00:00:00:09 - 00:00:25:23
SEAN
Welcome back to the show. In this episode, we have a great interview lined up for you. Comics writer Stephanie Phillips joins us. And we do a round of this or that. And we also talk about her work on her Ph.D. as well as her love for hockey. And episode. Spotlight for This Week is the podcast. All Day with Lee, she's actually been a guest on this show a couple of times and if you love to hear different perspectives about different topics or viewpoints and the geeky fandoms, this is a great podcast to check out.

00:00:25:23 - 00:00:35:22
SEAN
I highly recommend it. I will give you a link to her show in the show notes below. Let's get started.

00:00:35:24 - 00:00:58:02
SEAN
Hi. Welcome to The Captioned Life, a show for the most casual and dedicated fans of comics in a member of the comic Watch family. I'm your host. Sean joined me and discovers what the world of comics and graphic novels have to offer from one on one interviews with industry professionals, roundtable discussions with passionate fans, and reviews on the latest comics, TV shows and movies.

00:00:58:04 - 00:01:03:16
SEAN
Let's dive right on in.

00:01:03:18 - 00:01:20:14
SEAN
So we have a fantastic guest on the show today. Many of you may know her in her awesome work, but for those of you who do not know her, let me introduce to you our guest, Stephanie Phillips. Stephanie is an American writer known for comics and graphic novels such as Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, Grim And We only kill each Other.

00:01:20:19 - 00:01:33:09
SEAN
We have. She has written critically acclaimed, worked with some of the industry's major publishers, such as DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image Comics, Boom and more. Stephanie, welcome to The Captioned Life Show.

00:01:33:11 - 00:01:35:11
STEPHANIE
Okay. Thanks for having me.

00:01:35:13 - 00:01:41:20
SEAN
I notice that you actually just came back from a trip to Europe, is that correct?

00:01:41:22 - 00:01:43:20
STEPHANIE
Yes. Seven weeks.

00:01:43:22 - 00:01:46:15
SEAN
Oh, my gosh. Seven weeks. Everyone is. Is that long?

00:01:46:17 - 00:01:53:11
STEPHANIE
Yes, it was six countries and seven weeks, so. No, it was.

00:01:53:11 - 00:01:58:15
SEAN
A just like a fun trip that you're doing that you've been wanting to do, or was it like work related or.

00:01:58:17 - 00:02:24:07
STEPHANIE
An. Using conventions to kind of bounce around. So like starting at Napoli Comic-Con and Italy the kitchen in Greece and then Belgium and London were kind of just our thing and then back to conventions, like doing a signing in Spain and ending with a convention in Budapest. No kidding.

00:02:24:09 - 00:02:27:04
SEAN
Have you have you been to any of those countries before?

00:02:27:06 - 00:02:41:05
STEPHANIE
Some of them, yes. Some of them were completely new. So it was a it was a good mix, I think, of like revisiting and getting lots of passport stamps, which is my favorite thing. So. Yeah. Yeah.

00:02:41:05 - 00:02:47:17
SEAN
Awesome. So so all the countries that you visited, which one did you really enjoy going to on this trip?

00:02:47:19 - 00:03:05:17
STEPHANIE
Belgium, for sure. I like Belgian beer and just being able to walk out of it like there's a convenience store that was like on the corner of where I was staying and it was like they had beer there so cheap that in the US you can't even get in the U.S. and if you find it somewhere, it's like $40 a bottle and there's just like a convenience store.

00:03:05:17 - 00:03:33:07
STEPHANIE
You're like, Wait, what? So that was that was definitely my favorite, though. As much as I want to live there, I also like how much beer I would drink would probably be problematic. So maybe it's good. I don't. I don't know. Yeah, but the Comic museum there was also really, really cool, like getting to see kind of how they like really revered like comics and all the different shops and the way they treat pop culture was it was really interesting.

00:03:33:07 - 00:03:38:07
STEPHANIE
So. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, Belgium was was absolutely my favorite place that we went.

00:03:38:09 - 00:03:41:20
SEAN
Oh, what's the name of that museum? I kind of went, Check this out. Now.

00:03:41:22 - 00:04:16:10
STEPHANIE
Do you remember? No, it's just like it was just like the comic museum in in Brussels. Oh, okay. I don't know if it has another name other than that, but they have rotating exhibits. They have some stuff that stays like they're big on the Smurfs, obviously. So there's a lot of merch stuff. But no, it was like really cool to see pages from from different artists and just even the comic shops, like walking into the comic shops and seeing like how nice their additions of some things are and yeah, no kidding.

00:04:16:12 - 00:04:17:16
STEPHANIE
I was it was really cool.

00:04:17:18 - 00:04:36:10
SEAN
Awesome. Yeah, I'll have to check that out. That sounds really interesting. So. Well, cool. I've heard some great things about Belgium. I've actually I've only went to I have been to a few countries and that's Italy and a really weird one like Croatia, which the reason being is because when I was growing up, I actually I was raised Catholic.

00:04:36:10 - 00:04:53:11
SEAN
And so there is a place not necessarily in Croatia, but I think near there called like Magic area. And I went on a pilgrimage there with with my family and stuff like that. And so that was like the only reason why I went there. Like I never imagine myself saying, like, I want to go to Croatia, you know, by any means whatsoever.

00:04:53:11 - 00:04:58:24
STEPHANIE
Oh, I do, though. I've heard it's really it's supposed to be really nice and I think it is there. So.

00:04:59:01 - 00:05:21:11
SEAN
Yeah, yeah. No, it's actually really nice country. I just, you know, before I went there, I just never really had any sort of like, desire to be there and all that. But like, when I went through, it was a very, very pleasant country and, and a really nice to kind of travel through and stuff like that. And so, and I'm not Catholic anymore, so I like have any, any, you know, desire to go back and check it out my enemy whatsoever.

00:05:21:11 - 00:05:41:01
SEAN
But yeah Italy and Croatia and it's it's not technically in Croatia or wherever I went to, but I can't remember. I think it might be Bosnia. I can't remember the name of the country that's in and all that. But those are the only two places I've been China. At some point I would love to go to England and Ireland because I, I have some family in Ireland I want to visit at some point as well too, so.

00:05:41:04 - 00:05:42:07
STEPHANIE
Okay. Yeah.

00:05:42:07 - 00:05:58:11
SEAN
So but yeah, that's still great. Yeah. I remember you talking to me about how you going to Europe, because we actually talked a little bit. I see. To E too. I stopped by your dad there. And actually I want to point out like I have this over here on my shelf here, This is the DC pride issue from last year.

00:05:58:11 - 00:06:25:13
SEAN
And I actually have you signed this here because your story in this book was actually my favorite one of the entire book. Yeah, it's, it's something that I really enjoyed because your story in there was, you know, was the story about Batwoman. Kate Kane was being told through the eyes of her father and me being adoptive. I like I it resonated with me so much in terms of what a father wants for their child.

00:06:25:15 - 00:06:30:24
SEAN
And I it just I absolutely love that. I think I teared up like reading it and everything. So it was definitely my favorite story from that book.

00:06:31:01 - 00:06:53:12
STEPHANIE
I you said that that was a gift for my dad. I actually like all the pages of it. I like out of one of the books and have it framed together. So it's like the four pages together. So I wrote it for my dad because his birthday was like, I think the week after Pride was coming out. So it was it was unintentionally for him.

00:06:53:12 - 00:06:54:22
STEPHANIE
But yeah.

00:06:54:24 - 00:06:57:22
SEAN
Yeah, it's awesome. I bet he loved that too.

00:06:57:24 - 00:07:09:16
STEPHANIE
Yeah, I mean, I think so. I hope so. You know, he might be getting tired of every year getting something comic related, but, you know, I could pull from. Yeah, yeah.

00:07:09:18 - 00:07:33:15
SEAN
I understand that completely. So. Well. Well, again, Stephanie, thank you for joining us, Shell. And for those of you who haven't listened to an episode of When we do an Interview, we like to do interviews a little bit, definitely comics creators. So we'll definitely talk a little bit about comics related topics. But we also want to and when we interview, I guess we like to get to know them a little bit more beyond their work of comics as well too.

00:07:33:15 - 00:07:48:20
SEAN
So with that being said, I usually start off the interview asking about your comic book origin story. So I want to ask you what was it that got you into comics? Was a person that got you into it was a book that you pick up. What is your comic book origin story?

00:07:48:22 - 00:08:18:08
STEPHANIE
Um, no, I mean, I just I liked comics. I guess my origin story is pretty boring. I was in graduate school and wanted to do something other than academic writing, and so I started doing comic stuff. I wrote a short horror story for Black Mask and yeah, and then I did a book for Dark Horse that I think got picked up by some editors at DC and then went and did a short story with Riley Roscoe over at DC.

00:08:18:10 - 00:08:32:02
STEPHANIE
And yeah, that was, that was a really good thing. This really has become one of my best friend's favorite people to work with. And yeah, it's, it's kind of spurred our Harley Quinn runs so.

00:08:32:03 - 00:08:39:21
SEAN
Awesome So, so if I heard you correctly then you didn't even get into like reading comics until graduate school then, is that.

00:08:39:21 - 00:09:01:14
STEPHANIE
Right? No, I've been reading comics and I think that's why I was like, Well, this is the thing. Like, I read them a lot. I like them. Maybe this is what I will try writing. And I'm not sure why I jumped to writing comics over something else. Like I think in my brain it was like, Well, I like pop culture and it's such an escape for me outside of graduate school, but it's like, Well, I can try writing videogames and comic.

00:09:01:14 - 00:09:21:19
STEPHANIE
And it felt more concrete to say, like, if I wrote something for a videogame, I'd be like, Well, how do I go give this to videogame companies? Like, does it? It doesn't compute of how to do that, right? Getting into the industry of video games was like it was. It was a little tricky given that I was in graduate school.

00:09:21:19 - 00:09:44:08
STEPHANIE
I was kind of becoming a professor, so it was like, I don't I'm not about to go like, apply at Blizzard and say like peace out to this career, which I eventually did anyways. But it was more like, I have a story I want to tell. I think comics would be appropriate for that. You know, it was it was a short horror story.

00:09:44:09 - 00:10:10:21
STEPHANIE
Black Mask took that story for myself in my own house, which was kind of like my first introduction to it. And then, yeah, it just kind of spiraled into a career kind of accidentally because I had a career a of doing a complete switch, you know, after I was a professor at University of Buffalo. So I quit to do this full time.

00:10:10:23 - 00:10:36:09
SEAN
Right? Yeah. Yeah. And honestly, you know, we'll talk about that a little bit more because I know we want to talk to you more about your Ph.D. in your experience in academia. But I mean, I know for a fact because I work for a university that, you know, being a faculty member in that whole process of, like one, getting a position and then, you know, going through tenure and stuff like that is like its own little world that is just, you know, fascinating to say the least.

00:10:36:09 - 00:10:53:11
SEAN
So yeah, and I've I've heard, you know, people who went on to try to become a faculty member, and then the more they're edited, the more they realize that it wasn't for them. And they've let that because of that reason and everything. So but I think personally that you made a great career change and great career choice.

00:10:53:13 - 00:11:00:21
STEPHANIE
Too. Yeah. Yeah. It's a it's, it's definitely what I prefer doing.

00:11:00:23 - 00:11:19:24
SEAN
Yeah, Well, that's great. Well, so thank you for sharing your comic origin story. So the next part is to kind of get to know you a little bit more. I'd like to do a game with, I guess called this or that. So for those of you who are not familiar with this, basically what I'm going to do is I'm going to ask Stephanie, you know, just a series of pairings.

00:11:19:24 - 00:11:41:19
SEAN
So kind of say, you know, would you rather do this thing or that thing? And then Stephanie will give her answer. Well, you know, talk about, you know, a little bit about that answer and all that. And we have like a list of ten of those kinds of pairings that we're going to ask you. And so it's a it's a very popular thing, I think, on Instagram, a lot of people will put stories on Instagram, I think, where like people can like circled like which one they would rather or something like that.

00:11:41:19 - 00:11:56:10
SEAN
So so that's all going to do here. And these are all noncombat related. So that way we can get to know you a little bit better. So the first question I want to ask you for this or that is boardgames or watching TV.

00:11:56:12 - 00:11:57:18
STEPHANIE
Watching TV.

00:11:57:20 - 00:12:02:19
SEAN
Awesome. Well, let's let's show our series. Are you really into right now?

00:12:02:21 - 00:12:26:14
STEPHANIE
Probably so. I think you should leave, which I've seen 500 times, but I'm not gonna stop it. It's addictive. Actually, it was like last week. Tim Robinson was at the Cubs game and they did like a Dan Flash's Cubs shirt giveaway, which I didn't get one, but it was like the crazy patterned shirts with like the Cubs logo in them.

00:12:26:16 - 00:12:34:21
STEPHANIE
But no, I feel like I speak entirely and I think you should leave quotes and it's ridiculous.

00:12:34:23 - 00:12:37:17
SEAN
I love that. I think that's one I haven't seen yet. Yeah.

00:12:37:20 - 00:12:38:13
STEPHANIE
Oh, okay.

00:12:38:15 - 00:12:39:00
SEAN
Do that.

00:12:39:01 - 00:12:43:16
STEPHANIE
You know, check it out. Yeah. Yeah. I'm on a rewatch of Arrested Development right now.

00:12:43:18 - 00:12:47:22
SEAN
Oh, cool. The like, the first part of the series of the Netflix series.

00:12:47:22 - 00:13:12:07
STEPHANIE
Yeah. No, the original. I found out my partner hadn't seen it, so I'm like, Oh, so it's fun. Like, it's good, It's quick. It's like 20 minutes. Yeah, I like TV, but I mean, I think more than anything I watch sports, so I will usually put on any sport because it's just so different from like if you're working on a comic script all day.

00:13:12:09 - 00:13:21:21
STEPHANIE
Yeah. Yes, I want to watch a dude swing about at a very fast ball and like, not know what's about to happen. Yeah, that would be that would be nice. But.

00:13:21:24 - 00:13:40:09
SEAN
Oh, that's really cool. That's really interesting perspective on that though, because like, because I would imagine, like if you're writing a story, like, it's good to have something like sports on there, just like you said, like you don't know what the outcomes are going to be. But also I would imagine, like it's kind of nice because then you're not, you know, potentially being influenced by like a show that you're watching when you're writing your story.

00:13:40:09 - 00:13:45:21
SEAN
Like you might want to have like a blank slate to, you know, kind of work from that. So. Oh, that's really cool.

00:13:45:23 - 00:14:10:01
STEPHANIE
Yeah. And not questioning like, oh, I wouldn't have done it this way, which maybe is like a weird bit of it because like, you know, I write in genres that I appreciate and like to watch or engage in. So that gets a little, a little tricky. But what's it's like, you know, being on the off season for too many, too many leagues right now, I'm like, oh, like mostly baseball now.

00:14:10:01 - 00:14:10:18
STEPHANIE
So yeah.

00:14:10:21 - 00:14:16:15
SEAN
Yeah, I bet. Yeah. Art Gallery or History Museum?

00:14:16:17 - 00:14:48:10
STEPHANIE
Oh, no. Oh, that's a tough one. I think I go to more art museums. Okay. Like, yeah, traveling. That's usually one of the first things to look out is like, is there an exhibit to go see or like a gallery that's open in the city? So probably that. But sometimes I think they're very combined, like the, you know, the history of the city or the artists.

00:14:48:10 - 00:14:52:18
STEPHANIE
I really like that element to what I'm going to see.

00:14:52:20 - 00:14:59:13
SEAN
Is there a art gallery that's your absolute favorite that you've been to before here?

00:14:59:13 - 00:15:24:06
STEPHANIE
It's no, I mean, I think it exhibits like in New York. Was it? I think it was. MoMA had a Oppenheimer exhibit last year that was probably my favorite art exhibit. I've been to like, you know, I knew the name of it and I just like absolutely falling in love with with her work, just being like, Oh shit.

00:15:24:06 - 00:15:45:16
STEPHANIE
Like her voice and kind of like a sarcasm that comes through in what she was doing. I was like walking through this exhibit of amazing things she made, but also just laughing. I was like, Oh my God, she is so like kind of giving the middle finger to everybody with this thing that she's created. And I like that, you know, that was that was really, really cool and well done.

00:15:45:18 - 00:15:56:22
STEPHANIE
You know, we're in Chicago, so there's a good museum here, easy to get to. I think the Dali Museum in Saint Pete, Florida's very well done, but awesome.

00:15:56:23 - 00:16:00:10
SEAN
Yeah. I didn't realize you live in Chicago, by the way.

00:16:00:12 - 00:16:03:00
STEPHANIE
Yeah, we're. You're but Indiana, right? Yeah.

00:16:03:00 - 00:16:07:21
SEAN
Yeah, I live in Indianapolis. I'm like, only, like, you know, two and a half hours away from there, so.

00:16:07:23 - 00:16:20:19
STEPHANIE
Yeah. Oh, that's cool. Family's in Florida, so I got to go to Florida a lot, but yeah, so, yeah, Chicago's nice. Awesome. I like it. There's a lot to do. Yeah. Yeah.

00:16:20:19 - 00:16:44:17
SEAN
Well, it's, you know, it's like it's especially the Midwest. Like, that's really a neat town to go to because it has a little bit of everything. You know, like when you think of the major cities in the U.S., you know, L.A. in New York is obviously the first thing that comes to mind. You know, Chicago is really should be up there because even though it's in the Midwest, it's a huge city that has a lot of, you know, everything that you expect from the other big cities, too.

00:16:44:17 - 00:16:46:06
SEAN
So I really enjoy it.

00:16:46:08 - 00:17:05:00
STEPHANIE
Yeah, me too. I'm still learning. I was never taught to parallel park. Oh, yeah. So that has proven challenging. There are times where I'm like, I can drive here and it would be so easy, but I know there's no like, there. There's a very large chance I will have to parallel park, in which case I can't do that.

00:17:05:00 - 00:17:18:21
STEPHANIE
So right, like it's on the list of things to learn, but we'll get there. So yeah, there's a lot of walking, which luckily you can do easily here. Yes. Yeah. Uber.

00:17:18:21 - 00:17:29:04
SEAN
So yeah, awesome. Or you can, you know, hopefully the technology will catch up where you know, most cars will just had the parallel parking technology that you could just hit a button. It'll just do it for you.

00:17:29:06 - 00:17:32:23
STEPHANIE
Yeah, that's that's possible. I'd be open to that. Yeah.

00:17:33:00 - 00:17:38:14
SEAN
I think a lot of people would. Big city or small town.

00:17:38:16 - 00:17:54:14
STEPHANIE
Big city. Yeah. Yeah, I think that would be easy. I would have said small time probably years ago, but I'm just I don't know. I like music and breweries and art museums, so. Yeah. Yeah.

00:17:54:16 - 00:18:01:05
SEAN
That makes sense. Yeah. Would you rather write an email or write a letter?

00:18:01:07 - 00:18:09:00
STEPHANIE
Cause neither want to talk to. I want to talk to anyone. That's fair.

00:18:09:01 - 00:18:13:17
SEAN
Yeah. I mean, we can sit like I get that. So you get to say neither are we in. That'll be fine.

00:18:13:23 - 00:18:29:17
STEPHANIE
Sure. I mean, I guess I kind of like I. I mean, I've written letters. I think it's more personal. I don't do it often, but like, I guess. I guess I would go slightly more letter, but. Yeah.

00:18:29:19 - 00:18:45:12
SEAN
Yeah, I, I can't remember the last time I've actually wrote a letter, but I know me personally, I prefer email just because I'm, you know and I think a lot of people like this, but I'm just faster typing. I am writing and I just I feel like I can get a lot in there and a short amount of time.

00:18:45:12 - 00:18:48:14
SEAN
So it's for me, it's more like efficiency than anything else. So.

00:18:48:16 - 00:19:14:07
STEPHANIE
Right, right. Yeah, I guess I don't really open my email, which is like a problem. I would have been arrested by now, like if there was something really pressing in there. Yeah, but if somebody really wanted to get a hold of me, they would have figured out an alternative way, which makes me redundant. And I also get a lot of mail from people that aren't me or to somebody that's like not me and doesn't live here or something.

00:19:14:07 - 00:19:18:12
SEAN
And it's like, right, like, you know, or somebody that was living there before or something like that.

00:19:18:12 - 00:19:19:00
STEPHANIE
Yeah.

00:19:19:02 - 00:19:36:02
SEAN
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We've been in our house for a long time and we're still getting those kinds of emails all the time. So now, now I don't know, you know, if you've seen either of these shows, but I thought this would be interesting. Do you prefer watching Friends or Seinfeld?

00:19:36:04 - 00:19:36:23
STEPHANIE
Seinfeld.

00:19:37:00 - 00:19:37:24
SEAN
Seinfeld.

00:19:38:01 - 00:19:39:03
STEPHANIE
Yeah. Yes.

00:19:39:09 - 00:19:41:11
SEAN
Why is that? Just kind of curious.

00:19:41:13 - 00:19:58:15
STEPHANIE
Um, I don't know. I don't know that I really got into friends. I think the idea of it was that. But. But I thought Seinfeld like George, an arena that's like. So it's a no, I don't know. It's classic.

00:19:58:17 - 00:20:23:08
SEAN
Oh, yeah, Yeah. No, I agree. I grew up watching both of those, but I think I watched Seinfeld a lot more than friends. And I mean, they both have their, you know, quirks and everything like that. But Seinfeld was it was definitely, you know, I think it was like the most watched show at that time. And I think the the final episode, I think had, like the most viewers at that time as well, too, like the four or five for series finale as well.

00:20:23:08 - 00:20:32:15
SEAN
So it's definitely when you think of like the nineties, you definitely think of, you know, Seinfeld when it comes to television because it was the show to watch. Everybody watch.

00:20:32:17 - 00:20:45:19
STEPHANIE
Yeah. Now that was probably more rewatchable for me too. Yeah, I don't know that I've ever sought out friends, but I definitely clicked on a Seinfeld episode on a plane or something.

00:20:45:21 - 00:20:50:19
SEAN
Would you rather be able to fly or to read minds?

00:20:50:21 - 00:21:00:07
STEPHANIE
Fly. Fly. Yeah. Yeah. I'd rather get somewhere faster or. Yeah, if somebody wanted me to know what they were thinking, they would tell me, Yeah, yeah.

00:21:00:09 - 00:21:19:07
SEAN
And you know what's interesting is that this is actually I didn't even think about this until just now. So this is definitely not planned by any means whatsoever. But I guess there is an episode on the podcast This American Life from NPR that my brother sent me. And I guess somebody like, you know, is really into superheroes or whatever.

00:21:19:07 - 00:21:46:09
SEAN
But he would pose this question to friends of his, and I guess he did like a really critical psychological breakdown of like what kind of answers people would give and as to why. And it got down to depending on how you answered it and what were the reason or rationale behind it, it kind of revealed like what your Nate, what your nature as a person was in terms of would you do things for good or for evil.

00:21:46:11 - 00:22:03:12
SEAN
So it's like a very like, you know, seem like it's a very non controversial question. But the more he kind of asked and dug deep into some of these things like and I can't remember exactly like fly reminds of his like I think I think it may have been like reminds or invisibility or something along those lines. I think it was something like that.

00:22:03:12 - 00:22:21:01
SEAN
But yeah, it was just really fascinating. Just like that seemed like a simple question that a lot of people in, you know, nerd DMS of fandoms and all that would like ask the that kind of question. And then it got down to it revealed a lot about yourself as a person. So now I'm just like, I don't even know if I want to answer some of those questions for you.

00:22:21:01 - 00:22:25:18
SEAN
Like somebody is going to start like internally judging me for that sort of thing.

00:22:25:20 - 00:22:35:01
STEPHANIE
So I don't think I would use it for good or bad. I would just be in Belgium watching football like at well.

00:22:35:01 - 00:22:58:01
SEAN
And, you know, reading minds. I feel like it's always it's a lot more intrusive than flying it by nature. So like, you could definitely do it ethically where you let people know. He asked, like for permission and stuff like that. But I feel like it's still kind of an invasion on, you know, at the basic minimal level, whereas like flying is not at at that level by any means whatsoever.

00:22:58:01 - 00:23:17:11
SEAN
But I remember talking about this on social media where I feel like when you read some stories of superheroes or villains in comics, like depending on the power they have, it could be like already tell that, you know, from the moment they're born that they're going to be a villain, right? So like the example I used was mystique and how Mystique is a shapeshifter.

00:23:17:13 - 00:23:37:17
SEAN
And like, if you think about like by nature, that's a very, you know, on a basic level, deceitful kind of power in that like how do you use that sort of power for good unless it's like very, very circumstantial. But, you know, by its nature, it's, you know, misleading people or kind of lying to people and stuff like that when you use it.

00:23:37:17 - 00:23:54:03
SEAN
And so it's like you can't really blame mystique, you know, completely for turning into a villain for, you know, be able to do that. Because I think a lot of shapeshifters in comics, stuff like that are, you know, tends to be villains because that's like a really handy power to have, you know, as, as a villain for that, you know.

00:23:54:03 - 00:24:04:11
SEAN
So it's it's really interesting to think about, like powers at that level and like how I can, you know, almost predetermine if you're going to be, you know, a good person or bad person.

00:24:04:13 - 00:24:07:08
STEPHANIE
Right? Oh, this looks interesting. Yeah.

00:24:07:10 - 00:24:14:16
SEAN
Uh, would you rather explore the deep sea or outer space?

00:24:14:18 - 00:24:30:03
STEPHANIE
Definitely not the ocean. I guess if it's this or not, I guess space. But I'm happy to die on Earth. I'm good. I've got. No, I don't know. I'm not. I'm good right here. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:24:30:04 - 00:24:47:16
SEAN
Well, and especially in both places, I feel like there's a lot of things that you can't be in control of that could, like, ultimately decide your fate, too, You know, like. Like outer space. You know, if you get. If there's, like, a crack in your ship or something like that, like there's not much you can do because you don't have those resources to, like, fix those things.

00:24:47:16 - 00:24:52:03
SEAN
The same thing with the sea, you know, I guess you could get up to land quicker, but.

00:24:52:05 - 00:25:04:18
STEPHANIE
No, apparently not. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, I know. All of the all of the millionaire is going to do that. I'm. Yeah, that's good, right here. Yeah.

00:25:04:20 - 00:25:10:17
SEAN
Would you rather sleep in or stay up.

00:25:10:19 - 00:25:19:11
STEPHANIE
To sleep then? I guess. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Well, you know.

00:25:19:11 - 00:25:24:24
SEAN
And think about that question. It's almost like if you like to stay up, then you probably somebody that likes to sleep in as well too, because you've been up. So.

00:25:24:24 - 00:25:27:01
STEPHANIE
Yeah, Yeah. So that's a big question.

00:25:27:01 - 00:25:27:15
SEAN
On my end.

00:25:27:15 - 00:25:30:06
STEPHANIE
Yeah.

00:25:30:08 - 00:25:32:05
SEAN
So my bad.

00:25:32:07 - 00:25:37:20
STEPHANIE
No, I think what it boils down to is I'm not a morning person. I think that's what Gotcha is getting at.

00:25:37:24 - 00:25:52:21
SEAN
Yeah. Yeah. Probably here. So yeah. Next time I have to kind of make sure that think through those pairings a little bit better. So would you rather give someone a handshake or a hug?

00:25:52:23 - 00:26:10:16
STEPHANIE
Thank God. I guess it depends on who has a handshake. Oh, no, I'm not real. Uh, yeah, right. I don't know. I'm kind of stone fist bump mode, I guess, from a pandemic or. Right. Whatever anyone else has. I don't know. Even a cold.

00:26:10:18 - 00:26:32:19
SEAN
Yeah, I know. Well, and I remember when the, you know, the first year of having the pandemic, I remember someone saying, you know, what might be a good idea, you know, culturally is to get away from handshake is being like the appropriate gesture when you're greeting someone to do. And what Japanese I think Chinese do this where they bow to each other instead of like making physical contact.

00:26:32:19 - 00:26:51:19
SEAN
And I honestly, I'm a big fan of that because I always feel like even even though like I'm I'm a hugger for the most part. Like when you first meet somebody, like, I always feel like physical contact is always awkward and weird to begin with. So I love the idea of like, yeah, like, why don't we balance that of, you know, making like actual physical contact?

00:26:51:19 - 00:27:10:07
SEAN
Because I feel like that's like, still very respectful, but you're not, you know, potentially contracting a contagious disease or something or, you know, and even even if there wasn't a pandemic going on, like, I feel like that's that's just kind of a nice way to greet somebody without kind of aiding someone space, too. So.

00:27:10:13 - 00:27:11:07
STEPHANIE
Yeah. Yes.

00:27:11:12 - 00:27:11:17
SEAN
Yeah.

00:27:11:22 - 00:27:13:08
STEPHANIE
So I'm not super touchy.

00:27:13:08 - 00:27:23:04
SEAN
So I get that I the last question, do you prefer the eighties or the nineties?

00:27:23:06 - 00:27:38:00
STEPHANIE
Um, I guess maybe musically the eighties were just kind of, I guess what I go to in my mind. But I don't know. I mean, both, both good.

00:27:38:02 - 00:27:56:01
SEAN
Yeah. Well, and they kind of blend a little bit as well too. Like I feel like again, another question implies sort of anything through a little bit more, but as like, you know, especially when you kind of look at the decades like you can think about, things are very distinct. But I feel like with eighties and nineties they tend to be a little bit more blended together.

00:27:56:01 - 00:28:16:04
SEAN
Like I think the only thing that was really more distinct from the eighties and is the nineties that AIDS have more like the neon color stuff going on where the nineties didn't really have that maybe the early nineties but didn't have that as like the identifying marker of the decade. Um and you know and grunge rock came out of the nineties as well to wear like eighties or still heavy metal band stuff like that.

00:28:16:04 - 00:28:28:00
SEAN
But you know the with Nirvana Green Day kind of joining on the scene and stuff like that that's that's been kind of like a a calling card for the nineties as grunge rock camp being the thing that's so.

00:28:28:02 - 00:28:29:11
STEPHANIE
Cool Absolutely.

00:28:29:13 - 00:29:01:08
SEAN
Possible I feel like I have I know you a lot better now and you as a person were doing that. So that's a lot. That was a lot of fun. So okay, so I wanted to ask you a little bit about your experience with getting your Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition, because that's something that I've noticed that you put in your social bio that, you know, you have a Ph.D. and I think that's really cool as well as important to kind of share that little tidbit, because, again, you know, in this day and age, we kind of just know by like what we're, you know, known for and everything.

00:29:01:08 - 00:29:27:19
SEAN
But I think it's really it's really cool that, you know, you share with people that you do have a Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition. So you're talking about a little bit. But what made you decide to go on to get a Ph.D. and then kind of maybe talk about like, you know, through that process and everything, you know, maybe give us a little bit more details about what made you, you know, switch from becoming a faculty member to going into writing comics professionally?

00:29:27:21 - 00:29:55:23
STEPHANIE
Um, I think I just kind of went to get a Ph.D. Like, it just seemed like a natural progression, like, Mm, I, I was good at school. Yeah, you can hide in school for a while. So I just kind of went straight from undergrad into a master's program, straight from Master's into a Ph.D., and just kind of thought I would be a professor.

00:29:56:00 - 00:30:23:10
STEPHANIE
And I don't really I haven't been entirely know why. It was just kind of there. It was in front of me. It was, you know, I, I liked elements of school, I guess, because I was good at it. And then, yeah, partway through the Ph.D., it was just also kind of like, I think, becoming a little disillusioned with the notion of the ivory tower like academia, can really problematic.

00:30:23:12 - 00:30:49:16
STEPHANIE
There's a lot of inequity. There's I call it a bit incestuous because you were doing research and writing for maybe one other person that's doing this very specific style of research, and it is its own language, which at one point I thought was really cool to be like indoctrinated in that and to learn it because like, Oh wow, you have to be like super smart to be able to learn this.

00:30:49:16 - 00:31:08:01
STEPHANIE
And if I could master that, then I would be super smart. But I don't know that the smartest thing ever is making the work that you do and accessible to a general group of people. I actually think that that's that's the opposite of smart. I mean, if nobody can argue with you because I don't know what you're saying.

00:31:08:01 - 00:31:37:18
STEPHANIE
I don't think that makes you intelligent. I think. But it's a problem. Like if you were generating knowledge for people, well, really, you're not generating knowledge for anyone except yourself and maybe one other person that's trying to learn this kind of language you've created. In some ways I find it interesting that that's happening, but it I don't know when you try to kind of buck against it in any way, it becomes like, well, this is work we can't publish.

00:31:37:20 - 00:32:02:14
STEPHANIE
You know, it's it's I once had something rejected from an academic journal because they said it was like something like it being too easy to read, which is a weird. Yeah. Yeah. And it wasn't quite those words. It was something, it was something along those lines of like being very clear and concise. And it was like, well, duh.

00:32:02:19 - 00:32:28:17
STEPHANIE
Like that is, that is my goal as as a writer is to be clear and concise. So I don't know, it made me a I feel like just, you know, a couple of years into the Ph.D., I got very like, what is this? Like what people doing? I think some of the least intelligent people I know have PhDs, and it's like, that's because you're kind of all hiding and you're giving it to each other.

00:32:28:17 - 00:32:56:21
STEPHANIE
And conversely, some of the smartest people I know also also PhDs. But it was a very weird didn't feel like the right place to be saying anything. So I'm kind of taking some of that work that I did, things that I was interested in. A lot of it appears in comics. I've written in a way that I think it's like trying to work through those ideas with the readers and in a way that is more accessible.

00:32:56:21 - 00:33:07:01
STEPHANIE
I mean, I'm like, I don't know, maybe comics are still that niche, but I'm going to go ahead and say I've had more readers on that than any academic work of published books, right? Yeah.

00:33:07:03 - 00:33:16:03
SEAN
So with your undergrad and master's degree, like, were those also in writing or were they at the same institution where they had a different university.

00:33:16:05 - 00:33:39:14
STEPHANIE
And different universities? Over undergrad? I did history and English master's degree was in English, and I did like a technical master's degree in technical writing. And then I left literature and rhetoric and composition. Gotcha. Yes.

00:33:39:14 - 00:33:59:22
SEAN
Well, switching topics a little bit, so I want to make sure we talk about your Ph.D. by also saw that you are a fan of hockey as well, which I love because I grew up playing hockey my own or stories hockey. Is that I never like knew anybody that played hockey. And then the movie The Mighty Ducks came.

00:33:59:22 - 00:34:01:09
STEPHANIE
Out.

00:34:01:11 - 00:34:18:03
SEAN
And that's what got me to play hockey at the age of nine, which at that point, like when I started playing, people have been like playing since they were like three or four or whatever. So I felt like I was like late to the scene and all that. But I remember like, got to watch a movie. I went out to the front yard, told my dad, you know, I really want to start playing hockey now.

00:34:18:05 - 00:34:37:17
SEAN
And I remember like that moment where he just kind of side and just said like, all right, like he must have known something I didn't know. Like, he must know, like, you know, the course in time evolved and stuff like that, which for me as a kid, you don't think about those things, but I could just see like, you know, apparently his world just kind of changed after I said that because of his reaction to it.

00:34:37:19 - 00:34:51:06
SEAN
But since then, I mean, we've been a huge hockey family and we all love, like watching and playing hockey and everything. But I'm kind of curious like, what? What got you into hockey yourself? Like, did you come from a family that also loved playing hockey? Was it like was it Mighty Ducks?

00:34:51:08 - 00:35:22:21
STEPHANIE
You? No. A It was the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was just like growing up with the team as they were kind of growing in Tampa. Like, I remember some of the first games I went to that it was like, I don't want to be here. Like, what is this? And just like being around it enough, especially the first time that they had like a Stanley Cup run, it was like, Yeah, it's pretty cool.

00:35:22:21 - 00:35:39:03
STEPHANIE
Like, I mean, being obsessed with it, I, my walls were covered in posters of like, like having a good and, and or Chuck poster in there. I know I had a I'll be brutal in over my bed. I just had like a big it was like him breaking out of a blue brick wall. I just said like the Berlin Wall.

00:35:39:05 - 00:35:42:04
STEPHANIE
I think I got it at like a Toys R US, which is ridiculous, but.

00:35:42:04 - 00:35:43:16
SEAN
Oh, that's awesome.

00:35:43:18 - 00:36:04:02
STEPHANIE
Yeah. I loved like, I loved the Tampa Bay Lightning and just, like, watched so much of it that I was like, I, I want to try to roller hockey for a long time. And then teenager I made the switch to ice because it was in Florida and it was a little harder to come by and wasn't very close to.

00:36:04:02 - 00:36:18:04
STEPHANIE
So yeah, I don't think it was until I could really like drive myself somewhere that I was like, All right, I'm going to, you know, switch the roller blades for for ice skates and see how that goes. Yeah.

00:36:18:05 - 00:36:45:19
SEAN
That's awesome. Yeah. And it's always fascinating to me because there's, you know, places like Florida and California and, you know, even Texas, where people don't see snow hardly at all. Right. And they're going to a sport where it's it's like cold and ice. And and I remember I used to be a mission counselor for a university where we had a lot of people from Florida would come to our university because of football.

00:36:45:21 - 00:37:08:22
SEAN
And I remember there was being culture shock for them coming up to Indiana in that if it was 60 degree weather like we could walk around in like in a shorts and a T-shirt in 60 degree weather. But people from Florida never experienced that, like they're freezing and have to wear coats and stuff like that. And so I was always found it fascinating that, you know, hockey in Florida and like I think they have at least two teams, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers.

00:37:08:22 - 00:37:39:21
SEAN
I don't think they have a third one right. I think it's just those two. Yeah. And so I always found it fascinating that they had hockey down there in a climate where people don't see snow or ice and that sort of capacity. So, so well, that that's really cool. So lightning, so Tampa Bay lightning, which I've never been to Tampa Bay Lightning game before, but I've heard that it's a lot of fun like when we we went to Tampa Bay a couple of times and I see Tim Bay Lightning posters and like merchandise and paraphernalia all over the place.

00:37:39:21 - 00:37:50:19
SEAN
It seems like Tampa really loves their hockey team. I mean, and I think in terms of sports, do they have another professional team like is based do they have a baseball team down there as well too.

00:37:50:19 - 00:37:52:20
STEPHANIE
And football. Yeah. And also.

00:37:53:01 - 00:37:55:10
SEAN
Oh, that's right. Yeah. The Buccaneers. Yeah. Yeah, that's right.

00:37:55:11 - 00:38:00:16
STEPHANIE
I forgot about technically there's the Tampa Bay Rays but they don't play in Tampa so.

00:38:00:18 - 00:38:05:02
SEAN
Oh, okay. Well, I gotcha. Kind of like how the New York Jets actually play New Jersey.

00:38:05:04 - 00:38:18:16
STEPHANIE
Yeah, it's kind of like that. They're they're actually like in Saint Pete. It's a pretty far drive. But 15 minutes from me is Yankee Spring training. So it's. Oh, they got yeah I grew up going the Yankees games and not Tampa Bay Rays game.

00:38:18:18 - 00:38:29:23
SEAN
Oh it's interesting. Yep awesome Cool. So so playing hockey then when you made the switch to ice hockey, like what position did you usually find yourself playing? For the most part.

00:38:30:00 - 00:38:54:06
STEPHANIE
And I gravitate towards right wing. Oh yeah, that's. Yeah, I don't know. It was just I think I was probably put at it and then much later when I moved to Buffalo, one of the teams I was playing on never had enough defensemen and I'm a better skater than I am a shooter like I can. I'm really good at skating and I think maybe it was just like being smaller.

00:38:54:06 - 00:39:14:05
STEPHANIE
It was like I developed that skill more than others. Mm hmm. Well, I was like, Well, I can get back backwards. I can do all that. That's fine. Yeah. And that's why I jumped into that position. And I was like, Man, I should have been doing defense. All of you. Just, like, be a giant wrecking ball. Like, this person is in front of my net, and I'm going to do everything in my power to destroy them.

00:39:14:07 - 00:39:31:08
STEPHANIE
Like, Oh, oh, you even look at the goalie wrong, and I'm going to like, this is going to be that like, Oh, it's so much fun, but just like being absolutely unhinged defenseman that is that that's what I'm good at. Yeah.

00:39:31:09 - 00:39:36:08
SEAN
Oh yeah. It sounds like that was your own personal like anger management experience for.

00:39:36:09 - 00:39:37:15
STEPHANIE
Yeah, right.

00:39:37:17 - 00:39:58:11
SEAN
I what's what's interesting is I growing up I played center for the longest time and I was also like the tallest kid, like for the longest time, I think ever since even first grade, I was always the tallest kid in my grade. Now I'm six, six and I've been six, six, and I think seventh grade. I've always been, you know, kind of at the taller end.

00:39:58:11 - 00:40:16:06
SEAN
So when I play my two squirts, they always had me at center. But then when you got to Peewee, like other kids started growing and, going through, you know, puberty, and then they start to get, know, caught up in terms of like how fast can scale and everything. So they move me back to defense because I wasn't as fast as the other kids.

00:40:16:08 - 00:40:32:04
SEAN
I mean, I was I was pretty decent terms of speed and all that for some of my size and everything. But but because of my size and and how bulky I was, I pushed people out of the movie defense. And that's that's all they told me. Like, you know, just go hit people and take slap shots from the blue line.

00:40:32:06 - 00:40:56:10
SEAN
And that's what I did. I did it really well. And like people got upset when I hit people because they thought that because of my size, I probably you know, I probably did hurt some people, like just because of that. But like, it was never like anything illegal or. Anything like that was all clean hits and everything. It was just that, you know, when you got a kid like, like that's at your hip and you knock them down, like, it just looks really vicious because of the size difference by every, you know, by all means.

00:40:56:10 - 00:41:10:24
SEAN
And but you're right, playing defense is a lot of fun because it gave me all the reason to, like, hit somebody for for no reason. You know, like, you can't do it legally because, like, it gives you a reason to go out and hit somebody if you really wanted to do that. So that's now that's a lot of fun.

00:41:11:01 - 00:41:14:16
SEAN
Now I kind of want to get into adult league and start playing hockey again.

00:41:14:18 - 00:41:22:14
STEPHANIE
Yeah, I'm going to I'm going to start with some pickups, I think. Yeah, you're in Chicago and see how that goes. But yeah, I.

00:41:22:14 - 00:41:42:10
SEAN
Was I'd say, I'm sure Chicago, a lot of like pickup adult, you know, opportunities up there. So yeah Indianapolis we don't yeah Indianapolis we don't have a whole lot like on my side of town We don't have an ice rink. So it's like if you wanted to go to an ice rink, there's like three, maybe four rinks on like the, the red tier side of town.

00:41:42:10 - 00:42:05:14
SEAN
And then there's one on the south side, which is like not like, you know, impoverished by any means whatsoever. But like the north side of Indianapolis is known for. That's where, you know, the red tier people. So. Well, another question I want to ask you is, so you and I first met at c2e to this earlier this year, which I mentioned earlier in this episode.

00:42:05:16 - 00:42:25:01
SEAN
But, you know, I know that there's always like fun stories that people have at conventions when they interact with fans or, you know, people that come up to the tables and things like that. So I wanted to ask you, like what was what's a very interesting interaction that you've had with somebody at a convention before?

00:42:25:03 - 00:42:48:16
STEPHANIE
I tell you, no, I think I have really good interactions, which is nice. There's I've met a fan now a couple of times named Oscar who gave me this really cool from the dresser every night. It's like an alpaca who's wearing this handmade little like poncho that says, I killed comics on it. Oscar made for me, and I.

00:42:48:18 - 00:43:21:17
STEPHANIE
I just. I love him. So named. I named him Oscar in honor of Cool. That's cool. Maker. Yeah. Oh, no, it was. That was really sweet. I don't know. I think internationally there have been some really interesting ones, like people getting my work as a translation and then coming and having conversations about that. I have a fan in Greece that I've seen now a few times when I've gone to the convention there and I feel like she needs like a royalty check from from Boom because she's like my grandma.

00:43:21:18 - 00:43:45:21
STEPHANIE
Oh, sure. Like last time I saw her, she came with like a group of maybe like five other people. And she's like, they all just got grim, number one. And here you are. And here they are. And they're going to read it. And I'm like, just forcing people to like, she has that power. Yeah, I like I'm not complaining, but, you know, I enjoy that.

00:43:45:21 - 00:44:07:14
STEPHANIE
I like the chance to kind of talk with people. And I think comics are interesting because they're not super isolated. Like there there is, you know, obviously we know a lot of the horror stories of the accessibility of comic creators and the industry with the fans, Right? We all know that. But I think there's really good in there too.

00:44:07:14 - 00:44:31:06
STEPHANIE
And actually getting to talk to people is a benefit to the job the majority of the time, right? Like other fun, weird things. But yes, I'm sure there would be in most other industries as well. It's. Oh, definitely. Yeah. So, you know, I appreciate the fact that the good far outweighs the bad. Yeah. Yeah.

00:44:31:07 - 00:44:51:03
SEAN
No, definitely. That's good to hear. Now, you had talked about Oscars alpaca having the the sweater that said, you know, I killed comics. I also saw that I think I'm one of your social media buyers as well, too. And I got to say, I don't think I know the story behind this. Is there a story behind I Killed Comics?

00:44:51:03 - 00:44:53:20
SEAN
Like, is that something you want to share or.

00:44:53:22 - 00:45:27:21
STEPHANIE
Yeah, it was somebody that was like online, kept following my accounts and saying it was some long post about how like I in particular had killed comics for them. Like, Oh, I killed comics in Cold Blood. That was the line, which is great. It's like you just handed me a gift. But what a fantastic line. I mean, it was very much saying like, if they don't like, I think it may have been about me writing the pride issue that you have behind you.

00:45:27:21 - 00:45:49:21
STEPHANIE
Something about like too many characters are gay and they are not interested in reading this and there's too many women. It was like it was a longer post, but the end of the post, they were like, You know, because of you, I won't be reading this. You killed comics in Cold Blood. And I was just like, okay. And a lot of it seemed very targeted at LGBTQ content.

00:45:49:21 - 00:46:10:05
STEPHANIE
So I made a shirt that said I killed comics in Cold Blood, and all the proceeds went to the Trevor Project to assist with at risk LGBTQ youth. Yeah. So yeah, we made a shirt. We found a website that would like host it and directly just send all the money. So I didn't mean to like it and give it.

00:46:10:05 - 00:46:31:00
STEPHANIE
It was like if somebody bought it, the website, which is great, would just automatically like that money would go there, so. Right. Yeah, just kind of kind of stuck. And I don't typically engage with with comments like that, but that one was just it was very specific. It stood out like I liked that line. That was pretty funny.

00:46:31:02 - 00:46:54:06
STEPHANIE
But the content itself, I think is representative of people really not accepting other voices or other characters that if it's not for you, that's okay. There's plenty of content out there. That's not for me either. I don't hate that it exists for somebody, and so I'm glad that people have content for them. That's right. But no, you don't have to read it.

00:46:54:12 - 00:47:05:18
STEPHANIE
Yeah. So yeah, I thought, you know, we'll just take the opportunity and make a shirt or not shirts.

00:47:05:20 - 00:47:27:18
SEAN
Well and for, you know, for organizations like that as well to I, you know, honestly I had no idea about that story. But I will say that that's a very common thing I've been seeing on social media in terms like the kinds of criticisms, like you said, it's clearly about, you know, LGBTQ or gender and and sexist and things like that.

00:47:27:18 - 00:47:45:21
SEAN
And it's it's unfortunate because a lot of the arguments is it's the same argument, you know, over and over again. They don't really go into a lot of detail. That's really at least not really compelling for me. You know, it seems like it's become the same, you know, talking points I've seen over and over again in terms of like why it's bad.

00:47:45:21 - 00:48:09:15
SEAN
It's always always about like boils down to because of this thing. And so it's like, like I feel like that's not really ever like a like a good critique of that sort of thing. Like, clearly it's it's something else that's bothering them from what's happening by. But, you know, I'm sorry to hear that you've had that experience. It seems like at least, you know, you're able to kind of come out with some sort of light in the tunnel and all that.

00:48:09:15 - 00:48:29:13
SEAN
But I just I hate seeing that happen, you know, especially like I write reviews for comic Watch all the time. And I always, you know, end up reviewing a comic that, you know, is not written for me by any means because I'm not, you know, a you know, I'm alive. I'm not a member of LGBTQ by any means, but I read and review that.

00:48:29:15 - 00:48:54:08
SEAN
And it's always those reviews that end up getting comments and those kind of comments as well, too, of I'd like people like, you know, saying things like that. So I did one on the Tim Drake Robin issue that just, you know, wrapped up and of course and I see this all the time when it comes to Tim Drake is that somebody posted a picture of Stephanie Brown Tim Drake kissing as a way to say like, you know, Tim Drake was straight before you meet him.

00:48:54:10 - 00:49:17:07
SEAN
You know, they'll say gay. I'm like, well, he's bi. So like, let's let's get one thing straight. You know, like, clearly you don't care that much, you know, So but yeah, it's, you know, it sucks that happen. But I love the story of like how you made it in kind of like own into that. I think that's really that's really empowering to hear that sort of thing that that you're able to do with it.

00:49:17:07 - 00:49:18:14
SEAN
So yeah.

00:49:18:16 - 00:49:27:23
STEPHANIE
Yeah. I mean I think it turned into something kind of cool and you know, it raised like a good little chunk of money. So yeah, awesome.

00:49:28:00 - 00:49:48:06
SEAN
Well, the final question I have for you before we get into the comics or read the segment and this is coming from a reviewer of ours from Comic Watch, this is from Seth Ramo, and he wanted to ask you that. He knows you've done a lot of writing on historical fiction, but I want to know if you have a favorite historical fiction book that you recommend to readers in general.

00:49:48:08 - 00:50:16:21
STEPHANIE
Yeah, I don't know about fiction, but historical. I read a lot of Eric Larson. I think that's not not Savage Dragon. Erik Larson That's a different one. Yeah, I'm just saying. Erik Larson, as I think I know that Cormac McCarthy is dead, probably my favorite living writer. I think he makes he makes historical events read like they're fiction, even though everything that he writes in there is completely factual.

00:50:16:23 - 00:50:39:06
STEPHANIE
And I think he does such a good job of researching. He's got a journalism background, and I've listened to a lot of interviews with him, and I think his approach to history is also interesting in terms of taking small events and making them really personal for the reader as a way to help you engage and that's something that whenever I do write historical or historical fiction, it's like I try to keep that in mind.

00:50:39:06 - 00:51:01:08
STEPHANIE
Like, this isn't a textbook on World War Two. This is still a story about this person. And interestingly, he manages to do that with all factual, historical writing. It's like this person to root for this person to engage with that makes the story so personal. And then at the end you're like, Oh, that was true. It's yeah, it's really well done.

00:51:01:08 - 00:51:23:01
STEPHANIE
I like Larson a lot. He wrote the Chicago It's about the Chicago World Fair and the serial killer that was in Chicago. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I Why am I blanking on the name? It's probably his most famous or well-known book. Yeah, Should it? I can't think of a name, but Devil in the White City. Is that. Yes. Yeah.

00:51:23:01 - 00:51:32:05
STEPHANIE
Yes, Yeah, Yeah, that's right. And he's a he's got one on the Lusitania. He's got somewhere like Hitler's rise to power. They're all, all of them are fantastic, right?

00:51:32:07 - 00:51:51:22
SEAN
I've always seen a devil in the white city, like, pop up as a suggested read. And they always sound interesting, but now you know that you recommend that I'm going to have to put down my to read list. And once I get called up on my other books and comics that I have piles and piles of likes is sitting over in my corner here.

00:51:51:24 - 00:51:54:01
SEAN
So at some point I will go, Yeah.

00:51:54:03 - 00:51:56:03
STEPHANIE
Yeah, he's great.

00:51:56:05 - 00:52:22:20
SEAN
Awesome. Right. Well, before we get to our final segment of the episode, just want to remind people that the caption live show is part of Comic Watch, which does reviews on comics TV, film, anime, pretty much anything that you want to write a review on, we do that and that's related to comic books in or adjacent. And so if you're looking to be a reviewer, we do have a link in the show notes below for you to check out and apply.

00:52:22:20 - 00:52:42:11
SEAN
We usually respond to people within seven days. It is completely volunteer but is made up of a great group of people that are fantastic and I think anyone who joins can tell you that they enjoyed it and that they really love being part of this group. So even if you've never done any sort of review like before, this could be a really good springboard for you to start off with.

00:52:42:11 - 00:53:01:17
SEAN
So definitely check out the show notes if you're interested. For the application to become a reviewer for Comic Watch. And then next week episode, we are going to talk about the Eisner Award winners, which will be really interesting because when this happens, you know, we use a record Sunday night before the episode comes out, and so we'll just find out Friday.

00:53:01:17 - 00:53:20:19
SEAN
So it's going to be a kind of like a quick turnaround to do this. But next week will be an episode talking about those who have won the Eisner Awards. So so with that being said, let's talk about the comics we're reading. And usually I have listeners chime in on what comics are reading, but because we're recording this a little bit ahead of time, we won't have that included in this episode.

00:53:21:00 - 00:53:26:09
SEAN
So I'll go ahead and start off with you, Stephanie. What comics are you currently reading right now?

00:53:26:11 - 00:54:04:21
STEPHANIE
I don't read a whole lot of comics outside of stuff that I need to read for what I'm working on right now. I've been rereading some Cormac McCarthy since he died recently. I just felt like reading some of that though. So I am and I am doing a reread of Scout by Jason Aaron, my son Jason for ALA, and he had made some mentions of Skalp and I was like, I know I have that and I would like to kind of get back into it because I know it was fantastic and Jason is one of my favorite writers, so right.

00:54:04:23 - 00:54:08:00
STEPHANIE
Yeah, I'm kind of doing a reread of Scout.

00:54:08:02 - 00:54:17:14
SEAN
Wow. Cool. Awesome. Yeah, I don't think I've I think I've heard of it, but I don't know much about it by any means, so I'll definitely have to check that out some time.

00:54:17:16 - 00:54:41:07
STEPHANIE
Yeah. No, it's. It's very, very good. Very gritty, very dark. I like crime, so I'm. I'm typically a big fan of Jason and Garth Ennis, the other Philipps. But you do, yeah. Shaun Phillips Yeah, yeah. I like that kind of stuff, right? Yeah.

00:54:41:11 - 00:54:56:16
SEAN
Well, it's and by the way, I have to share with you before I start shooting with my, the comics I'm reading you wrote We Only Kill Each Other. And I absolutely love that book. We actually had Peter Kraus on the show to talk about that book.

00:54:56:18 - 00:54:57:00
STEPHANIE
Okay.

00:54:57:06 - 00:55:15:06
SEAN
And Talk about the artwork and everything like that. But I absolutely loved that book and it was great having Peter on the show to talk about that whole process and everything as well too. But that is a really, really good if you're if you're someone that's really into a more of a historical comic book piece, like this is a really good one.

00:55:15:06 - 00:55:42:13
SEAN
And I think it was just really interesting. So I think it's it's historical fiction, if I remember correctly, right? I know if it was actually based on anybody or just inspired by or anything like that, but it's really Yeah, yeah, it's a really good one. I really enjoy it. So yeah, yeah. So the comics I'm picking up this week from my comic store is going to be Darkling Duck number seven, which I've been absolutely loving, and they just announce that they're going to be doing a series on Naga Duck.

00:55:42:13 - 00:56:05:06
SEAN
So I'm going to be picking that up when that starts releasing as well too. But I'm a huge Darkling Duck fan, so I'm going to be picking up that week as well as Spider Gwen's Shadow clones number five. But I'm also currently reading Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe because I've never read it before. And for those who don't know, like, I have this really strange theory that I don't think it's actually like, you know, actually what's happening.

00:56:05:06 - 00:56:22:23
SEAN
But with Deadpool three, there's been a lot of rumors about cameos is going to happen in that movie. So we talked about this probably, you know, we probably going to get Ben Affleck as Daredevil showing up in the movie. They've talked about there might be some people from the Fantastic Four original Fox movies, other people from the X-Men properties.

00:56:22:23 - 00:56:38:07
SEAN
And I just had this weird feeling that they're going to do some sort of Deadpool kills the Fox Marvel universe, you know, to kind of set up for the MCU. So I just got me, you know, things like, I want to read this book now, just kind of see how this all come about and everything and so I've been reading that and that's actually been a lot of fun.

00:56:38:07 - 00:56:57:18
SEAN
And it's just, you know, classic Deadpool stuff and it just, you know, it's a fun character. I never really got into Deadpool before the movies and since the movies, like, I got into reading them and I just absolutely love I don't think I've read a Deadpool comic yet that I haven't enjoyed yet, so. Yeah, so. Well, Stephanie, thank you very much for coming on the show.

00:56:57:18 - 00:57:08:08
SEAN
It was a pleasure talking to you and get to know you a little bit more before I let you go. If people want to follow you on social media or, you know, engage with you or anything like that, where where can they connect with you?

00:57:08:10 - 00:57:12:18
STEPHANIE
And I guess Twitter's kind of like gone now.

00:57:12:18 - 00:57:17:19
SEAN
So it's just kind of floating out there. Yeah, yeah.

00:57:17:21 - 00:57:24:17
STEPHANIE
Instagram is snap, crackle, stuff like this Rice Krispies cereal, snap, crackle, pop.

00:57:24:17 - 00:57:26:18
SEAN
But I love that username, by the way.

00:57:26:18 - 00:57:30:08
STEPHANIE
I it's so old. It gives me a chuckle every time I.

00:57:30:08 - 00:57:33:10
SEAN
See it, though. Like, it's so much fun. I love it.

00:57:33:12 - 00:57:40:08
STEPHANIE
If I knew that, that would be so much more heavily utilized today than it was when I created it.

00:57:40:10 - 00:57:56:06
SEAN
But whatever I get that. Awesome. Well, thanks again for coming on the show and I want to wish you the best of luck with all the stuff. Like I said, I've been a big fan of yours. I love everything that you've been doing so far, so I really appreciate you. Come on. The show and talk to us a little bit more about Stephanie.

00:57:56:06 - 00:57:56:21
SEAN
So thank you.

00:57:56:21 - 00:57:59:07
STEPHANIE
I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

00:57:59:09 - 00:58:09:24
SEAN
And that wraps up another episode of The Captioned Life. You can follow us on Social media @CaptionedLife. For more information about us and all of our previous episodes, visit TheCaptionedLife.com