Jimmy Gaspero

Full Interview Transcript

Cleaned transcript below. Editorial section headings and quote callouts have been added for readability.

Opening cold open / commercial condensed: A pre-show zombie sketch and Deadly Grounds sponsor read run for a few minutes before the actual interview begins.

Show Open and Meeting Jimmy Gaspero

Leo [00:03:52]: Happy Saturday, everybody. You are watching Splash Pages. My name is Leo. I’m the monkey behind the keyboard here. We have an amazing show scheduled for you, as always, and we’re gonna kick it on over to Jar Jar. How’s it going, bud?

Jar Jar [00:04:04]: It is Saturday and I am happy. We’ve got a really good show coming up. And Drew, why don’t you introduce the man?

Drew [00:04:19]: Thank you. Thank you, Jar. I am glad that you’re happy. I am also happy. So happiness aplenty. Instead of the pursuit of happiness, which was a mood, but yes, we have a fantastic guest on here. Absolutely excited. He has an upcoming project that we’ve had the pleasure of getting both sides of the proverbial coin for, which is awesome. He has his own podcast, so that’s awesome because he understands the things that we go through every week with setting up shows and being on time and praying to God there’s not a blackout. He’s a parent. He’s a creator, a podcaster, chaser of the cryptids and other weird things, and he’s joining us here now. Wonderful. So, everybody — the one, the only Jimmy Gasparo.

Jimmy [00:05:15]: Hi, everybody.

Drew [00:05:17]: You’re welcome.

Jimmy [00:05:19]: Thank you so much for having me.

Jar Jar [00:05:23]: Jimmy — but is it Jimmy, Jim, or what? Just Jimmy?

Jimmy [00:05:32]: Jimmy’s fine. I’m at work, it’s Jim. It just depends. My wife can tell how people met me by what they call me. High school was Jim — I was trying to be older. My dad’s Jim, so it was big Jim and little Jimmy. Then in high school I’m like, well, I’m Jim now. And then in college, it was Jim casually or Jimmy with close friends. And then when I started doing comic book stuff, it was back to Jimmy. That’s what my close friends call me. So Jimmy’s fine. Jim.

Drew [00:06:19]: Okay. No, no — that’s the government name. We stick to Jimmy here. Unless you’re auditing him. It’s not April 14th yet.

Why Penny and the Yeti Lands Harder Than a Typical Kids Comic

I think kids aren’t given enough credit for the stuff they can kind of understand. I’ve had a couple of adults who told me we caused them emotional damage because the family stuff was a little too close to home.

Jimmy Gaspero, around 00:07:26

Drew [00:06:34]: To start, I just need to say again — Penny and the Yeti was fantastic. I just. We got to read it. Thank you again. I was blown away at how deep it was, because sometimes when you think kids’ graphic novels, you’re thinking they’re lighter, it’s a sillier kind of thing. But you kind of are reminded that kids’ books can also be deep and they touch on things. And kids are a lot more — as your character, they are more observant than you realize. People are always trying to shield kids. It’s like, oh, we’ve got to protect them, they can’t know about that, they won’t understand. I’m like, no — I think you’re underestimating the depth of understanding and empathy children have.

Jimmy [00:07:26]: Oh, thank you. Yeah. I mean, I think the same thing. I think kids aren’t given enough credit for the stuff they can kind of understand. I’ve had a few friends that have shown it to their kids and their kids all seem to like it and get it. Adults have had a more jarring response. From kids who have read it — Amber’s art is so whimsical and so cute, kids really respond to that. But I’ve had a couple of adults who told me we caused them emotional damage because the family stuff has been a little too close to home.

Jar Jar [00:08:07]: Oh, wow.

Drew [00:08:09]: And it’s funny because, you know — Jar, you’re a parent. How was it for you, buddy?

Jar Jar [00:08:22]: It’s definitely good. I’ve gone through divorce and everything and going through a lot of stuff, and it’s difficult when you have children and you do try to shield them from everything and you can’t. The book was great. I had tears in my eyes pretty much all the way through. I give you huge accolades. I’ve told other people about this book — when it drops, you’ve got to get on this.

Jimmy [00:09:02]: Well, thank you. I really appreciate that.

Drew [00:09:05]: Yeah. And again from Jar, who’s a great parent. Because there’s some that don’t. Okay, stop it.

Pop Culture References and Reading Like a 90s Kid

Drew [00:09:39]: The thing I enjoyed — we talked about this pre-show and I have to bring it up again — I loved the pop culture references. You mentioned — I was like, are they parent-trapping them? And I said that to Amber when we had her on in February. I saw that. And then that stupid “let’s get together.” And then the early 2000s Lindsay Lohan remake. But the one that got me — it was so subtle, like it took me a second — your Miss Congeniality one. “Oh, I mean, like April 25th.” I was like, yes.

Jimmy [00:10:25]: Yeah. Yeti has some weird pop culture knowledge, despite the things that Yeti doesn’t know.

Drew [00:10:35]: Right.

Jimmy [00:10:35]: I mean, I feel like a good part of my life I was raised by television. My parents were still around — I think they were great — but my dad worked shift work, my mom worked a lot, and I feel like a good part of my life, television was just there. I watched. I have this huge useless working knowledge of 80s and 90s television. If I can pop anything in there, I will. I can probably still quote most of Ghostbusters. I can’t remember the last time I watched it, but — (quoting) “Today at 1:40pm in the main branch of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue, 10 people witnessed a free-floating, full torso, vaporous apparition. It blew books off shelves from 20 feet away and scared the socks off some poor librarian.” Like, it just lives in me.

Drew [00:11:56]: (in Ghostbusters voice) I’m very excited. “Ray, I want you to get down there immediately and look this over.”

Jimmy [00:12:25]: Yeah. And it’s funny because Amber’s younger than me, but she loves pop culture, and it’s different. Between the two of us, we can put those things in. Adventure Time was something she loved and was a big influence for her. Pokémon too.

Jar Jar [00:14:35]: I can see it in the art.

Jimmy [00:14:38]: So all of those things kind of sneak in one way or another.

Drew [00:13:41]: Are those influences overt?

Jimmy [00:13:19]: Sometimes it’s overt, like the Miss Congeniality reference. While writing this, I really got into The Bear, so… But also, one of my favorite movies as a kid was E.T., and there’s — I don’t know if there’s anything overt, but I think there’s a little E.T. in this.

Drew [00:13:55]: The hiding of Yeti — the hiding of E.T. was very much… If Yeti could fit on a basketball, Penny would have been riding with that. Which would have been great, but that bicycle would have broken.

Jimmy [00:14:13]: So yeah, all of those things. And I recently asked Amber — because I was never really into Pokémon, I was older — I said, just for fun, I’ll pay you, I want a commission of Yeti and a Snorlax just hanging on a beach. She’s like, yes, this is what I’ve been dying to draw.

Drew [00:15:49]: Oh. I am so excited for that crossover.

Leo [00:16:32]: You know what’s needed on that scene? In the background, like at the beach — little ninjas from the Yakuza.

Drew [00:16:41]: Get out of here. This isn’t Spider-Man. A criminal organization easily dismantled by a 13-year-old. And they’re not called Yakuza — they’re called Team Rocket. Okay? I stopped at Gold and Silver because I had to put my foot down. 150 was fine. They’re at 300, 400 — I’m like, I’m never gonna catch them all.

Drew [00:17:34]: Another thing I enjoyed — when people are writing things, they make kids sound like adults. For instance, I love Home Alone but Kevin does not talk like a kid. Sometimes certain people write kids like they’re adults. Like watching Heathers — who in high school ever said “greetings and salutations”? But your kids were kids. The moment that got me was when the kids say, hey, could you not do this thing? And then — do you promise? And I was like, man. Making the promises you sometimes can’t keep. And was it your daughter who helped inspire the idea for Penny and the Yeti?

How a Bedtime Conversation Became the Book

She said, you should write a story about a yeti. And I said, well, if a yeti’s got to be in it, then Penny’s got to be in it too.

Jimmy Gaspero, 00:19:09

Jimmy [00:19:09]: Yeah. I have two kids, Charlotte and Penny. This whole thing came about — I was putting Penny to bed about four years ago. She was five at the time; she’s eight now. We were talking about what she was going to do for the summer, and we got to talking and she said, you should write a story. Because she knew I did stuff for Comic Book Yeti, and she knew I was trying to write more. And she said, you should write a story about a yeti. And I said, well, if a yeti’s got to be in it, then Penny’s got to be in it too. So we came up with this idea — most of it in its original form is in the graphic novel — but we called it “Yeti and the Big Stomp: Penny and Yeti Go to a Diner.” I only had four pages. And then I figured, what could I do to expand this story? And I built an outline around those four pages and sent it to Amber.

Drew [00:20:52]: Correct me if I’m wrong — is it your daughter who kind of helped inspire the idea?

How a Bedtime Conversation Became the Book

She said, you should write a story about a yeti. And I said, well, if a yeti’s got to be in it, then Penny’s got to be in it too.

Jimmy Gaspero, 00:19:09

Jimmy [00:19:09]: Yeah, but it’s not autobiographical. Everyone asks after reading it, like, are you guys okay? I’m like — I didn’t plan to write Penny and the Yeti. It’s just how it happened, and I’m happy it’s here.

The Real-Life Details That Sneaked Into the Story

Jimmy [00:23:09]: Yeah. People have asked, is this autobiographical? There are certainly some things I took from real life. There’s one scene where Fenton is trying to help more. He asks Maxine, can I help? And she says, you can help by getting out of the way. That is taken directly from my real life. Because I cannot stand in the kitchen. No matter where I stand, I am in the way.

Drew [00:23:49]: Was that the salad tongs debacle?

Jimmy [00:23:55]: I think it was. She was making something. The tongs were in the wrong place.

Jar Jar [00:24:02]: That would be me. Because I’m the homemaker. You don’t put the tongs over there in that drawer — that would ruin my day.

Jimmy [00:25:32]: And this is not helping my argument that Fenton and Maxine aren’t me and my wife, but — my wife Sarah, she once put Post-its in the fridge because I kept putting condiments on the wrong shelves. And I opened the fridge one time and there were yellow Post-its everywhere. Ketchup goes here. Pickles go here. Olives go there. And I’m like, okay. This doesn’t make me feel bad at all.

Jar Jar [00:48:38]: Overall, Jimmy, what do you hope that kids and adults take away from the book? Because there’s a lot of messages beyond the pop culture ones.

What He Hopes Kids and Parents Take Away

I really wanted something that younger readers could read with their parents. It’s always nice when we’re reading stuff to the kids and it’s something I also enjoy.

Jimmy Gaspero, 00:48:49

Jimmy [00:48:49]: A couple of things. I really wanted something that younger readers — kids just learning how to read or kids who had recently just learned how to read — could read with their parents. It’s always nice when we’re reading stuff to the kids and it’s something I also enjoy. Kelly Thompson did a series a few years ago called Mega Princess — about a princess who wants to be a detective and has to look for her missing brother — phenomenal five-issue series. When I read it to Charlotte when she was little, she practically had the issues memorized. It’s so much better when you’re reading stuff to your kids and you also get something out of it.

Jimmy [00:50:31]: But mainly — I wanted parents to get something out of the book too. And for kids who are maybe a little older, possibly going through something like Penny and Perry, or that have friends going through something like that, they get a glimpse into what that is like. And maybe it helps them talk about the stuff going on in their home that maybe they can’t figure out how to articulate.

Drew [00:51:38]: Carrie says — “Hey guys, I’m heading out the door. Wanted to pop in, say hi to Jimmy, tell him I appreciate that in the book he treats children like humans and takes them seriously, rather than talking down to them. It’s great that you validate their feelings.”

Jimmy [00:51:46]: Agreed. Well, thank you so much, Carrie.

Jar Jar [00:52:06]: It’s kind of a great book for friends of people going through this kind of situation because it helps them understand that my friend’s having a bad day and there’s a reason behind it.

Family, Divorce, and What the Ending Is Really Saying

Drew [00:52:22]: And it’s okay that you’re having the bad day. The kind of near-ending — it felt to me like the ending of Mrs. Doubtfire where they’re talking about divorce. Sometimes mom and dad are better when they’re apart. Sometimes a family isn’t just mom and dad. Sometimes it’s grandma and grandpa, sometimes it’s your aunt. As long as you are loved. A family isn’t always genetics — it’s the family you make.

Jimmy [00:53:52]: I mean, you hope that. And we were very conscious while putting the story together — Amber and I, as well as the two editors — Stephanie Brooks first, and then Teddy Leo came in for Papercutz. We didn’t want kids whose parents had gone through a divorce to feel bad reading the book. We didn’t want to say this is the right answer. The focus was on how Penny and Perry were dealing with the situation in the house. What most people can relate to — even if you don’t have a house where there’s a lot of arguing — is being in a situation where somebody else is arguing and you’re right there in the middle of it. That stress, that tension. And if you are living in a situation where you’re dealing with that a lot of the time, it affects you, even if you don’t think it does. Even if nobody is yelling at you, telling you that you did something wrong. When you’re in that environment in the home, it can really weigh on kids. And kids have a difficult time speaking up about it.

Drew [00:46:06]: Leo, did you like the book?

Leo [00:46:09]: I did thoroughly enjoy it. But, Jimmy, you have to realize I’m broken.

Drew [00:46:24]: Severely broken. Continue.

Leo [00:46:32]: While reading it, my mind went dark. I thought the Yeti was — I was thinking ahead — that the sister passed away and the Yeti was her coping mechanism.

Drew [00:46:56]: I’m sorry, Jimmy. Like good Lord.

Jimmy [00:47:08]: Yeah, so it’s like The Sixth Sense — Perry passed away, and only Penny can see her, and the Yeti is her coping mechanism. That… wow.

Leo [00:47:27]: I was joyed that that wasn’t the case. But yeah, that’s where my mind was going.

Would He Do Book Two?

Drew [00:28:55]: The book comes out in April. You must be pumped. Are you planning — if they say, oh, this is really great, are you ready? Would you do another one? Do you have a plan?

Jimmy [00:29:22]: Absolutely, yes. If it does well — and Amber and I have talked about it, she’s on board — if Papercutz wants a book two, we’re ready to go. I have a plan, and if they don’t like that, I’ll come up with a new plan. I would love to do another one.

Drew [00:29:44]: It’s funny because Art Baltazar and Franco — Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani — they do a lot of Papercutz stuff. I was like, is there a Papercutz room party where you all just hang out? What a positive party that would be.

Jar Jar [00:30:23]: And Art’s like a cartoon character.

Drew [00:30:26]: Yeah, absolutely.

Jimmy [00:30:28]: I love both of their stuff. I’ve never met either of them, but I just love what they put out for Papercutz. And Franco’s done stuff for DC as well.

Drew [00:30:51]: If you get a chance, meet them. They’re the nicest people in the world. And it’s so funny — I feel like Franco and Amber, teacher of sorts, right? He was an art teacher. For high school. So I know Amber is a teacher. So literally, just the bonding. And then they’re all pop culture people.

Jimmy [00:31:31]: Yeah. Some of the Papercutz creators I’ve talked to so far — I just love what Papercutz has been doing the past couple of years. I talked to Adam Walenta recently — he’s one of the senior editors there. He has Punk Taco that he made with his son. And the new Steam Society books that Trevor Mueller’s doing are great. And now Papercutz is getting into Disney stuff. They’re also doing two Star Wars books — one, I think by Greg Pak. One’s written by — oh, nice Scott — and Christian Colbert is doing art on one. I think Brett Shoonover is doing art on the other.

Drew [00:32:18]: Oh wow.

Jar Jar [00:32:26]: It’s a good time to be in comics, huh? They’ve seen more popular, especially with the younger kids. The young adult group actually seems to be interested in anime and stuff. It’s really nice to see.

Drew [00:32:46]: I actually have a theory about that. I think it’s just because more now than ever, we need that escape. The world kind of sucks right now. So I feel like more and more we need that reminder that this metaphorical storm will eventually pass. And creative outlets — there’s a reason our world kind of started with storytellers, and in some way it will end that way.

Jimmy [00:33:42]: Yeah, yeah. I don’t — it’s just hard to believe sometimes. When I first thought about it, it was six years ago. I never thought growing up that I was going to be a writer or make a comic. Six years ago I thought, oh, I read a lot of comics, maybe I could try my hand at writing one. And now to have this graphic novel coming out in less than three weeks — it’s just wild to think that I actually said I was going to do something and then I did it. That doesn’t happen for me often now.

Jar Jar [00:34:21]: Are they having you do a promotion, like cons and stuff yet?

Jimmy [00:34:31]: Yeah. Papercutz is going to be at certain ones throughout the year and they say, if you’re going to be at any of them or want to do something at one you’re going to, let us know and we’ll set something up. I go to Baltimore Comic Con every year. I don’t think they’re going to be there this year, but I’m debating whether or not to go to New York — I might try to go to New York Comic Con this year. I’ve never been to New York Comic Con.

Drew [00:35:02]: Whoa. Prepare yourself. I’ve been going on and off since 2009. It is a thing. But if you’re in Artist Alley, I’ll definitely be stopping by.

Jimmy [00:35:50]: My brother and I have been going to Baltimore for the past few years. It’s really comic-centric, really fun. We’ve met a lot of people and got a lot of stuff signed.

Drew [00:36:25]: Do you have a best story from Baltimore?

Jimmy [00:36:33]: Oh, yeah. Two things. One is my brother is a big Greg Pak fan. He brought the Hulk hands. This was probably six or seven years ago, one of the first times we went. We were in our late 30s, I’m probably 40 at the time. My brother was nervous about asking Greg to get a picture with him with the Hulk hands. And I’m like, there, Bob — this is what they’re here to do. Don’t, you know — I’ve met Greg once before at our local shop, and he was the nicest person in the world. Got a great picture, him and my brother with the Hulk hands, all the whole thing. My brother loved it. And Greg’s fantastic — I’ve had him on my show since a couple of times. I love chatting with him.

Jimmy [00:37:40]: The other one — we went one year and Cullen Bunn was going to be there. My brother is a huge fan of Cullen Bunn. We got in line. I wanted to run across the street to the bar, because we had to wait to get in — they hadn’t opened yet. My brother’s like, I don’t want to go. I’m like, well, I’ll just go sit and have a beer, then I’ll walk back. So I run across the street, sit at the bar. And the guy to my left looks a little like Cullen Bunn. So I’m not really sure. I talked to the bartender and I’m like, hey, what are all these people doing here walking around in costume and stuff? Acting like I had no idea. And she said, oh, I think there’s some type of comic convention. I was like, oh yeah, the comic convention — my brother was talking about wanting to go because he really wanted to meet somebody. And the guy to my left goes, “Oh yeah? Who’d your brother want to meet?” And I was like, “Oh, I don’t know, this writer, Cullen Bunn.” And he puts his hand out and goes, “I’m Cullen Bunn.”

Jimmy [00:39:00]: And I’m like, I thought so. Can we get a picture? So I take a couple selfies, finish my beer, tell him nice meeting you, walk back over, get in line with my brother. And then we walk around to a couple of people, and Cullen — at that time signing at a big AfterShock booth — we turn the corner and Cullen goes, “Hey, Jimmy, how you doing?” My brother was pissed. He was so mad.

Drew [00:39:54]: Oh my God.

Drew [00:40:09]: We’ve had Cullen Bunn on our show a few times. We actually have him on later this month — it’s like his third time coming on. Our co-host Carrie is a huge fan. So as far as our lineup for the rest of this month…

Leo [00:40:30]: Cullen’s coming April 21st. If you want to learn more about Jimmy, he’s top of the page right now on the website — the creator hub where you can learn all about Jimmy and some recommended reading, and also links to your website, your Bluesky, your Twitter.

Jimmy [00:49:19]: Now that my kids are older, I’ve gotten to a point where Penny basically reads to me. She doesn’t need me to read anymore, but she still likes to read before bed and she’ll read for 20 minutes or so. But we read a lot of stuff together and I wanted something that, you know, kids who are just learning how to read could read with their parents. It’s always nice when you’re reading stuff to the kids and it’s something you also enjoy. Mega Princess by Kelly Thompson — I read it to Charlotte when she was little and she practically had the issues memorized, she wanted to read it so much. It’s so much better when you’re reading stuff to your kids and you also get something out of it as a parent — whether it’s just funny, the art’s great, or it’s a really good book. Something you look forward to doing. *Leo [00:01:02:05]: So, Jimmy, what are some of your favorite cryptids? Jimmy [00:01:02:08]: Oh, my favorite is one called the Squonk. Have you ever heard of that? Drew [00:01:02:16]: No. Jimmy [00:01:02:17]: The Squonk — S-Q-U-O-N-K — it’s known in Pennsylvania. It’s supposed to look like, I don’t know, a big pig or a small hippo. It’s covered in warts and it cries. And that’s how people know about the Squonk, from its tears. It’s just so ridiculous. How did that ever become a thing? I just love that. The Squonk is probably one of my favorites. The Mothman too — that one’s a lot of fun, it has so many moving parts. Part prophecy, just so strange. Those are probably two of my favorites. But there’s just so many different stories throughout the country about unexplained things. The stories we tell ourselves and the creatures we create when we can’t explain something — I just find it fascinating. Leo [00:01:03:45]: And what are your standings on Sasquatch — undiscovered creature or interdimensional being? Jimmy [00:01:04:05]: I would probably go with interdimensional being. I think in terms of land creatures, it seems like we would have just discovered something by now. No animal could really stay hidden, at least in the Pacific Northwest. I mean, every once in a while there’s an animal discovered that they thought had gone extinct — like the Tasmanian tiger, there might still be some out there somewhere in Tasmania. But yeah, I would have to go with interdimensional being. Jimmy [00:01:05:09]: Look, if you subscribe to the multiverse theory, every possible iteration, every decision you could have made — in another universe you made all the alternate ones. So there are probably universes very close to ours with only little differences. And then there’s probably ones where everybody’s a Sasquatch, and every once in a while somebody stumbles into a place where the line between the universes is thin. And then they’re running a coffee shop in Seattle. I guess. Drew [00:01:05:44]: I’ve always felt about Nessie — there’s clearly something there. Can we all just leave it alone and let Nessie do their thing? Haven’t caught her yet. She’s out there not bothering anybody. Just chill. Same thing about Sasquatch, Yeti, all these things. When they become a threat, there’s a difference. But if they’re minding their own business — just stay out of my yard. Don’t poop here. That’s it. Leo [00:01:09:09]: Speaking of cryptids — do you follow anything going on with the investigations at Skinwalker Ranch? Jimmy [00:01:09:23]: I’m not. I mean, I know about the show, but I don’t follow it that closely. Leo [00:01:09:38]: They found a jaw of a creature and they had it investigated and it appears to be a dire wolf. Jar Jar [00:01:09:55]: Which they just brought back. [cloning reference] Leo [00:01:10:02]: Yeah, they were working on bringing back a dire wolf. Drew [00:01:10:02]: Did we learn nothing from Jurassic Park? Just say no to all potential horror movie scenarios. Jimmy [00:01:10:39]: I think some animals that went extinct we probably should not be bringing back, even if we could. Dire wolves, dinosaurs — it’s always a bad idea. I wouldn’t mind if they brought back the dodo. That’s probably fine. Jar Jar [00:01:11:01]: The ones that we hunted to extinction might be okay to bring back. Jimmy [00:01:11:56]: Yeah. There’s enough stuff in the ocean. I don’t want any more of that. Jimmy [00:01:13:03]: I don’t even like watching documentaries where the camera goes underwater. It’s called thalassophobia — a fear of deep water. Even documentaries about whales. When that camera goes underwater I’m like, no thank you. Drew [00:01:13:30]: Right. And then you see the things down there and you’re just like — get above the water. Jimmy [00:01:15:57]: I’m a big fan of comedy. Ted Lasso, Shrinking, the new Steve Carell show — Rooster, I’ve checked out, I’ve seen the first two episodes. I just started watching The Pit, the second season. I jumped in without watching the first one and I really like it. And Paradise — I just started watching that, I’m only on the first season. I kind of like that. I was a huge fan of Lost when that was on. I could nerd out about Lost for a very long time. One of my favorite shows of all time. Jimmy [00:01:18:00]: I can’t watch lawyer shows with my wife because I can’t stay quiet. She watched Suits and The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix. I sat down for like one episode of The Lincoln Lawyer and he did something in the courtroom — trying to surprise the other side. And I was just like, you can’t do that. You have discovery. You can’t just surprise the other side. I love My Cousin Vinny, but that’s the most ridiculous thing — he’s got to go on a fishing trip with the DA to look at his file? No, he’s got to give you that. There’s a case, U.S. v. Brady — they’ve got to give you the exculpatory evidence. Drew [00:01:18:17]: We’re coming to the end. Calm down. Jimmy [00:01:18:20]: You know what? I’m passionate about law shows. I’m better now. Drew [00:01:14:17]: When you’re not doing everything you’ve talked about — what do you nerd out about? And are you going to any conventions people can see you at? And what’s the best social media? Jimmy [00:01:14:34]: Bluesky — I’m on Bluesky at Jimmy Gasparo. I do have a TikTok at Jimmy Gasparo as well. I’ll definitely be at Baltimore Comic Con this year, and I’m probably gonna do my best to make it to New York Comic Con. And what do I nerd out about? Comics, obviously. I’ve been reading a bunch of great comics recently. TV is my other one. Paradise — just started. The Pit, second season — jumping right in without season one. I was a huge fan of Lost. I could nerd out about Lost for a very, very long time. That was one of my favorite shows of all time. I love stand-up comedy, comedic TV shows, and the newer shows that have a mix of comedy and drama — Ted Lasso, Shrinking, Steve Carell’s new show Rooster. Leo [00:01:18:39]: So Jimmy, where can people get Penny and the Yeti when it comes out? Jimmy [00:01:18:45]: They can get Penny and the Yeti from the Papercutz website. Actually, I think if you sign up for the Papercutz newsletter you might still be able to get 25% off. But you can get it from there, or anywhere else you get your books, or your local comic book shop — let them know that you want a copy. Or tell your local library to get a copy, and that way your whole community can enjoy it. Jar Jar [00:01:19:14]: Follow me on Twitch, people. Come check me out. Building community there. The people I get to interact with are some of the most down-to-earth people I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with. Drew [00:01:19:42]: Hey everybody, thank you so much for joining us. If you like what you saw, make sure you hit the like and subscribe button on our YouTube page. Join us next week when we have the awesome artist creator Shawn Crystal on — we’re going to be talking to him about his past work with Marvel and some of his upcoming creator-owned stuff. And we have some other guests — Tyler Crook and Cullen Bunn are also joining us sometime this month. Oh, and go to our website! Leo [00:01:20:27]: Happy weekend. Easter life good. Jar Jar [00:01:20:42]: It is Easter weekend. Drew [00:01:20:43]:* Yep. Yeah.