Craig Rousseau : Comic Book Artist on Comics today and Awesome Con 2024

Rob Lee: Howdy guys, Rob Lee here with Quick Message. Definitely continue to share, review, like, and just check out our podcast. Get it out there. That's the way that it grows. You know, the algorithms, they're always against us. You know, there's all podcasts out. There's so many podcasts. And what sets us aside is we're a real podcast. You know, that's sort of the real, we have the real conversations. We keep the imperfections in. We keep the real conversation in. And we always try to be community-focused and community-centric and having interesting, unique conversations. But we also need that support of leaving a review. That does wonders for us. It's the best way to support us. Not even money. Not even, hey, here's my Patreon. But really, leaving a review helps us get the word out there. Let's get those review numbers up. Leave a review. Let us know what you think. Comment. What do you think about this episode? What did you think about the last episode? Well, who would you like to see interviewed? Make suggestions. I do take those all the time. And yeah, I think that's the big piece in there. And I just want to share that with you all before we get into this next interview. So without much further ado, let me go into my spiel. Welcome to The Truth in This Art, your source for conversations at the intersection of arts, culture, and community, a space for real conversations where people sound like people. I am your host, Rob Lee. Thank you for tuning in. This episode is brought to you by the fine folks at AwesomeCon. That is Washington, D.C.' 's Comic-Con, and this is part of AwesomeCon Week. Today, it is my pleasure to welcome my next guest, an acclaimed comic book artist whose dynamic work spans across Marvel, DC, and independent titles, bringing beloved characters to life with his unique artistic flair. Please welcome Craig Rousseau. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for having me. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for making the time. And yeah, this is going to be great. And, you know, as I always much mentioned in this mostly audio format, it's great to talk to another bespectacled person. There's not many of us out there, damn it. I think there are plenty of us. Absolutely are. I've been wearing glasses since I was three. So it's just like, look, I'm coming up on decade number four of this odyssey, this journey. So here we go.

Craig Rousseau: Yeah, I got to the point now where I've got the bifocals. So that's exciting. Yeah, getting old. Awesome.

Rob Lee: Well, and again, I want to I want to start off by I want to start off by, you know, giving you sort of the space to share who you are, because I think like whenever I do like an intro, I'm capturing certain things. It's usually from a press release. It's usually from something online. It's an amalgamation. We all use chat GPT. It's fine. But I think hearing it directly from the person in their own words has a lot of strength in it. So if you will, could you share who you are? Because I think often it goes beyond the standard bio. So please.

Craig Rousseau: Sure. Okay. Like you said, my name is Craig Rousseau. I'm a comic artist. I've been doing this for … I keep trying to figure out how long, but it's been a long time. Well over 20 years, probably closer to 30 years. You know, growing up, I loved comics and thought I want to do comics. And then chose that career path of art in school. And then do I regret it? Who knows? But went to art school and then thought, I don't want to do comics and yet kept coming back to comics and been doing it for about since I started working on Impulse back in the mid 90s. Nice.

Rob Lee: Thank you. Thank you. So going back as we tap into a little bit, where did it start? Like when, where? Kind of give us the setting of like, all right, I'm going to start this in earnest. I'm about 15 years into this sort of thing. And I can remember it like, not yesterday, I can remember it like it was like last week. It was like, all right, certain pieces of it a little bit more murky than others. But what was that initial sort of part like, I'm doing this, this is where I'm at, I'm really gonna pursue this in earnest?

Craig Rousseau: You know, honestly, as long as I can remember, my friends and I were just big comic book fans. And we watched all the cartoons. And one of one of our friends dads was a was a trash collector. And we he would come back with shopping bags full of comics. And we thought that was the coolest thing ever that somebody's parents are throwing away these comics. You know, he would just go through them with their old Avengers and x men and Superman and Batman and all that kind of stuff. So I we'd sit on the steps and recreate some of those panels that we saw that we liked so much. And it really, from grade school on, and then going up through high school, I was either going to go into the AP physics track, or art, because those classes were at the same time, so I couldn't figure out where I was going to go. my parents were cool enough to say, if you like art, stick with art. And it may not be a steady job, it may not be as exciting, you know, maybe more exciting, but it may be more stressful. But follow your passion. So that was cool. And I did. And Then I went to a state school here in Massachusetts for art. And again, I went in thinking comic books, and then I thought, there's so much more out there than just drawing comics. So I dipped my toes in everything through all of my classes, but just kept coming back to comics. And that was in the 90s. I graduated from UMass Dartmouth in 93. So I was going and buying Vertigo Comics, and I was buying some of those books that really just hit me in a way that maybe realize that you can do anything with comics and that that's where I've been ever since.

Rob Lee: Thank you. And as someone who I had to revisit it. I wanted to be a comic artist when I was younger and. You know, I do the thing, I go there, I go to the art school we have here in Baltimore, that's where I'm based, still East Coast. And, you know, I go there with all of my rudimentary drawing of like, actually, it's not even rudimentary, I gotta give myself a little bit more credit, but I would draw, I would take like the B in my class, right? Because I know the last half of the class, I could just rush through the test and then draw for the rest of the class. That's what I was doing. And it's like, and I'm going to draw Wolverine, who's trying to pay for this? I think I was getting in trouble more so for drawing and making money in the middle of class versus actually drawing. But, you know, I wanted to do sort of my own thing, which was like a pastiche of the stuff that I was watching or reading at the time. So a lot of X-Men, Wildcats, Ultra Force, stuff like that during that early 90s era. And, you know, I got to that stage where going to the art school and kind of doing the sort of entry tests and they were like, eh, kind of childish. Go to Confidence, switch gears, went to something else. And in that switching of gears and doing podcasting for as long as I have, I've been able to talk to folks like you. you know, creative folks, folks who had kind of stuck through it and figured it out. And that's where I feel in some of the conversations that that feedback, that sort of person's like, no, no, I've dealt with that or I've had that. So I've been able to revisit comics, but maybe in a much different way, because seeing how labor intensive it is and and all of that, I now write a comic and I hire artists and. It's a lot of fun and it's ridiculous comics. It's about, I'm doing one that's about cat lawyers. It's ridiculous and it's nice. And I'll just share as an aside, it's so wild that, you know, I have an IT job and my partner has an IT job as well. Me doing that and having these conversations has given her the juice to go back into comics, because she actually did have a comic published or have you back in the day. And she's doing a comic again about cats. We're cat people, I don't have to tell you. But hers is about cat podcasters. And I was like, Am I in this comic? And I am in this comic. And I was like, OK, fair enough. So, yeah, it's it's great. I just wanted to share that. That's awesome. So moving into this this next question, like, you know, having the careers you said, you know, you're coming up on 30, right? 30 years. Yeah, we're getting there. Yeah. So you've worked in a variety, for a variety of publishers, and I would imagine a variety of styles. How has this sort of diversity in your career in terms of, you know, maybe the publishers you're working with, maybe sort of, we kind of prefer this style over that style. You have your signatures, obviously. Could you provide an example how your work has evolved over time?

Craig Rousseau: Yeah, I mean, like I said, one of the things that I had drawn me to comics earlier were vertigo. And some of those earliest samples that I did, I said, were vertigo based characters. And then I ended up meeting an assistant editor at the time at DC and it was a weird situation where there's supposed to be a convention and it got snowed out and canceled and I had a friend who knew someone who worked at Marvel in DC or he worked at Marvel and he knew someone at DC so we got to show our samples around and it It doesn't usually work that way. Those samples had some quirky superhero stuff in there, and that led to a filling issue on Impulse, which really isn't Vertigo, clearly. It was a very kid-friendly book, and it was based on Umberto Ramos' style, so I kept doing big feet and kind of cartoony look. that I did that book for for two years. And that was my first real comic book work. And then from there, I did some animated style books. So they were sending me style guides, and I was videotaping all the cartoons that were on so I can get all the Batman Beyond reference right and all that. So, you know, that wasn't really my style. It was my style mixed with a style guide. And then As it went along, clearly most of the books that I've been doing over the years have been all ages or kid friendly, because my style just seems to lend towards that.

Rob Lee: Sure. One, I'll throw this in it, love Batman Beyond? I mean, look, look. Like I said, I'm setting the stage of, you know, what I was watching as I creep upon 40. Yeah. But yeah, like I I don't know, like there's always just something that sticks out about that particular like like property, more of the the cartoon component of it. It's just that intro. The intro is. Oh, absolutely. Especially the dancing. I was like, who's this? Um, so I'm very curious about, um, cause you, you mentioned the style guy. So I'm very curious about sort of what the process looks like. Let maybe right now, right? Like what the creative process for you looks like from sort of that initial concept. It can be, I just want to get into your, your, your head, how you go about like, all right, I got the style guy. I'm going to work on, on this or. You're working on something that's your own. And where do where do we start? You know, like, what does that look like? And are there any techniques or even rituals? Because I know like, you know, some of us are creatures of habit creatively. As I said before, I got started. My habit was thrown off. So what is the process like for you?

Craig Rousseau: No, yeah, I will. I as long as I have the whole script in hand for that first book, I'll get get it. I'll read it and I'll sit on it for at least two or three days just thinking through my head, you know, where I'm going to go with the storytelling and really what I need to do and what references I'll need for locations, or if there's cars or planes or animals, and I'll just start googling some of this stuff and pulling up images, you know, as opposed to having to go find magazines in the old days and go through filings and clippings and whatnot. Or now I can do screen grabs and movies. Technology is great. But I will try to figure out a lot of that stuff before I block it out in my head before I really start drawing. And since I've been doing it so long, I don't do a lot of real basic thumbnails anymore. I'll mentally, I'll know what that I can know what the page should look like. And I'll just start doing really kind of rough layouts. And then tighten them all up as I go along. But now I do it digitally, where I'll do it on my iPad. So I can go, I can go to the coffee shop, and I can work there for a while, or I can sit in front of the TV, or I can bring it if I'm waiting for the car at the garage or something like that. So that's been a little different. As technology has changed, I appreciate that. But you know, I will usually give myself several days to just digest and figure out where it's going to go and think about a style, even though you can pretty much pick up any book that I've drawn, my name is on it. And you'll see my style on there. But some books will have a different feel slightly, or I'll think they have a different feel. So I'll think about what style applies to what book. And, you know, for instance, we do a creator own book called the perhapanauts, which is about a Bigfoot, a chupacabra, a ghost, a mothman, it's all this this crypto zoology stuff. And that's all me. So that is my purest, you know, artistic output is me drawing that book. Whereas I'm doing Hellboy as well, Young Hellboy with Mike Mignola and Thomas Nagoski. And I kind of have to think of, well, you know, what would Mike have done? I don't want to copy what Mike's done, but it should feel like it belongs in that universe. So I might change my style a little bit to fit that. Or, you Those considerations go into every project. If it's an animated book, is the style cleaner? Do I just take out more lines? Do I make the action bolder? Think of it that way.

Rob Lee: Does that make sense? It makes a lot of sense. And thank you for that, because when I when I go through this, right, I'm doing this, I'm like 700 plus episodes into this podcast. Right. And not everyone approaches like it's a conversation. You're crafting the conversation. There are some people who are very verbose and there are some people who are very succinct. There are, you know, I find like photographers always like to chat. I find like So some folks are like, hey, I am done with this. This is the press tour. And for me, I'm trying to, like, help pull out the conversation collaboratively in a certain way or have you. So but to the point I really keyed in on was sort of it's in the pantheon. It's just like you can tell this is one of your books. You can tell this is, you know, work that you've worked on. because there's different things that are in there. And I think when I'm doing this and people are listening, even if I'm collaborating or doing ghost podcasts for for other clients, what have you done in the past? They can tell us, I mean, not just out of the voice. Sometimes it's like that's absolutely a Rob question right there. Yeah. I'll give you one example before I move to this next question. I'm giving an example of a question before I move to the next question. I was talking to a conductor and I'm a nerd, you know, I like cartoons and stuff. And I'm talking to the conductor and I asked him, I was like, how close to Bugs Bunny do you get on stage? And he thought it was very funny because he referenced the Bugs Bunny conductor bit. He's like, yeah, that's a good question. He's like, thank you. No one ever asked me that. And, you know, that's that's kind of kind of what it is. I just try to insert as much as me and in my questions and how I go about things and, you know, have the guests, you know, insert themselves. I'm not just interviewing people because it's just like, hey, tell me, talk to me. So collaboration, I was touching a little bit on this with far as what I've been doing, collaboration with with writers is pivotal in the comic industry, I would imagine. Could you share like a memorable experience of collaboration with with a writer that may be led to a significant comic story or character development, just character development? Is there something that comes to mind in terms of collaboration that really sticks out for you?

Craig Rousseau: I mean, clearly, there are some jobs where you're hired to be the artist, you're like the art monkey, for lack of a better term, where you're given the script, and they said, go draw it and then come back and you don't talk to the writer at all. But then there are other jobs where it's much more collaborative. And when I was on impulse for two years, toward the end of that run, you know, again, the writer had his own idea. So he was doing most of the heavy lifting. And I was getting a little bored, and I thought, I think it's time to find a new job, a new challenge. And I called the editor, because we still used phones back then. And I said, I think it's time for me to move on, Paul, and Paul Kupferberg at the time was the editor. And he said, that, Craig, I'll tell you, that makes this conversation so much easier, because you're fired. And, uh, he said, well, I wasn't not fired really, but we're going to bring a new creative team on anyway. So you were going to be like, oh, and I, this would be a great time to switch over. So there was definitely no ill will. And, and then after I hung up, I got a phone call maybe a half hour later from, uh, And one of my good friends, Todd, Todd is a go and he said, Guess what, man, I'm, I'm gonna be writing impulse, we're gonna be working together. I said, No, we're not. I just quit. So but that that led to say, Well, what can we do together, then we did a telos book, a one shot based on his book with with Mike Ringo. And we really connected. We had a lot of the same likes and quirks about storytelling. So that led to us doing the Perhapanauts. And that is very much a collaborative enterprise that's been going on for 20 years. And it may be something as simple as me saying, you know, Todd, I really don't want to draw buildings in the story. So he'll find a cryptid that will work, you know, in a jungle or, or, you know, we need to get to this point in the story, Craig, you're gonna have to do this. Well, can we do this? And then he writes to my strengths, and I draw to his strengths, which, if you're given a script that's fully formed, and you're just drawing what's on the page, you're doing the best you can, but you haven't talked to the writer to know, you know, you wrote this, but what did you mean by this? Or were you thinking this when you did it? And sometimes I'll draw a face in one of our stories, and Todd will look at it and go, you know, that emotion is not what I a reaction shot was not what I expected. But now that you've given that to me, that opens up a whole new pathway in the dialogue. So don't draw the next panel yet. I want to change it. And then we'll collaborate much more.

Rob Lee: That's really cool. That's really cool. It's dope to have that as a conversation and working off of each other's strengths in that way. That's great.

Craig Rousseau: Yeah, I think that some of the best teams in creative teams do that, where they work to their strengths and not fighting against their natural urges. Because sometimes that'll work. And when you push yourself and you try something you've never done, and you realize that's pretty amazing. But sometimes when you just do what you do, magic happens.

Rob Lee: Yeah, we love the magic here. We love the magic around here. So In kind of like reflecting back and even looking like to present and even forward, like how how is the industry like changed? Like in like obviously it's changed, but you know, how has it changed in a way that feels like the most like exact, the most big, the most impactful to you and your process and the things that you're particularly interested in as it relates to comics?

Craig Rousseau: Yeah, I think the biggest thing about comics is, is they're, they're just becoming more and more expensive. They're more, they're everywhere. And, you know, what, what I grew up reading in the 80s, as comics is, is just a tiny fraction of what's out there now. And there's so much more. And there's in the stories universe, the creators universe that everything about it is just, it's blown up in a way that I find awesome. And I've been lucky enough that when I got in early in my career, I've built up enough of a fan base. So they're following me to my own books, my creator on stuff, or they'll say, Oh, I like Hellboy, I'll follow that book, or I'll go from that book to the Perhapanauts or vice versa. And so I feel like I'm at a point now where I don't go to Marvel or DC looking for work, because I don't want to be turned down. My ego can only take so much. But I don't need to. So, you know, and people say, Oh, well, what was it like when you got in? And it was, it was a very different environment. But I think now that, like, one of the things that we're constantly telling people is, is if you want to make a comic, make a comic. Yeah, draw it. And once you hit post, it's up there, you know, you're not having to go through the gatekeeper of an editor at Marvel or DC or image or whoever, you can get out there. And if if it connects with people, it'll find its audience, which I think is awesome.

Rob Lee: What would you say is, and I think it's awesome too, what would you say is one of those like key drivers or the key drivers that you might see out there as far as this movement to having these expansive worlds, having this more like openness and like I would imagine folks are able to create as, you know, technology has moved up, so we're able to do a lot more. And then I would imagine, even though some folks are going through withdrawal, I suppose, that comics are more in the pop culture scope outside of just the written form or the visual, well, the actual tangible form, but it's in mass media and films and it's big dollars around that. What would you say is driving a lot of the attention to it now and sort of the new folks coming in?

Craig Rousseau: I mean, I think I get that. It was a process. There are movies everywhere that may draw people in. I don't know. I don't know how many, you know, Avengers comics sold because of those movies. And then if you go, Oh, I love the Avengers. And then you go to pick up the comic book that has nothing to do with any of those characters in the screen, they're quickly turned off. So that's a weird story itself. But yeah, there are so many kids out there that are reading, reading these books in school, they're getting the scholastic books, and they're getting, you know, Reina, I could never pronounce the name. Teller, whatever her name is, but she's the best, biggest selling comic book artist in the world right now, I think. And, you know, that's because kids are reading these books. those Dogman and Wimpy Kid and all that kind of stuff is a great introduction to comics and storytelling in a visual manner. And I think that we're catching up with some of, you know, if you go to other countries where they go to the bookstore, there are graphic albums everywhere. And that might just be a little section of American superheroes off to the side. But you can tell any story, anything with words and pictures. So I think that is a catalyst, I think. And the fact that you're able to do that, and you're seeing these books in Scholastic Book Fair or in the school library. And I think that's encouraging kids, so.

Rob Lee: So I'd be remiss if I didn't ask sort of like, you know, like, we got a few, I got a few questions I want to get to about AwesomeCon, because obviously that's that's coming up very, very soon. And yes, it is. Shockingly. Big, big fan of AwesomeCon. It's like this is content related to it. Who knows? But I definitely, you know, want to give you the space to tell us about sort of projects that are your own, you know, not like that, that are coming from like, like you, obviously, you know, you're working, you work with clients, you work with, you know, different publishers that will have you, but work that is yours that you want to share. You want to put us on to, because I think that's another spot that's here. Like we have these things that are very important that there are ours. Like I enjoy doing this, but usually when I'm done with doing this interview, I'm like, you know, what a real good stuff is that check out It's also good. Give us, give us a little bit about, about some of your like projects that are really near and dear to you. And you know, if there's a story related to it, I'd be great. But any projects that are near and dear to you that you want to share with us?

Craig Rousseau: Yeah. I mean, uh, Like I said, for the last 20 years, my passion project has been the Perhapanauts. It was just a story of cryptids, and I've always thought those are cool. Thinking back to the old In Search of TV shows, when Bigfoot showed up on The Six Million Dollar Man, that was awesome. And that led to this whole idea of cryptids and creepy crawly things and the Loch Ness Monster and making a story about that. And there are so many other versions of it out there. And I was inspired by Mike Mignola's Hellboy, which I'm working on now, which is a dream come true. So I'm incredibly lucky to be doing the stuff that I love in comics. And when I think of things to do for fun, probably for the last four years now, We go to a lot of live music, because I can't play music, but I love listening to it, and I love the environment. So we go to concerts, big and small, and I realized that I'm not going to buy T-shirts, because I've got hundreds of shirts as it is. I'm not going to buy posters. So I started making my own little digital posters. And we also don't get tickets anymore. You get those paper printouts, or it's a thing on your phone. So as a memento, I would make a little digital poster. So some of the shows are small enough that I could print out a copy and bring it to the venue and get it signed. Or I could tag them online and sometimes they reply, sometimes they don't, and that's cool. And then it became a thing where if I'm going to a concert, I'm going to make a poster, I'm going to make a just for me poster. And I realized that I've made about 60 or 70 of these things. And I kickstarted a book last year, collecting the first 30 of them. And people really enjoyed the fact that it was something that I was doing that's clearly tied to comics, it looks like a comic book, but it's also me doing whatever I want. And there's no client to say, you really shouldn't draw that, or that doesn't work, or redraw that, or don't do something different. So if it worked, it worked. If it didn't, it didn't. But I had fun doing it. So I would push myself in different directions with those. And then I went back in and made the book a little more than just a collection. So there's essays about each show. There's a set list. There's some random facts about it, some pictures maybe. And that was a nice, uh, change of pace.

Rob Lee: I got one quick question. It's like a fake half question, I guess, about the perhapinots. I want to see how to be a perhapipal, but, um, is there, and this might come back up later, is there, is there a character within perhapinots that you really like? All right. That's kind of, I put a little bit of me in this character.

Craig Rousseau: Oh, literally. And I think, I'm not sure which issue, we had to put two police officers in. And I just drew me and Todd. So we're in like the whole issue as, as characters. So clearly, yes. And that's the thing with creator notebooks, you can do whatever you want. So we're, we did that thinking, you know, if they ever make a movie, they can hire us or, or someone better looking. I don't know.

Rob Lee: But yeah, that's great. Yeah, because I was looking at it. I was like, I have usually I have like the the website up or or something that I reference. I was like, hell yeah. I was like, all right. Nowhere. I'm thinking some purchases that own an awesome. But in that it's a good segue towards the awesome con chunk of this this conversation. So. I'm always curious because I go to conventions. I'm in the scene. Well, not in the scene. I'm a fan of the scene. I'm adjacent to the scene, right? I'm a journalist. How does that fan feedback at conventions and interactions influence creative decisions? Is there any influence there? Is there any consideration when folks come up to you like, really love this issue, love this arc, love this character? And it's sort of that one to one connection. And I ask that because I've gone to various conventions, expos, things of that nature. And they're the really big ones, hard to get to people. Some of the smaller ones, it's easy to have a conversation and say, oh, that's a really good idea. So to talk about any influence that may show up at these conventions when you're able to be kind of face to face with your people.

Craig Rousseau: Uh, you know, we love talking to our people and and and seeing what they think of it But we we're not it's it's weird because we're telling the story for them, but we're not catering it to them Like if they like it great uh, but we're not going to change something because they didn't like it or They wanted more of that or it has to work for us in the story and we can say we hope you like it Or we can ask you why you didn't like it, and that may factor into our thoughts down the road, but no, really, it's what we think. And clearly, you know, based on sales sometimes, we're not thinking of other people, we're thinking of what we like. But it is always good to hear feedback and say, and hear, oh, I did not expect that at all. Or that is not what we intended, but I'm glad you got that out of it. Or, wow, you read a real, you made much more out of that than we thought you would get out of it. So that's really kind of cool.

Rob Lee: Yeah, I think that I like that. That's a really good answer, because and I like that you were well thought through, because some people are like, man, I don't take anyone consideration. I just do what I do. I was like, OK, fair enough. Yeah, because I encounter that in doing this. I mean, I guess people are they like what you do or they're a fan or they're consuming or whatever it is that they're invested if they're a stakeholder. They want to share feedback, and I've encountered the same thing where it's like, I feel like you do this. I was like, oh, it's great that you see that. Or even this, it was a piece of advice I got from someone in the radio industry when I started breaking out and doing interviews like this. I was doing mostly my interviews in Baltimore, my interviews with Baltimore people, and once I started opening it up, I asked a person from NPR, a mentor, I was like, look, I want to do this. And he was just like, people are going to see your story and the way you go about doing interviews and storytelling, and they're going to follow that lead. You're the one that's taking them on that journey. And they're going to follow you through these. They'll follow you through those as well. And maybe some folks to get off. Maybe it's not for them in this next iteration, but you have to do it for yourself and what you're interested in. Stats, not sales, but stats, downloads, be damned.

Craig Rousseau: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. You know, talking to a friend, again, coming back to music, there are certain bands that I will follow every album, if it comes out, I'll pick up every release, or I'll stream it or, and there are certain albums, I'll say, I appreciate where they're going with it. I'm just not along for the ride on this one. I'll catch him on the next one and see if I'm liking it again. But I would never say just just go back to your old stuff, your old stuff with better because that That's boring. Change is natural, progression, and trying something new. I'd much rather see you try something new and just not like it than, oh, it's the same thing again, over and over again.

Rob Lee: Yeah, 100%. I got two last real questions and still those rapid fire questions. I've been actively adding to them as we've been talking. So as we look forward to, to AwesomeCon 2024, um, you know, we're, we're coming up on it. Um, what are you most excited about for this year's event? I mean, it is stacked and, um, what are some, you know, activities that you're, you're looking forward to? Like, what are you, what are you looking forward to? What's, what's on your mind as it relates to AwesomeCon 2024?

Craig Rousseau: I have never been to Awesome, so I'm just looking forward to checking it all out for the first time. And I, I'm looking at the guest list and some artists that I know that I would like to spend some time with and, I know they're talking about doing an artist meet and greet, I think Friday night, which is kind of fun. I think it's a great idea. And I looked at all the guest list going, Oh, man, I, if I make enough money, maybe I'd get a picture with so and so or, you know, but I'm trying to be behind my table at the show, which is usually how it goes. So you miss a lot of the exciting stuff at other tables. But I gotta tell you, the Josie the Pussycats panel or whatever, it sounds awesome. I love that.

Rob Lee: That's amazing. I am also looking forward to it. I got my cat ears ready on this bald head of mine, so it's going to be great. And this is sort of the last one with connecting to it. And this might be recovering some old territory, but it's slightly different. And maybe in past sort of conventions or past events or what have you, what sort of What sort of interactions do you find to be the most fulfilling? And I say this because I think there's two sides of it. It's a side of being a person who is a guest and who is there with work and representing work and another side of being a fan of your industry and being around your peers and so on. What sort of interactions do you find the most fulfilling? Like, this is a great con. This is what I look for from these cons, from these expos, from these different events. I love when I get confused for being someone that I'm not. It's like, you're, you're, you're big Donald Glover. I was like, I am not. Or you're a comedian in this thing. I was like, I'm not, I'm, I'm not security either. So we're running off the chain. Six four, I'm six four. So people were like, oh, you must be security. So what kind of interactions do you find to be the most fulfilling when you're going either from the sort of fan and appreciator perspective or from a, a, a, a guest perspective, an honored guest?

Craig Rousseau: As a fan, I like going and being able to meet artists that I've either communicate with a line for years or never, but I love their work and if I can go up and introduce myself or talk to somebody, there are a few artists that I kick myself that, that have passed recently that I said, you know, I was too intimidated to go over and talk to them, like I found their work, and I kind of stumble over my words, and then I just walk away. So I stopped talking to them. And I regret not, you know, going over to meet them, because everyone I've talked to said, Well, you're an idiot, because they're a great person. So I try to make a habit of trying to at least introduce myself to one new artist at every show. Now, that's my thing. That's been fulfilling in that way, but I got to say that when you're at a show and someone comes up and either says they love your work and they'll bring up a random book that you don't have a copy of because it was so weirdly like, this Taco Bell Fantastic Four tie-in from 25 years ago, or this tie-in from the New York Power Company, I think was one of them. So they've got these books and I think it's great that they've got them. And then one of the things that, you know, when I'm at my table and I'm drawing and I've got my head down and I'm trying to make eye contact, but a lot of times it's tough. It was great to have a writing partner when Todd is there. He's not going to be at this show, but when he's there with me, he has our sales pitch for the book and he can kind of talk people into it. And one of the things that he will tell people is that If you buy volume one, I can guarantee that if you read it tonight, you will come back tomorrow to buy volume two to see where it goes. And more often than not, people will come back the next day and say, you're right, I would like to buy volume two, is there a volume three? So getting that immediate gratification from fans is just awesome.

Rob Lee: That that is wonderful. And as I said, like, you know, I'm keeping a couple of dollars to the side because I got to support, you know, my people, as I said earlier, the comic thing or what have you. It's like I like talking to, you know, creative folks that are in that space or what have you. It's always something that takes me back to. you know, being a young person, but also, you know, sharing it with maybe my nephew or what have you. Whenever there is sort of a free comic day, you know, he's just like it's not on his radar because it's like he's a teenager and other things on his radar, like girl. And I'm like, man, what about these comics, man? So I always get like extra for free comic book day or even if I go to a con, I just buy extra books. I'm like, hey, book report time. Tell me what you think about this. I'm reading. And it promotes reading, but also it's sharing something that I think is kind of cool and interesting. That's awesome, yeah. So that's kind of it for the real questions. And I have several rapid fire questions. And as I like to tell folks, don't overthink these. Don't overthink these. It's not a problem. All right. So here's the first one. Here's the first one. Onion rings or French fries? French fries. You get it. Because, you know, at these conventions, you're just like, I got to get calories in. I don't know how I'm going to get it. That salad. I don't think it's going to happen. I'm at this hour. I need a slice of pizza. I need something. French fries are clutch. of the many projects that you've worked on, who has been the who is the most relatable comic character like to you, to you as a person? Like, who do you like relate to the most outside of you being a cop?

Craig Rousseau: But outside of me particularly. That's you know, that is tough because most of the stuff that I've been doing is is, you know, fantastical creatures or, you know, the kid who's going to become the bring about the end of the world as Hellboy, or there's an alien jungle girl, or these teenage superheroes. There's no middle-aged white dude in my comic strips, because it's pretty boring. So I don't know who I would relate to at this point in my characters. Sadly, earlier on, I'd say it would be Terry McGinnis, but now it's probably Grumpy Old Batman.

Rob Lee: I love Grumpy Old Batman! It just has that one line.

Craig Rousseau: That scar. Is it a scar? Is it just the way they draw it? But it's always there. Yeah.

Rob Lee: Look, we definitely I'm going to I'm letting you know this now. I'm going to accost you at your table. I'm like, yeah, so bad. Let's talk about it. Because I mean, me and my partner, we we have so many in jokes about the rogues gallery. So, yeah. Now, this is somewhat related, but I think this is even this is even funnier. Which character's costume would you want to wear? Like if it's like, look, this year, you know, you have to wear a project that you you have to wear a character that you've worked on costume. Which one? You're like, I got to do it.

Craig Rousseau: Yeah, there's a lot that nobody would want to be seeing me wear like a Harley Quinn suit, because that's just weird. You know, the thing about the Perhapanauts is it's just a pair of cargo pants and some big clunky boots and a shirt. So I could pull that off and not look really ridiculous. So I would go with that kind of uniform.

Rob Lee: OK, this is the last one. This is the cherry on top, if you will. And and I ran into this. This is one of the reasons like, you know, that I don't know if you probably do this, this old drawing test that it would be online. And it's like, hey, if you can draw this dog, you're in the 95th percentile or what have you. I took one of those when I was a kid and I was able to draw the dog and it was fine. But one thing I always had trouble with drawing was hands. Was there something like a part of the anatomy or something that you had to draw regularly, like in your career, like that may have been troublesome early on?

Craig Rousseau: You know, that was one of the things that was drilled into me in art school was, you know, the things that you can't draw well, keep drawing those. I kept a journal of hands and feet, and I would do a lot of that. for a while, animals were a bit tricky, so I kept pushing myself. Honestly, the thing I hate trying now is cars. I hate it. I hate it. Cars, they're boxy, clunky, and weird. In your head, you think, well, it's going to look this way, but when you actually look at a picture of it and think about it, you go, well, that's not exactly what I was thinking of at all. with technology these days and you can you can get photo reference and you can actually kind of bring it in and manipulate it and trace it a little bit or flip it or use that to figure out so i'm much better at drawing cars now before they looked like weird um i don't know matchbox cars or something like that

Rob Lee: I wish all cars look like the cars from those cut scenes in Street Fighter two. That's what I want to destroy the destroyed parts. I get it out of here and everything. Everything's a test now. So it's just a, you know, Jetson's car is fine. It's fine. That's kind of it. So. Thank you so, so much for coming on to the pod. And one second thing I want to do is, I'll start again thanking you, but inviting and encourage you to share with the listeners, website, social media, basically the shameless plugs portion of the pod as we wrap up here. So the floor is yours.

Craig Rousseau: All right. Well, you know, you can find most of that stuff at my website, which is craigrousseau.com. And I'm on Facebook, Instagram, Blue Sky as Craig Rousseau. And our other website is perhapnots.com. And I think that's pretty much it. We've got a pretty, pretty consistent online presence. So yeah, there you go.

Rob Lee: Well, there you have it, folks. I want to again thank Craig Rousseau for coming on and sharing a bit of his story and his thoughts and insights. And I'm Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture and community in and around your neck of woods. You've just got to look for it.