Well, here we are.

I toyed with the idea of doing the minimalist "ok, that's it!" and leaving it at that but I feel like that would have been doing the episode a disservice seeing as this one snowballed into a little more than we expected. A few weeks back we released part 1 of the OMV All-Stars and the first half of this episode is going to feature part 2.

Turns out we relied on a lot of All-Stars and despite all the planning, we ran out of episodes. Luckily, with Colin getting us all emotional on 448, some of our 450 material was used up giving us the perfect opportunity to squeeze in conversations with Vicky, Jon, and Charlie.  The episode is still a marathon at almost 3 hours long, but it was worth it and we think you'll agree.

Like I pointed out last time: the search feature on our site works surprisingly well. So if you're looking for any other appearances from Vicky, Jon, and Charlie just pop their names in the search bar and it should pull up everything you're looking for.

With that said, I think it's time to end.

Pretty much everything I wanted to say is included in the episode so there's not much else I can write here besides "thank you." If you've ever tuned in, read these blogs, liked a post, or even asked us "oh you're still doing that?", thank you so much. I had no idea what this was back in 2012 when Justin, Alex, and I all sat down to record episode 1 but I'm so proud of what it became. It's been a wild decade and while I may be stepping away from the microphone and the current OMV format is coming to an end, fear not! I assure you, the show is in good hands.

From both Alex and myself, thank you for tuning in. We hope you enjoy.

-Jr.

Music provided by Christina Pepper. 

The emotions are starting to hit.

Even just creating the title card for this episode hit me with waves of happy, sad, nostalgia, and relief. There aren't many things I can say I've done consistently for 10 years straight. It turns out a decade is a long-ass time to do anything, especially something like a podcast. But here we are.

Our super official, by-the-books anniversary was technically sometime last week but we still have one episode left to release before we close up shop and if the last few weeks were any indication, it's gonna be a wild ride of feelings for some of us.

But let's not get too ahead of ourselves because this week Alex worked his yearly magic and has assembled one last best-of montage featuring clips and snippets from this past year's episodes. It's hard to say what year was our strongest in terms of guests but I'd say that this last year gave the top spot a run for its money. We talked to some incredible people both long-time friends and new guests alike. It's been said countless times before, but it's doubtful we would have even made it past year 1 without the help everyone who has come on the show. So to be here 10 years later is truly an honor and Alex and I are eternally grateful.

Four hundred forty nine down....one to go.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

Audio Credits:

The closer we get to the end, the harder it gets to write these things. Not because I'm tired or just fed up with it, but because we're talking with so many amazing people and it's difficult to come up with ways of saying how much they mean to us without it becoming repetitive. Like, how many ways can you say "here's another one of our best friends, listen to us thank them for the next two hours."?

I guess this week's episode is a little easier because while we were ready to do exactly that, Colin came on and completely flipped the script on us. We were fully prepared to spend an absurd amount of time telling Colin how rad he his, how much he means to us, and how valuable he's been to the show over the last decade but he was like "nah". And while we did manage to squeeze a few thank yous in here and there, most of the episode was spent fighting back emotions.

That's right, folks. Colin made us feel things.

It was a truly wild ride and what we believe to be a perfect ending to the Colin arc of OMV. He's been a part of practically everything we've done over the years: convention reviews, voice acting, in-depth analysis of the latest "thing", even working our table at shows. We're honored to be able to call him our friend and OMV has only been made better by his presence.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

The march to episode 450 continues this week with a multitude of guests who have been featured countless times in the past.

And while "countless" might be an exaggeration because you can literally count the number of times they've been on, it doesn't begin describe their impact and contributions to the show over the years. Doing these last few episodes has really shown Alex and me just how many people we've relied on and how they were always ready and willing to give us a hand whenever we asked. We said it about a million times throughout the course of this 2+ hour episode, but I feel like there's no way we could possibly say "thank you" enough.

For those feeling either curious or nostalgic for all the previous appearances of everyone featured today, the "Search" feature on our website works surprisingly well. Just pop in the name of anyone listed in the title of this episode and it'll pull up pretty much everything you're looking for dating all the way back to the beginning. Some of the topics may be a little dated, but we just see it as a fun and easy way to time-travel. Without all the nasty spacetime continuum consequences, of course.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

If you pull up any random episode of OMV, there's about a 1 in 10 chance you'll hear Brett Kelley's voice. Given that we're almost 450 episodes deep into this thing, that's a pretty insane statistic and goes to show how much of an asset he has been to Alex and me over the last 10 years.

Whether it helping us come up with ideas for new stuff, covering a show as an official OMV correspondent, or just calling in to hang out and let us record him for an hour; Bret was, quite literally, always there for us. From the very beginning he's been one of our most loyal supporters, always willing to signal-boost our episodes and even donate his artwork on multiple occasions. His impact as both a friend and a contributor can't be overstated.

So when Brett recently launched a Kickstarter for his latest project, we felt having him on to talk about it was the very least we could do to try and pay him back for everything he's done for us over the years. So we did just that. It's a little bittersweet as this is also doubling as his final regular appearance, but we did our best to make it worthwhile.

When the OMV Hall of Fame is eventually erected, Brett's name will be first on the ballot. Full Stop, done deal. He's one of the best friends we've ever had and somehow doing a podcast for the last decade has only strengthened that friendship. It's been an honor sharing the airwaves with him these 40+ times and I think I speak for both Alex and myself when I say I can't wait to see what he creates next. But for now? Go throw money at his Kickstarter and get some rad pins.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

I'm going to preface all of this by saying one thing: maybe bust out the headphones for this one if you haven't already cuz there's some language. You have been warned.

With that said, we have an absolutely phenomenal episode for you this week featuring an all-star cast of guests. Over the last 8ish years we've had the pleasure of getting to know some folks from the Baltimore area who are either currently a part of, or were former members of, a group by the name of Super Art Fight. They're no strangers to this show with each guest on this episode having made an appearance at least once since 2014.  And seeing as they've always been incredibly kind to two guys constantly bothering them for content, we thought having some of them on one last time would be the perfect way to say thanks.

Rather than have 6 people all talking over each other at the same time, we broke this episode up into two sections: The first features Brandon Chalmers and Jamie Noguchi. Two former members of the Art Fight crew, Brandon and Jamie have since split off to form the FDI Cast and are already over 100 episodes deep into their run. What started out as a "30ish minute chat" quickly snowballed into an hour and a half of madness but we do eventually talk about the FDI Cast and what Brandon and Jamie have been creating. We just took a couple extra left turns before getting there.

The second half of this marathon of an episode features two of the longest tenured members of Super Art Fight in Marty Day and Ross Nover. Acting as the hosts and live action commentators for the majority of the Art Fight bouts, Marty and Ross have formed a sort of hive-mind full of random facts and obscure references that can be fired off at a moment's notice all while keeping the crowd focused on what the artists are spewing on the canvas. It's really a thing of beauty and their chemistry is borderline unmatched.

Similar to our chat with Brandon and Jamie, 30 minutes just wasn't enough time and this episode quickly turned into the longest single episode we've ever released (I think). But it was totally worth it because like I mentioned before; these guys have been incredibly kind to us over the years and we can't begin to thank them enough for always coming on and chatting with us. This episode was some of the most fun I've had in a long time; my face hurt from smiling so much and my stomach hurt from laughing. I borderline lost my voice and yet somehow we could have easily gone another 3 hours. I'd like to think that's the sign of good content but after 10 years of doing this I still have no idea.

Either way; check out the episode, listen to the FDI Cast and if you can get to an Art Fight show in the future: do it. Just do it. You never know, you might wind up making some neat new friends in the process.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

Posting this episode feels like a triumph. Like we conquered some sort of mythical beast....completed an epic quest. Not through any fault of our guest or anything....but because it felt like the world didn't want this episode to happen. Between technical difficulties and internet issues it genuinely felt like this episode was cursed for a minute.

But here we are. And I'm mere minutes away from clicking "Publish" so ya'll can listen to a rad chat we had with Eisner nominated artist Joe Eisma and, barring any last second acts of God, the episode will be released. I hope. 

So before I go and knock on all the wood I can find, I might as well tell you about our guest. In case you weren't aware, Joe Eisma is the co-creator and artist of Image Comics' MORNING GLORIES and has also worked for just about every other publisher you could think of. You can find his art on classics like ARCHIE and CHARLIE'S ANGELS as well on books from DC and Valiant. Some of his latest work, the 12 issue run of ENGINEWARD from Vault Comics, is hitting shelves later this month in one collected trade. So for those of you (like me) who missed out on the floppies, now's your chance to snag the whole run!

Huge thanks to Joe not only for coming on and chatting with us, but also for dealing with the technical gremlins haunting our respective computers. Be sure to follow him on the socials for more art and news on his latest work (including the highly anticipated return of MORNING GLORIES....spoiler: not yet) and check out the trade for ENGINEWARD in a few short weeks!

Enjoy!

-Jr.

This is another one of those "goodbye" episodes. We had our first one with Joe a few weeks ago and now we're back with a double-whammy. You probably already read the title of the episode but this week Jason Ginsburg of @FakeThemePark is back so we can bend his ear for a bit about his experience talking about monsters when he was a tour guide for Universal. (We also had some help from our special guest-host Will who, with his expansive knowledge of monsters, was like a kid in a candy shop talking with Jason.)

Talking monsters is fun. Talking with Jason is fun. And we always relish the chance to chat with Will (especially since our usual spooky episode couldn't happen last year). But there's also some serious news to go along with the monster chat. If you've been following Jason or @FakeThemePark you may have already seen the press release or the announcements on the various socials. But without spoiling too much here, Jason came on to give us the 4-1-1 on the future of @FakeThemePark.

Now that the suspense is likely tearing you to pieces, be sure to follow those various socials and check out the fancy new @FakeThemePark merch while you're at it. Who knows how much longer you'll be able to snag some....

With all of that said, Jason deserves a huge thank you from the OMV crew. Though we've only known Jason for a few years, we've always had an absolute blast talking with him. The level of devotion and originality he's shown with @FakeThemePark is unmatched and we can't wait to see what he makes next.

And as for Will? Ever since his first appearance on Episode 14 he's contributed to some of the most entertaining and hilarious moments we've ever recorded. It didn't matter if he was 20 minutes down the road or literally across the country, Will was always willing to sit down and chat with us about spooky stuff, stupid stuff, or the Hulk spilling his soup. We can't thank him enough for all the time, effort, and laughs he's given us over the years. He's another true OMV legend.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

So this one was pretty neat.

We've been big fans of Rob Guillory for some time now beginning with his work on the critically acclaimed Image book CHEW and continuing to his latest project Farmhand (also from Image). You probably don't need us to tell you how good Rob is seeing as there's a couple of Eisners, a Harvey Award, and the 2013 "Jayare's End of the Year Award" for best artist to do the talking for us. (That last one is especially important.) He's arguably the most decorated guest we've had on the show and despite all that, he was just as willing to talk about paper stock and wrestling as he was his award winning comics.

So yeah, this one was pretty neat.

Farmhand is back with issue 16 this coming Spring leaving plenty of time for catching up or re-reads. Be sure to check out Rob's website for art and merch and follow him on Instagram for updates on comics, conventions, and just rad art in general.

Enjoy!

-Jr.

It would be virtually impossible to properly convey just how important Joe is both to the show and to Alex and me as a friend. He is one of the main people we leaned on the most when we first started out in 2012 and always made time to come on and chat with us whenever we hit him up. Over time, he turned into our unofficial gaming correspondent, providing brilliant write-ups and reviews in addition to vital coverage in the field at shows like PAX East. He gave us suggestions for potential guests, helped us out with interviews, and couldn't be beat when it came to promoting the show at conventions.

We have a bunch of these "final appearance" episodes coming up as we wind down to episode 450 but you'll have to excuse me if I get a little extra sentimental over this one. Yes, Joe has been a staple of the show for a decade now and we've had a ton of fun chatting with him. But as it turns out, Joe is also my oldest friend. We've known each other for well over 20 years now dating back to middle school living two streets over from each other. We shared our first apartment together, met most of our friends while working at the Local Theme Park together, and he helped Alex and me make a silly little podcast over the last 10 years. I could go on at length about the memories we've shared but I'll just leave it at this: he is, without a doubt, one of the best friends I've ever had.

Ok. I got all the sappyness out of my system, I think. So let's get down to business.

Joe is a true OMV legend. And this week we're going to honor him in the best way we know how: By talking about the latest Pokemon game.

Enjoy!

-Jr.