The Reel Rejects - Fantastic Four, Superman, Invincible & MORE W/ Kevin Smith, Rob Liefeld, Robert Kirkman & Coy!!

Starting point is 00:00:00 Did you know that at Chevron, you can fuel up on unbeatable mileage and savings? With Chevron rewards, you'll get 25 cents off per gallon on your next five visits. All you have to do is download the Chevron app and join to start saving on fuel. Then you can keep fueling up on other things like adventure, memories, vacations, daycations, quality time, and so many other possibilities. Head to your nearest Chevron station to fuel up and get rewarded today. Terms apply. See Chevron Texciscorewards.com for more details. Introducing the new Volvo XC90 with seven-seat versatility,

Starting point is 00:00:35 Google built-in, and advanced safety features for all your precious cargo. The new Volvo XC90, designed for life. Visit volvocars.com slash U.S. to learn more. At Sierra, discover great deals on top brand workout gear, like high-quality walking shoes, which might lead to another discovery. 40,000 steps, baby. Who's on top now, Karen? You've taken the office step challenge, a step too far.

Starting point is 00:01:00 Don't worry, though. Sierra also has yoga gear. It might be a good place to find your zen. Discover top brands at unexpectedly low prices. Sierra, let's get moving. Hey, thanks for being here, everybody. Thank you so much. Yeah, every single dollar you guys put to get here is actually helping.

Starting point is 00:01:18 And I always say cons are the opposite of the internet because it's just kindness to meet people and celebrate fandom. You guys went the next level and are actually helping people in this magical city. So thank you. we're just we're just three guys who didn't check the weather before we came here today no fucking shit man Kevin's Kevin's legs did like I'm sitting here the whole time I was talking I was like and I had to wear a vest as well like there's three layers man I should peel I was like it's outside I'm gonna be freezing my ass off I better bring a sweater yeah I didn't even know it's gonna be outside.

Starting point is 00:01:55 So we're four guys known for loving comic books and definitely known for our brevity. Very short winded gentleman on this stage. But I don't think any of us have ever sat down as like a round table conversation. So I went through my usual like 27 hours of prepping and James

Starting point is 00:02:10 Liptoning this and I was like, wait, I'm so much more curious to have an actual round table dynamic of what's going on in the world because this is such a one of one thing. The robs are like best friends and that always makes me happy. Kevin is best friend to all. This is like a team of Capi Barra's up here.

Starting point is 00:02:25 Oh, Kevin. Kevin's my buddy. I wasn't causing rivalries. I was showing unity. So I would love to kick this off with the great unifier for all of us is the medium of comic books. And we and especially you guys have all seen the great evolution of what comics have changed and become. And you're also formative to the 90s, 2000s in today.

Starting point is 00:02:46 What's your favorite element about how comics have evolved to where they are right now? What is the best thing that's changed for the good? For me, the fact that, like, so many, not so many, that's unfair. I saw a bunch of people online bitch about Captain America, the recent Captain America. And to me, I was like, man, we, and I'm sure the boys will attest to it as well, grew up in an era where it's like we were never going to get a Captain America movie, where he fought a Hulk, where the leader was it, spoilers. Like, there's so much in it to enjoy. And I know, like, you know, we've had so many comic book movies now

Starting point is 00:03:23 that you get to judge them against one another if that's your thing and stuff. And I saw a lot of people get mad at me online because I wouldn't rage against a movie of all things. But I... Go negative, Kevin. I know. They want it so bad.

Starting point is 00:03:38 And I'm like, they've got that everyone on the Internet. Like, you don't need that from me. So I, like, at the end, when the credits rolled and whatnot, I talked to people before the movie and they were like, but I was like, we never had that growing up. So I'm 54, I'm still delighted. And I'm a filmmaker, but I'm not a good one. So I don't like go to movies and sit back and fucking judge them, right?

Starting point is 00:04:01 Like generally I go to a movie and just become an audience member, man. I came from the audience and I'll return to the audience again one day and I still do it all throughout my career. So as an audience member and as a comic book, fan or as a director, I never go in with anything but like, I'm sloboringly grateful they're doing. I couldn't believe they made a fucking Craven movie, man.

Starting point is 00:04:26 I didn't see it, but I couldn't fucking believe they made it. That's the crazy thing. We live at a time where there's a Craven movie and we didn't go see it. I know. We were like, we were like, so true. So I appreciate that. I, you know, I wish it was easier. for comic book retailers

Starting point is 00:04:47 I'm one, you're one as well, right? Don't you have a story? I do not. You don't have a story? With all your fucking money. Roberts is like the richest person I know. I only make good investments. In dead things. That is the answer to who's the richest person in comics. It's him. Don't let anyone tell you anything different.

Starting point is 00:05:09 I hear people say other people's names and I go, are you high? Only a rich man would wear a sweater and one. weather like this this is this is not what i signed up for sure it is i'm not going to get out of here alive kids i don't want alarm i don't want to alarm anybody but security for mr kirkman yes yes oh rob how about you what are you loving the most i echo what kevin is saying but you know uh with my three kids as they grew up and my boys

Starting point is 00:05:34 watching the ease with which they interacted with superheroes and how much they love superheroes and you haven't lived until you worked in comics i guess i was i've been i've been in comics 40 years i think i was around 30 years old when my son my oldest son Luke turned to me and said hey dad I'm an MCU fan okay I'm not a comic book fan all right I'm an MCU fan and you go well the studio part really loves that you know but he he loves it he loves the it was it was like dad that's my thing it's how it was said to me where you like hold my beer man like but it's cool and and look like for his 16th birthday the entire varsity basketball team we

Starting point is 00:06:15 took them to see Civil War and we all you know that they we got them the front row the IMAX seats and I just told my wife I'm like this was not happening in 1984 like the outward love of comic books and it's so awesome I may or may not have hid some of my comics in my peachy folder growing up because I didn't want to be harassed and called the nerd because I'm trying to I was trying to too hard to fit in but now comic books are everywhere they're all your shirts and they're just commonplace so that's my shorter answer much of nerds Is that us?

Starting point is 00:06:50 The Biff collars really just bringing out this energy. How about you, Robert? What are you enjoying most other than the abundance of Funko pops? You and I get to throw at people at cons. Oh, that's fun. I'm getting in trouble for that. So, yeah, we did a panel with Funko, and I threw a prototype into the audience,

Starting point is 00:07:08 and they about lost their minds. Oh, one of one. And I had to host and go, like, can we have that back? You know what that's worth? Oh, no. I was so mad. though, because they were standing off to the side of the panel. No one wants to hear this story.

Starting point is 00:07:19 And I looked over with it, and I was like, and they all stood there like this. And so I was like, all right, and then they came alive. I'm sure they were like, why does Kirkman want to jerk us off? Do you need a reason? But I don't know. I mean, everybody in our generation remembers having that time where you had a girlfriend, and you were like,

Starting point is 00:07:44 Well, it's about that time where I've got it revealed to her that I read comics. Let's see how this goes. But yeah, now it's like, you know, you can't go to a theme park without seeing the most obscure comic book shirts. You know, like, oh, the Beyonder on a shirt. All right. Where'd you get that? Target. And I definitely want to narrow it down specifically and come back this way.

Starting point is 00:08:08 I love that Invincible Season 3 feels like a sporting event. I love that every week, there are literally people that have watch parties. There are people that do reality. We're at the point of nerddom where there are people gathering around an independent comic that I was trying to get people to understand why I couldn't put down growing up. And now it's the zeitgeist. And I love that even things like making a suit darker mirroring, like the symbiate suit is like, yeah, of course. Like people know the stuff that I would hide from others growing up.

Starting point is 00:08:33 As someone that made this art, what's it like to see your children out there specifically, knowing that people are celebrating it to a scale that couldn't have happened 20 years ago? It's crazy, and it's this climate where there's a fourth Captain American movie that has Harrison Ford playing The Hulk that makes Invincible work, because Invincible as a comic, 20 years ago, was made for the most savviest comic book reader that had been reading 30 years of DC comics and 30 years of Marvel comics and knew all the ins and outs of that stuff so that we could kind of, you know, play to what people expected a superhero comic to do and then do something different and try to shake things up. And now we're able to do that in the show because everybody's so familiar with all the movies and TV shows and stuff. It's really crazy that it works, that the general audience has been primed with this stuff so well that they're like, oh, yeah, that that guy's, you know, the thing's kind of making fun of superheroes or, or, like, doing the complete opposite of what you would expect it to do. So, yeah. And Rob, you just had Deadpool team up number five come out last week, and that was your big farewell to the Merck with the mouth from your own pencil. You're goodbye to the character, and I'm, I mean, obviously a huge fan of Deadpool,

Starting point is 00:09:46 but I really love how much you care about your work. I love that you have maintained a passion throughout time. It's not been something like, I made it, and now it's out there. You've had this commitment in love, and spoilers for the end of a comic that came out last week. I'm sorry, it's a window of time I'm going to accept. You're in the thing, yeah. And I love that you even are like, well, now I'm canon too. This is my experience.

Starting point is 00:10:06 What's it been like for you to see not just Deadpool rise, but also to have Deadpool 2 reference you, to have Deadpool 3, have a trailer with your name and it as a joke, but also to then put yourself back in to complete the auriboros. So I appreciate that. That's very kind. What I would tell you is, and I've often thought you get older, and Kevin said he was 54.

Starting point is 00:10:25 I'm 57. I'm not a young guy anymore, and I give less of a shit every day. And I look back at my 19, 20-year-old self, and look, I went to all the conventions, and every time, you know, I'm born and raised in Southern California, and when Chris Claremont or George Perez would come out here, I would go to the store, I would stand at the side of the table, I would listen to the stories.

Starting point is 00:10:48 And Chris, to his, you know, it's a positive. I can't use the word I was going to use because it doesn't apply. But Chris would boast about his accomplishments. He was fun to listen to. Like, if you ever wonder where, like, I said this on my podcast recently, where Todd McFarland and I got our boisterousness, we were taught by the generation before. John Byrne could not stop telling you how,

Starting point is 00:11:10 awesome he was and Chris Clement would be well I am also awesome and these great things coming up and he would start talking at the table about how well I get a piece of this character and I get a piece of this character I'm like hot damn if I get into the X-Men I'm planting some trees and I'm going to see if those trees grow into big trees and you know not everything grows so it's like where's the agreement here okay cable sign deadpool sign sign sign sign sign shadow star sign I'm doing it I'm doing it one of these will stick so I want to go back in time if it was my back to the future I just go back and give 1989 rob a hug and go the whole family says thank you oh my gosh you're going to have three kids and you're going to put them all through comics i mean you're going to put them all through

Starting point is 00:11:48 college via comics you're also going to through that's what will say on your fucking epitat rob life he put everyone through comics so no coy it's just it's um it's and look it's it's it's last year when the x-men cartoon came back x-men uh 97 i mean i kept i knew when cable was coming And every week, we've got to be like, where's freaking cable? Oh, he's finally here for four episodes. And he, I, I, maybe the best version of cable ever was that. And so I get, I get to see these toys, take on these different lives. They're, they're on the shelves in Target.

Starting point is 00:12:20 They're, you know, movies. I love it all. I love it all. And I love that Chris Claremont put that, you know, competitive spirit in me as a kid to go, oh, I can do that. And so I just, you know, my love for comics will, we'll never die. I love them more every, every day because they're kind of my therapy. Yeah. But at this point, I'm going to hand off.

Starting point is 00:12:37 so that Kevin can get a word in. The word that I would get in. Like a Stanley E.N. Slip is putting my family through comics. The thing I would say, if given the mic, as you've given the mic, is thank you for the work. Man, as a guy with a retail establishment, you put asses in seats. Thank you, sir. You know, and that's what pays the fucking right. No, not really.

Starting point is 00:13:00 Like, I don't do anything for you. But I do benefit from your work, and not an apparel. but like I've been I've had that comic book store 28 years and I've sold a lot of your stuff a lot of your stuff and the stuff that you then grow up into other media chases them right back so you know as a fan naturally I've enjoyed both of you dudes for years and whatnot but as a fellow creative we always have our own heads up our own asses that's why it's impressive when somebody makes an impact like when somebody creates something that pulls you away from your own shit like that's that's how you know something's big but aside from just

Starting point is 00:13:36 being a creative and being able to share a stage with two wonderful creatives like you. As a guy who brick and mortar has to sell books, man, thank you. Like your work helps me pay to rent. It's allowed me to keep that shit open for nearly 30 years. I was first in line to hit your Green Arrow in 2005?

Starting point is 00:13:54 2004. I don't even remember. I'm like Kevin Smith right in Green Arrow. You did Green Arrow with Phil Hester. It was really cool. Matt Wagner covers. Introduced the Automatopoeia guy. That was pretty cool. And that clerks, man. That prequel the clerks you just put out is some of the most depraved pivots i've seen in comics those books would end and you'd feel like you needed a bath i respected that yeah there's i just finished i was it's actually

Starting point is 00:14:15 been a like a comic book a few months for me and i've got most of my stuff coming out from the middle of the year on i got like a big company crossover coming up i don't want to announce it because they want to announce it but it's one that i never saw coming but i wrote it like in two nights i loved it so much then i went back to work for one of the big two i can't say what it is but it's a big project and they asked me to do a thing a small thing in it and i was delighted to be back and it might lead to another thing but then i've got four issues of volume three of quick stops that i do for dark horse uh that come out at the end of the year so from comic con on man i'm like deeply entrenched in the world of comics awesome i wish i could draw

Starting point is 00:14:57 all i could do is right kids uh so i always team up with talented people who can draw on show like I love that I hear Darth Vader over a comic I heard that yeah I was like that's why I cut it off I was like I was being choked

Starting point is 00:15:10 from a bar I guess that's it shut the fuck off let Liefeld speak that's Figey in the suit going like do not talk about

Starting point is 00:15:20 the big two there's lasers actually have a movie question for you though because I as much as I love all things fandom mallrats

Starting point is 00:15:26 was the thing that legitimately told me there were others I had never heard someone talk like Brody I literally felt

Starting point is 00:15:32 I hid my Spider-Man shirts under Abercrombie, because I thought that was okay. But as I grew up, Brody was my beacon of light and hearing those characters. But then Dogma came out, and there was this really insane moment of like, I'm actually connecting to, I didn't grow up Catholic, but now I feel like Catholics get me because they get Mar-Rent. So it's this unifying thing, and I know Dogma 2 is finally a cooking. I would love to know if there is any update, because I know the Internet misquotes you.

Starting point is 00:15:56 I want to actually quote you. What's going on with Dogma 2, man? Before there's a Dogma 2, we have to deal with Dogma 1, which happily we get to do this year. So it's they haven't announced that yet either. But they're going to announce it soon because it's coming up. Uh, where are we in February? Yeah, bless you. They've got it. COVID. It's an outdoor video. Yeah. Good point. Good point. Um, so I haven't, uh, they haven't said, but we've something is something very exciting is coming. If I fucking say. Just tell us. Just tell us.

Starting point is 00:16:30 I can't tell us. No one's listening. Jason Mues's wife runs. company and anytime I talk out of turn she's like you ruin everything shut the fuck out so she said specifically before I came here she was like don't talk about dogma and I was like I won't so that's as much as I could say I'm just gonna text her now yeah hit her she'll

Starting point is 00:16:47 fucking tell you no problem but in terms of Brody man and mallrats in terms of like hey he was the voice like a voice that you heard where you're like oh shit kind of like me there was a time where Brody was scarce now the world is full of Brody oh the internet yeah we talked about this like

Starting point is 00:17:03 One of the first conversations we had was like Brody being my guiding light, and you were so sweet to go like, no, no, but you're nice. And like, it really stuck with me that that is kind of what the Internet's become is the guy that goes, gatekeeping this is mine. And this is the opposite. Like, that's what I love about this community. And I do want to talk about in that same vein, we're all actually fans of this stuff as well. And again, this is a rare opportunity. I'm so excited for Fantastic Four and Superman. And this is kind of a one of one moment where this is right before we're coming up on a zeit guy shift for the big two.

Starting point is 00:17:32 we in 08 there wasn't the conversation of like i bet that downy junior joint's going to do things like this is actually the first time we can see a universe shift in real time uh with fantastic force trailer and then i want to talk about superman as people who have worked in these universes what do you guys feel from that and was there any moment of nerddom we were like oh i haven't felt that in a while starting with rob down the end no done with it no i mean it's cool to see galactus you know like stole my answer yeah What else were you going to say? No, that's it.

Starting point is 00:18:03 That's it. I hear this is, I'll give it up to them. Like, there's, there's so much excitement, at least they produce to me. It seems to be in the folks on the internet as well. Over the idea of a Fantastic Four movie, that they've generated the idea that it's the first. Like, oh, my God, it's the first time. It's going to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But we've had, there've been 19 fucking Fantastic Four movies.

Starting point is 00:18:29 But they're marketing and the excitement that they're building. around it and how like the look of it in terms of like you know the kind of retro futurist quasi futuristic look and like I don't know if this starts a new phase or whatever to fuck but like they are really making it feel like we've never seen this before and like when they show you know a lot of time in the trailer showing off the thing like at first I was like that's mind bending and I was like they I've seen things before really what we should appreciate is fucking Herbie man like because that was we've reached a world where they're like like throw herbie in for the 12 people who remember and shit and to open the trailer with it when

Starting point is 00:19:07 it's open with her boy Kevin and I are pulling pulling rank on you here because you're there's no way you're alive we are the age where they announced a Fantastic Four cartoon on NBC Saturday mornings and you're like okay read sue a robot where's human torch and there was a fan revolt herbie was like synonymous with what the hell is this yeah and now you're like that's super cool Herbie's in the movie, like our generation. Herbie is our generation is Jar Jar. Exactly. He's about to have his moments, man.

Starting point is 00:19:39 I'll buy that toy. That toy will be on my shelf. It's also funny because, correct me if I'm wrong, but Herbie was in the cartoon because they were worried kids were going to set themselves on fire. No, actually, not true. I read that. I believed it for the longest time.

Starting point is 00:19:51 That's what I thought as well. I just read up, but again, this is online, so take it with a grain of sight. I believe it. Exactly. 100%. They said that human toys. was already sold off to a different project so they couldn't include them that's why it's like spin to me but i like the other one which was like we can't put a human torch on tv kids will

Starting point is 00:20:10 light themselves so can i just can i just do this really quick i got to tell this to a live audience okay i've told this on my podcast this is not a new story but you're probably going to hear this for the first time and my wife would be mortified she doesn't listen she would never hear this on my podcast um when i was a kid jean simmons kiss was the guy okay kiss is a rock band for all of you just What is that? Okay, and he was the demon. And my dad was a Baptist minister, and my sister was allowed to hide Kiss Records,

Starting point is 00:20:36 and I would look at him in her room, but he would breathe fire on stage. And I read in one of the rock and roll magazines how he did it with kerosene. Well, we had a giant sandbox in my backyard, and I love the human torch. And don't do this at home. But the way this story ends is with my mom screaming through the kitchen.

Starting point is 00:20:53 Robin, no! I'm nine years old. I go, I'll stand. My friend across the kitchen. the street showed me how to do it. He did it with his hand. And I said, I can do my whole arm. Cerosene liquid that you do on the barbecue from forearm to hand. With it? Holy shit, my hand. My arm is on fire. I am flipping out. And my mom screamed. And I dropped to the sandbox because I knew I could put it out. But I don't know why they were

Starting point is 00:21:17 concerned about kids lighting them. I was already lighting myself on fire. Thank you, Gene Simmons, and Kiss. You showed me the way. I told Gene that story. And I think he was like, you're fucking crazy. I was nine. I had a guy in my 10th grade art class that did that with rubber cement. You had to go to the hospital because it doesn't burn as quick as carousy. I also lost whatever hair I had on my arm. I did not understand. This explains so many Deadpool moments. Aren't you glad you brought up the Fantastic Four movies?

Starting point is 00:21:46 80s and 90s, everybody was setting themselves on fire. So just for the record, Galactus, Herbie, Herbie, set yourself on fire. That's what this is. These are the log line. That's what this is right. Now, pivoting to Superman, we have had also, likewise, Superman movies, but in the same vein, this does feel like a first. This does feel unprecedented. This trailer felt different to me in a way. I mean, I was a kid for Superman Returns,

Starting point is 00:22:10 and it was referencing a film from before I was alive. Right. So this Superman film feels like a big, actual first, and it's launching a universe. I'm wondering with you guys, having worked with these characters also in that universe, your experience of the trailer. I love the trailer, but, you know, I'm 54. I've been through a few Superman movies.

Starting point is 00:22:28 Amen. And I love them all because the character will last forever for that reason of awe to hope. The idea that when everyone's running from the worst thing in the world, one person is going right at it. So that story will never grow tired. But we've seen this before. And it's not even the beginning of a new universe because they told us that Blue Beetle was the beginning of the new universe. And then the cartoon series. So without all that baggage, it just looks like.

Starting point is 00:22:56 like a strong fucking flick and not like it looks better than this version of superman or that somebody else as you know as comic book readers and fans and whatnot you're used to many different creatives handling the same character or title so for me i'm you know it's like all right now we get to see what james gun's issue of superman looks like and i'm excited as fuck for that but it doesn't feel like oh my god they've fucking reinvented sliced bread like it's it's still the dude and like the one thing I will say is holy shit they put underwear back on them and that does feel new

Starting point is 00:23:32 this is good wrapping on this slice bread I hate that we had a period of time where the underwear was embarrassing yeah it's like it's not embarrassing if we say this is cool look how cool this is and then everyone goes oh I guess it's cool the X-Men in black leather it took so long to get out of I think when we started making comic movies

Starting point is 00:23:52 for everyone we lost the way who was the I think it was Dave was the guy's name place corn and sweet David corn sweat really corn sweat yep corn sweat corns sweat corin sweat yeah he's British man they got weird last names I know it's crazy I read a thing where I think it was was he the one that said this costume should have frivolity to it he basically said that I'm playing an alien that has powers it

Starting point is 00:24:16 would terrify children I need to be the one to make sure they're not scared I thought that was beautiful he the way he expressed it I'm pretty sure he used the word frivolity maybe somebody else used it in place for him but it should and his rationale like was you know I've been reading this character watching this character for years never occurred to me and that's beautiful the idea of like

Starting point is 00:24:35 I have to make myself seem more friendly or you know not as frightening to whoever's going to encounter me so the idea of like trunks like the way a wrestler would wear him and I think that was the parallel they made I bought that 100%

Starting point is 00:24:51 and I was not one of those people that was like take the underwear off and shit but I that appeases everybody that didn't like the look of the underwear. It should be silly. All of this shit should be silly. Like, no, please never listen to me. Obviously, I don't know what I'm talking about and I'm not very successful at what I do.

Starting point is 00:25:09 But they keep making these Batman movies and every time they're like, this one's the realest one yet. Oh my God, this is what it would be like if it happened in a real world. And the closer you get to reality, the more of that concept falls apart. Like, I watched The Batman in theaters, like, the same night that I finished watching Season 1 of Reacher.

Starting point is 00:25:32 And I was, like, the whole time, I was like, why doesn't he just Reacher all these people? Like, he fucking, why is he holding back? Why is he wearing a mask? Grow up! Like, all this shit. And I'm into this stuff. The more realistic you make it, for me, it falls apart. I like it to have an air of fantasy about it and frivolity.

Starting point is 00:25:54 and the idea of those underwear up front tells you right up like this ain't fucking real and it never will be and that's why we go that's why like you don't see a bunch of people and this is sad but a bunch of people don't go like I'm reading policeman comics you know what I'm saying and policemen do the same fucking job ostensibly as a hero we hope and shit

Starting point is 00:26:13 so but they'll read about somebody else who like puts on a different color and does kind of a similar job and whatnot that's that's the fantasy element We all want to be rescued. I don't give a shit what gender you are, man. We want to believe that in our darkest hour, someone will fucking drop from the sky and be like, stand back.

Starting point is 00:26:33 And blow whoever we need blown, man. So. With the Funko Pop. Yes. I love the shorts, man. I know this is not, you know, I'm not selling a crowd. Everyone here is convinced as well. But that's why I think it totally works.

Starting point is 00:26:48 And that's why I like seeing that element. That's why, again, with fantastic, There's a throwback element to it that's exciting because there's been such a drive to the future and to like make things as realistic as possible because we have effects that can make it do so. But I like a clear, like throwing in crypto works for me in such a big way because I'm like, that's a comic book. Yeah. You know, like man of steel will make you believe that that shit could happen in real life because Zach Snyder posits it like a serious. film this version they throw in the dog and you're like this definitely a comic book this is definitely like going to be a story that I grew up kind of reading it's like opening with herbie

Starting point is 00:27:33 it sets the tone in the opening there ain't nothing wrong with any version of that like I loved what Zach Snyder did I love what everybody does when they step up to it man because it's watching any artist take their self-expression to a character that means as much to them as it means to me the reader like any number of creators who step up James Gunner can make a movie about anything. He don't need Superman, but he wanted his shot at that title, and when I say title, I don't mean like the boxing title. Title, Superman, that character because he's like, that character appeals to me. James is a hopeful guy, and that's a hopeful character. So I like that we're in the age now where it feels like they're going to let them

Starting point is 00:28:12 be a little more comic booky, the comic book movies. I think we've chipped away and earned it. I think now that it's societal, we've gotten to the point where we can just accept a man in tights and that's wonderful because we can have Wolverine in the yellow. We can have these big moments and swings. And speaking of a Dogma 2S question that might get someone in trouble, I would love to hear about Evangeline if you can speak. So, yeah, I can't say anything about that. I can't. Evangeline is a really great title that I did in the 90s. I've revisited it several times. And it's about an angel. It's about a fallen angel who falls to Earth. And she's definitely a

Starting point is 00:28:47 fish out of water and doesn't understand why she's here. what she's doing here and who she can trust because there's so many fallen demons down here as well, and they could be sitting right next to you. They look like people in positions of power who may be making giant cuts in our industries and federal agencies. So I was fortunate enough that my buddy, Simon Kinberg, who produced the Deadpool films and produced Days of Future Past and The Martian, he's fantastic and incredible. Long story short, very quick. He just said, Hey, Rob, Margo Robbie would like to do this. I said, get the fuck.

Starting point is 00:29:23 That's not true. And then he said, hey, Olivia Wilde's going to direct it for what did the what? And then right before Thanksgiving, a couple years ago, I'm like, Luke, you can't stand there. You can't be in my room because I'm going to be on a call with Olivia Wilde and Margo Robbie. And my son's like, can I just kind of stand off camera? And I'm like, you need to leave my room.

Starting point is 00:29:42 Okay? So, look, it's fantastic. We hired an Oscar nomad. We bullshit. Margo hired an Oscar nominated writer and he is handing the draft in I think in the next two weeks and then it's going to be good I just started writing today and I think I'm going to bring something to it you know as a male with the male perspective and you know something's wrong when you go are you are you sure you want to do this and she's like I love it and I'm like okay I'm going to stop undermining myself that's all I can say coy thank you very much um let's let's let's hear from the beard of wonder again the hype and passion for your characters man always love and what you're doing right now i say anything coy kevin rob you can see him too right yeah i was so alarmed when my periphery caught it and i was like you should do a horror movie

Starting point is 00:30:35 where he shows up and kills everyone at a show i feel like we're living it yeah the worst time to have an acid flashback of my life on stage like what is happening i looked up and saw it and then i was like no I'm not going to just I'm not going to just ignore that and go back to the panel my any and my outy were fracturing he wants you to dance oh will dance by the way that's the one person here that's hotter than we are I know yes for sure I'd love to talk about your Energon universe because what's happening there is so fascinating blending these two iconic properties and the way it's going to scale I was at the event you guys did for the G.I. Joe launch that actually played the original G.I. Joe movies in theaters.

Starting point is 00:31:17 So a movie that never went to theaters, we all got to experience that acid trip like this. And it was such a great way to kick off the comic world, but it's also finding new fans. So I'd love to know what your experience has been, meeting people that are new to Transformers, G.I. Joe, and, like, kind of shepherding in a new generation to these icons.

Starting point is 00:31:33 Yeah, it's been great because, I mean, these characters were born in the 80s. I mean, the original G.I. Joe, much older, but we're focusing on the aspects that came in the 80s. And they've been largely separate IDW's done some things that have combined them but what we're kind of doing is we're like building a cohesive shared universe around them akin to what Marvel does or what DC does and it's great because there's thousands of characters at our disposal and they all have these

Starting point is 00:32:02 amazing connections that have been built by tons of writers and artists over many comic book lines and animated series and movies and things like that and it's a lot of fun to just kind of I mean it's really like playing with toys in a different way so it's like I'm I'm now 46 years old, like, playing with Transformers and G.I. Joe and getting together with a bunch of writers and artists and being like, what if we had this guy? Talk to this guy. And then this happened. And if this guy's arm got ripped off and he put this other guy's arm on him, that'd be pretty cool. And it's just, it's like the most stupid fun. Yeah, it's so, it's so great. So we're almost out of time, but I want to do a quick run through two things that mean a lot to me. And that is the current books right now, because I feel like comic books are adapted, but actually going to the comic store is still weirdly a lost art. I'm reading like 50. to 70 comics a week and everyone freaks out when I say those numbers there's so much out there so I'd love to hear what your favorite things doesn't need to be present but like anything you're reading right now that you're really loving they just love to get some flowers to and also this being

Starting point is 00:32:57 the first of this type of con I've ever done I do this for a living but I've never done a charity con con especially in a place that I host a talk show this is so strange but I feel like you guys are in my house it's so on but I'd love to know welcome home it's beautiful here but I'd love to know some of your favorite con experiences because you guys are all actual seasoned vets to a world that I feel like we just started letting other people into. Like Twilight brought in studios. But I feel like this whole new wave is we're kind of going back to the 90s. Cons are starting to feel like ours again. And I'm really loving that. This feels like, I don't know. I feel like I can talk about this stuff without being like, Spider-Man's in the

Starting point is 00:33:30 sky that got bit by you. So, uh, get out of here, movies and TV. Please, please watch Invincible. Yeah, please, please. It pays for the other stuff. I know it does. It was number one this morning on my Amazon. Was it really? Come on. Did we beat Richard? You're good. You're good. So any comics i got a check well rob checks any comics you're digging right now or anything you're reading right now you want to give some love to or in the last couple years uh Batman 1989 it's been really enjoyable for somebody that loved that movie that movie was a seminal flick in my uh development and growth and so i thought it's cool what they're doing and i'm jealous i'm like why didn't i pitch that i wish i would have done it and i like all the choices

Starting point is 00:34:09 that they're making billy d williams two face like it's doing the sequel to the and they did a Superman 78 it's great I'm gonna go with there's a book called Bug Wars that came out from Image Comics and it's Jason era Aaron and and how do you it's a Mahmood Aswar he's he's done I met him at a show a couple years ago he was doing Conan for Marvel long and the sort of it is it's a brand new independent comic that has got production values and and and art and story that is as good as anything that you're going to get from the majors it's the best of what independent comic should be. And I'm excited for both of them. It's really wild. It's like fantasy. It's like

Starting point is 00:34:50 Game of Thrones in your backyard in between the blades of grass. Bug Wars, grab it. I don't get a piece of it. I have nothing to do with it. It's awesome. There's a new book called Seasons with by Rick Remender and Paul Aseseda. I worked with Paul on a book called Outcast. Very jealous of Rick getting to work with him. He's doing like the work of his career on this book. It's really awesome. I highly recommend it. This guy right here is doing a thing. called last blood that he's selling direct on whatnot that's like an exploration of all his 90s characters you got your profit in there some blood strike brigade uh it's just super awesome and like very nostalgic for me i really enjoy it but yeah there's a lot of good stuff coming out right now

Starting point is 00:35:30 and the last question for me will be uh con experiences because it is summer camp for me i never got to go to summer camp and this always feels like that but meeting my favorite people and then creators do you guys have any specific con memories that keep bringing you back i know the lines get long and hands cramped, but are there any things that make it all worth it every time? I watched George Romero go to the bathroom one time. Like from afar, I saw I walk through the door, and I went, God damn, it's fucking George Romero. Then I left.

Starting point is 00:36:03 But stuff like that happens all the time. It feels like a dream, but for real, like you'll look left and right, and it'll be a different reality. Yeah. You go. No, you go. Okay, so, you know, here's a deal. When you get to these comic conventions and comic book creators of which Kevin is

Starting point is 00:36:22 and has done so many comic, you know, comic books in addition to all these great movies. And, do we need more Red State. That's my favorite thing you've ever done. Red State. I've told them that too. The night that came out on Video Deal was like, bye, bye. Dude, more. And tell us, flip me out.

Starting point is 00:36:39 Theater, opening night, midnight screening. Okay, stop with the self-deprecating, man. You're a fucking legend. When we get together, we as comic book people view comic book people may be more special than, like, the reason I'm saying this is, in 19, when X-Force number one came out in 1991, there was a show in L.A. right here at the L.A. Convention Center, and they put myself and Mike Minnola of Hellboy on stage with Jack Kirby. And we didn't say anything because we were on either side of him going, what the, it's Jack? And I had met Jack, and no. Jack and eventually would end up at Jack's house which is awesome but we just hung on his every word and I have never met anybody and I have been I've had the good fortune of breaking bread meeting with Mr. Steven Spielberg I don't put him anywhere close to Jack Kirby Jack Kirby was magic incarnate he was miracles rainbows

Starting point is 00:37:33 unicorns and that is like just watching him and that's why I get my famous line he told everyone I have an unlimited budget on my paper it's my pencil and my imagination and I can make anything for any budget and I'm like whoa and that has inspired me my whole career I'm done a contemporary of jacks mr. Stan Lee man he made an appearance in a movie we did many 30 years ago called mallrats and so every con I went to after that I would see Stan and mallrats like aged well but did didn't work out when it came out. Flopped at the box office. And when a movie flops is kind of like, you know, when Jesus gets arrested and all the apostles are like going to go scatter and people like, hey, you knew that guy. I don't know that guy at all, man. And then a cock crows and shit like that. So in that world, like when a movie doesn't work, people just like scatter. Stan was the opposite. Stan would always come up to me, be like, Kevin, when are we doing another movie? And I'm like, the last one didn't work. and shit.

Starting point is 00:38:47 So, I mean, years later at one point, he came over and he was like, Kevin, I just read an article online where they compared all the box office grosses of movies I've been in with Will Smiths, and I've made more money. And I was like, congratulations. And he goes, the really funny thing is, though,

Starting point is 00:39:04 you look at all the movies I've done, and they're all movies that made a lot of money. And then there's one that's way down to the bottom. And it jumps back up. So Stan was at the con. this was let me see we did I want to say 97 or 98 and we had done enough shit where they started like giving us a booth me and jay to sign things so we had an end cap at san diego where we had a scheduled signing and it was three steps like maybe a little bit higher than this

Starting point is 00:39:34 to get up to where we were people hand you their shit you sign it like a fucking here plebe and then hand it down to them and shit so stan came to say hi and he came up the stairs and stood there talking to us for a few minutes it was just mind bending because stan lee i mean yes we'd worked to them in mall rats but the fact that he was treating us like contemporaries or that he was still copping to knowing us and shit like that was really sweet so after he was all done he was like all right boys good seeing you he turns around forgets he's on a riser and completely fucking face plants at san diego Comic-Con. And if you've, you know, you ever been in a movie, like, in fucking endgame

Starting point is 00:40:20 where, like, you know, you see a hand reaching for moling here, and everyone's like, and you hear a collective gasp, but that's of joy. I heard a collective gasp that day. All of San Diego Comic-Con froze and was like, oh, because like an 85-year-old man had fallen and fucking immediately, they're like, who pushed him and looked in it? It was me and Jay and shit. and that's how he died yes we were both like pointing at each other

Starting point is 00:40:49 Stan was used to this sort of thing pop straight back up man like almost like fucking like when you see gymnasts do that shit where they pop lock up onto their feet and he was just like watch that last step it's a doozy my spider friends and fucking took off man

Starting point is 00:41:06 I'll never forget that the definition of Excelsior ever upward Stan Couldn't stop that guy, except once. Do you think he walked out the door and then went to his handler and was like, get me to a hospital now? It was like the old George Carlin bit where George Carlin's like a cat will fucking like smash into a wall and be like, I meant to do that.

Starting point is 00:41:26 And then get behind the couch and be like, fucking meow. I guarantee you, as soon as he got into the car, he was like, oh, spider, fuck. With great power comes all this shit, too. Fucking mall rats guy. silent bill well this has been the kings of comics i do want to wrap with one thing i asked about the con experience because each of these

Starting point is 00:41:52 kings of comics has affected me personally without skybound i wouldn't have survived between different cons when we did schmodeown that is how i stayed alive out here which i appreciate rob i met at a wonder con 10 years ago and was the first person that i literally didn't know how to talk to and totally freaked out because he made deadpool and like rob and i knowing each other now is so surreal to me

Starting point is 00:42:11 and kevin is literally the only person that I've never known how to be like, but he wrote Brody, that means he is a Wattu to me. And he was the first person to give me advice for Hall H, which is like one of the craziest things I've gotten to do. So to me, you guys are the Kings of Comics, and it's so means the world to me that you came to this and we did this and thank you for everything you do. But there can only be one king, so now we fight. Now you fight. That's what the last five minutes are for four. Let's give it up. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Give it up for Corey, man.

The Reel Rejects - Fantastic Four, Superman, Invincible & MORE W/ Kevin Smith, Rob Liefeld, Robert Kirkman & Coy!!

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.