TAGGING ALONG

As you all know, I'm part of a small press crew. The Basement is fun for us. Spence, Cally, Mark, & Nate started this thing almost two years ago. Ryan started on as a guest and then became a regular, and then he invited me to tag along with him during a few episodes. One thing led to another and I was lucky enough to be added to the crew. My roll with the crew is to deal with the PR. Chances are if you've had something reviewed or we've talked to you on the show, you heard from me. That's not to say that the other dudes haven't done their fair share of the work. Everyone has put forth the effort to contact someone or get us set up at a con, or whatever. I'm just explaining that my MAIN focus for TPB is PR stuff.

And I love it.

I mean, who doesn't want to speak with someone that they admire? I've been lucky enough to talk with some of the biggest names in comics today and it has been an absolute blast. What's even cooler about this whole thing is that every single artist and writer that I have talked to have been nothing but polite and accommodating. I have yet to run into a rude creator. That goes the same for publishers. Yessir, there are good people in comics.

I was listening to a bunch of different podcasts today while I was at work. There are some pretty professional podcasts out there. The best of them are lucky enough to be sponsored. Maybe we'll get there someday. Who knows?

Anyway, while I was listening to a few of these podcasts, I noticed that most of them had something in common; they are all groupies for comic book creators. What I mean by that is podcasters & "critics" seem to want so badly to fit in with those who have a genuine talent in comics that they've created their own medium just to try and tag along. They want the tightly intertwined crew of comic creators to accept them because they think they have something to offer the creators' community.

Don't get me wrong, I've made some friends in comics from doing this. Some genuine friends whom I look forward to seeing again very soon. With these people, I've connected on a different level. A level well outside of comics, though we all share the hobby. Perhaps other podcasters have these kind of friendships too, but you won't hear me brag about it like I've heard these groupies do.

Like other members of the comic podcast community, we attend cons, meet people, and try to get to know a few folks in the industry. We need to in order to be successful and gain listeners. Unlike some other interview podcasts, we are under no illusions of who we are. We are not comic artists, writers, or colorists. We are not publishers or editors and we will not pretend to be. We're not here to ride anyone's coat tails or get a free ride on someone else's hard work in the industry. When we record and conduct interviews, it's just a bunch of fan-boys sitting around in a room, lucky enough to chat with folks who've created something we like.

That's what I hope you get from listening to us.