Brian Wecht has been a figure on the internet for just over ten years now, his work runs  the gamut of podcasts, youtube videos, and multiple music projects (comedy bands Ninja Sex Party and the video game focused Starbomb.) Earlier this month, Brian sat down with Dan and Reagan for a chat about everything from his comedic influences to playing different versions of himself online.

Interview with Brian Wecht from Ninja Sex Party, Starbomb, and Leighton Night

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 Today's episode is a very special episode for the host Dan. Not only does he get to interview one of the artists who defines what comics look like for him but he gets to interview a close friend and a personal hero. Dave Wielgosz and Dan have been friends since college where Dave set out to become a comic book writer. Since then, Dave has worked tirelessly to fulfill that dream and ended up becoming an associate editor on Batman. He was doing this while writing all of his favorite characters. This is his first story after betting on himself and going to become a writer full time. This breaks our normal intro format but I just need to say that I could not be more proud of my friend and he inspires me every day.   In this episode we are talking about this dynamic duo's story in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, & Green #3 which will be on sale on July 31st but you FOC closes on June 24th. What that means is that if you want to make sure your store has a copy, call them today and preorder it! It helps stores know what you want and makes sure they have enough for everyone. I was lucky enough to get to read their story early and I can tell you it's worth every penny. The art is sharp and dynamic while using the limited color palette like a sharpened kitana to fight foot ninjas in the subways of NYC. I cannot say enough good things about this homage to Frank Miller's Sin City.   We also dive a bit into Dave and Riley Rossmo's previous works together which include the INCREDIBLE Martian Manhunter which you need to read. Riley talks about his approach to character design and why he makes characters look the way they do which is much more thematic then most people may think. Dan and the duo also talk about the importance of color and how Riley uses it in their short story. Riley also teaches Dan a new term that he has to write down to use at a later date so he sounds like a smarty pants art critique. 

Dave Wielgosz and Riley Rossmo Talk TMNT

 Nicole Maines made history when she joined Season 4 of The CW's Supergirl in 2018 as the first transgender superhero in live-action; Nia Nal, known as Dreamer. Maines has continued her involvement with Dreamer's story since the show ended in 2021, first with stories in the DC Pride anthologies, including penning the introduction for 2022's entry, and further appearances in books such as Superman: Son of Kal-El and Lazarus Planet.     Suicide Squad: Dream Team #1 / Maines, Barrows, Ferreira, Lucas, Carey / DC Comics    Now, Nicole Maines is back to write more of Dreamer's adventures. Firstly in an ongoing series, Suicide Squad: Dream Team, which sees her joining Task Force X with artist Eddy Barrows. And secondly, in Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story, an original YA graphic novel which sees Maines teaming up with artist Rye Hickman to tell Dreamer's origin story.     Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story / Maines, Hickman / DC Comics    We were lucky enough to be joined on the podcast by Nicole Maines to chat all about these new books, and maybe m 

Talkin' Dreamer and Amanda Waller with Nicole Maines

Adapt Deez, a brand new season of GateCrashers, is dedicated to appreciating media adaptations in all their many forms! From the classic book-to-movie adaptations to the many iterations associated and in-between, episodes of Adapt Deez will focus on a specific property and its (officially licensed) adaptations. Not simply a recounting of the differences and similarities between each adaptation, Adapt Deez aims to highlight the ways in which each iteration shines and how its individual media-specific properties—such as film scores, casting, and packaging—elevate the material and affect the way each work is received.  In today’s episode, Amanda and Jon discuss the many iterations of The Lightning Thief, the first book in the Percy Jackon & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. Originally published in 2005, The Lightning Thief has gone on to receive critical acclaim and has since spawned numerous adaptations and launched the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles, a media franchise consisting of various mediums, including three additional book series, several standalone novels, graphic novel adaptations, short story collections, films, a television series, a musical, a video game, and more. The Lightning Thief follows 12-year-old Percy Jackson, who lives with ADHD and dyslexia. When on a school field trip, he encounters a Fury, a goddess of vengeance sent to eliminate him. Though he survives the encounter, nothing about Percy’s life will ever be the same, especially when he learns that his best friend Grover is actually a satyr assigned to protect him and his favorite teacher turns out to be a centaur named Chiron. Things continue to spiral until Percy arrives at Camp Half-Blood—a protective stronghold for demigods, or children of Greek gods—and is informed that Zeus believes Percy has stolen his master lightning bolt, sending Percy on a dangerous quest to retrieve it or risk further peril. Focusing on the first book, Amanda and Jon dive into both the 2010 film adaptation Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief—directed by Chris Columbus and starring “white boy of the century” Logan Lerman as the titular Percy Jackson—and the recently released Disney+ series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians (with a special shout out to the Off-Broadway musical of the same name).  

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)

Adapt Deez, a brand new season of GateCrashers, is dedicated to appreciating media adaptations in all their many forms! From the classic book-to-movie adaptations to the many iterations associated and in-between, episodes of Adapt Deez will focus on a specific property and its (officially licensed) adaptations. Not simply a recounting of the differences and similarities between each adaptation, Adapt Deez aims to highlight the ways in which each iteration shines and how its individual media-specific properties—such as film scores, casting, and packaging—elevate the material and affect the way each work is received.  In today’s episode, Amanda, Amir, and Jon discuss the Academy Award-winning movie The Social Network. The film—which received eight nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for leading man Jesse Eisenberg, and won for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Film Editing—released in 2010 from Sony Pictures, and was directed by David Fincher. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin, and was adapted from The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal, a work of narrative nonfiction by Ben Mezrich that was published in 2009 by Doubleday. The Social Network tells the story of the founding of social media service Facebook in 2004 by Harvard college students Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Andrew McCollum. Focusing primarily on the relationship—and fall out—between Zuckerberg, played by Eisenberg, and Saverin, portrayed by Andrew Garfield in what would become his international breakthrough role, The Social Network spans several years from Facebook’s inception to the depositions between Zuckerberg and Saverin, and Zuckerberg and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer/Josh Pence), twins and fellow Harvard students. If you think that sounds dry, just wait until you witness Amanda, Amir, and Jon’s dramatic reenactments of iconic scenes—we guarantee you’ll be just as riveted by this biographical drama as we were more than a decade ago.  

The Social Network

Adapt Deez, a brand new season of GateCrashers, is dedicated to appreciating media adaptations in all their many forms! From the classic book-to-movie adaptations to the many iterations associated and in between, episodes of Adapt Deez will focus on a specific property and its (officially licensed) adaptations. Not simply a recounting of the differences and similarities between each adaptation, Adapt Deez aims to highlight the ways in which each iteration shines and how its individual media-specific properties—such as film scores, casting, and packaging—elevate the material and affect the way each work is received.  In the first episode of the season, Amanda, Patrick, and Jon discuss the book Holes by Louis Sachar, which was published in 1998. The Newbery Medal-winning novel follows 14-year-old Stanley Yelnats who, following a false criminal accusation, is sentenced to 18 months at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile correctional boot camp in Texas. Stanley imagines a picturesque, lakeside facility, at which he’ll participate in classic character-building activities. But when he arrives, he learns that Camp Green Lake is located in the middle of a dried-up lake bed; it hasn’t rained there in over 100 years; and instead of swimming and hiking, Stanley must dig a hole while baking away in the unforgiving desert sun. Holes was adapted into a feature film of the same name by Walt Disney Pictures in 2003. Directed by Andrew Davis—with a script written by the author himself—the movie stars film industry greats such as Sigourney Weaver, Patricia Arquette, Jon Voight, Dulé Hill, Henry Winkler, and Tim Blake Nelson. It was also the motion picture debut of Shia LaBeouf, who played Stanley. The novel is still taught in middle school classrooms and the movie’s end credit song—”Dig It” by the D-Tent Boys—remains just as iconic today as it was when we first heard it on the Disney Channel more than 20 years ago.  

Interview with Brian Wecht from Ninja Sex Party, Starbomb, and Leighton Night

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