My buddy Rickman

When people think of comic book writers, most people think of people like Stan Lee, Frank Miller and Jim Lee. However, comic book writers can be found just about everywhere. This is the story of one of these artists in particular. This is the story of Rickman and how he became one of my good friends and people I idolize.

Our meeting began about 3-4 years ago. At the time I was working at Wegman's and wanted to become a voice actor for Funimation as I am a huge fan of anime and would like to contribute to the anime community. My Dad told me about an acting class in New Jersey that was about 40 minutes away. As a man with a car, I didn't see that as an issue and drove right after work.

There I meet an interesting cavalcade of people. The most interesting of them all was of course, Rickman. He told me that the reason for his participation in this class was because he used to act in local plays and really enjoyed it. He hasn't done it years, so he decided to take the class again to see if he had the ability to do so.

We also took the time to talk geek with one another. While he wasn't into anime to the same degree that I was (or at all for the most part) he was into western media and was really into comics like DC, Marvel and Dark Horse. He also told me that it was comics like those that got him into his current job as an artist in the first place. He had also published books like: Sock, Fishman and Zach meets the Zombie.

After the class, we had decided that acting wasn't really for either of us. However, we did decide to keep in touch. Unlike most people who say that, we actually did. A few years later, I was terminated from my job at Wegman's due to the fact that I felt greatly underappreciated and kept my feelings in for so long.

My first thoughts were filled of contempt and hatred for my former managers. However, a week had passed and eventually my emotions of rage turned to somber as I tried figuring out how I was going to pay rent . Then it occurred to me, I'm really good at discussing matters of geek culture with other like minded folks. So I figured that the logical thing to do is to capitalize on my strengths and start a podcast.

I already have several topics at hand. But what I really needed to get the ball rolling with a good logo. As such, I reached out to my buddy, Rickman to see if he would be willing to do it. He said he would be happy to do so and since I was a friend of his, that he would do it for free. I've also had him as a cohost on my series, Geek Talk with Tyler. As of now, the episodes he has been in are: Comics: More than Dc and Marvel, The MCU: Looking at the past 13 years, So you want to be creative? and Censorship and How it effects modern artists.

I thanked him for this by taking him to see TJ Miller at Levity Live in West Nyack (The Pallisades Center specifically). There we had a pleasant (at least as pleasant as a Comedy Club meal can be) and enjoyed the comedic styles of TJ Miller. We also got the opportunity to meet with him and talk about his experiences in voice acting and comedy. To both he said, it's really enjoyable and both involve a lot of improvising.

I've also been using this friendship to get to know Rickman better. He is also a guitar player who plays weekly at Cedar Bean's Coffee Joint and hosts life drawing classes weekly as well. He is a phenomenal artist, a long time geek and a really good friend. One I am really glad to have in my life for many reasons and I'm really glad that I have met him. If you would like to see his work check out his site on rickmanart.com. If you want to see his appearences on my podcast, check out Geek Talk with Tyler. This podcast is currently available on Spotify.