MC Esoteric gets esoteric about comics & hip-hop. An interview about Czarface and fatherhood - The Short Box Podcast Ep. 478

00:03
In this episode of The Short Box. I was like, should come up with our own character and I'm going to be able to make this fun for me and my son and make it work for the group with me, Deck, and 7L. So we spoke about it with Lamar Supreme, the artist, and we developed this character and that made it easy for me to work on around my kid.

00:26
and  he inspired me and helped me with a few things  and  we sampled him all over the album. So when you hear a little kid's voice,  so you hear, our face, it's him. So  we're just kind of building a world and I can stay connected to him  doing what I love.

01:14
Yo, Short Box Nation, hello again. Welcome back and thanks for pressing play today. If you're brand 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 people that put their blood, sweat, and tears into making them. This is episode 478 and today I'm joined by Seamus Ryan or better known  as MC Esoteric. He's a rapper, producer,  and comic writer all rolled into one.

01:40
ESO is a Boston native who established himself in the music scene in 2001 alongside DJ and producer  7L. Together, they released more than five albums as the duo  7LES. Esoteric also makes up one third of the hip hop supergroup, Czarface.  A team up consisting of ESO,  7L, the graphic artist Lamour Supreme,  and last but not least, Inspect the Deck of the Wu-Tang Clan.  are  Czarface.   Czarface was first formed in 2011 and has released over five projects to much critical acclaim.

02:08
including collab albums with Ghostface Killah,  Cool Keith,  and the late Great MF Doom. You can also find Esso's signature style of witty punchlines and perplexing storytelling on many albums as a member of the Army of the Pharaohs, the Demi Gods, and the East Coast Avengers collectives.  And that's not even counting the numerous solo albums that Esso has produced and released himself.  Now you might be asking, oh where does this have to do with comic books? Well, I ask you, have you ever seen a  Czarface album?

02:36
The group's brand and imagery is steeped in Silver Age comic book lore thanks to the group's in-house artist Lamar Supreme.  And it's not just for show.  Throughout the years,  Czarface has released several comic books and companion graphic novels to go along with several of their albums and projects. Which brings us to the group's latest comic book offering, a new five-issue limited series being published by Zero Zero Comics called  Czarface Stress Fracture. Featuring Esoteric on writing duties and artist Felipe Flores bringing the visuals.

03:05
Esso is on the podcast today to talk about his new comic book series as well as how he manages to merge the two worlds of hip hop and comic books together, which means we've got plenty to talk about today. We've got things to talk about. But before we get into that, I want to shout out the official sponsor of the short box, is Gotham City Limit, Jack Silver's premier shop for comics, toys, collectibles and more. Check out this episode show notes for a link to their online store at GothamCityLimit.com where you can buy and shop for exclusive comics and merch.

03:32
And lastly, I want to dedicate this episode to all of the Short Box Patroni's, aka the friends, family, and loyal supporters that make up the Short Box Patreon community. If you enjoy the show, if you want to support what I do and help me keep this thing going in exchange for some great rewards like bonus episodes, early access, and you can take part in the monthly comic book giveaways. Once again, join the Short Box Nation over at patreon.com slash the Short Box. Big shout out to all the Patroni's out there.  And without further ado,

04:02
Short Box Nation, let's welcome MC Esoteric to the show. What up,  Esso? What's up, Esso, I've been rattling this uh question in my head  all week. Is MC Esoteric the most dog-friendly rapper out there? Is there another rapper that loves dogs as much as you do? I would say no. I said I'm a front runner there.  That's my lane, That's my lane. I'm possessive of it, too.

04:29
Yeah, I think that's my category but I wish it was everyone's category because dogs deserve the best attention. Yeah, I was scrolling your Instagram and I mean it's you know, excuse the pun is littered with dog videos I understand that you also watch a lot of dogs  for adoption help them get adopted um Your old dog Logan who's all over what the fourth your fourth solo album I mean, I don't know if there's anyone else in rap that cares this much about the canine species but I think you might have some competition because

04:58
I recently watched a video, I think it was from a like amateur hour at the Apollo, you old video of this rapper named, I think his name was like Doc. Doc, Doc and the dog's name is Threat. He's rapping, but he's also got the dog involved in the show. And I mean, I mean, you posted it. So mean, you obviously know what I'm talking about, but how incredible is that video? I mean, he had this dog doing literally the moonwalk on stage. It's really strange. I saw that, you know, I had a real emotional reaction.

05:29
to it, like just joy, but then I was like welling up to it because it really hit me right where it counts. And because I think it's combining  hip hop in its most pure form and dogs, which are two major, major loves of mine. And  I think that happened in 95,  but uh yeah, I think that clip had just surfaced and I saw it and I was just blown away by it and connecting it to me.

05:56
I was on Animal Planet with my dog once. Yeah, called Super Fetch with my old dog Logan, where we were doing something similar to that. And it was nowhere near, nowhere near as good as Dr. Brett's routine. That was just great. But yeah, I think that's been my appearance on Animal Planet has been scrubbed from the internet, thankfully. Oh, now lost media. Some lost media we gotta find. Yeah.

06:25
As a what came first your love of comics  or hip hop? I would say my love of comics first because as soon as I could read I was digging into comic books  for sure. Do you remember like your first comic or the one like your what's your first conscious memory of reading a comic or having a comic?  At this point it's probably this is probably not my first comic but the Secret Wars series.  Yeah,  classic. Yeah, Secret Wars one.

06:55
comes to mind early GI Joe comics,  early Thor, early Spider-Man. When I say early, mean, I guess I mean mid eighties, but so, you know, the introduction of Beta Ray Bill, you know, Dark Knight, Frank Miller, Batman, those were big books then, but I mean, I went further back. So I would try to collect the first appearance of the second wave of X-Men. So, you know, the run from, I think it was.

07:23
Issue 94 to  about 102 or something like that. I was collecting those and You know first appearance of Colossus and I think storm and the giant-sized X-Men onward team. Yes. Yes, exactly exactly and I dug as far back to my earliest comic was  Spider-Man number four  first appearance of Sandman and then spider-man 5 which was  second appearance of dr. Doom  and ah Yeah, that's

07:53
And of course, that was the 60s. I mean, I wasn't alive then. But I got into all waves of comics back then. How much of your original collection do you still have? Because I mean, I feel like it is synonymous with a lot of collectors of that era that their mom threw out their comics, basement flooded, lost it to someone stole it. I how much of your original collection is still intact? Yeah, just the Spidey's really.

08:21
I had sold some X-Men for studio time. um I have a lot that I've tracked back, um just as far, I used to have a ton, but I have a song called off of Zara Faces, Zara Official Intelligence, a song called Mama's Basement, and I kind of detail my love for comics, but then in the last verse, I was looking for the comics that I left at my mom's house, and she said, you sold those a long time ago, because you were trying to get money to impress a girl.

08:50
uh And that had a lot of truth to it at the time because, you know, I was tapped into comics for a very, very long time. And then girls took over and then comics came back. Par for the course. So  here we are. I'm actually wearing a speaking about dark and I'm wearing a Frank Miller Daredevil t-shirt.  Oh, nice. Brand I really like. Big shout out to Giant Size VCR.  I'm wearing it because I've been bumping.

09:19
Obviously I've gone through like, you know, the entire Zara face catalog. I've been going through your solo albums  and you got a song on the your first ah debut album, Ego Clapper called Frank Miller Tank Killer. I've been bumping that all day. So I've had that on the brain. But you know, I said that you grew up in Boston, you're a Boston native. Like what were some of the shops and places that you were that you were getting your comics from? Yeah, my first place was called Gerards, which was just a  it was in Dorchester, a place called Adams Village.

09:49
Dorchester's a borough of Boston  and it's called Gerards and it was a breakfast place but it was also like a deli and it had a spinner rack and that's where I would get my comics. First my grandmother would give me a couple quarters or whatever and  I could go play video games at the bowling alley next door at Boston Bowl or I could use those to buy comics and I wound up buying comics. I remember vividly buying Web of Spider-Man number one.  Is that the one with the chrome cover?  Like the aluminum cover?

10:18
No, they weren't doing aluminum covers yet back then. It has a painted aesthetic to it. Oh yeah, the Michael Vess, Charles Vess painted cover. Yeah. Yes. classic. Yeah. So that Gerrard's was the place and Million Year Picnic in Cambridge was another place that I go to. I actually was there for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, number one, a signing with Eastman and Laird. went in there, I bought the book, didn't know anything about it.

10:47
I remember them signing the book in like silver ink. I don't know if it's a Sharpie or what, but that's a comic I still wish I had. Oh yeah, it's more of a party world. There's a Newberry Comics, which is a major staple now. I think there was just one store back then. Where else? White Hen Pantry, which is another place, another convenience store. Then where you can get chips and soda, coffee, whatever, but you can also get comics off of Spinner Rack, know? New England Comics. There was a lot of places really, but.

11:16
Gerard's  right in Dorchester was where I was getting most of my books. It's funny you bring up Eastman and Laird because I you know I've got the first issue of stress fracture here with me I read it this morning  and that was one of the comparisons I had where I'm like man this is this is really  this has got a certain grit to it a certain like underground Indie comic flavor and my mind immediately went to like the you know TMNT one and what layered and Eastman did for like that underground black and white

11:43
comic zine boom of like, you know, the eighties.  Who are some of your favorite writers or comic creators that were shaping your fandom at a young age?  I would say  Mike Zek. oh I don't feel like he does not get enough credit. Like  some of the most memorable, like images of, you know, like, I how many  iconic covers from Secret Wars has been reused? I mean, hell, from Zardface and you know, right? Like you guys have. Right. We've, oh, my, just a of those.

12:14
There's so many, know, the staples, you know, John Byrne, Jack Kirby's art, course, Frank Miller, Alan Moore, Ramita, there's so many, you know. And I think back then when I was reading Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man, or Peter Parker, The Attack of the Spider-Man, or Web of Spider-Man, or Uncanny Act, whatever it was,

12:43
At that point, I was just digging into the characters and the stories and the action and the villains and the storylines. I wasn't so dialed into who did what. And then as time went on, it became more interesting when you saw a particular art style that you really gravitated towards and you knew who did that or the, know, the, what do you call it?

13:08
like the dynamics of like a Jack Kirby fist going through the screen like this, or something a little bit more subtle or more painted like Bill Sienkiewicz. It became really interesting to follow different artists in fun and you could kind of, everything wasn't at your fingertips then either. You'd have to get a wizard weekly or one of the trade magazines to keep up with who's doing what, easily reference something and now it's,

13:38
a little bit easier, you know, of course, you  Chris Claremont, like  reinvigorated the X-Men. But there are other things that you couldn't just easily pull up at your fingertips unless you went into a shop or you had a  thousand long boxes  or short boxes right  at your fingertips. Well said. What was the transition from uh comic book head to hip hop? I understand that like basketball was a big  catalyst and vehicle for you getting into hip hop. Can you tell that story? Yeah, yeah. uh

14:08
This was in Boston. My father used to take me to courts right  in this area called the Fens in Boston. And there was a lot of the BMBL play there, Boston Neighborhood Basketball League. There's a lot of  heavy hitters that were on the court. And he was  of the mindset that if he threw me out there, it would sharpen my game. Kind of a steel sharpened steel type of situation. But I wasn't steel. I was more  plastic, you know?

14:36
He  was trying to get me into more of a vibranium-esque type of stuff.  And he was putting me in the right  area to do that.  However, courtside, banging out of  the boomboxes,  there would be Public Enemy and Gangstar and Tribe Called Quest, Ultimate Magnetic MCs, whatever it was.  I just really, really fell in love with everything I was hearing. And I fell in love with his

15:05
getting absolutely dominated on the court every time I went out there.  And I think that's when I started gravitating towards the hip hop before I even thought about like rhyming or anything like that. Did you see early on that that overlap between hip hop and comics? Because I feel like now and in retrospect, mean, maybe even like during uh but I mean, in retrospect.

15:29
Comics and hip hop have been crossing over referencing each other for years, right? Like the obvious example,  present company included, but a lot of people point towards  MF Doom, but I'll add like Jean Grey and  Method Man and Ghostface were making Marvel references. mean, hell, even what? Eminem's, what was that song? uh Guess Who's Back, or yeah, Guess Who's Back. He's doing the superhero homage. So I mean, there's so many examples of comics and hip hop crossing over, but at that young age, like was it?

15:56
Did you see that? What did you see between the two art forms? What was that Venn diagram overlap like? There were a few,  I think it was more in the energy and attitude that kind of  had uh a, there were parallels between comics  and hip hop where you had an  over exaggerated sense of confidence  and  cartoonish violence  and uh raggedosho. You'd have the spectacular Spider-Man or the astonishing X-Men or.

16:25
Incredible Hulk, whatever it might have been. As far as references, the Fat Boys referenced Spider-Man probably in maybe 80s, or something. Parker known as Spider-Man, a little story about Spider-Man and Chuck D of Public Enemy referenced Prince Namor, the Submariner way back then too. So there were some odd references here and there, but I think it really was the overall attitude in the sense of escapism where

16:54
When you're on the mic, you're unbeatable. And when you're in the armor with the arc reactor on, you're invincible. There are parallels there and that's stuff that you need to help get you through life  when the caffeine's not working.  You know, if you're playing hoops and you're on layup lines, you want the radio, you want something in your headphones to help motivate you, give you a little extra gas and that would be hip hop.

17:20
I guess in your opinion, why do you think it's like all of these references we just made, definitely all are Marvel references. Why do think hip hop leans so heavily into  like making Marvel references or the relationship with Marvel? mean, hell, even, know, Nas's  company, Massifil, just did that Marvel crossover. Like, what is it about Marvel do you think that speaks to hip hop heads? So that's a great question because I'm one of the people that have always been, I've never been, I've never saw the divide.

17:48
So,  it's all comics, right? Yeah. You know, I love Batman as much as I love Spidey and Superman as much as I love Daredevil or whatever, you know, they're all telling different stories and for every secret wars, you'll have a crisis on infinite earths and  certain things rhyme here and there.  And,  um,  I feel like a reference to Marvel characters  in hip hop being more prevalent. I just, I'd like to

18:16
figure out why that might be. I mean, if you take  Raheem, the vigilante, he came out in like, I think it was maybe 1990, he had a record  called You're On Notice and that sampled the theme from Batman, which was dope then. I was like, oh wow, this guy's rapping over Batman, the original theme, you know? And  so there are definitely instances  of DC getting into the  hip hop-osphere, for lack of a better phrase.  I know I'm gonna,

18:46
As I jog my memory, I'm gonna  be interrupting this interview with more references. More DC references, because I mean, how many times has someone wrapped Maniac with Brainiac? So Brainiac's just getting in by the virtue of his namesake, but I think if he's in this new  Man of Tomorrow Superman movie coming out in a few years, then you're gonna see his name popping up in references everywhere. Yeah, you heard it here folks. I didn't invest in that first appearance of Brainiac, because the bar is about to be plentiful.  If I might add to that,  I think

19:15
Marvel being situated, you the original Marvel Universe being situated in New York in these like real places, you know, whether it's Peter Parker in Queens and, ah you know, guess, Captain America and Brooklyn. Like, I think the fact that it's situated in real places that, you know,  a lot of these, you know, the golden age of hip hop and, you know,  the New York City bias, you know, I think that goes a long way too when you can read a comic and be like, oh, I know that place or wow, this, you know, this character is from the same, you know,

19:45
borough that I'm  from.  think Marvel went a long way. And then also, think DC,  you think about your Wonder Woman, your Superman, these gods, these mythological, almost legendary status. I think there's something about a character like Spider-Man that feels a little more real that you can relate to. That relatability,  I think probably goes a long way too. Yeah,  I agree. I think that might have something to do with it. That's something I didn't consider. But I know when I'm

20:13
actually in New York and I'm staying somewhere in Hell's Kitchen. It's like, it's exciting. I might see  Daredevil walk by me or something. But also when I'm in New York, everything's named Gotham this or Gotham that. True, yeah, you got a good point. There are examples of both, but you know, I don't know where Central City is or Star City is or some of these other DC places in relation, but I know there's Gotham  in New York. oh But yeah, you make a good point.

20:42
I want to say that I'm so glad that you mentioned, you know, just kind of like getting giddy at like staying in Hell's Kitchen, because I stayed in Hell's Kitchen for New York Comic Con and I was telling my wife, I was like, hey, I'm going to apologize right now. I'm going to say Hell's Kitchen in every single sentence because of the Frank Miller Daredevil connect and she got mad annoyed by it.  On the topic of New York Comic Con, um which I had a chance to meet you there as well as the artist, Philippe Flores, who's uh doing the interiors for uh Stress Fracture. But you were able to perform uh Z2. You know, the publisher had an after party.

21:12
You were there rapping about Spider-Man, rocking a really dope-ass Venom jacket, only to have Venom's co-creator come out, Todd McFarlane, the Todd father, come out mid-set and dap you up.  I gotta know, what was that like? And have you ever met other, I guess, like comic legends or icons, if you had a chance to meet some of like your childhood favorites? I have uh a few, ah but rocking that show, performing at that show in that unique environment of a classic.

21:40
I'm surrounded by vintage cars and a big um garage that's like the size of an airplane hanger. So the acoustics are something I'm trying to figure out at the same time as I'm performing.  And I'm looking at the crowd and then I see Todd McFarlane there and I happen to have this Venom jacket on  and it was just the best timing  it could really be. And in terms of an actual hip hop and comics um collision.

22:10
I'm performing with Cool Keith and the Ultramanetic MCs and Scott McFarlane's there. mean, you have just absolute legends of both worlds right there. And it was quite a moment. But yes, I've met, I remember meeting Stanley. I made sure my son came with me to meet Stanley because he's got a real thing for comics and this whole world as well.

22:40
um eastman and laird i i've met uh  uh  the um  jim staranko  um he's a character for sure i've got a story with jim staranko yeah he's that's character  neil adams  um yeah the list because i've met i've met a lot through the years no you brought up your son and i want to say i uh i was praising how in the back  of the first issue of stress fracture

23:08
that you have a letter column, and I'm a sucker for a good letter column, especially when the writer is answering questions. But in the letter column, you mention how your two kids are your biggest inspirations and how Zarface wouldn't exist without them. And you just said that your son's really big into comics. Have they turned you onto anything, whether it be comics or anime, cartoons, et cetera? Like have they put you onto any game? Yeah, my daughter has put me onto...

23:34
zombies and  libubus and  what else.  But my son is,  he's definitely the comic head uh of the house between the two of them. uh But as far  as him introducing me to new characters,  every once in a while  he'll draw something that

23:58
and I'll ask who's that and it'll be some really obscure Batman villain that I wasn't familiar with and he feels great. It feels great knowing that I don't know who it is and he has an opportunity to tell me who it is, you  But  I think a lot of the fun with him is he'll draw,  like the other day I was talking to Sanford Green  and I was talking to him over social media and he  was revealing some dark side art that he drew. Oh yeah, he's been posting that too.

24:27
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he was saying how  Mobb Deep Shooklans  was ah Darkseid's theme song, some type of connection between those two things. And then I had said, I quoted Prodigy, a paraphrase, I said, rock you in your face, stab your brain with With the nose bone. Yeah, with the nose bone, but I said Omega Beams. Oh, sorry. Because it's dark, because it's, I  was tying it into Darkseid. And then I came home  and my son had this

24:56
dope, dope picture of Darkseid he just happened to draw and I was taking him to the dentist and Shook once came on the shuffle and it was just a weird thing where and I was trying to explain to Xavier, my son,  strange it was  where I don't know, was just trying to connect the things where he just happened to draw Darkseid that day and Shook once came on and this was the day after the Sanford Green Exchange.  was- It was like Kismet, right? Isn't that the first Kismet?

25:26
Yeah, yes, serendipitous kismet. Yes, there we go. Or something.  I guess what do your kids think about your career as a rapper and czar face? um I  think they appreciate it. I think uh throughout the years as they get older, uh I think they realize that this is  dad's job. But at  the beginning,

25:56
of Zharface, my son was probably  four.  And we had this opportunity to make a record with Inspector Deck, me and Seven L and Inspector Deck  and make a whole album. But we didn't want to be called Seven L and Esoteric and Inspector Deck or Inspector Deck and Esoteric and Seven,  nothing was catching, you know?  And I was  with my son all the time because he was about three or four and just running amok.

26:25
And the only way I could keep him engaged was with superheroes and action figures and Magneto and uh Stormtroopers and Forloss, all these different characters that he would run around and play with. So Seven-L would send me beats and DJ Premier, who produced a track on the first album, was sending me beats. And I would listen to them in the car with my son in the back seat of the car. And he would always interrupt me and be like, what beat is this? What's this? And to keep him engaged, I would say, oh, this is the Green Lantern beat.

26:53
this is Black Manta beat or something. And he'd like, oh yeah. And he tuned in because he was just visualizing things that were appealing to him. So it got to the point where I was like, we should come up with our own character and I'm going to be able to make this fun for me and my son and make it work for the group with me, and  7L. So we spoke about it with Lamor Supreme, the artist and developed this character and that made it oh

27:24
easy to,  for me to work on around my kid.  And he inspired me and helped me  with a few things  and  we sampled him all over the album. So when you hear a little kid's voice, it's  usually my son. If it's not my son, it's my daughter. But so you hear, Zara face, it's him. So we're just kind of building a world and I can stay connected to him doing what I love. uh yeah. That is extremely dope.

27:53
Like I don't think I've heard the origin of Zaraface broken down like that. But really quick, hearing you say like Green Lantern type beat, know, a black man's type beat, I'm like, damn, RIP to Dilla, but that sounds like some shit, like a beat tape Dilla would make, you know, when he's made all these like interesting thematic beat tapes. Where is the superhero type beat tape that needs to have? Yeah, that's a good idea. Maybe I'll, I think, I think that's a good idea. I think I'm gonna be cracking on that when we zoom up.

28:20
How did you guys end up meeting Inspect The Deck and getting him roped into the idea of starting another group? Like, yeah, what was the origin of, I guess, you guys meeting together and like pursuing like, hey, let's make music together and build this brand together. Yeah, we made our first collaborative record when we were just 7-0 Esoteric, our first album, our first 12 inch,  second 12 inch or so. We wanted Inspect The Deck on the record.  We had this idea we were going to do a song, me, Inspect The Deck, and Big L.

28:49
And that was like, I already come to terms with the fact that I was going to get blown off the track regardless. But I was still excited about the idea of it. And we had a manager we working with named Matt Saluka, who was also working at Loud, which was Deck's label. And so he was able to put us in touch with Deck pretty quickly. And this was 1998, 1999 or so.

29:18
And we met up in Brooklyn and we recorded the joint. He came through with a couple of guys, some Wu Tang affiliates, like Street Life. And we recorded the joint in 98, 99. And throughout the years following, me and 7L would send deck beats and kick ideas around. And we just continued a friendship. then...

29:46
2011 came around and  7L had the idea to pitch Deck about doing a group record. And I said,  hey, you crazy, he's gonna do a whole album with us? No, he's not gonna do a whole album with us.  But George was like, yeah, 7L was like,  you know, it doesn't hurt to ask.  so I reached out to him and then uh Deck was really receptive to the idea. And then we just did this one record  and  themed it.

30:15
around this character, Zarface.  And then as that was cooking, ah then my brain really started spinning and the idea of the Zarface and the action figure and everything else just kind of grew from there, the comics,  and we're off to the races.  And  now, ah I'm really doing what I love.  And ah it's  like I can...

30:43
I  it down. It's like an addiction, you know? That's powerful, man. I mean,  the power of just asking, right? Just putting it out there in the universe and just seeing what happens, right? The worst he could have done is said no.  But obviously, you know, it went a different way in who you guys are now.  Real quick, is the track that you guys did for Form Ring, Zara Face, is that the  12th Chamber  song? was listening to that. No, that's the song we did in between.  In the meantime, in the between sound, the first song we did was called  Speaking Real Words. Okay.

31:13
And uh then we did that 12th Chamber Joint somewhere in between before Zharface and then  Zharface came about. And the first tracks we did as Zharface, we didn't even know we were going to be called Zharface at that point. then we kind of, once we had something going, I started thinking like, hey, we gotta really, ah we can't put this out as two MCs and a DJ.  We need something a little bit more, something people can grab onto.

31:43
And here we are. And I guess that leads me my next question. How important is Lamar Supreme to the group? I like that he gets a lot of credit when people talk about the members of Zharface. They'll say it's Esoteric and 7L, as well as Inspect the Deck, and also Lamar Supreme, which is dope because I think the branding, the visual identity of Zharface is just as important as the music itself. Just as important as the production, the raps,  is the look of Zharface, the...

32:11
the album art, all of that.  How did you guys get Lamar involved with the group? How did you guys meet him? How did you guys pitch him the idea of Zarr Face and bring this character to life? Yeah, I wish I could say it this really  exciting endeavor to connect with him, but I really was looking for  somebody to style and create this character, Zarr Face,  and have it be an homage to the  stylings of Jack Kirby.

32:40
you know, that era of a character. And me and Seven-O, we met up with Lamar in New York and we spoke to him for a while about what we were looking for. Where were guys familiar with his work from? Like I understand he's like a New York City based graffiti artist. Like were you guys following him prior to? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I would see his art and everything, I, and he was, he's a very...

33:08
very  versatile artists. can do a lot of different things.  But I saw some of his art that were uh tributes to Jack Kirby himself. said, oh, wow, he does a great Jack Kirby style. I want to talk to this guy because this is what I want  Zarface to have to be inspired and come from that era.  And uh the first few records were really uh rooted in that. That's the direction L'Amour was going in. So we spoke for a while  about what

33:36
we wanted the character to look like and represent, you know, some of the names like Ultron came up as inspirations and like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica or,  you know, Doom.  And  we came up with with Zarface. And, know, one of the funny things about it is his cape  has a very spun vibe.  And uh I introduced  Lamor to Todd McFarlane at that party.  And we we joked with Todd.

34:06
about how Zarfe stole  Spawn's cape.  And  Todd is just so charming and so welcoming. He just like, he laughed it off, you know?  It's weird, because you never know how people are going to take things. And that could be a little bit of a difference between hip hop and comics, you know? Because  in hip hop, there was a time when you could not bite anything. There was any other remnants of stealing someone's idea. would uh get you jacked up pretty good. Yes, yes.

34:36
And this cape here on Zarface is a tribute to Spawn. So Todd McFarlane gave us the blessing. That's dope. And I guess I'm going to put it into the universe. I would love to see a Zarface-Spawn crossover. I know that Zarface has crossed over with, you know, you guys have done things with Marvel, with Venom and all of that. But I think a Zarface-Spawn crossover would be gangbusters. Me too. Me too. And I would do just about anything to make that happen.

35:05
Maybe we'll see that down the line. So I'm  praising the branding, the visual identity of ZARFACE. I mean, you guys  have really thought about it all. mean, from the album art,  the lore behind ZARFACE, the universe you guys are building, the supporting characters, the villains. But then also small details on the album cover, like Silver Age recordings everywhere.  It really does feel like such a precise homage to Silver Age comics and comic books.

35:34
but like feeling really genuine in and among it. I gotta say man, ZARFACE has some of the dopest just merchandise out there. mean from,  you know, the super, I was telling you the super seven figures you guys have been doing have been  awesome. You guys have, you know, blind boxes. I think there's like a ZARFACE mask you guys put out. There was some Sakoni, is it Sakoni? Sakoni sneakers. Sakoni, yeah. Thank you, thank you.  What's your favorite ZARFACE merch out there? And do you own all the ZARFACE stuff? Like do you have one of everything?

36:02
I have most of them in the Zarchives, yeah.  I'm stealing them. I'm using that even if I'm not talking about Zarchives. Well, know, like something like this  was a gift. This is not, uh I get a lot of cool gifts from people that are, these aren't mass produced things. These are one of ones  and, uh one of a few.  And I keep them all kind of close by  and uh I love making the,

36:32
Well, Saucony and my man Josh from Saucony designing the shoes, that was a lot of fun because that actually came with the Tsar Face action figure working with Super 7. They were able to produce a Tsar Face figure that was wearing the Saucony sneakers and that came inside the shoes. So that was really fun. And we debuted that at New York Comic Con a few years before that. think the figure, you know, any one of the Tsar Face figures, though this is a Tsar Noir figure here.

37:00
This  was  probably  the most fun  or probably the biggest.

37:10
What's the word for it? can't think of the word for it, but in Cloak and Dagger, one of my other inspirations, the movie Cloak and Dagger with Dabney Coleman, there was a character named Jack Flack. was the boy Henry Thomas from E.T.'s, he had an action figure, Jack Flack, and he carried him everywhere. was like his imaginary friend and kind of like kept all the bad energy away. It was kind of like this role model of who he wanted his...

37:38
who we wanted his dad to be. So I was like, you know, well, Zarface is, you know, I wanna make a figure for my kids  and someone that, you know, and it's Zarface. oh it's,  there's like different levels to my involvement with the, or my dedication to making sure Zarface things uh really resonate with people. You know, it's more than just, more than just an action figure to me. It's kind of symbolizes.

38:06
things that are really, really close and personal to me. Well said, yeah. OK, you got a brand new comic series,  Zharface uh Stress Fracture is being published by Z2 Comics, which I mean, you've collaborated with them quite a few times.  I guess what adventure are you taking us on in this new series? What can Zharface fans expect from the new Stress Fracture series?  They can expect a lot of pulse-pounding action.  you know, Zharface is...

38:35
Well, we introduced a character named Stress Eater, which is uh in the hip hop world. That's  me and Cool Keith and Seven L.  And so it's kind of like a spin off character and as we build the world of Zarface with enemies and good guys and with when Super Seven put out this Zarface blind box, ah there were so many uh characters in different color ways.

39:04
from the same Tsar-faced molds. Because there's Tsar-faced and there's Tsar-noir, but then with  Tsar-face, so these different characters, like this guy here, this guy, and this guy, that's a Hell-zark guard, is another, uh Paying respects to Spawn, and this is Frankie Pulitzer. And so  these characters that are in the back of this book  and in the blind boxes, they come to life in the comic itself.  And...

39:33
So I'm using the pre-existing of these figures to tie them into this actual story. And Dr. Yorgo, who is one of Zarface's oldest enemies,  is in this book here, but he dons the uh Zarface-like armor. And his name in the book is Zarface, but it's spelled with a T, T-Z-A-R. So he's Zarface as well. It's almost like a Bizarro thing, but this guy's much more manipulative and evil uh in an intellectual sense.

40:02
And Stress Eater appears in the book  and Zarface is,  you he's trying to save this kid that's been uh abducted by the forces of evil.  And throughout the series, we'll see where it goes.  Philippe Flores is the artist for the interior work, which I thought his art fits the theme, the overall like Zarface brand really well. Like I'm getting like big, obviously like Silver Age comic vibes.

40:25
you know, meets Jack Kirby, meets a little bit of like that Peter Laird,  and even like some Tom Scholey, Jim Rugg vibe. If you're fan of any of all of that stuff, I definitely think Philippe Flores is the artist you should be checking out. But how has he chosen to bring this chapter of Zarrface to life? Really, I just, I came across his art and fell in love with it. I loved, ah it's  just like, it's strange how  easily

40:54
um It's the double,  the gift and the curse of social media and the internet and how easy it is to find everything.  And you don't really have to work for as much as you used to.  So I came across this art on Instagram and I say, hey, this guy's dope and he's versatile and he can do characters from the 50s. He can draw depictions of them from the 60s, the 70s, the 80s. He can really,  he's very talented and uh

41:24
He was down to work on the book.  And I wish it was like, it was  more romanticized than that, but that's kind of how it came together. And, you know, we kind of hit it off and I would write these, stories and the  panel breakdowns and he'd send the breakdowns back to me in pencil and I'd look at them and I just, there's no better feeling. I've said this before and I'm sure any comic book writers felt this way, but seeing your ideas just kind of.

41:53
come to life in uh art from someone else's hand. And like, oh yeah, when I wrote in the notes that I wanted Zarface to be uh busting through this wall and grabbing the plane out of the sky or something like that, and he just makes it happen. It's so rewarding. It's such a cool thing. You can do anything you want. Do you have the imagination and you're working with an artist that can capture that. You can come up with the most insane uh scenarios.

42:22
pay homage to whatever you want. If you want Easter eggs, anything you can do,  anything you can think of. If you have an artist that's down for the cause, you can get it done. So  working on the comics has been a lot of fun. The first issue of Stress Fracture, your sense of comedy and humor is so apparent in this that, and that was one thing I had made note of, is that it feels hip hop in that way where it's got that snark, that kind of, you know, talking shit vibe to it.

42:51
Man, something about Zarface where I'm still like, is he hero or is he a villain? I like that he represents like our best intentions, but also sometimes our worst attributes. You're not always 100 % good on any given day. Sometimes you're an asshole. And I kind of like that he  is grounded and feels real in that way. And I think your voice as a rapper, that confidence, that braggadocious, that shit talking comes through in this first issue in your writing.  Oh, thanks. Appreciate that, man. Appreciate that.

43:19
Like how different is your approach or process to writing for, you know, writing raps for an audio landscape versus like a visual landscape like comics? you do anything different when it comes time to put like pen to paper?  Yeah,  honestly, I don't really write my raps. I come up with a few ideas. I might jot them into notes, but as far as uh recording hip hop, the lyrics are in my head  and I usually

43:49
put the beat on and loop it for 10 minutes. And I kind of worked my way through the rhyme so many times  until I have it fleshed out. I mean, I could write the rhyme if I wanted to, but I just feel like I skip a step by getting it in my head. And sometimes if it's something that's a little bit tricky or tongue twisty or something, I just say, ah,  and I get really frustrated. And then I walk over to my computer and I type it into the body of an email. It's just so ridiculous.

44:17
I type it as the body of email and I email it to my phone. And then I go  into the thing and I look at it off my phone. That's very rare. And I'm well aware that I could just type it into my phone. Sure. Just have it there. But there's just some type of, I've got a lot of the weird hangups that I can't shake and it's just my process. ah So yeah. And in terms of writing comics, that's all, uh which might even sound stranger. I write them in the body of an email. So I'll set up.

44:47
you know, page one, panel one, and I'll write a descriptor for that and then uh I'll go through it. And then when that's done, I'll put it into Word or I'll put it into Google Docs and see everything that, you know, I could have, ah you know, misspelled or, you know, certain things.  the dialogue doesn't get fully massaged until the art is back anyway. So I'll have some placeholders here and there.

45:13
But I just feel it's like it's strange. You know, back in the day when I did actually put the pen to paper to write rhymes, it was the notebook  and you write and you fill up a notebook with all these rhymes. Now. And that was a comfort. Now the comfort is  the body of an email. It's so bizarre as I'm saying it out loud. It's always been in my head. But it's like I can open up my Gmail and I feel comfortable typing there where, know, you think somebody like, I don't know, Stephen King or somebody.

45:42
He has his way to write and I'm not by any means comparing myself to Stephen King. But the first writer that popped in my head, I'm sure he's not writing his novels in the body of an email. It just kind of where it's, I've learned out of laziness or just refusal to adapt. I think Microsoft Word was like, when I first started writing these things, I was like, how do I get Microsoft Word? Actually, when you and I were,

46:12
were setting this up. I kind of proved some of my Luddite-like  tendencies.  No, no, no. That was not on you. That's all on uh Riverside. I'm sure it is not lost on you, this kind of like full, I don't know if we want to call it full circle moment or like just like this career progression where you're saying that like comics were your first love and then you got into hip hop and then  became a uh rapper, a full-time musician.

46:37
Now it's almost like, you know, now from there, you're going back to comic books as a writer. mean,  how does, I guess, how does that feel to know that, you know, you are now directly involved in this art form that, you know, you cherished in your younger years that played a huge part in like your, your music career. Now, like you're being, now you're able to like, you know,  play this completely different role, but that's still in the same medium. I mean, I think it's kind of fascinating. What, what do you think?

47:05
Yeah, I do. And uh oftentimes I ignore it because my head is buried in the work. And I'm trying to figure this thing out for the music or this thing out for the comics or this thing out for the merchandise. But I have friends  like my buddy Mad Soul  and my buddy Adam 12, two people who most recently have kind of taken me aside and taken the time to say, you  a lot of people's ah dreams and goals, they haven't worked out just

47:35
the way they wanted them to and yours worked out just the way you wanted it.  I think you should take some time to appreciate that.  And  I thought about it and I stopped and you know, because I'm so focused on moving forward and not kind of  taking it all in that  I, appreciating it is something  I still have to allow time  to do because I constantly feel like I'm falling behind if I'm not working. So I keep working and working and pushing and pushing but um

48:05
Yeah, I've heard from a couple people lately like look at this and look at that like aren't you happy? You know, you got a cameo in Venom and music in the movie Venom 2 and Venom 3 like how do you feel and I'm feeling I feel great What's next? You know and and it's I wish there was something that I could turn off and just chill and watch the Celtics but usually I'm thinking of

48:34
what's next for Zarface. Yeah, I feel that sometimes you have to force yourself to stop and smell the roses and just appreciate what you're doing. Like, I mean, you said earlier, like, you you love what you're doing. And I think it shows in the end product for sure. You brought up how friends and family are like, hey, you're doing great things. Like, you got to, you know, take time to admire it. And I think I'm going to use that as a reason to pivot into this segment. I like to call the short box friends and family segment. And this is where I shut up for a little bit and let some other folks ask.

49:03
the questions. And I want to start off with this special guest that I reached out to to submit  a question for you via voicemail. And I'll see if you can figure out who it is before he says his name. Yo, what's up, SO?  Hope all is well.  I got two questions for you. uh First question.  Yeah, we all know that rap music has such a huge storytelling aspect to it. Do you see parallels between the creative process of writing a comic and writing a verse?

49:32
Second question is a simple one. Like we all know that Thanos gotta be a hip hop head. What would he be bumping on the daily? Yeah, so those are my two questions, Congrats on all things R-Face and yo, we gotta do a comic again. We gotta do another comic together. Peace. Okay, I thought that he had said his name on that voicemail, but do you recognize the voice? Do you know who that was? Well, he said work on a comic again. Yeah. So it could have been Mike Del Mundo. Ding, ding, ding. That's right. So I reached out to Mike Del Mundo.

50:02
Speaking about your love of dogs, there go, you got it on camera. Mike Domundo, man. So I reached out to him, asked him to send in a voicemail, and he was kind enough to send in two questions for you. You already answered the first one of my previous question, but if you want to add more to it, feel free to, but I would absolutely love to hear you answer the second question of what is Thanos playing in the tape deck? Because I mean, you brought up how Sanford Green mentioned  he was listening to shook ones and that being the theme song for Darkseid. What's the theme song for Thanos? Yeah.

50:32
Well, knowing that Mike is about as pure,  as much of a hip hop purist as I am, it's a question that I'd have to really think about. So,  little Thanos, if you think he's all about,  the irony is  that Mike also did  our Zarface hip hop variant with Marvel, and it's Thanos number one. So this is great, isn't this? uh

51:01
Kismet again, in a sense, or coincidence. I would say that Thanos is listening to Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy and looking to restore the balance of... I have no idea what that was. I was waiting for it. was like, oh, he's got a good justification. Here we go. I was about to just start freestyling an idea. That was the best record I could think of at the time. I think sometimes putting the...

51:33
such grounded street level music  into the  space of such a cosmic character can get a little bit tricky. For sure. The one that came to mind for me was,  I think maybe because you  said Gangstar earlier,  Above the Clouds.  I think I'm going for vibe and something about how kind of  astral and outer space that beat is. You know how cold that premiere beat is? Yeah. Thanos would probably be rocking that. And he's Above the Clouds too. Yes.

52:00
Yes, yes, exactly. I think that's a good answer. I'm to take your answer. uh And as far as the his first question, which I think I said, I answered what you had asked a little bit, but I'll expand on it. think writing hip hop and writing  comics for me  in terms of my voice, there's  some snarkiness  and quippiness  and dad joke wordplay that can be  used in both. You know what I mean? If you're

52:29
If you're speaking with someone that's always sarcastic, like Spider-Man or Deadpool in that type of way, um a lot of that can go into your arrogance when you're rhyming on the mic or your know-it-all type of approach to rhyming. So there's a lot of parallels there.  And in the book I did with Mike, that Mike drew, he added his own little things in there as well. Like there was a uh dumpster or a trash barrel somewhere  in the book.

52:59
And then underneath it, he wrote straight garbage, is just something that,  you  you would  identify with something that's wack, you know? So he put his own twist on things in the book, which is just great. I love that guy. I love the book that we that we made hope to work with him again. Oh, this is a full on. OK, I thought it was just like he did the cover. But  for those listening, Zarface Dog Days of Tomorrow, which was released this year, apparently knows like 2000.

53:27
1990.  They got the date wrong. But Mike Del Mundo doing interiors is always like it's a it's not as common as it used to. So whenever I do see that he's done interior artwork, I get pretty excited. I'm actually going to order a copy of this like ASAP. So so so asked him like all right and then I got one more question received from a short box friend or family.  This is from my guy Joshua Feketti. ah I told him I was having you on the show. He's like bro I fucking love his our face. I love so  but he wrote and he said butter I'd love to hear you ask so.

53:57
Now that the Czar face world is really fleshed out, does he think the music still influences the story and characters at this point or vice versa? Like by this point, does the story kind of dictate what vibe a record is going to have? ah No, I feel like the story, there's a lot of one-off stories in the Czar face comic world and there's a lot of different directions we go in with the actual hip hop. know what I mean? They don't  always...

54:25
intersect perfectly. I mean, that would be a feat that, you know, we'd probably have two albums out instead of however many we have out. Because having them intertwine on such a conceptual level would be a lot of work that, you know, might not always make room for what we want out of a hip hop record where we want people like this, you know, listening to some of the punchlines or...

54:53
just the overall energy of the song. And if you're telling a story, ah it's not always Zarr face the character and Zarr face the music. They're not always running parallel, right? They go in different directions. So it's kind of a  whole universe, but they're in different orbits. And, you know, speaking about my guy, Josh, I want to give him credit because he was the first one to point out to me  about your cameo in the Venom movies.

55:20
which led me down a rabbit hole in learning that you and Venom himself, star of Venom, Mr. Tom Hardy, are friends. You guys have a  song together?  There's a song I was listening to called Null and Void that was put out last year for the Venom movies that features yourself, Method Man, and a Frankie Pulitzer, which I believe is Tom Hardy's rap name or rap moniker, is that true? Yeah, well, Frankie Pulitzer, it's a common misconception that Tom Hardy and Frankie Pulitzer are the same person.

55:48
Frankie Pullis is  someone else entirely who is a hip hop head, but he's younger than Tom. Tom is a guy that appreciates the hip hop that I came up with, Inspector Deck came up with, the Wu-Tang. Everything that you want to talk about hip hop from the  90s, 2000s,  he knows it. And if he doesn't know it and it's dope and you show it to him, he gets why it's dope.  And he really is solely responsible.

56:18
for putting any Zarface material into the world of Venom. So he's responsible for making some of my wildest dreams and goals come true. And Frankie Pulitzer, he's a guy from out here who has his rough voice and he's never met Tom, but he's been in the mix because we've had him featured on records that are in Venom.

56:41
So guess where does that, because I mean, I'll admit confusion. Maybe I just didn't look into it that much, so I apologize. guess where does that,  I guess rumors start that Frankie Pulitzer was actually Tom Hardy. it just like a, it sounds like just a miscommunication thing and people just ran with the story. Yeah, well, Tom used to rap back in the  90s  and he had a situation with the Fugees uh going. So he  had such a talented guy, so he had a lot of opportunities to do this, do that, you know what I mean?

57:11
And oh he followed his passion, which is acting, of course. ah So he did have a background  as an MC,  but that was in the  90s.  I talked to him pretty frequently and he laughs about it.  And he thinks that  those were good times, but he leaves  MCing to pros.  And uh the situation's our face, so we're very fortunate that he digs what we do.

57:41
And yeah, I think things go viral and people run with it and  you can't stop, you keep repeating this thing and then suddenly it kind gets into zeitgeist and people just buy it.  I appreciate you clearing that up. But on the topic of Hollywood, one of the most,  the biggest name, the most premier names out there right now when we think about like comic books in Hollywood and movie space, James Gunn recently posted the threads about how crazy it is.

58:09
that hip hop is absent from the top 40 charts, like a first time in the last 35 years. And went on to call this year one of the best years in hip hop. He shouted out rappers like LaRussell, Open Mic Eagle,  Earl Sweatshirt, and a whole gang of others. But some people may not know that James Gunn has been a day one Zarface fan for quite a while. You actually  posted a picture of James Gunn holding a record of Zarface, Every Hero Needs a Villain.

58:38
And I was curious to know if you've ever had a chance to meet James Gunn or chop it up about hip hop. He is a huge hip hop head. You obviously had the receipts,  ever had a chance to meet James Gunn? Yeah, just over the social media.  I think he might have come across our face via his brother, Sean Gunn.  Oh, he's a huge hip hop head too. Yes. He was just on a podcast the other day talking about how much he loves MF Doom. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, yeah. So.

59:05
So he loves hip hop, they both love hip hop. And James is the man, very, we talk every once in a while, but it's usually me heaping praise on his moves in  the world of cinema.  You know what I mean? Whether it's Guardians or Superman or whatever, you know? And whenever I see him wearing his R-Face shirt, it just  puts a pep in my step. So  I'm awaiting for my breakout role in any DC film. I feel like anyone that...

59:34
anyone that comes into contact with him, probably hears something to that  degree. But  for me to have a small cameo in Venom bumping into Tom Hardy, uh I have to even it out and have a cameo in a DC film.  I'll pay my flight, I'll board myself, just let me out there for 10 minutes. Balance. I feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't ask this. You're part of so many different groups you've had, or had a hand in so many different groups.

01:00:02
You also have a ton of Colabo albums. Some of my favorites include, you know, the two projects you got with the late great MF Doom, but also Ghostface Killer. Do you have any stories about working with MF Doom or Ghostface Killer that you could share? ah Yeah, I have  stories  of both. And they're both,  I would say they're both every bit like they are on record. You know what I mean? Like these ideas that  people have in their head and this exciting

01:00:32
mystique that's been built up that all comes out and it's you can

01:00:41
Like,  speaking with ghosts,  it's like you're  listening to a skit on a record, you know, because we all grew up, I didn't meet ghosts until the 2000s or something, you know, but I'd already lived with all the Mootank stuff in the 90s. And, you know,  when you meet them, it's just like, wow, this is really him, you know I mean? And that personality and charisma just kind of,  it's powerful, you know? ah

01:01:10
And Doom is just, I met Doom in the 90s as well. Or back, let's see, what was the year, what'd be? I don't know, the late 90s sometimes. So the open mics in NYC, like the New Eureka Poets Cafe, a few different venues. When Zev Lovex, his original name in KMD, when he was transitioning to MF Doom, when he was coming out as the new alias Doom.

01:01:38
we happened to be kind of on the scene around that time that he was first coming out before the mask, when he was wearing like a stocking uh cap over his face, just kind of concealing his identity. It was such a cool time because, you know, it's learning that this guy that you would watch on MTV, Yo MTV Raps from KMD, Zedlove X, is now this uh filterless  villainous ah character named MF Doom. And the legend just grew and he's now immortalized.

01:02:08
You know, so. I almost feel stupid asking this, but how much of that, you know, Doom's approach to like that branding too of his, like that mystique that, you know, him playing into the villain. mean, the things he would do on stage of having like a, you know, he wouldn't even be on stage, like all these different like, kind of like antics, you know, with full respect that he would do. How much of that, I guess, were you inspired by when it came to Zharface?  Doom was a bigger inspiration to me earlier before Zharface. So.

01:02:37
really from the jump. So as far back as you can go with Doom, he was doing whatever I was doing before me.  You know what I mean? So anything that he would do that was dope, it was something I was following up on. I can't think of a reference. There's a touch point where I'm like, oh yeah, I was doing that before. No, nothing. I've always been Doom first, whether these creative samples, soundbites in a song, uh putting them into actual lyrics and so many different things. And he beat me to the punch everywhere, but that's just a uh

01:03:07
testament to his brilliance. Now when the first Darkface record came out, we came up with the idea of Darkface. Doom was not  really at the forefront of our mindset until the record came out and people started saying, and some of my close friends were saying like, yo, this kind of reminds me of MF Doom. And I don't know if it was the music or the  fact that it was a character, but  see, I think what people miss when they're looking for connections between

01:03:35
MF Doom and Zarface in that sense is that MF Doom is MF Doom with the mask on rapping, you know what I mean? Where Zarface, there's no instance of the character Zarface rapping. Zarface is this figurehead like Eddie is for Iron Maiden, you know what I mean? What's your favorite Zarface app? Like if you had to give like a listener right now that's like, I love comics. This sounds really interesting. I want to just jump in on one album.  Where would you point them towards?

01:04:04
That's a good question because There are a lot of songs that I like on particular albums more than other songs uncertain that you know, it's like I'm kind of the mindset where Certain songs jump out to me but full bodies of work. I guess I would have to say every hero needs a villain And that would be the first collaboration with us and doom Is on that record? Like that one I like his artificial intelligence. I love super white

01:04:34
I don't know, know, we wouldn't put them out if we didn't fall in love with them, you know what mean? Again, it's something that we love doing. It's less of a job and more of a, you know, just something we can't turn off and are happy to make it. Oh, good answer. All And this is my last question. I always like to save this one for the last part. What piece of advice would you give to an aspiring, whether it be a comic creator, musician, writer, et cetera, whatever it may be?

01:05:01
that you wish you would have known prior to starting your career? Like what piece of advice would have really helped you out early on to maybe overcome, you know, a lot of the bullshit and hurdles that comes with the industry. Trusting your first instincts on a lot of scenarios with what you want to do and not let other voices into your head and follow your path and  be yourself as much as you can.  There have been times in my career where I felt like

01:05:29
I wasn't being 100 % true to myself. I was probably putting on a little bit more of tough guy act than how I really am as a person. But I mean, I might've been a little tougher around the edges then, but I grew out of that, you know what I mean? And I think at this point, I'm probably over the past decade plus I've been the most comfortable in my skin just being myself. And I think every artist should work on.

01:05:58
being themselves  and you can probably wind up, well, you know, spend a better chance of doing something that feels natural and something you enjoy and hopefully can reap some reward from and buy some dog food with. I love that. We started with dogs and we're ending with dogs. And with that being said, ladies and gents, this is the Short Box Podcast and we just finished talking to Esoteric about all things Zarface. We talked about the music, how the group came together, the different albums, the merchandise.

01:06:27
And we also talked about the brand new comic series, Zhar Face Stress Fracture, which is available  on zharkomics.com. can either buy the first issue or issue by issue or all five issues in a bundle, once again, on zharkomics.com. I'll have a link to that in the show notes  as well as links  to Esso's  social media pages so you can give him a follow and keep up to date with what he's got going on. Esso, this has been fantastic  and if there's an opportunity to have you back, I'd love to have you back.  Oh, thanks. I appreciate that, man. Appreciate that.

01:06:58
There you have it short box 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 theshortboxjaxx 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 and review on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

01:07:26
or wherever you get your podcasts. It takes two minutes tops and it would mean the world to us. 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.

01:07:53
Speaking of our Patreon community, I want to give a big shout out to our current members, including Adam Chaitani, RcGamut, BJKicks, Blake Simone, Blythe Milligan, Bo Evers, Brian Brumleaf, Chad Lannenberger, Chris Hacker, David Morales, Greg Lichtig, Hershel, Mack Jacobson, issue number three, Brad, Jay Sinner, Jeff Fremid, Jerome Cabanatan, Jose Sepulveda, Justin McCoy, Corey Torgeson, Matt Godwin, Amanda Maron,

01:08:22
Melissa Burton, Nick Wagner, Ryan Isaacson, Steven Gammett, T-Mix, The Wait For It Podcast, Tony A. Uppie, 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.