Bob Heske interviews co-Host Brian LeTendre of Secret Idenity Podcast! Check out how 2 passionate comic book collectors started The Secret Idenity Podcast. Listen to the Podcast, but read this first!

IndieCreator: Insights from a Newbie Comic Creator & Other Industry Pros

This is a series of bi-weekly columns by Bob Heske @ Heske Horror, creator of The Night Projectionist , Cold Blooded Chillers , and 2012: Final Prayer , featuring interviews and insights from indie comic artists, writers, creators, distributors and visionaries.

Brian LeTendre—co-host: Secret Identity Podcast www.secretidentitypodcast.com

An interview about two guys who wanted to grow up to read comics, play games and watch movies. Sometimes dreams really do come true! Read on…

1. Your website is called "Secret Identity," yet I've just told the world who you are. Does this mean you have to kill me? By the way, how did Secret Identity come about?

Are you kidding me? If I killed you, I'd be robbing the world of your creative talent, and I couldn't have that on my conscience. Not to mention, it's not often anyone wants to interview us, so we're very appreciative.

Secret Identity came about because a Matt and I and another friend of ours used to get together every Friday night during the first season of Battlestar Galactica . When the first season was coming to an end, we were looking for a reason to still hang out on Fridays. I was an avid listener of podcasts at the time, and had been thinking about starting one. So, we decided to start a podcast and talk about the same things we talked about at the comic shop, or whenever else we were hanging out.

2. Tell us about the co-conspirators behind SI – who the heck are Brian LeTendre and Matt "Matman" Herring? (Whoops, there I go again blowing your cover!) How do you two divvy up responsibilities?

Matt and I are two very different people who happen to have some very strong common interests. He is an old school comics fan, and has a collection of well over 20,000 books. I am a lifelong gamer, having grown up on the Atari 2600 and Dungeons & Dragons. We're both big movie fans – Matt's a war movie fanatic and I love horror. As I mentioned above, we're both sci-fi fans, and I would say our love of comics and Battlestar Galactica was where our initial bond was made.

What's awesome is that when we first started Secret Identity, Matt and I had not known each other very long. Our relationship has developed along with the podcast over these past 3+ years. Now we're like an old married couple, which is something the wives like to joke about on a regular basis.

In terms of responsibilities, it's a pretty good split. We alternate updating the website daily, so if I update today, he updates tomorrow. I edit and produce the podcast, which can be time consuming, but I've streamlined the process to a point where it's not too bad. Since I've been doing some freelance writing this past year, Matt has really stepped up and done a ton of creator interviews, which has allowed us to continue to feature a creator interview each week in the podcast. Matt is also a great ambassador for the show, and he's helped form a lot of great relationships for us in the comic community.

Everything else we sort of adjust on the fly. If one of us is sick, if work gets crazy, if there's a vacation – we adjust.

3. How hard is it running a website and a podcast and posting reviews for DriveThruComics? You also do periodic creator interviews and review games and films. What don't you guys cover ... and how do you convince your wives to let you get away with having all this fun?

It's extremely difficult, but we love it. We have put out at least one episode of Secret Identity every week for the past 200 weeks in a row. We've never taken a week off. That has only happened because we have very understanding families, and we really enjoy doing it.

On the Drive Thru Comics front, Matt M. McElroy from Drive Thru approached me about writing some reviews, and we cross-promote one another, which is really great for us. What I love the most about Drive Thru is that it's a hotbed of Indie creators, and I get exposed to a ton of books that I wouldn't otherwise come across. When I see one that really stands out, I can use the podcast and our website to highlight the book. That's actually one of the best things about Secret Identity, is we've really connected with the Indie community, and we can be a voice for it.

The most difficult part of whole thing is that after the podcast, website and recording interviews, Matt and I don't have a lot of time left over for marketing. For the past couple years, Matt and I have been very focused on making sure we were producing quality content, both on the website and through the podcast. We kind of had a “if we build it, they will come” mentality. We're very confident in the quality of Secret Identity, but we know that we need to step up the marketing aspect of what we do in order to attract more listeners.

4. What's your traffic like for the podcast and on the website? How has it grown during your three-year tenure?

We're still pretty small, but we have a very dedicated group of listeners. We get approximately 400-600 downloads per episode of the podcast, and about half of those people regularly visit the website. That's a big jump from the 11 listeners who checked out the first show we did in 2006. We usually see some spikes around big conventions or when we have big-name interviews.

In addition to the listeners that have stuck with us since the beginning, what's really been surprising is the amount of friends we've made in the comic industry. There's a good bunch of creators that listen to us on a regular basis, and it always blows me away to see someone like Jimmy Palmiotti give us a shout out on twitter, or when we run into someone at a show and they've actually listened to the podcast.

5. You've recently hit the 200-mark for podcasts. What have you learned doing all these shows, and focusing who have been some of your most entertaining and outrageous guests?

What I've learned is that there are some amazing people in the comic industry, and comic creators are so much more accessible than other industries (gaming, movies/tv, etc.). We are very fortunate to have made some great friends that will remain in our lives long after Secret Identity is done. Here's a quick list of some of our coolest guests:

• Todd McFarlane (Spawn) – One of our earliest interviews. Forget what you've heard about him, he's a really nice guy, a die hard sports fan and a great interview.

• Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica) – A totally laid back kind of guy, Matt spoke to him when Battlestar was at its height, and before the whole Cylon thing happened with Chief Tyrol

• Jim Salicrup (Papercutz, Marvel) – Every time we interview Jim, we are reminded that he is one of comics' great ambassadors.

• Billy Tucci (Shi, Sgt. Rock, Heroes for Hire) – Billy's enthusiasm for what he does is infectious. To hear him talk about Sgt. Rock will bring a tear to your eye.

• Joe Caramagna (Marvel letterer, Iron Man and the Armor Wars writer) – One of the hardest working guys in comics, Joe is starting to make a name for himself as a writer.

• Kyle Baker (The Bakers, Plastic Man) – A great guy, and always very open and honest about what he thinks.

• Bill Rosemann (Marvel editor) – Perhaps my favorite guy to interview. He loves comics more than anyone, and to hear him talk about the cosmic stuff is really fun.

• Ed Greenwood (creator of the Forgotten Realms D&D world) – As a huge D&D nerd, I was totally starstruck while interviewing Ed. Truly a legend in the fantasy genre.

It's hard to pick just a few from the over 200 interviews we've featured in the podcast, as they are all interesting. My favorites are always the ones where we get a look at the process behind the product, be it a game, comic, movie or show. I'm a sucker for director commentaries and behind-the-scenes documentaries, so I love to talk about that stuff with creators.

6. Looking back on 2009, what were your top ten reads? What book completely blew you away?

I actually just put this list together, as I do some freelance writing for Comic Book Resources, and they put a big year-end list together. Here's my top 10:

1. Detective Comics (DC – Written by Greg Rucka and Illustrated by J.H. Williams III and Cully Hamner)

2. Irredeemable (BOOM! Studios – Written by Mark Waid and Illustrated by Peter Krause)

3. Amazing Spider-Man (Marvel – Various writers and artists)

4. Power Girl (DC – Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and Illustrated by Amanda Conner)

5. Punisher (Marvel – Written by Rick Remender and Illustrated by Jerome Opena and Tan Eng Huat)

6. Batgirl (DC – Written by Bryan Q. Miller and Illustrated by Lee Garbett)

7. G-Man: Cape Crisis (Image – Written and Illustrated by Chris Giarrusso)

8. Madame Xanadu (Vertigo – Written by Matt Wagner and Illustrated by Amy Reeder Hadley and Michael W Kaluta)

9. R.E.B.E.L.S. (DC – Written by Tony Bedard and Illustrated by Andy Clarke and Claude St. Aubin)

10. Iron Man and the Armor Wars (Marvel – Written by Joe Caramagna and Illustrated by Craig Rousseau)

Out of that list, the one that totally surprised me was Irredeemable . Mark Waid has been on an amazing creative run in the past year with his work on Spidey and the stuff he's doing over at BOOM! Studios. Irredeemable took something very familiar and came at it from a completely different angle. Great book.

7. What "can't miss" comic, con, game, film or event has you excited for 2010? You're based in Massachusetts; anything in New England flying under the radar that we should know about?

For comics, I have really high hopes for the Fantastic Four this year. Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham have started off their run in spectacular fashion, and I think it will become Marvel's best book this year.

The biggest convention of the year for us will be New York Comic Con in October, as that's where we get most of our interviews done. We are also looking at the MoCCA Art Festival, the Kids' Comic Con and the Boston Comic Con this Spring as shows we will likely be attending. Being a gamer, I am very interested in Pax East, but I'm not too sure if I'll be going or not yet.

On the movie front, Iron Man 2 is a no-brainer, but I am also a huge B-horror fan, so Alexander Aja's Piranha 3-D has me really excited.

My most anticipated game of the year is Crackdown 2 . The first one is my favorite Xbox 360 game of all time, so I'm psyched for next installment. I'm also very excited about the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins expansion called Awakening . I recently finished the original game, and it was amazing.

As far as New England-centric stuff, I would recommend the new Tick ongoing series from New England Comics (www.newenglandcomics.com ). They're launching an all-new Tick website soon, so keep an eye out for that.

8. Any changes to the format for the podcast or website planned for 2010?

I don't think we'll be making any wholesale changes, as Matt and I are pretty comfortable with the format of both the site and podcast right now. We do want to be more consistent with a few things, however. We have rotating segments on toys, gaming and anime/manga for our Second Helping shows that weren't happening as frequently as they should have in the last part of 2009. We're going to get back to a more regular schedule with those. For the website, we want to have more interviews with creators on the site to parallel what we do with the podcast. We've gotten so used to recording interviews that we haven't been sending out as many questions via email as we'd like, which is ironic, as email interviews are always easier to arrange.

9. Say the world really does fall to pieces in 2012, what three comics, games or films will you bury in a Titanium drum to let future entities know that humans weren't a lost cause.

Comic: Amazing Spider-Man #400. Still probably my favorite Spidey story ever, even though the death of Aunt May was reversed later on.

Movie: Big Trouble in Little China. Best movie ever.

Game: Super Mario Bros. Even with all the technological advancements of the last 20 years, this game still holds up. It's one of the best examples of game design ever, so future entities can learn from it.

Thanks Brian. Last chance to promote your website and to tell people where and how to listen in on your podcast ...

The best place to find Matt and I is at www.secretidentitypodcast.com . We post news and reviews daily, and there's a player on the site where you can listen to the podcast. We have pics from shows we've been to, and even some old videos from the early days of Secret Identity.

You can also find us on iTunes, as well as over at www.secretidentity.podomatic.com . We do two shows a week, the first show being strictly comics, and the Second Helping featuring creator interviews, as well as discussions on gaming, movies, toys and all of our other geeky interests.

If you visit the website, hit the link to our forums and come check out the Secret Identity community. No matter what your experience with the 'message board culture' before, I guarantee you that you won’t find a more welcoming and supportive group of people to chat with about the hobbies you love.

Thanks for the interview, Bob!

Bob Heske is creator of The Night Projectionist, a vampire horror series by publisher Studio 407 with film rights optioned by Myriad Pictures. Through his Heske Horror shingle, Bob self-published his critically acclaimed horror series Cold Blooded Chillers. Bob's trade paperback Bone Chiller (a "best of" CBC anthology) won a Bronze medal in the horror category at the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards. His "end times" anthology 2012: Final Prayer was released on November 13, 2009. Bob's works are available online at Amazon.com Zaldiva.com, ComixPress, IndyPlanet, HeavyInk, SmallZone, DriveThruComics and YuDu.com (store). You can email Bob at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .