What's Next For The Wine and Comics Pairing Show? A LOT.
What's the plan, Stan?
So we’ve been quiet for a few weeks over here, for a variety of reasons, some unavoidable (life!), while others led to a conscious decision to pause while we mapped out what we wanted to do for the summer and beyond.
Where We Came From
Dallas and I started TWaCPS as a pure lark, because we’d both become obsessed with wine and comics, and we had an itch to turn that into something public facing that might fulfill us from a creative productivity standpoint. We had no idea how to record anything for digital consumption. We could only try to ape those who had come before us, while also refining what we wanted the show to be vs. what any other show was. I knew I didn’t want to be just another wine talking heads show or comics talking heads show, but wasn’t really sure what it should be.
We also (both) work tremendously busy, demanding day jobs in the entertainment industry, so churning out content like a pro YouTuber or podcaster wasn’t (and still isn’t) in the cards. BUT…I knew we’d get faster with the setup and post-production, and more relaxed with the execution. There’s always more to learn, but a groove has definitely been found.
Don’t get me wrong: this is still a work in progress. Maybe the best things forever are, but I do think we’re ready to make a greater committment to a schedule and certain episode types, including live streams, guests, read alongs, blind tastings, special unbottlings, and wine and comics industry deep dives.
Here’s what’s coming up immediately:
Our New Third Wheel!
Later this week y’all are going to meet JENNA FRANKLIN, a sex crimes lawyer for LA County (!!!) by day but she finds her happy place as a wine enthusiast when not doing the lord’s work, and moonlights as a wine professional with LA- and Paso Robles-based winery, The Blending Lab.
Jenna debuts in an episode dropping later this week, our next “Baroque vs. Bargain” (Expensive vs. Cheap) blind tasting where she’s the one who knows what’s in each glass. In future eps, she’ll take one of our places to be the blind taster (we’ve already had to promise her that she gets to do Reislings when we get around to those!)
And along the way, she’s going to learn about comics - the master plan of this channel’s purpose all along: get wine people into comics and comic people into wine. At least open their minds long enough that they give ‘em a whirl, and want to give ‘em a whirl. We are likely going to start Jenna off with DROPS OF GOD, a rare wine-themed comic (manga, actually) that’s now an Apple+ TV show. Which is a perfect segue to (you’ll see why in a minute):
The Wine and Comics Pairing Club! And Read Alongs!
Starting this month we’re launching an open-to-all Amazon Book Club. We’ll be suggesting two graphic novels per month, pairing them with wine, and hosting a once-per-month livestream get-together where we can all discuss the books and the drinks.
Into comics but not wine? Into wine but not comics? This is where you can explore both with us together. Allergic to wine or just hate it outright but still love the idea of this interactive club? Bring a drink of your choice, and yes, join us anyway!
We’ll also be performing “Read Alongs”, literally reading the first chapters of each comic selection out loud. The first month’s two Read Alongs have already been pre-recorded and will go public later this week, but the plan is to do these Live starting in July. Join Now!
Special Guests
We had our first guests on this past month,
in Episode 10 and Frank Martin in Episode 11, and this will definitely be an ongoing feature of the show. We have a guest coming up that Renton here is going to be very excited about. ;) We still have to work out this guest’s schedule, but he’s all in.But this is a WINE and comics show, not JUST a COMICS show. So expect guests from the wine world as well, and eventually, if we can origami these guest episodes just so, the master plan is to have both a wine guest and a comics guest on at the same time. The wine guest will represent and talk intelligently about their wine, and the comics guest will talk intelligently about their comic. And we’ll be talking about why we put the two of them together. It’s going to be something different, and probably weird and awkward at first. But that’s how we wine and/or comic dorks swing: different and awkward. Embrace it!
Weekly Pairings (“Tastings”)
Outside of our larger, longer episodes, we’ll also be dropping weekly mini-pairings (“Tastings”). These will be short Substack posts and/or social media videos, discussing a wine and comic match up we’re in love with that week. We can’t make enough long-form episodes to cover them all!
And this will cover more than just comic and wine parings. There will also be movie, book, and music pairings! Ideally one comic Tasting and one “other” media Tasting per week, but I bet there will be weeks where we’ll only manage one or the other.
First up this week: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Yeah, I’m watching them in reverse order. It seemed like the most enjoyable way to do ‘em: save the best for last.
That’s All…For Now
Okay, that’s the broad strokes for the foreseeable future. We’ll still be doing 1-2 big episodes per month, plus the weekly mini “Tastings”, plus the monthly Book Club Read Alongs and Live meet-up. Expect more guests, more blind tastings, more “Special Unbottlings” where we continue to open special/rare wines and pair them to the best of our ability. And some additional themed episodes we have ambitions for but still need to iron out the execution.
Thank you so much, all of you who have been following along these ploddingly slow, raw, early months of our existence. We promise to do our damndest to make this Substack and the show itself something fun, interactive, unique, and very much worth your time.
A GUEST FOR ME? I'm here for it!