I had the chance to interview the prolific cast of the youtube comics review channel, Comicpop. Given that I interviewed them near the closing time of opening night of the NYCC weekend, I asked them one question in regards to their time and experience as a channel and team on youtube.
Q1. You all have been managing this YouTube channel for a period of time. What’s it been like navigating youtube as a channel that has been pristine and genuine when it comes to the craft of comic books and storytelling, appreciating this medium with humor involved?
Sal: It’s been incredible, thank you for asking. It’s been incredibly educational as you pointed out. The biggest thing I learned is how every character is someone’s favorite character and to never discount that. Because someone is gonna to be really affected by how you interpret or react to that character. So we’ve sorta softened a little bit in that regard when it comes to people’s favorite characters being like, Ah before we dogpile on Booster Gold, don’t forget he has a long-standing history.
Ethan: He means a lot to somebody.
Sal: He means a lot to somebody, there’s someone out there who loves him and lets them love him and not begrudge them for that. Or NFL Superpro… Maybe not him.
Ethan: Maybe you’ll have to find someone that loves NFL Superpro.
Ben: It’s gotta be in Montana.
Sal: Yeah. That’s been a fantastic thing that I’ve learned and it’s been a fantastic journey. The other thing that I’ve learned is to have good audio.
Ben: The fact that you called it pristine is a huge compliment-
Sal: And a joke because it was not.
Ethan: It definitely was not.
Sal: It was not in the beginning, it was very rough.
Ben: But a lot of it is owed to the fact that Sal really has worked hard to get video and audio, with Tiffany setting up shots, learning what works and what does not work in the editing process, it’s been huge.
Ethan: Yeah, you learned a lot. I didn’t learn anything, I just showed up.
Sal: Well you’ve learned a lot about characters and stories
Ethan: But the behind-the-scenes stuff and the youtube, technical stuff, that’s all you.
Sal: Well we learned how to get microphones taped to our chests.
Ethan: And rip off chest hairs and stuff.
Sal: Oh yeah, every week! Tiffany has learned a lot too! You learned how to film make basically. You shoot. Tiffany is actually in charge of getting all of the equipment now because she knows what lighting equipment we need. She’s like, I actually need to get this, and she names them all and I’m like, cool. I’ll order it, you just tell me which ones to get.
Ben: Oh, why is this one expensive, damn it!
It was an honor and privilege to interview you guys in person, witnessing you all pave your own lane. Thank you to Sal, Tiffany, Ethen, and Ben for your time.
Brian Isaacs - Executive Editor / Publisher