Dream Comics Collaborators
Can the Donny/Ryan dream team get any dreamier?
In this new mini-installment of Ryan and Donny's Half-Assed Substack Podcast, Donny and Ryan discuss the DREAM creators that they would love to work with at some point in their careers. They don't mention the Supples, but it's fine.
Donny Cates: Hey everybody, we're back. We're talking favorite creators.
Ryan Stegman: Who we'd like to work with.
Donny: Donny Cates here, Ryan Stegman over here. Now, obviously, the caveat here is besides the person that we're with. Present company excluded, what creators would you want to work with dream team style, Ryan?
Ryan: Honestly, the way that I look at it now is, I want to work with you or I would write for myself, those are the two things that I feel like I would enjoy the most. But knowing that there are great creators out there, like Frank Miller is still out there. So, of course, if he came knocking.
Donny: Well, you said writing for yourself, would you necessarily want to draw it yourself? Or do you have a dream artist that you'd like to draw your stuff?
Ryan: Oh yeah, I mean, there's lots of guys I would love to have draw my stuff. There's no question about that. But I would love to write and draw something myself. As I've said before, sometimes I feel like the stuff that you write is basically what I would write if I was a better writer, you know? So, that's tough to get over. I think that Frank Miller is one who's out there, Brian K. Vaughn always writes great stuff. Sometimes I look at some of these guys and I'm like, "would my stuff fit what they do?" And I'm not necessarily sure that Vaughn and I would be the best match up in the world. So yeah, basically, you or me or nobody.
Donny: Huh, alright.
Ryan: Oh and, specifically, not Chip.
Donny: Right. I mean, I'll say that for the art side of things, too. You know, I have really been blessed with the people that I've been able to work with. I've been able to work with some of my favorite guys. What's funny, though, is that some of the big fan favorite artists out there these these days are guys like Tradd Moore or Daniel Warren Johnson. People know that Daniel and I are friends. And people will ask me online, especially when Beta Ray Bill got announced, people were like, "you and Dan should do a book together." And I'm like, "we did, it was his first book ever, you guys just weren't there." So, I've gotten to work with a bunch of guys who are huge now. We all kind of came up together. As far as like, people that I really love, I just always come back to Esad. Esad Ribic, I'd kill to write for him. I imagine it's probably like writing for Jae Lee or these other guys who are very stylistic and stuff that you have to really write into them. I'd love to get the play with that.
Ryan: I think Esad could probably handle almost anything. He's just such a great figure artist.
Donny: He is, yeah.
Ryan: And he's a great storyteller.
Donny: I guess I meant more like playing to their strengths, in that, like Esad has worked with kind of only the top guys in the industry. I would have a hard time telling Esad what to do. I would probably be very loose with him. So, Esad... Walt Simonson.
Ryan: Oh, yeah.
Donny: Sienkiewicz. Alex Ross. I've had a couple Alex Ross covers, but I don't think they were actually made for my book. I think they were illustrations that he did that they used. And, yeah, that's it. I'm just now realizing looking at myself on this camera- and you guys can put this in or not- but I look like that girl from the Theranos commercials.
Ryan: Elizabeth Holmes.
Donny: I look like Elizabeth Holmes. I'm dressed just like her. And so (*begins Elizabeth Holmes impression*) I want to talk to you guys about this new blood testing formula.
Ryan: (*also doing Elizabeth Holmes impression*) Oh, when my uncle died...
Donny: Ha! Yeah. So anyway, that's that. I look like a billionaire tech genius, con artist and-
Ryan: Jailbird.
Donny: Jailbird, and this has been 'who we want to work with.' So uh, bye.
Ryan: Bye.
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Sniff. Rejected again...