War Rocket Ajax #17: Jeff Parker and Erika Moen Talk ‘Bucko’ [Podcast]

This week, ComicsAlliance's War Rocket Ajax Podcast welcomes comics writer Jeff Parker (Thunderbolts) and artist Erika Moen (DAR) to the show to talk about their comical murder mystery webcomic, Bucko! They'll tell us which events in their story of fart jokes, bathroom murders and Juggalette/SuicideGirl battles were inspired by real life events -- and you can listen to the entire show right now!

War Rocket Ajax v.2, #17: Negative Juggalo Reactions with Jeff Parker and Erika Moen

(WARNING: Contains NSFW language)

NOTE: The new podacast feed has been submitted to iTunes and we're awaiting approval now. It should come through soon, but until it does, feel free to stream the show using the player above or download it in MP3 from WarRocketAjax.com!

Chris has spent the past week watching even more cartoons than usual, which leads to a discussion of the truly ridiculous Conan the Adventurer, and his newfound fascination with Jem. Meanwhile, Matt saw a screening of Wet Hot American Summer, with comedy hero David Wain! Plus, our listener mail segment prompts a discussion of "character integrity."

During the interview, Jeff and Erika talk to us about Point Break. Seriously. It goes on for quite a while. Eventually, though we finally get around to Bucko and what it's all about:

"The reason why I had to put 'Comical' on the website -- 'A Comical Murder Mystery.' Originally it was 'A Dick and Fart Joke Murder Mystery,' but our ad sponsors didn't like having the word 'dick' on the website, so I had to change it to something else so the ads wouldn't be taken down."

"We caved pretty fast on that one."

"Yeah, I like money, thank you."

They also tell us a little about how the weird events of Bucko are kinda-sorta based on a true story:

"I feel like we're doing the most accurate cross-section of Portland there is."

"Basically."

"It really is all completely... Well first, one thing was originally when Erika talked to me about doing something, she said 'I think I'm through with bio comics for a while, I want to do something that's not about me.' So immediately, like a dick, I set out to make it all exactly about Erika, just kind of one step removed."

"Not even!"

"Okay, maybe a half step removed. But also I was kinda examining all the things we had in common. Like we ride bikes all the time, and we see the same kind of crazy street people and stuff like that, and all that stuff started coming together. Any time we're sort of stuck on the story, we just go outside and it just presents itself. Like at one part Erika came in with a zit on her back that she was complaining about --"

"It was amazing. It was like a cyst."

"But the good kind. And she was just so effusive about how great it was to pop the zit that I just immediately stopped what I was doing and put it in the story, but it worked perfectly, because that's the trigger that kinda gets the character Gyp out of her funk. She has this brief little ecstacy fantasy, the wordless bit Erika drew where she's flying, erupting out of a volcano and landing on a big, uh..."

"Octopus."

"Yeah, on a big flying octopus, and everything, naked. And that really worked. It was a good tonal shift, all thanks to Erika's real-life acne."

Find out more about their Juggalo run-ins (woop woop) and more on the show!

Show Notes:

Jeff Parker and Erika Moen are both on Twitter! It's the closest you're going to get to a handshake.

Bucko updates every Tuesday and Thursday! If you haven't read it, start here!

Point Break is awesome:

SPOILER WARNING: The Ex-Presidents are surfers.

Patrick Swayze and Liam Neeson are brothers in Next of Kin.

Chris's Rec: Walt Disney's Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes, from Fantagraphics:

Matt's Rec: RJ White's Fake Criterions

Comics Reviewed:

OMAC #2: "This issue was better than the first one... For readers like you and me, it's super great." "If this is your second comic, you are going to be overwhelmed. You'll have no idea what's going on. I kinda like that."

Action Comics #2: "I liked this comic, but it felt really thin, especially if you compare it to All Star Superman or the Batman run, even. The story felt really stretched out, and a lot of the art looked rushed." "That's still DC Comic number four or five that has an extended torture scene." "We finally get an idea of who this Lois Lane is, and I really like her."

Casanova: Avaritia #2: "This comic is really hard to talk about. It's almost abstract. There's a very distinct plot that happens, and you can trace out that plot, but to say what that is without getting into the philosophical underpinnings and just the weirdness of it sells it short." "It's a comic that rewards really close reading and figuring out." "This is his most personal book, and this issue breaks that down."