Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner are Comic's Favorite Power-Couple: An interview about Marriage, Comic Con life, and Harley Quinn - The Short Box Podcast Ep. 465

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Intro music plays 

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Yo, Short-Box Nation, hello again, welcome back, and thanks for pressing play today. 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 your favorite comics with the creators that put their blood, sweat, and tears into making them. This is episode 465, and today we're joined by one of the most prolific power couples working in comics today. I'm talking about Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner.

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The couple have been together for close to 30 years, according to my account, and for my money, there is no other couple in comics quite as charming, funny, and successful like these two. Jimmy began his career as an anchor in the early 90s, working on titles for Marvel like Ghost Rider and The Punisher,  and he was also integral to the Marvel Knights line of comics that helped revive Marvel Comics in the early  2000s. Since then, he's established himself as one of the comics' most prolific and busiest writers  on successful series like Harley Quinn, Jonah Hicks, Power Girl, and Painkiller Jane.

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which he co-created.  And next, what is there to say about his partner in crime that hasn't been said about Amanda Conner before? She's one of the most celebrated American comic book artists there is, as well as writers,  working in the business. She's a multi-award winning artist. She's recognized for multiple series like Harley Quinn, Power Girl, Vampirella,  and The Pro. Jimmy and Amanda are on the podcast today to talk about their life, their career,  and their new crossover comic, Harley Quinn and Elvira, which comes out in August.  And if you're in the Jacksonville, Northeast Florida area this weekend,

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Jimmy and Amanda will be in attendance at First Coast Comic Con. It's the convention's second year this Saturday, July 12th. They'll be joined by other comic creators like Greg Land, Mike Spicer, Pat Broderick, and a whole lot more over at the Herbert University Center at the University  of North Florida. Try to say that like five times fast. That was a tongue twister.  I'll be there and I advise, if you're a comic fan of any level, whether you're a newbie or a long time fan, check out First Coast Comic Con, all right? Grab your tickets for the event right now. I got a link in these show notes if you want more details on the convention.

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Well, like I said, I'll be there and I hope to see you there too. And without further ado, Short Box Nation, let's welcome comic power couple, Jimmy Palmieri and Amanda Connors, their show.  Hey Jimmy, how you doing? All right, how you doing man?  I am doing so well.  I want to start off by just showing a little bias here. Not only are you guys going to be in Jacksonville  this weekend. Amanda, I am to understand if I read this correctly, that at one point you lived in Jacksonville, Florida yourself, right?  I did. I lived in Mandarin.

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I went to Laredo Elementary School. Oh, wow.  Yeah. It was for three years.  my grandmother lived there.  I think my relatives on my mother's side spent a lot of time there.  And that's where my grandmother was living. And we all sort of wanted to be in the same spot. That's enough for me to claim you now going forward. Yeah. I still have relatives there.

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and auntie and a cousin that lives there. And Jimmy, you have gone on record multiple times as saying Florida  is the sixth borough. Yeah, of New York.  That's because there's so many New Yorkers down here.  It might as well be the sixth borough. it was, know, Florida was the kid growing up in Brooklyn. Florida was like where Disneyland was and, you know, the Key West and.

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It was like another world. It's the complete opposite of where I lived,  which was a concrete jungle pretty much.  later, you know, later on, maybe in my twenties, I started going to Key West. My company I worked for had a house in the Marathon and I used to fly down to Florida. So I've always associated Florida as like a place where you vacation. Like that's where people from New York vacation.  And then when we moved down here, we were just like, well, why not move where to the place where we

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associated as a place where we vacation, why not move to that place? And yeah, we've been here just 20 years, right? 20 years now. Yeah, 20 years. You know what?  This was our 20th anniversary. past past  June. yeah. There you go. So yeah, I mean, I think after 20 years, you're considered a Floridian.  think. Absolutely. You know,  even if you sound like that, even if you still sound like that, you know, as well as I do, there's all these different parts of Florida, like Northern Florida is more like South.

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Yeah,  it's very complicated.  We have too many tourists, as you know, and,  know.  I am that guy that's on the Reddit post when people are asking and especially the Jack subreddit, it'll be like, hey, I'm about moving down the Jacks. I'm one of those assholes that's like, we're full, don't come down here. Oh, no, no, that's me. I have that for Tampa, Clearwater area. I'm like, there is no way to move here.  they're literally,  you're literally moving into

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houses that have built that cardboard right now because  that the current hurricane just it's not a great place to move to okay it was 20 years ago but right now Tampa is the second most expensive city in the United States. Oh wow. So if you think if you think about that right it's cheaper than  New York they say to I mean I'm sorry it's more expensive than New York right now to get a house here.  So I don't recommend anybody moving to Florida I honestly

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I even,  them putting a prison in the middle of the Everglades, I'm  like, what a stupid idea. It already flooded today. So that tells you how stupid that idea. Only somebody not from Florida would think that's an okay idea.  everyone from Florida is like, do not do that. That is protected land and  don't be stupid. But we're gonna watch that prison fly away in another week or two.

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We've already got too much stupidity here. Okay. We've got plenty of Florida guy, Florida men, Florida man.  Yeah, absolutely. Jimmy and Amanda. So  I've got you on the podcast to promote, you know,  a few things, but for starters, your appearance at First Coast Comic Con, which I mean, I'm super excited for us. second year, I went to their first event last year. was super impressed that this one was very comic book focused  and you know,  big shout outs to Mike and the team that run  the convention, but

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Their goal is to have a specific comic book adventure. So basically seeing places like HeroesCon, which is so focused on the creators and comic books and art and trying to bring that flavor down to Jax. So very excited about you guys coming down to First Coast Comic Con. I think it's safe to say that you guys are lifers when it comes to Comic Cons. I we just spoke a little bit. You guys were at HeroesCon last month. If I had to give you the impossible task of tallying.

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You know, let's just talk ballpark numbers. Like the amount of Comic Cons that you've both attended throughout your years in the industry. Like what's the ballpark number you think? Like how many conventions have you guys tabled at, attended? While she's thinking up a number, I'm going to say, so part of our job is to go out and promote our work and there's no better place to do it at a Comic Convention, especially  when they're bigger shows, right? And we can do panels and we talk about what we do. Longevity in this business has to do with that.

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having your name identifiable, having people meet you. Because once you meet somebody and you have a great exchange and everything, people are usually fans of your work for life after that. You make an impression, a good one.  Not everybody makes a good one, but we try to make a good one.  So it is a key to our business besides doing the comics  themselves. We're in a business that's so small. Comic creators,  we're talking it's a small group.

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When one dies like Jim Schutte, everybody knows Jim Schutte.  But we're a small little pocket universe.  And we don't break out of it too often. When somebody talks about superhero movies, they really don't talk about the creators. They talk about everyone else, actors, directors, the studio. That's why at the end of the movie, you'll see that final list of people that is the creators.  So we're low on that. So we have to go out and promote. So we look at comic conventions as part of the business.

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That's the part of the job we do. That said, I would say we average around six a year. Wow. No? Like on a relaxed year. Well, yeah, on a relaxed year, it's six to eight. Yeah. On a crazy year, it's 12 to 14 or 15. Wow. I don't think I've ever been in a 14. We had one year where we did so many cons. 14? You almost swore off comics. Yeah, that's like a month. We were doing like, there was one where we were. Was it Harley time?

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I think it was around Harley Quinn. It might have been Harley Quinn. Yeah. mean, lot of the cons are all not in the United States, too. So we do travel through Europe and do shows in Italy. And we did both all over the place. We've been everywhere. That's next on. That's like one of my bucket list items. I've never traveled outside of the country for a Comic Con. And I know there's one in Italy, like  Cuomo, right?

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Uh, yeah, well, no, no, colors. Yes.  That's a comic art like sort of festival. Yeah. If you go in, if a comic should be disappointed, but Luca,  Luca is a comic book convention. can outdoor comic book convention. did one in Sicily. That was great. We've done London does a comic con and Sicily and, and there was a Verona Verona we did in Italy. Um,  we did one in  Belgium. It was,

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Facts in  that was in get  in get yeah. Um,  the difference between the cons here and there is When we go to Europe, they treat us like celebrities they  live to make sure we're having the greatest time They take all care of all of our meals. They book everything they treat us the same as they would  I don't know like a Tom Cruise or any other celebrity like like media guests Yeah, they treat us the same. So we're like very important there

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When we go there, so when we do those shows, and when we do them, we usually stay an extra week or so, a week or two. absolutely. Who doesn't want explore Europe? I think last time we stayed over 40 days. Yeah, it was 42 days. 42 days when we went to the last one. Yeah, we stayed for a whole month. Is there any convention that's on the list that you haven't attended? We haven't done one in Hawaii yet. We were gonna, but it got hit by a hurricane while we were heading there.

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We have we were in talks with one in Alaska, but it happens during some other event we're doing right?  You know,  I Yeah, Luca Luca the Italians bad paisans they never they never They never invited us to Luca. They never invited us to the one in Paris. What's the other one? Oh  Angoulême we've never been invited.  I've been there, but I invited. I went as like a fan  many many years ago

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but they've never invited us to the two biggest conventions in Europe.  I have no idea why. mean, they literally get two creators for the price of one hotel room. They must be blind.  the person is blind. The Italians, they want to play these games about  everyone else but the Italians.  I don't know. They're sick of looking at other Italians. Right. They don't want to see another Italian from Brooklyn coming in here,  especially Florida. I think less and less guests

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It's funny because of all the politics in the world, there's less and less invites to Europe and there's less and less people coming from Europe right now. So everybody's kind  of standing in line.  The world is changing as we're in it, but we try to roll with everything. We love our European fans. mean,  we love, they're obsessive though. will say they know their stuff when we go there. That's interesting. So, okay, so very safe to say, you know,

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pros when it comes to the convention circuit. What are some elements that make for a good comic convention experience from a creator perspective?  And Amanda, if you want to start off with  that, what are some check boxes that a convention needs to have for  them to, for it to be like a good convention for you guys? Well, mean,  I think organization is key. It's like, cause it just makes everything flow so much better. And it makes.

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everybody's job easier all the way around. organization is like one of the most important things. I think that's for everybody. think creating a vibe of excitement in the convention is, and I think everybody adds to that. The showrunners add to that. The invited creators and guests add to that.

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Then the fans come in and they add their own spice to it. You have cosplayers and it's great. I think that makes a really good con. It's just like having an energy to it. Me personally, as an invited guest, I like to not be worked like a workhorse. I need to have my lunch break in the middle of the day just so I can regroup my thoughts and everything.

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I need breaks  because it's really fun, but it's high energy and it takes a lot out of you. So you definitely have to like, um, you know, sort of regroup in the middle of the day and get fed. Like I'm very food motivated. I'm like a, uh,  a mid-century animated cartoon. That was great. Jimmy, what about you? What makes it, what makes for a good con?  Um,  professionally run first off, so we don't have to worry about flights and hotels, everything.

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should be taken care of, badges should be ready for us when we get in the hotel, stuff like that. Stuff that  we don't roll our eyes at and go, oh, what do we have to do now? know, have everything prepared.  When we do take a lunch break, we do prefer the con to make sure we have some lunch waiting somewhere. Otherwise, we have to leave the building and find food like everybody else. And that all of a sudden now our one hour turns into two and three. So we prefer that they have a really well organized.

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green room, not all the cons do,  or the cons cheap out, they buy enough sandwiches just for the people and then we,  because we have a line we can't leave our table till a little later we get in there and they're like, oh, there's no more food. And I'm like, okay, well, your job is to make sure there's something for us. You know, I'm very picky about that because if you're gonna be a guest, I know when somebody's a guest in my house, I make sure they're taken care of. I think the cons has to do that.  But I,  know, basically if,

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If you're have volunteers, have them be patient and sweet and nice volunteers.  Not short with the fans, not yelling at the fans.  We want that place to be a safe place. So when they come on our line, we want them to feel free to talk to us, to hang out, take pictures, get their books signed. We want every person to feel like they met us  and spent time with us. We don't rush people through the line. don't, you know, if we see a big line, let...

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People know that it's gonna take a little time. We try to feed them while they're online. Jimmy's doled out candy before. Yeah, I kind of feed everybody.  But it's important  that everyone feel like they're part of what we're doing. I think the number one job for  the con promoters is to make sure everyone feels comfortable and safe at the con.  And not that they're getting shaken down or, you know, they have this VIP stuff where they come in an hour ahead.

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The problem with that is we're there for eight to 10 hours a day. They add on another hour for us. We don't always get there first thing in the morning.  sometimes  VIP is like at 9 a.m. and we're like, we just flew in.  Like  we just flew in and we're running over to the con. know, so there's like little things that they just need to listen to the pros. The pros are very vocal about how they feel about shows.  But our number one concern is that everybody that comes to our table feels like they got

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some kind of connection with us  and they leave happy. We  want them to leave happy and we'll do everything we can to make sure that happens. I appreciate you sharing that. think those are all doable and great recipes for a great convention experience. do want to hear, while we're on the topic of conventions and Comic Cons, I do want to hear what is your most standout Comic Con experience, whether that be with a fan or just a personal experience you had at a convention. But first, I want to share that I have two.

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And Jimmy, you are involved with both of my most standout Comic Con conventions, experiences. OK. I think this was like 2010, 2012, 13 era. Megacon, you moderated two different panels with Stan Lee. And I want to say it was like a 2012 and 2013 one. And both times, I think the 2012 one or 2010, the first one at least, was my first time going to a Comic Convention ever, especially at that size. We're talking like, you know,

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prime mega con. Well, I guess you could debate like nowadays mega con is insane. But back then I felt like it was a little smaller, more comic book focused  and there was, you were hosting a panel of Stanley and I was like, Oh my God, I have to go to this. So I go to the, I go to the panel  and I had just started the podcast at the time  and I was like, I got to like meet Stanley or something. You know, I got to meet Stanley.

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And you do the panel. It was a great conversation. mean, and know, Stan Lee, he was like a showman. He was like telling stories. You guys are going back and forth. It was so entertaining. And you end up asking, like, hey, if you guys want to ask any questions, form a line right here in the center. And you know, you get to ask your questions.  And I literally have a picture of me like walking up to the line. And I look back and give a thumbs up. And I get in line. And I'm like, oh,  oh, I completely forgot. I had printed out  this book report that I wrote.

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about Stan Lee for like  a freshman college class. It was like a 10 page report. And I got up in line and I'm like, you know, Stanley, you're a role model, know, everything you've done, et cetera, et cetera. I was like, do you mind if I come up here and give you this book report that I gave you? It was my way of like shaking hands with them without paying for like the very expensive like photo package because it was like 500 bucks and I could not afford it. So I got to go up, shake his hand. I gave him the book report.

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I have a photo of that and I remember he made a joke about like all these grammatical errors and you got an A on this paper and you know the whole crowd erupts. the second time, I think the very next year, you once again hosted a panel with him. Another fantastic job. At that time I definitely had the podcast going and I had brought one of the  earliest prototype shirts. I mean it was like a rinky dink shirt I made at home,  know, heat press. And I got in line once again.

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You know, said the same remarks. was like, you know, Stan, last year I got to meet you. Ever since then, I started this podcast. You know, you're a huge inspiration. Can I give you this shirt? And once again, I got to go on the stage. So both times, you know, I weaseled my way into meeting Stan. yeah, I think I remember because I was the one saying, come on up, get up, come on up. Give it to Stan. Because I don't like the reach down and grab something from the audience. feel like the person bringing something from up.

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I was gonna say, I've waited all these years to say thank you for letting me get on stage 12 times and get to meet my idol, Stone. So Stan, when he does those panels, his hearing in one ear was not great, right? So that's why I always sat on the left of him and his right ear was not great. But he would ask for me because he wanted somebody up there that was safe. He would ask for me, he's like.

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You know, say, get Jimmy Pamiati. He'd come, he'd do a, he'll do a great job. He knows what to ask, you know, whatever. But part of it was knowing all of Stan's answers. I've done it so many times with Stan. I knew what he was going to say. And a lot of times people in the audience would ask him a question and he'd go to me, what did they, what did he talking about? And I'm like, why the Hulk is green instead of gray? You know,  and, what about the ink? He goes, don't tell, I know what I'm saying. You know, you always make like, I screwed up or something. That was the joke of being up there. You'd always go.

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Jimmy, know what they're saying. I don't need you for this.  That was his joke, but he couldn't hear anybody in the audience. it was so much fun for me to do. I mean, I've done it at least a dozen times with him.  And we always would just laugh afterwards because it was like, he always goes, well, that was easier than I thought it would be. And going in, he's like, oh, take it easy on me, kid. He'd say, take it easy. I'm really tired.

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And then he'd get up there and you guys would make him feel like he's, you know, like Ten again. know, he would just be, had a ball of energy. But those were fun. Those were fun to do. I mean, I miss, you know, I miss Stan, obviously. you know, I,  he was my boss.  He started out as my boss, right? So,  you know, I first met him up in the Marvel offices, but I think the most fun I've ever had with him was I went to the X-Men premiere  on Ellis Island in New York and,

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It was just a cast, some of the crew, and us, like a couple of comic book people. Stan sat with me and he had me, he kept pointing to celebrities going, who's that? I know that face, who's that? I'm like, that's Halle Berry. She plays, oh yeah, she's beautiful. But it was so much fun. when we did Marvel Knights, he would call and check in on us and make sure things were okay. But just a great guy. mean, you know,

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The creation of Marvel is about a bunch of people,  but it wouldn't happen without Stan. Like, you need that one person that can wrangle the creators.  And what people don't understand sometimes, because they're they're yelling about who did what, I'm always like, you don't understand. Without that wrangler, though, it was just a bunch of creators doing whatever they want. know, he wrangled the people together. And  man, he loved the fans. He loved you guys, you know?

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He just loved, yeah, when you probably gave him the book report, he probably took it on the plane with him and read it on the way home, because that's something Stan would do. Oh, Jimmy, now you got me teary-eyed. I mean, I didn't know that part. That'd be awesome. But you know, he's the one of a kind in our business. We don't really have an elder statesman anymore, right? don't have another Stan. We don't have another Stan.  I don't think there's any standout people that are  in the business that are Stanish.  Stanish, yeah. mean, you know.

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Yeah, was, I mean, the people running DC and Marvel, not, you we don't even know who they are, their names anymore.  But Stan really wanted to make the comics make an impact on people and in their lives. And  I think it was just a raging success. You know, it just really was. I couldn't agree more. Rest in peace for sure. I just remembered the question I gave was,  stand out experience at a comic convention, whether that be with a fan or something personal? Ladies first. I mean, I think,

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I didn't realize how much  Harley was going to have an impact on  the readers.  I think one of the most impactful things for me is several times we've had fans come up to us and say, you know, I was in an abusive relationship and I read Harley and it just opened my eyes and made me realize I don't have to deal with this anymore. I can get myself out of this and get on with my life and make my life better.

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without this  mean person in my life.  So, I mean, we were really surprised to find out like how,  you know, the positive impact that it had on people,  which is great.  And I guess a standout, know, like that's still like to this day that still happens at conventions and it's so heartwarming and just, makes you feel great.  I'm trying to think of there, there's like been so many times at conventions.

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That fun things have happened. I mean, I've met, you know, media guests. I've met Bruce Campbell, which, you know, he was fun. I met, oh, who else did I meet? I'm blanking on his name, but I'm seeing his face as clear as day. But this is funny. This just happened this past year at Planet Comic Con back in March. I was walking back from the green room and this woman was riding by on like this little,

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little scooter and she just smiled and I'm like that's a million watt smile man that smile looks like Anne Margaret smile and I'm like oh my god  that's Anne Margaret.  So  I got really excited and then  I saw her and clearly like you know that convention hall is so huge  and it was you know like

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to get around, you know, it was good that she had a scooter, but clearly you could tell like when she's at home, she's walking all over the place and probably dancing all over the place because she didn't really know how to operate it. And I'm like, oh yeah, she she doesn't have one of these things at home.  She's probably like dancing her way, you know, through the kitchen. And  so I hear Harley Quinn and then I hear celebrity sighting. And I guess I got to ask, you know, an amalgam of both. Have you  either of you ever had a chance to interact or meet Margaret Roby? Yeah.

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Let's see, we saw the first time we met her was at the Suicide Squad premiere, the first movie.  We met her in the city and we went to the after party for the movie and  she came up to us and asked us how she did. We said, you're amazing. I said, you stole the movie, you know? And then when they shot the Birds of Prey movie, they invited us on the set and  they were filming the fight scene. were filming the roller skate fight scene at the end of the movie.

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And when they yelled cut, she roller skated up to us and gave us a hug and then said, oh, I didn't know you guys were going to be here. Blah, blah, blah, blah, know, chatty, chatty, chatty. And then really sweet. We met the director and some of the people involved there. then the next time we met her, we went to the premiere of Birds of Prey in London. And she invited us to the after party. And we got to hang out with her and Rosie Perez and.

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Rosie Perez? Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. Another Brooklynite. yeah, I mean, Margot is, you you look at her and she's a star. Like you look at her and she's like other Earth, right? Like other earthly kind of just stunning. has that sparkly vampire energy. Yeah, she does. Sonny, when we read our books, like she was very well versed in the books we did, you know, and it was great to see. yeah, she just she's just a that's that's a pretty cool highlight, I guess. Yeah, I didn't even think of that.

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But was definitely, every time we met her was great. And she, if she could be the best actress in the world, because every time we met her, she was so happy to see us. And I'm like, maybe she's acting. I don't know. It doesn't matter because every time we met her, she was like, oh my God, you guys. Amanda, how you doing? I think it goes back to what you were saying, Jimmy, about just, even as creators yourselves who are meeting the fans and giving them a positive experience. I can't tell you how many times I've.

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I've interacted with a creator that maybe I don't know much about their work, but the interaction is so good that I'm like, well, I'm definitely rooting for them to win. You made me a fan big time. So I can imagine it's a little bit of that there too. couple of things you understand when you're on the other side of the table in a con is that some people are nervous. Some people are scared. Some people, they're not used to interacting. Or they look at you like something like, you're the person that does it.

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And the thing that Amanda and I try to do is to make the person completely comfortable, feel like they're hanging out with friends. We talk with everybody, we sign their books, we ask them how to do them, we compliment their shirts and stuff. We want everybody to just feel like it's okay, come up and have a good time with us. And even if it's only for a couple of minutes, I think it's so important because it was so important to me when I was a fan. When I got to meet artists in the 70s and 80s, I would go up.

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I get online at cons and meet them. And boy, I remember all the ones that were great to me. I remember a couple that weren't so great to me. And that sticks with you. You know, it does stay with you. I remember one artist, I won't even mention them. He's a creator. He just was maybe he was having a bad day, whatever. But I remember I never bought a book of his ever again, because I was like, you'd be like garbage, you know?

29:35
I've had the same. Yeah, I've had a couple of those too. Yeah. Jimmy, before I move on to my next question, did you want to share maybe your standout convention experience?

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I will say every time I'm with a man there at a con, that's my favorite standout experience. man. Great Let's see, after that though, hmm, that's a big fall after that. me think. So there's like behind the scenes stuff.  A lot of the cons, we have a steady group of friends, pros and non-pros, that we meet up at night and go out and party a little hard with. So there's a lot of stories with that.  Celebrities wise, I  got...

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I met a lot, we met a lot of, I mean the girl from X-Files, what's her name? Jillian Anderson. Jillian Anderson was fun to meet. I hung out with her for a little bit and talked with her. What's so funny? I had the opposite experience. Yes, not with Jillian Anderson. You had it with  Carrie Fisher. yeah.  You can tell that story real quick.  Oh, I was like,  well we were,  I can't remember which convention it was. Yeah, it Dallas. For whatever reason, they were trying to like really impress us and they were like.

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Jimmy you want to meet Jillian Anderson? He was like, okay. Yeah, right and they were like, what do you want to meet? I was like, I'd to meet Carrie Fisher, know, I'm like, you know, I'm a frustrated Princess Leia myself. So, um, so she was out walking her dog Gary around the back, I guess, making sure that he had a chance to go to the bathroom. And our manager was like,  she'll she'll be right here. Don't worry about I'm like, you know, it's fine. Like, you know, don't rush the dog. Take take your time pooping. It's fine. Right.  And

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She walked towards the door and the manager said, Gary, this is Amanda Conner, one of your hugest fans. And she was like looking at her fingernails  and she looked up and she went, hi. And then she just kept going.  Oh, whap,  whap. It's like laughing so hard.  And the manager was mortified. He's like,  I can't get her back. And I'm like, look, it's the end of the convention. Yeah, for sure. She's exhausted. I totally get it.

31:38
I was like, let her just go zone out over there and just be quiet for a few minutes. I did have a good lunch with Alice Cooper. Oh wow. Yeah, because I was sitting at a table in the green room and he came and he goes, you mind if I say, no please. And then we just talked. We had a nice talk where we were eating lunch. He's telling me about playing golf and whatever. So we have some crazy fans that come back all the time.

32:04
They bring us booze or moonshine or- Or on New York Comic Con, bring us pizza Pizza, yeah, bring us Brooklyn. Yeah, yeah, they bring us,  bagels, they bring us bagels. Yeah. I need to come hang out at your table. You guys are the party table. That's where I need to be at. We definitely feed everyone around us when, we did a show in Philadelphia  and I put on the internet, I said, for every cheese steak you bring, I will do a sketch.

32:32
We'll sketch for Philly cheesesteaks. So around like 30 cheesesteaks later,  everybody in the artist's alley was getting a  cheesesteak sandwich. Because I could only eat one, and Amanda could only eat a half of one.  But they kept bringing them. They're like, here, it's a cheesesteak. Can I get a drawing? I'm like, sure. Then I'm like, who's hungry? And it's always like all the artists are like, I'll take one.  So that's kind of fun to do. I I have that  available now where.

33:00
They just, they're soliciting the All-Star Westerns as an omnibus, right? Yeah, I saw that. So it's a thousand, I think it's over a thousand pages, like thousand and a hundred or something like that, whatever it is. But I put it out on the internet, I anybody that buys it and brings it to the con, I will do a full Jonah Hex drawing on the inside of the book. They're gonna need a forklift to put that on the table. That book is a colossus. I mean, you'd be surprised, we get people to bring all three Harley omnibuses. Yeah, man, that's like, that's like.

33:29
Dragon cinder blocks around. Yeah, they're So we try to make it worth their while, you know, have you guys ever been surprised by?  Something someone has brought what is the craziest commission or outland most like craziest outlandish commission and you're laughing  Somebody this is decades ago This is this is a long time ago and I can't even remember where you know, which convention it was or even in what state or city it was

33:57
But I had a fan who wanted me to draw. Oh, it had to be before 1997. It was before she died. He wanted a Princess Diana centaur. What? Yeah. My brain just like glitched for a minute. Those like two things. I don't even think I've heard them in the same sentence ever. Princess Diana centaur. Yep. I did a Princess Diana centaur. It had to be in like, I don't know, 95 or 96 or maybe even 94.

34:25
Was there a guy that wanted a superhero in scuba gear too? There was a guy who liked, I don't think I ever, maybe I did, I can't remember. scuba guy, everyone knew him as scuba guy. Yeah, like he asks for all of his favorite characters to be in scuba gear. Oh my God, I think someone else said the same thing. I'm trying to remember if it was a writer, no, it had to be an artist that said the same thing. He was like, yeah, scuba guy. was like, Yeah, scuba guy, yeah, that guy's famous. It's real. Yeah.

34:54
I may have done one for him, but it paled in comparison to Princess Diana's centaur. You know, so I can't remember. We did, but we have done like we've signed the hot dog. We signed a baby's foot. We signed a Denny's menu, right? It's a Denny's menu. Did you sign, like, you do a signing with Glenn Danzig? Oh yeah, I did. I did in the Virgin. No, no, was at San Diego. Oh, it was in Virgin store. In the Virgin store in New York, when it was on 14th Street. It used to be there in Union Square.

35:24
Glenn Danzig and I did a signing together because I was working for Verotic and he was there with his new album. And he says, come sit with me, we're going to do a signing. And I didn't think much of it until I got out of the subway and saw the line went down like a mile down the road. I was like, oh no, you know?  And I sit down with Glenn and we're just signing away.  like every 12th girl that came up to get stuff signed would take their top off and go sign my boobs.

35:51
And one would say, well, you sign that one, I'll sign this one. that happened. That was kind of crazy. And I always go, you don't want me to sign it. You don't know who I am. they're like, no, no, you can do the other one. And I'm just like, OK. Sharpie on the boot. I mean, hold that thing. It's jiggling around. I'm trying to hold that thing steady. Anyway.

36:14
I think I was supposed to ask you guys questions about your project and stuff, this is way more entertaining. And if you've never thought about starting a podcast together, I can only imagine the stories. You know, I do want to take it back to day one, just in case if there's any listeners that aren't too familiar with how long you guys have been together. I mean, my understanding is that you guys met for the first time on a Gargoyles comic from Marvel, which was like 95, 96. But what's the rest of that story?

36:44
What was the spark? We met before that battle. I don't remember it. met in 92. I don't remember. Where was it? We she was stalking me even back then. It's because I don't remember it, but she knows exactly where it So we were having a dinner. There was a bunch of us having a dinner with Hilde and the music show. And yeah, it was all like there was like some sort of a marbled.

37:11
get together dinner or something like that.  And that was when I first met you.  And then you started working on... I started inking her gargoyle covers. That was a couple of years later. We were friends before we started dating for about four years. Oh yeah, yeah. definitely... I remember when Hilde asked me to come in and pick up  your gargoyle cover to ink and she said, Amanda happens to be here. And she goes, just so you know, before you get here.

37:39
She's married, okay? So I'm just telling you. And I'm like, what? I didn't do anything. She goes, I'm just telling you she's married when you get there. And yeah, Amanda was married when I met her. But Amanda became one of the guys. She hung out with the whole group of us for years. Because I have a sense of humor of an 11 year old boy. She does. she's so star. And she's so star was how many times in the movie theater? In the movie theater? 22. Yes. So. allowance went in December of 77.

38:08
But we were friends for a while before she ever seduced me. you  know.  Obviously, since then, you guys have worked together  on  numerous projects together. think sometimes  as a fan, it's hard to tell where the  Jimmy  contributions and where the Amanda contributions and vice versa. I'm going to make it simple for you. If we're both writing something  and people like it, Amanda wrote it.  But if they don't like it and they start complaining, it's

38:38
They say, oh my god, he really screwed this one up. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, there's two names in. But everything that's great is Amanda. Everything that's horrible is me. Even though a lot of the times it's stuff I wrote and they just get it mixed up. But I realize that that's the world we live in right now. So who cares? It doesn't matter. Well, I was curious, especially from the art side. mean, you've inked Amanda's work for years now.

39:05
And so you're getting to see the art in its rawest form, pencils and all of that. What nuances or themes of Amanda's work do you think go underappreciated by the general fan that maybe you have a lot more maybe insight and appreciation for working so closely to the raw art? Yeah. So Amanda's artwork, if you're not an artist, looks deceivingly simple.  Yes. It's deceivingly simple. OK?

39:35
She's obviously a student of Joe Qbert, and Joe is one of her teachers at the Qbert School and everything. Amanda's artwork could be read, her books could be read without any dialogue. You literally can open Power Girl or Harley, read it from the beginning and you'll know what's going on. Not everybody can do that. The other thing is Amanda's insanely aware of the space the characters are in. There's a foreground, a middle ground, a background. If they're in it,

40:02
public environment, the background people are reacting to the things that's going on. There's a  sense of choreography to even the simplest things. When characters are running or moving,  you'll notice their feet are off the ground a little bit if they're running fast. These little nuanced things,  Darwin Cook and I used to talk about it all the time. It's like these little nuanced things that only somebody that understands animation understands people.

40:29
And then the last thing is Amanda is one of the few artists that has the characters look at the reader. So when you read her books,  you connect with the characters because they look at you when they're talking to you sometimes in the book. And it's something that a lot of modern comic artists forgot to do, but they forget to do. There's some people that are great artists, but they never do that panel where the character looks at you and says something. And when Amanda's  one of her other talents is,

40:59
you can look at that face and tell what they're feeling. You can look at it, you don't need word balloons that say I'm upset. You can tell if that character's upset or confused or lost or laughing or laughing inside and about to burst. Like the nuances  in the storytelling and the emotional  range that she does is amazing. And I think a lot of people take it for granted. She's also a cover artist.

41:25
that something has to be going on at all times on the cover. can't be a superhero standing there making a fist. It has to be story going on. The cover always tells a story. So she's, I think she's underappreciated for that, but I also think a lot of people do appreciate that.  She can take a character like Power Girl where people would spend hours  waxing about, oh, look how she's, look how big her breasts are and all that. And then Amanda does it all of a sudden everyone relates to Power Girl. And they're not talking about the body anymore.

41:55
It's talking about who the character is and what the character does and the attitude of the character.  So she has that superpower, think, her work. Well said. And Jimmy, just to build off all of that, Amanda, think that bar for bar, you  draw some of the most expressive characters. And to Jimmy's point about  being able to tell what they're feeling,  I think that's what makes your art and your comics so...

42:20
Relatable that it just feels like I'm reading another human being, you know, even though that these are fictional 2d characters. There's something very  It just really relatable on a human level  that I think going that that's going on and you you pay you give such a good value in in your books to I was reading I was reading I think it was like an issue of Batman but it's where Lois Lane  and and Selena Kyle are going on like a bachelorette party so they go to the fortress of solitude meanwhile Bruce and

42:48
Clark are having a bachelor party, but it's just like  a dinner they're having. And it was so entertaining and just real, the conversations they're having and  the expressions going on, the background stuff. It was such a fun read. And Amanda, I want to turn the table on you and ask, what do you think separates Jimmy from other writers?  How is his voice unique? How is his writing voice unique compared to other writers that you've had the opportunity to work with? Well, here's what I know about Jimmy.

43:15
Sometimes, you know, I don't know if  this is a monkey wrench for him or if it's something that sends him, you know, I think it sets him apart. He doesn't like to do superheroes. He doesn't like to superheroes.  He likes superheroes.  men in costumes.  When are you guys going to figure it out? It's a grown man putting on a spandex outfit and running around slapping each other. Anyway, go ahead. I'm sorry.

43:46
But yeah, mean, he, you know, that's like, he's like, I think what makes him different is that he's always like trying to figure out why would they be slapping each other in spandex? Like, what's the point? Aren't there other things to do besides that? You know, and I think that he likes to delve into the deeper parts of what make them tick. You know, it's not always like high drama and angst. It's always like, you know, what do they do?

44:16
when they get home and they kick their shoes and socks off. What do they do  with their downtime? What do they do when they're talking to their mom on the phone? He wants to explore the stuff that's real about characters.  I think I'm always trying to find out why I should care about the character. Why do I care about Bruce Wayne? Because normally, a multi-millionaire is probably the least interesting person to me.  Normally.

44:45
Right? then  I just, just, sometimes I feel like, don't ask me to do a main, like X-Men, because my X-Men is gonna be crazier than Chris Lamont's. It's gonna be like, you know,  but I feel like there's people that have the superhero stuff totally covered.  you know, Jonah Hex is like something I can write because it's a guy, it's just a guy, it's just a man. has no superpowers  to get that movie, that had nothing to do with that.  But he has no superpowers, he's just a man.

45:14
you know, that's been wronged. And  I kind of like the down to earth characters. That's why Harley appealed to me, because Harley doesn't have any powers, right?  And we wrote over 100 issues of Harley, and it never really was a story where there was a supervillain and she would fight the villain or she would... We never did that. We always made it slice of life comics because I felt that people were probably more interested in who she is rather than what she's doing all the time.  And, you know...

45:43
I think that I look at the Batman universe and Gotham as a trap.  Because no matter who's writing it, it's always the same thing. It's always Batman versus Joker, Batman versus. It's a trap that  you really got to break out of. And when we took over Harley, we moved it to Coney Island, Brooklyn, because I said, we don't need our character to be a secondary supporting cast character in the Batman universe. She needs to make it on her own. And  it kind of worked out. By the way,  thank you guys both for all the nice comments.

46:12
Yeah, mean Amanda should have got an Eisner. Amanda and Darwin should have got an Eisner for the Silk Spectre book.  That the Eisner, one guy in the Eisner Awards at the time said, no, you know, no Watchmen book will get nominated. He said that out loud and there was a bunch of mess about it. But she, her and Darwin did such an amazing job on it. That book holds up. I think 10 years from now people will be picking it up and going, my God, this is a masterpiece.

46:42
I think it was a masterpiece. Well said.  know, Jimmy, having  I've followed you on Twitter now X for a long time and I thoroughly enjoy following you on that platform. I think you keep it very real when it comes to the state of the industry.  I've learned so much about comic art collecting. Like you thoroughly have me believing that, you know, fuck buying stocks. I'm buying comic art.  You're not afraid to like wear your heart on your sleeve. I think you also are very empathetic. I think it comes, it comes across.

47:10
in some of your tweets that you do generally care about people. And I think it shows in the books that you write that you do care about these characters from just like you were saying, a human  stance of like, why should I care? What's going on with their life? I think that really shows. really separates  your writing from other creators. I was telling you guys before we had  recorded that you guys have built a brand within comics that is so identifiable. And not just from a visual branding, but also just tonally.

47:39
the  expressions,  how real the characters feel what's going on in their mind,  the  things they say, it just feels like real people. Yeah, I have one more observation about Amanda too. Her characters look like they wear clothing. They're not spray painted on.  Like, even her superheroes look like they slip the costume on and it has creases and it, they look like they wear it, where other people, you and I get it, people love that whole.

48:08
human body, shiny kind of stuff. But her characters look like they threw their clothing on like in a rush to get onto the crime scene kind of thing. And I always love that's like a subtle little thing, but who notices it is every woman that cosplays notices that in her work. They go, oh, you made the boots. So they actually work that way. And they talk about it all the time, right? That's true. Yeah, yeah. I think well, that's the thing is I try and make

48:39
the costumes that  our characters wear, try and make them cosplay feasible because nothing thrills me like having a cosplayer come up in one of the  costumes that I created. It's so fun to see that. It's just amazing.  We saw a couple of them at Heroes Convention last week and it was so much fun.

49:02
Okay, I want to stick on the track of like talking about your creative process and, you know, working together, but I want to share the spotlight with some short box family and friends. So these next two questions  and the first one comes from Ben Kingsbury. He's the owner of Gotham City Limit Comic Shop, which is my local comic shop here in Jacksonville, Florida.  He's also the sponsor of the short box, the official sponsor of the short box podcast.

49:25
but also the presenting sponsor of First Coast Comic Con. So there was no way in hell I wasn't going to reach out to Ben and have him submit something. So here's, let's hear from Ben. Hey Jimmy and Amanda, I'm Ben Kay from Gotham City Limit here in Jacksonville, Florida.  Thanks so much for taking some time to be here today.  Professionally and personally, we're very excited about the First Coast Con here in Jacksonville on July 12th and can't wait to meet you both that day.

49:52
From a business perspective, Jimmy, I can let you know people have been scooping up tales of gunslinger and every printing of pop kill they can find.  And Amanda, most recently your Wolverine Kitty Pride 3 variant and your Peacemaker Vigilante variant  from the third issue, just to name a couple have been incredibly popular. So thanks so much for making those. We're especially excited about two projects you have coming up with Blue Falcon and Dynamite.

50:21
Dino Mutt being the first. After all, Pace of the Amazing Shop Dog is Gotham City Limits official mascot.  And the second being the Harley Quinn Elvira crossover. What a cool concept. Brainstorming and bouncing ideas off one another honestly kind of sounds like couples goals.  So how do you avoid driving each other up the wall when the creative sparks fly? Well, I'll leave you two to answer.  Thanks for writing and making amazing comics. We literally couldn't do it without you.

50:51
And remember short box nation, we'll always take it to the limit. Peace. Quick shout out to the you go. Great question. But I look forward to meeting them at I know. It's going to be fun to see you guys in real life. It's going to be great. So we don't avoid driving each other nuts. We definitely can drive each other nuts, not in a way where it's screaming or breaking windows or anything like that. We definitely have, we move at two different speeds. So that causes a little

51:20
couple of problems here and there,  we've also figured out things  over time. know, therapy helps too, right? I know.  That helps. But we figured out stuff. You know,  we both want the same thing, and that's what we both understand,  but we definitely have different ways of getting to something.  And  so over time, we just have to  respect each other's process and move out of the way when one of us is brainstorming is the best way to do it, I think.

51:49
We're working on a book together.  We  do a brainstorm.  then  I always say that Jimmy,  he builds the house and then I decorate it.  He does like the heavy lifting.  writes out the script and everything like that. And then I go over it and I polish it and I like tweak the dialogue. And sometimes his dialogue is perfect. I don't have to do anything. But.

52:16
But you know,  sometimes there's just things I was like, this will just make it just a little bit better and just, you know, this will, and I want to see this happen. And, you know, so, so that's usually how we work together writing wise.  Um, art wise,  I, for the most part, I like to be just left. I like to get information from the editor or whoever needs the, um, the piece of art and then just brainstorm with myself. But sometimes

52:44
I get stuck in a rut and he's a really excellent designer. And he used to work in advertising and do some really amazing posters and stuff like that. Well, I give her an idea and then she changes it. You give me good ideas. But you need that idea to start. It's easier to visualize something and go, OK, I like that, but I'm going to do that. You need to have that initial visual sometimes to help with that.

53:13
Do you guys ever make a conscious decision to separate work and personal time? Let's say you guys are going out on a date. Do you guys ever make a very hard rule like, no shop talk tonight? Or is it kind of like, hey, this is part of our life, so obviously it's going to Yeah, mean, shop talk is OK if we're both having fun with it. We could be out drinking or having dinner. But when we go on vacations, we usually don't. We try not to bring comics with us best we can. We get ideas.

53:42
you know, from when we're traveling, you know, that's when you have to clear ahead. But  we don't do like a day or two off. Sometimes we'll take a long time off  break, you know,  just for ourselves, you know.  Look, we'll do plenty of comics in a lifetime, but there's only a limited amount of time we have to run around and play. So while we can still walk and while we can still have fun, we try to make sure we spend a lot of time together doing things that are not comic books.

54:10
It helps our comic book writing too. Going out and living and seeing people. Yeah, absorbing stuff from the outside world. Just looking around and listening. It gives you a fresh perspective and it also gives you fresh ideas. Yeah, we both read a lot too, which is like, well, you know my feed. It's like I'm very conscious of, I read everything and the news. And I have something to say.

54:38
Well-informed opinions, I like to call them.  But it's just part of the process. But we try to separate the work as best we can.  But sometimes we're having a great time at the work and we're just throwing ideas out there even when we're not working. We'll mention something and then Amanda will write it down in her phone. Yeah, I have a whole thing  that's full  of future ideas for stories. Okay, great.

55:07
Well, I want to queue up the next  question. And this one comes from Brad Gullickson of the Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast, which is a podcast devoted to dissecting and analyzing the many fascinating relationships found within comic books.  Here's Brad for you. Hi, Amanda. Hi, Jimmy. This is Brad from Comic Book Couples Counseling. I'm on the road, but I had to get this question out to you both. Lisa and I would love to know how your relationship impacts your creative life.

55:35
and how your creative life impacts your relationship. We are both continually inspired by creative couples  and Lisa and I, need tips. So thank you so much for taking the time to answer this question. All right, good question. That's a great question. you can answer  that one.  There was a time a long time ago where we weren't  doing enough for ourselves.

56:02
personally and it was all about work and it just started feeling like we were roommates  and  We had to change that  So, um, yeah, we we actually we ended up doing therapy. You know, just cuz we  were like, you  ah  Yeah, we were in our own heads  and  We definitely need a third person to come and say hey ask the right questions and yeah, so we needed a hand and again This was the time when we were doing

56:30
three books a month. So we were like losing our brains, our minds, because DC, everyone just wanted more and more and more from us. And we were like, I'm like, we're only two people, only two people and we're tired. And we're not spending time together. We're making money, but money doesn't  money comes and goes, you know, money doesn't mean people's people put a little too much on money, to be honest with you,  to save the day.  But we needed we needed to take a break.

56:59
get to know each other again. you know, so this takes time and it  also takes two willing parties. So if you're in a relationship and you're to go to couples counseling, if one of you doesn't show, it's not going to work. Right. So both and both of us, we, we, love each other. adore each other. So we wanted nothing, nothing but the best for each other. So we were both eager to do it where maybe some other people might be afraid of that or whatever thing, but there was nothing to fear. It was just.

57:28
It was just a good regrouping  and you get through it. And then there's a point where you don't need it anymore and  things are working and that's how it works. that's, you know, we go to the dentist once, twice a year. Sometimes you need to get your head checked too, you know?  Well said. Yeah. I think this is the episode I'm going to share with all my single friends. right. And, and I mean, I'm, someone that  October will be my one year anniversary of being married. Thank you so much. So I'm also picking up and learning a lot too.

57:56
It sounds like I just need to always tell my wife she's right and praise her beyond belief.  You can tell that she's right all the time, but then you have to fix things on the side.  I love it.  And speaking about Brad Gullickson, his wife  and co-host of the show is Lisa Gullickson, who were guests on the podcast. We recorded a live podcast  or live recording at HeroesCon, actually. And one of the topics that we brought up was some of our all time favorite,

58:25
couples and comics, because they're very fascinated about that topic. And we were talking about just some of the best couples in comics. Mike and Laura Alred came to mind. Matt Fraction, Kelly Sudeconik, brought up John and Laura Samney. We were kind of building out the Mount Rushmore of all-time great comic book couples. And guess, who would you have on your Mount Rushmore? The same one I am, right? Yeah. Walt Weasley. Yeah, they brought them up too. Yeah, without a doubt, those two would just...

58:53
Wonderful. I mean, he all reads. We adore them and  everybody you mentioned that and Kelly's man. Yeah, we they're both great  I'm trying to think who else you know  Mike and Christine, you know  Mike and your learn his wife Christine that they just They work together boy. They they're just another couple comic book. Yeah, we handles the business for Mike, you know, we're doing a comic book couples panel at San Diego Comic Con. That's true

59:21
So yeah. I think that's what Billy Tucci and Debbie and is it Terry Moore, Terry Moore, you know. Are they gonna be there? I don't know, but that's a kind of couple. But Brian Polito and Francisca. Right from Chaos, from full Chaos. Now the list is much longer than I thought it was. Yeah, I mean, you have, you know, of course. Terry and his wife, right? John Romita, John Romita and Virginia Romita.

59:47
Oh yeah, yeah. They're not with us anymore, but John and  Virginia, when we were working up at Marvel, they were right there on the bullpen. One  of the things we talked about  was  how often  do  we think that these couples, their personal lives find their way into the work and if it really does enhance the work. And Brad and Lisa's response was like, yes, just look at something like  Chris Samney and Laura Samney's, oh my God, I think it's called, do you know?

01:00:16
I'm butchering the name, but it'll come to me later. But that's like a good example of their personal relationship finding its way into the work. And I guess if you guys ever found yourself in a similar position, is there any project that, you know, looking, you know, as a reader that we could read and say, oh, wow, some of their personal, you know, relationship and, you know, chemistry has found its way into the work. All of Harley. I will say that all of like 100 something issues of Harley is definitely so much of us in it.

01:00:45
You know, although we, you know,  I model, you know, it's funny, because when I would start writing the Harley books, I try to make Amanda laugh. Like, so I was writing it for the next person, for her. And then I would try and make him laugh. Right, doing something else. You know, yeah. But there's so many personal things in that Harley series,  from the both of us, so many observations.  Some of our therapy sessions are in there, you know.  Yeah, we've applied the idea because we were trying to explore

01:01:15
what Harley would be thinking or going through and we applied what we know from therapy. So. And what Harleen would say to one of her patients.  Right. You know, right. So how would she would deal with the seniors at the seniors home and stuff like that?  I think it's inevitable. Even Power Girl had some stuff in it that we were just laughing because it's like so our sense of humor.  And you know, and then when I write like Painkiller Jane or Jonah Hex, a lot of me is in that  in those characters.

01:01:45
It may not surface-wise seem so, but like when Amanda reads Painkiller Jane, she sees me in that character so much.  But not everybody would. But I think when you spend a little time with us, you could start to see where the beat of Harley comes from, from the both of us over time. To move on to maybe one of our last topics here, but Ben brought up your latest project. Well, it sounds like you guys got quite a few projects going on.

01:02:12
But the new one that I want to spotlight is the upcoming Harley Quinn and Elvira crossover, which I believe comes out sometime in August through Dynamite and DC.  Jimmy, you said in I think the press release that the new series basically writes itself and it sounds like both of you are excited about revisiting your girl Harley Quinn and then obviously having a cross path with the vivacious Elvira. I guess what do both characters have in common and then what kind of hijinks and themes can we expect from this new crossover?

01:02:41
They do have a lot of stuff in common. Yeah. They're both funny ladies. They're troublemakers. Yeah.  They're both. They both like to stir the shit a little bit.  You know, if I ran Arlie,  we you know,  when we got off of the project, we were laughing for a while. We're like, OK, how would this work?  And then we learned that, you know, Elvira herself would be reading her dialogue, making sure it was OK. So she puts her two cents in every book.

01:03:10
Cassandra Peters? Yeah, Cassandra. Oh, wow. Yeah, she proofreads the scripts and she gives us changes. She's like, oh, I wouldn't say that, darling. I would say this. And then we're like, all right, we have to change it because she knows what she would say, right? For sure. So her hands are all over this book. And it's a tough one on one level because we have to, DC has to OK it. Dynamite has to OK it. Cassandra has to OK it.

01:03:39
There's a lot of people involved, but  it is just a crazy romp with the two of them. The simple,  simple story is, Harley was  sick during Halloween. She missed out on his big Halloween party. She decides in the middle of July, wanna make up party. I wanna do the Halloween party Coney Island's ever had. And she says, in order to do that, we gotta get Elvira to host it. Well,  she goes after Elvira to host it, but there's some...

01:04:09
strings attached. And basically that's what the series is. I mean, we, we, know, when you said a man and I have like a universe of books we do, you know, it feels like us.  I will say this series by issue three power girls in the book.  This other DC characters that stop on like we,  uh, Dan DeDeo coined it, the Jemanda verse  at one point. He says,  you guys write your books like you're in another universe, another, uh, you know, another DC universe.

01:04:38
And so when we take on a job like this, we make sure we get to revisit the characters that we created, which was the first supporting cast. And then the ones we love, like Power Girl and there's a couple of other characters. So it's a lot of fun. It's six issues of madness. Amanda's actually drawing a couple of pages in every book too. Oh, awesome. So there's sequences where the art is going in and out of When it's a flashback or a dream sequence, I grab it.

01:05:08
You know, that's how I get to, I'm not fast enough to get the whole book done in time, but I'm like, I'm to get my  little paws in there some way or another. Yeah. I guess I should say that the, artist for the series is Juan Samu, who is  no stranger to Elvira. If I'm understanding correctly, he's done a couple of Elvira comics  and I guess I'm curious, uh, Amanda to hear from you.

01:05:30
What do you look for in an artist collaborator? Considering that, I mean, you're like one of the best comic artists to ever work in the industry. What's the bar look like for you to reach out to another artist to do the visuals? I I like an artist who has a lot of life to their work. If it's some...

01:05:56
Yeah, I like a lot of life. like a lot of emotion. I like a lot of range.  He has it.  He definitely has it. Yeah. mean, the book is  is is just it's beautiful  and it's crazy and it's over the top  and  we can see it. This this is the hardest he's ever worked. We can he knows what's at stake here is as we get each page, I'm like,  look how much better he is. Like he just got better. This page like

01:06:26
What the hell? And I get it. He accepted the challenge and he's really stepping up. think this  book is going to guarantee him a lot of work for a long time. I love hearing that. That's a great way to put it. What would you say to someone like Juan or any of your many other collaborators? If I was to ask them, hey, what's it like working with Jimmy and Amanda? What do you think they would say? What are some words or  things they You're driving me nuts.  Chad Harden  would say he loves it  because

01:06:55
There's no,  we let Chad do whatever he wants.  On  Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger, I worked with Patrick Reynolds. I think he would just, he  would just, right now he would say, I'm just figuring it all out.  I definitely, like this, I try to be very clear with the storytelling because I'm  also an artist. When I'm writing, I'm writing it for an artist. So I'm giving them everything I can, including reference.

01:07:23
I try to help them along in the book, at least to get the tone right. But I think most people would be fine with our scripts. We don't do multiple things in panels like some writers do. So we make sure one character's doing one thing, another character another thing. We don't do a panel like, Iron Man's here and FF is over there. And it's like, we know how to write a scene.

01:07:51
where the spotlight should be. It comes down to directing and editing in a way, you know, it's like film. We know where to put the camera to the optimum storytelling delivery. And that's probably the most important skill you can have being a storyteller, I think. Yeah, good story. Yeah, we've been lucky. We've been really, really lucky to have really good storytellers.  Yeah. Working on our books.  Yeah, more attack. have more to turn on.

01:08:18
Red Sonja. Oh, he knocked it out of the park. Yeah. I think most of them would be complimentary. If they weren't, they better run really quick because I'm pretty fast. That was good. know, Jimmy, you brought up directing and movies. And I understand that both of you are the co-founders of Paper Films, which is your own company with a team of very talented individuals, writers, artists, colors, et cetera. And you guys work in a

01:08:47
plethora of industries, know, comics, movies, entertainment. What can aspiring comic artists learn from working in other industries? Like I know both of you started in advertising or in have, you know, years of experience in advertising and in film and  publication and print. Like what can  an aspiring comic artists learn from like these other industries and mediums? The first thing you're going to learn is that in comics you can control the show, but in film, TV, any of that stuff, video games, any of that.

01:09:17
You're part of a group. Your voice only goes so far, unless you're the guy paints everything. And you're part of a group. So you have to understand that no matter what your intentions, you'll get buried by somebody else. And it's very political, and it's very power hungry, and it's very all these things. Comics are easier to control. You're the artist. If you write it and draw it, oh my god, you control everything. You're the writer, the director. You're the lighting guy. You're the editor. You're everything. So I will say that.

01:09:46
A lot of comic people dream of making movies.  And then when that dream comes true, they're like,  oh,  nobody's listening to me.  I wrote this thing and nobody cares. And so you have to understand that  when you leave this wonderful, soft, fuzzy security blanket of comics,  the rest of the world is made up of a lot of people with no talent bossing other people with talent around.

01:10:12
As I think Steven Spielberg said it once, it's a miracle any movie gets made with the people attached to it.  Yeah. You have any? I I think, you know, I think any skill you learn at any other, you know, job or career can be applied, you know, whether it's organizational skills, time management,  you know, knowing when to let things go, which I still haven't figured out yet.  Yeah, there's like a myriad of skills that like

01:10:42
if you got good at any job that you could bring to comics. Well said. That might be everything I have this, even though I really have way more, but I also know that you guys are extremely busy. We'll a part two down the line. We'll do a part two. Yeah, a part two would be great. But ladies and gents, this is Short Box Podcast. And we just finished talking to Jimmy Pamiati and Amanda Conner about their life, their career, their upcoming Harley Quinn and Elvira crossover.

01:11:06
Once again, they will be at, if you're in the Jacksonville area, Northeast Florida area, they will be at First Coast Comic Con on Saturday,  July 12th.  I'll be there. You should absolutely be there. You should absolutely meet Jimmy and Amanda in person. They are freaking lovely.  Jimmy, Amanda, any parting words or shameless plugs before we wrap up?  Shameless plugs. We already did some shameless plugs.  Order Blue Falcon, order  Carly and Elvira, order Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger,  and then in October,

01:11:36
I have two big projects coming out, but we can't talk about it  But I will say for it's a major company. It's something that I'm looking forward to  sharing with you guys.  I'm excited. Maybe that'll be the part two.  I will have links to  their socials in the show notes, folks.  I have links to their website. You can follow them there and keep up with what they got going on.  But Jimmy, Amanda, this has been fantastic. Can't wait to have you back. You guys are great. Thank you.

01:12:03
There you have it ShortBikes 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 theshortbikesjaxx at gmail.com. 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 review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify  or wherever you get your podcasts.

01:12:33
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01:13:02
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01:13:31
The Wait For It podcast, Tony Aupi, Trey Namo,  Walter Gant,  and last but not least, Warren Evans. Big shout outs to the patrons.  And with that being said, that's it. That's what I got for you this time. Thanks for listening. Tune in next week for another episode. And most importantly, take care of yourselves, read a good comic, and continue to make mine and yours short box. I'll catch you soon. Peace.