What is Metal Ninja Studios? Do Ninjas Even Drink?
Joel Rodriguez tells us Everything, Right Here, and Not All At Once About Metal Ninja Studios and his Dusk County Chronicles comic, and why he can't boozehound with us. Fucker.
The Most Exciting New Service in Comics
We had the immense pleasure of interviewing Joel Rodriguez, founder of Metal Ninja Studios, and creator of the comic Dusk County Chronicles, the final issue of which is now on Kickstarter.
Metal Ninja is hands down one of the most enticing and exciting new full service studios in the comics industry. To my knowledge, nothing this robust and customizable has ever been offered before. And you can get a 45-minute consultation FOR FREE, where you can ask any/all questions you might have before signing up for a single thing. (In fact, Joel requires it - he’s not going to take your money until he knows more about what you’re even looking for!)
The video is long, but broken into chapters in the description. Jump to “The Pitch for Metal Ninja Studios” to get right to the point. Also hear the gory details behind the finale to the comic that started it all, DUSK CITY CHRONICLES, and the Wines we paired with it.
I’d also recommend listening to/watching this first “Dojo Roundtable” of the Metal Ninja team. They’ll be doing this once per month, the first Thursday of each month!
The “Ninja” in Metal Ninja is Joel’s commitment to his physical training and obstacle course challenges. He was in the middle of a training season when we recorded, so he couldn’t drink with us (damned dry ninjas!) But he did bring on another comic that was a log-time coming finale in its own right, The Last Ronin, and Blackened American Whiskey (Joel’s a whiskey guy) which is a whiskey aged while being blasted with the low hertz soundwaves of the band Metallica’s music. No, seriously.
The Wines!
Joel’s Comic and Beverage Pairing
The Last Ronin is the original creators of TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, come on now) returning to tell what they envision to be the characters’ final tale. Only one Turtle remains standing, but which one? And what happened to the others? From what I hear, this is a truly excellent farewell to the characters and universe from the two guys who started the whole thing as a b&w underground indie comic.
Paired with “Blackened” American Whiskey - each batch is…
“…aged via a unique Metallica playlist that was used to sonically-enhance the whiskey during finishing. As the well-aged whiskey rests in the finishing barrels, the music is played to the barrel at a very low frequency, causing the whiskey inside to move and interact with the wood. The movement of the whiskey and the amount of interaction depends on the song being played, so the variation of the music creates a slight nuance from one batch to the next. This process is known as Black NoiseTM.
Is that actually backed by anything science-y, or is it just marketing B.S.? I dunno, but as a marketing angle and a concept, it certainly SOUNDS (see what I did there?) super-cool.
Comic/Writing Stuff on Substack
If you’re intrigued by any of the above info about Metal Ninja Studios, make sure to follow
, who is their acting marketing manager, and a super-passionate and friendly one at that.- - who we just livestreamed with this week! - writes about the 5 main mistakes authors make when attempting to adapt their work into comics!
- writes about Deadlines and his relationship to them. It’s a great POV on how to balance the quality of your output with the professionalism of meeting deadlines. And that there are always decisions and trade-offs to be made.
Wine Stuff on Substack
- at makes a short and convincing anecdotal case for BYOB at restaurants. If we want folks to be able to enjoy everything that wine offers, we have to get beyond the handful of mediocre brands selling for twice what they’re worth on a restaurant menu. Instead, have a circle of friends each bring something they like or are interested in trying. Everyone gets to explore and socialize the experience for little money down per person, and the restaurant gets business they wouldn’t get otherwise, even if they’re not selling overpriced bottles of wine to boot.
- at goes deep into a lovely and underappreciated white wine varietal that’s perfect for summer, Albariño. We paired a delicious Chardonnay/Albariño blend with last month’s Book Club pick, Mr. Lightbulb. I’ve always found Albariño to be a lighter, more mineral-driven and food-friendly version of Viognier (of which I’m personally not a fan, too fruity, too rich.)