Owen Ratliff talks how Black Salt is the next big thing!

·46 min·3 clips

Owen says Black Salt won the Urban Action Showcase and got a licensing deal with HBO.

Owen comes in through a friendly back door. The host starts with the shared Frederick link from Wiseacre Comics, so the episode feels like comics people talking shop instead of a clean promo hit. Black Salt has been around for a while. Owen nudges the timeline from six years to about eight, and that correction matters because this is not a brand-new idea being tossed into the world. It is a project trying to find its next path. The first four issues do a lot of the setup. They sit next to the larger feature effort, and Owen explains that he already had comic material ready when he started looking for a way to move it again. The host keeps pulling the conversation back to readers. Marvel and DC get their due, but the real interest is in people who want something outside the main shelf and end up following Kickstarter and indie creators to find it. Kickstarter sounds useful, but not easy. The host is pretty blunt about the marketing grind, especially the need to stay visible on social media while a lot of creators are fighting for the same attention. Frederick gives the episode its practical center. Wiseacre's 20 plus Kickstarters make the advice feel earned, not like vague encouragement. Owen says the connection happened almost by chance: he liked Wiseacre's work, sent a one sheet, and did not expect much back. Frederick saw something there and helped him relearn how Kickstarter works. The best parts come when craft and logistics sit in the same room. Black Salt sounds cool, sure, but the episode is just as interested in publishing judgment, campaign sense, and the trust it takes to get creator-owned books in front of readers.

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