like why they're so malleable like that. Okay. Versatile. Why is that? And it's, it's because they are never in their own element. Okay. They are forever out of their element because they are mutant turtles as teenagers.
Teenagers themselves are already out of their element and never really like stagnant. They're never really docile or static. They're always kind of changing, moving, doing whatever, discovering. Now you have mutants who are growing up and they're in the city. They're in this massive city of New York. I mean, you can really take the turtles out as a team who are learning to be brothers, who are learning to be crime fighters, who are learning to be a family and put them into any circumstance.
And it's just, it's just fun to see how they react. It's interesting to see how they react. Yeah. It's definitely one of the best parts about TMNT is to see all of the personalities, Rafael, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello, how they bounce off each other and how they react to situations individually and as a team together. And again, we talk about that in the conversation, excited for everybody to check that out here in just a moment. Couple notes right off the top here.
Patreon .com forward slash oblivion bar pod. If you want to support the show, that's where you do it. You could have access to the grid, which is our weekly bonus podcast episode transcripts. What Aaron I used to interview people like Jason Aaron or just stay on track as we will often deviate. That's, that's what we do here on the show. The transcript is our segue. It's our, it's our guiding map. That's the way that we keep this show organized.
If you will, if we didn't have this, this show would be a failure. Like Chris would be like pulling us on it. beard hair out one one follicle at a time. And I would just be constantly just like going off on like I am right now. Early access to these episodes you're listening to right now. A special shout out at the end of each Oblivion Bar episode, which Aaron will do here in just a bit. And it is the best way to support the Oblivion Bar podcast.
So once again, that is patreon .com forward slash Oblivion Bar pod. Aaron, tell the people what we are getting into at the end of April. Big, big news. I just want to say also the perfect example. of why we need a transcript is the Patrick Horvath beneath the trees episode. Should we, should we tell the people about that a little bit before we go onto our panel? Like I'll just, I'll go cover it real quick here. Self admitting I have a problem.
I just, I really went off on this like weird, like gore, torture porn gore discussion with Patrick Horvath. And it was really interesting. Beneath the trees where nobody sees. Yeah. It was really a good conversation. Yeah. but I just, I got lost in the weeds really bad because I just like started, instead of looking at the transcript, I'm looking at Patrick and I'm just having this conversation. Like it, it just me and him. It's just me and him.
So it was a good, it was like you said, it was a great conversation and I'm glad that you went on the tangent in the moment. I was like, Aaron, look at the next question. Like look down, look at the, look at the screen, but it is great. He's like, look at the, but After it was done, and I think even after we were done recording, I was like, bro, you gotta bring it in. But when I was editing it, I was like, this is a good conversation. This is a good question. Patrick was feeling it.
It totally made sense. And while we're on the topic, before we get into our panel, before we get in this conversation with Jason Aaron, good friend of the show, Eisner winning creator, Christian Ward, has told me multiple times on the show that our dynamic is the best part about the Oblivion Bar. The fact that I am this tightly wound, Analytical stick to the transcript. I am a meat puppet. And Aaron is just like he's like Doug from up. He's like, well, and that keeps it fresh. It's fun.
It gets us on these side. You know, our self -proclaimed sides, side quests that we're on right now. It brings it brings in a couple's costume. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. We should do that. You should be the old man. And I'll be Doug. The wilderness must be exploring. Okay, so to actually get to the frickin news here, C2E2 2024, yours truly, your dynamic duo, your hosts with the most, will have another panel at C2E2 with the First Issue Club and the Short Box Podcast.
It's basically gonna be like a live podcast happening in the moment, but it's gonna be a really fun discussion just like we had back at New York Comic -Con last year. It's gonna be Friday, April 26th at 11 .15 a .m. If you're in... near or around the Chicago area. You should try and make it to C2E2 room S405 -B to hear a live recording of our three shows, Getting Together and Talking Comics. We'll have exclusive C2E2 stickers, shirts, and posters made by our good friend Elliot Dixon.
So if you guys have seen, we teased it, we posted it. It's all over the place. If you came to our one at New York Comic -Con, you'll see the cool, we have a special edition holographic. version of our poster we had designed into a sticker. It was a holographic sticker. Super bad ass. Yeah. Uh, yeah. And so visit the link and our show notes for more details on the panel. We would love to see you there. Come say hi. We're going to try and get a bunch of good, you know, cool stuff to give away.
And we just love giving free shit away. It's very exciting. Cannot wait to hang out with botter over at the short box and Andy and Greg over at the, at the first issue club. So exciting to get all of us together. And again, talk about comics, talk about podcasting, all the things. So. Without further ado, Aaron, let's quit the preamble. Let's quit the segues. Let's get back on track because that's what I'm here for. I'm here to bring it in. You know what I mean?
To be on segue and Aaron just whizzing by on a segue. Let's get into this conversation with comic creator Jason Aaron. Hey everybody, our sponsor for today's episode is G Fuel, the official energy drink of eSports. Whether you're a casual gamer, a content creator, an everyday Joe, or an eSports pro, G Fuel's sugar -free antioxidant and vitamin -fortified focus -enhancing and high -performance energy products will give you the edge you need to fuel your grind.
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Joining us this week on the show is the Eisner Award -winning comic book writer behind titles like Southern Bastards, The Avengers, Conan the Barbarian, Vertigo's Scalped, The Punisher, Marvel's 2015 relaunch of Star Wars, and his iconic seven -year epic on Thor.
Recently, he has been hard at work on newer titles like Action Comics and Batman Offworld at DC Comics, Once Upon a Time at the End of the World and Berserker, a face full of bullets at Boom Studios, Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime at Marvel Comics, and the highly anticipated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at IDW Publishing. It is my pleasure to welcome Jason Aaron back onto the Oblivion Bar podcast. How's it going? Thanks so much for being here, Jason. Appreciate it.
I wanted to start off the conversation by asking kind of a very broad question, which is you are a proud resident of Kansas City. So how was Planet Comic Con this past weekend? It was great. I mean, it was it was crazy busy. You know, I. wasn't really there last year, kind of popped in for a hot minute. So this was my first time setting up there in a couple of years and man, it was, it was packed. It was packed right away on Friday. It was packed on Saturday. It was so packed on Saturday.
I heard that all the flushing of the toilets caused a drop in water pressure in Kansas City for like a four block radius. The city had to like jack up the water pressure so that then once the convention ended, You know, manhole covers were blowing up out of the street. So creative creative plumbing situation in Kansas City. That's how big a show it was. This was a bigger year for Planet Comic Con. This anniversary year, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah. Twenty five, twenty five years.
Wow. Yeah. And it's it's my you know, my local show. So I've been going I haven't been here 25 years, but close. I mean, I've been I moved in the summer of 2000. So I've been going to planet. Um, since right after I moved, you know, just as a starting out as a fan met more Wolfman and George Perez there and met tons of great creators over the years. And then that was one of the very first conventions I ever did as a professional. And I've been there in some capacity every year since. It's funny.
You bring those two icons up at the top of the conversation, because that was sort of the basis of one of our conversations we had previously on the show. The first time you were on the oblivion bar, you talked about how. You had met George Perez. I think it was at Dragon Con when you were much younger and how that was so impressionable for you as a young comic book reader. And it's funny to kind of go full circle and kind of be at a con as a creator with those two, again, legends.
Yeah. Yeah. George was the first, pretty sure the first, um, comic creator I ever met, like the first creator. I mean, he was my favorite artist. He was the first artist I could ever identify. You know, I was, I would see another. cover issue by George and be like, oh, that's the guy who did New Teen Titans. So he was the first artist I ever followed from book to book.
And then first person I ever stood in line for with a big stack of comics, a huge stack of comics to where he asked me to get back in line because I had so many to get signed by. And then some of those I got back in those days, he signed them just with a ballpoint pen. the inside front cover. Oh, yeah. So some of those same ones, you know, like my Titans number one, I got signed by him again at Planet, you know, years later, where he signed it on the on the cover with a Sharpie.
So I've got some double signed ones, which are great. Yeah, he was super, super, super nice. And his work and that book in particular was a big part of me becoming a comic fan. And I think even now, I think when I envision a script in my head, it's always drawn by George Paris. Wow. Yeah. George has missed terribly right now among fans and everyone.
And to kind of speak on that a little bit, Scott Snyder was that for me, I think when I first started reading comics was around the new 52 era of comic, you know, in the comic book world. And I very vividly remember bringing like the first 15 issues of that quarter of Al's run, but, you know, with him and Greg Capullo and similar story, like he was just the nicest ever. But I think they had a cap.
in terms of how many books you could actually have signed, because of course they were like on top of the comic world with that run. So I think I maybe was able to get like two or three signed and then I had to either get back in line or pay something.
So, yeah, it's I mean, I, you know, I find I'm I'm I'm 51 years old now and I vividly remember all the encounters I had with creators as a kid where they were the people who were incredibly kind and gracious, which was which was, you know, most everyone.
But. particular member of George, I remember Mike Allred, remember Steve Rude, Greg Ruck, Garth Ennis, like those were creators who stood out to me of, you know, from when I was a little kid to, you know, when I was a young guy trying to figure out how to break into comics, like all those people were super, super nice to me. And you remember that. And I always think about that as a creator, you know, cause I still remember all those bits from when I was a kid.
Yeah. I want to go back a little bit. So you mentioned, you know, obviously being in Kansas City for almost 25 years now, have you adopted the Chiefs as your team since being there? Are you a dedicated Chiefs fan? I mean, the somewhat, I guess. I mean, on the one hand, no, like I've got, I mean, there's a Steelers helmet and I'm looking at in my living room right now. So I'm still a Steelers fan. Oh, sure. I've certainly cheered. I've bought some Chiefs shirts the recent years.
You know, my partner's a Chiefs fan, so she gives me grief if I'm not wearing a Chiefs shirt in the playoffs or the Super Bowl. So I definitely have cheered for them on their Super Bowl runs the last few years, and they're fun to watch. You know, my home is just insane, the stuff he can do. So they've been fun to watch. And I went to the Super Bowl parade. So I do my part as a Kansas City resident.
But if it came down to where the Steelers and the Chiefs were playing in the AFC Championship game, I can't say I'm going to be wearing that Chiefs shirt. Sorry, I've just been I've been rooting for the Steelers since I was a kid. It's funny because Kansas City is one of those cities that feels like it's us against the world.
You know, they still get that mentality a little bit where like when you're from Casey, you know, a lot of people you'll know in the first 10 minutes of having a conversation with someone who's from Kansas City, they will let you know eventually. Right. and to kind of speak on what you were saying there a moment ago about the Chiefs and kind of the run they've been on. It's one of those things where I'm a Ravens fan. I have been a fan since I was young. Oh, geez. Don't tell me that. I know.
I know. I've been hurt twice in the last 10 minutes. I felt that you're a Steelers fan and that we lost the Chiefs in the AFC Championship this year. Hey, the Steelers just signed Patrick Queen today, too. So I know. And well, we got Derek Henry, but I'm very upset about Queen getting there. I was to say, though, in terms of like Kansas City. Even if you're not a fan of Mahomes and Kelsey and all these guys, you have to like admire that we're watching a dynasty happen in real life.
Like it's happening in front of us and it would be sour to not be aware of their greatness. Oh, absolutely. I think you, you know, the, the, but the chiefs have reached the point now where they've become so good. You're going to start to be hated by everybody else around the country. Right. I mean, the. Patriots hit that point. I'm from Alabama, so I'm an Alabama fan. So we hit that point, you know, years ago under Nick Saban.
So you got to just got to be prepared for everyone who's not from that place to despise you. And I think the Chiefs are at that point. But at the same time, this year, you know, you brought so many other new fans on board through Taylor Swift, which was awesome. You know, I see like Mitch Gerrads on Instagram wearing Chiefs jersey now. Yeah, which is great. I'm someone who was all pro Taylor Swift bringing in new fans to football. Yeah, absolutely.
Everyone listening right now, we will get to comics eventually. I just have one more football related question for Jason here. You just mentioned you're a diehard Crimson Tide fan. Everyone that's met you or heard you talk knows this. How has your mental health been since learning of Nick Saban retiring? I mean, it's been touch and go. I'm not going to lie. Like I was. In and outs of just like fading of health. Yeah. I mean, I get alerts on my phone from some of the sports sites I follow.
So I was standing here in my kitchen. It was like what, three o 'clock, 3 .30 that day when my phone popped up with that first alert of Nick Saban just told his team he's retiring. And that day, That was a good day where I think I had, I think my first Superman issue, my first issue of Action Comics was out that day. So it was like jazz. It's like, oh, people seem to be like it. I'm so excited. And then come three o 'clock and it felt a little like a family member had died.
And then it was, you know, it was the day you knew was going to come, but I was not, it turns out I was not prepared for it to be, to be this year. And it's still, you know, it was, that was a crazy week where. I don't think I've ever been so obsessively following Twitter as I was that way, because it's all the sports writers I follow where I'm refreshed, refreshed, like getting any updates. Who's the top candidate now who said they're not taking the job? Who's on the plane to Tuscaloosa?
So there's a lot of uncertainty, and still is, but I feel good about Cailin DeBoer and the staff he's put together. And I'm excited to see what he can do with. Alabama's resources, but it's never going to be the same. You know, there's no, the, the game's not the same. The, the stuff coaches have to deal with is so much more complicated and demanding now. And there'll, there'll never be another coach quite like Nick Saban.
So the golden age has ended, but we can still enjoy, you know, the glories of the silver age, whatever they may be. Saban essentially created the college football that we have today. Like what kind of the format that we're in right now was to sort of level the playing field that Saban had created with Alabama football.
And to contextualize this for anybody who's listening right now, who has absolutely no idea what we're talking about or who we're talking about, go back in time to when you found out that Jason Aaron was leaving Thor. And that's how Jason feels right now that Nick Saban has retired from Alabama. That's essentially the exact comparison that I could come up in my brain. I appreciate the, I mean, that's the most.
compared me to Nick Saban, it's the most flattering thing anything's ever said about me. I don't think I can live up to that. Well, as I mentioned in the intro, and I should note that I'm still absolutely bewildered by this, but you are working on not only an incredible amount of titles, all of which are wildly different from each other, but on top of that, you've sort of planted your creative flag at most of the major publishers across the comic book landscape minus Image Comics.
You know, you were exclusive at Marvel for many years, so it feels like this is your well -deserved time to sort of play the field and try some new things. What's been the most exciting aspect of working on all these new stories at these other publishers? The most exciting aspect really of not being exclusive anymore is just being able to do whatever I want, right? To sort of take any phone call that comes my way. I mean, it really hasn't been a case of me chasing after a bunch of stuff.
It's just sort of... Once it became known that, hey, I'm available, you know, then the phone started to ring. I mean, the DC stuff was definitely something I pursued and that I, you know, knew I wanted to do a Batman project, but action comics was something that kind of popped up and got offered to me and Berserker and Turtles and even Scrooge, everything. Those were all just things that kind of fell into my lap. So it's nice to be able to be in a position where I can.
say yes to any of those things I want. So I think last year after my exclusive expired late 2022, I was still kind of winding down Avengers. And I knew that was going to be the end, at least for a bit, of me doing ongoing work for hire titles after 15, 16 years solid of doing two, three, sometimes four of those at a time. I knew I wanted to jump off that train.
And so once that was done, I enjoyed... getting back to travel and you know for the first time since the pre -pandemic days and did a lot more shows, did some cool international shows and enjoyed kind of having less deadlines and working a little less and didn't have that consistent, you know, didn't have as many mouths to feed every month.
Then at some point over the course of last year I, you know, realized I should probably do some more work, you know, because turns out, you know, I don't get paid when I don't. do things. So more things came along. I said yes to more things. Most all of them like shorter minis and one shots and then find that, you know, the, the, oh, suddenly I've got a, now I've got a lot of stuff to do and it's all kind of hitting at once.
So the last few months have been really busy, but exciting that I'm getting to jump from an array of characters. I feel like no one in the history of comics has gotten to write, you know, to go from Batman to Uncle Scrooge to Superman to... Berserker to the Turtles to even a couple more that haven't been announced yet. I just felt like surely no one has done this sequence of characters in a two month of time span.
So that part was, it's been very busy, but just constantly creatively rewarding from character to character. Did you just say that there's some things that haven't been announced yet? Yeah. Yeah. There's a couple. I mean, well, there's no, there's three. There's maybe three other things I've been working on as some shape or form that haven't been announced yet. Now, do you equate that to having just a little bit more free time now that you're not over at Marvel?
Or do you feel like this just like this new wave of creativity kind of hitting you all at the same time? A little of all that, I guess. And also, again, just the door being able to be open to any of that. And some of it is you all these things sort of pop up. I mean, it's like a typical freelancer thing where you. Suddenly that's an option, I can do anything and then everything, all these cool things are available and you want to say yes to every single one of them.
But then you have to find the time and the head space to actually do them. So I've been still in the do them point, but in two days time I will be retiring to the happiest place on earth to recharge my batteries. My favorite place on the, one of my favorite places on the planet. I'm going back to Disney World for. short trip for spring break for my kid.
So that'll be part of my, you know, relaxing a little bit this month before diving into what, with a lot of these things we'd talking about are kind of done and, and, uh, written and that'll be, you know, focusing on turtles and focusing on a couple of other things that I'll be working on the rest of the year. Now, can you write this trip to Disney off on your taxes based on the fact that you're doing Scrooge? Like you could. chalk it up as like this is some Scrooge related.
That's a good question. Yeah. Let me ask my text guy about that. I mean, maybe if there was more Scrooge related content at the parks, there's really not. I have gotten my picture with Scrooge there before. He used to pop up at Animal Kingdom. I don't know if he still does, but I think they have a, there's a DuckTales treasure hunt around Epcot, I believe, but I've never done that. So maybe, like maybe even though I've already written the one shot.
Maybe I could still swing it like, yeah, I need to need to go explore Scrooge's stomping ground to get in the headspace to properly. Taxes aren't due until April. We still have time. So sure. Well, and I want to just kind of ask like a very odd question here. But if we could travel back to the early 2000s version of Jason Aaron, who was writing The Other Side and Wolverine and scalped and and ask him, what's your best pitch for Uncle Scrooge? What do you think he would say?
the way the version of me from which from like the early 2000s. Yeah. I mean, I don't, I wouldn't have had one. I had maybe, I can't remember if I had read any Don Rosa stories by that point. I feel like I read a couple in issue form. I feel like I bought a couple or maybe I was just the, at some point I bought when the Fana graphics released all those hardcovers. I bought every one of them and read, read every one of them with my kid as he was growing up.
So maybe I'd started doing that by that point. I can't remember when those hard covers started coming out. And that was really where my love of Scrooge came from. I grew up, I loved DuckTales as a kid and I've always been a big Disney fan, but I'd never read any of the Bark stories. Like reading those Don Rosa stories, the more we read, it just dawned on me more and more like, oh man, these are like really good. These are not just cute. talking duck stories.
These are great, really smart, really action -packed adventure stories. Globetrotting adventure stories, adventures through all these different parts of history, gorgeously drawn, just rich, rich stories. So by the end of reading all those, I'd become the biggest Scrooge fan, then went back and read a bunch of the bark stories too.
And I actually, Don Rosa is always at Planet Comic Con and I got to sit with him a couple days ago and talk to him for almost an hour and had a really great, great conversation.
And it was important to me despite, you know, he's got a complicated history with Disney to say the least and a lot of strong feelings that as you rightly deserved in terms of how his relationship with them went and had feelings about what he had heard about, you know, Marvel doing this new Uncle Scrooge comic, though he had a, I think some of the articles I saw published on non -comic sites, like you see sometimes things get filtered through this game of telephone,
they made it seem like Scrooge comes to the Marvel universe, like it's gonna, we're doing a story where Scrooge is hanging out with Spider -Man or something, which is absolutely not the case. So it was important to me to communicate to him, like, look, if you wanna read this book, I'll bring it to you. If you hate it, throw it away. I get it, like no sweat, but it was important that he heard from me that this was written. This was my idea. This is the story I wanted to tell.
And it was written with 110 % of love for him and the stories that he told because they have a special place in my heart. One, just because they're so damn good, but also because it was a thing my son and I shared and he's 18 now and still he and I talk about those stories. This is a long answer to your question, but this is important topic to me and really excited that people are excited about me doing Scrooge.
And I feel like the average Marvel fan, my average fans probably never read a Karl Bark story, probably never read a Don Rosa story. So for me, the ultimate goal of this book is you read it, you realize some of the same stuff I realized from reading The Life of Time as a Scrooge McDuck by Don Rose and all his stories is that. Oh man, I'm missing out that I haven't read more Scrooge and there is this wealth of awesome stories there waiting for you.
Yeah, I think maybe the confusion came from the solicitation, which says Scrooge embarks on a time honored Marvel adventure as he explores the multiverse to stop a twisted Scrooge from becoming the all powerful and incomprehensible rich Scrooge above all. So I guess I can, you know, of course. comic news and the bleeding cools of the world and all of these hearsay articles, the grabby titles and such.
I'm sure some things were lost in translation, but that does kind of sound like maybe possibly we could see Scrooge interacting with Daredevil and Wolverine somehow. Well, I'll tell you right now, you don't. That is not... We're clearing the record. Is it a different kind of Scrooge story? Yes. Is there like a Marvel flair to it? Yes, in terms of the... Certainly the amazing lineup of cover artists in terms of the kind of story it is, in terms of the way I write it.
Yes, there's a different, there are different elements to it, but it is absolutely, you know, fully a Scrooge story within the same continuity as past Scrooge stories and paying homage to them while, you know, trying to do something a little bit different. But no, you won't, you won't see Scrooge hanging out with Peter Parker or the mighty Thor. I feel very fortunate too.
as a young 90s kid, you know, growing up watching DuckTales and it's no, it's probably no surprise to most listeners right now, but you are one of my favorite writers in comics. Daniel Warren Johnson is another one of my favorite writer artists in the world of comics. And the fact that we have both, you know, you on Uncle Scrooge and now TMNT. And of course Daniel over at Transformers. It feels like early 90 comic fans are eating good. Yeah. Daniel's been killing it on Transformers.
That book is. It's really, really good. I was not a big Transformers guy as a kid. I was GI Joe and He -Man. Those were my things. So I love it when a creator can come in and make me care about characters I have no previous investment in, right? Like I don't come to the table in love with the Transformers. I don't really know one from the other. I know Optimus Prime and the one who turns into a giant gun. but that's it. I don't know, like I don't know anything else.
So if I can come into that and understand it and you can make me feel emotionally invested, that makes me really excited when a creator is able to do that. And Daniel, I feel like I could do that with anything, but also, you know, the important part is that even if I'm not invested, coming to the table, he is, right? And that his passion and investment bleeds through. every single page of that. So I think that's what we're all should be doing book to book, right?
Is showing our work and putting on the page. This is why you should care about this character. And Transformers is a great example of that. That's kind of a great transition into what I think most folks are excited for, which is your upcoming TMNT run at IDW. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Alpha would number one hit shelves on June 5th. You'll be teaming up with Tom Walts and artists, Chris Burnham and Gavin Smith.
And this will essentially act as a bridge between Sophie Campbell's outstanding run and your eventual run. And this is a fair warning here. Here's a long winded warning set up for my question here for Jason. I know we can't talk about specifics with this series and I'm not going to ask you who your favorite turtle is, even though it definitely could, but I'd rather not, but sorry. No, I mean, you know, I wouldn't ask you regardless because. First of all, I know you have to kind of play.
You can't play favorites, but these are like your kids now. So you can't play favorite. Are you going to ask me who my favorite turtle is? I'm not going to. I will not. I refuse to ask you that question, although I think it should be Rafael if I'm being honest, but I'm not going to ask. But I am curious. I am curious about one aspect and those Mirage turtle books felt and still feel sort of grimy and unkempt and sort of like the New York City of the late 1980s.
However, If you've been to New York City recently, it's wildly different from what it used to be. Much cleaner, sort of corporate driven, the unfortunate displacement of the working class and low income families within the city. And it feels as though the New York City that the turtles were born into and almost acts as a character within itself in these stories no longer exists. So my question for you is, your first arc is called Return to New York, which I found both enticing and intriguing.
How much of the start of your initial run without spoiling anything has you setting up a new status quo for these heroes? Yeah, that's a really great question and a great point about New York. And I think that title, you know, is very conscious of choosing that title and what it all meant. And it's not as there's not a simple meaning to that title, right? It's not like they just they've been away from New York and they're coming back. There's a lot that that. I think will reveal itself as we go.
And yeah, I think what New York City means, that's a good point. I think that's part of it. I mean, the first time I ever went to New York was, it was in the late eighties as I was in middle school. And we did like a summer trip where we went to Washington, DC and New York. And this first time I ever in New York and it was still in the days when, you know, there was like a. porn shop right next to a couple of doors down from McDonald's.
And so by the time I would go back, it was very much not that anymore. I mean, I still feel like, I mean, I love, anytime a movie was shot in New York in the seventies, I'm all in. I love that look and that vibe. I'm thinking like taxi driver. Yes, absolutely anything. Taking a pellet one, two, three, every movie that was shot there. So the... Yes, it is not that place anymore. You're right. I think for me as an outsider, I've never lived there.
I can still feel that vibe, you know, in times, bits and places here and there, different times of the day, which always makes me happy. So yeah, I want the book to have elements of exactly what you're saying that original Mirage book was. And you said Unkimped, which I think is a great way of saying it. And, you know, I say raw and grimy and... I want some of that element just in the tone, the look, the subject matter, everything. These first four issues, each one focuses on a different turtle.
Raphael's up first and he's the focus of issue one. Joel on that, right? Yeah, Joel Jones is doing that one. Then Raphael Albuquerque does Mikey in issue two and Cliff Chang does Leo in issue three. And then Chris Burnham's doing Donnie in... issue four and in the alpha issue like you mentioned. So those issues kind of pick up with where are the guys, what have they been up to, what kind of situation are they in since we saw them last? Some time has passed since the end of Sophie's run.
And those stories again kind of set the bar of this is kind of what we're going for. And I think, you know, not just in terms of that griminess, but in terms of giving them a little bit of an edge. You know, some of them coming out from the perspective of a father who, uh, my son is 18 now and, you know, is graduating high school. And, and in my mind, that's a little, a little bit how I'm looking at these guys, not to pin them at a particular age, but.
You know, there's still the teenage mutant Ninja turtles, but you feel like they're, they're a little more grown up. You know, they're not 13 years old, right? Like they've, they've been through a lot, especially for teens. Like they have lived. They have lived a crazy life. And I like them getting to that point. When you get to 18, 19, those are, I think for everybody, those are challenging years, years where you're having to make huge decisions that can shape the rest of your life.
And a lot of times you really don't even know who you are yet, right? Like you think you do, you think you've got, I think most of us. felt like we had all the answers forever that we're ever going to need when you're 18. And then maybe six months later you find out, oh my God, I didn't know anything. I thought I was wrong about everything. I've wanted to write comics when I was a kid, but I had no idea how to do that.
So when I was in high school and going into college, I started out as a journalism major and thought I was going to be living in Atlanta writing for the Atlanta Constitution. then realized I hated journalism and didn't want to do that. And everything kind of fell apart for a bit after that. So I'm trying to channel some of that of like, these brothers are in a point in their life where they've, for whatever reason that we'll get to, they find themselves in sort of different spots.
And it's about, you know, one, who are these guys in their core? Who are they always been? Not trying to remake them into something they're not. But also I just like that idea of... four brothers who have been so close, been through so much together now finding themselves in a point in life where they're a little like the Beatles when you get to Abbey Road. They're maybe a bit different than they were when they started out, different points in their life.
And like, how do you move forward when you've all kind of changed a little bit? Yeah, that's perfectly said too, because I was going to add, you know, this is not the turtles of mutant mayhem where they're 12, 13 years old. maybe going right into high school if they were of that, you know, if they were going to do that. But being in your, you know, 16, 17, 18 years old, a lot of times that's where you do start to drift away from folks who you've been friends with most of your life.
You start to become maybe not the person who you're eventually going to be, but the seeds are planted as a young person, you know, around 18, 19, 20 years old. Now, if I could go back in time and look 20 year old Chris in the face, I would probably not like that kid very much. But I think that the seeds of who I eventually became were there.
And I found that really interesting about what you had said there about how like these four brothers, they've been together, they fought together, things have happened to them. And when we pick up with your run, it's almost like the sort of splinting, not to make a pun there, the splinting has begun in a sense, and we have to figure out a way to get them back together. That's a good title. Maybe we'll use that. Yeah, I think it's about them figuring out how do you, how do we make this work?
Right? Like, I know how it worked in the past, but I mean, relationships have to change and grow whatever that relationship is, whether that's you and your siblings or your significant other, like as you change, they change. You have to figure out how to continue to make that work. And I think that's the, that'll be kind of one of the themes of, of the book of return to New York of everything. The idea of going back and talking to your 16 year old self and not liking them very much is exactly.
You know, the point of one of the parts of my Thor run, you know, of like, yeah, that's right. Thor is literally hanging out with his, his 16 year old self, right? His rambunctious young Viking self and does not like him in the same way that the old, old King Thor doesn't like either one, either one of the younger. So I think that's interesting to, you know, in some ways I am exactly the same person as I was when I first picked up.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic in probably 1985 was when I first discovered the book. In some ways, I'm exactly the same. Things I'm into, things I, what I want to do, my passions have not changed one bit. In other ways, I am almost unrecognizable would be to that kid. He'd be like, what? So I find that sort of stuff fascinating in life and let alone just trying to communicate that very, very human struggle in some sense.
So, cause even though I don't get to hang out with my 13 year old self and my 85 year old self, like those are still struggles that we all, issues that we all have to figure out within ourselves, right? And so some of us just trying to speak to that in the form of Ninja Turtles. Punching bad guys. The Ninja Turtles, the greatest vessel of deciding time and space and all these things. They just are.
And that actually bleeds into my next question for you, which is that the turtles are maybe one of the most flexible characters, not only in the medium, but in fiction. You know, they've had multiple different artists portray them, different writers, of course, along, you know, Eastman and Laird and all these folks have obviously put their stamp because they created the character.
But. think of all the different people who have written or drawn these characters are not including the animated series and the live action movies and video games, the whole thing. So what kind of special Jason Aaron sauce do you think you want to add to the mythology of the TMNT legacy? Well, I mean, that's a good question. I don't know. I feel like that's maybe not for me to answer, right? Like that's for somebody else to figure out. I mean, you're absolutely right.
I think these characters more than maybe any other. characters over the course of those 40 years have been able to change and change again and stay relevant. Like you said, in a lot of different formats and different ways, and I'm not sure what other character we could say that has done that much over that period of time.
Yeah, I mean, you know, working in Marvel, I'm working on characters who are much older and have remained relevant, but they haven't had that many different versions over that period of time. And the turtles have always been able to buck that trend of feeling like, well, OK, their time is done. And they'll drift away into the shadows. And they pop right back out in a new and exciting way.
But as someone who does that sort of thing for a living, and just as a fan, I'm always fascinated by characters that are able to get kind of reimagined and stay relevant over decades and decades. So in terms of what I bring to the table, I think some of it, again, is not trying to come in and say, reinvent the wheel and send the turtles off into a radically different direction. Some of it is about going back to the very beginning and the root of like, how did I discover these characters?
What appealed to me about them? How did I first connect with them? How can I do that in a way that is relevant to today, right? Relevant to me emotionally and relevant to the world of today, which again, it's what I try to do in everything I'm working on. I feel like with Turtles it kind of came easy and then I knew what my touchstone was. It was that original Mirage book.
I kind of right away saw like what I want that story to be and what I felt like the kind of edge or grit I felt like I could bring to each of those characters. This is not going to be a, I'll tell you right now, this is not going to be a story that's going to dazzle you with its shocking plot twists. I guess I'll say it's not that kind of story. And I think it's important that it starts with issues to focus on. the characters, right? It's character before plot.
I mean, I still think we'll show you things you haven't seen before, but it starts with, do you like these guys, you know, or can I make you like them? Regardless of who, regardless if you're just like, well, I'm here for Raphael and the rest of the guys can beat it or whatever. Like I want to make you like each of them, enjoy hanging out with them and enjoy what happens, the sparks that fly when we throw them all together.
And I think it's safe to say that throughout your career in comics, you've generally leaned into character based narratives and that would sort of lead your stories in interesting and compelling ways. You had mentioned earlier about how the first arc, our brothers, of course, are separated from each other. There's been some time that has passed since Sophie Campbell's run, which is ending here soon.
How much of that decision was based on the purpose of spending some quality time with each brother individually and allowing the reader to get to know your version of Raph? Leo, Donnie and Mikey. Yeah, I mean, I think it's a large part that it's a time -honored kind of set up to sort of divide the team up and then do a story of getting the band back together. But also to me, again, it was an important theme of the story of just kind of showing where these guys at.
Maybe they've started to go in a little bit different direction from each other and how can they come back and make that work. once they're together again, is that easy? Is that simple? Is it like riding a bike where everything fits and works exactly the way it did before? Is it difficult? Has it always been difficult? Is it more difficult now? Is it challenging in different ways? I think those are questions we explore over the course of really multiple issues.
I have one final question for you, Jason, because I feel like if we talked any more about TMNT, I would start to... accidentally or purposefully start to try to mind you for info. And I don't want to do that to you. So we're just going to hope that that little conversation bit was enough for folks to get excited if they're not already, which they should be for your upcoming run on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
But my final question for you is, and it brings us back around to what we were talking about earlier with the multiple titers you're working on here in twenty twenty four. And as we talked about, you've been known before as sort of the company man at Marvel for, you know, helping curate their universe for basically 20 years. I know it's only March, but this feels like we're entering a brand new era for Jason Aaron. And so I realize this is kind of a big question.
But at the end of this year, with everyone having already had a chance to read TMNT and Uncle Scrooge and Face Full of Bullets and everything else that you'll be working on in twenty twenty four, what do you hope fans take away from this? And ultimately, what do you hope you take away from this year of writing? That's a good question. It's a little hard for me to answer. And that.
You know, certainly looking, once we're looking back on this year, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be one of the big hallmarks for me. There may be a couple more that, that you don't know about yet. So all those things, you know, we, we mentioned like this, this, um, like I said, this kind of wild array of characters I've, I've been able to work on for me and really for our industry in general. I think everybody's hungry for something new and fresh.
New and fresh, but also in some ways familiar, like fresh takes on characters we know, like Transformers, like the new Thundercats book by Declan Shalvey that's doing so well. There's felt like some uncertainty coming into this year. There's still a lot of uncertainty, you know, and the election coming in November and just how things are gonna look business -wise.
And I think all the creators I know are really, really excited to... to kind of step up to that challenge and do take big swings, whether that's in work for hire, company owned properties, or that's their creator owned work. I think everybody kind of wants to shoot for the stars this year. And that's definitely how I felt where I very much have entered this phase of my career that feels like kind of the second act, hopefully the second act, not the third act and the third act still.
Bit away, but it feels like a big second act and that the you know, the first act was very much like you said focused on Marvel and and creator own work outside of that and now I'm Able to expand my horizons and work on all these different exciting properties, you know all across the map We'll also also be doing some new creator own stuff and then that's gonna be the plan going forward You know turtles will be a thing.
I'm like I said, I kind of wanted to step away from from ongoing long -term commitments for a bit and I did, and then Turtles came along and I couldn't say no to that. And so, you know, that one's a longer commitment and there might be another one, you know, in the mix that fits that bill too. But I just feel really excited and lucky that I'm getting to work on all this kind of stuff at once.
And I feel, you know, I've always felt like I've been lucky and that I'm able to kind of jump from one cool thing. the next over the course of my career. I feel that kind of, you know, times a thousand right now. And just really, really excited about everything I'm getting to do. Yeah. I mean, it is, it's very exciting, especially, you know, from a fan's perspective, as I said earlier, giant fan of yours. And it's really cool to just kind of see you in a sense.
And this is weird to say about someone who has done as much as you have, but it kind of feels like you're spreading your wings a little bit and kind of getting out there and trying different titles that I would have never expected you to do. I mean, go back in time. seven to eight years ago and ask me, hey, you know that Thor run you really like? What would you think of this guy's also doing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? I'd be like, I mean, that's really odd, but yeah, absolutely. Please do.
Let's do it. Yeah. I mean, that excites me too. You know, I mean, the just jumping from one title at Marvel to another was exciting, but not not as like a surprising, I guess, like, oh, this this guy's writing one Marvel titles, right. And another one. Yeah. Jumping to these sort of properties were were. that feels so fresh and new in terms of everything I've done before. That gets me really excited, because that's the way I consume. I'm the guy who reads Uncle Scrooge comics. I read Berserker.
I read Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I read all these things and already get enjoyment from them. I read a variety of different genres and properties. And so... That's what I want to do as a writer as well. I want to churn out all different kinds of stuff. And I feel like I'm getting to live that pretty much to the max right now. And that's not going to be just my plan for this year. That is the plan going forward for me.
Maybe I get to the point someday where I want to settle down and be exclusive to somebody else again. But I think for now, I am enjoying, like you said, spreading my wings. And... taking any call that comes my way. Mm hmm. Yeah. Well, Jason, I want to thank you once again for coming onto the show and discussing your work. You know, as we finished our conversation and I can finally drop this, I've said it multiple times now, so there's really no facade anymore.
But you are undoubtedly one of my favorite creators working in comics and have been since my introduction in the medium. So I'm truly just thrilled for you and everything that you've done so far this year and what you'll continue to do for the rest of twenty twenty four. Well, thanks. Thank you. I appreciate that. And also, as we were talking there, I can't remember what point I realized this, but we were talking about Patrick Queen and Derek Henry. Those are both Alabama alumni.
Why did I not connect the dots there? Well, Patrick Queen didn't go to Alabama. He didn't. He was a linebacker for Alabama. Was did he go to Auburn? Oh, no, he went to LSU. Dang it. Sorry. Never mind. Derek, Derek Henry, one of the greats. I got a Derek Henry jersey in my closet. I love I love Derek Henry. Can I can I buy that from you now that he's on the Ravens or? No, sorry. That one's I break that one out when we, when the team really needs me, you know, I break out when it gets serious.
I break out the Derek Henry Jersey. If it gets really serious, I break out my old shaker. Um, but that's only when, you know, times are, times are looking dire, bleeding, cool. The beat. I know you guys are listening right now. Mark it down, make an article, Jason Aaron, super superstitious. He is, he's a man of superstition. So just know that just when it comes to football and no other areas of my life. I'm the same way. I look whatever it takes. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, I have a I have a Lamar jersey that's not even a it's one of those like military jerseys that you know, the military jerseys they don't even wear. I wear that Lamar jersey for every major game that we have. And I can't anymore because I wore it during the Chiefs Ravens game and we lost. So that no longer has any luck in it left. I've lost its power. Yeah, I have to I have to wash it and pick a new one. Maybe you can recharge it in some way.
That's right. Well, Jason, I'm going to pass the baton off to you one last time. Is there anything you want to plug or any socials you want to highlight before we let you go? No, I mean, I, you know, the easiest way to keep up with me and every everything I'm working on is my sub stack newsletter. If you just Google my name, that's easy to pull up and I, you know, post semi regularly and let you know what all I'm working on, what shows I'll be doing. I'm doing a lot more shows.
I might be doing more shows this year than I have ever done in my life. Love to hear that. I just started working with comic sketch art. So I make it so much easier. So I'm doing a lot of definitely doing more shows in the States than I've ever done before. And maybe maybe a few overseas. So there's a chance I'll be coming to your town wherever you live.
And if you want to come by and say hi and talk about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Nick Saban or pro wrestling, then you know, I'm your I'm your guy. Don't ask him what his favorite turtle is. He will not answer it. I'll tell you who my favorite wrestler is, but I won't tell you my favorite turtle. Who's your favorite wrestler? Well, you say that now. I don't know what I was going to say. I mean, my favorite has been MJF, but he's been hurt.
Sure. So, you know, I still a big Kevin Owens fan. So I'd probably say Kevin Owens. Yeah. Yeah. We need to get Daniel Warren on the show, Daniel Warren Johnson on the show and have you two talk about wrestling currently. Cause I'm from the attitude era. I stopped watching and like, like, 2004, 2005. So, but you guys, you two both are big into wrestling and I'd love to bring you both on, talk about comics and talk about wrestling at the same time.
Sure. Yeah. Daniel and I've talked wrestling a little bit. Yeah. He's a, he's a big fan. And his do a power bomb was absolutely the best comic ever done about wrestling ever. Highly recommend it. Yeah. All right, Jason, I'm gonna let you go. We'll have you on hopefully in the future at some point, maybe after the first trade of TMNT is out and we can talk maybe spoilers at that time. Cool. Maybe then I'll tell you who my favorite turtle is. But probably not. All right. Thanks, Jason. All right.
Thank you. All righty. There's that conversation with Jason Aaron. Once again, thank you so much, Jason. We're coming back onto the show. This was the second time, as we said at the beginning of the show, such a great conversation. Again, I'm just going to reiterate once again here at the end, one of my favorite creators currently and of all time. I've said many times in the show that between Saga of Swamp Thing by Alan Moore.
or The Question by Dennis O 'Neill and Dennis Cohen and Jason Aaron's Seven Years on Thor. Those are among my favorite runs in comics of all time. So forever will hold a special place in my heart and just very grateful to sit down with him again. So Aaron, before we close out episode 152, I have one more question for you. Who's your favorite turtle? Michaelangelo, duh. Duh, Mikey. So why Mikey though? Why?
I just felt like, I mean, ever since I was a kid, I've... gravitated toward it was either him or Donatello. OK, you know, because I was a bit of a nerd, but I also like just loved like the freeness that maybe maybe Donatello is who I am and maybe Michelangelo is who I want to be. Oh, sure. So like maybe Mikey is your Mikey is your zodiac sign and Donnie is your you're rising your your Venus. Yes. Yes. All right. Fair enough. Mine is Rafael. I've been pretty vocal about how I look.
And I think I even say in the conversation with Jason that. Raphael, I think he has like the Vegeta arc, you know, like he believes that he deserves this. He needs to have this. If he doesn't have this, if he doesn't have the leadership of the team, if he's not recognized and respected for his contribution to the team, then he has nothing and he'll fight for it to his death for it. And I find that so compelling.
I just, I love a character like that that will work themselves to the bone to prove how good they are. But in the end, their vigor and their... tenacity will be their monkey paw, essentially. It'll cripple them in a way. Like the undoing, though it'll push people away. And I just find that really compelling. So once again, thank you, Jason. Next week on the show, Aaron, we're going to be keeping this interview train rolling.
Next week on the show, we're going to have James Tynan and Christian Ward on the show talking about their new distillery horror book, Spectrograph. Now, Aaron, you were here for this conversation with both James and Christian. in less than five words, how would you describe that conversation with those two? Fucking awesome. There you go. That's a good one. All right. And we talked about it before how James is not one to do many conversations here.
He's very busy with tiny onion and the 38 titles that he's writing currently. And then Chris, you know, Christian's been on the show four times. So we have a true juxtaposition of these two. You can feel it in the conversation. Yeah, the conversation. It's so good, but we just like, we only got like 45 minutes with them, which is kind of, that's the curse of being in this, of interviewing very successful people with a lot of stuff going on.
You have to accept that you just don't have all the time in the world with them, but you make use of that time. And I think that that's one thing. Thank God we got this transcript because we were able to make use of the time that we had, because if we didn't, that would be a shit show. 100%. There were questions that we were, trying to communicate to each other that we wanted to ask during the conversation. And we were like, we just don't have the time.
Like, yeah, like you've said it before, Aaron. And I agree. Quickest 45 minute conversation we've had here on the Oblivion Bar. 100%. It's a great one too. So we're like mentally like, shut up, just shut your mouth. Not to not to not to James, but to each other. Like don't fucking ask. Don't shut your mouth. You're coming off stupid right now. But but tune in next week for that episode, episode 153. Excited for everyone to finally reach Spectrograph.
Aaron and I were lucky enough to check out that first issue and it is very good. It's typical Tynan Ward incredibleness. So be on the lookout for that, but that'll do it for episode 152. Aaron, please take us out of this episode. Taking out. Subscribe to our podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Audible, iHeartRadio. Wherever you listen to your podcasts, that's where we are.
Thank you to our patrons, Alex, Alice, Aaron, Bodder from the short box, Brad B, Cassidy, Chris from the Bada Boom Bod, Chris J, Christie, David, Elliot, George, Greg from First Issue Club, Haley, Ham, Six, Jake from SpecTales, Jake S, Jeremy, Kenny, Kyle, Losey, Mac, Miles, Mike, Robert, Sean, Travis, and Brad Leeds from Combo Couple's Counts. Like, boom! Follow us on social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Blue Sky, and Threads, Oblivion, Bar Pod. Thank you Omnibus for sponsoring the show.
Use the link in our show notes to upgrade how you read comic books digitally because it's bitchin'. Official merch of the show can be found on our website, oblivionbarpodcast .com. Thank you Kevin Ziegler for all of our oblivion bar art. He's at the ZIGZONE on Instagram. Thank you Dream Kid for all of our musical themes. Thank you DJ Skyvac for our grid theme. Thank you Fantasy Shop for sponsoring the show. And don't forget to tip your bartenders 20 % or more. Oh, you're not pizza shit!
I wonder if Erin had a G -Fuel this afternoon, everybody. I'm wondering. Did you or did you not? I had like a sip of one. So I had one from like two days ago or whatever the last time we recorded I had it left on my desk and I was like fuck it, Chuck. Performance energizes how you do it. O -B -P in the O -B -P. Feel your grind, feel your grind. All right everybody that'll do it for episode 152. We will see you. I just love hanging out with my friends.
We are energized by comics and each other's presence. And our love for each other. And our love. All right everybody thank you so much for joining us here on the Oblivion Bar podcast. We will see you. next week for episode 153.