The Blastoff Podcast

This week in Comics 101, Scott looks at the beginnings of Marvel's Fantastic Four in "The Way It Began," Harley is back with more Small Talk, and in ReTales, Jud pulls back the curtain on his life as “I Witness.”

http://BlastoffComics.com

We’re honored to welcome one of the most talented and influential publishers in the comic book arena. Chris Ryall is the CCO of IDW Publishing, one of the fourth largest publishers of comic book content in America.

He leads as Creative Officer of a company that’s had almost 100 of their titles on the NY Times Bestseller list and whose comic titles have won every award from Harvey to Eagle to Eisner. A handful of which, he wrote and developed himself.

They’re a leader in licensed content, building the comic brands of GI Joe, My Little Pony, Transformers, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Godzilla, Judge Dredd and even the revitalized Disney characters we all love so much. http://BlastoffComics.com

Scott looks at the beginnings of Marvel's Incredible Hulk in "Driven By Rage," Harley returns with another edition of “Small Talk,” while Jud talks about a special customer, and a very special “Four-Letter Word.”

http://BlastoffComics.com

Thundercat has been breaking ground in the music industry since he was a teenager. He had his first hit song at the age of 15, and just a year later before he could vote or get a legal drink, he became one of the original members of Suicidal Tendencies, playing bass in a band that came to define the ‘90s’ West Coast punk-rock sound. That’s right, folks. Joining us today is none other than Stephen Bruner, also known as Thundercat. During the middle of the last decade, Bruner linked up with Shafiq Husayn and Sa-Ra, and became a permanent fixture at the group’s Silver Lake studio that briefly served as the Los Alamos of the L.A. underground music scene. Everyone from Ty Dollasign to Erykah Badu passed through this sprawling nerve center. He joined Badu in her live band and New Amerykah studio sessions. And then in 2011, Bruner joined forces with Flying Lotus, and his musical passion exploded. That year, he released his first solo project, The Golden Age of Apocalypse, which positioned him as an artist that could flip between improvised jazz, left-field electronica and smooth soul in the space of a single song. It was followed by Apocalypse in 2013, and then the more somber 16-minute-long EP The Beyond: Where the Giants Roam, which was rooted in his grief over the sudden death of his close friend, the piano prodigy Austin Peralta. In 2015 he collaborated with Kendrick Lamar and took home a Grammy Award for the groundbreaking album To Pimp a Butterfly. Right now he’s on an international tour, playing songs from his new solo album Drunk, which features a single called “Show You the Way,” a song that brings together Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins for the first time in decades, proof that there’s endless reasons Bruner can compose and play with anyone, from Stanley Clarke to Snoop Dogg. Stephen was kind enough to join us on the podcast between performances on the main stage at the Coachella festival; we’re grateful he took some time away from his beloved cat Turbo Tron Over 9000 Baby Jesus Sally to talk music, art, life and, of course, comics. http://BlastoffComics.com

Scott looks at the beginnings of DC's Flash in "A Flash of the Lightning," while Harley returns for a new installment of "Small Talk."

http://BlastoffComics.com

Scott looks at the beginnings of Marvel's Sub-Mariner in "Under Pressure," while Jud recounts how folks from all walks of life pass through our doors in "Don't X-Plain."  Plus, Jud and Scott talk Free Comic Book Day and discuss Scott's newest comics project STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: MIRROR BROKEN!

http://BlastoffComics.com

Our guest today is an Emmy-Award-winning writer for television, having written for series like Wonder Woman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, L.A. Law, The New Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.

He’s a Nebula-Award-winning writer of short stories and novels, including Time and Chance, Moloka'i, Honolulu, and most recently the wistfully nostalgic novel Palisades Park.

He’s written some of the best Batman comic-book stories ever, including my personal favorite Batman tale of all time, “The Autobiography of Bruce Wayne,” from The Brave and the Bold #197, in which we discover how a middle-aged Batman finally learned how to be brave enough to love again. It's an issue I've returned to time and again over the years, when I need to remind myself that you can tell a lifetime's worth of story in only twenty pages.

http://BlastoffComics.com

Scott looks at the beginnings of Marvel's Mighty Thor in "Journey Into Mystery," while Jud welcomes you inside the doors of the shop in "An Invitation."

http://BlastoffComics.com

Jim Krueger is one of the most important comic-book writers in the business. Working with industry icon Alex Ross, he created the highly acclaimed Earth X trilogy for Marvel Comics. The duo then reunited at DC Comics and produced the Eisner-award winning epic Justice. His writing has given voice to the X-Men, the Avengers, Spider-Man, Batman, Buffy, and he even put his feet into the Star Wars universe, because – well, why not? Independently, he began publishing his own work. Foot Soldiers, recently re-released and reprinted by Image Comics, is a wonder of storytelling, bringing in a wealth of the most talented artists in comics to tell a post-apocalyptic punk-rock superhero epic, and manages to be warm-hearted and nostalgic all at the same time. His original graphic novel The High Cost of Happily Ever After turns the damsel-in-distress genre on its head, and his latest book The Runner will just plain scare the hell out of you. He is a writer, he is a director, he is a producer. He is Jim Krueger.

http://BlastoffComics.com