In a sea of high-profile superhero comics, it can be easy to miss the diamonds lying in the rough. One of these hidden gems is Ian McGinty’s Welcome to Showside, a creator-owned all-ages comic published by Z2 Comics about a kid named Kit with a terrible secret: his dad just so happens to be the Great Shadow King and wants his progeny to take over the family business of trying to destroy to world. Alongside his best friends Belle, who hails from a long line of Southern demon hunters, and Moon, a sorceress-in-training, Kit decides to stand up to his pernicious pops, as well as the demonic hordes his dad commands. See? It’s probably just like the relationship you have with your father!
Many of you likely already know McGinty’s work from his work as an artist on the Adventure Time comic and Bravest Warriors, but Welcome to Showside represents a new dimension of story  The series gained even wider-spread acclaim thanks to an animated short starring the likes of Henry Rollins, Amanda Kaufman, and McGinty himself. Z2 Comics released a trade paperback collecting Welcome to Showside on June 15, which collects the all-ages comic in a 176-page tome. The collection also features contributions from Kate Leth, Caitlin Rose Boyle, Maddi Gonzalez, Carolyn Nowak Carey Pietsch, and Joey Weiser.
Take a listen to the exclusive playlist McGinty assembled for us below, then read through his commentary on the importance of each track:
“Black Out Fall Out” by POLYSICS
Yes, I started this playlist with a band I love that isnât in English so I have no clue what theyâre
talking about, but the demo version has a music video about talking hamburgers so it seemed
like no-brainer to include this amazing song on the Welcome to Showside Playlist. POLYSICS
are a band I discovered in college and got really obsessed with for their musical chops and
extremely funky/complex song structures. âBlack Out Fall Outâ is kinda like POLYSICS-Lite; itâs a basic track but I just really love how upbeat and fun it is, and thatâs something I tried to apply to Welcome to Showside even when monsters and demons were threatening Kit and his friends. (The demo version of this is better, in my opinion, but this one is really good, too).
“Head Over Heels” by Tears For Fears
Remember Donnie Darko? It opens with this song. Apparently it was supposed to open with
INXS, but Iâve heard both versions and this is way, way better. The movie starts with this long,
uncut pan of a high school showing all the weird stuff we did as kids, or do as kids, and itâs really bizarre to see out of context. Also, Seth Rogen is in it. Iâve always viewed this song as a way I would open Welcome to Showside if it was a live action movie. If you know me personally and, hey, most of you probably donât (we can fix that), you know Iâm absolutely obsessed with ’80s music, and this (to me) is the jewel in the crown. I love Tears for Fears and this song was a big part of tracking development of the comic and the animation, it just speaks to me.
“Genesis” by Grimes
Okay, so. When we were developing the animated short for Welcome to Showside, one of the
producers and second partner in Z2 Comics, Sridhar Reddy, introduced me to Grimesâ music.
We were actually trying to get her to voice a character, specifically Moon, but she couldnât break away from the amazing music she was producing for a new album. Since then, Iâve been really into her stuff, especially this song that I heard on a car commercial once and got stuck in my head and 2 years later finally matched it together. That happens to me a lot. Iâm from Annapolis, Maryland and there is a car selling company there called Eastern Motors and they have this song called âEastern Motorsâ, it goes like this:
“AT EASTERN MOTORS, YOUR JOBâS YOUR CREDIT (2x), FORD. HONDA. CHEVY. BEAMERS. AND MINI-VANS, OVER 600 CARS, TRUCKS, SUVS, ARE YOU LISTENING, MAN?â
My point here is the song is great and I get stuff stuck in my head and it never, ever leaves. This one was with me for months. Grimes is Moonâs favorite music.
“Underground” by David Bowie (from the OST for Labyrinth)
Iâll be the first to admit, I just really started listening to Bowie. He was just never on my radar
EXCEPT for playing one of the most fascinating characters Iâve ever seen in film, Jareth the
Goblin King in Labyrinth. (Labyrinth is better than The Dark Crystal, by the way. Fight me).
Anyways, this song from the film played over the end credits and itâs long, and really strange
and catchy, and it has this weight to it. Basically, itâs about the Goblin King wanted to get out of
his kingdom into our world, and that was pretty much how I structured the Shadow King. Yes, he is the ruler of his realm, but his realm is lame and heâs bored with it. The outside world is more appealing and offers new curiosities, and new people, and this track really resonated with that for me.
“Sabotage” by Beastie Boys
Yes, Beastie Boys are my favorite band ever. Arguably, I think there are better BBoys tracks out there, but this is the one we all know and this is the one that has the best video, (though we could probably counter with âIntergalacticâ). This is also the ultimate âfightâ song, or battle song, to me. If Star Trek wants to use it to the point of obnoxiousness, hey, thatâs their prerogative, but the song is really excellent and got me pumped up to draw action scenes and inspired the âworm babyâ fight in the animation. Trust me, if I could have put this song in that, I would have without hesitation. Please call me, guys, I have so many questions and nice things to say.
“Walk on the Ocean” by Toad the Wet Sprocket
My dad likes these guys a lot, and so do I. This was the song I had in my head when actually developing the town of Showside, sort of a seaside community, not really like touristy or whatever, but sort of Marthaâs Vineyard before Jaws, so basically Amity Island before Jaws (the shark, whose name was actually Bruce but I digress). This song is beautiful and sounds so sad, but also defiant, and thatâs an important part of Welcome to Showside, as well. This one also brought up some strong feelings about Kitâs mother, and his best friends. Listen to the last line of the song and youâll see what I mean.
“Basket Case” by Green Day
If there was going to be an album Kit would be really obsessed with, it would be Dookie by Green Day (just like I was). These guys were gods to me, and this song especially spoke to me of being a âpunkâ, but I was and am a suburban dude who has never actually been in a fight or done anything really radical and will never really get what being âpunkâ is about. I like Pokemon and sashimi and cartoons. Is that punk? Maybe? I donât know is my point. Anywho. Yeah, Green Day is great and itâs so weird that they were huge in â94 and then kinda died down a bit, though Nimrod is vastly underrated, and now they are back and hip again, sort of, itâs all very strange to me. âBasket Caseâ is definitely always on the top of Kitâs playlist he made on a cassette tape and plays through a WalkMan.
“The Goonies âR Good Enough” by Cyndi Lauper
Full disclosure, I have had a massive crush on Cyndi Lauper for a very long time. I donât really know what I would do if I actually met her, probably run away in a panic, actually. I picked this song because, sure, The Goonies, good movie, but this song is all about friendship and sticking together and saying, âhey, whatever, man, letâs just do this together and get it doneâ. Thatâs a big part of Welcome to Showside. Also, this song has a spooky undertones to it and spooky is cool.
“Ape Dos Mil” by Glassjaw
This is a weird one. I love Glassjaw, they are probably my favorite hardcore/rock band and have some of the strangest vocal progressions Iâve ever heard. Glassjaw is Belleâs favorite band, too. She likes the heavy stuff, for sure. I have no clue what this song is about but I like to imagine Belle listening to this with headphones on, blocking out her dumb dad, maybe checking âem out live with Toulouse. I like the idea of her introducing him to cool bands. I donât have a ton to say about this song except itâs really weird and fun.—
“Hey Jealousy” by Gin Blossoms
This is the song I always imagine playing if I did a montage of the kids running around and getting into mischief. I would have Carolyn Nowak draw it. I donât know why, it just seems right. I love this song and itâs always stuck in my head when weâre doing a road trip or something. Iâm sure itâs in a bunch of movies from the mid-90âs but I think it holds up. The ending is kinda bad, though.
“Boy From School” by Hot Chip
This one is just cool, and kinda sad. I think of it like Kitâs realization heâs different from his friends, unsure of his past and future. Itâs kind of about his relationship with Moon and Belle, and everyone else in town. Unlike the previous song, it has one of the coolest endings ever, and the vocal techniques here are very basic but very natural. I like the âtechyâ beats here, Iâve always thought Welcome to Showside could be just a techno song, why not? This song also makes me think of the Shadow King before he BECAME the Shadow King, when he was still good and in love with Olive. He âgets lostâ just like in the song.
“Into Your Veins” by Five Iron Frenzy
I love Five Iron Frenzy, but not early Five Iron Frenzy. Way too goofy and the ska aspect is just not my thing. Their new stuff, however, whoa. Fantastic. I tweeted them once to say how much I loved the new album, like a dork, and it turned out I accidentally tweeted Five Iron Franny and Iâm sorry about that, Fran. This would be the ending credits for Welcome to Showside, I just love it. Initially I had, âTub Thumpinâ by that band that shall not be named, but this is more my speed. Itâs kinda about the downfall of Shadow King and Kitâs strength by virtue of his friends, and mom. Roperâs voice is really good, too. Hey man, if you ever want to voice a character in the animated series just let me know. Actually, can the whole band develop the theme song and we can just go from there? Say hi to Jeff the Girl for me. Thanks, guys.
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Welcome to Showside is available now from Z2 Comics.
Image: Z2 Comics
Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious).