Get Ready For Free Comic Book Day 2024 with Ashton Greenwood, the Duchess Of FCBD - The Short Box Podcast Ep. 425

00:00
Intro plays

01:08
Yoo, Short Box Nation. Welcome back to the podcast. Welcome back to another episode. Thanks for joining us. If you're new, welcome to the show. My name is Badr and this is the Short Box Podcast, the comic book talk show that brings you the best conversations about comic books and comic culture. This is episode 425 and at the time of this recording, it's officially 22 days until the best day of the year for all comic fans. I'm talking about free comic book day.

01:36
But if you're listening to this episode on the main feed on release day, well good news. You only have to wait three more days before this awesome holiday happens, which is happening on Saturday, May 4th, which is also star Wars day. So go ahead and insert obligatory star Wars joke here. May the fourth be with you. And if you're absolutely new to this whole comic book thing and comic culture thing and have no idea about what I'm talking about, let me go and explain it to you.

02:04
Free Comic Book Day is a single day of the year when participating comic shops across the world will be giving away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes to their shops. Now, it's not all the comics. You can't just walk into a shop and grab any old random books off the shelf, but a special curated selection of books are specifically made for this global event by publishers like Marvel, DC, Image, Boom, IDW, and so forth. Pretty much every comic publisher gets involved for Free Comic Book Day.

02:33
And if you go on the official website for free comic book day, free you can see what special comics are available for this year's event. I'll have that linked in the show notes. But just in case if you're driving or if you can't get in front of a computer right now, let me just go ahead and say it's an embarrassment of riches. There are a lot of great comics up for grabs, including new number ones. There's previews for larger comic events happening later this year. And there is a ton of good jumping on points for new readers. This year's free comic book day is

03:03
pretty stacked, which leads me to the guest of honor for this episode. Today I've invited Ashton Greenwood to the show, aka the Duchess of Free Comic Book Day. She's the official spokesperson for the event and runs the official Free Comic Book Day accounts on basically on all of their social media. You can find Free Comic Book Day on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. She's the person behind all of that. She's also host on the PreviewsWorld YouTube channel and a regular contributor to the Previews Magazine.

03:31
And if that wasn't enough hats to juggle, she's also a marketing manager at Diamond Comic Distributors. Short Box Nation without further ado, let's give it up for Ashton Greenwood. What is up Ashton?

03:48
I liked that applause. That was a really warm welcome. We're recording on Friday for anyone that's curious. But you're bringing some good Friday vibes. You got the sequins shirt on. You're bringing some of that festive energy today. Thanks. I'm excited to be here. I've got to get hype about it. For sure. All right, Ashton, so as the Duchess of Free Comic Book Day, which I think is one of the best probably titles to have in the world of comic books, I'm curious, what does your free comic book day look like?

04:18
What are you doing on Saturday, May 4th? Give me the rundown. Yeah, so I'm still kind of trying to plan out what my route will look like. But the approach I'm going to take is I want to try to hit three or four, like four in a perfect world, comic shops in the Baltimore area, based out of the Baltimore area, just to, one, just celebrate. I want to hit as many shops as I can to celebrate, but also to capture those shop celebrations for the free comic book dates, social media channels, just to show other people how to do it.

04:48
different shops celebrate. And so I'll be trying to live stream capture pictures, Instagram stories, all of that good stuff. And then in a similar vein, I'll also be monitoring the free comic book day social channels and trying to share retweet as much content from shops across the country and around the world, just so that you know, we can give fans a really good look at how big this event is how beloved this event is and also all of the different ways the shop celebrate because it really

05:17
incredibly inventive and creative with how they want to celebrate. They do things like cosplay contests, cookouts, food trucks, like have the stormtroopers come in, harass customers. So there's a lot of different ways to celebrate. And I really want to make sure that comes through when the event day itself. Yeah, I feel like Free Comic Book Day is a day for a lot of shops to like step out their comfort zone, try new things. I know at my local comic shop, Gotham City Limit here in Jacksonville, Ben, who owns a shop, he's had like

05:46
Video game trucks come out there, like those big trucks that have consoles inside and the nicest screens and things he's had like that. He'll do a barbecue, so he'll have someone manning the grill the whole time. And we've got our own Stormtrooper chapter here in Jacksonville. I think they're called the 501. Yeah, I agree. Free Comic Book Day is fun. It gives you an excuse just to go to every comic shop in your local area.

06:13
I remember when I was much younger, I would hit the ground running at 7 AM. And I had, like what you were saying, a route planned out and all that. Nowadays, I don't have nearly as much energy as I used to to make it an all day thing. But it's still a lot of fun to even hit one shot. It sounds like for you, it's an all day thing. I'm assuming you're getting up early and you probably aren't wrapping up or getting home till late, right? Yeah. I mean.

06:39
Hopefully it changes this year. I felt like last year some of the shops in my area opened late morning, like 10, 11, so not crazy early. But so much work goes into pulling off this event that I want to maximize the celebration as much as possible. And also give each shop a little bit of love. The books are free, yeah, but the shops pay for the books that they give out for free. So trying to get my free books and then also buy something there and just like...

07:10
patronize as many shops as I can. And yeah, it's an all-day event. But I'm about that. There's so much to do. And like I said, every shop is different that you can make it an all-day event and not feel like you're just having the same experience over and over again at different locations. How much time does it take to plan for a free comic book day? For example, like this one here. I guess give me the routine breakdown. What's the timeline to get the books in, to get the word out, promotion, and all that? How much time are you spending on free comic book day stuff?

07:41
So I will start on free comic book day 2025 in August of this year. So August kind of starts will revamp the application. September is the application window for vendors or yet better sorry that want to apply to have a book in free comic book day. And then October we'll send it off to the selection committee which is chaired by Joe field and.

08:06
a handful of other comic shop owners and they will look through everyone that has applied and put together the lineup that they feel is best to bring in new customers, old customers and just create the best event. That'll be October. November will announce the books to the public. They'll be available in the December previews catalog for shops to order them. And then January until May is just like this massive promotion window of making sure everybody

08:34
is excited, knows what the books are, knows what the collectibles are, because we also make exclusive figures for the event. Knows who the commemorative artist is and if they want the shirt they've designed. This year we had Terry Moore and he did a play on his Strangers in Paradise characters and it's been super popular. But so making sure everybody knows all of that stuff and then they will get here the first Saturday in May. So it's a hell of a window. It's a hell of a lead time.

09:03
Now, you mentioned earlier that one of the things that you got that one of the first things you guys do is, you know, you're getting these books from publishers and you've got a committee that reviews them and things like that, which I think is really cool because it sounds like it is done by people that you mentioned like Joe Field, the guy that's responsible for starting Free Comic Book Day. He's a comic shop owner himself, a long time comic shop owner himself.

09:30
Is that committee pretty much consisted of comic shop owners and readers? I guess when I hear committee, I think about the Grammys were a couple months ago. Anytime the Grammys happen, people talk about the committees that are in charge. You don't know who's on the committee, but it's supposed to be people that work in the music industry that are journalists and things like that. What is the committee consisted of when it comes to like...

09:57
reviewing free comic book days and making the selections of what books will be offered? The committee is 100% comic shop owners. Diamond doesn't get any say in the books, the comics, media doesn't get any say. It is selected by the shops exclusively. It's chaired by Joe Field. It's usually made up of about 10 shops of rotating

10:21
owner. So it's not the same owners year after year. He tries to spread the love a little bit to make sure everyone gets a chance to get some input. But I think it works best that way because nobody knows better what will perform well in a shop than the shop owner. It makes the event very much a thing that is like by comic book readers for comic book readers. Yeah. You know what? That should be the, is that the slogan? Is that the 2025 slogan for comic book readers by comic book readers? It could be. Maybe we're onto something.

10:51
How do you go about keeping this fresh for you? Because not only are you doing the massive amount of work to get free comic book day promoted accordingly and all the, but you're also a host on the Previews World YouTube channel. You contribute to the Previews Magazine. So I imagine your mind is always thinking comic books. You're always inundated with comics. How do you unwind and take a step back? Do you have any other hobbies that you enjoy or like to do? I like to read. I do read comic books in my free time as well.

11:21
I'm also a big hiker. That's probably the main way I reset because you can get outside and just have headspace and not think about anything and just enjoy nature and be completely separated and isolated from the rigor and rush of every day. I love it. It's finally getting nice here. Spring in Baltimore is gross. It rains for two months, so it's finally about to be good hiking weather. Yeah.

11:47
In a similar vein, the weather here in Florida is getting really nice. And it's almost prime beach season. It's still a little too cold to go in the ocean or whatnot, but it'll be in the next month. Actually, by the time this episode comes out, the water will be great. And I'm of the similar vein too, where even on my off time, I'll bring comic books, but I'll bring books that I'm not reading for the show, that I don't need to prep for the show. It's my opportunity to be like, oh, let me finally read.

12:16
You know this thing I've had on the back burner for a minute. What have you been reading? What's at the top of your pile? What are you excited to get at your local comic shop? What are some of those titles? So I actually just read two that weren't on my pull list. They were just like, oh, I think I'm going to try this. One of them was Virtually Yours, which was originally a webtoon. It got published by Dark Horse Comics. Jeremy Holt and Elizabeth Beals is the creative team.

12:45
Honestly, I know the whole thing with books and reading and comic books in particular is you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I totally did that with this. I was like, this cover looks fun. I'll try this. It paid off hugely. I had such a great time reading this book. It's about an app where the whole deal is you sign up for this app and you can get a fake boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, and they'll send you texts, call you, leave you voicemails, send you flowers.

13:11
create the illusion of having a partner without actually having to do the work of one. And the appeal of that is like the main character in this book is trying to focus on her job. She's a journalist. She just wants to work in her family, the traditional Latino family. And they're like, when are you gonna get a boyfriend? When are you gonna get married? Like, when are you gonna settle down? And she's like, I need you guys out of my face so that I can work.

13:31
But so the fake boyfriend she gets, she ends up meeting him in real life and they hit it off in person, but they don't know that he's like, they don't know that he's the fake boyfriend. It was just so much drama. I loved it. And then speaking of drama, the other thing I've been really into lately is Snot Girl, which like I'm so late to the party with this and I'm also super bummed that it's still on hiatus. But that is like psychological thriller influencer drama, like it just like so much drama. I don't like drama in my real life. I want I want

14:02
So that's like right up my alley. You want to live vicariously through your comics, which is not a bad move. What type of books do you gravitate towards? Because I imagine you get access probably to every Brawley comic book out there working with Diamond and what you do with Priebus, but what do you personally gravitate towards? So I tend towards what I would consider like three categories, slice of life, drama, that kind of thing. And I would consider both of those titles, Snot Girl and Virtually Aborsed, to be in that category.

14:32
I love a dystopian hot mess, like, or dystopian sci-fi situation, like the book that got me into comics was The Walking Dead. And Archie is not really like a genre, it's a publisher, but like I love Archie so much and specifically Jughead. And I just have to shout out Archie because I feel like they're doing such good work and such good storytelling that goes beyond like what you think of when you think of like.

15:00
the 40s super cartoony Archie like they've really expanded a lot their Archie horror line and they've done a lot of really good storytelling so I anyone who will let me run my mouth I inevitably tell them about Archie. I don't know I honestly I'm a bad comic book fan right now because I haven't really been keeping up with my pull list my approach the last like I want to say two months has been this like judge a book by its cover approach which is I've just gone into the comic book store and I'm like this one looks good this one looks good.

15:29
inside of this looks cool and then I just buy a bunch of stuff and go home and try it because I'm trying to expand my palette a little bit. I think comic books is the one is the one medium that you can like that that rule of like don't judge a book by its cover. I think comic books is the one place you can make an exception because, you know, it's so like visually heavy and, you know, the art is always beautiful. Yeah, I'm a I'm a bad comic book fan in the sense that I don't put every title on my pull list.

15:55
I've gotten to the point now where I enjoy, much like you, going into a shop on a new comic book day and just seeing what's out there, what grabs my attention. Because I feel like there is such a, there's so many good comics coming out of indie publishers and it feels like every month is a new indie publisher. I'm finding out I haven't heard, like this week I found out about Magma Publishing and picked up this book called The Principles of Necromancy. So it is cool to.

16:23
To do that, I've got a short box full of number ones, just issue ones I picked up just based on the cover, just wanting to try something new and all of that. So it's not a bad strategy if you don't mind just like, you know what, rolling the dice. I'm gonna see if I can pick this up and if it's in the shop. But I wanna talk about some of the free comic books that are available this year. So I've got the comics pulled up on the free Comic Book Day website.

16:48
Like I said in the intro, I'll have this link in the show notes, but it's on free comic book day.com. I noticed that the comic books are split up between gold comics and then silver comic tiers. Can you explain like, what's the difference between these two tiers? So the gold comics are the ones that the shops are more or less required to order in order to be considered an official participant and to be listed on the locator. Um,

17:14
And then the silver ones, they can order in any capacity they want, they're not required to meet any sort of ordering threshold. So from like a logistical standpoint, that's what that means in terms of like a, why do fans care? Cause I'm sure they don't care about the logistics. And I get that, that's fine. It has to do with how recognizable they are, what the barrier to entry is, what the price of admission is. So these gold books are the books that you

17:42
can read without a lot of prior knowledge that are the best jumping one points and are also the most recognizable to folks who maybe aren't traditionally comic fans. So you see Johnny Quest, you see the Transformers, you see Pokemon, you see the turtles. So, or I guess, Bincanto too for the little kids. The ones that you, they'll show up the most frequently and therefore the ones that are probably of most interest or most recognizable.

18:08
Yeah, I was really impressed with the lineup this year. And I wanted to get your opinion on any books that stand out to you that you feel like, hey, these would make either a great jumping on point, or hey, you've got to get on this. This is a reason to go to Free Comic today and pick up some of these titles. And I wanted to start with the gold comics. Is there anything here that stands out to you, that sticks out to you, that you think the listeners might appreciate?

18:35
Yeah, definitely. So that one from Skybound, the Energon universe, Transformers and G.I. Joe. My friends at Skybound gave me a like sneak peek at this book. I got to look at some of the interior pages ahead of time and it is so cool. Like so much action. Everything you would expect from the Transformers, but like with a twist on it with the G.I. Joe element.

19:01
definitely recommend this one. This is not a book I keep up with, so I did not feel like that hindered my ability to enjoy it. I don't feel like there's any prior knowledge that's needed to have a lot of fun with this book. This book is super fun. Yeah. As someone that has been keeping up with the Interjohn universe, I'm excited. This is a mandatory pickup because the series, Transformers, Ward Rivals, Duke, Cobra Command have all been amazing.

19:29
Any opportunity to get even more of that universe, and especially for free, I'm all for it. What else sticks out to you? Personally, for me, I liked Johnny Quest growing up. I watched it. So I'll definitely grab that because it's got all the right nostalgia. And that cover is really cool. Dynamite just revealed that in the last month, I would say. So I was glad they showed us that for a while. I was like, maybe we're not going to get to see it until actual free comic book day.

19:57
For anyone that's just listening audio-wise, the cover is done by Chris Samney. It's a beautiful cover. Yeah, you cannot go wrong with Chris Samney on doing cover work. And then the third one that I think I should shout out is this Worlds of James Tynan book, because he's so popular. I feel like I need to read.

20:16
Something is Killing the Children. I feel like that's something I'm missing out on. And I know there's a lot of excitement around this book. So I think that's probably one worth grabbing. It seems like it has a lot of potential to be one that goes quickly and is maybe difficult to find. It doesn't ever surprise you how these books are free the day of. And then what you'll find is that sometimes these books will, you know,

20:38
introduce a new character, they'll be the prequel to a big summer event coming on the way, or things like that. Does it ever surprise you to find out that some of these free comic books just skyrocket in value in the aftermarket, like after the event? Does it ever surprise you how that goes sometimes? Absolutely, yes. Like, yeah, the whole point is...

21:04
that it would be a springboard to get more people on. You're like, oh, here's a new character. Here's a new this, here's a new that. But yeah, it can go from being like literally $0 to like 20, 30, like very expensive depending on what you wanna get. And it's, it is nuts, but also that's kind of like the appeal, I think that has some value for the event itself, right? Like if you missed out on that, maybe that encourages you to not miss free comic book day next year.

21:33
Some of these books will surprise you how much they go for in the aftermarket. Oh my God. Yes. Yeah. One I'll highlight from the gold tier is for starters, there's a Hellboy Stranger Things comic where Mike Mignola is writing it. They've got art by Mark Laszlo and Jonathan Case. And I'm a sucker for Hellboy, especially when Mike Mignola does the covers. I wish he was doing the interiors, but I totally get that he's a busy man. But you know, like Hellboy,

22:02
And it's also, I guess, a two-part comic, where there's a Hellboy story and a Stranger Things comic. I love any time you get a double feature, or even a triple feature, free comic books. And I'll also give a special shout out to Marvel. Always tends, in my opinion, I think they do free comic book day right, where they'll always have at least one or two issues that will serve as a really good jumping on point or a prequel to something coming out later in the month or over the summer. And in this case, I want to highlight

22:31
Ultimate Universe Spider-Man number one book that they are putting out. It's written by Zeb Wells and it's got art by Ryan Stegman doing interior and cover art. And it looks like it'll go kind of hand in hand with everything that Hickman is doing with the Ultimate Universe. So a prime example of like where it's catering towards, you know, someone like me that's been keeping up with Ultimate Spider-Man, but also like, you know, a good jumping on point for someone that might've, you know, that loves Marvel, but doesn't know where to start. I think, um, this is a prime example of like,

23:01
a good free comic book day issue. Let's move on to silver comics, because once again, I think this is where you get such a rich diversity of books. Like the amount of publishers that are categorized in silver comics, I love scrolling through these, because I'm always like, oh, wow, they've got a Popeye comic. Oh, man, Gotcha Man is coming back, and they've got the first issue for free. You know what I'm saying? So what comics in the silver tier stick out to you? Yeah, so I think I have three. I want to put them in.

23:31
point to and two of them are kind of related. So I'll go with those first. The Marvel Star Wars book, which makes perfect sense because it's Star Wars day. Like it feels like you have to get it. And the cover art with Luke's face is so cool. I don't even care what's inside. Like the cover itself is great. And the cover is by Phil Noto and he just has, yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like Chris Samney.

23:56
Phil Noto are names that you know that if you put them on the cover, people are going to at least pick it up to check out the cover. And then going hand in hand with that, I believe it's Mad Cave is doing a Flash Gordon book, which a lot of Flash Gordon was inspiration behind Star Wars. So I also feel like the May the 4th thing, you've got to check that one out. Come on, you've got to at least, if you're not going to make the obligatory May the 4th be with you joke or any Star Wars jokes, you've got to at least take it a step further.

24:24
and pick up either the Star Wars book or Flash Gordon. They've got an Archie Horror Presents comic book coming out as well that also looks like it's going to have a couple of different stories because I'm looking at the writer and artist lineup and it's pretty intense. Oh, I'm so excited. That was going to be my third one that I pointed out. This whole Curse library thing that they've been doing is awesome. I have been keeping up with this one. It's exploring like, why is Riverdale weird, basically? Like.

24:54
Why is it freaking cursed? Well, that's literally what this is. Why do they have werewolves and vampires and the afterlife and witches and all of this stuff? The curse library tries to answer, what is it about Riverdale that makes it susceptible to all of these oddities? Yeah. I'll say this is an example of... I feel like the theme for this episode, Ashton, is that you can judge a book based on its cover because the cover for this is

25:23
Phenomenal it piques my interest. I'm not familiar with the cover artist Robert Hack, but I will be looking for more of his stuff now I want to go ahead and jump in here and say that I am really excited for Speaking about Chris Sam and he's also doing the cover for the free issue of Gotcha Man and I'll admit I Might have missed a boat on Gotcha Man. I think there may be a little before my time I you know, it wasn't really played in my house, but

25:51
I see this cover by Chris Samney. I know the concept of Gotcha Man. And I'm curious. It's written by Colin Bunn is getting credited on here. Steve Orlando I'm familiar with. The lineup for this year has got some hitters in terms of big names, writers, amazing, beautiful cover artists. So yeah, I'll give this Gotcha Man issue a shout out, as well as there's a free comic book day issue of Conan that's coming out.

26:19
which is meant to, in this case, launch a brand new story art that's going on in the Conan series called Battle of the Blackstone. And as someone that's been collecting these issues, once again, it feels nice to know, OK, these books that I've been reading, these publishers are participating in the event, are offering something. I don't know. It just gets you hype and excited to, man, I can't wait for next month when that issue hits. It gets you excited to.

26:48
continue going to the shop and enjoying free comic, or new comic book day too. All right, Ash, is there anything else you want to shout out from this list before we move on? I guess there's something from the covers that I want to point out, because I think it's really useful. So I guess if you could just click on like any book. So this banner that's on the top cover of all of the books, it'll be one of three colors. It'll be green, blue, or red. And the color of that banner,

27:15
tells you what the age rating on the book is. So if it's a green banner, it's all ages. It's appropriate for all readers, including children. If it's blue, it's a teen rated book, 13 and up readers. And if it's red, it's a mature book, 18 and up readers. So it's just a good tool to make sure you get the right books in the hands of your kiddies if you have them with you. Wow. I knew I was gonna learn something new, but I didn't know I was gonna learn that today.

27:41
So you guys really have it all like figured out and there's a methods of the madness because I would have never guessed that And I've questioned before like why is this one blue? You know, why is this one? Okay, so there's a method of madness. Okay, cool. Yeah, actually what I like to do with guest interviews where I can I can't always do it but where I can I try to think about who can I reach out to to Submit something a question for the interviewee the guest of honor that that'll really make you know Make it a fun interview and I had two people come to mind

28:10
We're on the topic of comic shop retailers, an event for comic fans by comic readers. And this first voicemail comes from my local comic shop owner, Ben Kingsbear. I told him that I was having the official Duchess of Free Comic Book Day, the official spokesperson on the show. And I asked him to submit something from a retailer perspective. And I'm going to toss it up to him, right? Here's what I got for you. Hey Ashton.

28:37
Ben Kay from Gotham City Limit, Jacksonville, Florida here. I think I can speak for all comic shop owners when I say we couldn't keep this amazing community going without the generosity of people just like you who embrace their job and bring their passion to this amazing hobby and lifestyle. So thanks so much for being here. I've got two super important questions for you. First, you mentioned your love of Star Wars in the past.

29:02
So if you could only watch one Star Wars movie from the original trilogy for the rest of your life, which one would you choose? New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, or Return of the Jedi? And for my second question, you've also said Walking Dead, the TV show, opened the comic world to you a little bit. Now that Robert Kirkman is re-releasing the Walking Dead Deluxe, the Walking Dead comic in full color, are you reading in or collecting the series?

29:29
I'll leave you to answer. Thanks again and may the fourth be with you. Oh, and remember short box nation. Always take it to the limit. Yeah, I love Ben many. First of all, great questions. Like I was smiling the entire time. Like I love the energy. Um, man, I would have to say that star risk questions. A good one. Probably. Empire strikes back.

29:57
That's a very reluctant answer. It's so hard to pick from them, but I've always felt like the value for me and empire strikes back is that the heroes are kind of down and out. It's not like they're always winning, always on top of it. Like they're going to get Darth Vader. Like they always have a plan. They don't, they're just like, I think empire really shows that the literally is just a group of like ragtag people that want a better galaxy.

30:26
And that doesn't always land the way they want, but it doesn't deter them. So I think probably that one. I think it's got the best message for me. Yeah, it was, you know, it was, it was Avengers Infinity War before Avengers Infinity War. Yeah. Years, where, you know, the hero, you know, it ends on such a low note where the heroes, you know, have lost, that is not a bad choice at all. And then in terms of Walking Dead and the new deluxe editions coming out, being in full color, are you collecting those? Are you reading those?

30:53
I haven't been, but I totally should if for no other reason than the gore. I think, you know... What other reason could you have but the gore to see it in beautiful, pristine HD color? I don't know. To see Rick's great hair. I don't know. It's so... Even just in black and white, the gore is so loud in your face that to see it in color I think is the only reason that I would need to go purchase them. So maybe I...

31:22
I was on a self-imposed comic book buying ban because my reading list had gotten so big that I was like, I need to work through some of these before I buy more. However, I might have just been talked into buying the deluxe version this weekend. There we go. Look, Ben is, in my opinion, maybe the best comic salesman. There is not a book that he can't sell you. So Ben, you got a winner.

31:48
All right, Ashton, I've got one more voicemail to play. And I'm going to leave this one as a surprise. I'm not going to mention who it is, but it is. He was the first name that came to mind when I was like, oh, I may have an action on the show, I'm going to reach out to X, Y, Z. So here is your second voicemail. Here we go. Hey, Ashton, this is your co-host, Troy Jeffrey Allen. The good folks at Short Box actually wanted me to ask you a question.

32:13
And I think it's a question that a lot of us need to know. And I feel like you're the right source to set the record straight. Is it Timothy Chalamet or Timothée Chalamet? Please, we need to know. I'm cracking up at this.

32:38
The first text I seen this morning was from Troy. And he was like, hey, I sent it to you. I also emailed it to you. Thanks again. And I was thinking, I don't know what, I guess I don't know what I was expecting from Troy. I thought maybe it'd be a question about, hey, you know, what's your favorite interview that we've done together on previews or, you know, what books are you reading? But that question far exceeded anything I could have thought of. That is so, that is such a better question. So I guess I gotta know, do you guys have an inside joke about pronouncing

33:07
Timothée, Timothée, damn it, no, I'm blood-blooded. You guys have an inside joke about his name? It's not about his name specifically. I'm a huge Dune fan. I read the book a few years back and was incredibly excited for the movie. And I had let slip to Troy that I think Timothy Chalamet is a cutie. So now I'm cursed to be ridiculed about that forever.

33:35
That is hilarious. Can I also say that Troy's got maybe one of the nicest voices in the comic book industry. Yeah. Hearing it on the, because I just played it for my phone, but hearing it on headphones, he's got a lot of bass. He's like a smooth jazz or quiet storm radio host. I was thinking that too. He's got a radio voice. Yeah, yeah, he does. On the topic of Dean, I'm reading the book for the first time after watching Dune II in theaters.

34:03
And just loving this new series of movies, I decided to read the first book. And I'm like 150 pages in, and I love it. I am enthralled by it. I was told, I guess I'd seen online, just reading stuff online, that it's a difficult book to get into. Herbert's writing is kind of dry, no pun intended, for the whole Doomsan thing. But it's not the easiest.

34:29
thing to get into and I'm having quite the opposite experience from like the off the rip. I've been enjoying it and tell me if this sounds weird but it kind of reads like a comic book. I think the inner monologue aspect of it is really cool and the fact that I've got visual references based on the movie like it just makes reading it a lot I don't know just way more easier for me. I totally agree and I think the world building is so

34:59
thorough and so visual in the way that he explains it that you do get the sense that you feel like you're looking at this place where everything's happening. It definitely is a similar experience. Yeah. I'm just going to harp once again on the inner monologue part is an interesting aspect to it because it's done in a... It's like italicized so you can tell that this is a thought that they're having about the person.

35:27
And sometimes these characters are just so petty. They're like, man, I hate this dude, man. This dude don't know what he's talking about. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I think just having that insight into their inner workings and their inner feelings kind of, I mean, obviously, puts you into their mind. But it adds a different aspect that I don't think would have worked in the movies. They can't just have two hours of inner monologue and inner shit talking. Although, I would have. Again.

35:52
Oh yeah, 100%. For sure. Sign me up. Because some of the stuff they say in the book is hilarious. Now, when Troy sent in this voicemail, I won't lie to you, I went down a rabbit hole of like, have I been saying his name wrong? Probably have. Timote. So I'm watching like, yeah, Timote. Timote Shalome. Because I found some e-video where he's explaining, he doesn't get butthurt about people pronouncing it wrong. But he's like, yeah, everyone pronounces it wrong. It's Timote. Timote Shalome. And.

36:21
And I probably said it wrong there too. But there was an interview with Florinus Pugh where she's on the red carpet talking about Dune too. And they actually, I think, bring up how his name is spelled. And she admits, she's like, oh, I've been saying it wrong this whole time. But also, when I have to say his last name, I immediately think of Shalamella Bingbong.

36:45
Oh no, I'm gonna think about that forever now. Yeah, I know. It's one of those like earworms. No pun intended there too. But, and I think she admitted to saying like, it was an inside joke that, but she got caught. Like I think she was like doing some press runs. She was like, oh, I love to let Timothy Chalamet Bing-Bong. You know, like she found herself saying it and having to correct herself. On the topic of Troy, and we don't have to get too much into it, but.

37:13
You are a co-host on the Previews YouTube channel. You also are a regular contributor to the Previews magazine that comes out every month. You wear a lot of hats. What do you like doing the most? Do you like doing the free comic book stuff today the most? Do you like being on camera for the YouTube channels? Or do you like writing editorials and content for the Previews magazine? Oh, man, that's a really good question.

37:41
I think the first thing I want to say is I thoroughly enjoy my job. I consider myself very lucky. You got a pretty bad ass job. Yeah. Yeah, you do. I consider myself very lucky to work in this industry and to work for something that I enjoy as a hobby. So I'm very lucky that way. There's no part of my job that I dislike, but I really, really like working on Free Comic Book Day. And I've been doing it for a little over six years now. It very much feels like my baby.

38:08
at this point in time, very protective of it. I want it to go well. I want it to have good books. I want everyone to have a great time. So that's probably the main thing that I would say. I'm like, this is like my baby. I do enjoy the social media stuff. We get a lot of free rein to just like try things out for stuff at the wall, see what sticks. Troy and I meet every week, one Mondays to talk about like, what do we wanna try? Like, what are our new ideas? What content do we think is fun?

38:36
So I think that's a good time as well. And Troy's a great collaborator. I really enjoy working with him. Troy is the best. He's got a smooth, awesome voice. He's super knowledgeable. He's a comic creator himself. And I mean, you've got a solid team overall. I will say that is one thing about the previews crew is that you guys have got some fantastic co-hosts. You guys have very thoughtful segments. Like your YouTube channel's got, you know,

39:05
interviews, it's got unboxing, it's got previews, and all of that stuff. Do you have a particular favorite segment or aspect of the Previews World video content? Man, this might not be the answer you wanted to hear. But there is an episode of Previews World Weekly, and I wish I knew which one it was, where I forced Troy to listen to me explain to him about.

39:34
fan fiction and more specifically like the fan fiction that exists in the Mandalorian universe between din jar and in Bo-Katan and he hated it. He hated all of it. He couldn't wait for that conversation to be over.

39:48
You've got some cool ass. I mean, imagine at this point, like you've probably been working with like Troy for so many years, a Cannon doll X for so many years. Like they probably, I mean, do they feel like family to you? Oh my God, yes. There was a Baltimore Comic-Con, I think it was two years ago where me, Troy and Cannon were all working the booth at the same time. And it was so much fun. Just to like geek out, like talk to people that also loved the same stuff. We were like filming TikToks on the show floor. Like, yeah.

40:17
Totally just like so much fun to work with. They're the best. How many interviews do you think you've conducted during your time with Diamond and doing all the preview stuff? Like you had to give like a ballpark number. Oh no. How many interviews? I'm panicking. Cause you've been working, you got a job at Diamond, I believe 2018. So you've been there for, what is this, going on six years now? I imagine you probably racked up a lot of interviews.

40:44
Yeah, I'm thinking like, cause I do like creator interviews, like written interviews every year for free comic book day. So that's, that's like easily like 20 interviews a year times six plus any like video interviews that I've done. So probably approaching a hundred. I wouldn't say I'm there yet, but Do you have any that in particular that maybe stand out to you as, as a, you know, a favorite for whatever personal reason, like any that of those hundred that you're like,

41:12
extremely proud of or you look back maybe a little more fondly than the rest? Honestly, yeah. When I interviewed Alice Oseman for her Heartstopper book, that's probably one of the few interviews I've done where I kind of felt starstruck almost just because I love those books. I love her work. I started reading them during lockdown in 2020. So it was very much a thing that I completely was immersed in.

41:41
And it was like also right before Heartstopper got adapted into a Netflix show. So I kind of felt like I was like an early adapter almost with being a fan of hers. And she was so sweet, so excited to talk about her work. She was really, really wonderful. And I thoroughly enjoyed talking to her because I was in full fangirl mode and like she did not phase her. She just like was thrilled to talk about it. Wasn't like this girl's a weirdo. Damn, that's awesome.

42:11
I've got a few of those stories too where I'm like, Otter, chill, chill, chill. You're coming off too much, coming off too strong. But the interview turned out great. And that is one thing about being in this space and having the opportunity to interview creatives and writers and artists is that, for the most part, they're happy that you're putting a spotlight on their book. And I always find that they're really, they're really cool. I mean, there's maybe one or two exclusions to that. But for the most part, people in comics are

42:40
Just really friendly. They're really friendly, really attentive. Absolutely. Yeah. I don't think I've ever interviewed someone who was anything less than thrilled to have the opportunity to talk about their work. Considering that you work at Diamond, I imagine that you've gotten to, you're privy to things about the comic book industry from the logistics side, how things are run, and the reality of the business side. Like.

43:08
I guess, can you share anything that you wish more people knew about the comic book industry in that pocket that you don't think many know about that might change perception or make them appreciate it a little more? Oh, another great question. Man, I think probably from a boost on the ground perspective, the things I've learned about comic book retailers, like shop owners and all of the logistics that go into them,

43:37
get you the books you want. Like, previous catalog is 500 pages. And so, you know, they have this task of going through it and figuring out like, what do people on my pull list want? Like, what's gonna be popular, trying to have a pulse on those things. And then just like, the ordering process is enormous. And there's so many moving parts there to keep track of. There's price changes and returnability changes and things that.

44:01
impact retailer orders so frequently that they have to be so on top of it to make sure they have everything that their customers want. And that when they walk into the shop, they have a great experience. Like the moving parts there that keep these shops going is insane. Now to add to that, if you had a, let's say you had the infinity stones, you had the infinity gauntlet and you could only use it to change something in the comic book industry for the better. What would you change?

44:31
for the better that would benefit, you know, all parties involved when you think about the industry. Wow. You're coming out the heavy hitter questions. Okay. I had to come correct. You know, I'm like, I got Ashton Greenwood on the pod. Come on. I had to, I had to do my homework. I think my answer is for there just to be a little more visibility and awareness surrounding smaller creators and smaller indie publishers because they're doing such good work.

45:00
And they're telling really, really great, really impressive stories that I think sometimes their size keeps them from being able to just get, get as much marketing done, but that doesn't make those stories any less great. So if I could make it so that their awareness was much bigger, far and away bigger, that would definitely be the change I would make. Fantastic answer right there. I knew you, I knew you'd nailed that one. Um, and I got, I got one more.

45:28
question that's asking for your advice here. And that's, I guess I'm looking for advice for anyone that's in a similar position like you, where they're juggling a lot of different hats and a different projects at the same time. Like what can they do to be more successful? What have you found that works for you to juggle all these things and at the same time, like execute at a high level? I think reprioritizing is really important.

45:55
Um, every morning when I start my work day, I make a list of everything that I would like to get done that day. And then I pick the four things that have to get done that day. That way you're not like, Oh, I'm overwhelmed by having 15 tasks. It's like these, these are the things that are like mission critical. And then if you have extra time, you can start chipping away at those other things. I think reprioritizing is really important. And I also think I'm very fortunate to have a really, um,

46:26
open conversation with my boss regularly. Her and I talk almost every day, and I think there's a lot of value in being able to go to your boss and say, I feel like my plate is overflowing right now. I wanna manage expectations. Can you let me know what things you think are important? And then from there, you can kind of go back to your reprioritizing.

46:50
I know not everyone's in a position to have that great relationship with their boss, but I do think it is very helpful. Yeah, and I'll echo what you said about having a list. That's something that I incorporate myself that helps me keep, just kind of keeps me sane. Yeah. I guess I'll shout out the app that I use, but I use a basic ass app called Microsoft To Do. It's just like a list app that you can make multiple lists. And you know.

47:17
folders of these lists and things like that. And sometimes actually I'll just grab a sticky note and I'll do the same thing where it's like, what can I get done today? When what absolute, you know, like I need to get this episode out this week. And if I can cut a clip today, that'd be great. But yeah, organization and prioritization, I think goes a long way. Agreed. Ashton, do you have anything to say in closing about this year's free comic book day? I'm gonna have links, like I said, to the free comic book day website in case people wanna check out the comics and.

47:46
get prepared that way. I'll include links to the free comic book day accounts on Twitter X and social media and the show notes, but do you have anything left to say any parting words, upcoming projects or shameless plugs that you want to share? Sure. I think the main thing I want to say is if you are able to spend money, if you have some spending cash on free comic book day, I encourage you to pick something up at your comic shop.

48:13
for a number of reasons, you know, just to support them. They're an important part of the community. And also because there's something in comic shops for everybody and they're so much fun to be had. So if you have some spending cash, I encourage you to try and find something fun at your comic book shop, which leads me to my plug. And that is, if you find something fun at your comic book shop or you take a picture of your free comic book day haul video, tag me at freecomicbookday. I wanna see everybody's hauls, all the goodies you got.

48:41
I'll try to reshare and retweet as much things as I can. Uh, yeah. And you can hang out and follow me there. It's all year round. Um, during like the free comic book day off season in the fall, we try to do like polls and brackets and stuff like that to keep it fun and lively. I like it. All right. Short box nation. You've got your, you got your homework, right? Go enjoy free comic book date this Saturday, May 4th, pick up some free comics, support your local comic shop, buy something, and most importantly,

49:09
Share your haul, all right? Share what you picked up. Share your free Comic Book Day festivities and make sure to tag at free Comic Book Day. Ashton, this has been fantastic. I'm so glad we got to make this happen. You are just as energetic, just as kind as I've seen in the videos and as everyone has told me. So thanks for sharing your time. Absolutely, thank you so much for having me. I've had so much.

49:35
There you have it short bikes nation, that's the end of the show. Thank you for hanging out. Thanks for being here. And a special shout out if you made it this far. If you enjoyed this episode and you have some thoughts or comments that you want to share with us, write us at thes And if you really liked this episode, help us spread the word, share this episode with a friend or someone you know that loves comics as much as we do. And don't forget to leave us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

50:05
or wherever you get your podcast. It takes two minutes tops and it would mean the world to us. So leave us a review. Now, if you want more content like bonus episodes or perks like early access and commercial free episodes, and in some cases, free comic books, consider joining our Patreon community at patreon.com slash The Short Box. It's an easy and very affordable way to support the show and get rewarded for being a fan. Once again, sign up at patreon.com slash The Short Box.

50:31
Speaking of our Patreon community, I want to give a big shout out to our current members, including Adam Chaitani, Tony Aupi, RC Gamet, Blake Simone, Blythe Brumleaf, Bo Evers, Brian Brumleaf, Chad Lannenberger, Chris Hacker, Chris Jinx, David Morales, Triple D Mystic, Dominique Jackson, Errol White, Edbot 5000, Generation Jaguar, Greg Hopkins, Greg Lichtig, Henry Hernandez, Hershel, Hydrus96 aka Mac J. Sinner, Jeff Frimmid, and

51:01
Jerome Cabanatan, Joshua Miller, Justin McCoy, Kara Reichardt, Cassie Whitley, Corey Torteson, Matt Godwin, Amanda Marin, Nick Wagner, Podcasters Assemble, Stephen Gamet, T-Mix, The Wait For It Podcast, Thomas Pandich, Thurian, Trey Namo, Walter Gantt, Warren Evans, and Zach Armour. Thanks again to everyone that listens and supports this show. Be sure to come back next week for a new episode. And most importantly, take care of yourselves. Read a good comic.

51:29
and continue to make mine and yours short box. I'll catch you soon. Peace.