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Manga Talk: Underground from Saturday AM · Dad Needs To Talk

• 0:03
  What's up y'all? And welcome back to Daddy's to
• 0:05
  Talk. I'm your host, Robert.
• 0:07
  And today today I'm going to be talking about and highlighting
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  Underground. Now Underground is a series from
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  Saturday AM Magazine as part of their Saturday PM line, which
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  is, which is kind of more. Geared towards more mature adult
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  series and stuff. And of course the story and art
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  is written by JRD Bard now. Couple things I want to go into.
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  So this is the first series from the awesome folks over at 7:00
• 0:53
  AM magazine that I am covering on.
• 0:59
  My channel, podcast, All That Jazz.
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  And honestly, this is something that has been long overdue
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  because like I said, shout out to them.
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  Because in the last couple of years since I started doing
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  podcast and reviews and all this stuff, whatever, they have
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  continued to grow and grow and grow to now where they don't,
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  where it's beyond just digital. Issues of their stuff, they're
• 1:26
  now physically available in the store since I believe a little
• 1:28
  over a year ago. And so it's always very dope
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  whenever I'm in the store and I see that very familiar red and
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  yellow with a splash of orange Saturday AM logo.
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  And that is how I end up with this in my hands this week
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  because. So I guess I'll kind of give a
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  general. Synopsis of what this series is
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  and then actually no, no no, let me let me touch on my journey to
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  picking this up. So had a bit of a crazy life
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  related week and so after work and some appointments and stuff,
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  whatever. Friday 1 by the local comic book
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  store that I've been going to for years, but I only drop in
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  there once every few months or whatever.
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  Because of course I've also been trying to restrain myself on
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  buying so much and so I'm struggling through looking at
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  whatever and they have on top of their bookshelves, which is
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  about about eye level for me, little under eye level, whatever
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  I'm I'm, I'm a little over 6 foot myself just for context.
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  And so they have different you know comic books and manga and
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  stuff, whatever highlighted on top.
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  So as I'm going around or whatever, Underground is sitting
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  right there looking at me, and so many of y'all probably heard
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  me mention before that some of the key things to get my
• 3:02
  attention and as to why I still enjoy physically going into
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  stores and just browsing the shelves, whatever.
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  Because. Sometimes you'll stumble across
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  stuff that you would never see or know about.
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  If you only aware of what comes across your timeline or your
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  YouTube feed on Twitter, YouTube, all this stuff,
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  whatever. And so the few things that
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  typically get me is the cover art.
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  And with that being said, you know what's on the cover, the
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  title of it, the design of the title, all these little details
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  are things that are going to get my attention now.
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  With this cover for Underground, of course the first thing that
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  gets my attention is the character, the character design.
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  Because not not very often you see a character that's of of a
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  darker shade who has some very dope looking hair, got some
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  dreads and then there's very awesome logo for the title that
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  says Underground. But it's kind of.
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  Kind of shattered. So I'm like okay, all this stuff
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  is speaking to me and so I'm kind of flipping through the
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  pages whatever and I see some martial arts some fighting
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  whatever and I'm like oh okay. So I initially don't buy it or
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  whatever. I'm I'm like you know what, No,
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  Robert trying to trying to not buy nothing right now whatever.
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  So I'll leave go home thinking about that and another series I
• 4:33
  was going to get this this Spiderman fake red.
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  Talking to my wife about how excited I was or interested I
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  was in them or whatever or something like and she was like
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  Robert just go back to the store and buy them.
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  So few hours later I was like yeah, OK go back to the store
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  just walk straight in just be lying, pick them up, whatever
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  and within a day finish this and instantly fell in love.
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  So now to explain what exactly this is, Underground follows.
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  Our main character, and forgive me if I'm mispronouncing this,
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  but I believe is pronounced Karim Yun Karim last name Yun
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  who is a biracial Taekwondo fighter, and this series which
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  let let me just show y'all just some some of some of the early
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  pages of this. So along with the detail of the
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  cover and stuff, the detail of the arts from all the characters
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  to the fluid motion of the fighting and just just the
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  characters in general, it is all so well done, so detailed and
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  like I said, like seeing a character like Karem is one that
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  you don't get to see too often. And done in such a way to where
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  it just highlights of the hey, there are all different types of
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  people out there in the world that do all different types of
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  dope things. And so seeing a character of
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  color who is into all these different mixed martial arts,
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  who in the story has gone to some of the highest heights and
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  their respective sport because early on in the in the in the.
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  In the book it talks about how he became one of America's first
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  Olympic kicks backing champions. And that is just like something
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  super dope and inspiring to see, just just like within like the
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  early pages of it. But like I said, the the, the,
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  the, the basic set up for this, like I said is you have Karim
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  who was kind of like, like I said top of his game.
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  When it comes to Taekwondo and mixed martial arts at at a
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  Olympic level, he ends up in a situation where him and his
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  brother have an encounter with a random guy who we know find out
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  is from a underground street fighting thing.
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  Karem suffers a very bad injury and it's pretty much at the game
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  for a while and so the story is kind of following.
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  His journey to get back into things and to also seek revenge
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  on this person he runs into. But in order for him to do that,
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  he has to enter into the underground world of mixed
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  martial arts and underground fighting and stuff.
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  And like I said, like, like some of the different characters that
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  you meet along the way, which let me, let me, let me pull them
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  up. His name is Leonardo Espinoza.
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  If I or Leon Leon Espinoza. I'm sorry.
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  I'm sorry, I can get this correct.
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  Yeah. Wait, shout out, I I I love
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  these different color page color covers for the different
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  chapters and stuff. But let me get to a look at Leon
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  here. Here's a little bit of look look
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  at Leon there. But yeah, but it's it's just
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  just so good and getting a chance to not only get more
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  information and background on our main character, but also
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  some of these characters that he is fighting and encountering
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  along the way. And another dope character as
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  well, that somebody who is kind of by his side as he goes on
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  this journey. Is let me see if I can find.
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  I know I got she is somewhere here but but this young lady
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  named Maya who here she is Maya who he met while he was in the
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  hospital going through rehabilitation and healing and
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  stuff whatever she was his nurse and so they ended up becoming
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  really close and so she is also along with him on this journey.
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  To, you know, like so as he, as he's trying to go for revenge
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  and she of course follows him or accompanies him, just try to be
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  there to support him and to be there to help, you know, for
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  medical purposes or whatever, Because of course, yes, he's
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  healed. But it's like the the the
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  injuries, the broken ribs, all this crazy stuff he suffered or
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  whatever. You know, he probably should
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  have sat down a little bit longer, but, you know, she's
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  there to kind of like be helpful.
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  But she is all but this is also kind of giving her an
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  opportunity to see this other side of him, to see who he is
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  when he is in these fights and stuff.
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  And so that is just something that is just like very dope and
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  very cool to see. And so yeah, like I said, I
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  don't want it. Like I don't want to support it
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  too much, whatever, because this is definitely one that I highly
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  encourage, you know, y'all to go check out.
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  For yourselves and of course got to show another very dope color
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  paste spread. But but yeah, this was just like
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  such a very dope series. Like I said, just with all the
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  different characters. I definitely appreciate the
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  detail on even the small stuff which you know like with the
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  hair. And it's OK.
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  All the fighters, all the characters, they got that nice
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  crisp edge ups dreads on point, whatever case may be or
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  whatever. Everything is on point.
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  But like I said it it's it's it's a pretty nice, well-rounded
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  cast of characters. Like I said, super dope action
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  panels and stuff and just kind of get to see all the different
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  techniques which. Kind of brings me to talking
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  about a little bit about the author, and I hope that someday
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  in the future I might get a chance to speak with him about
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  some of this stuff. But this is one thing that I
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  that I always appreciate, where when you finish reading a manga
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  or whatever the catch may be and there's something about the
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  author or the creator somewhere within it, kind of give a little
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  bit more insight into the person that created the thing.
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  That you just read, so I'm going to read his about the author.
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  So Jr. Debarde, who is John Raymond
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  Debarde, is a comic book artist from New York.
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  He has a Bachelor in Fine Arts with a graphic design
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  concentration from Birmingham University.
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  He worked in print, publication and design until 2018, when he
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  began publishing his martial arts series Underground in the
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  digital magazine Saturday PM. And more information on him.
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  A second degree black belt and Taekwondo with additional
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  training and Muay Thai boxing and Hap Hapkido Jr. aims to
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  bring that knowledge to the pages of his manga.
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  And so when I read that part, that gave so much more
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  appreciation and context to everything that I had just read
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  and seen because. Of course you know that there
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  there's there are a lot of authors and creators who are
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  able to draw and convey such stuff because, you know, they've
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  done research or they've consulted with someone who is
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  knowledgeable about whether whatever martial arts thing or
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  fighting or whatever the series is covering or whatever.
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  But it's a extra level of detail when the creator himself.
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  Has done the things that this character is doing in the series
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  which I think was just like super extra dope.
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  And I found like a couple pictures of Jr. and I can see a
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  little bit of inspiration and maybe and maybe I'm you know
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  looking too deep into it but I but I but I myself as a outside
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  person see a little bit of Jr. and the character design of.
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  Karim So maybe coincidence, maybe not but but yeah so like
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  to that that that just made things just like extra dope to
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  know that the author also has a background and a lot of these
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  mixed martial arts and stuff. So kind of like to just like
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  added more detail and weight to the fights and the different
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  techniques and stuff and other thing too that I appreciate.
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  Just like just like more back story on Karim.
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  Was that you know his dad was a kickboxing champion and the the
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  dad is the one that taught Karim and his brother, which I believe
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  his brother's name is Elijah taught and trained both of them
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  and Taekwondo. So just just just extra extra
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  dope and y'all always know I appreciate.
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  You know the the the family ties and the family things when it
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  comes to series and stuff but but yeah so shout out to like so
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  once again to Saturday AM and this series underground from Jr.
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  Debarde and it's also published by Quarto if I pronounced that
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  right from from from Rockport but yeah so.
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  Like I said up top, sorry Saturday AM that I have not
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  shown y'all the love that y'all have definitely been deserving
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  for a long time, but I'm glad that I got off to a very awesome
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  start with Underground and those of y'all watching the video
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  version. I also have another something
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  else from them that I might I might have mentioned before, but
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  it's this Saturday AM annual. Where it's kind of like a a
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  year's collection of different things from a multitude of the
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  different series and creators and things like that and and
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  like I said Saturday AM, they specialize in highlighting
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  diversity not just in or they they highlight diversity in both
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  the creators behind. The stories, but also in
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  stories, in the stories, having a diverse cast of characters
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  from all walks of life. And like I said, a lot of these
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  stories come from all over the world, from of course here in
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  the US to Nigeria, the UK, Australia, Greece, Ganda.
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  Brazil, Jamaica, Lithuania, so many places, whatever.
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  And that is just so awesome to see.
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  And like I said, it has been super awesome every time I go
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  into whether it be my local, my local comma bookstore or various
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  other you know, Barnes and Nobles, Walmart books-a-million
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  wherever. And seeing that Saturday AM logo
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  and more of their works dining the shelves with lots of other
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  dope series and so yeah, so shout out to y'all.
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  And I definitely look forward to checking out more of this
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  because because this one just came out and I don't know when
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  volume 2 will be coming out, but it would definitely be on my
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  radar. But but yeah, so thank y'all so
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  much for watching and or listening.
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  I of course will have links to all the stuff for Saturday AM
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  and the social media for the author Jr. depart.
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  So y'all make sure y'all go show them some love and support and
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  let me know. If y'all have checked out
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  underground and if So what did y'all think?
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  And if y'all have any other recommendations from the
• 17:28
  Saturday AM lineup or just other series in general that y'all
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  want me to check out? As always, hit your boy up
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  because I am at Danny's to talk everywhere on all social medias
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  and my contact information of course is on my YouTube channel
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  All that jazz and I will catch on the next one.
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  So y'all be easy and peace.