Release The Geek

Comedy's Best Kept Secret podcast ... he gets to have interviews with porn stars. On the podcast 'Porn Stars are People', Dan interviews female adult film stars about matters of life, love, and happiness with the hope of de-stigmatising porn and the performers who choose the lifestyle. The podcast hopes to humanise comedians, porn stars, people, and listeners alike to see that life is not about labels, judgments, and critiques.During a visit to South Africa in 2018, Dan was kind enough to take time out of his schedule to chat to us about many things including his path to comedy, the story behind how he managed to start interviewing adult film stars, the lessons he's learned from these conversations and the impact it's had on his personal life.

Jeff Ayers has a job that many content creators and fans of coffee would envy - he's translated his love of pop culture and his experience as a kind of "geek consultant" to the Death Wish Coffee Company, makers of the world's strongest coffee, into a full-time role. Today, he handles the company's popular 'Fueled By Death' cast and is involved with other video and audio content for the company. Jeff was kind enough to take We chat about many things including: - how his love of comics as a kid grew, despite the local comic store owner being an incredible jerk - when he realised he could translate his love of geekdom and pop culture into paid creative work - and the importance of saying yes when opportunity knocks. - plus he tells us the incredible story of how Death Wish Coffee managed to get its product on the International Space Station. And it's quite a tale.

Felix Kessel once referred to himself not as the CEO of the advertising agency he co-founded, but as the Magic Steam Turbine Driver - his position being that we all have an engine that makes magic: his job was to help steer and mantain the machine driven by that steam. He's been responsible for an impressive array of brands including McDonald's, Nintendo, Dimension Data, and Amstel Lager. In his current role as Creative Lead WPP Liquid, it's Felix's job to guide of some of South Africa's most wonderful and powerful brands through the transforming landscape of communication.Felix has been a guest previously on Release The Geek (waaay back in Episode 20), where he discussed being openly geeky in the corporate space: for example, he's worn his Live Action Role Playing costumes to the office during casual days, and being a geek is a key part of who Felix is. Last year at ICON 2019, Felix was kind enough to share his knowledge of how to build a brand with creatives who are looking to start their own company in the geek space, and we're proud to present this insightful session to you now - if you know anyone who is looking to start a business in COVID-19 times, or looking to revamp their own company image, we would strongly suggest you share this with them.

Jim Starlin is a name that really doesn't need an introduction - but we'll give one anyway. Thanos, Gamora, Dreadstar, Shang-Chi, Captain Marvel, Adam Warlock ... Starlin has had a hand in creating, co-creating or revamping some of the biggest characters and is responsible for some of the most iconic storylines in comic book history: Infinity Gauntlet and Death In The Family just to name two.On April 14, in conjunction with the fine folks at Ominous Press, Starlin launch a brand new Kickstarter project - Dreadstar Returns: the first all-new Vanth Dreadstar adventure in 3 decades. How well was it received? Well, the 100-page brand new graphic novel hit its funding target in just 14 short hours. With over a week still to go (as at the time of this recording), the project has blasted through all stretch goals and is now about hit the USD$100,000 mark.Jim was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to chat with us about many things including the story behind this new Kickstarter project, which current industry talent he'd like to work with, and what he does to help deal with a missing creative muse. Plus he reveals just why he hates Walt Simonson. Which we're sure is a friendly grudge. We hope.

You’ve still got time to support the project, especially with all stretch goals well and truly covered. Check out all the options on the project’s Kickstarter page.

And finally, a shout out to Jamie Jameson - while all will be revealed in the interview, we wanted to wish her a full and speedy recovery.

In 1990, Thanos set out to acquire six Soul Gems in order to fulfill a very specific mission for Death herself. This quest shaped Marvel comics for the next three years, and led to the current state of the worldwide box office records. Ron Marz was there for it all, with a 50+ issue run on Silver Surfer part of the many Infinity Gauntlet/War/Crusades.This panel with Ron from ICON Comics & Games Convention 2019 took a deeper look at the mad Tital himself – his motivations, the resulting impact on the Marvel comic book universe, and how this story was interpreted for the big screen.

Over the last few years, Johannesburg-based artist Jason Masters has had a pretty cool run when it comes to work - he was selected by Warren Ellis to work on the James Bond comic from Dynamite Entertainment; he partnered with Jason Aaron for a few issues of the Avengers; he worked with the rapper Common on the web comic Caster, and he's killed it on Captain America with Ta-Nehisi Coates. At ICON 2018, Jason was kind enough to let fans peek behind the curtain on how he works. At a live panel, Jason shared (with permission) a Warren Ellis script for the James Bond title and took us through the process of taking Warren's words and notes, and bringing it to life visually. While this presentation was highly visual, it still translates pretty well to audio, and we're happy to present it here for you.

Donny Cates is a writer of comic books, and he's pretty good at it. The Texas native has become a fan favourite with amazing runs on titles such as Thanos, God Country, Buzzkill, Venom, Thor, Doctor Strange and much more ... but it wasn't the easiest path - as Donny will attest, he's a ten-year overnight success. Donny was a guest at Comic Con Africa 2019 and was gracious enough to talk to us about many things including - how his Dad gave him his impetus to read through comic books, how he approached the character of Thanos when he was tasked to write him, and what his internship at Marvel taught him.

Artist, cosplayer, fashion designer and now business entrepreneur, Hannah Kent has gone well and truly beyond the term triple threat. Growing up as a thoroughly nerdy girl loving Dr Who and the X-men, Hannah focused on making animation a career, which was also influenced by her love of cosplay. Today, Hannah has achieved no small measure of success in these fields including working as an animator at Dreamworks; being one of the winners of the 2016 iteration of the Her Universe fashion show and designing official Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Tomb Raider clothing; and now, taking the plunge and becoming a business owner with her own venture, Moto Muse, that combines her love of motorcycles with fashion design.Amongst the madness of starting her own business, Hannah was kind enough to chat to us about many things including her path to geekdom, her fascination with Rogue and Gambit, and the moment when her passion for cosplay crystalised her focus and direction in her animating career.

Riki LeCotey is better known to her legion of fans around the world as Riddle. Regarded as one of the world's premiere cosplayers, Riddle's impressive collection of skills goes well beyond cosplay - she was a main cast member on Syfy Channel's Heroes of Cosplay reality show and has worked as a specialty costumer on movie sets, helping to bring some of Marvel's biggest heroes to life on Captain America: Civil War, X-Men: First Class, and the Infinity War and Endgame movies. She's also civically minded, creating the Cosplay for a Cause initiative, where cosplayers use their passion for costuming to raise money for charity.Riddle was a guest at Fan Con Comic Convention in Cape Town in 2018, and was incredibly gracious enough to spend some time chatting with me about many things including: how it felt eating Lucky Charms cereal for months at a time living in a remote part of Canada; how the heat of Boston contributed to one of her worst convention experiences, and how she feels about fan service in anime. Plus, she gives us a little bit of an insight into life on the set of Infinity War and Endgame and reveals which prop she would have 'appropriated' from the set. If she would ever do such a thing.

On February 21 2020, the comic book world was stunned by the sudden stepping down of Dan DiDio as co-publisher at DC Comics. As of now, no explanation has been provided for the move, with speculation rife over whether DiDio had been fired or had quit the position. With speculation swirling around the reasons and ramifications of DiDio's departure, we reached out to previous guest Rob Salkowitz for help in understanding what's just gone down. Rob is an author, consultant, educator, and is well known as an expert on the business of pop culture, providing regular insights to industry site ICV2 and as a senior contributor on media and entertainment to Forbes. And, with convention season now in full swing in the US, we also took the opportunity to discuss the potential effect of the coronavirus on attendances and potential guest cancellations for events across the country.