War Rocket Ajax #107: ‘Cow Boy’ and ‘Da Dip’ with Nate Cosby

This week on War Rocket Ajax, Chris and Matt are joined by friend of the show and former Marvel editor Nate Cosby! He's here to tell us all about his new projects, Pigs for Image and Cow Boy at Archaia, and you can listen to the entire show right here at ComicsAlliance!War Rocket Ajax #104: War Rocket Phat Jamzzzzzz with Nate Cosby

(WARNING: Contains NSFW language)

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In this week's episode, Chris and Matt are recovering from a week off and gearing up to head out to conventions at C2E2 and Fluke, but that doesn't stop them from providing more coverage of WrestleMania than any other leading comic book podcast. Plus, a reader writes in with a review of Batman Live that makes it sound like the best thing ever.

When Nate joins us, things are quick to get weird. Eventually, though, we get around to Cow Boy and his goal in writing all-ages comics:

He's a ten year-old bounty hunter who decided that he didn't want to be what his entire family does, so he decided to become a bounty hunter dedicated to bringing his entire outlaw family to justice. That's what it's about and... it can be adventurous, it can be daring, but it's also sad. That's not a fun thing to do; you don't look forward to bringing the people you're supposed to love to the sheriff.

I'm certainly glad that our intentions shone through. I could only write this with Chris [Eliopoulos], for Chris, because I wanted that dichotomy. I wanted to be able to draw people in. I love Chris's art, I think it's an open style, it's inviting and cartoony and warm. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to bring people in and show a more sophisticated story, and show that he can do a more widescreen thing that's not just a comic strip.

As far as the story goes, I had no interest in writing for kids with Cow Boy. It's not for kids. It's for all ages. It's for everyone, everyone should be able to understand what's going on, and I never wanted to talk down to the audience. When you see him use an old guy as a human shield, when you see him grab some old horseshoes so that he can beat the snot out of people when he needs to, when you see him threaten to burn down a building to get what he wants, this is a kid. He's a kid, but he grew up fast, and when your mother, father, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, everybody was bad, everybody was doing stuff that's illegal, everybody was cruel to you, you gotta grow up fast.

I'm a big believer in All-Ages. I believe you can make a universal story for people that are 7 and people that are 70.

Plus, Chris Eliopoulos makes a surprise appearance! Sort of.

Show Notes:

You can follow Nate on twitter: @NateCosBooty98



Read Cow Boy at CowBoyComic.net. It's seriously amazing.

Freak Nasty's "Da Dip," available on finer cassettes everywhere:

ComicsAlliance's AvX Scoreboard is the best way to keep up with the crossover.

Chris's Rec: Warhammer 40K: Space Marine

Matt's Rec: The Super-Villain Handbook World Podcast Tour

Comics Reviewed:

OMAC #8: "This issue is very much what we've been getting with the OMAC series since issue one. It's crazy, it's OMAC destroying stuff, it's Kirby homage, it's a lot of fun, but there's kind of a last plot twist that I think is really interesting." "I thought this has been a hell of a ride."

Avengers vs. X-Men #1: "It hasn't set me on fire - ha ha ha, Phoenix joke -- but I have some curiosity to see what's coming. For an event comic like that, I'd say that's pretty good."

Danger Club #1: "Yes, I will pay $2.99 to read this digitally, mostly because it's by Landry Walker and Eric Jones, who are the guys who brought you Supergirl's Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade. ... It is a comic that proves you can be dark and grim and violent without losing that edge of fun. It's a great read, and it's extremely compelling."