Renae Geerlings on Navigating Sudden Grief, Husband Tyler Mane’s Cancer Battle and Channeling Midlife Mayhem Into a New Podcast
“I love myth, and I love telling stories that help people feel less alone.”
I had the pleasure of talking with Renae Geerlings. Renae grew up in a Michigan town so small that her fourth-grade class had nine children. Her father’s gas station sat beside the family home. Beyond it were a cemetery, an elementary school, a church, a fire station, and then cornfields stretching out for miles. Geerlings escaped into books, television, and the comic books stored in long boxes at her grandmother’s house. She read The Flash, Thor, and Spider-Man, watched Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard, and played outside imagining the day she might leave and meet some of the people who seemed to occupy a much larger world.
She did leave. But the interesting part of Geerlings’s career is how rarely it followed the route she expected. She went to Hope College intending to become an actor, moved to Los Angeles to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, then took a temp job at a company she understood only as having “something to do with art.” The company was Top Cow Productions, and the temporary detour became roughly a decade in comics. Years later, acting returned. So did producing. Then came graphic novels, independent films, and now a podcast built around a period of life that has given Geerlings and her husband, actor Tyler Mane, more material than either of them would have chosen.
The through line is storytelling, although Geerlings talks about it less as a career strategy than as a form of connection. “I love myth, and I love telling stories that help people feel less alone,” she says. “That is our core purpose as storytellers. It is an ancient calling.”
At Top Cow, she landed in comics during a moment when the industry was spilling aggressively into film and television. She worked alongside artists including Michael Turner, Marc Silvestri, David Finch and Joe Benitez, and with writers including J. Michael Straczynski, Paul Jenkins and Paul Dini. Witchblade became a TNT television series, while the release of X-Men helped confirm that comic-book properties could occupy a much larger place in popular culture.
Geerlings had originally imagined staying only long enough to pay off her college loans before returning to acting. Then she met Mane at a comic convention while he was promoting X-Men. When they began dating, he challenged the fear underneath her delay. “Why don’t you take a class and go back to doing what you love?” he asked. Geerlings’s answer was immediate: “I can’t do that! I’ll have no money and become a starving artist.”
She took the class anyway.
The two eventually founded a production company and made the features Compound Fracture and Penance Lane. The latter gave Geerlings one of those rare moments when childhood fantasy loops back into adult life. She cast John Schneider, her childhood hero from The Dukes of Hazzard, as a villain. On set, she confessed that as a girl she had propped his It’s Now or Never album cover on the couch and pretended he was singing to her. Schneider responded by singing the title track directly to her. Geerlings remembers thinking, “Little Renae’s life is complete. End scene.”
Her work behind the scenes has mattered just as much. She speaks with particular pride about helping identify and develop artists early in their careers, including Tyler Kirkham, Mike Choi, Kenneth Rocafort and Stjepan Šejić. When Geerlings recently approached Kirkham about illustrating a cover for The Last Spartan: Lone Wolf, he told her, “Given that you started my career, I will make time for you.” For someone whose own career began through an accidental opening, there is a certain symmetry in becoming the person who recognizes possibility in somebody else.
Then 2026 changed the scale of the questions.
Geerlings and Mane had already been developing a podcast about midlife, with conversations about aging, health, relationships, adult children and reinvention. In March, Geerlings’s brother-in-law died suddenly of a heart attack at 62. Weeks later, Mane was diagnosed with male breast cancer and learned that he carries a BRCA2 mutation. He began chemotherapy on June 8. One week later, Geerlings received word that her father had been killed in a car accident.
The losses are close enough that Geerlings does not pretend to have neatly resolved them. One memory remains particularly sharp. A few months before her father died, he asked when she was coming back to Michigan. She told him she would visit in July, after helping Mane through chemotherapy. “Yeah,” her father replied, “but that’s just so far away.”
“It ended up being too far away,” she says.
That sentence changes the meaning of a career built around deadlines, projects and the next thing. It also helps explain why Geerlings and Mane accelerated the podcast rather than postponing it. Mane has spoken publicly about treatment, and the couple has heard from people who found comfort in his candor. For Geerlings, turning private upheaval into useful conversation does not erase what happened. It gives the experience somewhere to go.
Mane AF is scheduled to debut August 27, as Geerlings continues developing the next Last Spartan installment and Mane moves beyond chemotherapy toward the next phase of treatment. The girl who once used stories to imagine a life beyond the cornfields now talks about stories as a way of staying connected when life becomes frighteningly real. Somewhere between those two ideas, escape and connection, lies the shape of her work and the conversation that follows.
Yitzi: Renae, it’s so delightful to meet you. Before we dive in and talk about your amazing work, our readers would love to learn about Renae Geerlings’ personal origin story. Can you share with us the story of your childhood, how you grew up, and particularly the genesis of all the creativity and genius that has come since then?
Renae: Genius — thank you. That is a high bar you’re setting for me!
I grew up in a very small, one-stop-sign town called Bentheim, Michigan, where there were nine kids in my fourth-grade class. My dad owned the gas station right next to our house. Next to that was a cemetery, an elementary school across the street, a church, a fire station, and then cornfields for miles.
I grew up watching television and reading books. I was a voracious reader from a very young age. I was four when I started kindergarten and was already reading; books were my escape. I would go to my grandma’s house, where my uncle’s comic books were stored in long boxes, and read The Flash, Thor, and Spider-Man. That gave me an early start in comics.
My heroes were on television as well. I loved Knight Rider, CHiPs, How the West Was Won, and The Dukes of Hazzard. I used to play in the cornfields, making little mud pies and dreaming of the day when I might get out and meet some of those really cool people.
We ended up moving to a slightly larger town, Zeeland, Michigan, for middle school and high school. When it came to college, I debated between veterinary medicine and theater. I was accepted at Michigan State University for pre-veterinary studies, but at the last minute, I changed my mind to pursue theater.
I chose Hope College in my hometown because they have an amazing summer repertory program that I had grown up attending. I was very young when I started seeing plays there, and I used to sit and stare up at the stage thinking, I want to do that someday. These people are magicians. At the last moment, I decided I didn’t want to deal with the heartbreak of sick animals; I wanted to be an actor.
I had a great four years at Hope College. After graduating, I had an opportunity to study at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Los Angeles. I was probably more prepared for Chicago or New York on a theater track, but they have snow, and I chose sunshine. That is how I ended up in Los Angeles knowing only one person.
I was not prepared for a film and television career. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and I had no one to ask. Too proud to take money from my parents, I took a temp job for a company described simply as having “something to do with art.” That company was Top Cow Productions, and I ended up working there as an editor for ten years.
Yitzi: Tell us about the next chapter — your first breaks, early entries, and initial projects.
Renae: I did not realize how lucky I was at the time. I was young, I landed at Top Cow, and I was surrounded by extraordinary talent: Michael Turner, Mark Silvestri, David Finch, Joe Benitez, Nathan Cabrera — the list goes on and on. I worked with exceptional writers like J. Michael Straczynski, Paul Jenkins, and Paul Dini. Independent comics from Image were having their heyday, and there I was, right in the mix, telling great stories.
Our Witchblade comic became a television series on TNT in 2000, and the first X-Men film had just been released. It was a massive era for comic books expanding into other media.
My plan was to work there until I paid off my college loans and saved enough money, thinking I would eventually return to acting. Then I met my husband, Tyler Mane, at a comic book convention while he was promoting X-Men. When we began dating, he asked, “Why don’t you take a class and go back to doing what you love?” I panicked and said, “I can’t do that! I’ll have no money and become a starving artist.” He remained completely supportive, encouraging me to just start with one class. We even ended up taking acting classes together in Los Angeles.
Eventually, we founded our own production company and produced two feature films, Compound Fracture and Penance Lane. Being on set with him was wonderful. I love the collaborative energy of a film set — seeing all the departments problem-solve together is very similar to comics. While the mediums have different vocabularies, the team aspect is inspiring and fulfilling. Every project becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
I love myth, and I love telling stories that help people feel less alone. That is our core purpose as storytellers — it is an ancient calling. I was fortunate to explore that through comics, which serve as modern mythology, and through film.
Yitzi: While it is difficult to single out just a couple, can you share two stories that really stand out from your career?
Renae: One highlight was hiring one of my childhood heroes for Penance Lane: John Schneider, who played Bo Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard.
While chatting on set, I told him, “John, you don’t know this, but I was a huge fan. When I was a little girl, I had your It’s Now or Never record. I would prop the album cover on the couch, kneel in front of it, stare at your picture, and pretend you were singing directly to me.” He smiled and said, “Oh, It’s Now or Never — that was a great album.” Then he looked me in the eyes and started singing the title track right to me. My brain exploded! I thought, Little Renae’s life is complete. End scene. He later joked that it was rather dark that I cast him as the villain in my film and personally killed his character off on screen, which still makes me laugh.
Another meaningful experience comes from my editorial career. I worked with the brilliant artist Michael Zulli, known for The Sandman, on two books: Delicate Creatures, written by J. Michael Straczynski, and a very dark issue of Witchblade. Michael passed away recently, but he was an incredible artist. He once painted a portrait of me that still hangs on my wall and gifted me an original Sandman pinup. Years later, his wife shared that he considered me one of his favorite editors. That has always stayed with me.
Beyond that, helping launch artists’ careers has been the most rewarding part of my work. Tyler Kirkham, who is a huge name today, just illustrated the cover for our next book, The Last Spartan: Lone Wolf. When I asked about his availability, he told me, “Given that you started my career, I will make time for you.” Discovering and collaborating with creators like Mike Choi, Kenneth Rocafort, and Stjepan Šejić — whom I found when he was doing coloring work and immediately recognized his phenomenal illustration talent — and watching their careers flourish brings me immense joy.
Yitzi: Tell us about the exciting new developments and projects you are working on now. Please feel free to share as much detail as you’d like.
Renae: 2026 will go down as quite a year in my life, in both good and challenging ways.
A couple of years ago, my husband and I produced a graphic novel called The Last Spartan: Red Tape, which addresses human trafficking. Researching that project was life-changing and eye-opening. Whenever we shared storylines, people would say, “That would never happen,” and our research contacts would immediately provide documented cases showing where it happened in real life. It is terrifying and much closer to home than most realize. Approximately 80% of trafficking victims in the United States are trafficked by individuals they know or family members. While headlines often sensationalize the issue, the reality is deeply personal, and the damage done is incalculable.
Through that project, we partnered with DeliverFund.org, an organization that develops technology to help law enforcement locate traffickers faster. With advancements in AI, they can analyze ear shapes — which are unique like fingerprints — to match a side profile against databases and identify individuals rapidly. We wanted to support that mission wholeheartedly. My former publisher, Mark Silvestri, created a cover for us, and the book was written by Christopher Priest, celebrated for his work on Black Panther, The Punisher, and Vampirella. He captured the lead character’s voice brilliantly, and we are currently developing the next installment.
This year, several heavy events hit us in close succession. In March, we lost my brother-in-law to a sudden heart attack at just 62 years old. A few weeks later, Tyler was diagnosed with male breast cancer — a rare condition representing roughly 1% of all breast cancers, with only about 2,500 men diagnosed in the United States each year. We later learned he carries the BRCA2 gene mutation.
We had already been planning a podcast exploring midlife — navigating health, longevity, aging parents, supporting adult children, hormonal shifts, and maintaining vitality. Tyler began chemotherapy on Monday, June 8th, and the following Monday, I received the call that my father had been killed in a car accident.
Navigating sudden grief, a serious health crisis, and midlife transitions all at once crystallized our purpose. When Tyler shared his diagnosis publicly, the response was overwhelming. In the middle of chemo, he decided to launch production immediately. We are now in full swing, and our podcast debuts on August 27th.
We have several in the can and a fantastic roster of upcoming guests are scheduled.
Yitzi: Unbelievable. I am so sorry for everything you have been through. My heart and deepest empathy go out to you, and I wish you only the absolute best.
Renae: Thank you, I appreciate that. It is a lot to process. For Tyler and me, this podcast allows us to take difficult experiences and channel them constructively to help others facing similar hurdles. Tyler has been sharing updates about his chemotherapy journey, and we have received messages from many individuals undergoing treatment who find comfort in his honesty. That connection has been healing for us and gives our journey meaningful purpose.
Yitzi: That is beautiful. How is Tyler feeling now?
Renae: He is doing well overall. He completed all four rounds of chemotherapy, which was a relief since the side effects are cumulative. He is now preparing for radiation therapy.
We have an ultrasound scheduled today because his doctors want to evaluate potential blood clot symptoms in his foot, though I am hopeful it is simply an old injury irritated by treatment. Overall, his spirits are strong. He looks forward to interviewing experts on nutrition, physical rehabilitation, and rebuilding muscle mass post-treatment. It will be valuable for our own recovery and helpful for our audience.
Yitzi: He is very lucky to have your support.
Renae: He tells me that often! As his partner, it is simply what we do for each other.
Yitzi: This brings us to our signature question. Renae, looking back to the beginning of your journey, what are five things you have learned over the years — perhaps sometimes the hard way — that someone starting out today can benefit from?
Renae:
- Feel the fear and do it anyway. Starting something new and putting yourself out there is intimidating, but don’t let fear stop you. Some projects succeed and others provide valuable lessons. Nothing is a failure if you learn from it.
- Cut yourself some slack. You are doing the best you can in every single moment. Sometimes your efforts feel sufficient and sometimes you wish you had done more, but give yourself grace.
- Keep long-term perspective. In the heat of the moment, challenges can feel catastrophic. In a year, the crisis will have passed; in five years, it becomes a lighthearted anecdote you share in an interview. Very little is as world-ending as it feels in real time.
- Prioritize the people you love. The only thing that truly matters in life is who you share it with. In a world driven by deadlines and digital demands, it is easy to postpone visits and phone calls. A few months before my father passed away, he jokingly asked when I was moving back to Michigan. I told him I needed to help Tyler through chemo first, but promised I would visit for two weeks in July. He paused and said, “Yeah, but that’s just so far away.” It ended up being too far away. That memory will always stay with me. Make time for the people you care about today.
- Put the phone down and embrace silence. Step away from screens and engage with the world around you. Notifications will always be there. We live in an overstimulated environment, so make a deliberate choice to unplug — without background music, podcasts, or television. Give yourself space for stillness, because true understanding only comes when you pause to listen.
Yitzi: That is so profound. I could talk with you so much longer, but I want to respect your time. Renae, it has been an honor speaking with you. How can our readers continue to follow your work, listen to your podcast, and support your projects?
Renae: You can follow us on social media at @maneafpod. Our podcast launches on August 27th across Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms. You can also find our graphic novel at thelastspartan.com and stay tuned for our upcoming Kickstarter campaign for the next volume!
Yitzi: Amazing. Renae, I wish you continued success, good health, and blessings. I’d love to do this again next year.
Renae: I would love that as well. Thank you so much — this was truly a joy.
Renae Geerlings on Navigating Sudden Grief, Husband Tyler Mane’s Cancer Battle and Channeling… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.