Adrian Has Issues

Today's guest is Jayson Napolitano the owner and founder of Scarlet Moon Productions, a music label, PR firm and artist group that specializes in gaming music that rangers from AAA titles to independent games. Jayson, along with composer Lena Raine (Guild Wars 2, Wandersong & Friends), is the co-producer of Prescription for Sleep: Celeste, the Seventh installment of the popular series, Prescription For Sleep: Game Music Lullabies. The collection is a jazz/ambient arrangement of the soundtrack of the acclaimed videogame Celeste. The Billboard charting album features music by Metal Gear Solid and Bayonetta composer Norihiko Hibino on saxophone and Etrian Odyssey and PersonaQ performer AYAKI on piano as duo dubbed GENTLE LOVE. They are joined for the first time in the series by guest violinist Maiko and the composer of Celeste, Lena Raine. In this episode, Jayson details the formation of Scarlet Moon Productions, his experiences in co-producing Prescription For Sleep: Celeste and introduces the concept of videogame music as a form of healing.

This week’s episode features a first-time guest on the Adrian Has Issues podcast: Adrian King himself! Vancouver-based comic book writer/artist Kelly Brack returns to guest-host the show and put Adrian in the hot seat. Fielding a series of crowdsourced questions asked by comic book creators including Danny Lore (Queen of Bad Dreams), Stephanie Cannon (Hexed) and Lonnie Nadler (Age of X-Man), Adrian gives listeners and irreverent and insightful takes on topics including: Meeting your idols as a fanboy, Canada’s Grandpa adoption agency, Tropical Fruit...and more!

This week’s episode features writer David Pepose and artist Jorge Santiago Jr., the Ringo Award-nominated co-creators of SPENCER & LOCKE, the comic book crime thriller from Action Lab Danger Zone. The comic, featuring Jasen Smith (colors) and Colin Bell (letters) tells the story of the misadventures of a hardened cop and his imaginary partner: an anthropomorphic blue panther. Picking up where we left off back in Episode 101, David and Jorge bring Adrian up to speed on the latest installment SPENCER & LOCKE 2 and the series’ new villain Roach Riley, a twisted take on Mort Walker’s comic strip Beetle Bailey. David and Jorge also discuss how they approached the second volume and continued to build on the high concept of the original arc by raising the stakes, but also maintaining the heart and personal connection to the characters.

Picking up where things left off at the closing of Episode 132, a somewhat unconventional encounter inspires Adrian to revive the "Minisode" format. In this episode Adrian discusses the future of the podcast as well as other potential projects. These past 5 years of podcasting have brought dizzying heights and staggering lows, but Adrian brings a renewed vigor for the art of podcasting and perhaps with it, a new direction.

This episode is not only the first of 2019, but this also marks the 4th anniversary of the Adrian Has Issues podcast! Hosts Adrian King and Eileen "The LatiNerd" Melendez celebrate by discussing various topics including surviving the flu season, analyzing the themes found in the award-winning animated feature Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and penning a love letter to Marvel Comics' most iconic character: New York City.

This week’s guest is Aaron Berke, a filmmaker. entertainment journalist and comic book author. His short film “Hats” was nominated for Best Short Film at the Big Apple Film Festival and Screenplay Competition and Best Comedy Short Film at the Garden State Film Festival. A writer for entertainment websites such as Comicverse and Entertainment Voice, Aaron has set his sights on creating comic books. In this episode, Adrian chats with Aaron about his first published comic entitled “Victoria” (with art by Marika Brousiano) which is featured in Vol. 6 of the Oneshi Press Quarterly Anthology. They also discuss Aaron’s love of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, Superman and come up with a few ways that DC/WB can fix the Justice League movie franchise.

This week’s episode features the return of both artist Emily Pearson (THE WILDS) and Pat Shand (BREATHLESS), the creative duo behind the latest comic from Black Mask Studios entitled Snap Flash Hustle. The story centers on an alternative model who enters the world of elite models who use their influence for ill-gotten gains. Adrian engages in a candid conversation with Pat and Emily about the real-life inspiration behind the thriller and the difficulties of making a living in creative industries.

This week’s episode features a conversation with Michigan-based artist Adam Ferris. An artist for Source Point Press, he is the artist on 5 successfully-funded Kickstarted anthologies: UNLAWFUL GOOD, BAROQUE POP, UNDIGENOUS, THIS NIGHTMARE KILLS FASCISTS and CURIO. Adam serves as the founding editor of his latest project, an anthology entitled THE GOOD FIGHT. Inspired by the events of the Charlottesville protests, THE GOOD FIGHT aims to spread stories of hope and battle against bigotry and hatred through illustrated stories from a plethora of comic creators. The anthology features over 40 stories from comic book creators such as: Mark Waid (CAPTAIN AMERICA), Greg Pak (MECH CADET YU), Erica Schultz (TWELVE DEVILS DANCING), Mario Candelaria (BAROQUE POP), Natasha Alterici (HEATHEN) and many more. Proceeds from the Kickstarter will go directly to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Kickstarter for THE GOOD FIGHT launches on November 12.

Kelly Brack is a writer and artist based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. Under the umbrella Noir Comics, he has created published works including Deercatcher: The Scan B.C. Files, which was loosely based on the popular Twitter page for British Colombia’s police scanner. In this episode, Adrian speaks with Kelly about his latest project, Death of the Horror Anthology, which will be launched on Kickstarter on October 1. The anthology will feature works by acclaimed comic creators and pasts guests such as writer Vita Ayala & Emily Pearson, Micah Myers, Cody Sousa and Pat Shand. Recorded on the eve of the release of Spider-Man for Playstation 4, Kelly and Adrian reminisce about the classic Spider-Man 2 movie tie-in videogame from 2004, plus hilarious conversations regarding bizarre pizza deliveries and Kelly’s hot takes on the Star Wars universe.

This week's guests are Kirsten Thompson and James B. Emmett. The former is the writer and the latter is the editor of the magical mystery thriller, I AM HEXED. The comic tells the story of witches fighting for equality in the backdrop of Washington, D.C. during the 1960's, which in and of itself serves as a metaphor for our current political climate and the advancement of LGBTQIAPK+ people. Kirsten and James chat with Adrian regarding these issues found in the comic as well discuss the #MeToo movement, manga and representation in comics.