HTP Episode 188 – Chris Totten

Chris Totten is the designer of Kudzu, a homebrew Game Boy game with strong influences from The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Chris and I talk about Kudzu, it’s Switch counterpart, and how the game is influenced by Takashi Tezuka, Twin Peaks, and even The Addams Family. We also look into Chris’ upcoming project: Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends, and its relation to the original Little Nemo comics, the 90s movie, and the classic NES game.

Kudzu was published by Mega Cat Studios in a partnership with 8-Bit Legit, and is currently available digitally for the Switch and in physical cartridge for the Game Boy.

Artwork for Little Nemo and the Nightmare Fiends will be on display at Chicago Gamespace from May 19th through June 30th, 2024. Hungry Trilobyte did an episode with the Chicago Gamespace crew back in Episode 178.

You can follow Chris’ on the web at his Twitter feed as well as his Pie for Breakfast Studios website.

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HTP Episode 187 – Tim Fuller and Kat Klockow

Tim Fuller and Kat Klockow are a team of comic creators who have collaborated on some really clever books. In this episode, the three of us discuss Frogman Funnies, Sham Comics and Cincinnati Cabinet of Curiosity. Sham and Frogman were made by the two pulling vintage public domain comics and re-writing the text to incorporate cryptids and classic scifi tropes. Tim takes these new stories (spun from vintage art) and adds contemporary writing and pop culture references. We’re going to spend a lot of time talking about Mothman and Frogman.

Throughout the chat, we talk about Tim working with Frank Frazetta‘s and Steve Ditko‘s original work. Tim is a big fan of Basil Wolverton and got to share his work with Basil’s son Monte.

Tim’s work can be followed on his websites Hooha Comics, Zombie Marge and you can check his work on IndyPlanet. With a little luck, you can catch him in person at Gem City Comic Con, Cincinnati Comic Expo, the Jim & Dan Show, and SPACE.

Kat’s work can be followed on her official website. She operates Corpse Flower Press and its shop and Corpse Flower Press can be found on Twitter and Instagram. Cincinnati Cabinet of Curiosities can be tracked on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. She’ll be travelling to the Alaska Robotics Mini Con and possibly Cartoon Crossroads Columbus.

The two recommend the Frogman Festival in Loveland, OH as well as the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, WV.

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HTP Episode 186 – Amy Imhoff

Amy Imhoff is one of the Star Trek fandom’s best… an accomplished writer, public speaker, and champion of diverse voices in STEAM. Amy has managed many events that brought together real-world aerospace experts with their inspirations from Star Trek, and she’s also gathered fans together on her extremely informative social media feeds. Today she comes to Hungry Trilobyte to talk about space travel, how much it resembles Trek lore, what the potential is for the future. Amy was also heavily involved in TrekTalks 3 (which we referenced in Episode 179) and presented the ‘Women in STEM’ panel.

You can follow Amy on Instagram, BlueSky, Twitter, and Facebook, as well as her official website. On her website, she maintains an extensive list of the articles she’s written and panels in which she’s participated.

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HTP Episode 185 – Jerry Carita

Jerry Carita is known to Hungry Trilobyte fans as the producer of AMC’s Comic Book Men, as well as several other reality TV shows. Today he’s launching his own indie comic book, The Grizzly Crew, about a group of bears who fight pirates. We discuss his world-building process for the furry adventurers, his time hanging with Ming Chen (last seen in Episode 35) and another book of his, Cicada Samurai.

Support The Grizzly Crew on Kickstarter! You can follow Jerry at Thorny Comics on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

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HTP Episode 184 – Wells Thompson

Wells Thompson is a comic creator and the mind behind the MechaTon series of indie comics. The next installment of MechaTon hit Kickstarter in February of 2024, and in this episode of Hungry Trilobyte, Wells and I talk about mixing humor with darker themes and how Kickstarter is a boon to the indie comic creator.

You can follow Wells on Twitter and his official website. Support him on Ko-Fi!

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HTP Episode 183 – Kailee Rosen

Kailee Rosen is an illustrator based out of Milwaukee, WI, who has a broad range of styles ranging from fantasy-oriented travel posters to touching children’s book illustrations to very detailed anatomical diagrams. In this episode of Hungry Trilobyte, Kailee and I sit down to talk about what the meaning of “art” even is, how she wraps her head around so many different visual styles, and how much mood and emotion influence our appreciation of the creative world. Other side-topics include the ability of a single Hollywood actor to open a movie, and Pokemon. Lots of Pokemon. We also give a shoutout to The Beetle Lady!

You can check out Kailee’s work on Instagram, TikTok, and her official website, as well as follow her on LinkedIn.

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HTP Episode 182 – Jay B. Kalagayan @ Fan Expo New Orleans 2024

Jay B. Kalagayan is the creator of MeSseD and the visionary behind each season story arc. He and I sit down at Fan Expo New Orleans to hash out unique storytelling possibilities of a story about fighting Cryptozoic monsters in a city sewer, as well as the more real-world importance of creating diverse characters. MeSseD is the story of Lilliput, a metropolitan sanitation worker who ventures into the already-strange world of the sewer and finds it to be full of strange creatures who prefer to stay hidden from the world.

Fun fact: If you watch the video version of this episode, actor Danny Trejo photobombs us at 7:45.

You can follow MeSseD at Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and their official website. You can download free digital comics from their site or purchase paper editions.

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HTP Episode 181 – Allyson Bode (SoulSpeak Studios) @ Fan Expo New Orleans 2024

Artist Allyson Bode and I find a quiet(ish) corner of Fan Expo New Orleans and have a chat about her work- SoulSpeak Studios! Not only her visual arts, but her background as a costumer come up. She and I have similar views on getting started with whatever tools you have, making improvisation and innovation part of your craft, and treating every convention as an adventure. 

On the video version of the podcast, you can also see some works by one of SoulSpeak’s partner artists, Michael Goodbar.

You can follow Allyson on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and the main website for SoulSpeak Studios. She extended SoulSpeak to be a platform for multiple artists, and you can follow her collaborators here.

During this episode, I happened to mention my book, Convention Survival Guide. If you know someone going to their first con, pass it their way!

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HTP Episode 180 – James Maxey @ Fan Expo New Orleans 2024

I sit down at Fan Expo New Orleans with author James Maxey, discussing his book Life in a Moment, which is a compilation of short stories featuring darker themes. In particular, the loss of life and memory play a key role in the two stories he and I discuss: “Clockwork Melting” and “Mercy is for Morning”. After looking into how these stories connect with the reader’s own sense of mortality, James and I discuss the best ways to get yourself out of bad writing habits and into legit sci-fi author mode!

James also mentions other works he has available, such as Bitterwood: The Complete Collection, Dragon Apocalypse: The Complete Collection, and Write!

You can keep tabs on James on his blog, his official website, and his Amazon Author page.

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HTP Episode 179 – John Billingsley and Trek Talks 3!

John Billingsley is back to talk about this year’s Trek Talks 3 event! Live-streaming on YouTube January 13 at 9:45 AM US Pacific time. Some of Star Trek’s top talent (on-screen as well as behind-the-camera) have come out to put on a full day of entertainment for a good cause. As in previous years, these efforts benefit the Hollywood Food Coalition. Please give generously, regardless of if you are reading this before, during, or after the event.

John previously visited Hungry Trilobyte in episode Episode 154 to lay the ground work for 2023’s TREK*Talks 2, and in Episode 68 to discuss his work with HFC. In Episode 173, we discussed advocacy of a different variety.

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