David G. Wohl - Sr Editor of Valiant Comics! Co-Creator of Witchblade!

David G Wohl – Interview

[00:00:00] Kenric: All right, guys. Welcome back. And today on the show, super exciting because, well, he started over at Mo he’s been at Marvel.

He was integral part of top cow, brought some very iconic characters in the nineties of the darkness and which blade. And now you find yourself being a senior editor over there at Valiant, which is an amazing company, David Wolf, you know, welcome to the show.

David G Wohl: Thank you. Thank you very much for having me.

Yeah, man. You a man.

Kenric: I’m 46. So my comic book reading career, it’s about the same as, as you’re coming on board. How was everything going, man? You’ve had a, you’ve had an amazing, you’ve had an amazing run.

David G Wohl: Thank you very much. Yeah. You know, it’s been really fun. I feel lucky. Cause you know I don’t know if you’re asking me for my history, but like I didn’t really know what I was going to do with my life.

And then I ended up becoming a high school intern at Marvel. So, it seemed like fate had it for me to, to work [00:01:00] in comics for for most of my life. And I wasn’t actually a comic fam when I was a kid. I mean, I liked a little bit of stuff, but, but so I just kind of found myself there. And and I, I kind of never looked back, you know, it’s it’s been a great experience.

Kenric: How did you get an internship at Marvel while you’re still in high school? Did you just.

David G Wohl: Oh well, I grew up in New York and and the high school that I went to a school called Hunter college, high school, but also had some other big comic people like Kyle Baker went there like a year before me.

And so our school, like by the time you’re a senior, I hope I’m not boring, but under senior year you kind of finished all your requirements. So they, they kind of force you to to get out into the world and do something. You know, real. So, at that point in my life there’s, there’s kind of two things that, to me are funny.

I was an assistant manager at Baskin Robbins, like when I was like 16. And and so the first thing I wanted to do, I tried to get them to let me work at Baskin Robbins for my Icey project. Right. But as I’m like, yeah, I learn, you know, business. [00:02:00] And and they said, no, luckily they said no.

And then I thought I wanted to be like an entertainment lawyer. I’m not sure why. I think when I was 16, I dreamed of being an entertainment lawyer from Madonna. So, so I went through to take jobs that were kind of related to that. And they offered me three, there were three opportunities. One of them was the village voice which is like a free New York paper.

And then there was this. There’s other free paper in New York that I don’t remember the name of, but it was something comparable to the village voice, but smaller. And the third one was marble. And I had friends of mine, actually, my friend, I had a friend of Mark Siri who got me interested in comics in the first place.

And and he, and some other friends, Michael Hughes went there. So I kinda just followed them. Like, it seemed like it would be fun and we could just hang out there. And then the job, the internship, there was basically just like, Making copies you know, back then we had actual letters, you know, like snail mail.

So we’d have to sort letter letters into letter columns back then. It was, it was mostly just letters to the X-Men. It was letters to Chris Claremont, you know, and and Yes. And they were great. I mean, [00:03:00] one of the coolest things back then was like, you know, them all coming up because everyone was basically living in New York back then pretty much.

So like they’d always be in the office and like hanging out, you know, a meeting with the editors. Yeah. And a lot of them would come over. Like Chris especially would come over to the, to to where we were. And like, look at, read the letters, you know, to his comics and stuff. It was so cool. I remember meeting while Simon’s in there and, you know, Just like, like, like all the built-in cabinets, like all the great people, you know, would all come there and and it was just a fun place to meet people.

And then apparently I was liked well enough that they kind of kept me on, I became an assistant editor. I worked on like transformers and stuff, and then I went away to school. For a year, I went to SUNY Albany. Like I was going to college in New York and then decided I wanted to try going away. So I went away and came back and then basically I will just keep going away and coming back Mark Grunewald hired me to work, to be an editorial assistant on Marvel universe.

And that was really the first major project that I worked on. And and we would like stay up all night working on it. We did like everything for it. I learned like how to do production and things. [00:04:00] And then and then I moved away again, cause I wanted to see what living in California was like.

So I moved out to California and then I came back for a third time tomorrow. Bobby asked, he hired me to work on like in like special projects. So I worked on like the Jim Lee X, men trading cards. And another, another set of excellent trading cards where I got to meet Mark Sylvestri. And I also would, we would drive to conventions and like do all these different things.

It was just so much fun. Like I love working there so much, you know? And and that third stint there, I became like an associate editor. So I got to work on more eclectic stuff. For some reason, I got a really eclectic line of books. I worked on GI Joe razor. Like it was Hellraiser right at the end of hell, raiser at Marvel.

And then like these heavy hitter, Epic books that we were doing. So I’d worked at a lot of, I worked on a lot of fun stuff. I got to meet Clive Barker and got to know him, you know, cause I worked on Hellraiser and that was really cool. And and then, you know, that year Marxel vestry basically offered me a job to go work for him at top cow.

Cause another guy, Mike, Mike Heisler was a letter for him and he used to work at Marvel with me. We used to [00:05:00] play softball together. He recommended. Yes. And he recommended me to Mark. So for the third time I left Marvel and and went to work at Topco and then stayed there for like 11 years. I don’t know for

Kenric: people who don’t know, because it’s, it’s, it’s been a long time.

Right. And, but Tom cow was really important company because,

Man, they were kind of like the counter-culture to your DCS in a normal, I don’t know how else to put it even compared to image, they were more of a counterculture than that.

David G Wohl: Well, I mean, I think you mentioned as a whole but I, I see what you’re saying.

Yeah. Cause like, when we, when, when I first started at tap Cal we were part of gym. Like we always shared a studio with Jim Lee homage studios in San Diego. And and we were like small, it was like Mark and I, and, and Mark’s fiances, Cynthia, and like that assistant Robin. And there was like the four of us.

And then. A lot of the like marketing, Jim worked with the same people, you know, Scott Williams and Joe Tido where like, you know, the inker and colorist for most, [00:06:00] like, it was such a great talent. And then Jim, you know, was like, was pioneering this whole new coloring way of working, you know, like, cause we, we were working with like Ali optics, Steve Olaf’s coloring company.

And then Jim was really pioneering the, you know, doing the work right there and Photoshop. You know, and like making it, like when we did it at Marvel like just a couple of years earlier, or even, even that same year, like our guys would do like these color guides you know, and then we’d send it to this company that, that would make these color separations and like all these different things.

And and we were sort of bypassing all that, you know, and like, just like, like kind of setting a whole new trend of coloring and a whole more like. I think that really one of the main things that set image apart, you know, because if you think that image was basically, they were all working on Marvel, you know, right prior to that.

And and then they started image, but the coloring was just so much more complex than anything Marvel was doing. And I think that that’s that’s what [00:07:00] really set it apart. You know, like the paper, the books, the quality was better. And the color was, you guys worked really

Kenric: closely with wizard as well.

Right?

David G Wohl: Yes. Yeah. Like we, we would visit actually, that’s funny, you know, cause Fred Pierce is my boss now. And he said he was, you know, at, that was you know, the head of wizard basically too. He ran it. So that’s really where we got to know him. Yeah. Like we were always like, you know, trying to lobby for different things that wizard and trying to get coverage.

Kenric: W when Topco came out the way you guys marketed, it almost felt like wizard owns you guys. Like that, that was a subset of wizard. And you got, you guys were putting books out under, you know, under the top cow name, but,

David G Wohl: well, yeah, wizard to that first issue of which bill they had to have that special wizard eighth edition that’s still, I think is the most like valuable Witchblade comics that exists.

I think I have it. That was a great cover. One of my favorite covers to sign that acetate cover that they put on. It was so cool.

Kenric: Well, let’s let, let’s actually go into that a little [00:08:00] bit, because if I don’t ask you about which blade and the darkness people are going to string me up, where did those come from?

They’re wildly still popular. Man. And, and, and the art, like you said, the coloring, the lettering, the story, it all came together. So well, what does it like when you think back about that, those characters and how, how well they were received.

David G Wohl: Oh, my God. It’s it’s so, you know, I never knew what to expect, you know, like, when, like, when I first started at top cow, you know, like I said, we were really small, right.

We had one book Cyberforce and so like I had a lot of time on my hands. And cause you know, we weren’t even doing a monthly book really. So Mark, Mark, you know, had a ton of amazing ideas and And we would just kind of sit like by his pool, you know? And I might just come up with ideas, like he went and I remember, but the darkness the idea for the documents came before the witch blade.

And and I came from Mark, you know, and and so we were just like, like just spit all these ideas, you know, and, [00:09:00] and developed them. The doctor said is really interesting to me because the idea that, that. That he and I like came up with first was totally different than what ended up coming out.

I mean like a guy who could only like create these incredible things in the dark was the idea that we had. But my version was like a lot more Tim Burton me, you know? I’m not sure what Tim Burton movie was back around then. I don’t know Edward Scissorhands. But it was like dark. Gothic saying of this guy, who’s basically immortal and creates these things because he can’t like be friend to anybody.

And then we hand we, Garth Ennis was, was doing preacher. And that’s I think it was Brandon Peterson in our studio who recommended Garth for it. Like, so basically that, that idea was percolating. Like we were, I wasn’t sending us for like a year and then we moved up to Santa Monica and So that idea was just sort of percolating.

We tried to figure out what to do with it. And and then we asked God to do it. And he said, yes. And it was really cool. And then he basically developed it into this totally different story. You know, like the, the story that [00:10:00] everyone knows is not this like Jackie Estacado mafia guy, you know, Playboy. Oh.

And you know, I think it says something about like our egos, you know, because, because. We, we, we were like, wow, this is amazing. You know, it’s great. Let’s do it. Like I keep breathing the license to it that we never could have expected. And and it was just so cool, you know, to, to like, I feel like, you know, we gave him something that he was able to mold into something even cooler.

And and that to me is like the greatness of a development process. You know, that you could, you could just kind of come up with ideas and then someone could kind of mold them into something that’s really. Yeah, dude,

Kenric: he sounds like he was, he was your Ditko to your Stanley?

David G Wohl: Yes. For that particular. Oh, a Spider-Man.

Oh, w Oh no, no, I know you’re saying, but I’m trying to think of who the, he was like marketing or in that particular case. Yeah. He totally breathed to life. And then with the Witchblade we, Mike [00:11:00] basically wanted us. I think he He wanted us to come up with with a woman leader book. And it was a Brian Haverlin that now rewinding a little bit again, like we hired Brian Hamblen by, and Haeberlin probably really quickly after I started maybe like a month into it.

And and he came to our San Diego office and he kind of became our, our guru of, of, of computer coloring, you know, and, and like, just like. Cause like anything to do with that, that technology, like, he was like the came up. And so our whole coloring department that became our top Cal coloring department and all the guys that, that Brian hired that became like really big guys, like Richard  and Dean white and Well, yeah, but that was like more Mark, but I’m saying on the sit down the coloring side like he basically created this incredible coloring department and and he was, he’s also a very creative guy, like to this day, you know, he’s doing all his books with shadow line that are coming out and they’re great, but so, so Brian and I basically Started to come up with this idea for which blade [00:12:00] like, eternal, we both like Michael Moore, Coq Elric stuff.

And and we liked the idea of this storm bringer, sentient weapon idea, and an eternal champion idea. So, so we kinda took that very basic concept and kind of fought, you know, what could a modern day version of that be? You know, and then like the setup, his unique character came out of it. And then Michael Turner was kind of.

He is another guy who started in our studio pretty quickly after I started maybe a year later. And we saw samples. Mark always talks about how, like, he didn’t like his samples, like think he did really good work, but I had faith in him. And he basically became Mark’s background guy because he could draw really good backgrounds because he had this photographic memory and Mike was just so talented and so competitive.

He just always, he just wanted to be the best at everything. And He just quickly, like got better and better over such a really short amount of time that when we finally had Witchblade in a position where we could make it a comic book, He was like the natural artist [00:13:00] for it, because he was, he was just getting so much better.

So fast. It is drawing were really fast. Like the, he was doing this ballistic miniseries, like prior to that. And then like, I think the same month he had to do, which played number one and that it was craziness. And but he just, he just took on everything and, you know, he he came in and with him and Joe Benitez and Mark they created a lot of the.

The look, you know, for the, which blade itself and for how it looked on Sarah and Mike obviously created, you know, did all the characters and like create it now they’ll love to them. And then it exciting part for me that wasn’t exciting for me at the time, but became exciting later was was seeing how.

How Michael just took off, you know, in, in popularity. Like I admit I was, I was probably envious at the beginning because I’m turning on a light my work. Yeah, I guess so. I mean, and I like whenever he, when he didn’t draw something exactly the way I thought it should be drawn, I was pissed off. [00:14:00] I was really young writer then, and then I’d never really had any, anything that, that.

You know, like resonated like that with people. But you know, but then just like being around him, he was just, he’s just a really special person, you know? And and it was hard to be pissed off at him. I can

Kenric: understand what you’re saying though, because I I’m that way. If I do anything creatively and I have something and I give it to somebody and say, I need this and I want this kind of look, and it’s not what I’m, what’s in my head.

It’s hard not to get. A little

David G Wohl: angsty about it. Well, and the two things I have to say about that is number one, he was 99% of the time, right. About the adjustments that he made. And and number two, if there was something like, really specific that I wanted reference wise, like what a New York city police station should look like.

Yeah. You know, When the books came out. Absolutely. Nobody cared about what I cared about. Right. So, so like I learned really quickly that, that, you know, like I’m obsessed [00:15:00] with something, you know, but but if no one cares about it, then I don’t need to care about it. Like I’m like, I’m basically fighting for something that only I believe, you know, so, and so then it just became like this like really cool.

That’s awesome process of us all working together. And then Christine does, he came in and we were all working on the stories together. It was just very fun. It was like, it was one of those things. That’s kind of like, you know, probably won’t happen again for me. Just, just like the way that happened was just really cool.

And it was just, it was, it was fun to experience it, you know? I was such a pain in the ass though. You know, I was like the editor in chief and I was right in the book and, you know, like I was always late. I was always like doing something else. And and like, I like, you know, I would like yell at people and like, look back in those times.

Maybe not too much. I don’t think people would say that, you know, that I was terrible, but but like, you know, like, It’s one of those things that I could look back and think, wow, I really could have handled that a lot of things differently back then.

[00:16:00] Kenric: I get you, man. I, I feel the same way. I’ve, I’ve, I’ve managed people for the last 20 years.

And I remember when I was like 24, man, I’m sure I was not the easiest person to get along with. And I think it’s because you’re trying so hard not to mess up, you know, and, and to prove yourself because when you’re young, you, so, you know, you don’t want to make the mistakes, even though that’s how you learn.

You know, you still, you can say you get that, but you don’t ever really get it until, until you like throw it, that light bulb turns on. You’re like, Oh, you know what? I totally know what to do here because I tried this before and this is what happens.

David G Wohl: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I did learn a lot, like moving forward into other projects that I worked on and it was just a really fun time, you know, going to conventions, like, you know, everywhere and having huge lines.

I remember that because that’s when I realized that we were really popular. Cause like, It was one of the early issues. Mike and I were invited to do this like store signing in Tampa. And mostly I remember that we went to Busch [00:17:00] gardens and they had this rollercoaster that went over alligators, and I thought that was really cool.

But but there was this line, like out the door of this place where we were, you know, Like down the block and like around the corner and you know, and it didn’t bother me that it was like, you know, 95% for him. Cause by then I was, I was cool with it. You know, I just really enjoyed seeing someone else’s popularity, you know, and, and we all

Kenric: did.

That’s cool. That’s good. It’s kind of funny that you brought up editor in chief and everything because at that time Valiant was going on and was killing it that XO mantle or Turok Magnus robot fighter. Well back in the nineties, were you looking at Valent going, wow, I get to that level or were you just so focused on which blade so focused on the darkness that what they were doing is a little bit.

Different than what you were doing.

David G Wohl: I think we were, we were always really impressed with them. I mean, you know, when I was at Marvel, I worked, Jim shooter was the editor in chief when I was there. You know, I mean, we went, we didn’t really connect too much because I was [00:18:00] either an intern or like an assistant editor or something.

Right. But but she really went to Valley and, and, and the and Bob Layton who I was, I used to work with on iron man, you know, Went over there. And I, I really liked him and and they just put together like an amazing group of people, you know, and did some amazing books. We actually, the first year I was there, we worked on the staff mate crossover with them and did this like bus tour with them, which is fine.

So, so yeah, I knew a lot of those guys too. And yeah, I mean, seeing what they were doing was really impressive. Actually, you know, it’s funny, like now I go back and once I started at Valley, you know, I went back and read a huge amount of stuff and looking back at that, it’s just, yeah, it holds up a lot of it.

Like it’s really cool. That’s

Kenric: cool. So now you’re a senior editor at volume. You started over the summer, how’s it going? Is there anything you can tell us about what’s coming out?

David G Wohl: It’s going, it’s going really well. You know, Valiant is is a whole different environment to to where I’ve worked before, but like in a [00:19:00] positive way, like Valiant, like.

I dunno. I, I remember I’m going to go back, but I’ll come back to what your question is. No, this is

Kenric: great. Everything you’re going through is awesome. So please, any, anything, any insights you want to give?

David G Wohl: I love it. Well, I just remember, like at some point when cross-gender is really popular we, we used to go to conventions and everyone from Croston, but sort of sit together on the bus with our Crosstown.

T-shirts like, like the bus that would go the shuttle they’ll go like from the airport and hotel to the. To the airport. And and I thought about like teams, you know, like being a team player and stuff. And they were like really a team. Like they were so a team that I didn’t think I could ever be with a company that was that much of a team, you know, at at a top cow, you know, we were sort of a team, but we were definitely like our own.

People too. Right. Now the thing about Valiant is like, they’re like, we’re really a team. You know, like when, when we come up with new stories, we run them each other, you know, like whenever you get a covered on, there’s like a whole committee of people who look [00:20:00] at it and give their notes and everyone gives their input, you know, whether it’s the editorial side or sales and marketing or, you know, whoever it is.

And And I think it’s a really cool way to run a business, you know, I and actually, you know, I think that Fred Pierce from wizard has a lot to do with that, you know, like, yeah. Like just that mentality, like everyone really enjoys what they’re doing and and they just enjoy the creation of comic books and it shows in the books that are coming out.

I mean, this is a really cool time because, you know, because of last year, you know, I basically, I came into it in the middle of, you know, the COVID-19 stuff and and they had to cut back on a week and we had to cut back on our production a lot. And and now we’re finally getting to see a lot of the launches that we were planning to do way back, you know, early last year or some point last year.

So the first one is a Savage, which is coming out right now, which is really cool, but I don’t know if people are familiar with it, but it’s a, it’s a good story. And and then shadow man is coming in April. Which is really [00:21:00] cool. And and then like, I get to work on, on a, on a totally new property that I can’t even talk about, but but I’m very excited about it and I think people are going to be really happy with it.

Everybody

Kenric: comes on. They always tell me that, Oh, I can’t talk about this, but it’s really cool.

David G Wohl: I can’t talk about it, but it sucks. Well, tell us about just, just kidding anybody

Kenric: that was about Savage, because it’s be Claymore and Clayton, Henry and Louis LaRosa, and it looks fun. It looks awesome. Original one.

That’s the original one. Oh, so this is

David G Wohl: a yeah. One is is Nathan Stockton. Okay, cool. Are you going to get me down with the credits? You might have to edit this part.

Kenric: That’s what we do, man.

David G Wohl: That’s so funny, but it’s no, it’s, it’s, it’s basically, it’s like, It’s a guy who we have this thing in, in Valley on [00:22:00] called the faraway, which is sort of like this place where all these different times and dimensions meet and craziness happens. And in the original Savage this, this soccer player Salvas ends up getting stuck in this place, you know, and there’s, their kid is born there.

And the story is really about, about him, like growing up there and then like fighting his way out of the faraway and making it back to England. So this avid basically the last story the first Savage series ends with him waking up in in, are we appearing like in Piccadilly circus? Yeah.

Like. Like, he’s just this, this like young, this boy, you know, he just appears in Piccadilly circus. And that’s basically the end of the first one. So now the story follows him, you know, like what’s his life like now? Oh, it’s max BMS. I made some stop. Yeah. And so it, and so it follows him now, you know, he’s accused this, this like social media darling [00:23:00] who who.

Who would, is really bored because all he wants to do is go back and fight dinosaurs, you know, in the fire away. And so it’s basically his story. And then, and then the creatures from the faraway end up coming to London and he’s got to fight them, but it’s like a really, really fun story. It’s like a fun off beat story.

And it’s a good read. Well,

Kenric: when you’re the senior editor, do you overlook all the books that are coming out for value right now? Or do you have a. Set that you’re, you’re responsible

David G Wohl: for. I have a set, like all three of us are the same level. So, that’s Lisa Hawkins and Heather answers, you know, all three of us like, like work on different stuff, which is great.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. She’s, she’s a really good interview. That’s the thing like, like I’m not over them and they’re not over me, but we all look at each other and give notes. So, yeah, so that’s really what I think what holds, what sets us apart is that, you know, like, yeah. So, you know, we’ll all read the [00:24:00] stuff and be like, yeah, you know, maybe this could change or whatever, or, and and it’s just, it’s a fun process, but, but, but it’s interesting just because like, I’m, I’m sort of more.

Like working on newer projects. Yeah. So as of right now, it’s, it’s more like Heather and Lisa are handling like all the books, except one, the one book that I have is going to come out. Yes. The one that I’m forbidding to talk about. But I still, yeah, I still read everything and then comment on it, you know?

Kenric: Once it comes out.

David G Wohl: I’ll come back when I can talk about you

Kenric: should, because that would be a lot of fun because violence, I don’t know. They’re they’re, their books are so much fun. And I remember going back when, back in the day, the level of, how am I saying this? The quality of the publishing of the books was so much more than everybody else at that time.

You know, [00:25:00] they really put in, like, I have Valiant books from 91 that still looked brand new, you know, and I read them and I, you know, and I put them just a normal cellophane in a bag. I didn’t do anything special with them. You know, like I did with my, with other ones that I own, you know, and you pull it out.

Like my truck number one still looks like the day I pulled it off the shelf.

David G Wohl: That’s amazing. Yeah, because usually like things fall apart. Yeah.

Kenric: Yeah. It’s, it’s really cool. And, but some of their but the storylines that they have in the, in the characters that developed and having that whole universe, it was such a great alternative than being stuck with DC or Marvel. Not that you’re stuck with DC or Marvel, but having that third option, that was a shared universe.

That was so much fun. And I was so glad to see them come for lack of, we’re going to term come back here a few years ago. And it was like, Oh, you know, and then the the movie with

David G Wohl: the bloodshot

Kenric: yeah, bloodshot, but what, I can’t remember the guy that actor’s name all of a sudden [00:26:00] drew drew blank, huh?

VIN diesel. Thank you. Geez, man, that, that was awesome. Yeah. It was a lot of, I mean, I thought it was a lot of fun. I can’t, I’m going to do, you know, if they’re going to, are you guys going to do another one? Do you know.

David G Wohl: There’s, there’s talk about it. Then I think I posted something like, I know he wants to do another one for at least I, I believe he wants to do another one.

And we also have harbinger that’s in the works. Oh my God. That’d be, which is a really good comment. And and I’ve gotten to see, you know, like the, the development of that. And and it’s really cool. I think it’s going to be a good movie.

Kenric: When you look at your character, the character characters, like.

You know, how much of, how much care do you have to sit there and put in? Not only from the history of it coming back from the nineties, cause now it’s been 30 years. It’s not, you know, van, it’s not the new kid on the block anymore. It’s 30 years of, of fans building up this following too. When you guys come back and you’re, re-introducing for lack of a better [00:27:00] term, excellent man of war.

What thought process do you think you have as you’re doing this with some of these characters.

David G Wohl: Well, I mean, I really think it’s a fine line, you know? I mean obviously like I, I worked at DC for a little while, so I got to experience the other side of that, you know, which is, you know, very much into continuity.

Right. Like, cause I think that, you know, or even when I worked on which blade, you know, like there’s fans who who are really into the mythology and the lore and the continuity, you know, and and I feel like. Well, like when I’m developing a story you know, I really want to respect the fans of the book from, you know, from previous incarnations, you know, like I want to always like tell a story that’s new, obviously, but at the same time, you want to make sure that they know that we know like where the character has been.

Right. You know? So I feel like that’s important, you know, I think that when you just kind of, Trash like old continuity and like kind of ignore it, you know, that suffers a little bit, but but at the same time, you don’t want to [00:28:00] be totally beholden to that old continuity because then the story will never move forward.

Right. I think that I think that Heather, as an editor did a really good job with that, with the new X amount of where that came out. Yeah. You know, cause like they really wanted to go in a different direction than what people had seen before. Yet still, you know, acknowledge, you know, what are the things that make Xcel a special character?

So I felt like you really need to put that carrot, you know, when a character has a history and you know that, that, that there are fans out there who really appreciate that history. You don’t want to mess with that.

Kenric: And having somebody like Heather on board, She has her finger on the pulse. I think more than, than a lot of people do, especially with her age group, you know, and everything else that goes with that.

Cause and you need that to attract you need, it’s nice having the old readers. That’s always, you, you know, you want to have your people, but you got to it’s complex, man. You’ve got to keep bringing in those new people.

David G Wohl: Yes. And and I think Heather and Lisa, both like are. [00:29:00] Are really cool, you know, finding like really good creators too.

Like, like the, I’m not sure if I could talk about what Lisa’s doing too much.

I don’t know, let me, I don’t know. I probably, I don’t know. I don’t know what I can say, but, but they’re both really good at, I like, you know yeah. At finding like really good creators who could bring a whole new spin on a character that already exists and also like are coming with their fans, you know?

Who like, like follow them, you know? So it’s, it’s a cool mix, but know we always want new readers. We always want new people to pick up the books and be like, wow, that is pretty cool. You know, I’ll, I’ll keep following it. Do you

Kenric: go back to somebody like a Kevin van hook or add-on, you know, with bloodshot and you’re bringing this character into the new, you know, into today’s realm.

And, but do you go back to the old creators and say, you know, how do you guys feel about this? And you, do you have any suggestions, things like that.

David G Wohl: I have done that. Yeah. I mean, when I first got there and that was more general stuff. It wasn’t any specific ideas, but I didn’t, I [00:30:00] talked to, I talked to Joshua dice art, you know, and who, who wasn’t part of the original launch, but he was part of the relaunch in 2014.

He wrote the harbinger story and And I talked about Leighton and I talked to Karen Damache a little bit, but only like on Facebook, we, these, I think we just comment things to each other once in a while. But, but yeah, I mean, yeah, like, like depends, like if I was involved in, in, in another one of those characters I would definitely reach out to them and find out, you know, like what, what their thinking was, you know, what made them special?

Well, this

Kenric: is exciting. This is really exciting, man. Do you w do you have anything that you’re going to be working on yourself? Do you have any stories in the pipeline that you’re thinking of?

David G Wohl: I’m starting to obviously nothing that I could talk about, but yeah, you know, like I, I kinda miss writing.

I mean, you know, after top Cal I wrote for did books for the Aspen, you know, executive assistant Iris. And I did this other book, Santa Maria,

Kenric: the which way TV

David G Wohl: series do right. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. When I was still a top cow. [00:31:00] Yeah, we were producers on it. Yeah. That was fine. We gave notes and would go to meetings and went up to Toronto to watch them film.

I would say

Kenric: when I watched the movie kick ass and she’s, she’s the mom, you know, the mob wife. Oh my God.

David G Wohl: Yeah, that was cool. Yeah. I remember we met her at, at the, at, at the shooting Wilson matter in San Diego. Yes. Butler. Yes. It was really fun to hang out with those guys. Yeah, she was really nice. I mean, they were also respectful.

Eric had a Bari that I played Nottingham was like, was totally like into the character and was, would like run things by us, like what he wants to do. Anthony  was the guy who played irons and he was a really, he’s a great guy. We used to go to once together. And I watched him perform in a sh in a play and.

Orange County, like years later, but they’re just really, they’re really, really good people. That’s cool, man.

Kenric: Well, David, when you’re able to talk about some of the other stuff, please come on. I love [00:32:00] talking with you. I think we could talk for hours.

David G Wohl: Cool. Yeah, definitely. Well, thank you. On the side of this stuff, I can’t really talk about no, that’s okay.

I don’t like

Kenric: doing that. The beast man. That means you guys are working. That means you guys have things planned out. I love that. You’re kidding. Just the fact that volume.

Yeah. In fact, that vine is going strong has a plan in action. I’m super excited. And the, and the moves that they’ve been making by. Hiring Elisa, hiring a Heather, hiring you. And it’s showing that they’re ready for more growth. I’m I’m super excited. And if there’s a harbinger movie on the, that could have possibly

David G Wohl: occur,

Kenric: I’ll only be one of the first people in line.

So this is awesome. Oh, cool.

David G Wohl: Me too. Yeah. Thank you, please.

Kenric: Do you, are you guys going to be doing the cons when they come back? Is that going to be something you’re going to be doing or are you going to send them? I hope so.

David G Wohl: Yeah. I’m I’m I imagine my well.

Kenric: Well, [00:33:00] because we have a really good one here in Seattle for the Emerald city Comicon

David G Wohl: I’ve been there.

Yeah. Well, we should get together when you get here. Oh, okay. Yeah. That’d be fun. Yeah. I was actually thinking about moving there for a little while. Nice.

Kenric: Yeah. Did you decide against it it’s expensive here?

David G Wohl: Well, no, it was, it was like a, it was a job thing like a couple of years ago and ended up not happening.

Yeah. Yeah.

Kenric: Well, it’s, it is a nice place to raise kids.

David G Wohl: I actually wanted to move to scrim Washington.

Kenric: Yeah. And what’s called a rain shadow, the mountain. They’re so close to the mountain that the mountain app literally blocks like 90% of the normal rainfall that the rest of the state gets. Oh, wow. Yeah, it doesn’t rain. It rains there don’t get me wrong. It does rain and swim, but not a

David G Wohl: lot. [00:34:00] Now I want to live there more.

Kenric: Yeah. Scrims out in the middle of kind of nowhere, man. It’s out there,

David G Wohl: but yeah, I know someone who lived there, so I went up and visited him when I was the last time I was there. So yeah, it definitely wasn’t out in the middle of nowhere. Great crabby.

Sorry. I thought I turned my phone off and

apparently not.

Kenric: Oh, geez. Sorry about that.

David G Wohl: Well,

Kenric: can we, we came to the end anyways.

David G Wohl: Okay. Well, it was great talking to you.

Kenric: I, no, it was awesome, David. I really appreciate you coming on. I really hope you come back. Seriously, anytime in, if maybe you can come back on and we can just shoot. We can just shoot the breeze with all the stuff that you’ve been doing up to this point, because your stuff on which blade and, and what you did at top cow, I just feel like that was such a, a bottle, like a bottle, you know, lightening in the bottle.

David G Wohl: And, you know, we use that very expression when we were there. Yeah.

[00:35:00] Kenric: And it was just, yeah. I don’t think people understand how overnight big it was. You know, and the fact that it was just that people still, I mean, they, those comics are still super loved today, you know?

David G Wohl: And it’s just,

Kenric: yeah, I’d love to dial in and, and maybe actually, you know, there’s something that we do and maybe I can get you to come on board and do this.

We do, what’s called a DVD, a comic book, commentary track, and we both take a comic. We take one of your comics that you wrote. And then we read through it. And then as we go page by page, you give us a, you give us the backlog of what you were going through, what you were doing as these came about.

David G Wohl: That sounds scary.

It’s fun.

Kenric: It’s

David G Wohl: why we did it with the camp. Have you read tanto.

Kenric: Oh, okay. So Cantos out of IDW and they, and those guys there, it’s, it’s a fun book. It’s kind of like an [00:36:00] adult, not adult it’s, it’s a fantasy kind of like on the vein of wizard of Oz. Yeah, it’s cool. And then we did one with independent guy, Stephan, Frank.

He was the animation supervisor for the iron giant and a bunch of other stuff. And he has a book called silver. It’s amazing. He came on. We did a commentary track on that. And then Frank Gogel, who did dead end kids, he came on and he did his it’s. It’s a lot of fun if you thought you’d be interested.

David G Wohl: It’d be cool.

Yeah. That sounds fun. Yeah, that’d be cool.

Kenric: It’s not scary. It’s it’s actually, it ends up being pretty cool. Then we can do different things.

David G Wohl: Well, as long as I get to make fun of my own writing and it would be, yeah, that would be

Kenric: even better. Cause then I can make fun of

All right, David. Well, you have an amazing night and we’ll talk soon.