Matthew Erman Talks Loving, Ohio

Skybound Comics Energon Universe has been a beautifully crafted road to a shared universe for original characters, Transformers, and G.I. JOE. The Joe side of the universe has been ramping up with a series of mini series that have lead to GI JOE #1 which is on sale now. We were lucky enough to sit down with Joshua Williamson and Tom Reilly to chat about the universe and the debut issue. We also took some time to get into wrestling amongst other topics. With GI Joe, there is a huge plastic legacy with the toys being a huge component of the popularity of the series. Joshua and Tom talk about how the toys have influenced their work but haven't been shoehorned in. They discuss the freedom that Hasbro has allowed them to have. Dan asks about his favorite divas of the Energon Universe when they discuss Cobra Commander and Destroy. All three geek out about a certain Destro figure that came out a few years ago.

In this year’s GateSlashers podcast special, hosts Dan and Ethan sit down to talk about IT, the two-part film adaption of Stephen King’s iconic horror novel. Released in 2017, IT Chapter One, directed by Andy Muschietti, adapted one half of King’s novel, focusing on a group of teen outcasts known as the Loser’s Club as they encounter a malevolent entity known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in their hometown of Derry, Maine. IT Chapter Two, released in 2019, again directed by Muschietti, finds the Loser’s Club reuniting 27 years later to once again face-off with a returned Pennywise. On the podcast, we discuss our love of these films, how they are a shining example of studio horror, and true fear brought on by Pennywise. We also dive into the perfect casting across the board, from the young Loser’s Club to their adult counterparts, and the sublimely terrifying performance by Bill Skarsgård as the titular IT, Pennywise.

Booger is a recently released body horror film that takes a very different approach to losing control of your life. We had the chance to sit down and chat with the star Grace Glowicki and the writer-director Mary Dauterman to chat about the film. We dived into the life and energy of felines, some costume choices, and body horror. The film is a refreshing take on the body horror genre that focuses heavily on the main character and her transformation. There are some scenes that stick with you as Anna changes further into something more like a cat. Glowicki sells the fear of her self as she loses control as the horrors progress. I genuinely don't think I will look at my cats and hairballs ever the same again after watching the film. That is why I would give it 5 stars if I gave ratings because films that stick with you are the ones that I want to give my time to. New Yorker Anna has just suffered the sudden and unexpected death of her best friend and roommate, Izzy. She's trying to handle this loss when Izzy's cat, Booger, runs away. Anna goes on a desperate search to find him and in the process, she is bitten on the hand by the cat. She soon begins to take on feline characteristics, and her work life and relationship with her boyfriend start to go downhill. Featuring a widely praised performance by Grace Glowicki (TITO, STRAWBERRY MANSION), BOOGER is a one-of-a-kind film blending body horror with comedy in a story of intense female friendship and its tragic loss, all backgrounded by a tale of supernatural transformation. The film also stars Garrick Bernard (Single Drunk Female), Marcia DeBonis (SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING, 13 GOING ON 30), David Rysdahl (OPPENHEIMER, Fargo), and indie cult icon Heather Matarazzo (WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, SCREAM 3). BOOGER is produced by Lexi Tannenholtz (Shudder’s BAD THINGS) and executive produced by Neon Heart Productions (CORA BORA), Ley Line Entertainment (EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE), Sanctuary Content, One Two Twenty Entertainment (JOYLAND) and Lizzie Shapiro (SHIVA BABY).

After recovering from a life-threatening sickness, JH Williams III embarked on an art journey that ended up with the creation of something familiar but almost entirely new, Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio. The book is 50 individual art pieces drawn to illustrate the novel Dracula in a way that only JH could deliver. We had the chance to sit down and discuss the project at length which you can listen to here. Dracula and vampires as a whole were never my cup of tea until the past few years when I finally committed to prying open the coffin to get into the monster that so many people adore. This version of Dracula is what I think I needed to solidify my love of the monster. JH Williams careful craftsmanship of the story with full-page art mirrored by condensed text pages deliver one of the best ways to celebrate the vampire so many adore. There are so many pages in this book that I lingered on because the scene was so captivating as the powers that vampires themselves possess. There is a level of mastery in this book that is handcrafted by one person that is unlike anything else. Dracula: A Storybook Portfolio feels like a showcase for Williams to show off what he can do beyond just his art. The lettering in this book is done by him as well, with a few small uses of breaking the form that is so effective for a small tweak of placement. This is one book you need to pick up to have on your shelf because it uses the format of the graphic novel to experiment with more of a storybook-type retelling of the story. It's simply one of my newest favorite books. Getting to see a master at play with full-page spreads with each flip is worth every penny.

If it feels like it has only been a few weeks since we had the chance to chat with the cast and crew of Solar Opposites, it's because it has. But this time, they brought along Dan Stevens and Mary Mack for Halloween! This is the first time after many interviews with the cast where I get to chat with the entire family in one go. It makes for a very special interview. THE SOLAR OPPOSITES ARE BACK BABY FOR THEIR DIRECT SEQUEL TO THE FIRST HALLOWEEN SPECIAL. The special "Halloween Special Part 2: The Hunt for Brown October" picks up after the first where they literally murdered the Great Pumpkin but the bad news is that Korvo is now becoming the Great Pumpkin himself. But that's not enough for a Solar Opposites special because the family is also trying to join to local country club. It's one heck of a halloween special that you do not want to miss for this years hashtag huluween. This was another incredible special in a line of weird holiday specials for the Solars. The addition of Dan Stevens to the show has been a huge blessing to the show dynamic with his Korvo really clicking into the dynamics. There are some cameos at the country club that are just some of the funniest visual gags but one of them has a title gag we have seen in the show before with Marvel's Wolverine that is a great bit. With the show actually building upon itself year after year, we get to see different things play out this year especially with the B plot. I am being as vague as possible because I want you to watch it after listening to the cast and crew talk about halloween, candy, and costumes. But if you know how to kill a witch, the Solar family really could use that information.

It’s been a minute since we were joined by Tom King on the show. If you checked the length of this episode then you know we had a LOT to catch up on. Between the last interview and now, Tom has been pretty busy making comics. Not only has he had all of his work at DC but is back to the creator owned world as well. Plus he’s a big wig in Hollywood now too so he has been a bit busy.  On the episode, Dan and Tom King catch up on all the projects he’s had. Our main focuses of the episode are the new series Black Canary: Best of the Best and Archie. But Dan makes sure to try to pull a little bit of everything into the interview with Tom as much as he can. With the focus of Tom King’s new Black Canary series, Dan gets to ask about wrestling. Tom drops some wrestling lingo and gets into the face and heel discussion about Canary and Lady Shiva. If you weren’t already excited for this upcoming series, then you’re going to walk away from this interview ready to pre-order it from your LCS or Tom and I’s shop, Third Eye Comics! They also get the chance to talk about Tom’s recent one shot at Archie. Tom talks about the impact of Archie Comics on his children, him, and how one of the internets favorite members of the King family, Roxy, got a starring role. We talk about getting to work with the incredible Dan Parent in the Archie style.  And if you thought this interview would end without us talking about Trinity and those Super Sons then you’d be dead wrong. We talk a bit about legacy in the DCU universe before focusing on these three. We talk about Damian’s Taylor Swift/Black Canary crush, how the reference image for the stadium might be Lincoln Finacial Field in Philly (go birds), and the evolving nature of this new trios dynamic in the DC Universe. 

Pornsak Pichetshote is one of the most creative powerhouses in comics who's work never misses. That may be a bold statement to make but Pornsak has backed it with citations galore. From his Eisner and Harvey Award-winning The Good Asian to his prolific horror debut as a writer, Pornsak's work has taken a 360 approach to the perspective on the themes his work explores. Now, along with an absolute cornucopia of talented creators, he is helping bring The Horizon Experiment to shelves. I personally am asking you to support this line of 5 one shots because each is a unique genre story from perspectives we don't see in comics. The Horizon Experiment is just that, an experiment. 5 creative teams are putting out 5 one-shots that can continue into a series if there is demand. The challenge for each team was to create a protagonist from a marginalized background set in a popular genre where if the background of your character was changed so would the story. I have had the please of reading Pornsak and the Dodsons' The Manchurian (sexy bombastic Chinese James Bond super spy) and The Sacred Damned (a Muslim John Constantine that flips the script on what you typically see with demonology) from Sabir Pirzada and Micheal Walsh. Both stories blew me away to the point that I have already read both multiple times. Pornsak Pichetshote goes through the creative teams to explain why each was built for each book to bring authenticity unlike anything I have seen before. Typically for interviews and podcasts, writing this portion is always the hardest part because it's hard to summarize a conversation to demonstrate how much goes on. But this one came easy because nothing excites me like going against the grain to create something unique. Pornsak Pichetshote and his whole crew are bringing five one shots that you need to pre-order so we can get more of them. These are the comics we need to see more of in the industry. They don't read like they were built to become IP, they read like they are artistic teams that want to show that there is so much more outside your own experiences in only a way comics can do it. Pre-order these books. All of them.

I have never been shy about how much I love Solar Opposites. Season 5 is no exception to that rule. It is another installment in the Opposites families' mission to terraform Earth but more importantly to have wacky sci-fi adventures on Earth with the Pupa. I was lucky enough to chat with the cast and producers of the show about this season and what makes them laugh still after so much time in comedy. This season of Solar Opposites continues to build on the stories and world of the Opposites after the wedding of Terry and Korvo in the Valentine's Day Special. The show has embraced their relationship a lot more in the later seasons but this one really gives a few spotlight episodes on it that really highlights why I keep coming back to my favorite family of aliens on Hulu. Dan Stevens and Thomas Middleditch play off one another very well as the two parents of the family unit. Terry also has some of the best shirts of the series in this season as well. Solar Opposites is a show that every single television fan should watch because of how well they balance their stories while having two nearly full other shows going on inside their own. The Wall storyline has been going on for years with full eras of storytelling that we get a refresher on in this season in a very fun way. But The Wall gets a soft reboot into The Backyard this year with a fresh story with Clancy Brown at the helm. It's something you do not want to miss because it's such a great bit of storytelling that lampoons what it could have been while still being an original storyline going on alongside Opposites B plots. But there is the Green Lanterns Silver Cops storyline going on at the same time as well which gets it's own incredible opening and theme song. There are Starship Trooper elements this season while dealing with the idea that the military may also be the baddies. It's a very funny and surprisingly action-packed storyline this season. There is also a few moments I felt myself feeling a bit sad for the characters which I was not expecting when this absolutely bonkers storyline began. Solar Opposites cannot be contained to genre. 40 more seasons of Solar.

WELCOME BACK THE ANNUAL ANIME AUGUST! This year’s theme is Blonde Boy Summer! Listen as today Jake and Ethan take on the viking epic, Vinland Saga! Jake gets to nerd out about the beloved seinen series and Ethan and his homeland of Wales get prominently featured in the tales of Thorfinn and Askeladd! Join as they look at the story of Thorfinn as he begins his journey to avenge his unjustly slain father and how that leads him down a dark path of a warrior. Is it possible for Thorfinn to turn back to the kind soul he was before he watched a viking chief kill his father or will the young man be forced to live with the consequences of his actions? The answer can totally be both after his revenge is stripped from him. Will Askeladd live up to the legends of his forefathers or will he be a casualty of the Norse and Dane political theater in the viking quest for the treasure of England? Who knows but we do that Ethan is happy to see Wales in something that isn’t just Doctor Who! Not only that to properly see King Arthur mentioned as a figure not of British legends but specifically Welsh! Totally watch as Thorfinn begins to understand his father’s words as he tears across the English country side in Askeladd’s band of warriors. A series filled with bloodshed, tears, hope and eventually farming. The early quest to the new world is right on the horizon for young Thorfinn! All aboard with Thorfinn, Leif, and Askeladd in the most complicated coming of age story to ever be ripped from old legendary viking tales! Huzzah have a nice Blonde Boy Summer! Ramble ramble ramble ramble. I wonder if I, the marvelous Jake, have hit enough words yet! Anime anime anime. Manga manga manga.

I have been following Matthew Erman's comic career for a while and watching it evolve over time. The themes that have been explored in each of his stories have related in one way or another in some ways but they all feel like they were leading up to Loving, Ohio. I was lucky enough to read the comic last year and have not been able to stop thinking about it since. It's a beautiful horror graphic novel dealing with family, belonging, and understanding the systems on which you can rely. The story itself deals a lot with a cult and such which the author Matthew Erman was in for a bit of his life. We don't get into that too much into this interview because to be honest, I felt it wasn't a topic I felt relevant to our VERY open and honest discussion. We talk about so many things in this interview. Matthew talks very openly about the comics industry in ways that I had never even fathomed to think of point of view wise before. It's a very in depth conversation about shelf space, belonging, and chances. It's an interview that I am very proud of presenting to you that was inspired by a book that I have been comfortable calling the horror comic of the year since year. I can firmly say that Loving, Ohio is still my favorite horror comic of 2024 and on my must-read list for anyone looking for a story if they've ever deal with any feelings of loneliness, depression, or not belonging. The art and letters by Sam Beck synchronize so perfectly with the themes and feelings that it seems Matthew Erman was going for to elevate it to an instant classic in my book. I do not do ratings but if I did, this would be a 5 star book. I hope you pick it up and listen to this interview.