Comics Are Dope (The Podcast)

When I see the words "Color Artist" in the credits of a comic, Rico Renzi is the first name that comes to mind. While my first exposure to his work was Bitter Root  (he was good enough to be the only white guy on the creative team), he's probably most famous for co-creating my daughter's favorite character Spider-Gwen. If you haven't seen his colors, that's the book I'd start with.

Today, Rico stops by to talk about his approach to the art of color, how he broke into the comics industry, and what he plans to do now that he's fully cemented.

This conversation wouldn't be possible without our late cohost Skipntosh, so this episode is dedicated to him. We miss you, Curtis.

About Rico:

Rico Renzi is a color artist and designer from Washington D.C.. His work has appeared in WIRED and Fast Company Magazines, and various publications from D.C., Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Scholastic, Boom Studios, Oni Press and IDW. He currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife and daughter.

Check out his designs at http://www.nolongermint.com

Follow Rico on IG: @whoisrico

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The Valiant Universe is going through a major resurgence! Today, I'm talking with 2 of the architects of this massive event. Call your shop to preorder, because things start heating up next Wednesday, 9/18! 

Follow Fred on Twitter: https://x.com/fredvanlente 

Follow AJ on Twitter: https://x.com/EarthtoneKing 

Alien Books is set to dramatically alter the Valiant Universe this September beginning with the can't-miss crossover comic book RESURGENCE OF THE VALIANT UNIVERSE #1! Written by the team of co-writers Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad with art by Guillermo Fajardo, the 4-issue mini-series will follow iconic Valiant heroes including X-O Manowar, Bloodshot, Eternal Warrior, Ninjak, Ivar, Rai, Livewire, Faith and more through a world they no longer recognize as the villainous Dr. Silk rewrites the rules of heroism, governance, and death itself. "RESURGENCE represents a huge moment for both Alien Books and Valiant Comics," explains Alien Books Director Matias Timarchi. "We're adamant about publishing meaningful comics that readers will enjoy and that retailers can feel confident stocking on their shelves. We want everyone to feel excited about reading superhero comics again and RESURGENCE is the first part of our plan to reignite that passion."

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To promote the campaign for Dime Store Detective #4, Jon Dexter stops by to talk about how he got into comics, and why bringing varied stories to life is so important to him. You can back the campaign for Dime-Store Detective #1-4 on Kickstarter now! 

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Spotlighting up and coming comics creators is one of my favorite things to do. And this one comes highly recommended by a friend of the show! Today, artist Ryan Oakley joins the podcast to talk about her art career, inspirations, and why she REALLY wants to break into mainstream comics.
 

About Ryan:

Born in Los Angeles, California and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, Ryan Oakley is a 2016 graduate of Wake Forest University with a B.A. in Studio and Spanish. She is a multimedia artist creating anything from digital works of art and logos to traditional drawings and oil paintings. She is inspired by comic book art and diverse and strong women, which is often reflected in her work.

In 2018, Ryan was 1 of 50 artists selected out of 3,000 submissions for Power to the Polls, a national voter registration drive and traveling art exhibitions. This led to a commission to create women's rights posters for NARAL: Pro-choice America and Unite for Justice for their national day of action August, 26, 2018.

Currently, Ryan has been immersing herself and learning about the comics industry. She recently had a piece featured in the back of the comic book Bitter Root (Issue #3) and has a short comic in the anthology Invisible Illness.

Follow Ryan on Instagram: @ryanoakleyart

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Amid the 30th Anniversary crowdfunding campaign for his character Purge, Roosevelt Pitt stops by to talk comic history and his lifelong journey to bring proper representation to superhero storytelling.

Back the Purge: 30th Anniversary Campaign

About Roosevelt:

Roosevelt Pitt is a thirty-year veteran author, designer, publisher and entrepreneur. Pitt is the owner of AMARA Entertainment Inc…an innovative company created to formed, produce and distribute ethnic superhero comic books to fill the void left by the lack of positive African American heroes in the marketplace. Roosevelt has written children books, graphic novels and movie scripts for his company and others throughout his twenty-year career.  He enjoys speaking about the importance of creativity and the fundamentals of living a healthy lifestyle. 

Pitt owned his first comic book publishing company at age 22. He has been recognized for his accomplishments and excellence as a publisher by Newsweek, USA Today, Business North Carolina, Fox News and Entertainment Tonight. His experience in all aspects of advertising, promotions, direct mail, writing, talent management, creative development, design and publishing are used as he directs this multidimensional concept…“Purge” among numerous other characters in the super hero genre.

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It's hard to overstate the importance of DJ Ben Ha Meen's work as an influence to my career as a podcaster. And what's crazier is I didn't even realize it. Today, Ben Ha Meen stops by to talk about his early days, influences in comics and music, how DJing made him cool, the legacy of The Combat Jack Show, and how his first graphic novel came about. We even talk about why most comic podcasts just don't work. It's an entertaining listen, for sure.

Warning: This episode contains strong language throughout. 

Purchase Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze here.

About DJ Ben Ha Meen:

DJ Ben Ha Meen is a native of Third Ward, Texas.  He is an alumnus of Howard University, where he studied film and television. Ben Ha Meen IS THE CO-CREATOR OF THE GRAPHIC NOVEL JIMI HENDRIX: PURPLE HAZE, as well as a self published author of THE children’s book The World Is Yours. A world renowned DJ and music producer, a WGA screenwriter (American Gods), and a pioneering podcaster (ForAllNerds Show, The Combat Jack Show).

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It's the conversation the internet gods didn't want you to hear! But not even a hurricane could stop the fury of Joe Corallo. A razor sharp critic and all around entertaining guy, Joe stops by to talk about the role of an editor, writing for fulfillment vs paying the bills, where the ideas come from, and how he balances it all.

About Joe:

Joe Corallo started self-publishing comics he wrote in 2011 with various collaborators and tabled at his first convention. As he got more involved in the world of comics, he became a contributor to pop culture websites including insertgeekhere, ComicMix, Geek dot com, and Geeks OUT where he serves as blog editor.

His short-form comics writing can be found in a number of anthologies including Archie’s Jinx’s Grim Fairy Tales and Happy Horrordays, the Ignatz nominated Dates Vol. 3, as well as Dead Beats: A Musical Horror Anthology, Yule: Dreadful Tales For The Holiday Season, and Lower Your Sights; all Ringo Award nominees. It also includes his DC Comics debut in DC Pride: A Celebration Of Rachel Pollack which spotlights DC's first trans superhero, Coagula, for the first time in over two decades available June 4th, 2024.

His long-form work includes collaborations with Liana Kangas on the series She Said Destroy and TKO Shorts #1: Seeds of Eden, Rachel Pollack on The Never-Ending Party released digitally through ComiXology Originals and in print through Dark Horse Comics, as well as having written Becstar and Dahlia In The Dark for Mad Cave Studios. His debut young adult graphic novel King Arthur & the Knights of Justice, a reboot of the 90's animated series, is available now.

Joe is also an Eisner and GLAAD award nominee and Ringo award-winning editor of comics and graphic novels from his anthology he curated and co-edited with Molly Jackson, Mine: A Celebration Of Liberty And Freedom For All Benefiting Planned Parenthood and Oh S#!t It's Kim & Kim! His clients include ComicMix, A Wave Blue World, Black Mask Studios, ComiXology Originals, MERC Publishing, Mad Cave Studios, and Dynamite Entertainment.

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Geoffrey Thorne is an American screenwriter, television producer, novelist and actor.

Thorne was born in Washington, D.C. After a successful career as a television actor including portraying police officer Wilson Sweet in the television series In the Heat of the Night from 1988 to 1993, Thorne began writing professionally, winning Second Prize in Simon & Schuster's sixth annual Strange New Worlds anthology with his story "The Soft Room." He went on to publish more stories in several media tie-in anthologies as well as the Star Trek: Titan novel Sword of Damocles.

Other stories he has written include contributions to Flying Pen Press's anthology Space Grunts, MV Media's Steamfunk anthology, and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine.

As a screenwriter, Thorne was a writer for season 9 of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, multiple episodes of the Ben 10 and Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man franchises was a writer on season 3-5 of TNT's Leverage and a writer-producer on the Electric Entertainment's The Librarians.

In 2014 Lion Forge Entertainment and NBC-Universal tapped Thorne to reboot the global fan favorite TV series, Knight Rider in comic book form. Thorne is also the co-creator of Phantom Canyon, an audio drama from Pendant Productions.

In 2017 Marvel Entertainment tapped Thorne to be head writer and showrunner of the animated Avengers series, retitled Avengers: Black Panther's Quest, and in 2019 he became Co-Executive Producer of Ghost, the first spinoff of the STARZ network global smash hit, Power.

Thorne is also a co-founder and writing partner of GENRE 19, a studio he formed with artist Todd Harris in 2008.

For More from Comics Are Dope:

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If you're a person of color who reads Marvel Comics, there's a fat chance that Chris Robinson has had a hand in a lot of the things you love. Over 5 years spent in editorial at the House of Ideas, Chris was instrumental in several key initiatives including the Hip Hop Variant Covers program, X-Men: Grand Design, and the Marvel's Voices comic anthology.

Since leaving Marvel, Chris got to work on a passion project of his -- restoring 1947's All-Negro Comics #1 and publishing it for wider distribution. The 75th anniversary hardcover campaign was a resounding success, and is nominated for the 2024 Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection/Project. 

Chris joins today to talk about navigating his career, why the All-Negro Comics reprint was so important, and what he values as a comic writer and editor.

Learn More about the All-Negro Comics 75th Anniversary Hardcover: http://anc75.com

About Chris:

Somewhere between creative and corporate is a no-man’s land where Chris Robinson guides content creators and content publishers through the wilderness of storytelling! He’s worked with the biggest IP in the world—story editing and art directing new characters, premises, and initiatives to critical and commercial success. 

Some books he’s worked on have won the prestigious Eisner Award—the Oscars of graphic novel publishing—like Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand, The Vision, and Black Panther: World of Wakanda. He’s been part of Eisner-nominated projects too, like X-Men: Grand Design, X-Men: Grand Design-Second Genesis, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and The Mighty Thor. 

Born and raised in Queens, Chris has been going to the Lemon Ice King for over thirty years and still only gets cherry. 

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If you stay active in comic spaces on social media, you're bound to meet a few likeminded people. But when I met comic writer Damien Becton at this year's HeroesCon, it was like seeing a long lost friend for the first time. It's hard to explain, but you'll hear it in today's interview. In this episode, Damien stops by to talk about breaking into comics, winning the Mad Cave Studios Talent Search, and his campaign for Worlds Away Volume 1, available now.

Back Worlds Away on Kickstarter: http://worldsawaycomic.com

Follow Damien's Journey: https://www.damienbecton.com/

About Damien:

Damien was born in Sumter, SC and earned his Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from the University of South Carolina Upstate. In 2021, he won the Mad Cave Studios Talent Search as a writer — the project currently in production. When he’s not writing and creating, he’s teaching 6th graders ELA at a middle school in Charlotte, NC.

For More from Comics Are Dope:

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