Therefore I Geek

In which, our fearless heroes talk to Mitch Gerads, the artist of Sheriff of Babylon--our current favorite comic from Vertigo. Mitch gives us the (incredibly compelling) story of how he started in graphic design and ended up living his dream as a comic artist. We also talk life at Vertigo, working with Tom King, his own personal--kinda strange--process, and how much he likes his editor.

In which, Andrew and staff writer Joseph De Paul AKA Dude get together to discuss cost-of-living in various areas of the country... just kidding, they are talking about tabletop war games, from the very beginning. Dude provides a pretty thorough, concise definition of a war game, and he and Andrew discuss the moment when they realized that loving tabletop miniature games is not a given in everyone's lives, and the moment when they fell out of love with them. They both admit that they have never played Settlers of Catan (at which Tracy was duly horrified). Dude also describes what is, in his opinion, pretty much the perfect war game: Commands & Colors Ancients.

In which, Andrew is flying solo for the very first time on the podcast, and reviews the brand new Marvel blockbuster Deadpool. He is not a big fan of Deadpool, but surprised himself at how much he enjoyed the movie. He also covers why comic fans love the characters that they love and why one actor's commitment to his role can make a mediocre character into an awesome reason to go see a movie; and builds an old fashioned pros and cons list for the Deadpool movie.

On this episode Tracy got the opportunity to sit down and chat with Pete Newcomb of Borderless Comics. Pete is a fascinating storyteller, and the tale of how he became a comic book store owner is unique and very interesting. Besides sharing his personal journey, Pete also provided some insight into the workings of a comic book store. Borderless is unusual in that it is a read store–meaning that the owners encourage customers to read comics in the store. If you think this sounds like an insane idea, you’re not alone, but Pete has some compelling reasons for believing that this is a solid business model.

In which, Tracy and Andrew discuss Bowery Boys: Our Fathers with its writer Cory Levine. We discuss the inspiration for the book (hint: he lived in NYC for a while), Cory’s affinity for historic novels and coming-of-age tales, and how a collaborative work is different from a work in which the artist comes on board after the story is written. Lots of cool anecdotes and confirmation of stuff that we found in the subtext come out in the conversation.

In which, Mike Kennedy rejoins the Therefore I Geek crew to talk about some exciting news from Magnetic Press. We discuss the new subscription service that they offer, a new, digital first book, and the book Tracy has been drooling over for months. There were some pretty serious technical difficulties during this episode, due to the fickle nature of Skype, but the content was interesting and important, and we wanted to go ahead and share it with you guys.

In which, Andrew, Tracy, and Kurt are joined by PJ Haarsma, an executive producer of the new hit web series Con Man. PJ gives us the inside scoop on behind the scenes thoughts on fan generosity, scrambling to fix casting problems, and working around a five hour time difference with his leading man. He also gives the origin story of his fabulous hair and reveals that there are FOUR planned seasons of Con Man that he and Alan Tudyk would like to produce and release!

In which, Tracy has a cold and her voice sounds all husky and amazing. But actually, we are talking mostly about non-universe comic book movies with lots of long diversions into all kinds of other topics. We also comment on comic books that should be made into movies.

In which, Andrew and Tracy revisit the topic of literary influences. We discover that most of Andrew’s are sci-fi books that have since been turned into movies, and that Tracy is a little too passionate about C. S. Lewis. Also we get sidetracked on Hunter S. Thompson, the libertarian views of Robert Heinlein, and the bizarre scientific theory that led six men to take a balsa wood raft from Peru to the Polynesian islands (a trip that took 101 days) in 1947.

In which Andrew, Tracy, and Becky talk about Becky’s first convention, Baltimore Comic Con. Becky discusses cosplaying at a medium convention, her impressions of the whole thing, and we discuss other first time con-goers.