.jpg)
Zombie Book Club
Welcome to Zombie Book Club! We're a Podcast that's also a book club! We talk about Zombie / Apocalyptic horror novels, TV and movies.
Zombie Book Club
Path of the Pale Rider’s Darkest Issue Yet with special guest Laurie Calcaterra | Zombie Book Club Ep 106
Death is broken—and in Path of the Pale Rider’s horrifying new issue #7, Laurie Calcaterra pushes the apocalypse boundary even further. From prophetic themes to theatrical horror, this is storytelling at its most disturbing and relevant.
Join us for an immersive chat with Laurie—creator, visionary, and hot sauce witch—as she breaks down the creative grind behind Issue 7 and teases collectible surprises like Sad Pancake figurines, “Reaper’s Regret” hot sauce, and scratch‑and‑sniff covers. Whether you're new to POTPR or a die‑hard fan, we dive deep into the moral quandaries, fan perks, and the gruesome fun behind her Western‑zombie opus.
📬 Guest Links
- Kickstarter
- Issue 7: Issues 1–7 campaign Live July 18 → August 8, 2025
- Laurie Calcaterra
- Instagram: @lauriecalcaterra
- Facebook Group: PathofthePaleRider
- Official site: www.pathofthepalerider.com
Zombie Book Club Links
Sign up for our Newsletter!!!! --- https://zombiebookclub.io/newsletter/
Join the Brain Muncher’s Zombie Collective: https://discord.gg/rn3nPDa4CB
ZBC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zombiebookclubpodcast/
Dan's BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/danthezombiewriter.bsky.social
Zombie Book Club Voicemail: (614) 699-0006
Zombie Book Club Email: ZombieBookClubPodcast@gmail.com
Our Secret Website That Isn't Finished: https://zombiebookclub.io
Our Merchandise Store (Where you can find our Evil Magic Chicken Zombie Shirts): https://zombie-book-club.myspreadshop.com
Welcome to Zombie Book Club, the only book club where the book is a horrible nightmare beyond words. I'm Dan, and while I'm not discussing Path of the Pale Rider, issue 7, with my therapist, I'm writing a book about a nightmare of my own where people escape the undead, crammed into safe zones where they're subjected to abhorrent living conditions.
Speaker 2:And I'm Leah and I would choose Dan's book's abhorrent living conditions over what happens at the Undead Retirement Center in Path of the Pale Rider. We release episodes every Sunday, so submerge.
Speaker 1:That's a weird word to use instead of subscribe it is.
Speaker 2:It's the closest one I could think of that kind of fits with what's going on at the Undead Retirement Center without giving it away.
Speaker 1:One day we're running out of words we need to say subscribe one day. Our guest today needs no introduction. Moving on, just kidding, lori Calacaterra is the writer and creator of Path of the Pale Rider comic series hot sauce witch smasher of innocent fruit, martial artist, zombestie for life and our first and forever zombie ween queen and Leah, and I would commit murder for her. Sorry, brandon, welcome to Zombie Book Club, lori Hi.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1:Thanks for being back that was the best intro.
Speaker 3:I feel like Daenerys from Game of Thrones. It's like Lori Calcaterra Breaker of Chains, smasher of Innocent Fruit yeah, smasher of Fruit Maker of innocent fruit yeah. Smasher of fruit maker of witch. Hot sauce of witch. I love it. I love it.
Speaker 2:I think it's important to note that the fruit is innocent and I think it's also important to note that we would fictionally commit murder for Laurie Calcaterra.
Speaker 3:I mean not for real. Everybody that's listening, that is for legal purposes yes but for real also.
Speaker 2:Brandon for real, though, if you need people to disappear we might fictionally murder you, but not at my request, possibly. Yes, yeah, not saying that.
Speaker 3:The just kidding, I'll murder you myself, son.
Speaker 1:I feel like that's the only right way to do it, like if we did it, that would be we would be stealing your honor. This is true. Yeah, that's not that's. If we did it, that would be we would be stealing your honor.
Speaker 3:This is true. That's unacceptable. However, I can do the murdering and you can do the teabagging, and then that's.
Speaker 1:I mean, I could get some prosthetic ones. Yeah, leo would have actual teabags. Yeah, Please.
Speaker 2:Laurie, we have a few rapid fire questions for you, yeah, and because you did not join us at living dead weekend, unlike brandon starocky, that's that's where he's got a point on you. Uh, we're gonna ask you hate this? We hate it too. We really wanted you there. I was very sad, but we asked questions of people at the convention based on the books of folks that were there with us as well. We're not going to ask you Brandon's question because we thought that might be offensive to you, based on Avalon comic series, but we are going to ask you a question about Joe Salazar's the Dead Weight.
Speaker 2:A question, a theoretical zombie apocalypse question about Babysitters of the apocalypse from courtney constantine and a theoretical question from elementary undead by alice v sullivan. These are all. What would you do? Questions are you ready? I'm ready. All right, you are running away from zombies in the apocalypse. You spot a canoe. There is room for five people, including yourself, including yourself. Including yourself, you have four people with you. Oh, I just fucked it up. I was like then we all go, hooray, yeah it's you and four people.
Speaker 1:You can pick four people. That's what Leo was trying to say Pick who are the four people you're going to pick for your to get in the canoe with you to save them from the apocalypse.
Speaker 3:OK, well, you and dan, oh, of course, and I get to pick two more. Yeah, so, of course, joe salazar, do I pick brandon? I don't know, that is no, I'm bringing my dog. Perfect. If my family was there, I would take my family, of course. But well, they are talking like sound besties they are there, oh, they are, yeah, oh then I have to take my kids and my husband.
Speaker 1:Sorry, okay, and your dog? That's the four, my dog so. Does that fill up the four? The four slots? I would think so, maybe. I mean, I don't know how big your family is no, we could probably fit one more person.
Speaker 3:The children's can be like one space husband takes up one space it's four people, dog, four living creatures four living creatures, my family.
Speaker 1:My dog, that's who I would take, okay um, yeah, I have terrible news for you the canoe is sinking.
Speaker 2:There's too much weight in it we lied.
Speaker 1:It can only hold three people. You have to kick somebody out.
Speaker 3:Unfortunately the dog can't come. Is your dog's name Pancake? I love my dog. No, the dog's name is Murphy. If we get another dog, maybe I name him Sad Pancake.
Speaker 1:You're going to have to get another dog, I think.
Speaker 3:But can Murphy swim? Yes, I'm sorry say again Can Murphy swim. Yes, I'm sorry say again Can Murphy swim, murphy can swim, so he would just swim with us.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he'd be fun. He's a.
Speaker 3:Newfie Doodle. So he's Poodle with Newfie, and Newfies are water dogs. He's a great swimmer. In fact, he rescues things from the pool that don't need to be rescued, like pool noodles. It's great, I mean somebody's got to do it.
Speaker 1:Do you think Murphy's going to hold it against you that you kicked him out of the canoe?
Speaker 3:No, he'll just follow us. If you have chicken, it's even better. If you just take the chicken, he'll come right behind the canoe. He will care, not if he gets some chicken.
Speaker 2:Make him rescue the chicken treats. Sounds like this one worked out except for Leah and I and Joe Salazar.
Speaker 3:I mean, is there another canoe?
Speaker 1:Unfortunately that was the last one Do you guys know how to swim.
Speaker 3:I do, yes, all right so then Leah can come. The dog can bring you Dan. That's his job.
Speaker 2:Okay, on to the next question. You're left with two children. You're abandoned. This woman just hands you her two kids. They Left with two children. You're abandoned. Just this woman just hands you her two kids. They're both under the age of five. One is two and one is five. We're all going to die. We're just going to be five. It's the beginning of the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse. What do you do?
Speaker 3:We're all going to die. You just accept that you're going to die with them. I mean, I'm going to try and protect the kids, but the kids will probably get us killed. Let's be honest. They're noisy, they're slow. They skin their knee and then cry. They're scared of everything. They don't know how to stay quiet. Right, they'll scream when they're scared. I'll probably go down in a fiery battle with a couple swords in my hand, screaming, trying to save the kids, but we're all going to die.
Speaker 3:It depends on the types of zombies, of course, but I mean like I'm assuming that they're traditional zombies. Yeah, slow romero zombies. Okay, well, I'll kill a lot of them before we go down, but we'll probably go down I believe in you, I think you can do it I mean we could, as long as we could get to some place secure, like.
Speaker 3:I still have the idea of um like world war z solution, where it's like if you hide in the attic or a tree house or something with like a ladder, yeah you could bring the ladder up, then we could survive as long as we could find food. But if you run out of resources there's not much you can do. But I would probably die for those kids, yeah yeah, I knew you'd be the hero.
Speaker 2:You would uh some of the responses we got including uh from someone I just posted about it because it's uh the episode out today and they were just instantly like oh, those kids are just gonna die. They're like yeah, a lot of people are just oh, people were saying like I'll put them in a closet and lock the closet I mean, I want to believe they're all joking, but I knew you're a hero at heart, so I'm not surprised. That was your answer, yeah.
Speaker 1:Do you treat them like your own children at this point, Like do you adopt them fully?
Speaker 3:Yes A hundred percent.
Speaker 2:What do you think Brandon said in answer to this question?
Speaker 3:He would probably put them in the canoe by themselves and put them out in the river Bye Something themselves and put them out in the river Bye, something like that.
Speaker 2:We asked him if he would treat them like his own children. He was like, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:He did say that he would protect them and keep them safe. And then we're like would you treat them like your own children?
Speaker 3:He's like no, so he would do the bird box. He was like okay, so you have to take care, you have to. You're the front line, you're the scout. We You're the front line.
Speaker 1:You're the scout. We'll stay back here. If a child needs to be sacrificed, it's definitely these two kids. Over his own kids, it's Nick.
Speaker 2:Now you're the kid. Last question You're in elementary school English class. You're like 12 years old. Zombie apocalypse breaks out in class. What does 12-year-old Laurie Calcaterra do? Hit it with a book.
Speaker 3:I'm still a fighter, I don't care if I'm 12. You were a fighter at 12? Yeah, I'm kicking the shit out of whatever that is with whatever I have. Handy Books can be weapons, sure Rulers pencils for the eye.
Speaker 2:We're taking it out. I wonder if there's a creative way to use. I used to be obsessed with the electronic pencil sharpeners. I wonder if there's a creative way to use. I used to be, like, obsessed with the electronic pencil sharpeners. I don't know how you could use that as a weapon other than like a blunt force weapon. Well, you could sharpen, that's about it, but I would always think about putting my pinky finger in it, because that was my interest.
Speaker 1:Sam.
Speaker 3:Sam.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know what. You know how they used to have like pointers. It was usually like a wooden dowel. Yeah, they'd use it to point at the chalkboard and then like, whack your knuckles. Um, depending on what kind of school you want to like, you could sharpen that in the pencil sharpener and then you got a pointy stick yes, the problem with the pointy things.
Speaker 3:They have to be smooth, otherwise they don't come back out of the body, right?
Speaker 1:I mean that'd be, you can use it once yeah, and then it's gone for all time and you know 12, 13 years old, you're not going to know like you got a fire hard. Yeah uh, wooden spears to make them work no, you're hitting it with blunt force yeah it'll work once you know I make a whole bunch of them so now we can just splice in your answers laurie to the living dead weekend episode and pretend you were there. You see, there we go. We missed you. By the way, it would have been.
Speaker 2:It was a great time, but we could only imagine if you were also a roomie in the undead house.
Speaker 3:Let's get into Path of the Pale Rider. Oh, let's talk about this. How are you guys doing, by the way, are we? Yeah, because when you've read the sneak peek, because a lot of people be upset with me over a portion that I gave them.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, you did leave us on a really fucking terrible cliffhanger, yes, that which maybe I was a little mad at first, but since then my brain has gone wild with all the potential of what could happen next, because there are so many things that could happen next, um, but mostly I was like, damn, I didn't see this coming. I was impressed. That's how I felt, yeah, thank you, like when you when you described to us wave I think our very first interview with you you talked about about how there's going to be a part in issue seven where the noise is so big you don't know how to visualize it. Yeah, then I read your script and I was like, oh, I get it now and I am so curious how it's going to get visualized.
Speaker 3:Uh, I think what I'm going to do is build a soundtrack, oh, and put it on my YouTube channel and QR code it into the book, because I don't think I can put. I mean, I can put a lot of words on the page, but I also don't want to take away from what's happening to the characters. You know what I mean that in itself is overwhelming to the characters. You know what I mean. Like, that in itself is overwhelming, and so I think that it really does need to be sound.
Speaker 2:I want to ask you a question, but I have to try and ask it in a way that is vague. The place, the undead retirement center where this takes place have you been to that location before? No, I have, and it made me cry, so I don't know how.
Speaker 3:I'm going to yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, that's all I'm going to say. It made me cry just to be there. So, thinking about that and then thinking about what this place is like, well, imagine that, instead of beautiful, it's horrible.
Speaker 3:Terrible, yeah, and stinks and is too loud to comprehend. Yeah, all of that. To take that all in and then to try and figure it out, say that vaguely, try and survive it. No prep? Yeah, because nobody knows what it is, he has no idea where he's going, and to get thrown into that and see if you can figure it out let's rewind for a moment for anybody who's a new listener or possibly new to lori and you're like what on earth is this? Yeah, what are they?
Speaker 2:talking about. Path of the pale rider is a story set in the apocalypse, following the extraordinary journey of jude saint claire as he tirelessly searches for the answer to the question why do the dead no longer die? Because your tagline for path of pale rider is death is broken, right, laurie is broken, yes. So for listeners who might be new and will be big stands of you, like us after this episode and they read your series, uh, what would be like the top three things they should know about path of pale?
Speaker 3:So, first thing you need to know is that when we mean death is broken, we have undead, but they are not your typical Romero zombies and it's not an infection. It is. Your soul does not leave your body upon death. You are decaying, right, but you're still you. You're just trapped in your decaying body and you lose your humanity as your brain rots. It's like having dementia and fast forward with added body horror. So that's the first thing.
Speaker 3:The second thing you need to know is that it affects every living creature on the earth People, animals, insects, fish everything is affected by this and it makes it a really challenging environment. And then the third thing you need to know about Path of the Pill Rider is that I take a real world approach to how people would react to that. So you're going to see government, you're going to see conspiracy theories, you're going to see people not agree on what they think the causes are what should happen. You know, in that situation and we deal with some some heavy topics and kids and existentialism, and all through the viewpoint of this one regular guy um, his superpower is being lucky. I guess he's got good luck and bad luck, yeah, but eventually all good luck runs out I know this is the.
Speaker 2:This is the line you've been using for issue seven. So issues one through six are out. We've read all of them voraciously. Now we've got the kickstarter. It's out as of this episode coming out for issue seven and I what I think everybody is dying haha to know is whether or not jude st claire is going to live. Will he survive?
Speaker 3:will he survive? Yeah, will he well he does he?
Speaker 2:have enough luck he will survive in some way right, either undead or alive.
Speaker 3:But that's the question yes, the question is, because that is the one thing that he has stated again and again that's his biggest fear, because he has seen the people that he cares about go through this right, where they slowly, where they decay, where they lose their humanity. He has seen, you know, um, all sorts of things, and so he does not want that for himself, um, so he will do anything in his power to not become undead, right and so in it. This is a situation where it's almost like do you have a choice? You know what happens at this point.
Speaker 2:So but also by going to the undead retirement center. Maybe he's gonna have a family reunion. His, his parents are there, yeah, like, will he find them? I don't know, that would be amazing, that's. It's gonna be hard, be horrifying actually. Yeah, depending on where they are. Yeah, I've thought a lot about the order of the people who were put in there first. It's not a good.
Speaker 3:It's not a good scene for them no, and we'll talk about like there, I, you, I don't. This is the hard part about path is I have gone so deep into how everything works. Um, you guys are not gonna see the mechanics behind how this place actually functions. You're gonna see the chaos behind it because you're seeing it from jude st claire's point view. But I would like to talk to you after we're done recording about this place and how it's built and how it functions and when things go wrong there.
Speaker 1:Wow. Perks of the job.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, to be a worker Sorry, everyone else To be a worker at the Undead Retirement Center. Can you tell us a little bit about how, up until issue seven, the Undead Retirement Center is portrayed in Path of the Pale Rider and why this is a crucial moment.
Speaker 3:Okay, so in Path there's a lot of conspiracy theories and Jude St Clair has been keeping this journal and he's been documenting all of these different thoughts about you know, is it religion, is it aliens, is it government? And then you start seeing these videos and commercials for the undead retirement community and it's portrayed as white picket fences and it's a safe place for you to go once you're undead and live out your decay phase, where you're not really going to affect the living You're a part and so if you're concerned about hurting people, this is where you would go if you can afford. It is the thing. And there's multiple commercials for different ones, just so you're aware. So they're broadcasting and they're very happy to take your money. Get your spot in advance, save your spot in this community because it's going to fill up.
Speaker 2:I forgot that they're paying to going to fill up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's filling up fast is what I hear yes, it fills up fast and of course people are decaying, so you never know how long they're going to be there. I mean, they could be in their right mind for a while, or not long, you don't know.
Speaker 1:I feel like you'd be a fool not to exactly.
Speaker 3:It's kind of like get spot, get your spot in line now, pay us your money in advance and then you reserve your spot for this place. So that's how it's portrayed it's a safe place to go, Sounds great.
Speaker 2:One of the alternate issue covers has some advertisements on the front for the Undead Retirement Center and one of them says feel the sun, uh-huh.
Speaker 1:Knowing what I know, I just was like that is terrible, sickening. Yes, I love it so much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you are, are you? I know I said it in our reaction video to you when we read this, but you're sick.
Speaker 3:Lori slash, possibly psychic and our latest Nostradamus it's scary because I keep talking about how I wrote this in 2018, and what's scary to me is that I, you know, I worked on the script for two years before we even published anything, and it started to become relevant to current events. And as we release things, whatever is happening in my issue is what's happening at that time we release. It scares the bejesus out of me.
Speaker 2:You need to stop, and I've been told that by multiple people, but I you, but then I'd be sad because I wouldn't get to read it. We need to split right. We need to split timelines where this version of you in this story is like the better timeline and we just get to live it out in the story and not in our reality I was like we should switch it.
Speaker 3:I'll start writing. Start writing like this is what reality needs to be, and maybe it'll throw down the universe.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, like like in, um, like in supernatural, where the, the, the one guy is writing, writing books, and it turns out it's, uh, it's sam and dean's life story, but he has never met them before. Um, oh, but is he controlling the story or is he just seeing, just watching the show? You know, yeah.
Speaker 3:That's me. I'm watching the show in my head and then things. That's why I keep saying like I want to be wrong and I don't. I don't want real life to continue following my narrative because it's a bad day. And then here we are at seven, where I like it's the worst I could think of, the very worst I can think of. And yet here we are at seven where I'm like it's the worst I could think of, the very worst I can think of. And yet here we are.
Speaker 2:And so, since the issue seven is the very worst you can think of, does it get better after issue seven?
Speaker 3:Oh, you know me, it ain't going to get better, it just changes. Okay, and I had this conversation with Gilbert, because Gilbert was like you've been hyping up issue seven for so long. He's like what are people going to have to look forward to once we get past that? And I was like, well, once we get past seven people, if you're paying attention, you will figure out the why. So, and I and I told people this, like jude sinclair has been on this journey and he's trying to figure out the cause of it and, if he's able to, to put it back to the way it was. You know, put the world right. That's what every hero wants. Um, and so once we get past seven, we're going downhill to the answer.
Speaker 3:I do tell you what it is in the first arc. So again, the first arc is 12. So if you're paying attention in 8, you could figure it out. If you're paying attention in 9, if you didn't get it in 8, you paid attention in 9, there's a good chance that you could figure it out. If you don't figure it out by 9, I smack you in the face with it in the beginning of 10. Here it is.
Speaker 2:If you weren't paying attention, pull out the rolled up newspaper and smack it in the nose. Do I have to figure out the riddles to figure it out, or can I just like Perfect Because I'm so bad at riddles?
Speaker 3:No, the riddles are fun. If you want to do them, I'm telling you things Like. The people that have been solving the riddles know what Dwayne knows.
Speaker 2:Oh shit, yes, Dance I've been telling you to solve these riddles for like two years now, didn't I? Well, you didn't tell me the answer.
Speaker 1:I think I did, but I don't remember.
Speaker 3:Oh, Dwayne is heavily talked about in the riddles, but there's other things, like I built a wiki about the undead resistance and how they are organized and how they function and that they have hobo symbols and that you know how their hierarchy they have. Um, their leader is called jet, but the name jet is passed down like the dreaded pirate robert roberts from um princess bride, you know it's like. So they passed down the name jet and then there was a time period where there was two jets and they were in contention and so this whole history behind the undead retirement, or not, the undead resistance, and there's a history of how they fought back and how they, like their hackers, and they went into and they were breaking stuff down and they had, anyway. So you can find that I have phone numbers that work. We did figure that one out.
Speaker 3:Did you call it great?
Speaker 2:yeah, I was very well pointed that I didn't get a direct answer from laurie calcaterra but it was great like we need to go back and revisit those things now that we know more well, I yeah, I was thinking about this like, once I get issue seven, I think I'm gonna just dedicate a day to lie in my hammock and like pour over one through seven and then do the um choose your own adventure. Is there any hints? And choose your own adventure once you get to that point there is.
Speaker 3:I think I did one at the end, but I think it's one of the same ones. Like I didn't, I didn't. It's not. I don't think it's an original one. I just basically gave you another way to solve one of the other riddles.
Speaker 2:Why are the undead resisting for those who haven't read it yet? What's that about?
Speaker 3:Because they took away all their rights. It was like well, I mean like okay. So when you think about a person that's going through let's just keep it real dementia. They appear normal, they appear friendly, they could be friendly and eventually they go through this really dehumanizing process where their brain changes and they forget things, they become violent, they can become vegetative, they're just not themselves anymore. And we have this giant population in Path of the Pill Rider that is that, and they're chaotic. Path of the pill rider that is that, and they're they're chaotic. Um, they start running people over with their cars and you know, they forget stuff and they're out in traffic and they, um, they're shooting people. It's just they're, they're so chaotic and so the government does what the government does and they look at the situation. They say you know what? We got to start controlling these people. So they first they start with a curfew and then they start stripping away rights. So you can't vote yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:They love going after that one.
Speaker 3:Right, unless they're all voting for whatever party's in power. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You can't vote unless you vote the right way.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and then we don't care right. And then it switches whoever's in power, whatever. And then they don't care right, and then it switches whoever's in power, whatever. And then they take away, like you can't have firearms, you can't drive, and then they start taking away the right to own property, which becomes problematic, of course, because where are they supposed to go? And they create this undead. They start separating people from the herd. So if you're undead in a living community, it's illegal. So they start sending you elsewhere. They disappear you. They have this whole police force, um called the collectors. That is their sole purpose to go into living communities and take that individual that's undead and remove them, and they don't tell you where they're taking them. See what I mean when I'm talking about current events.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good thing, that would never happen.
Speaker 3:Jesus, it's been happening a lot. They start resisting. Of course, where it's like this is my family. This is my mom. I want to take care of her. It's okay for her to be here. I want to take care of my living impaired mom or whatever.
Speaker 3:Why are they a threat if they're just in the house? And so it becomes this push and pull between the living and the undead, and the living will, you know, also be on the side of the undead as well. Again, there's my family, it's my friends. I don't want them to go somewhere and never see them again. What if it's children? What if the adult is undead and the child is alive? Who's taking care of that child? The adult can't own property. Where do they go?
Speaker 3:So the undead resistance not only pushes back against all these changes and stripping of rights and disappearing people, but they also have like an underground pathway for people to go to places that are safe for them. So they have like hobo symbols that will tell you like this this house is sympathetic, you know, if you're trying to escape. Or you know like there's a police there's police here, don't go this way. Or there's a dog, it'll find you. And so they start marking the way, way for um, this whole population to find safety. Uh, you know, and it's uh in, in the beginning it's the worst because they're the minority. But then eventually, by the time jude st claire is 10 years and that's where we start the story, they are the majority. So things change when they become the majority Right, because that was issue five where Lola was like oh hi, you're one of us now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's one of the safest, not safest. The fastest ways to convert someone, to make them realize they should give a shit, is to make them undead. Now you care about us because you're on our side, including Sad Pancake, and I got to say I love Sad Pancake when he was alive. I love him undead.
Speaker 3:Sad Pancake is the goodest boy, no matter what he is, and he will play fetch with any arm you want to give him. And was also not my creation, because Gilbert did it. You had to follow through.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you had to follow through.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You had to follow through. If Gilbert put some, I mean everybody else in that family was going to get on a live.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I. And it was just so funny because when it, you know, it was a tough page to draw and he and I had talked about the sequence of how things happened and, um, what's the movie? The piano? I think it's the piano, or the nazis had lined up a bunch of men the pianist, thank you and they were. They were just going down the line unaliving people and they got to the last guy and the gun was out of bullets and so this german officer was reloading the weapon and the guy just stood there and waited for him to reload and then shoot him too. And that was the weird, desperate moment that they're in, where the kid doesn't. It was a kid, of course, didn't know what to do and just stood there while she reloaded and off he went. But we got to the last panel and I was like don't forget to shoot the dog and Girl. Boat was like what? I was like don't forget to shoot the dog and girl, but was like I was like you put them in there.
Speaker 1:I didn't put them in that dog is not in the script, gilbert constant work environment.
Speaker 3:He was like why are lola's words coming out of your mouth?
Speaker 2:I mean, at the same time, like you've already established, that, uh, pets in the undead Western apocalypse you've created are not immune to death, and normally, I think people who listen to this podcast know that I love animals and I find it deeply devastating when they are killed in movies, tv shows, comic books.
Speaker 2:But I think what's something you've done that's really special here is, while there are not just sad pancake but a horse, a deer horse named prince, that I still have some small hope, some part of him, right, yeah, uh, anyways, it's devastating, but you can't stop reading and, and I think even the way that that is portrayed and also the way that sad pancake is portrayed is like it's sad and it's particularly gory with prince, but it's it's. You can keep reading. It's not like it's going to destroy you to the point where you never want to watch this again and look at it, because that's happened to me, right with other things where the animal is killed. I just want to say that for the folks who might be like I can't, I can't read this now, you can do it and it's worth it because it's um, there's so much that has real life parallels, but also it just is a world you want to live in for a while.
Speaker 3:Fictionally, fictionally, walk around and experience it. You know what I mean, and one thing that I strive to do as a writer is I don't give any answers to these super gray areas that we wade into with jude st claire, where it's like our. Who do you have sympathy with? Um? You know, even the, the villains, like the miguel blancos and people that and on the surface appear to be villains, have a shred of, you know, have a shred of purpose behind them, and you could understand that purpose. And so, again, it just depends on your worldview, um, who you're going to take sides with, and that's. You know. What I like about the story is you could be anywhere in this, you know, spectrum of um. I support the undead, I'm against the undead, um, you know, I don't understand miguel blanco or I fully understand what he's doing. Um, you could be anywhere in there, and the story is still great, it's still great.
Speaker 2:And also characters like Miguel Blanco. He's morally gray. For me it's an example of this. Is not someone who I can just pinpoint and say this is a bad person or this is a good person. Same with.
Speaker 3:Jet Right, and that was the point. And in fact, when I when I write characters and I name them, I'm usually very specific with how I name them. And if you look into either history of characters or you know, like how it's where miguel blanco, if you look what he's wearing, he's wearing all. And typically when you watch a Western movie or the black hat is the bad guy, yeah Right.
Speaker 2:Unless it's.
Speaker 1:Clint Eastwood.
Speaker 3:Unless it's Clint Eastwood. But like, even with, uh, if you watched um Westworld, where it's like he put on the, the guy put on the white hat, he took it off and he put on the black hat, it off and he put on the black hat, you're like, what are they telling me with that? You know what I mean, because the black hat is the bad guy right, um, and blanco in spanish actually means white, and so where does he fall? And you know what I mean. Like does that explain his personality? He, he's very black and white. That character it's what one way or the highway, and you see that with him in issue six. The very first time you see him, he's dealing with the collector that they picked up from the undead retirement community and he's asking her questions. He doesn't get what he wants from her and he kills her, so spoiler it's pretty early in the episode, so yeah, I mean, that was in the, that was in the preview pages.
Speaker 3:That's a teaser.
Speaker 2:I will say that there's a I won't say what the twist is around him, but I wasn't expecting what happened after and I Dwayne Fink's character the person who is helping to lead Jude St Clair to the Golden City, where there should be answers is on the surface just like sort of a comedic character. But then, the more I know, I'm like who are you, Dwayne Fink?
Speaker 3:Dwayne is one of my favorites to write. He is this happy-go-lucky alcoholic that has no business being alive in this apocalypse and somehow has managed to stay alive. How you know what I mean, and so you're starting to see behind the curtain about why he's still alive. Yeah, yeah, there's a lot more with Dwayne.
Speaker 2:I think we should get into the Kickstarter for a minute. Let's talk about it.
Speaker 2:Cause I got excited. It's out now for all of you who are listening, because this is the future, for For us it's the past. We've traveled to the future, traveled to the future where it's out, but we did get a sneak preview before it was out, thank you, and learned a few things about it. It's releasing July. It'll be out as of July 18th, so this is coming out a couple days after that and it's going on until August 8th or 18th.
Speaker 3:Correct the 8th, the 8th, so it's a three-week campaign. Yes, so you better be on it people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, run Don't walk.
Speaker 2:Yeah, get back this. I want to know what's like, what's for the listeners, what's new about this Kickstarter and what traditions are you keeping going and will we be rippled? I say that as if I don't know.
Speaker 3:Yes, but I'll tell you more about that. There is Okay. So for a while I have been doing this thing on the campaign where I release a secret reward, and it's just a reward that you can back. It's an item and it will change every campaign and it just the price will change as well, just depending on what I'm putting together. It's what crazy Lori Calcaterra has thought up this time. You know what did Lori do? I played a game with it. I put it in my video, and so there is something in the video that, if you're paying attention, there's a QR code and when you scan it, it will take you to this secret reward.
Speaker 3:I only can do 10 of them, just because they take a long time, but they are there and no, you don't have to get it. Take a long time, but they are there and no, you don't have to get it. And so if you discover it and you're like that's cool, but I really want the hot sauce tier, you can do whatever. You know what I mean. Um, obviously, you're not forced into any tier. You do which one fits, what you want. Um, so we still have a secret reward. We still have the custom pops. Um, the new pop for this one is so freaking funny. I cannot wait for you guys to see it. Um, and then the. The five available pops are for jimmy um, covered in blister beetles. You need to go read issue five um what else are?
Speaker 2:beetles are real.
Speaker 3:Yes, blister beetles are a real thing, and they do live in arizona. So I feel like the more I find out about these creatures that live in arizona, it's almost like living in australia.
Speaker 2:Everything wants to kill you, yeah there's also the scratch and sniff covers and I wanted to, okay, so I have. I know you all can't see this, but last issue uh, issue six for the kickstarter, there were scratch and sniff stickers and I have not smelled them, laurie, because I wanted to do our live reaction with you, okay, and also to know if any of these are any of these going to be the scratch and sniff cover smells.
Speaker 3:No, okay, so I'm doing something different with the scratch and sniff cover. Okay, I have two scratch and sniff things on this campaign because I love it and I used to collect scratch and sniff stickers as a kid, so that's why we're doing them Right. The last campaign, those three were a stretch goal that we unlocked, and I just want to warn you, the one that I said was stinky is not stinky, and one of them that I thought was normal is stinky.
Speaker 1:Wow so figure that out. Do you have an olfactory?
Speaker 3:the problem where you're not smelling right um, because when I ordered the samples I smelled them all and I don't know if they were like, because I think sometimes they print them in advance, they have like a stockpile and they send them to you and then when they actually make the product they're using like the new batch of scent. So it's different. So the zombie one is not stinky, it smells nice. Either that or I am really messed up.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm going to smell it right now. And then, a fun fact, dan can't smell most things, yeah.
Speaker 1:I have a very diminished sense of smell.
Speaker 2:Thank you, army.
Speaker 1:No one knows why.
Speaker 2:How'd you know? Immediately I thought, yeah, that's correct.
Speaker 1:They said it could be a brain thing.
Speaker 2:Hold on a little ASMR, First time coming out of the tiny little thing. Oh, let's hear it. Okay, I'm gonna scratch. It's a green zombie. It says smell me yeah.
Speaker 1:Don't tell me right away, because I want to smell it too.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm going to keep my poker face on. Okay, see if Dan can smell it.
Speaker 1:I mean, I smell something.
Speaker 2:Right, but do you like it?
Speaker 1:I kind of do. Yeah, I think you're right, that's pleasant.
Speaker 3:Isn't that weird? Like gingerbread.
Speaker 2:It is durian. That doesn't make any sense. It should be gag worthy.
Speaker 3:Stinky, yeah, and I was like I picked it off their stinky list. I don't like it and so we don't.
Speaker 2:I don't think you should tell me which one of these is the bad one. I'm not going to. We have beer and we have remind me what is this? A hot sauce, it's barbecue sauce, barbecue sauce. So the beer one is Dwayne Fink guzzling some beer, as he would. I'm going to smell this one Guzzling some hot sauce.
Speaker 3:I'm also going to take it out. No, that's Brandon that guzzles the hot sauce.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm scared because I know one of these is going to be bad.
Speaker 1:I can still smell the zombie. Okay, smell the zombie, all right. Oh, look at Dwayne. I mean, yeah, that smells like beer. It smells like the day after the party, when it's sitting in the bottom of the plastic cup. It's flat, it's stale, there's been bees like dipping down into it and you're like I got to clean all this up now, but I'm hung over and you're just like yeah.
Speaker 2:I didn't love that one, but I don't like beer, so was that the stinky one? Are you going to? Let me just experience the barbecue sauce.
Speaker 1:Just smell the next one and we'll see what happens. I mean, I would say the beer one was unpleasant because it brought back some really upsetting feeling memories.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:That's it. That's gross, so's gross. So this is. This is supposed to be barbecue sauce, gun scented.
Speaker 2:I kind of want to like blow that yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I mean, I smell like it. It smells like hot sauce it was barbecue sauce.
Speaker 2:It does not smell like hot sauce. It smells.
Speaker 1:Well, then that's wrong like rotten flesh.
Speaker 3:I don't smell that part it's like too pungent where it gets you in the back of the throat. Yeah, like I.
Speaker 2:It's like too pungent where it gets you in the back of the throat, yeah, like it's like in my nasal cavities now I'm smelling like the hints of paprika in there. So none of those smells are going to be in the scratch and sniff covers.
Speaker 3:No, Okay, so we have two scratch and sniff things that are on this campaign. One is a stretch goal, just like this one, but we're doing a singular sticker. It is a sad pancake sticker and it will smell like maple syrup because pancakes, oh my God. Perfect, so that one will unlock when we hit 5,500. And again, if you guys are unfamiliar with how Kickstarter works, we have a goal and then once we go past that goal, we start unlocking new perks, and those perks go to everybody that has a physical tier. If there are physical items, sometimes I have digital rewards that will go out to everybody, and so I try to make it experience, and then we all get a bunch of really cool stuff at the end. Right, that just came extra, including poker cards. We're still unlocking poker cards as we continue down this journey. Um, the slice and dice is in there. I have, uh, I have two foodie stretch goals in there, so one.
Speaker 3:I'm really excited about one of these yeah we gotta make it I call it zombie deconstructed, which unlocks at 6500, and I'm partnering with a family-owned business here in Texas that they do candy and they're going to put together an assorted bag of gummy body parts I cannot wait For us to consume, so that'll be fun, and then at $9,000, we'll see if we can break this one I will send everybody a bag of coffee beans, just enough for one cup. But the coffee beans have been roasted by me, yours truly, because I do all the things and I roast coffee. I love coffee. It's amazing. So they're called zombies that's really cute.
Speaker 3:I designed a label for it, so it'll wake you up when you're feeling a little dead I need that, especially with monday coming yeah, and so the other thing you can do with scratch and sniff is scentify your cover, and this is an add-on, so this can go on any cover. Um, what it basically is is a translucent sticker that I will stick on either the front or the back I haven't decided yet of your issue and so if you decide you want a variant cover, you want the Lola and sad pancake, we can still sanctify it. It's the same scent that's going to go on all of them. So, or if you want the traditional Gilbert Perez cover, we can sanctify that one too. So it's like, I think, $2. You can add it on and have a sanctified issue, scratch and sniff issue, it's like I think $2.
Speaker 1:You can add it on and have a scented issue, scratch and sniff issue, and the scent is called what's that? I was just going to say when I saw that as an option. I'm just like, why, why not Given the context?
Speaker 3:of the covers. Yeah, you want to sniff those covers, I know, but we're not doing the stinky.
Speaker 1:Do you want to smell a rotting bear?
Speaker 3:It's not the scent bear, it's not the scent, is actually called cowboy and it's a mixture of citrus, bergamot I think that's how you say that word bergamot, bergamot, sea salt, thank you and amberwood it's actually pretty pleasant. It kind of reminds you of like country roads and this jude, st claire in a scent.
Speaker 2:I grew up around a lot of cowboys, so I I'm going to have to get that just to see if it smells like my dad sort of Maybe.
Speaker 3:There's no leather in it, though. I feel like there needed to be some leather.
Speaker 2:Yeah, leather would be a good undertone.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I do have unique items on the campaign, so there's going to be one mug that I'm. I don't make the ceramic mug, but I paint the ceramic mug and they fire it, so it's made by yours truly. I will have a rebound book, so I take covers off and I rebind books to make them look really fancy. There'll be one of those. I have these sad pancake mini figurines like super tiny sad pancakes. There's going to be four available of these this is how you know.
Speaker 2:I will be sitting there waiting for it to happen because I have to have that. In fact, I have an idea for you what I think my. So my nephew's nine turned nine in june. He loves zombies. We have bonded over zombies. I'm currently drawing him, lebron james, as a zombie because he loves lebron james sorry, lebron, um, to update, because I made a painting for him when he was a baby and he's like I'm too old for the cute elephant.
Speaker 2:He was a baby, so making zombie lebron james, but I was like you know what my nephew would freaking love a bunch of like of like undead animals, cute little like action figure animals, like a little undead james the bear and undead sad pancake prince you can make a whole, or you can be like a farm set I want to set up the little barn. I want all the animals yes, that's what this reminds me of and that's why I need it. You ever been?
Speaker 3:to a tractor supply. Yes, yes, they have all the little animals. Yes, that's what this is. Yes, my friend, eric um his name is eric boris, he goes by the handle zombie 13 um surprised me with this last last campaign because we were. He has a podcast with uh, his buddy, dustin, and he, uh, eric, will make figures. Their show is called the freaking figures and so that's.
Speaker 3:His thing is like these really customized little figurines, so he'll buy like the cool ones and then he'll change them into something else. And so this was like a 50 cent little dog, wow, from the tractor supply store, and he bought one and he explained to these people what they were when he was doing with it, because they were like why you buy? And he was just like I'm turning it into a zombie dog and I mean like the detail on this is crazy. But he's such a busy guy that I don't think I could ask him to do like a whole farm. But that would be cool if we could do that someday. Like I can't do this. This is nuts what he did if you guys can see the amount of detail.
Speaker 3:He built ribs on this tiny little dog that you can see in the exit wound. I don't know if I'll be able to show you. Wow, he did the collar and, like you, flip them around.
Speaker 2:There's the bullet hole that is really yeah, I'm getting one of those I somehow need to snag. Is it possible to snag two, or is only one per person?
Speaker 3:I think I put it as one per person. Right, dan we're gonna go fast.
Speaker 1:I like yeah, what are the chances? Leah?
Speaker 2:where I'm being selfish. I need you and I to be ready online so you can get one for my nephew and then I get to keep one.
Speaker 3:Sorry, laurie, sorry everybody else, there's gonna be two available I mean, it's first come, first serve this is why you're not, you know, they're not cheap just because they are handmade, but um I don't think I can get him to do it again either.
Speaker 3:He's so, he's so busy. The poor guy like, uh, you know, he was just like I'm still working on him when I get a chance he'll have. And I'm like please don't rush. And I was like I was just so happy that he offered to make more and I knew that was going to happen. He sent me this and I was flabbergasted and of course I do what I always do and I share it with the fandom and everybody was upset that they couldn't get one and I was like, how do you feel about making more of these? Because people want this and I'm like I'm afraid someone's going to show up at my house to take it.
Speaker 2:I'm here for some pancake.
Speaker 3:Well, Joe Salazar and I were talking about how we should just show up at your door, kidnap me and be like we're going to a con this weekend. Get Lori, I'm like, here we go you don't even have to tie me up.
Speaker 3:Don't tie me up, just come get me. But yeah, like those people were clamoring like over that, right In fact. So the way that Sad Pancake got his name is the fandom named Sad Pancake. I was like name this dog when it was a picture of the dog alive and my sadistic ass was like name this dog and then I'm going to shoot it. And there was a comic book store in McKinney, texas, which is close by me, that I used to go to, carpe Diem, and the owners have this giant dog that was called, is called. He's still around. His name is Pan, right and so in the fandom which this owner is in the fandom because he reads path, and so I made a poll. I was like name this dog, I like muffin pan, and that was me like we put a bunch of names in there yeah, right, and the owner put in since his dog's name is Pancake, he called it Sad Pancake and everybody wanted Sad Pancake.
Speaker 3:So he feels this connection to this dog. That's in my story now and so when I posted that he was like that belongs to me and I was like I only got one. I was like I love you, but we're going to fight because I'm not giving it to you.
Speaker 2:I mean, does he know who he's saying he's going to fight with?
Speaker 3:Yeah, because I'm not giving it to you.
Speaker 2:I mean, does he know?
Speaker 3:who he's saying he's going to fight with. Yeah, he does. Does he have a chance? No, but he's just like I need that. I don't know what I need to do, but I need that. And I was just like that's when I was like Eric and he was like Eric was in that chat and he saw where the guy was like if I can't have that, I'm upset, blah, blah. And he was like I'll make you some more. He was like I'll make you five. He's like we'll give one to this guy he's like and then the rest you can put on like your kickstarter. And I was like I love you. Thank you so much you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's very, very cool and I think it's a testament to just how much community you've built. Like, path of Pale Rider is not just a great comic series, it's a great comic series, but it's also a full community. It is a lot of creative people that are obsessed with this story, for good reason, and because you make it an immersive experience, not just through kickstarters, but when you're in reading it. You have all of the things that people can interact with.
Speaker 3:So, right, it's the riddles, the videos, the qr codes there's, there's a ton, and I mean like I have fun with the marketing. So, um, where I I did a whole nother series of deep thoughts by duane fink that are just duane fink isms, which are super funny. Um, we always do the um, grim questions. So it's asking people like again, like posing a question about this world, and how, what decisions you would make. Would you eat the cheeseburger that still moved? Or you know, where do you, where do you send the undead child? You know, what do you do with them? Um, so stuff like that. And uh, we just we have fun we have fun with it.
Speaker 2:Um, I have a very important question for you. This is one I've been sitting with for a while. What do you think jude's absolute worst moment so far has been? From issues one through six, one through six. What would you think jude's absolute worst moment so far has been from issues one through six, one through six. What would you say is the worst thing that jude's been through?
Speaker 3:I would say his parents, um, his, just the way that that whole thing went down. Where is I'm going to spoil some things, people? But I mean, go read the book. I'm not telling you everything now there's so much I'm going to spoil some things.
Speaker 3:And so, as things start to happen and they're watching everything kind of play down on the TV, I felt like this was a very COVID, surreal moment, because it's like you're watching things happen and then all of a sudden all those bad things come home. So his mom unexpectedly passed and they're trying to hide her in the house. She is deaf, that's how they communicate. You know, jude is a coda child of deaf adult and can sign, but he is fully hearing, and so is his dad. But they she knows that if they come pick her up that they're not gonna. Not everybody knows how to use sign language, so she would be lost, she would be isolated in her own, you know, unfortunately, disability, and so, um, they hide her in the house. So them, you know, searching the house for her and she forgot that. They she was supposed to be hiding because she's losing it yeah she's losing it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and that issue. You see her waving at the mirror saying jude, I'm waving at this person. Who is this? You know? I keep asking their name and they won't answer. They just keep waving at me. She's in the bathroom looking in the mirror. Um, and then, of course, when they find her, and then his, his dad's ultimate sacrifice, that he's like you're never gonna be alone, we're always gonna be together, and he ends his own heartbeat in a manner and then he goes with her and but I mean, jude, jude needed that kind of push out the door.
Speaker 3:Um, he needed a reason, he needed something to fight for. You know, because, if he's gonna put, he was already interested in the why. But now you know, between his own fears and then the situation with his parents, now he has motivation to go figure it out and see if he can put things back to the way it was before. You don't know, we'll see if he can you know, but yeah, figure it out.
Speaker 2:Can you go back? Well, you can't undo the death, right, but at least people could be at peace. And something I was thinking about, because the golden city, uh, is something that I'm, you know, very curious. What's that gonna be? And I'd like to know issue eight. I'd like to know is there any connection to wizard of oz? No, okay, in the slightest. Okay, so the golden city makes me feel better there's no wizard hiding behind a big wall no which is weird.
Speaker 3:I never thought about that, but I did do that anthology. That's a wizard of oz spinoff. I don't know if you knew that, but I wrote for big dog inc. Last year. They had their, they do, um, they call it an, an anthology that they do every year for their anniversary and they pick different writers. There's only three stories in it, so Tom Hutchinson is the main guy at Big Dog Inc and then he'll pick two other writers and I got to write in his Wizard of. It's actually called the Legend of Oz and what he did is he took the Wizard of Oz story and retold it as a Western Nice and it's fabulous, right, and then he let me write a spinoff in that world, which was something else, and so that never really made that connection. That the Golden City is kind of like the Emerald City I'm more leaning into, like El Dorado, the city of gold and the fountain of youth.
Speaker 2:Are we so we're going to see golden city and issue eight, maybe. Yes, yes, spoiler. Is it, though, cause we don't know what it is yet?
Speaker 3:Not yet, I was like you have no idea. And now you don't trust me when it comes to these things, Cause I'm like we're going to go on the untied retirement community.
Speaker 1:It's fine. Yeah, it is not. You know that's on.
Speaker 3:I wonder um is smash mouth right is is it is all that glitter gold? Wait, is that smash mouth?
Speaker 1:I thought there was led zeppelin that might have been led zeppelin too, but smash mouth in the uh, in the classic all-star, which foretells the future of mankind and all of the political, social turmoil that such an event would have. If you pay attention to the lyrics, um yes, they suggest that not all that glitters is gold sometimes it's lies, lies.
Speaker 3:Lies are very shiny, so.
Speaker 1:I'm wondering Golden City.
Speaker 3:And they look great until you find out what's behind that lie, and then it's not so great anymore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, is it a golden city or is it spray paint?
Speaker 3:I'm not telling you what it is. I'm actually playing with the name of this place, but you'll have to wait and see. Ooh.
Speaker 2:I have a new conspiracy theory. I don't think it's going to happen, though this is my latest. We're going to meet Death and he's going to be riding Prince. Oh yeah, unlikely since the last parts we saw of Prince.
Speaker 1:I'm sticking with my prediction We'll be a headless horse instead of a headless horseman. I'm sticking with my prediction that Death is on vacation.
Speaker 3:Death is on vacation.
Speaker 1:That's on vacation death is in cabo death was like.
Speaker 3:Forget you all.
Speaker 1:I've worked too hard I'm I'm tired of this I'm not, I'm not staying, I mean they're definitely underappreciated.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you probably need a raise. This is that's what this is probably need a raise.
Speaker 1:This is that's what this is. Death needs a vacation. Is death part of a union? Can you tell us?
Speaker 3:that? Oh, that would be great. What if there was a union of angels? Yeah, spiritual, spiritual creatures, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Death death ushers, I'm making it up now. Angel, angels of death. Yeah, that's a thing, yeah it's on strike.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the AOD 914. They're going on strike.
Speaker 2:Angel of Death.
Speaker 3:And that's the chapter of the union. Ah, I got it.
Speaker 2:Thank you, we haven't talked to you this episode with the team. You are the creator, the sick wonderful to this episode with the team. Um, you are the, the creator, the, the sick wonderful mind that you have, lori, and this wouldn't be possible with some other folks, and I'm curious if you could tell us a little bit about who they are and what behind the scenes has looked like for creating issue seven with Rachel, matt and Gilbert.
Speaker 3:Yes. So I love, I love, love, love them all and I have to tell you they're they're turning out pages for issue seven and they're on their A game. I'm blown away by some of the things and I mean like you've read the script but seeing it happen is something different and I'm I'm like I just can't. I can't even use words. I'm blown away. So, for those who are not familiar, gilbert Perez is the penciler and inker.
Speaker 3:So in the comic book process you have people that wear different hats and they do different tasks. You know, to put this whole thing together, we work as a team. So it starts with Gilbert. Well, I write the script. Right, he reads the script, he starts putting the panels together on the page, which I think is the hardest part, because he's visualizing the crazy things that are in my head and has to not only make it look good, but it has to flow, there has to be energy to it. He's always doing something interesting with the panels, because the paneling is part of the story. And then, once he gets the pencils done, he goes back and he inks and then it goes to Matt Chambers. Matt Chambers is our colorist. So Gilbert came on at issue five. Previous to him, I had an artist named Marco DeFio, who was also very talented, and he I think I have an eye for this, where I hire an artist because I know that they're great they start doing path and then they start to get recognition.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And that's what happened with Marco is. He got so busy that I was like we're gonna do path and he was like these are all the things on my plate and we weren't lining up with the schedule, so we made the decision to part ways. We're still good friends. I'm actually going to be set up right next to him at a Comic-Con in August. That's cool, so you can see the two of us together a lot of times if you're here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. So Gilbert came on at issue five and he had read the script and was just like this is what I've been looking for. I wanted action, I wanted intrigue, I wanted a you know a longer, you know running um comic, and because he's done some one shots for charter comics and does amazing work, um, and so he kind of like he was home. This was home for him, and now he's starting to get busy too and I'm like you can't leave me, I'm going to shackle you too.
Speaker 3:I'm going to just duct tape you to a chair. Your wife can come visit you. Great, originally produced in black and white. Issue two uh, we were able to do color. We got a little more money on. The kickstarter was able to fund some color work. Marco did it, but what I I found out is like marco will have to pencil ink and then when he gets all the way through the inking process, he starts over at the beginning and has the color and it just is a long time to have one person do all three of those steps, and so I was like we're going to bring out a colorist just so we can go a little quicker.
Speaker 3:So Matt came out at issue number three. He did go back and color issue number one when we released the trade paperback. Issue two is always, and will always be, have the colors from Marco DeFio. So Matt has done issue one, three, four, five, six and now seven. And so Matt's hilarious, he has a dark sense. They all have a dark sense of humor, like I do. I think that's why we get along so well.
Speaker 3:It's just, you can't color some of the things that I have here without being like, yeah, this is badass, because if he was grossed out I don't think you would have doing it. Um, but he's incredible. He is turning out pages that, um, the color really tells the story in some of the stuff that is happening to jude, uh, as he has this just cockamamie plan to break in right and he's injecting things into his body which has a physical response, and um, matt is able to capture that I'm trying not to say hi all of my thoughts and feelings about what I know.
Speaker 3:I know, don't say it, I'm not and then of course it comes to me. I letter the book and then rachel, uh bullock, is our editor, and she is not only our editor, she is a super fan and so she is very much into the story and she understands the characters. And so when we do because a lot of times I'm so into the project and I'm marketing and doing interviews and they're turning in art and I'm okaying it we go forward and she's like do you know that you left off um jude st claire's watch on pages 4, 7, 12, 18, and we and we're like you have to go back and fix it. So she catches all that little stuff. She makes sure that I'm not creating loopholes by accident and stuff like that, and she loves it. She's like where's more pages? So even as it's being created, she's very much involved, which is not typical for an editor.
Speaker 3:Usually it's like you turn in a finished project. They go through it and they tell you what needs to be changed. You go back and make the changes. They maybe look at it one more time and then that's it. You pay them and they're done. But Rachel is immersed in this world as well. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So I can't say enough about this team. They blow me away every episode, every issue that we put out, and we have fun, we have a blast, we're throwing memes at each other in the chat group and pages go up and we're all. I put stuff in there like tell me what you think and critique this and maybe we can tweak. And it's always about this and maybe we can tweak. And, um, it's always about making the issue the best version of itself, which I love, because a lot of times with people, writers, creatives, there's, there can be ego involved. I've seen it. Um, and that ego is left at the door when we sit down, the four of us, and discuss like, how do we make this the most incredible issue that we're able to do?
Speaker 2:so they're, they're awesome I actually wish I follow all of their social medias please, yeah, we'll put them in the show notes. Definitely, we should tag them in this episode on instagram if they're all there.
Speaker 1:Definitely, yeah, that's that's such an important part of the process too, because I do think that a lot of times when you you read or see something that just doesn't really hit like it's supposed to, a lot of times it's because the person has a big ego about it and they think that all of their ideas are the best ideas. And being able to work with an editor and realize that you don't always have all the best ideas is the only way that you make something really good.
Speaker 3:That's the only way that creatives get better is to actively critique their own work, and again it's like you have to. You have to lose that ego. You also have to go find peers, like you can't have people critique you that are way ahead of you or way below you. You need to find people that are on that of you or way below you. You need to find people that are on that same level or just above you to be like okay, look at this and how can I make it better? Because if you get too high, they're like this is crap, and if you get too low, sometimes they can't put into words or they can't verbalize what to help you do better, because they haven't done it themselves. And so it's an important process, though, because otherwise you're stagnant. You just stay there. You make it better.
Speaker 2:I just instantly wanted to murder whoever would call Path of Pale Rider crap. I just was like that's not, it's happened. Well, fuck them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're obviously wrong I feel about that.
Speaker 3:I mean like again it's like zombies aren't everybody's cup of tea.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's true you can be humble, I can say I would. Fictionally, I'll write some fanfic in which people who don't understand Path of the Pale Rider have horrible undeaths.
Speaker 3:I appreciate that I mean, but it's just the nature of the game if you're going to be a creative and you put yourself out there and someone might say something that they don't like it, or it was not polished enough in areas which could be true. When I first started lettering, I lettered issue one and I had no idea what I was doing None, Okay. And I was like I'll put words in a bubble and it's great. No, Broke all the rules. And someone was like you break a lot of rules when you letter. And I was like there's rules.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what are the rules?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm a rebel, I'm a renegade, exactly, and they were like oh, lori. Not in a good way, though.
Speaker 3:Right. But I mean because I was offering to letter for them and they were like we're looking for a letter. I'm like I letter, so I threw my hat in the ring and he was like unfortunately we can't, you know, we can't hire you because you break too many rules. And I was. That's why I was like back up, where do I find these rules, you know, and so, but again, it's like I still have that drive to do better. Every time I do a book, I want my lettering to do better. Every time I do a book, I want my lettering to get better. I want it to be the sfx, to be more explosive and emotional and connect, and you know what I mean. You have to have that response.
Speaker 2:Um, and if lettering is like the job, that, um, if you do it well, nobody notices you yeah but if you do it wrong, everybody's like this sucks, so it's like every job I've ever had if I'm the best in the world, nobody notices, but if I screw up, I hear about it endlessly I have a basic question that I've wondered about lettering actually, which is like when they're drawing, you know when gilbert is doing the penciling, are they penciling in where the words are going to go, or like, how do you figure that out?
Speaker 3:okay, so it's predetermined, because that would stress me out he'll leave room based on how much dialogue is in the script. And so he and I came up with this process because, again in the beginning he was, um, he had done some one shots, but um, he hadn't done path. And I'm like you're not leaving me enough room to get at everything I'm trying to say. And so we had this process where he would pencil and then I would go put the bubbles over where the pencils were. So I'm like, hey, just shift this slightly down.
Speaker 3:Or when you read comics, it's like the first bubble should be in the top left corner and then the reading direction goes to the right and then to the bottom, into the next panel. And so sometimes you know he's not a letterer. So I'm like you did the two characters that are in the panel but switch them you know what I mean? Like because jude talks first, to put jude on the left so I can have that bubble on the left, because then you're not supposed to cross the tails over each other and you're not supposed to cover, you know, certain art. Obviously the art is beautiful. You don't want to cover the art with the bubbles. That's stupid. Why are we drawing art?
Speaker 3:just have, just have a bunch of bubbles, yeah, yeah just have a bunch of bubbles, like if it's just, I'm just gonna bubble the whole thing. What are we doing?
Speaker 1:why not just make a story? That's just all words.
Speaker 3:I gotta say, though it's called novels right.
Speaker 2:Just reading your script was enough for me to be like holy, yeah. I don't even know what to put after that word. Holy, holy crap, holy gaping holes, I don't know. That sounded inappropriate and not what I meant, and it will make sense when you read issue 7. Should we just take that out? Probably.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. Holy gaping holes, everybody. Oh, okay, well, and here's something that's interesting about the script that I gave you. Typical episodes that I write are about 14, 15 pages of script. Oh, Because there's dialogue and there's action and there's description. The issue seven is seven pages of script seven. It is half, um, because it's all action and there's there really isn't that much dialogue, and so all the issue six was a lot of dialogue for us, right, because typically we have a good balance. But I was like there's a lot of dialogue in six because it establishes seven, right, yeah, the seven is like there's hardly any back and forth, there is just action, and so, um, I don't know if that says anything about what's coming, but it's it's a visual experience it's huge and gaping and horrifying, and just it's.
Speaker 3:It'll probably make you cry it will definitely make you cry um, you're I. If I've done my job right, you will throw your book at the end and then can't wait.
Speaker 1:For if you wait, and then you'll sniff the cover and then sniff the back.
Speaker 3:Go pick it up and sniff and be like it was, like cowboy um, that's like the soothing part, right? Let's see what else are we on the campaign hot sauce. We can still get hot sauce. Oh, I bought something. I know the listeners can't see this, but you guys know that we've been doing the wooden covers right. Yeah, issue five, um, issue six. And then I actually went to the laser engraver and I printed the issues seven ones already oh, that's a great one.
Speaker 2:yeah, I think these came out fabulous. Yeah, there's a few covers. Yeah, I think these are really cool. It came out fabulous. Yeah, there's a few covers I want from issue seven, but the original cover is very beautiful. I would put that on as like a 16 by 20 poster on my wall immediately. It's gorgeous Wow.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of great art and I had so many artists that were clamoring to be a part of this issue, specifically because I've been talking about how big it is and you know um two of them that I hired this campaign that were really gung ho about becoming part of the team. Um, I made him read all all the issues and I was like there is no way I can let you do a cover for seven without reading the story. Yeah, because you have to understand what's coming, because some of them, um, like william russell, does a lot of covers. Uh, we barter back and forth. In fact, we have a special re-release of issue one with the william russell cover that's on this campaign. Um, but he's never read the story, which funny. But he seems to understand the vibe of it and so he does some really incredible work. But it's pretty, but it's not the extra meaning that that propaganda one is, I mean, like that's the difference, and so there's hidden meaning in most of them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can see it a lot like with just a little preview that we've gotten. Lori, is there something we haven't asked you yet that you're like? We got to talk about this for issue seven?
Speaker 3:I just want to say that I spent a lot. Oh, there is something big I forgot to talk about, but I spent a lot of time on this campaign. And then I hope people, when they go to the campaign to spend some time, look around, go to the campaign to spend some time, look around. Because you know and I fall into this too, because I back a lot of Kickstarters where I'm like I want this cover, okay, great bye, and I just back it and I'm out and I miss some of the really cool stuff that these creators are doing and my campaigns are not typical of what you're going to find on Kickstarters. They're way out there, yeah, um, so there's a lot of opportunity for things. Um, don't miss out. Go look around.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean what I love about your campaigns is how well all of the merch uh fits with the theme of what you're doing, like the, the wood, the wood covers, perfection, like for anything else would be kind of dumb. Like if we're doing batman and they're like here's some wood covers for batman, it's like that doesn't make any sense, but for your uh western zombie apocalypse story, it's, it's perfect. And also, uh, wood you can also scratch and sniff hot sauce also.
Speaker 2:Perfect, because you can't taste.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah the hot sauce is there. There's five flavors, there's a new one isn't there, there's, there's. Well, I did the fourth flavor last campaign. You guys got one, yes, of the limited and it. That one was special because it was the jackfruit that we collectively murdered on the podcast.
Speaker 1:The innocent jackfruit.
Speaker 3:The innocent jackfruit that I put googly eyes on and stuck it full of sparklers and lit it on fire before I used the two-handed axe and chopped it to bits. So there was some left that I was able to make hot sauce out of. It was really good, to the point where I was like, damn it, I'm going to have to make more of this, you're going to have to get more of those.
Speaker 1:What I love about the hot sauce especially is that like I expect it to destroy me, but it's. It's actually just really good. I think it doesn't.
Speaker 3:It's not it doesn't hurt you, except for the new one. Oh, because the hot heads are out there and you'll see them. I'll post pictures of hot sauce and they'll say stuff, you got anything hotter? And I was like I'm concerned for you. Do you have taste buds? And usually their answer is no.
Speaker 1:So the new sauce is actually called what? Pure capsaicin.
Speaker 3:It is Carolina Reaper sauce. Oh my God, actually called what pure capsaicin it. It is carolina reaper sauce oh my god, it is carolina reaper. And uh, red bell pepper with some garlic and onions. White vinegar um, I think I use uh lemon juice and some salt in there. Still delicious, but it is so hot you can't feel feelings I love how it has two peppers.
Speaker 1:One of them is the hottest pepper, the other is the mildest pepper yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, I needed a pepper to like fill the space. Yeah, right, because you can't. If I had just carolina reaper sauce in there, you would die, it feels dangerous to even make, have you ever gotten any in your eye.
Speaker 2:Have you ever gotten any like hot sauce in your eye in the making of all of these?
Speaker 3:no, no, I am. I wear gloves. Sometimes I'll wear a mask. Because it is that hot, my house will smell like pepper spray. Don't chase me, masher, and you spray them. It smells like that in my house, wow. So the Carolina Reaper is very hot. I call it Reaper's Regret.
Speaker 2:That one's super hot. I like that because, of the death. Where is death? Does death have regrets? Does the Reaper have regrets right now? They do if they ate this hot sauce.
Speaker 3:I don't know man you might wish you were dead.
Speaker 1:Is that what happened to death? Is it what? Did death eat this hot sauce?
Speaker 3:And then died. Death of death by hot sauce. Death, this hot sauce, and then die death. Death by death of death by hot sauce. Yeah, that's my hot sauce that's the reason you guys you heard it here um hot sauce broke death. That's it. Someone experimented with peppers. They are too hot for existence and broke humanity and life, as we know it.
Speaker 1:The grim reaper, has been been in the bathroom for 10 years.
Speaker 3:It's the afterburn.
Speaker 1:It's like, guys, I'm coming out soon. I'm sorry I can't come out right now.
Speaker 3:So there is five flavors. The tier, the bestseller, is the three pack and so you can get a sampler with an issue seven. That is a reward tier. But if you want, like again, I make it super easy where you can customize your own reward tier. If you're like I really want the t-shirt, you know, or I really want the custom pop or the wooden cover, you can add hot sauce onto those and they come in either single bottle, a three pack, or you can get a flight of hot sauce, should you choose to get all five. So I make things easy. You can add on T-shirts, you can add on swag. I have so much swag at this point where, if you can't choose, you can see like hey, lori, here's 10 bucks, surprise me, and you get a swag bag I put in whatever I feel like For Leah and Dan dan, I'd have to be like what don't you have?
Speaker 2:I'll put that in there.
Speaker 3:A couple things, yeah, yeah, yeah I know the funko pops are one of a kind so I know I can't ask for my special. I can't swag bag those. They're too expensive yeah that's true too.
Speaker 2:That's those are serious investments cost a lot to make.
Speaker 3:Everyone is custom made, but they're super exclusive. I only produce them for the Kickstarter. You might find me with some extra wooden covers at a Comic-Con and I'll sell them there, but you will never find a custom pop at a Comic-Con. I just know it's only the people that order them through the campaign. Usually there's three, sometimes four people that will order those, and so I'll make up to five on the campaign. Usually there's three, sometimes four people that will order those, and so I'll make up to five on the campaign. But I mean, if two people order them, you get a one of two. It's amazing. I don't make any more. Yeah, so it just depends on how popular they are, yeah you got to get them when you can.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you have to. There is one thing I want to mention. I'm doing some collaboration this time around, so I'm partnering with two other creators. We're all launching our campaigns the same night, wow. And so I have this really funny meme on there under collaboration with Vince McMahon. You know the meme where he's like excited, then he's super excited, he's so excited, and then his eyes are glowing red because he's that excited, and then his eyes are glowing red because he's that excited. So if you back some of these other campaigns physically and my campaign, you will get extra goodies. That's the only way to get them. So there's some sticker options, and the one I'm doing with his name is Ed Davis.
Speaker 3:He has this series called Imm, called immortal era, which is basically like they're very we are very similar in how we think. In his world, death is also broken, but people also don't age and their bodies don't die. But it's just, it's terrible, the people are terrible, and so I actually made a meme where you know that the two guys, they're two big muscular arms, they're like high-fiving. Yeah, it's like potpr, the predator arrow. Yeah, yeah, is it a handshake?
Speaker 1:it was like you know, they're really it's like the worst way, dylan. Is it what dylan and uh and arnold schwarzenegger from? Predator?
Speaker 3:that's it, yeah, from predator yeah, it's a very beginning. They yeah they do.
Speaker 1:They do the handshake and flex their muscles that's it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's the meme, and so it's like potpr, immortal era, the two worst ways to ever be immortal. So we have a double-sided metal trading card, so his image and then my image on the two sides of the metal card, and then then the other campaign is called Produce Cats.
Speaker 2:I'm looking at them right now.
Speaker 3:My friend Sarah White is an artist and she draws cats as vegetables and fruit.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God.
Speaker 3:And I think it's hilarious. So we don't really have a lot of crossover, I guess, but I just love it. Have a lot of crossover, I guess, but I just love it. And so she did a rotten avocado cat because of path of the pale rider I'm zooming in to try and get a look at it right now, oh, my god, it's awesome, um, and it's like totally disgruntled and it's green like a zombie and it's the bruised avocado.
Speaker 3:But so she would send, you know, like you would get, the dino nugget sticker and then the avocado cat from her, and then if you back all three, you just get all three, and it's like that's the only way to get this specific merch is to do both campaigns.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I think that's really super smart and I'm really curious to see how that goes for you.
Speaker 3:Sometimes it works great, sometimes it doesn't, because I've done cross promotion before. But when we're doing this much, we had to limit it to the physical tiers only because when Ed has 150 backers and I have 150 backers and we let people that will do digital as well, it gets really messy to try and figure out how many people are getting these and then who sends it and who. You know what I mean, like who pays for the cross promotion stuff, and um, it just gets messy. So that's what we just had to limit it to the physical backers this time. So, but his series is really good. I read his series too. There's no zombies in it. I know, know, this is a zombie book club podcast, but if you want to find something else with like existentialism and messed up ethics and human, you know humanity. His series is really good.
Speaker 2:This might shock you, Lori. We don't just read zombie things. I do.
Speaker 3:I figured you guys didn't, but it's a zombie book club podcast on the show we do only zombie things, but maybe one day we'll break that trend, because I do love apocalypse stuff.
Speaker 2:Period, yeah, yeah I do too.
Speaker 3:Um, like it doesn't have to have zombies. Give me soylent green, give me storm piercer, give me the road. You know a boy and his dog. Um book of ey, like I love all the things. Apocalypse I'm currently reading. Um the handmaid's tale. Oh it's rough, but I'm reading it because I need to yeah, I read that book.
Speaker 2:That's a margaret. A canadian author. God, I always give my canadians shout outs um, long before the the show came out and it was very disturbing. Then the show came out, and it was very disturbing. Then the show came out and I had to stop watching because it was too much.
Speaker 3:I can't watch that. I can't. The fact that you wrote the book in 1985 is another one where I'm like how did you tap into that? Maybe her and I are both seeing the same pattern?
Speaker 2:The sad thing is that the things that you are describing and the things that she describes are things that have happened and will happen again.
Speaker 1:I think a lot of us in this space, we do see the patterns and that's why we're drawn to it. I think that's like some people, they're just like oh, I love the zombie apocalypse because you know you get together with your friends and you hit the road with your Mad Max truck and shoot zombies and you hit the road with your Mad Max truck and shoot zombies. But I think there's a huge amount of us that are. You know, we see the apocalyptic genre and we're like our brain wants to know what to do when this happens, because it's happening tomorrow For some people right now.
Speaker 1:And my brain knows that I need to be prepared, so I need to read as many books as I can. Yeah, or at least like what would happen. What would I do if this happened?
Speaker 3:My brain knows that I need to be prepared, so I need to read as many books as I can, yeah, or at least like what would happen, what would happen, what would I do if this happened? What would I do if this happened, you know? So I read all the books and I experienced all the apocalypses, so I can be like what would I do if I was living in this world, specifically, yeah, yeah, my brain just thinks that way, my brain is that way. I don't know about you, dan, but like I will sit in a restaurant and be like where's all the exits?
Speaker 3:Well, for a different reason, but yeah, but that's how my brain works. You know what I mean Like and I think I mentioned that to someone once and they were like you do that all the time. That sounds exhausting, and I was like my brain automatically does it. Like my brain is like if there's an active shooter situation, this is what I would do at the grocery store. This is what I would do at this restaurant. This is what I would do if we're at a park my brain automatically goes there.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That sounds like a lot. But also there have to be people like that out there, because I know that in those situations I wouldn't have any reaction time at all. I would be a deer in headlights for sure. I would be useless and I've accepted that about myself.
Speaker 3:My kids are that way.
Speaker 2:Oh, no yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, my kids are that way. And again, I just think it comes down to how many things have you put your, how much stress have you been through?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's stress inoculation, right, yeah, because and this is, I get this from martial arts because I can't I can do a disarm on a knife if we're going slow, but if that knife is real, it changes the stakes and can I still do the disarm? You know what?
Speaker 3:I mean, or you know, when it's multiple opponent, when I know that it's safe. You are what you practice, and so if you've been in the stressful situations, you will react better than if you've never been in that situation. So I'm scared for my kids too, where I'm just like I don't know what they would do if they just deer in the hemlights. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2:They got you. I guess that's a lot of pressure, though, as a mom, all I know is that in this dark, dark world and I could be talking about the real one, or I could be talking about Path of Pale Rider the thing that is keeping me going is Sad Pancake figurine, which I will be getting my hands on Two of them, right?
Speaker 1:I mean, I feel like maybe that's a little selfish.
Speaker 2:I'm going to take it because I guess the selfish thing is I'm not willing to give it to my nephew, is that?
Speaker 1:terrible.
Speaker 2:He won't appreciate it like I will. You know, when he comes to visit, he can play with it. He won't. He won't understand the workmanship behind it and the story and everything else. So, and for that reason, I'm going to leave that other one for someone who will. I think that's the nice thing to do, it's the right thing, it is.
Speaker 1:So if you end up getting one, it's from my benevolence.
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 3:Ah, that's hilarious. What did you say, Dan? I missed it.
Speaker 1:I said, I'll be getting that one for myself.
Speaker 3:Oh, okay, he's like forget it, I'm getting it, we're still going to get two. Perfect, we're going to get two Christmas gifts to myself.
Speaker 2:Well, lori, it is always a pleasure to have you on Zany Book Club. You know that we definitely stan you, as we've previously established, and everybody, please go back. Seven Kickstarter If you have not read Path of the Pale Rider yet, the time is now. This is like the moment to be able to binge from one through seven. What an incredible experience is like a first time read. Yeah, yeah, that's a lot.
Speaker 3:I'm always jealous of the people that find us in in the reveal that is happening in this issue is huge, so you want to do it. I do have many catch up tiers though for people that if it's a little bit out of your price range because getting all seven issues could be, you know it's pricier it's $65, I think, for the catch up tier. So if you want to get started but can't afford the all seven, I have a. I have like a four pack where you can just read the first four and then maybe when we release eight or all of them are always available on my website as soon as they are published. You can get them from my website and get caught up before we do the next one. So there's options out there. But if you can read seven, if you can binge read one for seven, we are all jealous because it's an incredible ride to go on all at once.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let us please, please, send us a DM. If you do that, I want to hear your like real reaction. And, yeah, I'll share it with Lori as well. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I need to do a binge of a binge rate of my own, because I need to re-catch up.
Speaker 2:Yes, we we should absolutely do that before issue seven yeah, and you need to like it.
Speaker 3:I feel like it doesn't matter which issue we're on. You should go back and reread, because you'll forget things and you'll see characters show back up and, in fact, in this first four-page preview that I put on the Kickstarter, there are returning characters that, if you pay attention, they were in issue one.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm just saying yeah, okay, I definitely have to go back, because that's blowing my mind now um, all of them there is crazy.
Speaker 3:All of those wait, what, who, where? All right, you'll have to go. Look, you'll have to talk about it. We'll talk about it after the show. But if you look at the preview pages, there is people there from issue one that the fact that they are there is very upsetting.
Speaker 2:Oh, fuck, yes, Okay, I guess that's what I'm going to do with my afternoon.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Sorry, dogs, you're not getting the WALK. I promise Kidding I will. I will give you that he's one of them looking at me with deep disdain for making that joke.
Speaker 3:I do. I do want to say for everybody listening, I really appreciate you guys. Zombie Book Club podcast is one of the best. I love coming on this show. I like connecting with readers. I will answer questions. If you show up in my DMs and you follow my social media, you're all welcome in our groups and everywhere that we are, because it's a wild ride and we should experience it all together and that, unfortunately, with the way Hollywood is, you're not getting new stories. You're getting recycled, rehashed, reboot, prequel, sequel, whatever, and so stories like mine that are original and are compelling and you get sucked in you can only find those here in indie comics for real indie anything.
Speaker 3:Indie movies. That's where all the creatives are right now, because of what hollywood is, yeah, so thank you for your support.
Speaker 2:We couldn't do it without you well, we couldn't do this without you and, honestly, at this point, I do this so that I get to have the secret conversation after the podcast and be like tell me everything. Although folks actually Laurie is very good at keeping something secret I don't actually always get the spoiler we get more questions is what we get.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, thanks everybody for joining the zombie book club with our special guest, except for Brandon. Except for Brandon, who we will talk about later.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, brandon, if you would like to support this podcast, you could leave a review or a rating. I think Brandon could also do this. No exclusion for Brandon.
Speaker 2:Brandon has to give us five stars, though, yeah.
Speaker 1:Or you could send us a voicemail at 614-699-0006. There's three zeros there. You know you could send us a voicemail up to three minutes. Tell us who you think you're going to see in issue seven from the first episode, the first issue of Path of the pale rider let us know, give us your predictions of what the undead retirement center is.
Speaker 2:I cannot wait. I know, laura, you've gotten a lot of them uh.
Speaker 1:You can follow us on on instagram at zombie book club podcast or join the. Uh, our discord. For. Uh, it changed. Leah changed it. It says our discord. Commune of lovable weirdos. Uh, the brain muncher collective. You almost threw me off, leah well, the next line's different too. It's just for laurie um all links are in the description right next to your complimentary brochure for the undead retirement center. We've got a brochure. The end is nigh and death is broken.
Speaker 2:Yeah, get the Kickstarter, because money doesn't matter in the apocalypse.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But your entertainment really does.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Spend that money while it's still worth something. Bye-bye everyone.
Speaker 2:Thanks again, laurie. Bye-bye everybody, bye-bye, bye, bye.
