Ray Reynet, a Miami-based writer, illustrator, animator, and founder of Farlook Studios, stops by to talk about building an entire indie comics universe from the ground up — starting from sketching characters as a self-taught kid in South Florida all the way to self-publishing a growing catalog that includes the mythology-fueled adventure series Junket: Hidden Worlds Revealed, The Dwellers, Gunny, and his newest project The Groundsmen. We dig into what it actually looks like to wear every hat at once — writing, illustrating, animating, designing, marketing, and running successful crowdfunding campaigns entirely on your own — and how Ray has managed to keep expanding his creative output while developing a distinct brand identity across multiple genres and formats.

You can follow Ray on farlookstudios.com or on Instagram @rayreynet.

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North Carolina-based artist Rodney Bennett joins the show to talk Legend of the Black Starr, his self-published indie superhero series set in 1938 and published through his own Vision Alive Studios. The guys dig into the book's first story, "No Rest for the Weary," a pulp-flavored blend of horror, sci-fi, and superhero action that follows a young vigilante called the Black Starr as he infiltrates a mortuary to rescue an abducted girl — only to stumble onto zombie attacks, weird science, and a full-blown government cover-up. Rodney talks about his background as a Studio Art graduate from North Carolina Central University and career as an art educator, and how decades of teaching painting, drawing, and sculpture to youth eventually led him back to his childhood love of comics and character creation. The conversation covers the rich cast of characters he's built out — from the morally ambiguous Golden Crusader to the villainous Wallace Tweed — and what it looks and feels like to world-build an entire superhero universe entirely on your own terms.

You can follow Rodney and Black Starr on his site legendoftheblackstarr.com or on Instagram @legend_of_the_black_starr.

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Writer Carlos Yacolca and editor Alberto Rayo join the show to talk Before We Sail, a post-apocalyptic graphic novella set in a crumbling Lima, Peru. Yacolca, making his comics-writing debut, explains how the whole project was sparked by a chance tweet from Rayo offering free editorial mentorship to the first person who replied — and how what began as a sprawling, geopolitical zombie story gradually evolved, through months of intensive feedback from Rayo and legendary V for Vendetta co-creator David Lloyd, into something leaner and more emotionally driven. The guys dig into what that editorial gauntlet looked like and how Yacolca's own experience living with chronic depression quietly shaped the story's themes of endurance and fragile hope. Rayo, whose credits include Heavy Metal Magazine, talks about what drew him to champion the project and what he looks for when working with debut creators.

You can follow Carlos and Alberto on Instagram: @carlos_yacolca and @rayointhebottle.

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