Covert Nerd Podcast

Links from the Episode: The four podcasts Eddie co-hosts: Now you know why we call him the Podfather. Make Eternia Great Again Podcast Paranormal Dads Podcast Daydream Instruction Manual Podcast Falcon Punch Thunder Dads Podcast Covert Nerd Podcast I had the awesome opportuntiy to sit down and talk with Eddie. We talked about life lessons we learn from the fiction we consume. From Back to the Future to Lord of the Rings and everything nerdy in between. If you like this episode please share.

Links in the episode Details on this and other episodes visit covertnerd.net for all the details Make Eternia Great Again Podcast Starformers Podcast  IDW movie adaptation of Transformers the movie  Early script of Transformers the movie found in 2010 Daydream Instructions manual Jeffs episode ----more---- Jeffs Top 5 Star Wars Return of the Jedi Tron Back to the Future The Last Star Fighter The Goonies Lee's Top 5 Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back Predator Space Balls Transformers the Movie    

Links mentioned in the episode (some links are affiliate links)  Covert Nerd Podcast Arcade cabinet link  Delayed gratification link  Essex county  Ninjak vs the Valiant Universe  Plume by K Lynn Smith  Galactic driftwood podcast  Healthy Under Pressure Podcast Make Eternia Great Again Podcast Grawlix Podcast Day Dream Instruction Manual Podcast That One Time I was Abducted by Aliens podcast ----more---- As comic book nerds we buy comics we plan to read, but sometimes we put them in a longbox and forget about them. On the Comic Geek Speak podcast one of the hosts was talking about this very thing.  He has over 25K comics in his collection so I can understand how something like this could happen. It made me think about how we collect and the fine line between collecting and hoarding. It’s the comic book collection bug we sometimes get. We collect and then sometimes we purge and sell everything off. Then we collect and purge and the cycle continues. Some of us like me rarely purge, but I also don’t spend $100’s each month on comics each month, my budget won’t allow it.  If I did have the money I could see myself getting to 25K quickly. Let’s do the math 25K/35=714/365=1.95 per day. I’m not knocking it, because if you can afford it and it doesn’t cause you to be late on your obligations by all means do it. Carl Eddie and Jeff over at the MEGA podcast which is a MOTU podcast talk about mini collections.  I am pretty sure Carl came up with the idea of the mini collection. They like MOTU, but aren’t trying to get every figure ever made. They are looking for their favorites only. And if their collection gets too big then they downsize it to keep it in the “mini” category. I’m not exactly sure what number “mini” is and it probably varies for each person over at the MEGA podcast, but the idea is keeping it small.  I was talking with a local guy who makes custom copies of old arcade machines. He does a fantastic job Lee Bokma bought a machine from him.  I will put a link to his website in the show notes.  I think I will bring him on the show sometime in the future. He talks about the fact he can make a machine that has 100’s of old games on it so that a person doesn’t have to spend hours of time and lots of money collecting old video games. For me and video games that’s fine however some people like the thrill of the hunt. They get joy from hunting for those one or two figures or issues you want to add to their collection.  For example On the Rad years podcast one of the hosts “squeezer” collected old NES carts. He could easily over pay by going on e-bay and find most of what he’s looking for, but he enjoys hunting at garage sales, auctions and flea markets for the carts he loved as a kid. With comics I’m similar, when I buy I tend to be looking for old issues I lost when a couple of long boxes got ruined by water in our basement. It’s more nostalgia and I didn’t have a big collection to start with around 600. It’s fun going through long boxes and coming across an issue I am missing.  All of sudden I can remember the storyline and what was going on in my life when I was reading it. You probably have a similar reaction when you are hunting for what you collect. Especially if it’s something you did when you were younger. I buy a few new here and there because I think it good to have a mix of the old and new. On the flip side of nerdy collecting I am part of a Heroquest Facebook group. Heroquest is a basic RPG board game. With 4 hero’s who go through several quests to defeat villian’s and collect gold and other items along the way. The game came out in 1989, for more you can listen to episode 2 where I go into more detail. The game is hard to find for under $120 and the rare expansion with go as high as $800.  There was a guy who posted a picture of the number of games he had been collection over the years.  He had 9 main sets and 4-5 of each expansion. Many people blasted him for hoarding so many sets, I’m not one to criticize much, but in this case maybe he should consider sharing the wealth. I didn’t comment since so many people had already said what I was thinking. It’s like the guy who collects Moss man figures and Moss man only. Literally hundreds of Moss man figures. However I pretty open minded and if this type of collecting makes a person happy and the price of their collecting still allows them to meet their financial obligations, then more power to them. Whether it’s Surfboards, napkins or milk bottle’s if you love it and it doesn’t cause you to go broke, go for it. How you collect may evolve as your life changes, when your single or married with a duel income home with no kids your disposable income is big.  When you have kids your priorities change as they should. Cutting back doesn’t mean not at all, it means not as much for now. Delayed gratifications has a multitude of real world benefits, I will include a link to an article giving you 10 reasons why and if you research you will find more science behind the idea of delayed gratification. Being mature enough to accept change is good. Later when you become an empty nester it changes again, it’s not forever. I should I’m not the perfect model of, this but I did cut back dramatically on comics and in the last 2 years have increased both in what I spend monetarily and the time I spend with comics. Being nerd and collecting doesn’t mean you hoard and hid your collection, it should be something you want to share and let others enjoy the things you have collected over the years. Whether you have a mini collection or a mega collection. Enjoy it a share it with others.  Tell them the stories behind what you collect. What type of collector are you? Do you want to find every floppy issue of X-Factor? Or are you okay with certain key issues? What do you collect?  Let me know on Twitter Instagram or email, visit covertnerd.net for all the ways you can contact me. A link will be in the show notes on whatever device you are listening. When I review something I am commenting on it because I liked it and I encourage you to take a look as well.  I try not to criticize or rant because there is enough of that already, I want to stay positive.  I stick to the adage if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all. Today is no exception. I recently read Essex county Jeff Lemire tells a complex story with simple black and white art. He can do that because the setting takes place in his childhood home town. He tells 3 separate stories that are loosely connected. Here’s the solicit. “Where does a young boy turn when his whole world suddenly disappears? What turns two brothers from an unstoppable team into a pair of bitterly estranged loners? How does the simple-hearted care of one middle-aged nurse reveal the scars of an entire community, and can anything heal the wounds caused by a century of deception?” I’m more of a super hero / fantasy fan, but this one had me turning the pages to find out what happens next.  My personal favorite was the second story about the two brothers and their falling out. Because of the simple art it showcases the ability Jeff has in telling a story. This came out in 2009 and has been put in a collection with extra art and stories, I will put a link in the show notes so you can look at it if you want. I recommend this to anyone. Ninjak vs The Valiant Universe is a fun pop corning type of book.  It reminds me of the old X-men Versus the FF back in the 80’s.  It’s a story you can tell was put together on purpose by the publisher to appeal to a large readership.  The reader knows it, but in this case it was still a fun story to read.  I guess you could say I succumbed to their marketing ploys. Colin King is Ninjak, MI-6’s deadliest intelligence operative, and weapons expert. When the ruthless assassin Roku exploits his greatest weakness, Ninjak will be forced to betray his closest allies. Now, on the run, he must face off against the most powerful heroes known to man for a high-octane, take-no-prisoners trial by fire more perilous and more unpredictable than any he’s faced before. The world’s most dangerous super-spy goes to war with the Valiant Universe… Plume by K Lynn Smith Last and certainly not least is Plume by K Lynn Smith. I talked with her at O Comic Con and as I have mentioned 2 episodes ago she is a genuinely nice person.  I went to one of her panels and talked with her in the vendor area. I asked her a few questions and she was patiently indulged my questions. Plume is a fun western adventure type of book with magical undertones. To sum it up I would say it’s Lara Croft meets John Wayne type genre.  Here’s the solicit for volume 1. Plume is a story set in the Old West about a girl named Vesper Grey and her supernatural companion, Corrick. On their quest to recover her father's life work, they encounter new friends and new foes, and learn that the Wild West is anything but tame. Lynn Smith not only wrote it, but did the art as well. Both in my opinion are excellent. This is a passion project of hers. There are 3 volumes so far I have only read volume 1. I will put a link in the show notes so you can look at it and buy it if you want. I have to take a few extra moments to do an extended shout out to a couple of other podcasts.  The first is called Galactic Driftwood. I briefly spoke with Bill and John at O Comic shortly before they started their podcast, I didn’t get a chance to meet them but the other two hosts are Charles and Audie. They launched about a month ago and they are fabulous.  If you are a sci fi fan you will love the indepth discussion they go into.  They like to examine the science in Sci fi.  They also like to cosplay.  Some topics they have talked about are Dr Who, Star trek pretty much all the different series, expanse and many others.  Right out of the shoot their sound and look is professional.  You can find them at galacticdriftwood.space I will put  link in the show notes. The Second is the Healthy under pressure podcast, now this one isn’t on the nerdy genre, but I did a panel with her at O Comic Con about podcasting. The podcast is Healthy under pressure podcast.  I wanted to mention her and her podcast because we and several other local podcasters have had lunch together. Recently her podcast was featured in the Apple Podcast section for her genre. I am proud of her to have done so well in such a short amount of time, Amber works hard at putting out a quality podcast. She does great interviews with great people. Check out the Healthy under pressure podcast. And I will put a link in the show notes. Other shout outs go to The MEGA pocast Carl Jeff and Eddie, Grawlix podcast Randy, Melanie and Jeff, That one time I was abducted Jaime and Bri.  Last and certainly not least Daydream Instruction Manual.  I have probably forgotten some others so I apologize in advance. Please visit covertnerd.net for all the different ways you can reach me via email or Twitter Instagram and Facebook. You can also send me an MP3 and I will play it on the episode, but please try to keep in PG. Thank you for listening and until next time Nerd it Up.

We sat down with local comic artist Lee Bokma to talk about where he gets some of the inspiration for his art. The 3 we talked about today are Robert E Howards Conan, Thundarr the Barbarian and The Warlord. Listen to all the details. Episode Links: Art of Lee Bokma Covert Nerd Podcast ----more---- As full disclosure, certain products and links to products on this site are affiliate links, and I will earn a commission for any purchases you make. There is no additional cost to you.   Frazetta's iconic Conan art Thundarr the Barbarian 1982 Saturday morning cartoon The Warlord 1st issue cover The Warlord 1st issue first page       Conan Book Book 1 Conan Book Book 2 Conan Book Book 3 Thundarr the Barbarian DVD Set

Darkness and horror stories from Carl then some encouragement I know you need. Finally two fantastic comics you will want to check out.  Let’s get started and nerd it up.  ----more---- Links in the episode: Art of Lee Bokma MEGA podcast That One Time I was abducted by Aliens  Nation of Nerds podcast. Covertnerd.net   As full disclosure, certain products and links to products on this site are affiliate links, and I will earn a commission for any purchases you make. There is no additional cost to you.      We continue diving into local creators by looking at two books by Carl D Smith The Darkness Out of Carthage and L is for Loon.   But first I want to comment on the advantages self-publishing has brought to creators. They now have the advantage of putting out the content they want with zero changes by an editor or publisher.  The barrier of entry for creators is low with the age of self-publishing.  As a writer you can put together your book and publish it much faster and easier than a writer could have only 15 years ago.  I remember talking with someone about how easy it is now versus 20 years ago.  He said now anyone can publish a book, as if that was a bad thing. I get what he’s saying to some extent. He’s saying almost anyone can publish book makes achievement less significant.  I don’t necessarily agree, after all it still takes a lot of work to complete a book and still more to have the guts to put it out for the world to see and criticize. My hats off to anyone who has decided to publish their work, whether it’s books, comics, art music.  No matter what anyone says you are still among the elite If you’re looking for an historical fiction book then The Darkness Out of Carthage is a gem of a story. Carl does a fantastic job mixing Roman history during the Punic Wars with HP Lovecraft style horror. He comes up with a story that will keep you turning the pages.  You can tell Carl has done his homework in describing the soldiers uniforms, weapons, terrain and names of locations.  Carl keeps the reader guessing whether the narrator (Roman soldier) is delusional or if it’s all real. A contrast to this story maybe Carl would consider would be the same story from the perspective of a soldier of Carthage. The book is well paced jumping from present to the near past enough to keep the reader from getting to set on one timeline. This was a good move on Carls part. It Also gives the reader the opportunity to find out more about the main characters origins.  It’s a fast read, even for me who reads at a snail’s pace. Carl is meticulously detailed when he describes his surroundings here’s what I mean “Gloom clung to the streets between the gutted building. The entire city was drowned in obsidian fog. To breathe was to choke on hot ash.” When you read those few sentences you can picture the broken buildings and almost start coughing from the ash as you read the words. The whole story has the HP Lovecraft vibe, but also a bit Conan flavor too with some of the combat scenes the main character gets involved with. Some of the sorcery versus sword add to the Conan feel to it as well. If you like this type of genre then you won’t be disappointed. I hope he does some sort of sequel/prequel that takes place in the same time. If you haven’t read it I suggest you do you won’t be disappointed, plus it would help Carl out financially and boost his moral too. His other book I read is L is for Loon. It has one main story, but mixed in is a collection of short horror stories as well. I like how he uses local locations for a few of his stories and even mentions Eisner award winning Legends Comics and Coffee as a scene for one of his stories. In that particular story it wasn’t the typical gory way people die like most horror stories.  It was the uncanny feeling the antagonist made his victims feel when he would torture them in a way that would hurt each victim.  It was like the move seven where the way he killed his victim mirrored their personality.  It’s hard not to spoil it without having gone too far so I will just say when your read what he does to each victim you will feel uncomfortable, but not grossed out. The description of each event is done in such a vivid way you almost felt like the victim yourself. It’s a short read at 118 pages, but the stories are vivid and entertaining.  I am not big horror fan, but this one was a good read. At the end of each story you will get a twist you were not expecting. Two great books by one great writer. I will put a link to his books in the show notes. One thing I want to mention again and for those of you who listen regularly you will be thinking to yourselves.  Here he goes again.  Just start that book you have been thinking about starting, or that comic book you have been “working” on to 5 years, but it’s not perfect enough to be released. Or that song you have redone for the 100th time. You are never going to get to issue 100 until you release issue number 1.  You are never going to get your 1,000th download until you get your first download.  You are never going to sell you 100th book until you sell the 1st. Carl is a regular guy, just like you.  He has a job that sometimes he hates. He has a wife that he sometimes gets into arguments with, a school loan payment that seems like it will never end, kids that sometimes get sick. Maybe all of those don’t apply to you, but the point he’s a normal guy now (albeit talented) guy who decided to start. I guarantee you if you asked him about the stuff he wrote 15 years ago he would say most of it is awful.  However he kept at it, got feedback from others people then published it. I went back and listened to my intro episode, YUCK! The sound was hideous, I had a bunch of echo and intake of breath.  Now my sound is a little bit better and I know more than I did then about podcasting. Progression is slow, but I started the process and who knows maybe in 5 years I’ll have a mediocre podcast. There’s a young artist I saw at one of the first Fridays at Behind the Glass. For those of you who don’t know what a First Friday is, it’s an event at Behind the glass where local artists can bring their projects to sell. There is no cost to the artists all Nate asks is they pay 10% of their sales to him.  There are other event like cosplay and drawings. You can use the hashtag #firstfriday on Twitter to see what I am talking about.  Anyway she was asked by one of the other artists who was selling when she was going to sell her stuff.  She was hesitant and said I don’t think I am good enough yet. However a few months later I saw in a Facebook post she was selling her stuff at Behind the Glass first Friday. She stepped out and hasn’t missed a first Friday since. We all need encouragement because sometimes this world kicks us in the teeth.  Remember some people rain on your parade because they don’t have a parade of their own to rain on. I want to be that encouragement to you. You are most likely better than you think you are, but you won’t know until you start. You can do it, go out and start whatever it is you have been putting off.  Let me know what it is and I will do what I can to help.  Email me with a message or record a message and email it to me. Go to covertnerd.net to find all the ways you can reach me.   The Long Con by Oni This one is a fun book to read playing off of the insanity that are cons here’s the solicit Five years ago, a cataclysmic event obliterated everything within a fifty mile radius of the Los Spinoza Convention Center — including the attendees of Long Con, the world's biggest (and longest) comic convention. But unknown to the outside world, the con-goers not only survived, they kept the convention going. When proof of their survival surfaces, reporter Victor Lai is sent to investigate. After all, he was covering the con that fateful day, and escaped mere minutes before everything went kablooie... abandoning his nerdy pal Dez in the process. So clearly he's the perfect person for the job, and he won't get trapped inside like some kinda idiot. Right? Monstress Writer: Marjorie Liu Monstress is an Eisner award winning comic.  So far I am only 2 issues in, but it’s artwork is gorgeous and detailed. I hear it’s been slow to release new issue, but since I start a year or so after the first issue I should have to wait long. The universal Monstress is in, is vast and rich with potential story lines. So far I dig it, and you will most likely like it too, here’s the solicit: Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900’s Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steampunk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both. In the next few episodes might be a little different as I am experimenting with trying other formats, so you might be hearing other people with me.  Remember when I started the podcast last year it was going to be a journey as I figure this out. Who knows what I will settle on, but I do like just me a mic.  It’s simple and more personal, because it’s just you and me. So stayed tuned for what might be coming next. A big thank you to all of those who listen and comment on social media.  Like Lee Bokma you can see his work on FB at Art of Lee Bokma.  Also Jeff and Eddie over at MEGA podcast.  Jamie and Bri That One Time I was abducted by Aliens or TOTIWABA. Also the Nation of Nerds podcast.  If you want to be on the show you can send me an MP3 and email it to me CN@covertnerd.net or simply send me message via email or Instagram and I will read it on the air. Website is Covertnerd.net Thanks for listening and until next time nerd it up.

Why local cons Rock! And review writer Carl D Smith who shows you how the sausage is made.  ----more---- Con debriefing Small nerdy cons are the best! Everyone is nice and helpful. I had the honor and privilege to be on a panel with 2 other local podcasters Amber and Ben.  We talked about the basics on how to start a podcast.  It was well attended and people asked lots of questions during the panel and after.  When I first arrived I was shocked and asked the people if they were here for the podcasting panel thinking they got the room location wrong. Earlier in the day I told Amber I would be happy if 3 or 4 showed up.  To my surprise almost 40 attended. To say I was in shock would be an understatement. It gave me the energy I needed. I wasn’t nervous like I thought I might be and no one left in the middle of the panel. Victory number one of the con I also got to meet our local pod father Eddie of the Podcast Arcade. The rest of the members of the group are the most wonderful people you will ever meet.  They are all helpful and not trying to compete for your audience.  The podcast community for the most is like that, we aren’t trying to “steal” your audience. We all want more listeners, but we know there are plenty of listeners to go around. They even let me record a session on the make Eternia great again show with Jeff.  Side note Jeff and I hit it off since both of us have big families and we homeschool our kids.  At the con Jeff and I sat down and recorded a quick bit together. Victory number two of the con. For the first time in my life I took the time to sit down and play DND. Like I said in a previous episode I have never played DND, I have always wanted to, but never took the time to play.  Thankfully I had a patient DM who took the time to try and explain the many nuances of the game.  Me and my 3 other members who made up our adventurous group took on two small campaigns. Most of us were very green, but we seized the day with minimal damage.  I think the DM took it easy on us since we were new.  All in all it was fun, I like the fact DND has the large campaigns broken into smaller 1 hour adventures.  This allows the casual player to play a quick adventure and easily come back later.  I will plan on playing again soon. Victory number 3 of the con. I was able to chat with several creators in the vendor area. There are so many, Jesse of Tank Zombie Studios and The guys of Omaha Underground. Who indulged my questions and comments. Russell Nohelty who is passionate about helping other creators sell the things they create. K Lynn Smith who is insightful and delves out encouragement to all of those who talk with her. Wesley Sun of Sun Brothers Studio is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He is the type of guy will give you the short off his back if you need it. Lastly and certainly not least is Carl D Smith. I have known Carl since I came to college in 1992.  We weren’t best buds but were hung out occasionally and I appreciated his humor and love for all things nerdy.  After college our live never crossed paths much.  We reconnected this weekend and we both admitted we should have gotten together more since we live less than an hour away. Just like most people we get busy with jobs kids and day to day life we forget to take time to connect with those we used to know.  Hopefully that will change. Carl is a good guy with some great talent. I recommend you check out his work and all the other creators work, I will leave a link in the show notes. Final victory number 4 I almost forgot to mention I rode up with artist Lee Bokma.  We got to chat on the way up and back about all things nerdy like retro comics and video games.  I made a mistake, but it ended up being a good thing.  I thought the con started at 11 and actually it was noon. We got there around 10:30, so we had about an hour to waste.  Since we were in Council Bluffs I too him to Kanesville Kollectibles. Which is something Carl told me back in 92. It’s an old store which has old comics, books, records, cassettes and other old stuff. The place isn’t organized well, so you have to dig for what you are looking for. If you do some digging you can on rare occasions find a few gems you might be looking for.  Which for some is half the fun.  I found a bunch of comics for 50 cents and Lee found an old movie poster and a few comics. I was worried Lee might think the place is too dirty and unorganized, but he loved it and plans to come back. What I thought would be bad by making us have to wait an hour ended up being a good thing. Eddie has mentioned after a con you get energized, it’s like summer camp.  You don’t want the new people and things you saw to go away. Eventually they do somewhat diminish, but the new friendships and experience that are made keep going on. Yes there is a bit of a dip, but the trend tends to move up because of the connection and experiences that are made.  And that’s why you and I go to these things to connect with liked minded people and experience and see new things, to have fun. One thing I will do different next year is to bring one of my older kids. I think they could handle some of the grind.  They would have fun see all the nerdy stuff the con has to offer. After all that’s what cons are about experiencing new nerdy things together.   Carl D Smith If you are a regular listener you know I usually do a quick comic book review and I will.  However since I found some new books at the con I will be reviewing local artist and writers for the next few episodes. The first one is Carl Smith.  I am currently reading his BCWYWF Argosy, which is a collection of all of his released and unreleased works from the two issues of the series.  It also includes a journal which documents what he was thinking and going through during the time he was putting out his books. Each comic has a page or two explaining how he came up with the story and characters and a little bit about the process of working with artists and dealing with printers etc.  You really get to see how the sausage is made with this collection. The next book of Carl’s I got was the Horror of Loon Lake.  This is a collection of short comics and short stories all with a horror theme. Unlike BCWYWF Horror of Loon lake has almost no commentary, it’s pretty much all stories in written or comic form. It’s a bunch of creators who got together and combined their works into one big TPB. In both cases it’s wonderful to see creators put out their work for the world to see, and also have someone explain how hard it is to take on such and endeavor.  My hats off to Carl and all the people helped get their work published.  I will include a link to his work.  Please take a look at the books he has created, I only talked about two, but he has more novels and comics.  He’s also coming out with a new RPG game later this year. Plus he has a line of children’s books too call draw your own adventure. One thing I had re affirmed from O comic Con from the guys at the podcast arcade to talking with Russell Nohelty, K Lynn Smith, Wesley Sun and Carl Smith is start. If you’re on the fence about something you are hesitant to take on just start.  If you are a regular listener you have heard me say this many times.  In a tough world though I think we need to hear words of encouragement a lot more than we do. Perfect is the enemy of done. Even it’s a small step, at least that step is in the right direction.  If you shoot for the moon and you miss you will still be in a much better place. Whatever you are thinking about starting whether it’s a book or a new business, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but you’re not going to get any better until you start.  You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts,  Google Podcasts,  Spotify and even your Alexa.   Links from the episode: As full disclosure, certain products and links to products on this site are affiliate links, and I will earn a commission for any purchases you make. There is no additional cost to you. Works by Carl D. Smith: Bigfoot Jones: Hero! (Draw Your Own Adventure) (Volume 3) The BCWYWF Argosy The Horror of Loon Lake The Darkness Out of Carthage   Works by Russell Nohelty: Sell Your Soul: How to Build Your Creative Career Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter Pixie Dust   Works by K Lynn Smith: Plume Vol. 1 Plume Vol. 2 Plume Vol. 3   Works by Wesley Sun Tank Zombie Studios Omaha Underground Comics (OMUG) The Podcast Arcade Covertnerd.net

Today we will be talking about community building then Faith from Valiant comics. Links in the Episode: covertnerd.net Roseto PA Article Faith Herbert Wikia Shout Outs MEGA podcast That one time I was abducted Two Headed Nerds Bandrew Says podcast ----more---- There's no suicide, no alcoholism, no drug addiction, and very little crime. They didn’t have anyone on welfare. Then they looked at ulcers. They didn’t have any of those either. These people were dying of old age. Roseto PA a place that lay outside everyday experience, where the normal rules did not apply. Roseto was an outlier. The Rosetans were healthy because of where they were from, because of the world they had created for themselves in their tiny little town in the hills. In 1992 researchers began to realize the secret of Roseto wasn’t diet or exercise or genes or location. It had to be Roseto itself. As researcher walked around the town, they figured out why. They looked at how the Rosetans visited one another, stopping to chat in Italian on the street, say, or cooking for one another in their backyards. They learned about the extended family clans underlay the town’s social structure. They saw how many homes had three generations living under one roof, and how much respect grandparents commanded. They went to mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and saw the unifying and calming effect of the church. They counted twenty-two separate civic organizations in a town of just under two thousand people. They picked up on the particular egalitarian ethos of the community, which discouraged the wealthy from flaunting their success and helped the unsuccessful obscure their failures. No one was used to thinking about health in terms of community. Article here Starting a podcasting group to build community, behind the glass builds community. DND and pathfinder players build community. Community of people helping the homeless. All around us we see communities being built. Some good some bad, some big some small. At the end of the day we as humans like build groups with other like mined people. Why do you think cons about almost anything are so popular? We like to be around people who are into the things we are into. None of these will allow you to live into your 90s, at least they won’t most likely. But what community will do is give you a sense of belonging you are not alone. More enthusiasm when you leave and go back to your real world you have more passion for what you are into. Learn, you will most likely find something out you didn’t know before. I’m going to a local comic con soon with people who like comic books and other nerdy things. Recently we are working are building a local group around podcasting. The idea is to help each other get better at podcasting. Whether you are new to craft or have be doing it for years, we all can learn and help others learn. I think for the most part people desire to help others. That’s why I think the phrase “can you help me?” Is more effective “than can you do me a favor?” the latter insinuates you will have to pay them back. Since the phrase “you owe me a favor comes to mind.   Any way the idea to build a local in person community around the passion of podcasting. It will be fun and exciting to see what happens. Hopefully you have a community of people where you live gathering around the things you love. If you don’t try to find one. Most groups have some sort of presence online listing where and when they meet. Try one out, if you don’t like it try another group. If you can’t find one consider starting one around your area of interest. Let me know what communities you are involved with and why. Email me cn@covertnerd.net Twitter Instagram or Facebook. Go to covertnerd.net for all my contact info, plus I will include all my contact info in the show notes. If you are listening via mobile device you can simply contact me from your phone.   I don’t think Valiant comics gets the positive praise it deserves. Several years ago I was listening to the GoadKicker podcast by Carl Smith and he was talking about the rebooted Rai comic from Valiant. He could say enough good things about it. I thought what the heck I’ll check it out. I was pleasantly surprised at the fantastic art and storytelling. I then proceeded to read their super hero team title called Unity. Which then lead to the Ninjak title they print. Last but not least I ran into Faith which Carl had mentioned too I just never got around to her title until a few weeks ago. A side note, I have purposely for the most part avoiding Marvel and DC. A way of rebelling against the populace. Yeah I’m a rebel. Jim Shooter and David Lapham created Faith Herbert (code name Zephyr) in 1992. She is a sci-fi and comic book nerd, which leads her to adopt more traditional superhero characteristics than her friends, such as secret identities and super-names. She is a huge fan of Doctor Who. She’s a legit fan girl who creates listicles and posts cat videos by day while fighting crime by night. Physically Faith isn’t your stereotypical female hero. What I mean she’s not a size zero with a large bust line. That may sound crude, but come one guys let’s face it. Comic artist get a little carried away when it comes to the female form in comics. I like the fact the creators of Faith made her more realistic. She’s one us, one of the nerds who doesn’t look like how society wants are young woman to look. She’s not super skinny she’s not into being popular and pretty. She just wants to enjoy the nerdy stuff she enjoys and oh by the way use her powers for good. In fact many of her story lines she questions the motives of the other hero’s because she doesn’t want to inadvertently hurt someone else. She has a n innocence about her. And that’s why she’s a breath of fresh air. She’s relatable trying to balance a job a boyfriend and catching the latest episode of Dr. Who. Since her character is innocence it’s nice to read a more light hearted book. Maybe you can relate, when you are reading more dark books does it affect your mood? I know I can get that way, I have to realize when it’s time to move to something lighter. The darker topics and titles are okay, but just like anything in moderation. I should also clarify that the Faith title doesn’t tackle any tough issues, but her character lends itself to not going there. You aren’t going to see her break a bad guys back on purpose. In fact she goes out of her way to avoid hurting anyone if possible. Let alone kill any one. Another interesting item I found was in the first appearance of Faith in Harbinger #1 1992. When she is found out that she has super powers she thinks the people who came to see her are there to make fun of her. Which as a nerd most of us can relate when were younger, we were afraid we were going to get made fun of because of the nerdy things we like. It defiantly hints that she has been bullied at school. Look at the list of accolades this title has gotten over the years.   Faith was named one of The 16 Best Comics of 2016 by Nerdist. Faith was named one of The 7 best new comics of 2016 by Vox. Faith was named one of The 14 Best Comics Of 2016 by Uproxx. Faith was named one of The 7 Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2016 by Barnes & Nobles. The Faith #1 (ongoing series) Kevin Wada cover was the years' best cover on the Vulture list of The 10 Best Comic-Book Covers of 2016. Faith Vol. 1: Hollywood and Vine TPB was named one of the Best of 2016 by the Everett Public Library system Faith Vol. 1: Hollywood and Vine TPB was named one of the Best Comics & Graphics Novels of 2016 by Amazon   Nominations 2016 Diamond Gem Award Nominations 2016 Best Comic Book of the Year: Faith #1 (Ongoing) 2016 Best New Comic Book Series: Faith – Valiant Entertainment 2016 Reprint TP or HC of the Year: Faith TPB Volume 1: Hollywood & Vine Faith, Volume 1: Hollywood and Vine TPB was nominated for the 2016 Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers List from YALSA.   The great thing is they put most of her stories in long TPB form. Which like I said in my last episode is great to read because you can binge on a long story. Pick up any of her trades, you won’t be disappointed. And look at other Valiant titles they have some good titles.   Shout Outs MEGA podcast That one time I was abducted Two Headed Nerds Bandrew Says podcast   Thanks again for listening visit covertnerd.net to contact me

East of West comic book by Jonathan Hickman   This is the world. It is not the one we wanted, but it is the one we deserved. Is a quote from the East of West comic book series. ----more---- The comic received nominations for Best Writer, Best Continuing Series, Best Artist, and Best Colorist from the Eisner Awards (unfortunately winning none of them). That’s massive amount of praise and honor surrounding this book East of West is a comic book series published by Image Comics Created by writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Nick Dragotta, the book is a science fiction Western set in a dystopian version of the United States whose fate rests with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Things didn’t exactly go down in the American Civil War like expected. The war went on and on and on between the North and South; even the Native Americans got in on the fighting. Then, after years and years of fighting, a huge comet collided with the Earth and the people saw it as a sign to end. In 1908, America was divided up into the Seven Nations of America. On the same day, two figures from different walks of life, Elijah Longstreet and Red Cloud, told of something big on the horizon before they died. Several years later, another big figure dies, delivering out another message. When all three accounts were combined, they came together and created something called The Message. It is the story—or perhaps an actual account—of how the world will end. Flash forward to the year 2064 and that’s where the story begins. The Union: The north east region of the US The Confederacy: The southeast region of the US The Kingdom: Louisiana region of the US The Endless Nation: Central plains region of the US The Republic of Texas: Texas and Oklahoma region of the US PRA: Western region of the US, from the Rocky mountains to the pacific ocean The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Death, War, Famine, and Conquest) seek to bring about the end of the world. Their plans are interrupted when the daughter of the leader of the PRA falls in love with death. Essentially love conquers death. When I found this series it reminded me of the Stephen King Dark Tower series in some ways. Both are futuristic western post-apocalyptic worlds. The story has a lot of characters and can be difficult to follow at time. In some ways that makes it interesting too, because the reader doesn’t spend much time on one single character. Hickman has created an immense world for his characters to play in. When the series is done I hope he does a few short runs in the world he has created. The intrigue and deception the leaders of the 7 nations create is fun to follow. You never know what kind of coupe or assassination attempt they are going to try next. If you haven’t picked it up I suggest you do so. Image has put the entire series into an 8 volume set. On April of this year, Amazon Studios, Skybound Entertainment and Hickman are developing an hour-long series   Binge reading comics In the age of streaming it’s no wonder my comic reading patterns have changed, have yours? It could be the fact for the most part I haven’t been into comics in almost 25 years. I bought some here and there during that time, but not like I did in the early 90’s. I might have a subconscious need to try and catch up. I think and you might have the same perspective, I like to be able to read a story from beginning to end without having to wait a month for the latest issue to come out. Just like binging a TV show on Netflix, binging on a comic book story is similar. I know many old timers like me have gone from getting the floppies as they are called to the TPB. Since it’s cheaper per issue to do it this way. If you are not a collector this is the way to go in my opinion. I am more of a lover of the story and art not the perceived value of the issue. If you like collecting for the value great, some people enjoy the hunt for certain issues. If you like that great! Either way keep reading and enjoy the format, whether it’s binging or month have fun. How have your reading habits changed over the years?   Nerdy dads Recently I celebrated father’s day, and it was great. My kids know I’m nerdy and took me to a local comic book shop which also connects to a huge retro toy store with toys from the 70’s 80’s and 90’s. We spent hours looking and laughing at all sorts of things we saw. One son found some old DND players and DM guides written by Gary Gygax. Another son found one of those old mini Pac man arcade machines. At the comic shop they were selling stacks of comics for a dollar and for an old cheapskate like me that was right up my alley. Some of the comic in the stack were one I had lost because I was storing a long box in the basement and the AC condensation hose broke and was flooding the basement for days before we noticed. I know you are screaming to yourself what an idiot. In all fairness I had been storing them like this for over 26 years without an issue. But yes lesson learned. Anyway they heard me mention this and while I was looking at some other stuff they went and bought me a couple of stacks of comics. While I was there I saw a lady in the store who looking at comics and she found a TPB and commented to the store owner her dad loved the writer and was getting it for him. She also bought a few things for her husband. Her daughter who was with her also bought a few books for her dad. And paid for it herself, she was probably around 6 or 7 counting out her quarters and few dollars she had, it was heartwarming to see kids young and old and their nerdy dads interact with the things they nerd out about. Do you do nerdy things with your dad? Doesn’t have to be nerdy, but since this is a nerd podcast that’s what we focus on here. If you and your dad like to fish do it together, if you and your dad like to watch baseball do it together. Whatever it is do it together while you still can, he won’t be around forever. Take advantage of your time while you still can.   Shout out time: That One Time I Was Abducted Bri and Jaime on Instagram Grawlix Podcast Jesse, Randy and Melanie graxlixpodcast.com All the guys at the Podcast Arcade Lee Bokma at FB Art of Lee Bokma Podcast Rodeo Show with host Dave Jackson Again go to covertnerd.net to find out how you can subscribe and contact me via email, Twitter Instagram or Facebook. You can leave an audio message from the microphone in your phone or speaker. Click the speakpipe button on the website and let me know your thoughts   Thanks again I appreciate you as a listener, until next time.  

Today we will discuss what Amazon should do with the LOTR and then take a wild ride back in time to the early 90’s video games with Wil Wheaton. Let’s nerd it up. Thank you for listing I appreciate the time you give me. I hope I can make it worth your time. ----more---- Listen to the Masters of Doom audio sample from Amazon.   Men of the West Youtub channel   Shout out time: That One Time I Was Abducted Bri and Jaime on instagram Grawlix Podcast Jesse, Randy and Melanie graxlixpodcast.com Brandon Stilwell on Instagram @brans_art_ Lee Bokma at FB Art of Lee Bokma   Download complete show notes

Today we will talk about who is a DND virgin, a fantastic comic book from Dark Horse and finally exciting marvel card series from 1992. ----more---- Download show notes here

Today on the covert nerd podcast we will be talking about focusing on the things we have in common, then a Wrestling podcast I know you will love. Lastly a look at a comic book that takes a dark twist on the Biblical flood.   Covert Nerd Website ----more---- Links from the episode Game to Grow Take This Something to Wrestle Dark Ark Comic Not Your Pastors Podcast The Green Door Podcast That One Time I was Abducted by Aliens Better Podcasting   Full Show Notes

Today we discuss passing on nerd hobbies, then a fun podcast called Daydream Instruction Manual.  Finally the fabulous comic book Invincible.  ----more---- It’s interesting how popular nerd hobbies are passed down to the next generation more now than they were in 60’s or 70’s. I find it fascinating how pop culture from the 80’s is and has been reused, some cases multiple times. You see retro podcast and even retro cons for various pop culture hits from the 80’s like MOTU, GI Joe and Transformers.  It’s popular to collect everything from the 80’s like one guy who collects MOTU Mossman figures, only Mossman no others. One theory I have is maybe we and when I say we I mean Gen Xrs or people between 35 and 55 are more open about the things we played with as a child more than our parents did. We seem to be more excited about them than are parents were.  It seems when they grew up and put them away they put them away for good.  For us yes we put them away for a time, but got them back out when we got older. We aren’t afraid to talk about them in front of our kids, we aren’t afraid to play with them in front of our kids and encourage them to play with them too. Our kids know what we like. The other day my kids were helping an older lady clean out the house of her brother who died. For several days they were bringing stuff up from the basement and bedrooms out to the main room for her to go through.  She had 3 categories to put the items in.  Sell, give away and throw away.  My kids being kids would look through the items.  I wasn’t there, but my son was excited one day when I came home from work.  He said dad we saw these old board games one of them was an old 1961 Stratego board game we thought you would like, we asked the lady if we could have them. For those of you who don’t know Stratego is a strategy board game for two players on a board of 10×10 squares. Each player controls 40 pieces representing individual officer ranks in an army. The pieces have Napoleonic insignia. The objective of the game is to find and capture the opponent's Flag, or to capture so many enemy pieces that the opponent cannot make any further moves. She said she is going to ask her son if he wants them and if he doesn’t then we can have them.  A few days later they brought Stratego and two other old games home, because her son didn’t want them.  I was excited to have these very old board games, then I thought how cool is it my kids know how nerdy I am when they saw something like that they immediately thought of me. And they thought of me in the first place instead of themselves That’s the good that comes from recycling things from our past, we can reconnect with our past and connect with those in our present.  Of course as soon as they got the games home they wanted to play. And we did and had a blast. Some may balk at the re-booting of 80’s franchises and to some extent I agree.  However the older generation may not like how it’s been redone, but it gets us talking to the new generation about our past.  It’s like in Back to the Future when Marty Mclflys dad tells how he met his mom and when Marty goes back he finds out he met his mom because he was a peeping Tom. When these reboots come out we can tell our kids the truth how it was exactly done when we were young.  We can tell them what we were thinking when we saw the original TV show or played with the action figure.  How they made us feel and behaved, we can tell them what we did with our action figures and the stories that go with them.  How we went to so and so house and setup a battle field in his back yard. What was going on in the world at the time we were playing with these things. Again it’s not just the item that’s important it’s the memories that are attached to the item.  Yes, we sound like old curmudgeons when we say, “back in my day our Heman wore a fur diapers and we liked it.” Try to keep the negative comments to a minimum.  How about “cool that they brought it back when I played with MOTU I really liked Trap Jaw because you could change out the different weapons and...” Most of the kids I have met actually like seeing the retro stuff.  For example one day I showed my kids the old combat game on the Atari 2600.  You know the one with the two tanks that start at opposite ends of the screen and object is to shoot the other one a certain amount of times to win.  Its graphics are extremely basic by todays standards, but the fun is just as good.  However I will admit the replay value is short lived.  For a short period of time my kids liked it and occasionally will ask to play it.  Wil Wheaton on his blog told a similar story about a time he dug out his old Atari 2600 from his closet.  He hooked it up and his kids spent the next several days playing his old carts. I am sure he told stories to his kids about the times he played those same games.   Podcast Shout out Daydream Instruction Manual is a podcast by Eddie and the gang.  They talk about a variety of things from comics to movies both current and from the past.  They even did a Christmas special written by Eddie and performed by members of the podcast crew. They are entertaining and informative at the same time.  I highly recommend you give them a listen.  Go to daydreaminstructionmanual.com   Must read comic I know I mentioned in a previous episode, but I want to mention it again.  I binge read the comic book Invincible by Robert Kirkman all 144 inssues in about 3 weeks.  Side note I have done a lot more binge reading more lately, maybe it because I am getting back into comics after being for the most part absent for 20 years. For that reason maybe I think I have catching up to do. From beginning to end this title is a page turner.  The reason I like it is because the story is very tight.  What I mean is the story stays for the most part about the main character Mark Grayson and how he deals with being an alien super hero.  I know this may sound controversial, but I don’t like comics that try to force social issues into their story lines.  If the subject fits, then okay. For example having Superman address the MeToo movement would appear to be forced. Again I am not saying shouldn’t ever I am saying don’t try to force something to fit a current narrative.  With Invincible trying to spend several issues on a subject like that would be tough to do, in my opinion. They do touch on homosexuality and abortion, but it’s minor, I like that because it fits into the overall tone and rhythm of the story.  With both subjects it didn’t appear to be forced. It fit into the overall story. Robert Kirkman does a great job with the story telling and throws a few Easter eggs in the book too.  For example in Invincible #20 they mention a dimension where a virus kills all the males on earth.  Referring to Brian K Vaughans Y the last man. Anyway a great title that I highly recommend and you won’t be disappointed.  If you read Invincible and you like it let me know I would love to hear what you think.   Quick shout outs to a few listeners.  That One Time I was Abducted and Not Your Pastors Podcast. If you want a shout out hit me up on social media, got to covertnerd.net to see where you can find me. Go to covertnerd.net for all the ways you can subscribe Nate Hamel art give away the first one to message me on Instagram or twitter and I will send it to you.

Today I sat and talked with artist and creator Nate Hamel. He gives us all some great advice as far as becoming an artits and life in general. He tells us about his work he has done over the years and the nerdy stuff he likes. You can find out more about Nate in the links below. ----more---- www.facebook.com/BTGcomic/ www.natehamel.com covertnerd.net

Today I will be a bit of a word nerd, then we take a look at a beautiful CCG based in Middle Earth, lastly we will look at the comic book Invincible. ----more---- Word Nerd George Orwell put the point simply: “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” The words you say can make a big difference in how others perceive you and your ability to convey exactly what you are thinking. Substituting a word for another can make a big difference. For example using the word think, know or believe for the word feel conveys a more steadfast rational tone. “I feel this issue of X-Men is the best.” Try substituting the word know instead. “I know this issue of X-Men is the best.” Do you hear the difference? I believe the word feel is less firm than think, know or believe. When you decided your significant other was the one for you did you say “I feel you are the one for me.” or “I know you are the one for me.” See the difference? I understand for some this may be a petty issue, however if you want to convey to people how strongly you believe in your convictions this is a simple way to do it. I am not saying never use the word feel, but try using the word when it’s more appropriate. For example. “The movie made me feel happy.” Or “the book I read made me feel inspired.” If you are offering your opinion instead of using feel use the word opinion. Here’s another example, instead of saying “don’t forget to pick up your prescription today.” Instead say “Remember to pick up your prescription today.” Subconsciously you are telling the person to remember instead of forget. Obviously you want them to remember, consequently telling to remember will increase the likelihood of them remembering. Another phrase to readjust is instead of saying “can I ask you a favor?” say “can you help me with …?” This is the reason why, when someone hears you want to ask them for a favor that means they want you to do something, which usually involves more work on their part. When someone ask for help most people want to help other people. Most people are willing to help a person when they need it. I know this is something we have all had happen to us, you are listening to a podcast and the person says “uhm” over and over again argh! It’s so distracting you struggle to listen the great content they are giving you. Other words are like and you know. These are what are called crutch words, it’s a subconscious way to buy your brains time to think of what you want to say next. It’s hard to not use crutch words, especially if you are in front of a group. I am not perfect at this, however I am getting better. How? I joined Toastmasters several years ago and have had time to practice my speaking skills. For some of you your skill set be different and you don’t struggle with these communication issues, good for you, however most of us could use a little help. I have always thought if you compare two people one with good content, but using excessive crutch words. And another person with not as good content, but no crutch words narrows the gap between the two people. Either way both people can take their communication skills to the next level. Imagine for a moment a person you know who has amazing stories, but constantly says the word like. Think of how more amazing their stories would be if they cut out their crutch word. Imagine if that person is you. Like I said I am not perfect at this, but I am getting better and that my friends is the key. Getting better a little each day and you can too. If you want to sharpen your communication skills then use these simple ideas to help you out, be more aware of what you are saying and how you say it. Try only one of these subtle changes for a week and see what happens. I know you will start to notice a difference in how others perceive and respond to you. Did you see how I did that? Let me know what happens.   MECCG back in 1996 was the first time I sat down and read LOTR, I happen to find the Hobbit and the LOTR set of books at a book/cd store called Hastings when I was in college. I had never heard of Tolkien up to that point or at least not enough to want to sit down and read his works. Immediately I was hooked. A few weeks later I went back to the same store and saw the METW CCG game on clearance. This huge bin like the ones you see at Walmart with the $5 Blu-ray discs. This bin was full of the 15 card packs of the game for only a $.50. The bin also had other CCG like rage and Star Wars which several classmates were into. The 15 card booster packs didn’t come with instructions, I had to buy a 60 card starter deck. This game was so cool the art and quotes on the cards was amazing. I bought as many packs as I could afford, probably more than I could afford, but I knew at .50 these wouldn’t last long. Evidently a manager over bought for the amount fans they thought they could sell. Oh well I took advantage of the situation. The basic setup is you have four types of cards. Hazard cards which are negative events for your characters, like orc attacks. Type two of card is resource item like a dagger or elven cloak. Type three are site cards, like Rivendell or Mount Doom. Type four are character cards like Gandalf or Boromir. There are many rule variants, but one of the ways to win is to get the one ring and travel to mount doom and destroy the ring. When I got the game I didn’t have anyone to play with so I used the solo rules to play, which had the same end game of finding the one ring and taking it to mount doom. Of course you have to travel to many locations “site cards” and encounter many enemies and hazards and find many items before you get there. Plus your fellowship has to survive too. The rules can be a bit complicated at first, but any Tolkien fan will enjoy the game. The first series to come out was METW, which was mainly based on the LOTR series. Another expansion was METD which had more focus on the Hobbit book. Like most CCG the idea was to try and get a full set. About a year later I was on EBay and found someone selling boxes of the decks. These are the ones the stores would sell from. Each box had 20 decks in them. I bought two boxes which got me almost a full set, and plenty to play. Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is the company who made the game and other types of games based on the Tolkien universe. They seemed to do a good job of trying to stay true to the Tolkien literature. It had a similar feel to the books. I highly recommend you pick up a set on eBay. You can get a complete set of METW for around $60 I spent many hours the first year I got those making decks and playing adventures. At one point my wife had to tell me to stop playing so much. Eventually it got put away and untouched for years. I get it out every once in a while and play, with nostalgia flooding me back to days gone by. I immediately get immersed in the Tolkien world. Remember this game predates the movies, and therefore stays closely to the books. Very different than the CCG that came out with the movies.   Comic Book Commentary: Invincible Lately I have found Image has some great super hero stories. In the early days of Image I liked Youngblood, Spawn and Wildcats. I quite collecting for a long time, then a few years ago I got back in comics again. Two titles I found early on were Mark Milars Jupiter series and Invincible. Both are fantastic, you can’t go wrong with either. However today I want to talk about invincible. Invincible is written by Robert Kirkman who you might know as the creator of the famous walking dead comic book and also Cory Walker. Invincible is the teenaged son of Omni-Man, an extraterrestrial superhero of the Viltrumite race. Invincible inherited his father’s superhuman strength and ability to fly and he has sworn to protect the Earth. He has had trouble adjusting to his newfound powers and coping with the reality of his origins. Mark Grayson “Invincible” is the son of Nolan Grayson, who is the superhero Omni-Man as well as a successful novelist, and Deborah Grayson. When Mark was seven years old, Nolan reveals that he is a member of a race of peaceful alien explorers called Viltrumites, that he had come to Earth to help mankind and that one day Mark would develop super powers. Mark's powers manifest at the age of 17 while he is working at his part-time job.   His powers, which increase with use, are: great strength, speed, flight, some invulnerability and fortunately fast healing as despite his chosen name, he is severely beaten (even once having his entrails spilled out) many times, almost to death. Also an ability to hold his breath for very long periods as he flies through space at faster than light speed. As of this recording I have only gotten to issue 17, of the 144 issue series, but so far I like it. Yes, it’s a little bit of the overly used teenage kids tries to deal with the fact he has super powers and the complexities of dealing with teenage stuff like prom, girls tomorrows history exam. But it seems to be able to capture my attention. It has some plot twists and turns with unexpected events form people you thought he could trust. The art was done primarily by Ryan Ottley and is very good. This comic can be a bit gory at times, and may not be appropriate for young readers. You can still pick up all the issues in the Invincible Ultimate Collection Hardcover Vol. 1-12, there is also an Invincible motion comic for Android and IOS. Plus On April 4, 2017, it was announced that Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg will write, direct and produce an adaptation of the comic for Universal Pictures to be produced by Point Grey Pictures and Skybound Entertainment. We will see if this happens since it’s still very early stages. Check out the comic and let me know if you liked or not.   Podcast: Grawlix podcast A podcast about comic books, web comics, and other geek culture media. We love to talk comics and Doctor Who and the podcast is an opportunity to do so on the regular as well as a great excuse to discover and read new comics. We also extend the conversation beyond ourselves to include reading suggestions, questions, and input from listeners/visitors and feature interviews with guests including comic creators and others working in our favorite of geek industries. If you are wondering what the term grawlix is, grawlix is a sequence of typographical symbols used to represent a non-specific, profane word or phrase. You see them in TV or comics when someone swears. Being a child of the 80’s I think of the Qbert video game when he dies the little air bubble shows ups with all the symbols in it. Melanie Randy and Jesse are great, their chemistry and knowledge about all the nerdy stuff they like is fantastic. They’re amazing ability to expound on details from the comics and subjects they cover is incredible. I have read many comics they have suggested and liked them just as much as they did. Go to grawlixpodcast.com to find out more about them. Thank you for listening, please subscribe using the Apple podcast app, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Podbean or go to covertnerd.net on the right side of the page you can see subscribe on android icon click on that and will find dozens of other podcast apps you can pick from to use and subscribe. If you want to be on the podcast email me your audio clip at cn@covertnerd.net or on the webpage click on the Speakpipe icon and record a message I would love to hear from you. Also please rate and review on iTunes.   If you like this show please share on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Today we will discuss are you being authentic? Then the fun you can have with your Alexa. A great movie podcast that you can use to impress your friends with little known facts finally a comic book that will make you wonder. This episode is jam packed so let’s get started.  ----more---- “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” ― Dr. Seuss   Are you being authentic? Do you act or speak in a totally different way when certain people are around you? Now I don’t mean you stop swearing when you are with your 7 year old child is around.   I should preface this with the fact I am not perfect at this all of the time. I am human, however I am very mindful about being genuine now than I was 10 years ago. As the saying goes with age comes wisdom. This is only my opinion. If you are already being authentic great, I just wanted to bring awareness to this subject for those of us who need a reminder.   What I mean is do you change your personality based on who’s around you? For example I am in B2B sales, I have seen many other sales reps over the years really turn on the charm to the point it can make you nauseas. They over promise and under deliver. I try to do the opposite under promise and over deliver. I try not to promise something I can’t keep, I am sure it costs me some sales, but at least I can say I was honest and I wasn’t being fake.   Some other examples of this is a podcast I listen to the host really turns on the radio voice. You know the voice. I later heard him in an interview for another podcast and his radio voice was nowhere to be heard. Why? I mean I know why, but why not be honest with your audience on or off the mic? I could tell when I first listened to his podcast I could immediately tell the radio voice was fake, the other interview just confirmed my suspicion.   I know another podcast who never swears on the podcast, but their twitter feed is full of curse words. Why?   I’m sure we can agree we don’t like people who are fake. I do my best to give you honesty and not be fake. Based on the two previous examples the voice you hear now in front of the mic is the same you would hear off of the mic. I rarely swear of the mic and you will rarely hear me swear on the mic, that’s just the way I am. Again I try to be honest on and off the mic. The two a fore mentioned guys are successful and creative I wonder if they could take their creativity to the next level if they were consistent.   This is just a thought that came to me the other day and wanted to flesh it out.   Another example of this is the comic book artist and writer Alan Moore. Comic book artist Alan Moore took on the Rob Liefields Supreme title at Image comics said he would only do it if he had full control. He wanted to be able to write the character as he saw fit, to be the best writer he could be he needed the flexibility to do whatever he wanted with the title. At first it sounds as if he is being over controlling, but he wanted to be able to be himself and not have someone else force him to be something he isn’t. Since he had established himself with Watchmen and other titles, he could ask for more than a new struggling artist. Part of the benefit of being successful, but a good example of someone wanting to be themselves.   How about Jaime Hyneman, the co-host of mythbusters. He is well known for being stoic all the time. They did an episode where people had to try to guess the persons emotions by only seeing their eyes. Before they gave the examples the crew Adam Jayme and others had to make a face depending on their emotions. Happy, sad, angry and so forth. With Jayme his facial expressions were all the same. He was being him, when they approached him about doing the show, they needed to add a co-host with more emotion, to appeal to the viewers. Because he said he couldn’t act more emotional. He wanted to be him.   Sometimes I see blatant dishonesty, on a podcast about podcasting I heard a guy promoting a podcast hosting service. On the site they said they were the world’s most popular podcast hosting site. The host called him out and he said they need to say something like that to attract customers, even though it was a lie. Wow!   Whatever you create be real be authentic, even if it stinks you can stand tall knowing you tried and it’s you not an imitation of someone else. Like last episode just start you can modify and correct later.   Like this podcast I will be make changes as we go, but it will always be nerdy stuff, because that's me. You won’t get any fantasy football episodes or NBA final week stuff. People who like that stuff great that’s their thing it’s just not me.   People can tell fairly quickly if you are being genuine or faking. Very few can pull off a long term deception. I know this sounds cliché, just be yourself   Tech Talk I got an Amazon dot a few weeks ago and we are enjoying all the things it can do, one thing I found was interactive audio stories, just like the choose your own adventure stories. You listen to small snippets of the story then you get to pick an option. It’s like an audio drama you would have heard in the 30’s and 40’s, but instead of being one way you the listener get to decide what happens. There are sound effects and voice actors who play the parts of the characters. There are several to choose from Wayne investigations where you try to find out who killed Bruce Wayne's parents and the magical door which is a mystery fantasy type story. There are more too, but these are the ones we have been using so far. I find it fascinating, even though I am about 2 years behind. If you have an Alexa I encourage you to try these out. It likes like it’s not too difficult to make these types of skills, if you are a creator I would encourage you to make one, give it a shot. Whoever owns the rights to the old choose your own adventure books could easily translate these stores to an audio format. I love things like this. I think it’s more engaging that TV. My kids love it.   Podcast shout out time. This time I want to get local, if you like movies you will love Underground Inc. Ben, Anthony and Billy are extremely knowledgeable and funny. The insight they have about the movies they watch is incredible, I am always amazed at the trivial things I learn when listening to them comment while watching a movie. I have met Ben personally and he is a great guy. It’s like an audio version of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Except they watch popular movies instead of B movies. Check them out Underground Inc.   Comic Book Commentary I read through Y: The Last Man from Vertigo it explores the idea of what would happen to the planet if all male mammals suddenly died. Written by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra In 2002   The reader finds out quickly there was two males who didn’t die the main character Yorick and his pet monkey. Yorick is a struggling escape artist who spends the entire series trying to get to his girlfriend who is in Australia while he was in Washington DC when the pandemic occurs. We follow his journey and along the way he finds out who and what may have caused the plague.   Yorick is accompanied by agent 355 who is his bodyguard along the way on his journey. Being the last male he has to survive to continue the human race.   The story gives insight to the chaos the world is suddenly plunged into and the violent factions start to develop like the militant Daughters of the Amazon and other smaller gangs.   I thought this was a good read, I like it because it has a defined start and a definite end, 60 issues. The author wasn’t trying to keep going just to keep going. It’s long enough to tell the story. The story moves fast enough to keep you interested and the art was good. It’s Vertigo and has a lot of language, nudity and blood, defiantly not kids friendly IMO.   You can find it on Amazon, I will have links in the show notes at covertnerd.net Check it out and let me know what you think. It won a few awards and Brian K Vaughn has written some other works that were very successful like Saga and   If you would like to be on the show send in your question or comments either in MP3 format or written to cn@covertnerd.net. I would love to hear from you. Please keep the audio to at least 2 minutes or less.   Our contest is still going on all you have to do to enter in the drawing email me cn@covertnerd.net, put in the subject line mint works, and then include your full name in the body. Or on Instagram DM me with mint works and you full name. Either method will get an entry into the contest. Please only one entry per person and you must be 18 to enter.   Thank you for listening, please subscribe using Apple podcast app, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Podbean or go to covertnerd.net on the right side of the page you can see subscribe on android icon click on that and will find dozens of other podcast apps you can pick from to use and subscribe.   If you like this show please share on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.