Interview--Lost'n Comics

This is a continuation of my "getting to know your fan creator" series. If you missed part 1, go check out my interview with Wes Greer from Comics The Gathering.  Today I have the sheer joy of writing about my favorite duo, Chris and Oscar.  Better known from their online presence as Lost'n Comics.

Give these fools a follow!

Chris (Left) and Rapido (or is it Oscar) (Right)

The Many Handles of Lost'n Comics
Twitter: @lost_comics

Youtube: Lost'n Comics

Instagram: lostncomics
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Hashtags:#lostncomics, #lostncomicsfam

The Origin of Lost'n Comics

CBP-Let’s talk about that name, what’s the significance of why you call yourselves Lost'n Comics?
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LNC-In life we face all sorts of challenges, things that bring us down or take us to dark places. Everyone of us goes through these struggles and we seek a place of refuge away from the negativity. We strive to be that place of refuge for you, a place to escape the heaviness of reality and provide an outlet. No matter what your going through we strongly believe that getting Lost'n Comics is a cure to your woes. We invite anyone and everyone to join the #lostncomicsfam and get #lostncomics with us.

CBP-How did the two of you meet?

LNC-Chris--Oscar and I met several years ago at church, believe it or not. Our families starting hanging out, having some movie nights together and a friendship was born. Fast forward we opened up a food truck business together, needless to say we have seen every side of each other. 
A few years ago I had an itch to walk into a comic book store. Like many of us, I was a huge fan of super hero movies and I wondered how I could know more about these characters. I walked in and spoke with a comic book store employee who was not very helpful but luckily I saw a reprint of the Dark Knight Returns #1 for one dollar. As I read through the pages of this comic my world changed, I was blown away by each panel and storytelling. 
Of course I had to tell my best friend. I let Oscar know and asked what he thought about comics. He wasn't very interested but after some convincing he went to a local comic shop with me. He was a big fan of the walking dead TV show and that was the key to get him into the shop. Needles to say he was immediately hooked. The rest is history my friend! 

CBP-Describe the type of content you offer to someone who hasn’t seen what you do!

LNC-Lost'n Comics provides a variety of comic book escapism. We provide comic book reviews, comic chatter and news, interviews and all around comic fun. We talk about our own experiences in comic book/toy collecting that will entertain and benefit you as a comic book fan. [Author's note--They are also doing something amazing with the New 52 Batman you should check out!!!!!]

But who are​ Chris and Oscar away from the internet?

CBP-When you're not together as Lost'n Comics, who are you, what do you do?

LNC-Chris- I am 31 years old and work as a manager for the greatest logistics corporation in the world, FedEx :) Outside of comics I am a huge sports fan, specifically the San Antonio Spurs. I also enjoy playing my guitar, something I learned around the age of 13. 

LNC-Oscar-I am 43 years young and I was working for FedEx ground before the virus changed things lol. I love sports and I’m also into music. Not as talented as Chris in guitar but I do enjoy playing that as well as piano. I love to make people laugh and have a good time and sometimes that gets me in trouble.
CBP-What brought you to comics?

LNC-Chris - I was a late bloomer when it comes to comics but movies and curiosity brought me to them. I wanted to know more and discover more about these heroes that inspired me through the big screen. 

​LNC-Oscar- Late to the party for sure, I wish I could have been exposed to them at an early age but wasn’t. I had an uncle who was into comics but never talked to me about them and we were close so I don’t understand (i hate him now) lol jk. But later in life while I was trying to get Chris into playing magic the gathering (it didn’t take with him), he talked to me about his curiosity in comics and grudgingly I went along and so glad I did. I can’t imagine a life with comics now.

CBP-Have you ever taken a break from reading/collecting?  If so, why?  What brought you back?

LNC-Chris - Good question and yes I have taken a break. As a matter of fact I sold my entire collection, things in which I still regret to this day. I was in a huge financial mess and needed the money for my mortgage. I hated to do it but I had to.  That break also have me perspective on how I wanted to collect and read comics. My first rendezvous with comics was rather an irresponsible one. I was buying things that I didn't really enjoy just because I felt this incessant need to have them. 

It only took me about six months to come back to comics because I missed them so dang much. But this time around I knew I was going to do it different and be more responsible and shrewd with my buying habits. My love for comics only grew from there. 

LNC-Oscar-I also sold my collection around the same time. I never really fully took a break though since I kept certain things from my collection. I kept my walking dead comics! After about 2 weeks I slowly added a book here and there to my pull list. I really missed comics and the world it exposed me to. Soon after I started going after all my favorite pieces from my collection and got them back. I think I would say I’m 90% owner of the most important things from my collection before I sold. I’m much smarter and more disciplined this time around if you can believe that. 

Ok...So, lets finally get Lost'n Comics

CBP-What is the first comic you remember purchasing/reading?
LNC-Chris- A reprinted version of Dark Knight Returns. My world was turned upside down and it's something I will never forget. 

LNC--Oscar- The first comic I bought was a regular issue of walking dead, nothing special about. I bought it just to start my collecting but the first comic I read was Old man Logan trade. Fell in love with it for sure at that point.

CBP-What character/series etc. holds a special place in your heart?  What character/franchise will you die on a hill defending?

LNC-Chris - Batman is a character that really brought me into comics. I remember in high school even writing a paper about Batman, which is someone in my garage. He is someone I would defend to the end of time. Seriously, who doesn't like Batman though? 

LNC-Oscar- For my it’s a toss up between Batman and wolverine. Batman new 52 and Old man Logan were vital to my first steps in this comic journey. They go hand in hand with my origin and I don’t think I could choose between them. I’d definitely fight to the death for them.

CBP-Is there a popular book/character that you just loathe, you don’t get the hype behind them?
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LNC-Chris- I know this sounds crazy because he's such a popular character but I just cannot get into Venom. I truly have never understood the hype with him. Even the critically acclaimed Donny Cates Venom, I just can't get into it. My brain doesn't accept Venom. 

LNC-Oscar- probably the Fantastic 4. Don’t care for the books or movies. They don’t interest me at all.

CBP-What are your “grail books/titles?”

LNC-Chris- Now's a great time to brag about the fact that I just acquired my Grail, ASM 129, first appearance of the punisher. Yeah, Spiderman delivered my Grail to me and you can watch me unbox it on our YouTube channel haha. However, my holiest of grails would be detective 27, I hope to own it some day, even in the lowliest of grades. 

LNC-Oscar- So my grail would be Hulk 181. I love Wolverine and his first appearance would mean so much to me to own. And my holiest holiest of grails would be to own Batman #1 the first appearance of the joker. I would never care for anything if I could have that book.

The meteoric rise of Lost'n Comics and the #LostncomicsFam

CBP-What took you from being a regular fan/collector to wanting to create a review/chat/etc. outlet.
LNC-Oscar and I have been so passionate about comics since getting back into collecting. We both used to drive for FedEx and would literally talk six-eight hours a day about comics. Although we cherish those times we wanted to expand our circle of comic friends to a larger community. What better place to do this than YouTube? A place we could share our love, knowledge and journey. 
But what got us to record that first video? End of the year 2019, Oscar and I always get together to celebrate our end of the comic awards. We make a nice document, have a few drinks and discuss what our top picks of the year were. When I got to Oscars house, he had a camera up and said, "let's record this". Lost'n Comics began that day. 

CBP-What was your strategy of edging your way into the marketplace of ideas?

LNC-Honestly our strategy was to find people who love comics as much as we do and hope they jump on board with us. Of course using all the social media platforms but we kind of just jumped in and said let's swim. We've been swimming since January of 2020 and haven't looked back.
 
CBP-How long did it take you to build a following?  How did you start engaging folks?
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LNC-I would say we are still building a following but it's taken five months to feel like we're building a good brand with people that enjoy what we're doing as much as we do. Sending personal messages to people and tagging people in Twitter. Having a place to send them to with our channel has been the key. [Author's note-This is how I first met them, after getting a note about their channel, the conversation didn't start there, they engaged in full conversations at times about comics, which you don't always get from folks sending out YT links! This is what really makes them stand apart to me.]

CBP-Knowing everything you know now about your outlet and where you are, what would you have done differently at the beginning of your grind?

LNC-Wow, I don't think I would change anything. We are having a blast, literally. This is the most fun that we have had in comics and we've had great growth and success quickly. If there was anything I would differently I would say just let loose every time on camera. This is for fun and if you take yourself too seriously you set yourself up for disappointment. Just live in the moment every single time you have the chance. 

CBP-What are your plans for the future?

LNC-Our plans are to continue to grow Lost'n Comics and hopefully gain a larger audience. The larger we get the more things we can do and get involved with the greatest community in the world. Would love to be involved in more Comicons using the channel as an outlet to accomplish those big things. Our goals are high but we want to enjoy every step of the journey. 

Talkin’ Community
CBP-Who are some of your favorite folks to read/follow/etc.

LNC:
ComicBusters
Chris Barcomb
Comic book poser (I know this is you but it has become such a fun read for me) [Thanks]
Peter's Comic Corner
Wes Greer 

CBP-What’s your coolest interaction with a fan/follower?

LNC-Early on this journey we met writer and comic book enthusiastic Chris Barcomb. We hit it off right away with him and through our first encounter a friendship has been struck. 

CBP-What piece of advice would you give to someone trying to create their own fan/collector content online?

LNC-Be ready to grind. To create anything from the ground up is work. Be sure what that when your putting that work in it doesn't feel like work. If your passionate about something the work is fun. But it does take time and plenty of hard work. It's worth it though! 

CBP-Any Parting Thoughts?

LNC-We are grateful to you and to every single person that takes the time to watch any of our content. Just a huge thank you from Oscar and I. We can't say it enough and we won't stop saying it. Stay #lostncomics !

In the end...

I would like to thank Chris and Oscar for taking the time to answer my questions.  These two guys are the perfect example of what I think about when I hear people describe the comic book community.  They are down to earth, they are hilarious, and you can see that they genuinely care not just about comics, but the time they take to support anyone else who streams, writes, etc. is inspiring. It's also nice to find someone who is philosophically similar to me in discussing books.  Very rarely do they say anything negative about any book they read.  If they don't like it, then they either identify why its not for them, or, they just don't talk about it, which is noble.  At the end of the day, I am proud to call myself a member of the #LostnComicsFam.

​More next time!