Release The Geek

The final episode of our '2016 Summer Series' - this time we're chatting to author, editor, co-creator of the Pathfinder RPG and the Creative Director of the Starfinder RPG for Paizo Publishing, James L. Sutter! James graciously took time out of an incredibly hectic Gen Con schedule to chat about an array of topics including his path to geekdom, dumpster diving and how he got his start at Paizo through his willingness to do repetitive work at a nickel a task. We sincerely want to thank James for his time and very much appreciate the help he provided in opening the door into the Pathfinder world.

Part 2 of a series of interviews recorded at #GenCon2016 this year and this time it's author Maxwell Alexander Drake! Drake has many, many strings to his fiction writing bow - he's served as Lead Fiction Writer for Sony's EverQuest Next, worked as a novelist, graphic novelist, playwright, screenwriter as well as being a tie-in writer for both video and tableptop gaming markets. Drake was running a series of panels on fiction writing at Gen Con (something he does at conventions regularly, including San Diego Comic Con) and took time to share his path to geekdom over a burger and a brew. We'd also like to thanks Doc Myers for helping get this interview organised - much appreciated, Doc!

During a podcast networking event at #GenCon2016, GeekXP fell in with Katie and Dave from 'Anonymous Tabletop'. We managed to scrape together some time later in the day to chat about their paths to geekdom, how they came to be part of the 'Anonymous Tabletop' podcast, and they helped clarify why the Cubs are so much better than the Sox. There is also a small discussion on Indiana's seasonal vegetables.

The Variants Cover crew take on a massive comic book challenge: they put forward their suggestions for the best comic crossover or limited series run!

This podcast is a live recording of the "Intro To Podcasting" panel that was held at ICON 2016 in June this year. Gregg Barlow and Douw Pretorius of the "Geek Of All Trades" podcast joined Limpho Moeti (GeekXP's "The Variants Cover" editions) to talk about the processes they went through when it came to starting out on the podcast route.

This podcast is a recording of the Triggerfish StoryLab spotlight panel that took place at the ICON Comics & Games Convention in June, 2016. Mike Scott and Nas Hoosen were two of the eight StoryLab winners and joined Les Allen on stage to discuss their experiences: from finding out that they'd won all the way to their Los Angeles trip to visit the Disney studios.

Moray Rhoda has a long and distinguished career in the independent/underground comics scene in South Africa, with many notable achievements to his name: he was one of the founding members of the Igubu Comic Book Collective; was the man behind Insurrection studios in the early 2000s; organised the Comics Brew Festival with Grant Muller, a sponsored event that showcased invited foreign artists in local exhibitions and workshops. Moray is a contributing member to SECTOR, South Africa’s only on-going bi-monthly comic, The Lil5 comic and the Velocity Graphic Anthology. Moray and team Velocity hosted the first SA comic panel at San Diego Comic Con in 2013 (and a follow up panel in 2014). Moray was a presenter at this #ICON2016's panel on the state of comics in South Africa with previous RTG alums Ray Whitcher and Nas Hoosen. We managed to catch him during the con to chat about his life in comics and what drives him to do more.

The first of our ICON 2016 Panel Podcasts! This episode sees Ray Whitcher, Nas Hoosen (regular listeners will know him from The Variants Cover podcasts) and the godfather of South African comic books, Moray Rhoda. Together, they discuss the current state of comics in South Africa and the future looks very bright indeed.

This, the third of three Fan Con podcasts, focuses on the writing duo behind the fantastic "Survivor's Club" comic: Lauren Beukes and Dale Halvorsen. Sadly, very sadly, Survivor's Club has been cancelled but we still had a great time chatting about how the idea behind Survivor's Club came to Lauren and Dale, and we were introduced to the concept of "Creepy Playtime". We also got a glimpse into Lauren's cosplay history at ICON, and we discuss how a charitable drive could get her to do something for 2016.

Part 2 of our Fan Con Geekery Run! This time, it's a double Jason episode with Jason Aaron and Jason Masters! Jason Aaron is name that needs no introduction, but I'm going to do it anyway. His amazing runs on Wolverine, Black Panther, Ghost Rider, The Punisher, The Incredible Hulk, Thor: God of Thunder, Star Wars and the incredible Scapled titles have led to multiple Eisner Award nominations as well as a Harvey Award for the amazing Southern Bastards. Jason chatted to us about a bunch of topics including radion dj's, Auburn vs Alabama, and his comics origin story. Jason Master is no stranger to Release The Geek, in fact Jason is a partial inspiration for what has become known as a 'Doctored Coffee' - if you want to know more about it, you'll have to come through to ICON to hear. Jason, or as he's occasionally known on the interwebs as Pueblo Shatner, is currently killing it on Dynamite Enterainment's James Bond comic along with some guy named Warren Ellis. That's a ridiculous statement of course, and we hope Mr Ellis doesn't exact due vengance.