Opinions May Vary

The social distancing continues this week and I have to say; recording at home in my pajamas isn't the worst thing in the world. At first, it was giving me a bit of anxiety. Alex and I have been doing the same thing the same way for 8 years with only a few variations here and there when needed. There's a level of comfort involved in doing something a certain way for that long, but it seems that, for the time being, distance is the new normal. And so far it's working out. With that said, we have a great episode for you today. Mike Norton, the artist of Image Comics' Revival and the creator of the Eisner award winning web comic Battlepug, joined us via the Skype machine. We talked about creating a multi-award winning web comic from the ground up, his experiences in his Chicago studio "Four Star Studios" and why the Revival/Chew crossover wasn't exactly an easy sell for him. Massive thanks to Mike for giving us the opportunity to talk with him during these strange times. Check out his along with the site for m

The timing of this episode is one hell of a happy accident. We had no idea our 8 year anniversary would line up with episode 400 back when we decided to switch off our weekly schedule...but here we are: 8 years and 400 episodes later. Alex had a fun idea this year to celebrate the occasion with the both of us selecting our individual Top 8 episodes of all time. We posted them throughout the last week and a half on our and in the end, I think both lists are great representations of what we've tried to accomplish in the years since starting this whole thing. Be sure to go back and check them out if the almighty algorithms hid them from your respective timelines as those episodes are definitely worth a revisit. As for this episode, being an anniversary 'sode, Alex worked his magic and put together another Best-Of Montage featuring clips from all of the best moments from the past year. Per usual, he killed it. So huge thanks and recognition are in order as those things aren't easy to make and take up a ton of

I hope you're hungry for some PAX because boy howdy do we have some content for you. Joe is back with us to recap and not only do we have a nearly 2 hour long episode full of game and panel talk, but there's also some , plus there was stuff we couldn't fit in the episode that Joe wrote about below. It only took 6 years but I think we're finally learning how to reach peak PAX efficiency. I'm going to keep this brief as I don't want to take away from Joe's superior words plus all the good things I have to say are in the episode anyway. But I will say that, per usual, PAX was amazing, the people we met were amazing, and the games we played were, for the most part, amazing as well. Now check out what Joe had to say about a couple of games he got to play: (Note: some of these are brought up in the episode but I couldn't bring myself to hack this to pieces so enjoy it in its entirety.)  -Jr. VIDEO GAMES Shantae and the Seven Sirens So amazingly enough, it’s been 3 years since the last Shantae game was released.  Fo

We're back this week with an extra long episode packed with guests. Two guests to be specific....but that's like 200% more than normal so yeah, jam packed. Next weekend is going to be a busy one as Alex and I are going to be attending two different conventions in two different states 1,000 miles apart...at the same time?!? Well, technically at the same time...just not together. While myself and the usual suspects head up to Boston for PAX East, Alex and his lovely lady are going to be flying out to Chicago for C2E2. Exciting, right?? Twice the opportunity to catch terrifying viruses! And also meet amazing people, play amazing games, and spend amazing amounts of cash. It's gonna be a good time. Until then, we thought it would be fun to hype up the shows and talk with a couple people that you'd be able to meet if you happen to be in attendance. First up is the owner of : Ryan Stunkel! After successful outings at previous PAX shows, most recently PAX South in January, Ryan is going to be bringing his panel "Soun

"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 it's up to the newly promoted intern Meredith Dare to make their dreams come true. This is Episode 2 of the pilot season. Right now this completes the short story arc for Meredith Dare and StarWell. I hope you enjoyed it and if you did let us know. I’ll be trying to push the season to spread the word, get more listens and eventually gauge interest on making more. This story was inspired by “The Villain Wrangler”, a tumblr thread with many, many contributors. Thanks to all our voice actors that lent me their time and voices, Bob for walking me through the set up and lending his expertise, Jayare for saying yes to this idea and thanks to you our listeners that keep coming back even though we deviated from our usual format. Th

We're back this week with a brief intermission between episodes of the pilot season of The StarWell Foundation to bring you almost two full hours of something you've all been desperately waiting for: Star Wars opinions! And who better to join us in the festivities than our main man Colin? Seeing as it's been a minute since he was last on (a minute = about a year in this case) we thought a relaxing night talking Star Wars with pals would be the perfect way to get him back into the swing of things. Of course, it probably goes without saying that this episode contains some beefy SPOILERS so for those who aren't up to speed on pretty much all of the Star Wars films, you might want to get that taken care of beforehand. We hope you enjoy our ramblings and be sure to let us know if you agree/disagree/think we're buffoons in the comments. We'll be back in a couple of weeks with the 2nd episode of The StarWell Foundation pilot! Enjoy! -Jr.

"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 it's up to the newly promoted intern Meredith Dare to make their dreams come true.   This is episode 1 of the pilot season. Our friend and frequent guest host Colin planted the idea in my head a few years ago to produce a radio play and I’ve held onto the idea ever since. It wasn’t until I happened upon this gem of the internet on tumblr titled “The Villain Wrangler” that inspired me to interpret my own world around that terrific and devious concept. Regular OMV listeners know I’ve always been a sucker for a good villain story. As of right now there will be 2 episodes featuring Meredith Dare and the StarWell Foundation. If all goes well there’s a chance we’ll make more, so please like, share, subscribe and comment. This episo

Our guest this week is Derek Rosengrant and he is very good at what he does. What he does can be seen . For those too lazy to click the link or if you're reading this somewhere other than our website (), you're missing out on some of the most insane replica weaponry and costume design you'll ever see. And at only 26(!) years old, for Derek the term "sky is the limit" seems like a real understatement. Derek got his start working on the special effects team of a few films you may have heard of (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Iron man 2, Iron man 3, and Robocop to name a few) and since then he's split off from his former employers at Legacy Effects and has started his own business alongside his partner Eric Newgard: Aurum Effects. This week, Derek gave us the inside scoop on how Aurum came to fruition, his experiences working in the movie industry, and what it's like to work side by side with one of the most legendary video game studios on the planet. Check out their website and keep Aurum on your radar.

The vendor hall of is easily one of the most unique halls in all the conventions we attend. Being a show that doesn't quite fit into any single genre, it attracts vendors that don't quite fit into any single genre. Example: Rich Longmore and his art over at . Rich is a freelance artist who, as he so beautifully put it, has been drawing monsters since he could hold a pencil. With roots deep-seated in the D&D and cryptozoology scenes, Rich creates amazing pieces of work that somehow manage to be beautiful, mildly terrifying, and strangely informative all at the same time. This week, we had the opportunity to speak with Rich in person and get the inside-info on how came to be, Rich's experiences in freelance work, and how valuable it can be to have daughters with expansive knowledge of Pokemon. Enjoy! -Jr.

If you go to the Vixens En Garde and check out the "About" tab you'll see the following headline: "Swordswomen swashbuckling our way through Shakespeare." If you're not already intrigued about this episode then I'm not sure what else we can do for you because it's going to be hard to beat that. Hopefully we have your attention because we have an insanely fun episode for you all this week featuring Lisa Kopitsky! When she isn't on stage performing as , Lisa acts as the creative director of Vixens En Garde which means in addition to the swordfighting and Shakespeare she also plans out the Vixen's season, decides which cast members perform at which shows, and most recently she has taken over writing new scripts and material for future shows. In short: shes a swordswoman who swashbuckles her way through Shakespeare while also doing an insane amount of planning and writing so the swashbuckling can continue. Sounds rad, right? Have a listen and you'll get to hear all about it. If you think Vixens En Garde is somet

Halloween has come and gone, Alex is no longer a metaphorical ghost to the world, and the sounds of trick-or-treaters have been replaced with the roar of leaf blowers. It's time to get back to business. This week we had the extreme pleasure of chatting with Jason who also goes by the moniker "Chocolate Ninja Cosplay." He's been cosplaying since 2014 and has over 20 years of martial arts experience to go along with it. With characters such as Doomfist, Grey Worm, Deadshot, and the most amazing Dr. Facilier you'll ever see, Jason has been killing the cosplay game with no signs of slowing down.  He has a relentless work ethic and an attitude that rivals most motivational speakers. Long story short, talking with Jason was an honor and we're pumped to share our conversation with you all. Check out his , drop a like on his , and get to work on that thing you've been putting off. If you happen to need more motivation, maybe listen to the episode a few more times. It should definitely help. Enjoy! -Jr.

I'm so excited to post this episode that finding words to write here has turned into a major inconvenience. Like, it's preventing me from doing what I want to do and it's turning me into an impatient 9 year old who has to finish his homework before he can go out and play. But, I guess I should finish my homework first and maybe write a few things here like about how Kyle from Decimated Designs is back this week! It has been exactly 100 episodes since we last had Kyle in the studio and this week he's here to talk about another side of the spooky world that we haven't touched on in the past: Extreme Haunts. *eerie music intensifies even more*  If you've been on Facebook or any news site over the past week you might have an idea of what we're talking about. As more and more articles sprout up, everyone seems to be sharing their opinion on why they think places like are great/terrible and how it's just a matter of time until someone finally finishes/gets seriously injured.  Personally, you'd be hard pressed to g

The spookiest month of the year is upon us and even though we're only doing half the amount of episodes we've done in the past, that doesn't mean we're going to be any less spooky. In fact, one could argue we're going to be spookier than ever as this week, with the help of our good friend Will, we're diving into a whole new world of spookiness: unidentified flying objects. *eerie music intensifies* With the amount of time we've been doing this and the number of spooky episodes under our belts, it's hard to believe we haven't touched on UFOs yet but here we are. I like to think everyone has their own UFO story; whether it's something you saw in your backyard gazing at the stars or a an insane glitch in Grand Theft Auto, you can't deny that in some way, shape, or form - UFOs are everywhere. Now let's talk about them. So bust out your pumpkins, steal some candy meant for future trick or treaters, and prep yourself for the alien invasion because it's time to get spooky with some UFOs. Enjoy! -Jr.

The weather is getting colder, the days are slowly getting shorter, and there's pumpkin in literally everything. That can only mean one thing: NYCC is almost here. And as we get ready for what I believe is either our 9th or 10th trip down to the Javits Center, we thought it would be fun to hype ourselves and you, dear listener, with some pre-NYCC festivities by talking with not one but two(!) artists you'll be able to find in Artist Alley next week. First up, Christopher Jones. The longtime artist for the Young Justice comic with many other titles to his name, Christopher is going to be making the move out West to California soon as he takes on his new role working even closer with the YJ team....what fun information am I withholding? Guess you'll have to listen to find out! If you're going to be at NYCC next week, stop by Christopher's booth at AA table B-10. Not going to NYCC? No sweat, check out his website Closing out the show is a one-on-one chat between Alex and artist Domo Stanton! This is one of thos

I know I'm kind of required to say this but this week's episode is just too choice. With that said, I think it's time we bring back "choice" when describing radical things as it is criminally under-utilized in today's vernacular. There's a 99% chance I used at least 3 words incorrectly in that last sentence but I'm just going to roll with it. On to the good stuff: This week we were joined Andrew MacLean! Andrew is the creator/artist/writer of "Head Lopper" (Image Comics) and this week he made a guest appearance on our show to hype the upcoming release of his latest collection: Head Lopper Volume 3: Head Lopper & The Knights of Venora on sale September 18th! Check out our chat with Andrew as we dive into the creation and style of the man called Norgal and how even lost pallets of comics couldn't keep Head Lopper from becoming Image comics' most beloved bearded viking. For those on the hunt for merch and/or future appearances and the like, check out Andrew's as well as for even more stuff including hats/p

And we're back! This feels kind of strange as it's been quite some time since there was a week when I didn't do one of these. But, change is good and exciting and we're kicking off our new bi-weekly format with one hell of a guest. Our guest this week is one of the most recognizable characters in the cosplay scene and has earned a reputation as being one of the most accurate Jokers in....ever? I know this kind of stuff is very easy to exaggerate and I'm kind of known for my overuse of hyperbole but seriously. Once you see Anthony Misiano aka "" in action, you'll see what I mean. An actor/artist based out of New York City, Anthony got his first taste of going viral when he started appearing at conventions dressed up as The Clown Prince and before long, his grinning face was all over the front pages of just about every comic/gaming news website you could think of. We've long been admirers of his work and this week we're going to take some time to learn about the person behind the makeup as we dive into Anthony'

I never knew how fascinated I'd be when discussing science and robots until we had Megan and Ali in the studio this week. To put it bluntly, I wasn't the smartest or most motivated child in the world so things like robots and robotics club were way outside my wheelhouse in terms of interests. Unless it involved video games or playing a guitar, I didn't want much to do with it. I guess this is one of those "better late than never" situations. With Ali being a veteran of the robotics world and Megan a promising up-and-comer; Alex and I got a crash course in the design, fabrication, and the culture of competitive robotics. We did our best to keep up, but it turns out there's a lot more to it than simply "build robot, drive robot, beat other robots" and over the next hour and twenty minutes you'll hear exactly what I'm talking about. If you're just as enthralled as we were with Ali and Megan's world, maybe pull up the Google machine and see if there's any clubs or volunteer opportunities near you that could use y

I'm quite literally out the door to go table with some of my best pals at TerrifiCon today so this is going to be real brief. But I'd like to think there's a chance you're reading this because you just talked to one of us at the show and are now curious to see what the fuss is about so in that case: Check out this week's episode where we talk with two of our most favorite people on this planet about their experiences at quite possibly the largest gaming convention in the country: GenCon! Without giving away too much: They played an insane amount of games, won an award or two, and managed to survive four days at a show that makes most other conventions look like child's play. Enjoy! -Jr

SDCC has come and gone and in it's wake it left a massive amount of news, topics, and things to speculate about. A literal gold mine of content ripe for the picking just dying to be dissected and jammed into the faces of eager fans. So lets talk about Fortnite! Seriously though. There's a ridiculous amount of news from SDCC and I'm sure we'll get to that later on as things get closer to actual development. For now? We're gonna do a good, old fashioned "talk about random things we feel like talking about and hope you enjoy listening to it". Sounds like a good recipe for success, right? Anyway, this week we're talking about all insanity coming out of Twitch, Mixer, Fortnite, and Ninja in addition to a classic rant between two old dudes frustrated with the current and future state of streaming services. Enjoy! -Jr.

A few years ago we had the pleasure of at length about the massive project he was producing at the time, The Tellos Tribute books.  It was during this episode that we really got a feel for how much of an impact the late Mike Wieringo had on so many different artists and creators. The outpouring of support and creativity that resulted in those books is a true testament to how much Mike meant to his friends and colleagues. Just a few months after we talked with Todd, The Baltimore Comic Con hosted the inaugural "Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards" aka "The Ringo Awards". Known as "", The Ringo Awards honor creators with categories that span the entire spectrum of comics both in print and digital format. This year is going to mark the 3rd annual event and the ceremony is set to take place during the 2019 Baltimore Comic Con in October. Our guest this week, Randy Tischler, is a representative of the Baltimore Comic Con and is a crucial player in the setup and production of The Ringo Awards. He gave us an i