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 The StarWell Foundation is a production of OMV Podcast Inspired by “The Villain Wrangler” community thread on tumblr This is part 1 of a 3 part between season minisode series. There are 2 ways to access parts 2 and 3. The first way is with your StarWell ID badge. If you backed the kickstarter campaign for season 1 or have bought a StarWell ID badge from the OMV online store then these episodes are already with the bonus file found on the back of the badge. Along with 2 episodes of How Crime? The second way to access 7.2 and 7.3 is thru the audio drama streaming app Apollo+. With their subscription you can listen to these exclusive episodes and hundreds of other audio drama podcasts.   70% of the fees collected go back to the creators of these shows and there are so many to listen to and choose from. Featuring voice actors Kae Giroux Brett Kelley Kyle Pasciutti KT Baldassaro Mathew O'Reilly Kristen Chesler Allie Faire   music by Kevin Mason Fiverr artists @Sk3red @Trextunes WillOWisp Prod. @stavrosxakis   and sound effects from Freesound.org BBC Sound Effects Pixabay.com   If you liked this episode please let us know in the comments and share + subscribe   Visit Opinions May Vary on social media & omvpodcast.com for all our past episodes with interviews, reviews, comics, artists, creators, actors, games, conventions, cosplayers and much more.   Thanks for listening

 The StarWell Foundation is a production of OMV Podcast   Inspired by “The Villain Wrangler” community thread on tumblr   Featuring voice actors Kae Giroux  Brett Kelley Mike Davis Kaine Winneg Jon York Jennifer Rawlings Remani Lizana Colin Vignault KT Baldassaro  Sarah Gherri  Joe Van Allen Kristen Chesler Sam Harris Fried Kamilla Cheskiewicz Edward Gogolski Ian Patriarca Fahad Rahmat Milta Vargas Michelle Arslan Will Munro Steph MacGillivary Jamie Noguchi Mathew O'Rielly Stevie Norman music by Kevin Mason Jett Andrade  Mike Forgette Julius H. from Pixabay ComaStudio from Pixabay  Oleg Kyrylkovv from Pixabay Songs The Great Galactic War & Phantoms  - used for Super Trynamo's Gala performance Written and Composed by Mike Forgette, performed by 1974   Fiverr artists Eyegore @yevgeny666  Harshit K  @hkhoja1   Ppp Studio  @bimbim22   Michael H  @manadrip  Marcelo F  @resetcubestudio   Piarenko Oleg  @olegnick   Antonio R  @antoniobustabad WillOWisp Prod. @stavrosxakis and sound effects from Freesound.org BBC Sound Effects Pixabay.com Custom sound fx by Mac Owens from Cleanwavs.com Season 1 of The StarWell Foundation could not have happened without all the kickstarter backers who funded this project. Thank you all for donating, following OMV Podcast and believing in me. If you liked this episode please let us know in the comments and share + subscribe Visit Opinions May Vary on social media & omvpodcast.com for all our past episodes with interviews, reviews, comics, artists, creators, actors, games, conventions, cosplayers and much more. Thanks for listening  

 The StarWell Foundation is a production of OMV Podcast   Inspired by “The Villain Wrangler” community thread on tumblr   Featuring voice actors Kae Giroux Brett Kelley Bob Savage Mike Davis Kaine Winneg Jon York Jennifer Rawlings Danielle Squiers Remani Lizana Colin Vignault KT Baldassaro Sarah Gherri Joe Van Allen Kristen Chesler Sam Harris Fried Jeremy Ruiter Fahad Rahmat Ian Patriarca Jeremy Ruiter Steph MacGillivary Michelle Arslan   music by Kevin Mason Jett Andrade  Mike Forgette Fiverr artists Eyegore @yevgeny666 Harshit K  @hkhoja1  Ppp Studio  @bimbim22  Antonio R  @antoniobustabad Marcelo F  @resetcubestudio  Piarenko Oleg  @olegnick  WillOWisp Prod. @stavrosxakis   "Take a Chance" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/        and sound effects from Freesound.org BBC Sound Effects Pixabay.com Season 1 of The StarWell Foundation could not have happened without all the kickstarter backers who funded this project. Thank you all for donating, following OMV Podcast and believing in me. If you liked this episode please let us know in the comments and share + subscribe Visit Opinions May Vary on social media & omvpodcast.com for all our past episodes with interviews, reviews, comics, artists, creators, actors, games, conventions, cosplayers and much more. Please visit Opinions May Vary social media pages and check out the OMV store Thanks for listening

 The StarWell Foundation is a production of OMV Podcast   Inspired by “The Villain Wrangler” community thread on tumblr   Featuring voice actors Kae Giroux Brett Kelley Bob Savage Mike Davis Kaine Winneg Jon York Jennifer Rawlings Danielle Squiers Remani Lizana Colin Vignault KT Baldassaro Nichele Herrick Sarah Gherri  Joe Van Allen Kristen Chesler Sam Harris Fried Kamilla Cheskiewicz Edward Gogolski Jesper Barber Jeremy Ruiter Ian Patriarca Fahad Rahmat Love Milta vargas   music by Kevin Mason Christina Pepper  Jett Andrade  Mike Forgette Geoff Harvey from Pixabay Hector Perez from Pixabay Fiverr artists Eyegore @yevgeny666 Harshit K  @hkhoja1  Ppp Studio  @bimbim22    and sound effects from Freesound.org BBC Sound Effects Pixabay.com   Season 1 of The StarWell Foundation could not have happened without all the kickstarter backers who funded this project. Thank you all for donating, following OMV Podcast and believing in me. If you liked this episode please let us know in the comments and share + subscribe   Visit Opinions May Vary on social media & omvpodcast.com for all our past episodes with interviews, reviews, comics, artists, creators, actors, games, conventions, cosplayers and much more.   For this episode I would like to thank my parents, Ron and Thea. My mom encouraged and helped me be artistic and perform and told my dad to buy me more comicbooks because they helped me read. My dad taught me to build and create and take pride in what I've made and the work put into it. But also they both let me be weird which I believe has gotten me further in life than if I was normal.   Thank you mom and dad.   Thanks for listening!   The StarWell Foundation merch page has been updated! If you missed out on the kickstarter you can still get the StarWell Intern ID badge which also gives you the code to a secret file of extra content!  And the rare colorway of Flapjack pin is in the  You can get previous colorway versions of Brett Flapjacks on his store ko-fi page. 

The StarWell Foundation is a production of OMV Podcast This episode was partially funded by Shane Ross, an Associate Producer backer on the StarWell Kickstarter campaign. Inspired by “The Villain Wrangler” community thread on tumblr Featuring voice actors Kae Giroux Brett Kelley Bob Savage Michelle Arslan Mike Davis Kaine Winneg Stevie Norman Will Munro Jon York Steph MacGillivary Jennifer Rawlings Danielle Squiers Remani Lizana Colin Vignault    music by Kevin Mason Fiverr artists Eyegore @yevgeny666 Harshit K  @hkhoja1  Michael H  @manadrip  Marcelo F  @resetcubestudio  Antonio R @antoniobustabad   Incompetech.com & Kevin MacLeod "Glitter Blast" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/   "Beauty Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/     and sound effects from Freesound.org BBC Sound Effects Pixabay.com Mac Owens from Cleanwavs.com   Season 1 of The StarWell Foundation could not have happened without all the kickstarter backers who funded this project. Thank you all for donating, following OMV Podcast and believing in me. Thanks again to Shane Ross for backing and being an Associate Producer.      If you liked this episode please let us know in the comments and share + subscribe   Visit Opinions May Vary on social media & omvpodcast.com for all our past episodes with interviews, reviews, comics, artists, creators, actors, games, conventions, cosplayers and much more.   Thanks for listening

The StarWell Foundation is a production of OMV Podcast Inspired by “The Villain Wrangler” community thread on tumblr Thanks to the kickstarter backers for allowing me to make this and helping me pay actors musicians and artists.  2 down and 4 more to go. StarWell ID badges, @BKArtworks Flapjack pins and OMV merch bundles have all been shipped! Now that backers have their rewards the remaining merch will be for sale in the  by late September.  Featuring voice actors Kae Giroux Brett Kelley Bob Savage Sarah Gherri KT Baldassaro Michelle Arslan Mike Davis Stevie Norman Nichele Herrick Steph MacGillivary Kristen Chesler Jennifer Rawlings Jeremy Ruiter Danielle Squiers music by Kevin Mason Jett Andrade Mike Forgette Eyegore @yevgeny666 Christina Pepper Antonio R @antoniobustabad Incompetech.com & Kevin MacLeod and sound effects from Freesound.org BBC Sound Effects Pixabay.com Mac Owens from Cleanwavs.com Take a Chance Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License   My special thanks for this episode went out to Colin and Jason for inspiring me to make StarWell happen. You can listen to those exact moments    and   Thanks for listening!

The StarWell Foundation is a production of OMV Podcast   Inspired by “The Villain Wrangler” community thread on tumblr   Thanks to the kickstarter backers for allowing me to make this and helping me pay actors musicians and artists.  1 down and 5 more to go. StarWell ID badges, @BKArtworks Flapjack pins and OMV merch bundles will be shipping out this month.    Remaining items will be in the after August, once I'm sure all backers have received their items first.   Featuring voice actors Kae Giroux  Brett Kelley Remani Lizani Bob Savage Sarah Gherri Mike Davis Joe Van Allen Steph MacGillivary Colin Vigneault Kristen Chesler Will Munro Ed Gogolski Kamilla CheskiewiczJennifer Rawlings Jesper barber Jeremy Ruiter Ian PatriarcaJamie Noguchi   music by Kevin Mason Pixabay Jett Andrade Marcelo F. @resetcubestudio Incompetech.com & Kevin MacLeod   and sound effects and some themes from Freesound.org BBC Sound Effects Pixabay.com Take a Chance Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License  

Here we go! Episode 1 will be released on Thursday August 3rd! It's ready, I'm excited and I couldn't have done it without all the kickstarter backers who supported this project.  I was able to make something and importantly I was able to pay other people. We helped actors, musicians and audio technicians by paying them for their work and I think thats rad.  THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED THE STARWELL FOUNDATION, SEASON 1.  Marty Day Brendan Wilson Danielle Squiers Brett Kelley: @BKArtWorks Jr. Shane Ross Colin Allgood JVA G. Seymour Rissa KT Baldassaro and Scott Tundermann THEA Kyle Pasciutti Nichele and David Herrick krista  Christina Pepper Milta vargas Will Munro Bob  Ronald Squiers Parsons Tricia Cyhowski Sydney Umana Babette Daniels Ken Houston The MothMan Jon York Aya   Physical rewards like the badges, pins and merch bundle will be shipping out in august. If you have any questions about the update episode here please let me know      

We're almost at the end of the for The StarWell Foundation audio drama Season 1 so here's a bit of an update. We made the initial funding AND the first stretch goal of an additional special episode! There is still time to share and promote and possibly get the 2nd stretch goal so backers can see a map of Brava City! I connected with some other podcasts to promote the campaign, talk villains, podcasting, audio drama making and more! When episodes are released I'll also be posting links for  Two Dimension Podcast & Excelsior Journeys Podcast   And since we're so close to the end of the kickstarter campaign it's time to start casting the new characters and roles for the new season!

The campaign goes live on Tuesday February 7th!  I'll be trying to raise $1,500 to produce a 6 episode season following the events of StarWell itself, it's brand new facilitator Mary Dare, her first Villain that agreed to visit children at a hospital Malvarmo along with new heroes, villains, places, challenges, threats and obstacles to overcome.  Please consider backing so I can make this story a reality.  If you can't help by backing you can always still help by sharing! Share the campaign page, share the pilot episodes, tell people about it, because once produced all the episodes will air right here as all our past episodes have.  Thank you everyone for the positivity and encouragement to press on with this endeavor and especially thanks to my wife Danielle who has been supporting me through so many silly and intense ideas for this season to get made. 

If you liked this audio drama please check and follow our   to keep updated on the upcoming kickstarter to make more episodes of The StarWell Foundation. "The StarWell Foundation" is an audio drama set in a city of Super Heroes. Through the Foundation children make requests to meet famous athletes, movie stars, or even their favorite heroes... But the kids have started to request something new:  they want to meet their favorite villains and up to the newly promoted Meredith Dare to make their dreams come true. This is the combined episodes 1&2 of the pilot season. This episode features the voice acting talents of: Kae Giroux Bob Savage Brett Kelley Sarah Gherri Mike Davis Joe Van Allen Steph MacGillivary Colin Vigneault Michelle Arslan Babs Daniels Kristen Blakely Chesler Colin Allen Ed Gogolski Milta Vargas Alex Squiers Featuring music clips by Kevin Mason. Additional sound effect and other music from: Freesound.org BBC Sound Effects    Incompetech.com -- "carefree" Kevin Macleod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License -Alex.

Hi everyone, It's time I checked in to make a few announcements and say sorry that I've been busy since March... But As of this update I'm combining the 2 episodes of the pilot season of The StarWell Foundation into one and will be re-uploading it for anyone who missed it the first time around and as a fresh start because Next month, January of 2023 I plan on launching a kickstarter for Season 1 of The StarWell Foundation. I'm very excited for that, I hope you stick around and I mention some other podcasts here for listening in the meantime. Thanks again! Alex

Well, here we are. I toyed with the idea of doing the minimalist "ok, that's it!" and leaving it at that but I feel like that would have been doing the episode a disservice seeing as this one snowballed into a little more than we expected. A few weeks back we released part 1 of the OMV All-Stars and the first half of this episode is going to feature part 2. Turns out we relied on a lot of All-Stars and despite all the planning, we ran out of episodes. Luckily, with Colin getting us all emotional on 448, some of our 450 material was used up giving us the perfect opportunity to squeeze in conversations with Vicky, Jon, and Charlie.  The episode is still a marathon at almost 3 hours long, but it was worth it and we think you'll agree. Like I pointed out last time: the search feature on our site works surprisingly well. So if you're looking for any other appearances from Vicky, Jon, and Charlie just pop their names in the search bar and it should pull up everything you're looking for. With that said, I think it's time to end. Pretty much everything I wanted to say is included in the episode so there's not much else I can write here besides "thank you." If you've ever tuned in, read these blogs, liked a post, or even asked us "oh you're still doing that?", thank you so much. I had no idea what this was back in 2012 when Justin, Alex, and I all sat down to record episode 1 but I'm so proud of what it became. It's been a wild decade and while I may be stepping away from the microphone and the current OMV format is coming to an end, fear not! I assure you, the show is in good hands. From both Alex and myself, thank you for tuning in. We hope you enjoy. -Jr.   Music provided by r. 

The emotions are starting to hit. Even just creating the title card for this episode hit me with waves of happy, sad, nostalgia, and relief. There aren't many things I can say I've done consistently for 10 years straight. It turns out a decade is a long-ass time to do anything, especially something like a podcast. But here we are. Our super official, by-the-books anniversary was technically sometime last week but we still have one episode left to release before we close up shop and if the last few weeks were any indication, it's gonna be a wild ride of feelings for some of us. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves because this week Alex worked his yearly magic and has assembled one last best-of montage featuring clips and snippets from this past year's episodes. It's hard to say what year was our strongest in terms of guests but I'd say that this last year gave the top spot a run for its money. We talked to some incredible people both long-time friends and new guests alike. It's been said countless times before, but it's doubtful we would have even made it past year 1 without the help everyone who has come on the show. So to be here 10 years later is truly an honor and Alex and I are eternally grateful. Four hundred forty nine down....one to go. Enjoy! -Jr.   Audio Credits: More 8 Bit Drama, Arcade Adventures, The 8 Bit Circus by Eric Matyas   Circus Of Freaks by Kevin MacLeod Link:  License:  Stage 2 from DojoKratos by Sawsquarenoise on Free Music Archive

The closer we get to the end, the harder it gets to write these things. Not because I'm tired or just fed up with it, but because we're talking with so many amazing people and it's difficult to come up with ways of saying how much they mean to us without it becoming repetitive. Like, how many ways can you say "here's another one of our best friends, listen to us thank them for the next two hours."? I guess this week's episode is a little easier because while we were ready to do exactly that, Colin came on and completely flipped the script on us. We were fully prepared to spend an absurd amount of time telling Colin how rad he his, how much he means to us, and how valuable he's been to the show over the last decade but he was like "nah". And while we did manage to squeeze a few thank yous in here and there, most of the episode was spent fighting back emotions. That's right, folks. Colin made us feel things. It was a truly wild ride and what we believe to be a perfect ending to the Colin arc of OMV. He's been a part of practically everything we've done over the years: convention reviews, voice acting, in-depth analysis of the latest "thing", even working our table at shows. We're honored to be able to call him our friend and OMV has only been made better by his presence. Enjoy! -Jr.

The march to episode 450 continues this week with a multitude of guests who have been featured countless times in the past. And while "countless" might be an exaggeration because you can literally count the number of times they've been on, it doesn't begin describe their impact and contributions to the show over the years. Doing these last few episodes has really shown Alex and me just how many people we've relied on and how they were always ready and willing to give us a hand whenever we asked. We said it about a million times throughout the course of this 2+ hour episode, but I feel like there's no way we could possibly say "thank you" enough. For those feeling either curious or nostalgic for all the previous appearances of everyone featured today, the "Search" feature on our website works surprisingly well. Just pop in the name of anyone listed in the title of this episode and it'll pull up pretty much everything you're looking for dating all the way back to the beginning. Some of the topics may be a little dated, but we just see it as a fun and easy way to time-travel. Without all the nasty spacetime continuum consequences, of course. Enjoy! -Jr.

If you pull up any random episode of OMV, there's about a 1 in 10 chance you'll hear Brett Kelley's voice. Given that we're almost 450 episodes deep into this thing, that's a pretty insane statistic and goes to show how much of an asset he has been to Alex and me over the last 10 years. Whether it helping us come up with ideas for new stuff, covering a show as an official OMV correspondent, or just calling in to hang out and let us record him for an hour; Bret was, quite literally, always there for us. From the very beginning he's been one of our most loyal supporters, always willing to signal-boost our episodes and even donate his artwork on multiple occasions. His impact as both a friend and a contributor can't be overstated. So when Brett recently launched a for his latest project, we felt having him on to talk about it was the very least we could do to try and pay him back for everything he's done for us over the years. So we did just that. It's a little bittersweet as this is also doubling as his final regular appearance, but we did our best to make it worthwhile. When the OMV Hall of Fame is eventually erected, Brett's name will be first on the ballot. Full Stop, done deal. He's one of the best friends we've ever had and somehow doing a podcast for the last decade has only strengthened that friendship. It's been an honor sharing the airwaves with him these 40+ times and I think I speak for both Alex and myself when I say I can't wait to see what he creates next. But for now? Go throw money at his Kickstarter and get some rad pins. Enjoy! -Jr.

I'm going to preface all of this by saying one thing: maybe bust out the headphones for this one if you haven't already cuz there's some language. You have been warned. With that said, we have an absolutely phenomenal episode for you this week featuring an all-star cast of guests. Over the last 8ish years we've had the of to some from the Baltimore area who are either currently a part of, or were former members of, a group by the name of Super Art Fight. They're no strangers to this show with each guest on this episode having made an appearance at least once since 2014.  And seeing as they've always been incredibly kind to two guys constantly bothering them for content, we thought having some of them on one last time would be the perfect way to say thanks. Rather than have 6 people all talking over each other at the same time, we broke this episode up into two sections: The first features Brandon Chalmers and Jamie Noguchi. Two former members of the Art Fight crew, Brandon and Jamie have since split off to form the and are already over 100 episodes deep into their run. What started out as a "30ish minute chat" quickly snowballed into an hour and a half of madness but we do eventually talk about the FDI Cast and what Brandon and Jamie have been creating. We just took a couple extra left turns before getting there. The second half of this marathon of an episode features two of the longest tenured members of in Marty Day and Ross Nover. Acting as the hosts and live action commentators for the majority of the Art Fight bouts, Marty and Ross have formed a sort of hive-mind full of random facts and obscure references that can be fired off at a moment's notice all while keeping the crowd focused on what the artists are spewing on the canvas. It's really a thing of beauty and their chemistry is borderline unmatched. Similar to our chat with Brandon and Jamie, 30 minutes just wasn't enough time and this episode quickly turned into the longest single episode we've ever released (I think). But it was totally worth it because like I mentioned before; these guys have been incredibly kind to us over the years and we can't begin to thank them enough for always coming on and chatting with us. This episode was some of the most fun I've had in a long time; my face hurt from smiling so much and my stomach hurt from laughing. I borderline lost my voice and yet somehow we could have easily gone another 3 hours. I'd like to think that's the sign of good content but after 10 years of doing this I still have no idea. Either way; check out the episode, listen to the FDI Cast and if you can get to an Art Fight show in the future: do it. Just do it. You never know, you might wind up making some neat new friends in the process. Enjoy! -Jr.

Posting this episode feels like a triumph. Like we conquered some sort of mythical beast....completed an epic quest. Not through any fault of our guest or anything....but because it felt like the world didn't want this episode to happen. Between technical difficulties and internet issues it genuinely felt like this episode was cursed for a minute. But here we are. And I'm mere minutes away from clicking "Publish" so ya'll can listen to a rad chat we had with Eisner nominated artist Joe Eisma and, barring any last second acts of God, the episode will be released. I hope.  So before I go and knock on all the wood I can find, I might as well tell you about our guest. In case you weren't aware, Joe Eisma is the co-creator and artist of Image Comics' MORNING GLORIES and has also worked for just about every other publisher you could think of. You can find his art on classics like ARCHIE and CHARLIE'S ANGELS as well on books from DC and Valiant. Some of his latest work, the 12 issue run of ENGINEWARD from Vault Comics, is hitting shelves later this month in one collected trade. So for those of you (like me) who missed out on the floppies, now's your chance to snag the whole run! Huge thanks to Joe not only for coming on and chatting with us, but also for dealing with the technical gremlins haunting our respective computers. Be sure to on the for more art and news on his latest work (including the highly anticipated return of MORNING GLORIES....spoiler: not yet) and check out the trade for ENGINEWARD in a few short weeks! Enjoy! -Jr.

This is another one of those "goodbye" episodes. We had our first one with Joe a few weeks ago and now we're back with a double-whammy. You probably already read the title of the episode but this week is back so we can bend his ear for a bit about his experience talking about monsters when he was a tour guide for Universal. (We also had some help from our special guest-host Will who, with his expansive knowledge of monsters, was like a kid in a candy shop talking with Jason.) Talking monsters is fun. Talking with Jason is fun. And we always relish the chance to chat with Will (especially since our usual spooky episode couldn't happen last year). But there's also some serious news to go along with the monster chat. If you've been following Jason or @FakeThemePark you may have already seen the or the announcements on the various socials. But without spoiling too much here, Jason came on to give us the 4-1-1 on the future of @FakeThemePark. Now that the suspense is likely tearing you to pieces, be sure to follow those and check out the fancy new while you're at it. Who knows how much longer you'll be able to snag some.... With all of that said, Jason deserves a huge thank you from the OMV crew. Though we've only known Jason for a few years, we've always had an absolute blast talking with him. The level of devotion and originality he's shown with @FakeThemePark is unmatched and we can't wait to see what he makes next. And as for Will? Ever since his first appearance on Episode 14 he's contributed to some of the most entertaining and hilarious moments we've ever recorded. It didn't matter if he was 20 minutes down the road or literally across the country, Will was always willing to sit down and chat with us about spooky stuff, stupid stuff, or the Hulk spilling his soup. We can't thank him enough for all the time, effort, and laughs he's given us over the years. He's another true OMV legend. Enjoy! -Jr.

This episode was a ton of fun to record for a couple reasons. The main one being we got to chat with a local artist who specializes in illustrating watercolor fantasy, dabbles in archery, and is a champion of expressing yourself and living your best life. She's also a friend and former co-worker of one of our best pals in the whole, wide world (unbeknownst to us, we had no idea until after we had reached out to her). Her name is and when she isn't educating today's youth in the ways of the arts at her day job, she's bringing incredible fantasy illustrations to life. With a degree in Children's Book Illustration from the Academy of Art in San Francisco, Amanda has put together a mindblowing portfolio of work including some of the tightest, most detailed watercolor pieces I've ever seen. Take a look at her and you'll see what I'm talking about. I straight up didn't believe those were watercolor the first time I saw them. Anyway, check out our chat with Amanda. We talk about her art, her job as a teacher, and the importance of being your best self both in the world of art and in every day life. Enjoy! -Jr.

So this one was pretty neat. We've been big fans of Rob Guillory for some time now beginning with his work on the critically acclaimed Image book CHEW and continuing to his latest project Farmhand (also from Image). You probably don't need us to tell you how good Rob is seeing as there's a couple of Eisners, a Harvey Award, and the 2013 "Jayare's End of the Year Award" for best artist to do the talking for us. (That last one is especially important.) He's arguably the most decorated guest we've had on the show and despite all that, he was just as willing to talk about paper stock and wrestling as he was his award winning comics. So yeah, this one was pretty neat. Farmhand is back with issue 16 this coming Spring leaving plenty of time for catching up or re-reads. Be sure to check out Rob's for art and merch and follow him on for updates on comics, conventions, and just rad art in general. Enjoy! -Jr.

It would be virtually impossible to properly convey just how important Joe is both to the show and to Alex and me as a friend. He is one of the main people we leaned on the most when we first started out in 2012 and always made time to come on and chat with us whenever we hit him up. Over time, he turned into our unofficial gaming correspondent, providing brilliant write-ups and reviews in addition to vital coverage in the field at shows like PAX East. He gave us suggestions for potential guests, helped us out with interviews, and couldn't be beat when it came to promoting the show at conventions. We have a bunch of these "final appearance" episodes coming up as we wind down to episode 450 but you'll have to excuse me if I get a little extra sentimental over this one. Yes, Joe has been a staple of the show for a decade now and we've had a ton of fun chatting with him. But as it turns out, Joe is also my oldest friend. We've known each other for well over 20 years now dating back to middle school living two streets over from each other. We shared our first apartment together, met most of our friends while working at the Local Theme Park together, and he helped Alex and me make a silly little podcast over the last 10 years. I could go on at length about the memories we've shared but I'll just leave it at this: he is, without a doubt, one of the best friends I've ever had. Ok. I got all the sappyness out of my system, I think. So let's get down to business. Joe is a true OMV legend. And this week we're going to honor him in the best way we know how: By talking about the latest Pokemon game. Enjoy! -Jr.

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who has left a bigger impact on this show in a mere than Rich Woodall. I've said it before but it still holds true today: he's arguably the kindest and most humble creator we've had the pleasure of talking with. He's got talent for days and it seems like he couldn't stop making things even if he tried. In the past, we've talked at length with Rich about the comics he's made, the people he's worked with, and the projects he Kickstarted. Now, since we last talked with him in 2019, Rich and crew have also launched their own imprint with Scout Comics: . For those looking to get their horror and sci-fi comic book fix, Black Caravan is for you. With titles like The Electric Black, Gods of Brutality, and The Perhapanauts (among many others) there's a little something for everyone. Check out their page for more and hit up your local comic shop for some reading material! With all that said, we can't thank Rich enough for all the time he's given us over the years whether it was on the show or at a convention. There's no exaggeration when I question if he's the busiest man because the guy just doesn't stop working. So for him to take time out of his schedule to talk to two dummies about his work really means the world to us. If you haven't already, check out his , consider supporting him on , and look him up if he's at a convention near you. Trust us, it's worth it. Enjoy! -Jr.

I'm not sure what else to write here as the title of this episode contains everything you need to know. I guess I can elaborate a bit, though. This week it's just Alex and me and to top off this year's spooky-sodes we're talking about fear. The things that scare us. The things that make us uncomfortable, that make us squirm, that we've been avoiding for years whether we were aware of it or not. The real good stuff. Good, old-fashioned fear. We also talked about The Muppets. Kinda hard to go wrong with The Muppets especially when they're in The Haunted Mansion. Enjoy! -Jr. Credit to https://www.FesliyanStudios.com for the background music.

Ok so it took us a little longer than normal to get to our usual spooky-filled episodes but we promise it was worth the wait because this episode is jam-packed with so many rad things. This week, we had the absolute pleasure of talking with not one, but TWO contributors of the insanely popular ""! For those unaware, "The No Sleep Podcast" is an award-winning anthology series of original horror stories. They've been making content and releasing episodes since 2011 and are set to begin their 17th season soon! First up, we were joined by composer Brandon Boone. Brandon has been scoring the show for the past 8 years and has created over 5,000 individual pieces of music in that time with no signs of slowing down. He's a self-taught musician with an immense talent for creating spooky and haunting tunes that perfectly compliment the show. When he's not creating music for NoSleep, he's hard at work writing and producing his own albums, or creating soundtracks for videogames like "Scarlet Hollow".  Check out his for tons more! Following our chat with Brandon, we were then joined by voice actor Nichole Goodnight who gave us all the inside info on how she got her start with NoSleep as well as some tips and tricks of the voice acting trade. An avid gamer and Twitch streamer, Nichole is also regularly involved in the bi-annual "Games Done Quick" events acting as both host and speedrunner! You can find her Twitch channel or subscribe to NoSleep for even more of her work! We can't thank Brandon and Nichole enough for coming on and getting spooky with us. The NoSleep team really seem to have put a great group of people together and if there's anything we're taking away from recording this episode it's this: Shoot your shot. Do the thing. Submit the audition. You never know what might happen! Enjoy! -Jr. Audio tracks provided by Brandon Boone. "Vibrate with Adrenaline" and "Don't Answer The Door" found on his latest album "Night Fall", available now!

Our guests this week are no strangers to the OMV universe and despite having multiple cumulative appearances under their belts, they've never come on the show at the same time. Until now. That's right. We're trying the whole "4 people in 4 separate locations desperately trying to not talk over each other" and this time we're joined by artists Daniel Govar and Tony Moy! Now, it would be fun to just hang and chat with them about what they've been up to over the last few years, but there is a reason as to why they've both come on the show this week:  they've started their own YouTube channel! Known as "The Paint Bros", Daniel and Tony have started uploading and live streaming videos of their art as well as tutorials and live conversations with chat. Whether you're looking for quick, time-lapse videos or long form, in-depth discussion, Daniel and Tony have you covered all while creating amazing watercolor pieces. Check out their , annihilate that subscribe button, and follow the guys on their for more art, announcements, and convention travels. We've had a blast talking with Daniel and Tony over the years and they've always been super kind to us and the show. Here's hoping we get to see them in person again sooner rather than later. Enjoy! -Jr.

We got to talk about Tarzan for the better part of an hour with two guys who are about to Kickstart a Tarzan book next month. It was a pretty great Thursday, I'm not going to lie. Our old friend D.W. Kann is back with us and this time he brought one of his writing partners, Ryan Matta, to talk about the first volume up their upcoming comic Tarzan The Untamed. Rather than re-telling your typical origin story, D.W. and Ryan are adapting a different time in Tarzan's life: "Book one finds Tarzan and Jane living peacefully in East Africa in 1917 on their secluded Greystoke estate. When their quiet life is suddenly threatened by the encroaching battles of World War I and the machinations of a band of mercenaries, led by the rouge German army officer, Sergeant Schneider, a single minded hunter, determined to find Tarzan. Tarzan must unleash his Savage nature to protect his Ape family, his fellow Englishmen and his true love Jane." For people like me who didn't realize how much their life was lacking in Tarzan content, this is pretty much a no-brainer. As of now, the Kickstarter campaign for the first volume (of three) is set to launch around October 5th with the other two coming later on. If you're looking for more info, check out the KS page where you'll find all the deets on projects past and present. Enjoy! -Jr.

I was going to leave this super vague and cryptic because this episode contains a major announcement that we cover right off the bat. But I also feel obligated to tell you that afterwards, there's some tasty SPOILERS for The Suicide Squad. We did our best to point it out in the episode, but for those who might tend to skip around, I wanted to make sure it was known. So yeah. Spoilers ahead! Now, back to the vague and cryptic. Check out this week's episode where The Countdown....begins. -Jr.

We've talked about tattoos from time to time over the last 430+ episodes. In fact, the topic of tattoos can be found as early as episode 16 as part of that week's "The Big Question". For those trying to do the math, that was back in July of 2012 and as you probably could have guessed; Brett Kelley was the guest that week. Because of course he was. But this week is different. This week, for the first time ever (we're pretty sure), we had the chance to talk with not just a fan of tattoos but an actual tattoo artist. That artist is Lora Bird. Lora, aka , is the owner of the new studio "The Nest Art Collective" out in Colorado and they're set to have their grand opening today, July 31st!  With a focus on trauma informed, inclusive tattooing, Lora and her team have created a safe and clean space for bodies of all shapes and sizes to get their dream piece.  If you're looking for more info, be sure to check out their for updates, finished pieces, and bios on all the different artists and creators working at the studio. With a lot of our audience being in the New England area, we know a shop out in Colorado is a bit of a hike but when you hear Lora talk about the studio with such passion and excitement, you'll understand why we're so pumped for you to check this episode out. Plus you can hear me absolutely butcher the word "esthetician". It's pretty bad. I added like 4 extra syllables. Enjoy! -Jr.

This week I learned "squib jackets" are a thing. Like, I always knew about jackets. And with Alex doing SFX makeup I'm aware of what squibs are. But combining the two was never a concept I had thought of until this week's guest, Paul Drechsler-Martell, casually mentioned wearing one on the set of Daredevil a few years back. You see, Paul is a stunt performer. He does the dangerous things you might see in a movie or television show that other people either physically or legally can't do. For example, in Daredevil he had to get shot by pretend bullets a bunch of times while literally everything else in the room exploded around him; hence the need for the aforementioned squib jacket.  We've known Paul for years dating back to our time at the local theme park where we tried to entertain people while not sweating to death. But since then, Paul has been a busy man doing stunts for programs like Gotham, The Blacklist, Mr. Robot and tons more. A quick glance over at his will show you the rest but I think you get the idea: he's good at what he does. So. With all that said, check out our chat with Paul as we dive into his world of stunt performing, his love of martial arts, and what it's been like for someone who works in the film industry over the last 16-ish months of hell. Enjoy! -Jr.

If I'm reading our own website correctly, it has been over two years since the last full appearance of our dear, dear friend Brett Kelley. That fact will shock any longtime listener as Brett holds many records within the OMV universe and there was a time when he was making appearances on a weekly basis. Luckily, recording a podcast with Brett is just like riding the proverbial bike and despite the long hiatus we still managed to stay (mostly) on track and lay down a pretty sweet episode for you all. Especially if you like D&D and getting mad about D&D. And art. We also talked about art and artists and artists on Twitter. Because art. If you're new here, this may be your first time experiencing Brett on the show but we can say with confidence that it certainly won't be the last time you'll see him drop by. If you're looking for more of him and his work, check out the or just type "Brett" into the search bar on our site and see the literal dozens of episodes he's been featured on. Enjoy! -Jr.

Jim Calafiore is back! It's been a while since we've seen him (or anyone) at a con, and even longer since we last got to chat on our show; but Jim is back with us this week and, as expected, we're talking comics. Specifically, we're talking Ned. Ned is your average guy. Like the rest of us, he's got his share of problems - relationship troubles, deceased family members, zombie roommates. His father is one of the Lords of Hell. You know, the usual stuff. We were first introduced to Ned and his family in the first volume of Ned, Lord of the Pit last year. Now, Jim is Kickstarting the 2nd volume to continue the story of everyone's favorite future hell-lord. Currently, the campaign has a few weeks left before time is up so we thought it would be the perfect time to talk with Jim about the book, his process, and the challenges involved with writing, penciling, inking, and coloring a horror-comedy all by yourself. Check out for more info or search for it on Kickstarter while you still have the chance! Enjoy! -Jr.

I have a dumb brain. When it comes to symbolism, interpretation, and open-endedness, my brain just does not compute. If something doesn't have a clear meaning or ending, I'm pretty much immediately on Google trying to get other people to explain what I just saw and/or read. It's not for a lack of trying, I genuinely try to figure things out...but this big, dumb brain of mine doesn't like it. With that said, upon reading some of the Three Panel Crimes comics on Instagram, my dumb-brainness kicked in a couple of times. Each comic is three panels long and has no dialogue. The panels can sometimes be extremely detailed with tons of story told in a single image and if you're not paying attention it can be easy to miss an important clue. Long story short: you gotta use your brain. But once you get your brain going you'll quickly realize how damn good these comics are. Three Panel Crimes is written by Tony Fabro and over the last few years he and his ever-expanding team of artists and collaborators have put together an amazing archive of "bad deeds in threes" with new comics released every week. In this episode Tony stopped in to talk about the creation of Three Panel Crimes, his process, and alligators with knives embedded in their heads. For more on Tony and his work, check out Three Panel Crimes on and , or visit their to get on their mailing list. Enjoy! -Jr.

It appears Spring has officially sprung because my sinuses have been in a constant state of explosion for the last few weeks. It's been a rough allergy season but luckily they gave me a few hours of relief, long enough for us to chat with a comic pro in ! Jamal has been involved in the comics world in some way, shape, or form since the early 90s. He's worked on books for just about every major publisher whether it's DC, Marvel, Image, etc. You name it, he's probably done some work there. He's a true veteran of the industry and in 2011 he was honored with the Inkpot Award for Achievement in Comic Art. For those looking to check out Jamal's work but don't have easy access to his runs on Green Lantern, Supergirl or any of the other dozens of books he's worked on, you can check out the new series from Ahoy Comics called The Wrong Earth: Night & Day with issue 5 hitting the stands next month! With Tom Peyer on the script, Jamal has been putting out some fantastic art to a really fun story. Be sure to check out his for some behind-the-scenes work! We can't thank Jamal enough for coming on and chatting with us about his career, the books he's worked on, and the current state of the comics world. It's not every day we get to chat with such an experienced and talented artist. Not to mention it's always nice to chat with a fellow AEW fan... Enjoy! -Jr.

I got my 2nd Covid vaccine shot today and as of this writing I'm feeling great but, given all that I have read and seen on the internet, that's subject to change within the next few hours. So, I'm writing this the day before posting in the hopes that my planning ahead will work out for the best and all I have to do is click "publish" tomorrow afternoon. And yes, I usually write these posts that no one reads mere minutes before posting the episodes...what can I say? I'm a lifelong procrastinator. Annnnnnnyway. We have an extra long episode for you this week but it's with good reason: we got to talk with . For those who might be unaware or unfamiliar, Ben is an incredibly talented artist and writer who co-created 30 Days of Night and also created titles such as Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, Welcome to Hoxford, and he recently started his own Instagram webcomic . We cover a pretty wide range of topics in our chat with Ben, but if you're looking for more or want to support him and his artistic endeavors, you can check out his page, his , or hopefully in the near future, meet him at a show. Until then, we hope you dig this week's jam; Ben is a great dude to chat with and we can't thank him enough for stopping by. Enjoy! -Jr.

This episode is all about old friends, new friends, and the rad things they make. In this case, it's a graphic novel called The Monuments and, as of this writing, it's currently crushing it over on . The aforementioned friends? Well longtime listeners of the show will be thrilled to hear that is making his long-awaited return and this time he's joined by one of his creative partners-in-crime, ! Michael and Mike along with Oliver Mertz have created an amazing new world and after years of planning and collaboration, they're finally ready to bring the story to life. Even though the campaign is already more than halfway completed, and even though they've absolutely demolished their goal and subsequent stretch-goals, we still couldn't wait to chat about this book. Gigantic mechs? Unsolved mysteries spanning hundreds of years?  Past/present timelines slowly revealing the truth? Sign me up. Take my money. Check out our chat with Michael and Mike, learn about The Monuments and, if there's still time, head on over to the Kickstarter and check it out first-hand because hot damn, it looks rad. Enjoy! -Jr.

So The Snyder Cut happened. It's been a while since we did the whole "let's ramble about the latest blockbuster movie" so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do just that. With this being a discussion about movies, we also thought it would be fun to include our good friend Jared Skolnick in the conversation seeing as he writes, directs, and appreciates movies better than we could ever imagine. This is probably a good time to mention that Jared has a and a that you can check out (featuring many familiar faces to those lucky few who have seen some of our real human faces). It should also be noted that, per usual, this discussion contains some tasty, tasty SPOILERS. So if you haven't seen the flick yet and you don't want literally everything ruined, watch it first before listening to our voices. With that said, check out our ramblings as we discuss the characters, the plot, the things we liked and the things that made us question our sanity in the 4+ hour marathon that was The Snyder Cut. Enjoy! -Jr.

Another year of casting pods has come and gone and this one, despite the odd circumstances and ongoing global pandemic, was a pretty solid banger. Of course, I'm biased. But after listening to the yearly montage that Alex put together featuring some of the best clips and snippets from the last year, you'll understand where I'm coming from. This recap is the longest one yet so I'm going to do my best to keep this short. With that said, we talked to some incredible people over the past 23 episodes and per usual, we can't thank them enough for coming on the show. This has been a challenging 12 months but being able to talk with artists, creators, musicians, and everything else in-between made it just a little bit easier. And at the end of the day, if we were able to provide you with some escape and entertainment, then I'd say it was all worth the effort. Enjoy! -Jr. Audio Credits: "Coin-op Worlds" "Arcade Puzzler" "Arcade Heroes" "Arcade Goblins"   by Eric Matyas

You're going to want to set yourself a reminder for March 2nd. I realize that doesn't make any sense at the moment, but bear with me because this week we're talking about a rad little card game called "Doomlings". To put it simply, Doomlings is described as "A delightful card game for the end of the world" and it's coming to Kickstarter soon on, you guessed it, March 2nd! We're especially psyched about this one because while Doomlings is cute and easy to learn, it's also surprisingly strategic and we had the absolute pleasure of talking with two of the developers, , all about the creation, development, and challenges that went into creating such a neat game about the world ending. Alex has already posted some videos over on our showing a quick run-down of the game and some mechanics. But if you wanted to learn more be sure to check out the , subscribe to their newsletter and keep your eyes peeled for the March 2nd Kickstarter launch! Enjoy! -Jr.

With the last episode being such a major departure from what we typically talk about here on OMV, it would probably be a good idea to get back to basics and start talking about comics, movies, and videogames again. But we didn't. We kinda did. But we mostly didn't. Have I completely lost you yet? I hope not because this week we got to talk with a super rad guest in musician and YouTuber Christina Pepper! Christina is a professional pianist who has been uploading pieces to YouTube for over a decade now. While that is a feat in and of itself, in 2018 she expanded the channel to include accompaniment tracks with the intent of helping other musicians practice when a pianist isn't readily available. With the pandemic obliterating everyone's plans for almost all of 2020 and now the beginning of 2021, I don't think anyone would fault Christina for taking it easy and putting her channel on hold for a bit. But she didn't. In fact, according to her video feed she has uploaded almost 20 videos in the last month alone. She has used the pandemic and all this newfound free time as an excuse to help people even more and it's great. If you haven't already, be sure to check out her and . And if you feel like supporting Christina even more, you can donate to her on and even commission a custom piano accompaniment/karaoke piece! Enjoy! -Jr.

So, yeah. This one is a bit of a departure from our normal song-and-dance. Rather than discuss the latest happenings in the comics world, the next neat thing coming to Kickstarter, or bothering one of our friends to come on and talk about Star Wars or something....we took a dive into the world of diamond hands and rocket ships. Hedge funds and short squeezes. Folks. We're talking about the stock market. One could make the argument that "hey, it's GameStop! Videogames! OMV talks about videogames all the time!" but it really has almost nothing to do with videogames. But, seeing as it's a massive, game changing moment in history that, to this day, is evolving and yet unresolved we thought we take a stab at talking about it. One thing to note that's probably pretty obvious but needs to be stated: Neither of us are financial professionals and nothing said in this episode should be taken as advice. With that said, we hope you enjoy our attempt at explaining this whole thing. At the very least, maybe some of the memes will make a little more sense now. Enjoy! -Jr.

Happy New Year, ya'll! We're kicking 2021 off with a bang as this week we had the absolute pleasure of chatting with the founder of - Bradly Halestorm! I case you're not familiar, Bradly and his team at LionWing specialize in localizing Eastern tabletop games for gamers in the West. In other words: they specialize in one of the most challenging and meticulous jobs in the industry. One might think it's as simple as asking the Google to translate some words into English and calling it a day. And one would be wrong. So very, very wrong. There's so much more to it than simply translating text verbatim and in this episode Bradly gave us the inside scoop on all the work that goes into localizing Japanese board games. LionWing Kickstarted three different games in 2020 alone and, despite the ongoing pandemic, they have no plans of slowing down. They're charging full-steam-ahead into 2021 with their first campaign of the year launching next month. Check out the landing page for to learn more! Huge thanks to Bradly for taking the time to join us and to his team for doing what they do. Be sure to follow them on the and keep your eyes peeled for future campaigns...you never know what game might be coming next! Enjoy! -Jr.

This pandemic sucks. I think we're all aware of it and we can all agree the last 10 months have just straight up sucked. I could write about 5,000 words just off the top of my head listing off all the sucky things about pandemics but I'm not going to do that. What I'm going to do is hype up our friend Babs because unlike me, she has spent her pandemic time being productive. Specifically, she has spent her pandemic time logging literally hundreds of hours as virtual Dungeon Master in multiple D&D games and is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, in a way it almost feels like she's just getting started? (Listen to the episode, you'll get what I'm talking about once you hear how good she is at this stuff.) I have played the role of Dungeon Master one (1) time in my life in a one-shot that lasted maybe 4 hours and it was exhausting, stressful, confusing, ...and an absolute blast. So when I'm casually scrolling through my Twitter feed and I see countless tweets from Babs and what she's been doing with any number of the seven (7!!!) groups she's currently running I can't help but be blown away by not only her work ethic, but also her creativity and stamina. DM'ing can be tough, DM'ing for dozens of people multiple times a week? I'm exhausted just thinking about it. The ultimate irony? As I work on this episode I'm also preparing to take part in a game she's running later today. That's how fast she works. We recorded this episode on Monday and now today, Saturday, she's got a game set up for me and the usual gang. (I'm playing a paladin named Seraph, how rad is that?) For reference, I think it took me about a month of planning for the one-shot I ran a few years ago. Bonkers. So yeah. We talked with Babs about D&D this week and I'm psyched with how this episode came out. Be sure to give Babs a follow on the and do the usual like/share/subscribe if you dug the episode. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a brand new character I made at 11pm on Christmas Day that I have to familiarize myself with. Enjoy! -Jr.

That's right, folks. It's just us and this week we're getting festive. The holidays have always had a special place in my heart. Growing up, Christmas was always the best day of the year and my parents did everything they could to make sure that me and my two siblings enjoyed every moment of it. Now, many moons and 10 years of holiday retail later......you'd be surprised to learn that not much has changed. I still love the holidays and everything that comes with them and even though this year is going to be a little different, I'm still looking forward to "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year". With that said, we thought it would be fun to get festive and take a trip down memory lane as we talk about past holidays and the things that meant most to us. Also presents. Mostly presents. It's not that presents mean the most to us, but my initial pitch to Alex was I guess if we dive deep into my subconscious it was just an excuse to talk about toys. But overall, the episode ended up being about more than just presents. We also dove into the differences between families and how the holidays can mean the world to some people, but not as much to others. I could ramble endlessly about holiday stuff (hell we didn't even touch on movies) but I'm guessing I've already lost most of the audience already so I'll end it here. Check out the 'sode, like/share/subscribe, and drop a comment if you want to join in on the conversation. Enjoy! -Jr.

Reddit is the ultimate time waster. I can't begin to count the amount of hours I have spent scrolling on that damn site and for the most part it's full of things that make me smile, laugh, or want to happy cry. There is some garbage there, like any other site (and long time listeners know I've been critical of Reddit in the past) but it's mostly full of things I enjoy seeing. Now rewind to a little over two years ago. A young and innocent Jayare casually scrolling through his various subreddits suddenly comes across this beautiful barbarian dragonman and it's love at first sight: You see, for the last couple of years I have been playing my own dragonborn barbarian in an ongoing D&D quest and of all the fan art and commissions that I have seen, this is without a doubt the closest representation of what I've been picturing in my head when it comes to how my guy would look. As it turns out, this piece was a commission for someone and their character named "Krivgar Vuldrear" and it was brought to life by illustrator Peter Lim aka Polygraf. Now, two years later, through the power of the internet Peter was kind enough to come on our show and chat with us about his beginnings, his experiences in the D&D and fantasy worlds, and how he's been able to adapt and improve his artistic abilities every time he hits a dreaded plateau. As usual, be sure to check out Peter's on all his and if you've been looking for someone to bring your favorite original character to life, who knows? You might have just found your guy. Enjoy! -Jr.

And we're back! Jumping right into things, I'm going to start off by just saying toys are rad. Yes, I'm in my mid 30s. Yes, I have little-to-no use for toys these days besides displaying them on a shelf. And yes, I'm stuck in the past when it comes to my bias towards certain brands. But toys are rad and talking about toys with someone who designs them for a living is even more rad. And that's where this week's guest comes in. Len Nicholas is a designer and concept artist who has worked for brands like Fisher Price, Hasbro, Spin Master, Honda, and Toyota to name a few. From GI Joe to Paw Patrol, presentation rendering to mechanical design, Len has seen and done just about everything in his 20+ years in the business. He's also a huge Pokemon and LEGO fan so needless to say he fits right in with the OMV aesthetic. Check out our chat with Len and browse his while you're at it (we reference it a bunch so it'll be a handy resource); it's jam-packed with robots, toys, LEGO creations, and Otters. What more could you ask for? Enjoy! -Jr.

Happy Halloween, everyone! We're closing out the spooky season in style by visiting one of our favorite topics to talk about every year: haunted houses. This one is extra special because we've gathered five (5!!) of our closest haunt friends to discuss the dream scenario: Create the perfect haunted house. Create a reasonable, realistic house. And create the ultimate, no-holds-barred, sky is the limit, dream house. The combined haunting experience between everyone who took part in this episode probably clocks in at around 75+ cumulative seasons. That's a whole lotta screaming, shocking, scaring, and spooking and all of that experience certainly makes for some amazing haunted house ideas. Enjoy! -Jr.

Well, it's October and the spooky season is here. It goes without saying that this year's season is a little different with there being a massive pandemic and all. But, even though haunted houses are closed and trick or treating is on standby, Alex and I still wanted to bring you your yearly doses of spooky to try and fill the void. We've practically covered it all over the years: haunted houses, special effects, makeup, cryptozoology, UFOs, videogames, theater. The list goes on and on. But there are a few things we have yet to cover and this week, we're going to do our best to tackle one of them. That's right, folks.  Buckle up because we're dipping our metaphorical toes into the uncharted waters of true crime. Enjoy! -Jr.   Sources:

I learned a lot this week. In addition to learning that I'm hopelessly outnumbered when it comes to the "how to tape your comic bags" debate, I learned that Mike and Nick of the podcast are two of the raddest people we've had the pleasure of interviewing. I also learned that being interviewed is a whole different ballgame when it comes to the pressures of recording a show. You might be questioning that last sentence and we wouldn't blame you. But you'll be surprised to learn this episode is actually just one part of a collaboration between IRCB and OMV and if you take a peek at their you might see some familiar names and voices associated with it (Hint: It's Alex and me). That's right, sportsfans, not only were Mike and Nick our guests this week but Alex and I were guests on their show as well! We're thrilled that the IRCB crew was kind enough to have us on their show and it goes without saying that Alex and I had a blast chatting with them about what comics we've been reading, what books we're looking forward to, and how OMV got started. Plus, in our episode we got to dust off a classic and hit them with some Flash Questions before we got the inside scoop on IRCB and how they've assembled such a great crew over the years. If you haven't already, give them a and check out . If you're craving pure comic book content week in and week out, IRCB is the way to go. Enjoy! -Jr.

It's been a minute since we talked comics. So let's talk comics. Specifically with someone who makes comics. Literally takes ideas out of his brain and, with the help of some artists/letterers/editors, brings them to life for others to enjoy on a monthly basis. That someone is ! Johnnie is the #1 New York Times Bestselling artist of Margaret Atwood's Angel Catbird, the writer of ComiXology's Crema and currently he's on writing duties for his new book Tartarus from Image Comics. Check out our chat with him as we take a dive into his world building process and his experiences publishing comics both online and in print. The first collected volume of Tartarus hits shelves on September 30th (yes, that's next week!) so if you haven't been snagging the floppies over the last few months, now is your chance to hop on board this wild space opera that Johnnie and his team are putting together. Enjoy! -Jr.