The Short Box Podcast Ep. 395: BRZRKR: A Chat With The Creators! A Panel with Matt Kindt and Ron Garney (Live from HeroesCon 2023)

[00:00:00] Badr: All right. I've had you guys sit in awkward silence enough. Let's get this show on the road. Heroes Con 2023. How's everyone feeling today?

[00:00:15] Badr: Okay, that was, that was like a, that was like a c plus effort. Um, and I know that we're just getting to know each other, and I don't mean to be pushy or extend my goodwill already, but. I'm a very competitive, uh, panel type of guy. We got a panel to the right of us, I think. Uh, uh, one of the key folks that runs all of these panels, Andrew Mansell, is also outside.

[00:00:39] Badr: So my goal is to have the panels to the left and right of us, as well as the, all the important people that make this show happen. Be able to hear us and feel jealous that they're not in this panel here today. So if that in mind, let me try that one more time, guys. Give it all you got. Here's Con 2023. How are we feeling today?

[00:00:59] Badr: That's what I'm talking about. All right. That's. How we getting the things set off. First and foremost, I want to thank you guys so much for taking time to come to this panel to hang out. I appreciate it a lot. Welcome to the Berserker panel, a chat with the creators. Uh, today we're going to be speaking with two thirds.

[00:01:16] Badr: Well of two of three, sorry, not two thirds, two of three of the masterminds behind one of the, uh, highest selling comic books out there. Fun fact that I learned today, the first issue is the highest selling original title of the 21st century, which I think is remarkable. Especially in today's kind of comic industry, I don't think you see numbers like 650,000 copies, uh, being sold like that.

[00:01:40] Badr: So we're in for a good treat today. So between these two gentlemen, there's a combined, almost 30 plus year experience of comic bookmaking. Uh, there's also a longer list of accolades and, and award nominated and winning comic book bodies of work. I can go on and on about the accolades. But we're actually fortunate enough because they are here with us today.

[00:02:01] Badr: So heroes Con 2023. Let's give a warm welcome to our steamed guest, Matt Kent and Ron Garney. Come on, let's give it up Louder, y'all.

[00:02:09] Audience QA: Louder.

[00:02:17] Badr: I didn't count for the long. Why? It is a long walk up here.

[00:02:21] Matt Kindt: The music,

[00:02:23] Badr: they're, they're, wait, they're a little tired. You know, it's, it's midday Saturday. They've done a lot of steps already, but we're gonna see if we can't get them hyped up. Matt, Ron, how is, how's your convention going so far? How are you guys doing today?

[00:02:37] Ron Garney: It's great. I'm

[00:02:38] Matt Kindt: jacked up, ready to go.

[00:02:39] Ron Garney: That's what I like. We love it. Matt. Your hair is all crazy too. That's how jacked up You're right now. Yeah. If you have been to Matt, you gotta see. If you haven't been to Matt's booth, you gotta check it out. Oh

[00:02:50] Badr: Matt, you might

[00:02:50] Ron Garney: have, yeah, got peep show thing where you look in and it's got all, it's just

[00:02:54] Matt Kindt: mindful you can put your head in my mouth.

[00:02:57] Ron Garney: That's really what you're do.

[00:02:59] Badr: Ill admit, I think Matt. Probably has one of the best booth setups, um, at this convention for sure. The peep show alone is worth it. I'm telling

[00:03:07] Ron Garney: you, he's not peep show. You have to put your head in his mouth.

[00:03:11] Matt Kindt: And there's a, there's a $1 peep show that is, it's all ages. Oh, that's, it's PG 13.

[00:03:16] Matt Kindt: There we go. Thank God.

[00:03:20] Ron Garney: Absolutely. Thank you.

[00:03:21] Badr: All right, Jess, how about we, we kick this off with this burning question I've had like. All weekend. I've been racking my brain around this subject here. Um, thinking about berserker and that's what's your beef with vowels specifically?

[00:03:36] Ron Garney: Letter E. You know how hard berserker is already to spell without regular, and now you're telling me about letter e.

[00:03:42] Ron Garney: Hi.

[00:03:43] Matt Kindt: Uh, so the first, the first meeting I had where we were, he, Kiana was like pitching the idea and then we're in this conference room and he is telling me the idea and, and, um, I'm taking notes and writing it down. I know that like, this is day one of two. So day one is like pitch the idea and we sort of talk about like what the series could be and, and this and that.

[00:04:00] Matt Kindt: And then, um, after that first meeting, I went back to my hotel room and I was like, all right, tomorrow I gotta come up with like a bunch of notes on like, like the length of the series and how. Uh, like the format and the structure and how we can tell the story. Cuz Ke came with like, the idea of the character and um, like some of the plot and like, kind of the end, like this crazy ending.

[00:04:20] Matt Kindt: They, it's out now. So like the sort of a cosmic ending. Mm-hmm. And I was like, oh, that's great. Out. But how did we get there? I didn't read it. He used to look at the pictures. Wait, it ended. But he, uh, so I went home that I went back to my hotel room that night. I was writing up notes and blah, blah blah, and trying to come up with a.

[00:04:37] Matt Kindt: Title for it and then, huh? The title was, um, I kept typing berserker and it was like, Red underline in Word. If you use, if you're a writer in Word, uh, it underlines when you misspell it, and I kept it, kept un underlining it in red Berserker. I was like, what the, how do you spell what the hell says? Yeah. How do you spell Berserker?

[00:04:56] Matt Kindt: I was like, well, there's no Z in Berserker. And I, I found that out that night. Luckily by myself, not in front of a bunch of people. Um, but I was like, oh, but it looks so much better with a Z in it. And then, uh,

[00:05:08] Ron Garney: so then, yeah, it's awesome. It's like the universe saying, no underlining for you. No,

[00:05:11] Matt Kindt: this, yeah, no, it was, it was telling me.

[00:05:14] Matt Kindt: So then I was like, ah, I'm just gonna leave it, it looks cooler that way, and we'll just take out the, we'll just make it like a, and he liked it too. He was like, oh, it's like a code name. You know, with just the consonants, the only

[00:05:23] Ron Garney: thing

[00:05:23] Badr: missing from the actual comic was the little red squiggly line.

[00:05:26] Badr: Letting you know Yeah, yeah. Spelled correctly. But before, oh, we dive into, um, the, the series and working with Keon. I was curious, how did you two meet? What was your first interaction? Uh, what was your first interaction like?

[00:05:37] Ron Garney: match.com. Oh, match.com.

[00:05:42] Badr: I was telling my buddy it was probably like, hinge your Bumble,

[00:05:44] Audience QA: but All right.

[00:05:45] Audience QA: match.com.

[00:05:45] Ron Garney: I like it. That's

[00:05:46] Matt Kindt: classy. That's where, that's where you find all the best artists and writers.

[00:05:50] Ron Garney: Swipe, swipe.

[00:05:54] Ron Garney: Week,

[00:05:55] Badr: Ron, how did you meet, uh, Matt, or what do you remember from your first, uh, meeting with Matt? Have you known him for a minute

[00:06:00] Ron Garney: or a while? No, we didn't. I, we didn't know each other at all ho honestly. Um,

[00:06:04] Matt Kindt: we, we met at Hall, hall h in San Diego. Yeah, that

[00:06:08] Ron Garney: was, well, we technically, we met on a Zoom call. Okay.

[00:06:13] Ron Garney: And, uh, we talked for a while and then we met in person for the first time in San Diego. Yeah. And I walked up to him, saw him. Said, my man,

[00:06:22] Matt Kindt: my back went like, pop,

[00:06:23] Audience QA: pop, pop.

[00:06:27] Badr: Matt, what do you remember from your, uh, first interaction or meeting with Ron? Because I'll, I'll admit meeting you Ron today. I was like, Did this guy just leave a Mr.

[00:06:35] Badr: Olympia competition to come to the

[00:06:37] Ron Garney: comic convention? Yeah. 60 year old Olympia. He's still in great shape, man. Thank you.

[00:06:43] Badr: Thank you Audiences. Matt. Does Ron not look good, man? 60 year old. Come on man. Easy. 2 45 bench right there. Matt,

[00:06:50] Ron Garney: what do you

[00:06:50] Matt Kindt: remember from your first? Yeah, I just remember I was like, well, there is a one fit person in comics.

[00:06:58] Audience QA: He's not having it back there,

[00:07:00] Ron Garney: so,

[00:07:01] Matt Kindt: yeah. No, uh, I was like this one fit person in comics that doesn't sit at his desk all day, like hunched over

[00:07:07] Ron Garney: it. That's, yeah. I'm paying the price for it though, cause I jujitsu and I, you know, and I lifted weights for years. Yes. But now my joints are screaming at me to stop.

[00:07:19] Ron Garney: So anyway, we need to

[00:07:20] Badr: leave to go ahead and sponsor this, uh, panel right here or something. All right. Well if, if you both were at a bar with colleagues and peers and comics, which person has the better stories, has a better industry or bar stories? That's what I want

[00:07:34] Matt Kindt: to know. God, dude, you do. I don't have it.

[00:07:36] Matt Kindt: I have a lot of stories. I'm at home alone all the time. I got no stories. I've got good

[00:07:40] Ron Garney: ones, but I see two children in the back and my son. Good. Sir, do you mind just covering their ears for a quick second? I'm kidding.

[00:07:48] Badr: No kidding. All right. Well, I guess let's go dive into the, the project itself. What, what do you, speaking about first, introductions and meetings, uh, I'll start with you Ron, and then we'll go to Matt.

[00:07:58] Badr: What do you remember as far as your first introduction and meeting with, with Keanu Reeves and, and how much convincing, if any, did Boom Studios have to do, uh, to get you guys on the project? What was that whole kind of like? Um, Uh, kickoff, like,

[00:08:12] Ron Garney: uh, well I was on my way out of Marvel. I was ending my contract and I wasn't going to renew it.

[00:08:18] Ron Garney: I wasn't sure what I, I knew I wanted to do something on my own, you know, cause I have a lot of ideas myself. Um, and then I got this call or an email and then a call from boom, I think it was Eric, the editor, or Matt, one of the two. And, um, And, uh, they said, uh, we were wondering what your availability was.

[00:08:39] Ron Garney: And I said, well, I said, I just left Marvel. I said, I dunno what I want to do. I really don't want to get into any of the big projects right now. I think I wanna take some time. You know? And um, so they said, well, we're doing this book with Kea Reeves, and I said, Okay. The movie Star, obviously, but I was under the assumption, you know, I just assumed maybe it was something he was just branding and, um, and so, you know, like William Shatner's, tech Wars or something like that, you know.

[00:09:06] Ron Garney: So, uh, I just didn't, you know, I was like, okay, well, I, I. You know, I don't really want to jump into anything. And they're like, well, can we at least do a Zoom meeting with you? And I'm like, yeah, sure. I, and they said something like, Keo loves your work. And I didn't believe them. Oh, wow. And evidently they had shown him my stuff, you know, I was a little, it was a little distracted because I thought they meant, he had been reading my work for years.

[00:09:31] Ron Garney: And that was like, I'm like, no way. You know? And then I realized that they meant that they showed him my stuff cuz they were looking for. Mm-hmm. So, um, so. I said, well, yeah, I'd be willing to talk to you about it for sure. And uh, I said, well, we can do a Zoom meeting on Wednesday at one. So I pressed the Zoom meeting button and bing, there's cannery there.

[00:09:51] Ron Garney: Oh, wow. And him, sorry. And they're just looking, you're like, move Matt move. And he's like, you know, he's like wrong or whatever he says. Uh, but we talked for a while and, um, I thought Matt was very shy. I remember Cause he That's true. I am. He was, he was sitting there like with his profile with the camera, he would just kinda answer and talk and look, talk and look and so like, man, this guy's really shy.

[00:10:18] Ron Garney: I

[00:10:19] Matt Kindt: was just staring at my own face the whole time on Zoom.

[00:10:23] Ron Garney: That's a default thing to do on Zoom meet. It's like, and Can was quiet too at first, you know. But I, you know, I. Just kind of kept trying to lighten the mood and make jokes and things like that, and we all lightened up. We were having a good time after a while and then, you know, what am I gonna do?

[00:10:39] Ron Garney: Say no, you know, at this point. I mean, it was a great, you know, I felt like it was a, a good fit, good feeling. I didn't know anything about the project. Yeah. Before that, I mean, I, I knew it had been going on for like a year, I guess, right. Or something. Yeah, I

[00:10:54] Matt Kindt: think, yeah. Cause it took us a while to get like, figure out the plot and outline there.

[00:10:57] Matt Kindt: Script and everything. Well, there was

[00:10:59] Ron Garney: another article. There's a, yeah, yeah, there's, which we won't get into, but yeah. Um, so yeah, so I didn't know anything about it. And then, um, So, so,

[00:11:07] Badr: so it sounds like you were brought in, maybe not at the very beginning. Matt, do, can you recall what it was like at the very beginning getting the project

[00:11:15] Ron Garney: here?

[00:11:15] Ron Garney: Yeah,

[00:11:16] Matt Kindt: and I don't think I was the first person they called either. Um, I think you were. I don't think I was, but I don't, we won't talk about that either, because I don't wanna talk about, what I don't know about What I do know is that the editors called me up and they're like, Hey, I've been working on Grass Kings and.

[00:11:31] Matt Kindt: Black badge for, um, boom. And so I had pretty good relationship with them and they called me up, they're like, Hey, would you be interested in writing, uh, co-writing a book with Keanu? Um, and I was like, what? I don't wanna, it, it's weird cause I don't wanna be like, I don't wanna be the person doing all the work.

[00:11:49] Matt Kindt: Hmm. And then I'm just like writing something and the accounts putting his name on it. Right. And it's just kind of a sellout thing where it like, it's like stars put their name on it. And then Is that a common,

[00:11:58] Badr: is that a com? I mean, you don't have to say

[00:11:59] Ron Garney: any names. Is that

[00:12:00] Matt Kindt: a common thing? I don't know if it's common by, I've seen it happen, you know.

[00:12:04] Matt Kindt: Okay. And I was like, well I don't wanna do that. Um, so I told him, I was like, Uh, I was like, I was like, okay. I was like, well what's the idea? What's the idea? Like, does he have an idea? And they were like, yeah, it's like, um, a mortal warrior, you can't die or whatever. And he lives forever. And I was like, I'm still like, oh, I dunno.

[00:12:23] Matt Kindt: I was like an from sent

[00:12:24] Ron Garney: back from

[00:12:25] Matt Kindt: the future. Yeah. There's literally the Immortal Warrior from Valiant, you know, which I had done some writing for them too. I was like, I don't know. That doesn't sound like good. They're like, so I was like hemming and hawing about it. And then, Um, they're like, well just come out.

[00:12:36] Matt Kindt: How about we'll fly you out, have a meeting with him and let him pitch it to you. Um, I was like, I was like, well, okay, I'll, I'll take that meeting just so like, I'm like brag to my daughter, you know, the, hey, my county res and whatever. And, uh, so I went out there. Um, and he pitched the idea to me, and when he pitched it to me, um, there was definitely more to it than anymore.

[00:12:55] Matt Kindt: It was, it's out now. So, you know, like the, all the cosmic stuff and the, and all that. And when he pitched it and got to that part, I was like, I was like, people are gonna hate that. It's gonna be great. Like, it appealed to me. I was like, people are

[00:13:07] Audience QA: not gonna like that. You're like, like that is that controversy.

[00:13:11] Matt Kindt: But it's, I was like, it's, it's, I thought it was super cool. And this idea of this guy who like, uh, um, Is like, uh, he's like spreading technology with his being, you know, and like he ends up, and then we had, we had three different variations on an ending and, and none of, no one's gonna be happy with any of 'em, you know, but that's what I kind of liked is that it went to places I didn't expect.

[00:13:33] Matt Kindt: Yeah. Uh, so I was like, oh, this is, I came there just so I brag to my daughter when I got back and then I left thinking like, this is gonna be amazing. And he was totally invested and, and I could tell that he was gonna be not just like, That wasn't it. It was like, we're gonna be working on every single page of every issue.

[00:13:51] Matt Kindt: Wow. Yeah. And me having to hear dialogue read out loud that I wrote, that sounds dumb when you read it out loud and then we fix it, you know? So it was a long process. But then, um, so that's kind of how it started. Then we. Started just turning it up and I got home and I told, I, uh, told my daughter, I was like, Hey, guess who I had a meeting with?

[00:14:10] Matt Kindt: She's like, who, uh, oh, before I left is what happened? This is what happened before I left. I was like, guess who I'm going to meet? She's like, who? I was like, counter res. She's like, I was like, what does he do? I was defeats the whole purpose of this trip, and then when I got back, Uh, I got back and she's like, oh, she's like, daddy, daddy.

[00:14:30] Matt Kindt: I knew. I know who he is now. We watched much to do about nothing in school. First, the shas where they were reading Shakespeare, and I was like, that's how you know. I was like, all right, we're gonna, and then we watched the Matrix and Bill Te and she, now she's more well versed, but

[00:14:44] Ron Garney: imagine if you could've lead with a photo and she would've

[00:14:47] Badr: looked at it

[00:14:47] Ron Garney: like, is that Jesus?

[00:14:48] Ron Garney: Who you? Funny. So funny. My wife had a completely different reaction. What was your wife's reaction? She was laying in bed and I walked in, I said, you're never gonna guess what happened. She's like, normally she doesn't look up from her phone cuz she's playing like Candy Crush or something. And so, uh, she's like this and, and I'll tell her something, she'll like, oh, that's nice, you know?

[00:15:08] Ron Garney: And then this time I said, yeah. So I guess Kea Reeves wants to do a book together and then she just goes like, this

[00:15:15] Matt Kindt: just drops the phone.

[00:15:19] Ron Garney: So, and then when I first had my Skype meeting with him, just him and I. Like you could hear her pressing her ear against the

[00:15:27] door.

[00:15:28] Ron Garney: My son too was like, you know, so it was

[00:15:32] Matt Kindt: different reaction.

[00:15:33] Matt Kindt: Yeah. It's funny. Yeah. Every zoom call, it's funny how like it's empty wherever you're at and all of a sudden there'll be somebody walking by, or like family members, friends, like. Oh, cool. Hang out. I'm like, I'm busy here.

[00:15:45] Ron Garney: Matt,

[00:15:45] Badr: I'm, I'm glad you brought up that, um, that, you know, eventually, like you, you were sold on like his enthusiasm about the story.

[00:15:55] Badr: Um, because that I had a similar feeling watching a couple of interviews getting ready for this panel, uh, and. I forget which, what, you know, what outlet it was, but they had asked about like, Hey, count, do you like comic books? And you know, this guy was spitting off like, you know, loving rockets, uh, you know, Frank Miller books, like a wide range of comic books.

[00:16:15] Badr: And I, I was like, oh shit, this might, okay. I'm really interested now, did you guys have like a similar kind of experience where maybe like, he impressed you with like, you know, his awareness and knowledge of comic

[00:16:26] Matt Kindt: books? Yeah. You know what he impressed me with? Not comics, but we, uh, there's like a lot of science and like quantum physics and like all that, that, that stuff.

[00:16:35] Matt Kindt: And he, um, I know, I know that stuff in like a comic book way, you know what I mean? Like fantastic four stuff. And then he was talking, he started spouting off. Like real science to me. Wow. You know, about how things work. And then quantum position and, and then spitting all these words. And so I just started like writing down.

[00:16:51] Matt Kindt: I was like, okay, I'll look that up later. I'll look that up later. Wow. So like, to me, what impressed me about him was like his knowledge of like real world science and like how stuff works, you know? And, uh, so he is, that's what he brought to it, you know? And then, and then the stuff that he or I didn't know he would, he, he.

[00:17:10] Matt Kindt: Has his Keanu power. So he would set up a meeting with like a quantum physicist, you know, quantum power. Wow. We'd talk, we'd have these zooms with this, these, uh, scientists. Wow. We'd talk about like, how does it work? You know, like all this stuff in there is based on how things work or how they think things work, you know?

[00:17:25] Matt Kindt: Cause some of it we don't know. Um, so we'd have these. Zoom calls where I'm like, can you, alright. Can you use words like, talk to me? Like, I'm like, uh, just a regular dude. Explain like, I'm five,

[00:17:35] Ron Garney: but you're lying. Yeah. Yeah. That stuff. So what about you, Rhonda? Did, did you have like a moment of like, okay, this guy is the real deal.

[00:17:41] Ron Garney: He's

[00:17:41] Badr: he's serious about

[00:17:42] Ron Garney: making a comic book? Uh, yeah. I, there were a few moments. Um, one night he Skyped me at like 10 o'clock at night. And he was showing me judo moves he learned on the John Wick set. So that was weird. Was it just like, Hey, check this out, or was it like Didn't Pretty much. Yeah. And I was like, I'm just saying there like, am I on candid camera or something?

[00:18:05] Ron Garney: But, um, no, I, there was a moment I actually talked about an interview where, you know, well he said right away when on our first meeting he said, Alan, do you mind if I. Give notes back on, you wanna change something here or there? And I'm like, oh, or should I just, you know, get lost? And he, I'm like, yeah, just get lost.

[00:18:23] Ron Garney: And I'm like, no, of course you can, you know, you know, as long as I don't have to redraw entire pages or something. Mm-hmm. Cause then it's, you know, takes a lot of time. But, um, uh, yeah, no, I mean, I knew right from the get go that he. Takes real pride in what he want. He does. Mm-hmm. And he has a vision. And, and, uh, I always told him from the beginning, you know, it's your baby, you know, I'll do what you want.

[00:18:45] Ron Garney: And, um, Uh, so pray for the mcg GetGo. But there was one moment where I really knew how focused he was, and I talked about another interview where I had drawn, uh, Berserkers house in Seattle, in Washington, and, um, there was a carport and then the house attached to the house and I, you know, and sketching it out and stuff, I put a chimney on, you know, and then, and I remember thinking, well, that chimney probably wouldn't be there, but I didn't think anybody else would catch it.

[00:19:10] Ron Garney: I was gonna move it on my own. That freaking, the first note I get back is the chimneys on the. And I'm like, oh my God, that's right. I saw the same thing. I'm like, no. That's when I knew how focused he was, you know? So,

[00:19:23] Matt Kindt: yeah, no, he, he notices that stuff. And then before that though, he, we were like, go, we had to google like image search, like find the right house or like find the right.

[00:19:33] Matt Kindt: I mean, just the, yeah, because everybody, he was concerned with every part of it, like the house that he would live in and like, what does that look like? And so we had to figure out, you know, what's the coffee table? What's the furniture? What would he have? Would he have a flag up or not? Have a flag up. All this talk about detail.

[00:19:50] Badr: Detail, like intense. Matt, did you have a, and Ron if you want to chime in too, was there ever maybe a particular moment, Paige scene, whatever it may be, where. Maybe he gave a piece of advice or correction edit that you felt like, oh wow, this, I didn't think about that. Or, this really makes, you know, the story that much better or vice versa, where you guys gave a piece of feedback where he was kind of receptive, like, oh, that's really cool.

[00:20:15] Ron Garney: Yeah,

[00:20:16] Matt Kindt: he did. I'll say he every, all the dialogue in there. I would, the way our process would work is we would brainstorm the. Talk out the whole issue. And I would write up, write up notes and we'd, I'd type up the outline and then we'd go over that and write that up. And then while we're doing that, we'd have dialogue or he'd come up with some dialogue.

[00:20:34] Matt Kindt: Mm-hmm. And I'd type that in there. And then I'd come up with some, and then when I would actually write the first draft of the, of the actual script, um, I would fill in all the rest, all the dialogue that we didn't, hadn't. Come up with ideas for, but this stuff that has to connect it all together. And then like the worst thing, if you've ever written a thing and then you hear somebody read your stuff out loud, it's like the worst feeling in the world.

[00:20:55] Matt Kindt: So like imagine writing dialogue and then you're having Kiana read your dialogue out loud and like acting it out. And then it gets to. Real clunkers, you know, like, it was like, he's like, like, that doesn't work. He's like, how about, and it's great. It was humiliating and also great to see him like, just like shave the dialogue down and hone it down and then make it like something more.

[00:21:15] Matt Kindt: Yeah. And then, and he just, he has a way of, uh, And it's funny because like you can watch the films he's in too. And, and now I can see like, oh, he, he does that. I'm not the only one. He does it all the time. You know, and he's just like, fine tuning that and making it sound right, you know, for him to deliver it.

[00:21:32] Matt Kindt: Wow. You know, so like all the dialogue in there, it's like, he, it was great cause he, it made it so that, He's delivering the lines.

[00:21:38] Badr: Yeah. It's like you're bringing his

[00:21:39] Ron Garney: like

[00:21:40] Badr: practical experience making movies to like comics and that, I think that's like a unique way of, of bringing like acting to to comics.

[00:21:47] Badr: Yeah. If it doesn't feel right

[00:21:48] Ron Garney: saying it, then you definitely realize how much the movie, I mean, cuz really comics are short form of movie making in a way. I mean, it's storytelling and it's storyboarding and uh, you have shots and camera angles and it's all the, for the most, I think sort of seamlessly just.

[00:22:07] Ron Garney: Slipped right into the role, you know, of, you know, comic book storyteller because of all the experience in movies. I had a couple of things with him, uh, back and forth with him. A coup, a couple of things. Um, actually right in the very beginning, um, this is where, uh, my experience was a little different because he, uh, he wanted me to draw a truck coming into the panel from the right.

[00:22:32] Ron Garney: And Berserker was sitting on a park bench and, uh, and some, in some parks, it's, they're one-way because of pedestrian trash. So they designed them for one-way streets. Right. And so, uh, he wrote back, can I have the car coming in? And so I sent back, said, well this, you know, I just assumed this was gonna be a one way street.

[00:22:52] Ron Garney: So it's coming in and it works better for the flow of the panel cuz it's coming in from left to right. So we were out to dinner. And he's, and that came up and he goes, yeah, that was some kind of bullshit. Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry sir. Um, yeah. And uh, so I was like, what? So I had to say, I sent him a little article about how it's for pedestrian traffic.

[00:23:12] Ron Garney: They make one way streets. And so he writes back, he's like, ha, in garney I trust like that. So that's, uh, that. Won him over, you know, so, you know, so it was little things like that. But there's, uh, there was also a scene where, um, he wanted, there was a few panels that were sort of

[00:23:32] Matt Kindt: repetitive. Do you remember the, I remember, I just remember the end scene where Diana sitting next to b at the end or whatever, and he wanted, he was very specific about how he wanted Oh yeah.

[00:23:41] Matt Kindt: He had him holding hands or something, you know, and then he's like, no. He's like, I don't want, and so then we had to like, we, it was like we called you up. And then we're like, we poses. Yeah. Yeah. Me and Diana so that you can see what we're doing in the, in the Zoom. Took picture and I was like, screenshot. I was like a screenshot this and send it to me later.

[00:23:59] Ron Garney: It shows, shows Ke and Matt lean into each other, writes off. Family. That was funny. That's awesome.

[00:24:09] Badr: Let's, so let's fast forward to the, the day that the first issue drops and, you know, goes on to make, to make history. Like I said in the opening. Um, uh, I believe like the, the tally at, at, um, that I found was like it sold over 650,000 copies.

[00:24:26] Badr: You know, it's the highest. Selling original title of the 21st century. And I think anything with of the 21st century is one hell of a flex. Right. Like, where were you guys at when the first issue dropped? Like what was your, um, emotions and your and reactions seeing like this book continue, like these numbers rack up?

[00:24:45] Ron Garney: Well, I, I mean, I, I got a call from one of the guys at Boom. They're like, oh my God, we can't believe what, what it did. I don't think they expected it to go as high as it did. Um, and they expected it to go even more higher. They was, this was sort of snowballing, you know? So I, you know, I was just happy, you know, that it was such a success from the starting gate, you know, so,

[00:25:10] Matt Kindt: Yeah.

[00:25:11] Matt Kindt: I don't, that stuff's abstract to me. I don't, I'm, I was probably knee deep in like issue five or something, so I didn't, yeah. That's cool. I'm glad. Well, you know, it's nice. I like that people are reading it and I was like, I hope that there's 600,000 individuals reading it. Yeah. You know, and, and, uh, but I just like, I, I love comics and I want comics to do well, so like anything that's like bringing people to comics.

[00:25:33] Matt Kindt: Mm-hmm. They haven't read comics. That's a win. And I was like, I was excited about that. I remember even. Like, I don't think Keanu realized like what he kind of did. Wow. Like with, and I You tried to tell him, I was like, look, this is like huge. And you know, we're getting people that don't read comics or haven't read comments or a van of John Wick and, and I talked to people this weekend, they're like, they love.

[00:25:54] Matt Kindt: John Wake and then see you later. It's like their first comic and uh, um, but yeah, I think that's the part I was excited about. I was like, I think we did something good for comics.

[00:26:05] Ron Garney: You know, it was such a shot in the arm, I think, for the industry. You know, just be, and just for the unique sort of, whoa, what's this?

[00:26:12] Ron Garney: You know, what, even the name, like the Z, and it was just so different. Yeah. You know, and then the Kickstarter and everything was such a, you know, So I think like anything, it's just, it was sort of a breath of fresh air, I think for the industry to create something new and different that, you know, regardless of whether, how many time travel stories or time stories or these kinds of stories are out there, this was still sort of a unique in, in its approach.

[00:26:37] Ron Garney: And um, you know, and I do obviously Cano being a part of it, star, you know, obviously cause it's he so. But it's a even better surprise when the story is so interesting and, and cool and in depth and so, you know, broad. Yeah. And, uh, epic. Um, and it really is, in my opinion, a metaphor for keto. I'm so, like most of his work, right?

[00:27:07] Ron Garney: When you draw these things for two and a half, you have this symbiotic relationship to draw all these guys. It's like, you know, you have piano in your head 24 hours a day, and Matt, in your head, I'm like, ah,

[00:27:19] Matt Kindt: I was having weird dreams there while we were working on this

[00:27:21] Ron Garney: thing. That's why I said when I did the cover, like his face, his bloody face staring at me, you know?

[00:27:29] Ron Garney: I like

[00:27:29] Badr: what you said, Ron, about this being a series that injects like is a shot in the arm is what you said, and. I, it got me thinking of watching, um, like Keanu Reeves was on like, uh, NBC today, and he's explaining to Al Roker and, and his, uh, crew like comic books. Like he's, it almost feels like he's breaking it down.

[00:27:48] Badr: Like, well, it's a comic book, you know, just panels and this and that. And I was like, man, this is so cool that someone of his star power and magnitude is helping to, you know, Even though I, you know, for us it's like, well, it's comic books, duh. Like, there's no need to explain it. But, you know, Keanu Reeves is appealing and spreading the message to like, you know, such a wider audience that might not be as knowledgeable.

[00:28:09] Badr: Um, yeah, I was just like, man, that's, he's such a, he's such a cool

[00:28:12] Ron Garney: champion for it, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because most, let's be honest, a lot of. Star, a global star like that might not look at comic books that way. I mean, they do for the purposes of being an event, you know, Avengers end game as a, as a job Yeah.

[00:28:28] Ron Garney: Or something. But for the guy to actually get down into the trenches and make a comic book himself Yeah. You know, and be that much of a part of it was a unique thing. I mean, I think it sort of. Raise the eyebrows, the entire industry, go, what can Res is actually getting down in here with us and doing, making a comic book, and you know.

[00:28:48] Ron Garney: Mm-hmm. Obviously there was some skepticism, but, oh, it's just gonna be a movie and stuff. No, he really genuinely loved doing it, you know, loved the process of it, really enjoyed it. I think it was something different for him. Respect.

[00:29:00] Matt Kindt: That's what I, I promise you that he's probably the only a-list star that's ever discussed, balloon placement.

[00:29:07] Matt Kindt: On a comic book page, you know, I was like, I'm not even kidding. It's like we, we had old conversations about sound effects too. Remember we had tons of sound effects on the first issue, and then, and it was like covering up your art and everything

[00:29:21] Ron Garney: said, Oh, you don't know some of the notes. I couldn't let him get through.

[00:29:25] Ron Garney: One time he was saying, why did Ron put a shadow under his nose there? And he's like, no, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. I'm like, oh my God. Thank God you were there.

[00:29:34] Badr: This is fascinating. The, the minute details that he shared, right? Like I'm expecting like, no, not enough blood, not enough core, or, you know, tone it down.

[00:29:42] Badr: He didn't say that to me. Oh, he told you too much?

[00:29:44] Ron Garney: Yeah. What was that? He told me I didn't. Oh. Up it up. Oh yeah. Yeah. Cuz I was with Marvel for so long that you, I had to tone it down most of the time because, you know, and, uh, this, I didn't have. Him, you know, I got, can we, can we make it

[00:29:59] Matt Kindt: more violent? Right.

[00:30:00] Matt Kindt: We can't see the ribs sticking into the guy.

[00:30:02] Ron Garney: Yeah.

[00:30:03] Audience QA: Right. Literally, oh, let's rip is

[00:30:05] Ron Garney: rip the horse's, jawbone out. You know? And so I'm like,

[00:30:08] Audience QA: okay, all right.

[00:30:10] Ron Garney: I, I'm right there with you. And so I just went to sound automated that much and then I went kind of back crazy, you know, you know crazy about it. Cause I mean, it was like I was.

[00:30:20] Ron Garney: You know,

[00:30:21] Audience QA: little

[00:30:21] Ron Garney: B, tiny B, as we lovingly call him,

[00:30:24] Matt Kindt: jumping off horse, baby

[00:30:25] B,

[00:30:26] Ron Garney: you know? And just, it became, like

[00:30:28] Audience QA: I've said in the past, a

[00:30:29] Ron Garney: ballet, a symphony of violence, you know? Mm. So I tried to make it feel orchestral almost, you know, like I was Hannibal Lector, like, you know, you know, slashing the blood everywhere.

[00:30:42] Badr: So, you know what, Ron, since you bring up the, the violence, um, I had read somewhere where you were talking about being able to go to dark places to achieve the level of violence and go are necessary for the story. But you also said like you had an aversion to it outside that, that like that head space, it almost seemed like if you weren't.

[00:30:58] Badr: Actively working. Then it was like, eh, this is like too much for, for me. Like how do you walk that line? And do you have like maybe any creative rituals or like other pop culture that you, that you visit to like get into that Headspace?

[00:31:13] Ron Garney: Um, well I'm a musician too. A music sort of can rescue anyone from.

[00:31:24] Ron Garney: Those kinds of things, you know? I mean, you don't, you can't allow yourself, I mean, I, you know, I have to get to a certain space, but it's different because I'm orchestrating it and I'm illustrating it. That, and so I'm sort of, I think the thing that scares us about violence is where it's happens out beyond our control.

[00:31:41] Ron Garney: You know? So it's different when you're doing it yourself. You're drawing it, you're sort of in control. You're playing the creator, you know, so, so I don't think it has the same impact when you see something that's, You know, we, you go down a highway, you see a bad accident. It's something that happened outta someone's control.

[00:31:57] Ron Garney: That's why we pay so much attention to violence because, you know, we want to control it. So, um, you know, I don't, I, I think I'm a musical person. I'm actually a very gentle person for the most part. I think, I like to think I am. Most people might not say that who know me, but I think I am, you know, because of doing jiujitsu and things like that.

[00:32:19] Ron Garney: But, um, I, I think, uh, Being musically inclined and things, I just find a space that's just separate from all, you know. Um, so yeah. Okay.

[00:32:31] Badr: Well said. Matt, I'm, I'm gonna toss this one to you on the topic of, of, uh, creative process. You like, you're no slouch, you are no stranger to scripting and, and writing comics and being like the lead guide to tell the story.

[00:32:44] Badr: What was it like to be put in a position where you're collaborating and you're bringing someone else's story to life? Like, did you learn anything new? Did you like, take anything from that experience going forward?

[00:32:56] Matt Kindt: Yeah, no, it, it was interesting cause I, I hadn't really, the only other time I'd ever co-written anything was with Jeff Lameer.

[00:33:01] Matt Kindt: We, we'd done a couple things and then our process on that was always just to get some coffee, talk about an idea. One of us types up an outline and then we just chop that out, outline into pieces and like, okay, you write that part, I'll write this. And then we stitch it together. Um, so that, that's the only co-writing I'd ever done.

[00:33:19] Matt Kindt: But this one was different where he came in and he had an idea for this character and sort of like the setup for it and then kind of the ending. Um, and I was like, okay. And so then I was like, well, how do we build this out? How big does it need to be? Um, and then I'm thinking about format, and as we go along, it starts to become obvi.

[00:33:37] Matt Kindt: Obviously we need like other characters, so we needed like, um, Diana, sort of the foil for him who's sort of like, not not a therapist, but a therapist, somebody he can talk to and somebody that's trying to help him. And then, um, and then, and so I. Sort of came up with that character to sort of bounce off of him.

[00:33:57] Matt Kindt: And then the third major character was, uh, what's his name? Who's the cult leader guy? I can't remember his name right now.

[00:34:07] Matt Kindt: I can't remember. Ke came up with a name for him, but Caldwell. Caldwell, yeah. Caldwell. And so I came up with that guy because, uh, Uh, I, I, I started popular. He had this bigger idea, and then I was, I knew that I started populating it with Yeah, and, and Caldwell's mind because like, I was like, if this guy my, anytime I approach any story, I'm like, okay, well if this is the, the premise doesn't matter what it is, Marvel comic, any, any kind of like crazy idea, like what would it.

[00:34:35] Matt Kindt: What would it be like, but for real, you know, like, what's the real world? How would it be? Or how people interact or what would they do? And I was like, if this guy lived 80,000 years and he can't die, but his body gets blown apart sometimes and pieces are all over, I was like, well, what happens to those pieces?

[00:34:48] Matt Kindt: And then what do pe, what do people do that have seen him or known this person? And they seem, come back. I'm like, there's definitely a religion or a cult that's built up around this guy. You know? And then so that, that, that's how I came up with Caldwell. I was like this whole cult thing. And then he, I don't, Canada was like, I think he was like, we wore him on all that idea at first.

[00:35:07] Matt Kindt: Um, but then he came around as we saw that, uh, we sort of needed somebody, you know, to be his enemy or be his like, kind of frenemy, I guess, for a while. And then, uh, and then I, and me personally, like the idea because it's sort of like a, a. I hate, I don't like metaphors and stories and everything, but I was like, well, this is like a, it's a cult of personality for this character.

[00:35:30] Matt Kindt: And I think that, um, Kia is a, there's a parallel there in real life. Mm-hmm. With, you have this person who, nobody, everybody knows, but nobody knows him, you know? And so we have this character be people know nobody knows him, you know, and this idea of people wanting a piece of him, you know, and sort of like having a little piece and being obsessed with him and everything.

[00:35:50] Matt Kindt: I was like, that's. That's a, it seemed critical to me to have that as part of the story because I think, I think Berserker is like a super personal story, you know, in so many ways that I don't, I'll never get into, but it's there, you know, it too. But I, uh, uh, so I think that, um, that was where my, my part came in then, and I was like, oh, I'm, I am co-writing it.

[00:36:11] Matt Kindt: I'm not, Taking his ideas and just making it, formatting it into a script that you can draw. We're, we were, we were inputting into it, you know, like some of our ideas and reacting to things he was coming up with. And, um, to me I had to do it that way. Otherwise I would've been boring, I think just to like execute somebody else's thing.

[00:36:30] Matt Kindt: Well said.

[00:36:32] Badr: I know for me, the series subverted my expectations. Like I think if you pick up, if you only stick with the first issue, I think, you know, it kind of misleads you to thinking it's gonna be, you know, um, a John Wick meets Immortal and all this. But I think as the story progresses, it really starts paying off and like really existential and mid, like, you know, just, uh, like you said, like metaphysical ways that, you know, you wouldn't have expected from seeing like the name on it or the covers.

[00:37:00] Ron Garney: No. Yeah, I, oh, yeah. Well, I'm thinking about when, say that having worked on it for so. I feel like sort of, it was writing itself through piano at one point. Like it seemed like that to me, like, um, I think when you're, again, that's a metaphor for him. That's my opinion. You know? Um, I think when you're somebody of, of that stature, well, like, like look at any of these guys like Elvis or the Beatles, or, you know, They tend to, how do you handle being deified by an entire world, basically, you know, and I think that is coming through in that story and the cult and everything else, and how they're responding in a piece of them, you know, throughout the centuries little fingers and, you know, things like that.

[00:37:48] Ron Garney: I mean, how, how did, how does the, the person, the object of that deal with that? You know, because you're not, you're not, you didn't ask for it. You know, so what do they do? They, the Beatles go to the Dalai Lama or, you know, Elvis, even though he was a Southern, you know, he destroyed him, you know, because he, once his mother passed away, he had no one to, to, you know, help carry him through it.

[00:38:15] Ron Garney: Where like the Beatles had other, anyway, but I, someone like Yano, he really is like that. I mean, there's so many people have got so many. Private messages from people trying to get at him. Yeah. You know, and I have to just sort of fend them off and, you know, because they're sending videos and requests and begging and things like that, you know, and so it, it was really, it took me back.

[00:38:38] Ron Garney: It was a real eyeopener to what somebody like that has to go through and, and the challenge for him maybe, um, Being someone who truly seems to care about people, you know, um, the challenge for him is, is navigating that in a gentle way without making them all feel rejected by somebody that they're looking up to.

[00:39:01] Ron Garney: You know what I mean? So it's fa it was a fascinating to me, uh, for me personally, it was a fascinating case study and all of it, you know, so I was always thinking about, as I was working on it, I appreciate you sharing that. Yeah,

[00:39:14] Badr: I, I think long story short, it, it does feel like a really personal story and I, and I appreciate that, whether it was his original intent or maybe just boom studios letting that story breathe for 12 issues, you know, I think it, it's not uncommon or it's not, yeah.

[00:39:29] Badr: It's not uncommon for us to see actors. Uh, you know, of, of all magnitudes entered the comic book space. I mean, just recently, you know, Michael B. Jordan announced a, a Creed comic spinoff. Uh, like Amelia Clark had a image series as well. Like, we're seeing stars enter this space to tell their story. But, uh, and, and you know, I'm not pointing at anyone, but sometimes it feels, in the past it has felt like kind of a fly by night.

[00:39:53] Badr: You know, kind of like just a, you know, a quick cash grab. But this berserker really did feel like a, uh, like it had something to it, you know, as a personal story. And I guess with that being said, do you guys think, and considering the popularity of Berserker and the reception, you know, uh, 650,000 copies sold is, is insane.

[00:40:13] Badr: Um, do you think that is? Do you think comics needs that? Like that, that that injection or that, um, sorry, that boost. Do you think like that is something that you guys would want to see more happen as far as like big names, stars, enter the field and tell their stories? Or do you feel like it's gotta, there's gotta be certain barriers put up?

[00:40:34] Ron Garney: I used to be a nightclub manager right back in my younger days, and thing about that was, We always had to reopen every couple of years under a different name or, you know, or just relaunch under with brand new, you know, remodeling of the club and things like that. And they did it for a good decade. And, uh, because people get bored easily, you know, and they, they're like bees flying to flowers and they take all the pollen off that and they go Look at these flowers over here.

[00:41:10] Ron Garney: And they go over there and it's no different. With anything creative like this, I think, um, you know, we happen to do something that made all the bees come to our, you know, our little thing. And, and uh, so you have to keep finding ways to do that. And I don't necessarily think it has to be actors, you know, I just think you have to, I mean, look at how many people in with it.

[00:41:31] Ron Garney: You can't tell me, we can't find infinite numbers of ways to, to get people interested. You know, and, and be creative and, and really listen to new ideas. This guy here has got so many crazy, great ideas. I mean, he sends me this, yeah.

[00:41:49] Ron Garney: Sends me something and it's a list like this long of like hundreds of different ideas he's got. I'm like, well, here's my two. So that's the kind of guy you need right here. That's cool. This guy, you knows people like that who are, you know, uh, just so want to just be a, you know, an open thing where the stuff is pouring outta, you know?

[00:42:14] Ron Garney: Um, and it take, but the trick is getting people to really understand. And really be interested in, in, uh, supporting that and, um, nurturing it and, and seeing the genius behind, behind these ideas, what they could be. Yeah. You know, that's all possibilities, you know, and it never ends. Nothing ever ends, you know, just keep going on.

[00:42:35] Ron Garney: But like I said, I don't know if it necessarily means actors. Yeah. You know, but yeah, it's nice to have people who are, you know,

[00:42:42] Badr: I have that star power and that draw, I had that star power. Sure. Well said. Well said. Matt, on, on that same topic, dream collabo. If you could collab, collaborate with anyone, whether they're in Hollywood actor or you know, musician or from another field that you think, man, they've got stories to tell that would make great comic books.

[00:43:01] Badr: What, what are some names that

[00:43:02] Ron Garney: that come to mind? I have no idea.

[00:43:05] Matt Kindt: Who would I collaborate with? I don't know. I,

[00:43:07] Ron Garney: oh man. He's done this thing with you guys. See the Louis LaRosa thing? He's

[00:43:11] Matt Kindt: working, yeah. Louis LaRosa is, I dunno if you know his art, but we just did a Kickstarter for the book we've been working on for a few years called Megalith and, and, um, yes, his heart's amazing.

[00:43:21] Matt Kindt: I don't, I've never seen anything like it. He doesn't work like anybody I know and he doesn't, nothing looks like it. I dunno how he does it. I've seen, he was here a, a few years ago and I, I just assume he uses photo reference and, you know, does a lot of prep or whatever. And I saw him sitting at his table doing a commission ninja or something, and he was just coming up right outta his head to the paper.

[00:43:40] Matt Kindt: I couldn't believe it. It was like

[00:43:43] Ron Garney: photo, it was like film negative, like coming out. I remember the old cameras, like they. Get a picture in a minute. It's like you and you watch it form. That's what it looks like to me. It's like his brain is like one of those instant cameras. Yeah. He's just transferring it and he puts it down and you just see it to start to form from a film negative.

[00:44:01] Ron Garney: It's like uncannily, well drawn and accurate and. You know, just, I, I honestly, I just don't even

[00:44:08] Matt Kindt: know how, how it happens. Yeah. I put, so I collab That doesn't count. Cause I collaborated with him. I'm, I'm talking to, I talk to Jeff Darrow every once in a while. He lives in France now. So I'll talk to him and, and then I'm always like hinting around and like, oh, when you're done with your, um, she and cowboy.

[00:44:25] Matt Kindt: I don't think he's ever gonna be done with. I was like, you know, you're like, I might be free. I might might be free. I got a thousand ideas I could send you to

[00:44:31] Ron Garney: pick from, you know, you ever tell him like, cause I was, had him in my head when I was doing some preserver scenes.

[00:44:37] Matt Kindt: Yeah, yeah. No, I told, you know, he's, he's, he, he's big fan of that stuff, you know, and he, uh, he's, he's so funny.

[00:44:44] Matt Kindt: He's what a great guy. I've been a fan of his forever too. Its like, before I was in comics, I was buying hard boiled. I'm like, who is this? Yeah, its classic. And then, uh, Yeah, he, he did a John Wick. Uh, I don't know if I could tell, I guess I'll tell the story. He did Darrow did a John Wick, uh, triptych, uh, posters for John Wick, the first John Wick.

[00:45:04] Matt Kindt: Um, They commissioned him to do 'em, like, as like a variant poster or something. And then he did them and then turned him in and then they never used them. Oh, wow. And, uh, and I, and I was like, oh, I'd love to see him, uh, send 'em to me. So he sent me, had like the fuzzy little jpeg is all he had left of it.

[00:45:21] Matt Kindt: But, um, he sent it to me. I was like immediately realized why they didn't use it because it was the most violent, brutal, like it was really was like, W was like tying a throat and it was bloody wear. And it's like the most, it was like the most amazing thing I've ever seen. But it was like, yeah, they're not gonna be used for your eyes

[00:45:40] Ron Garney: only.

[00:45:40] Ron Garney: Yeah. Do you know what you're saying

[00:45:42] Badr: when you're saying that this poster was too violent for John Wick? It was right. Like

[00:45:48] Ron Garney: bar was pretty

[00:45:49] Matt Kindt: high. I promise you. I promise you.

[00:45:51] Ron Garney: At the San Diego Con, I brought that up cause saying it's not, I'm like, how can you say that it's not? John Wick, I mean, yeah. That's crazy.

[00:46:02] Ron Garney: Only Jeff

[00:46:02] Badr: Darra. Okay. Uh, so 10 minutes, uh, left to this panel. I, I do want to, uh, welcome any questions. I'm gonna ask one more as, uh, give you guys a chance to collect some questions. I might walk down here and, and hold the mic so we could hear it. But, um, the question for you two, um, Where, where does the story, uh, go next?

[00:46:21] Badr: And can we expect more from this? Would you guys, are you guys gonna be involved with the, I know there was a announcement for a live action adaptation, uh, anime adaptation. I know there's a, um, a, a one shot with Steve s Gross that's also being, uh, put out as well. Like where does the story go on? What does your involvement in future Berserker stuff look like?

[00:46:40] Matt Kindt: It. I can tell the Netflix is doing live action and they're doing, they're working with a Japanese company to do the anime and that's all in currently in like production, various stages of production screenplay for the, we've seen like drafts of the screenplay and everything, and so they're working on that.

[00:46:54] Matt Kindt: They kind of had to wait on the screenplay till we were done so we could see how we were gonna end it. Yeah. Cause we had, we really had like branching three ways to go and we didn't really wanna decide until we wrote. To that point, you know? Right. And so they had to wait on that. So they're, they're getting close on that.

[00:47:09] Matt Kindt: And then, uh, um, I forgot what the other, what else is happening? Oh, and then the, they're going to, I think the plan is to do a series of like one shots or annuals. Mm-hmm. Or specials like 48 pages. So like periodically. I don't know if it's, we're always

[00:47:23] Ron Garney: gonna be, you know, cause we're, you know, we are, are, you know, we sort of have.

[00:47:29] Ron Garney: Are in it, you know, we, we kind of have a stake in it. Um, right. We, we can't

[00:47:33] Matt Kindt: not be a part of it.

[00:47:34] Ron Garney: Yeah. We can't not be a part of it. So I think, you know, the three of us will always do some, we're gonna actually do another 4 48 pages. Was first it was 40, now it's 48 again. Cause if knew gonna be another, yeah.

[00:47:45] Ron Garney: So, um, Uh, so we're doing that probably towards the end of the year. That's gonna be, I, it's not gonna be under his schedule as much. I'm gonna do it in the fall. He's already done with this script for the most part, but I'm gonna do it in the fall when things hunker down and it's colder outside. It's a fun time to do that kind of stuff.

[00:48:01] Ron Garney: So, so there'll be that and I'm sure there'll be other things down the road. Cause we do have a stake in it, especially when the movie starts being made and things like that. I'm sure we'll be involved somewhere in there. Uh, who knows at what capacity. So, um, it's always gonna be in our lives at this point.

[00:48:15] Ron Garney: You know who, who the hell predicted it? But here it is. So for, for better or worse, hopefully for better. Who'd be more excited about more berserker stuff.

[00:48:27] Badr: There we go.

[00:48:28] Ron Garney: Alright, let's clap over there.

[00:48:32] Badr: All's open it up for with, uh, some q and a who's got some questions for our guests.

[00:48:39] Badr: All right, I'll give him time to think. Who's got some questions? Any questions, questions? Oh, cool. Oh, here we go. Um, you

[00:48:46] Audience QA: guys are amazing. The fact that you guys were able to bring this to Boom Studios and have this shopped there and be made, uh, were you guys getting a lot of pushback with like, editorial or everything, or it's just basically you guys were the top three versus like, if it was like made in the big two, you guys would've to go back and forth with a lot of like.

[00:49:06] Audience QA: Behind the tape, if that makes

[00:49:07] Matt Kindt: sense. There was no push, they, there was no pushback. I, I just, I remember that the first meetings, the next day when I came back with like an, an idea for the structure and the outline, I was, I pitched the 12 issue thing and I saw ke Keanu's eyes lit up and I saw all editorial where like, They were like 12 of the issues.

[00:49:27] Matt Kindt: And, and I was like, I knew, I knew that we were gonna get the 12 cuz his eyes lit up, whatever. They're not gonna, they're not gonna say no to Keanu. So they, there was no interference. Was that

[00:49:37] Ron Garney: kind

[00:49:37] Badr: of like

[00:49:37] Ron Garney: the Trump card above all? Like, Keanu

[00:49:39] Badr: wants it and

[00:49:40] Ron Garney: they're like, okay, God

[00:49:41] Matt Kindt: darn it. They, they were

[00:49:42] Ron Garney: county's approval.

[00:49:44] Ron Garney: Yeah. They were just running like blind into this thing for the most part. I the sensei guys, they, they were just, it was a. Work in progress, trying to figure out how to do it. You know, that's, at least that's why I, the way it was conveyed to me is like, they were just as sort of like, okay, how do we do this?

[00:50:03] Ron Garney: You know? And then when that came in it was like, you know, obviously it's, whoa, this is a big deal. So they were kind of like dare caught in headlights at first, but they handled it brilliantly, I thought. So,

[00:50:14] Badr: all right, so we got five more minutes, folks. Any other questions we got? Oh, I see, I see two. Let me go here and I'll go to you.

[00:50:25] Audience QA: You've kind of referred to this, so I'm just curious, why would a star, A star lister

[00:50:30] Matt Kindt: be interested in doing a comic? I know y'all worked with for so long. What, what? What was his appeal to do that? Yeah, I think, I think it's the, the same appeal where you see, uh, screenwriters, um, start working in comics because you like, when you work within a system like Hollywood where there's like so much money involved and so many people get putting their hand in comics, it really is like, Um, people start to realize the strength, why comics are magic and it's magic because you have unlimited budget, you have no interference, and it's a pure voice of the author and the writer on the page.

[00:51:04] Matt Kindt: There's nobody else involved. You know, like ideally, you know, it can happen, but. But it's the only art form like that other than like prose writing where you can sit and write your novel by yourself. Um, it's only visual medium like that where you can just tell your story exactly how you wanna do it. And I think you spend a lifetime working in a system where everybody's trying to get a piece and everybody's trying to have their influence and do that thing.

[00:51:27] Matt Kindt: And you can come and tell. A, a pure story that is, uh, whatever nobody's messing with or screwing up. And then the final product is the thing you wanted. Um, there's no other place to get it in comics. Oh, sir.

[00:51:40] Audience QA: You

[00:51:40] Ron Garney: have to be careful with the big two though, because there's always that danger when it becomes the, you know, the.

[00:51:47] Ron Garney: The monstrosity that Marvel and dc you know, they become, because it becomes about less about that, about the magic of that and more about the, you know, cliche as it sounds is the Be Bean countering, you know? So, um, luckily there's enough people in it, I think, that keep it. Going in the direction of making magic rather than just making, you know, and the comics, at least I've seen over the last few years, you know, seen some things happening that I don't think are as good as they could be.

[00:52:23] Ron Garney: But, you know, I do think things like, that's why Berserker was such a success because you know, it reminds everybody of what it can be. So well

[00:52:32] Badr: said. Good question. All right, we got one more question and then we'll wrap this up.

[00:52:38] Audience QA: Just, uh, curious, uh, for you guys as creators, has this experience, uh, kind of, do you think it's gonna have like a lasting effect on how you approach projects in the future for other stuff?

[00:52:50] Audience QA: You know, like is it gonna, you know, the way, you know, kind of the process worked with Keanu and everything, uh, you think it's gonna change the way you kind of approach projects for just your own, you know, future comic stuff

[00:53:00] Ron Garney: as well? Uh, yeah. I don't, uh, I never, I had never ever worked on it. It was a project this way where I was getting notes and comments and things, and I was like, Oh, you know, because I, I just wasn't used to it.

[00:53:22] Ron Garney: So it was brand new in that regard. I mean, I literally went through 30 years over, uh, comics, excuse me,

[00:53:29] comics

[00:53:29] Ron Garney: for 35 years. And I never, ever had notes. One note, really ever. I think maybe one time I got a note from a, uh, writer or some, can we, I think it was Kurt Busick, something about a case on, on a.

[00:53:43] Ron Garney: Planet, you know, glass case or something, but literally, and then that all of a sudden piano and Matt come in and it's like,

[00:53:51] Matt Kindt: none of those notes were from me.

[00:53:55] Ron Garney: And I was like, you know, and I, you know, and I had to stand up for myself on a couple of occasions. Most of the time I, I, you know, if makes it better, I'm all for it.

[00:54:02] Ron Garney: I'm like, yeah, okay. And it actually was cool for me to have, um, Second set, two second sets of eyes to go. Oh yeah. And then I'm like, oh, yeah, okay. That, that makes sense. Actually, one of the last interactions, the last issue I had, I, we talked and I, and I. He conveyed to me his thought process on, uh, bullets flying to the left or right, or whatever.

[00:54:28] Ron Garney: And I was first, I was like, opposed to it. Oh, that was me. I'm sorry about that. No, no, no. But once you explained it, I was like, okay, I see that. You know, but it made it better, you know, um, couple things. Like I said, you know, I, you have to stand your ground a little bit on because it's, you know, it's in your head a certain way and you, I was proud.

[00:54:46] Ron Garney: It was one scene I was very proud of. And, uh, Keana wanted it changed. So I got on the horn with him and I explained to him why it worked for me, and he was fine with it, you know, ultimately. So, um, I, I liked it, you know, and I had to, I had to, I couldn't complain anyway cuz you should see how I beat up colorists over the years.

[00:55:08] Ron Garney: Really bad. You know, I would send them, no, that's

[00:55:11] Matt Kindt: a pecking order, right? Everybody

[00:55:13] Audience QA: gotta pick on the guy below you and the colorist is yelling at the Letterer Bill. Bill Crabtree,

[00:55:18] Ron Garney: even the first issue I got First bunch colors. I was on the horn with him for a while and I just was explaining to him what you know, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[00:55:26] Ron Garney: And it was funny with him. He's great, you know, uh, because right after that I never had to, everything that came in I was pretty good with. It was all great, you know, really nice work and, and genius in some ways, you know, uh, maybe a couple things here and there, but hardly much. So he clicked right away once I was telling what I was thinking, you know, so he's

[00:55:47] Matt Kindt: great.

[00:55:47] Matt Kindt: That reminds me of it. My favorite thing that Keanu said was, uh, at the very beginning, um, cuz I was telling him, like, or I was, we were talking about the process and I was like prepping him for it because, um, I was like, you, I was like, well, we'll write the script and then the art will come in or whatever.

[00:56:02] Matt Kindt: And it may not be like exactly how we, you pictured it in your head. Right. And like we're describing it, but it's gonna be a little different in the artist too. You know what I mean? You're storytelling it too. Yeah. I was like, it's not gonna be, it may not be quite. What you want, or maybe you may be disappointed what you say.

[00:56:17] Matt Kindt: And he goes, he goes, Matt, I work in movies. And I was like, oh, yeah, yeah. Like, nevermind.

[00:56:27] Ron Garney: That's good

[00:56:27] Badr: stuff. Solid questions. Uh, and that actually brings us to the end of our panel. Uh, Ron, Matt, do you guys want to, um, oh, where are you guys at on the, on the floor table. Table. Number wise, where can people find you?

[00:56:39] Ron Garney: A 7 0 7 A A a.

[00:56:42] Matt Kindt: 8 0 7. 8 0 7. Yeah, so

[00:56:45] Ron Garney: we're right next to each other. There we go. 7 0 7, 8 0 7 area.

[00:56:48] Badr: You guys make sure you stop by those tables. Let's give them a round of applause for being

[00:56:53] Ron Garney: great guests.

[00:56:57] Ron Garney: Thank you, all of you. Yeah. Thanks

[00:56:59] Badr: for all and absolutely you guys. Thank you guys so much for joining today's panel. You guys have been fantastic. Take care. Be well y'all.

[00:57:05] Ron Garney: Now it's time for my rendition of Love Me, tender by Elvis Presley. Love me

[00:57:10] Audience QA: tender.