The artists of the 10ton Pod frequent comic conventions fairly often, and last month went to a couple that were both meaningful in their own right.

One was the Latinx Comic Arts Festival in Modesto California. Manuel has been helping with this Festival for the better part of a decade. It is one of the larger Latino festivals in California, and it's free for the patrons and the artists.

The other convention was Wondercon in Anaheim, CA. This is a con that helps gauge what to expect for the July Comic Con in San Diego. It's a timely barometer into the psyche of consumers, and also their pocketbooks.

And, the Blokee Transformers toy unboxing. It's a 12-pack of toys in a special box that John miraculously didn't open until we recorded. Listen in as the old Gen Xers talk ad nauseam about how awesome the toys, and the Transformers are.

Tune in for a bit and chill.

Three dudes talk about cool shit in regards to art, comics, movies, pop culture, and a menagerie of other goodies. We will sing our praises of what we love, and might touch on a few things that left us feeling a little meh.

John Hageman started his professional comics career in 2006 with his weekly webcomic Social Vermyn, which ran until 2013. In 2015, Hageman began co-publishing the Rock and Roll Biographies comic series with ACME Ink. This led to the creation of 10 Ton Press which focuses on creator-owned comic book projects including Charley & Humphrey, The RNR series, and Becoming Frankenstein.

Manuel Martinez was born of immigrant parents, educated by the public system and dedicated to art, lead to becoming an incredible concept artist, comic book illustrator, and artist for hire. He works as a concept artist during the day, and is an integral part of the 10 Ton Press family.

Kirk Visola is the Creative Director and Founder of his design company, MIND THE FONT™. He on occasion will lend his design chops to help with layouts, graphics, and even sometimes a little druuuuwing of his own.

Check us out at www.10tonpress.com

This is video that was recorded during the unboxing from chapter 17. You can see the Blokee collectibles being fought over gladiator style as Manuel, John, and Kirk battle over the figures...and by gladiator style we mean have a cordial, border line Canadian, talk about which figurines they want to keep.

It's quite cool to live a little bit of nostalgia and childhood with the Transformers collectibles, and also great to hear Manuel getting caught by his wife watching the old Transformers cartoon.

Enjoy.

Three dudes talk about cool shit in regards to art, comics, movies, pop culture, and a menagerie of other goodies. We will sing our praises of what we love, and might touch on a few things that left us feeling a little meh.

John Hageman started his professional comics career in 2006 with his weekly webcomic Social Vermyn, which ran until 2013. In 2015, Hageman began co-publishing the Rock and Roll Biographies comic series with ACME Ink. This led to the creation of 10 Ton Press which focuses on creator-owned comic book projects including Charley & Humphrey, The RNR series, and Becoming Frankenstein.

Manuel Martinez was born of immigrant parents, educated by the public system and dedicated to art, lead to becoming an incredible concept artist, comic book illustrator, and artist for hire. He works as a concept artist during the day, and is an integral part of the 10 Ton Press family.

Kirk Visola is the Creative Director and Founder of his design company, MIND THE FONT™. He on occasion will lend his design chops to help with layouts, graphics, and even sometimes a little druuuuwing of his own.

Check us out at www.10tonpress.com

John enlightens Kirk and Manuel by regaling them with tales of the Seattle Seahawks, which then leads them down a tunnel of sports they like and watching, which then leads to a pissed off John and going off about the dick gatekeepers in comics.

But that is just where the fun begins. The gatekeepers are the ones who don't allow for the creatives to be creative to get shit done. But then there's always people you meet at cons, or folks you may interact with who appreciate you, or your art, or just love art in general.

And finally, what is your dream job? The answers that the boys provide are pretty fucking amazing. I mean, Kirk wants to be an astronaut, John wants to be a wide receiver in the NFL, and Manuel was to be a kick ass working artist that draws for a living...wait a second.

And maybe, sorry, it should be finally, finally, the boys talk about process. Maybe there's more. We don't know. Just listen, it will be fun.

Three dudes talk about cool shit in regards to art, comics, movies, pop culture, and a menagerie of other goodies. We will sing our praises of what we love, and might touch on a few things that left us feeling a little meh.

John Hageman started his professional comics career in 2006 with his weekly webcomic Social Vermyn, which ran until 2013. In 2015, Hageman began co-publishing the Rock and Roll Biographies comic series with ACME Ink. This led to the creation of 10 Ton Press which focuses on creator-owned comic book projects including Charley & Humphrey, The RNR series, and Becoming Frankenstein.

Manuel Martinez was born of immigrant parents, educated by the public system and dedicated to art, lead to becoming an incredible concept artist, comic book illustrator, and artist for hire. He works as a concept artist during the day, and is an integral part of the 10 Ton Press family.

Kirk Visola is the Creative Director and Founder of his design company, MIND THE FONT™. He on occasion will lend his design chops to help with layouts, graphics, and even sometimes a little druuuuwing of his own.

Check us out at www.10tonpress.com