Comic Book Bears Podcast

We had hoped to get the audio episode of our livestream on this past Star Wars Day (5/4/2023) out to you a bit earlier than we have but here it is! Bill Z, Caleb and Steve gather round the mic for another new CBB confab! Since we have something else Star Wars specific in the planning stages, we don't spend too much time in a galaxy far, far away but journey long enough around the Outer Rim to discuss the recent High Republic comics! On top of that Superman: Lost, more Sins of Sinister, Hellcat, Jeff Lemire's Phantom Road and Betty and Veronica: Friends Forever - Rock and Roll also get their own spotlights during our roundtable! Plus news, gets, woofs and much more!  

Another new CBB audio episode! We welcome to show for the first time Zackary Marois! Artist/writer Zack is a graduate of the Kubert School and is about to launch a new Kickstarter: Voyage Issue 1 - Principium! This sci-fi adventure series details the saga of Sonderon, an intergalactic space explorer! The Kickstarter will launch soon and we get the early word from the creator about what to expect.  The indie vibe continues on in the roundtable as Steve, Caleb and Bill Z discuss Monster Tag Team (American Mythology), The Seasons Have Teeth (Boom!), House on Fire (Living the Line) and more!! Hit play and join us!

We are thrilled to welcome back to the show the Koala Bear of Comics and Nottingham scribe David Hazan! Our favorite Aussie David has some new books coming out in the next few months - the magic oriented Monomyth (Mad Cave) with its first issue hitting the shops on May 3rd and Death Drop: Drag Assassin (Scout), a supernatural queer noir  about a hitman turned drag queen that is slated for release on June 14th! David fills us in on these series as well as the Tales from Nottingham (Mad Cave) anthology series and he is joined by the letterer on these projects Lucas Gattoni, the Argentinian Lettering Bear, who discusses his work on David's books and others such as Blue Beetle: Graduation Day (DC)! And if this sexy international ursine one-two punch isn't enough we also talk about some recent comic book oriented Film and Tv trailers and Billy Z, Caleb and Steve discuss The Unstoppable Doom Patrol (DC), the relaunched Black Panther (Marvel), the Paul is Dead: How The Beatles Lost Paul (Image) graphic novel and mor

Another new Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episode! Earlier this month, we observed Daylight Savings Time here in the US and this was the first time the CBB boys (Bill Z, Caleb and Steve)  reconvened in the virtual bearcave since setting the clocks ahead. After a bunch of news items the comics discussed on this episode include Superman: Space Age (DC), the X-Men: Sins of Sinister event (Marvel), Local Man (Image), Blood Tree (Image), Godfell (Vault) and How I Became a Shoplifter (Sumerian). Hit play and you will also discover what "Met the Deck" isn't!  

WITH ONE MAGIC WORD! The Comic Book Bears boys return to the cinema for a new audio episode discussing Shazam: Fury of the Gods!  It is the sequel to the first 2019 Shazam! film and is also the 12th installment in the DC Extended Universe franchise. The film was directed by David F. Sandberg and stars Zachary Levi, Asher Angel, Jack Dylan Grazer, Rachel Zegler, Lucy Liu, Djimon Hounsou, and Helen Mirren. In the film, Billy Batson and the rest of the Shazam siblings fight the Daughters of Atlas! Hit the play button to hear what Steve (not the pen) and Bill (who was battling with the Fury of the Bad Headcolds when they recorded) thought of the movie and, as is CBB custom, also offer up their suggestions for collected comic book editions starring the Shazam Family members!

The Comic Book Bears head back to the movies to discuss Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the 31st Marvel Cinematic Universe film and the first in that franchise's Phase 5! The film was directed by Peyton Reed and stars Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly returning as Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne alongside Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas. In the film, the Lang/Van Dyne family are transported to the Quantum Realm and face Kang the Conqueror. Caleb, Steve and Bill Z offer up what they thought of the movie and also provide their picks for anyone who might want to follow up seeing the film by reading Ant-Man or Kang centric comics. (Also, it was impossible to discuss this film without spoilers so if you want to avoid the film talk, that all occurs between the 3:42 to 45:50 mark.) After that a trip to the spinner rack yields a discussion regarding recent comics like Swamp Thing: Green Hell (DC Black Label), Blue Beetle: Graduation Day (DC) and A Foulness in the Walls (AfterShock)

Time for another new Comic Book Bears Podcast episode! The show starts off as Bill Z, Steve and Caleb catch up with one another and then talk briefly about the recent passing of music legend Burt Bacharach. News items include Kickstarter searching for their new director of comics projects and the passing of artist Lee Moder.  Then we head onto the virtual spinner rack with discussions about Midnight Suns (Marvel), Avengers: War Across Time (Marvel), It's Lonely at the Center of the Earth (Image), Where Monster Lie (Dark Horse), Breath of Shadows (IDW) and the manga classic Banana Fish (Viz.) Plus as always our gets, our woofs and our tangents!

On this new Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episode, we welcome back to the show the incredible Steve Bryant! Steve has been on our podcast many times in the past to talk about his work like Athena Voltaire and The Clean and this time around he is here to discuss his Kickstarter campaign for the first issue of Evie and the Helsings! For centuries, the Van Helsing family has protected humanity from things that go bump in the night. The mantle has been passed onto the last of the family line. But Evie Van Helsing just wants to rock! Written by Steve, drawn by Don Cardenas with colors by Jason Millet, Evie and the Helsings is the first issue of a 4-issue miniseries that follows Evie as she navigates life between the music industry and the supernatural world. (Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets This is Spinal Tap by way of Ash Versus Evil Dead.) Hit play to hear Steve tell us all about it! After the interview, Caleb, Billy Z and Steve discuss some recent comic related news (such as the cancellation of two HBOMAX

SO THIS IS THE NEW YEAR! The CBB boys ring in the new year with their first audio episode of 2023! And in the spirit of new beginnings and soft reboots, we decided to offer up some reintroductions! Billy Z, Steve and Caleb each chat a little bit about themselves and then they each surprise one another with questions - one comic related and one about life in general. We also spend some time going over the generally accepted definitions of bears and bear culture in the queer community for those who might have a degree of unfamiliarity (and maybe even for those who are QUITE familiar!) For the news segment, in the absence of any notable developments recently in the comics world, we focus on a tweet from writer Chuck Dixon designed to mock and attack newer and diverse comic creators and that leads to a discussion about when people with a body of work you respect come up way short as human beings. Then onto the comic book talk - almost exactly at the one hour mark if you want to cut to the chase - with New Mutants

One last 2022 Comic Book Bears audio episode for you all! Bill Z, Caleb and Steve are back with you for one more episode before Father Time ushers us into 2023! Listen in as the CBB first cover some of December's big news items such as James Gunn's new role overseeing DC Studios (including the cancellation of Wonder Woman 3 and Henry Cavill hanging up his cape as Kal-El) and Aftershock's filing for bankruptcy.  Then they shift over to the comic talk with Gargoyles #1 (Dynamite), A Vicious Circle #1 (Boom), Batman/Superman: World's Finest #10 (DC), Frank Frazetta's Dawn Attack #1 (Opus), Art Brut #1 (Image) and from a few years back Saucer State (IDW) among the books discussed! We hope you all had a great holiday season and we wish you all the best as we venture into the new year!!

Step into the Comic Book Bears cave for the first of two audio episodes this month! Bill Z, Steve and Caleb are all present to talk comics ranging from the Big Two to a number of new and recent indie titles! Among the books discussed are DC's Superman titles, Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise (Marvel), Sparks of Chaos (CEX), Project Superpowers: Fractured States (Dynamite), Jason Aaron's Once Upon a Time at the End of the World (Boom) and Door By Door, Night By Night by Cullen Bunn and Sally Cantirino (Vault). Apart from the comics Bill Z also went a bit nuts on a Black Friday spending spree, Caleb reveals he is the love child of Dolly Parton and Rob Halford, and Steve ... is ... well, Steve. So take a break from those Christmas records playing, hit play on us and get your funnybook fix!

For the second new audio episode in a row the Comic Book Bears head over to the multiplex! Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the sequel to Black Panther (2018) and the 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series. Directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, BP:WF stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Angela Bassett. In the film, the leaders of Wakanda fight to protect their nation from new threats in the wake of T'Challa's death. The film also serves as the introduction of Namor to the MCU! Steve and Caleb weigh in with what they thought of the movie and then Billy Z joins them on the mic for a new comic book roundtable discussion! So hit play! (It's the Wakandan way!)

On this first of two back-to-back super-hero based movie episodes, the Comic Book Bears return to your earbuds to discuss Black Adam, the 11th DC Extended Universe film! The movie is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and stars Dwayne Johnson in the titular role with Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Marwan Kenzari and Quintessa Swindell rounding out the cast.  Black Adam centers around Teth-Adam, an ancient superhuman who is released from his magic imprisonment by a group of archeologists to free the nation of Kahndaq from a criminal enterprise that rules their country. He gains the attention of the Justice Society of America who try to stop Adam from causing further destruction from his attacks but they all discover that there is a deeper evil at work. Hit play to join Billy Z, Steve and Caleb and hear what they thought of the film and then stick around for some comic book talk (including a few Black Adam related titles!)

The CBB Boys were all super busy during the tail end of September and the entire month of October but they finally regrouped to talk comics in their virtual comic cave. But to venture over to the spinner rack, you have to first clear a hurdle in hearing about the group members exploits at New York Comic Con, at Memphis Comic Expo, being super gay in Las Vegas, being super lawyerly in Portland and traveling to the Diamond State! Comics discussed this time around include an exploration of one the classic New Mutants arcs from the 1980s, DC's current Dark Crisis event books and Stepping Stones by writer/artist Lucy Knisley which is all about a city girl finding a new life on a farm. All you have to do is hit play and you'll get a whole lotta Steve, Caleb and Billy Z and a whole lotta comic talk!  

The CBB boys return to their virtual funnybook case for an hour and 45 minutes of mostly comic book talk.  There is a reference to a geek get and (inexplicably) a few references to 1978's DC Implosion but for the most part it is just new comic books! So put in the ear buds and press play to hear Billy Z, Caleb and Steve discuss The Least We Can Do (Image), Bloodshot Unleashed (Valiant), Tales of the Human Target (DC), Crashing (IDW), Ms. Marvel & Venom (Marvel), Superman: Warworld Apocalypse (DC) and a bunch more!  

Another new audio episode, and our first where our wonder cub Caleb can place an "Esq." after his name, just like our Grand Poobah Billy Z! Yes, our kid passed the bar exam and he's ready to shake up the legal profession! But before he does that, he and Billy join Stalwart Steve in talking about comics books with a round table ranging from all ages books (My Buddy Killer Croc, Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories) to newer offerings from Image Comics (Twig, The Last Shadowhawk, Shirtless Bear Fighter 2) to others! Hit play and join us!!!  

We are (finally) back with new audio episodes! Join us as Caleb, Bill and Steve discuss the first three episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the new MCU television series on Disney+! The series follows Jennifer Walters, a lawyer specializing in cases involving superhumans, who through a series of events involving her cousin Bruce Banner also becomes a big green superhero! She-Hulk: Attorney at Law stars Tatiana Maslany as the title character alongside Jameela Jamil, Ginger Gonzaga, Mark Ruffalo, Tim Roth, Benedict Wong and more! Then we turn our attention to the hirsuite spinner rack and offer up our opinions on a variety of examples of graphic goodness!    

On this extra-long new episode, the CBB boys (Bill, Caleb and Steve) reconvene to discuss the landmark television adaptation on Netflix of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series! Based on the DC/Vertigo comic book series that originally ran from 1989 to 1996, The Sandman tells the story of Morpheus, the Lord of Dreams and one of the seven siblings that make up The Endless, is captured in an occult ritual in 1916. After being held captive for 106 years, Morpheus escapes and sets out to restore order to his realm, The Dreaming. And if that were not enough, we also discuss DC League of Super-Pets! The computer-animated superhero comedy film is based on the DC Comics characters with voice talent including Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, and Keanu Reeves. It tells the story of Superman's pet dog Krypto and shelter dog Ace who work with other animals to defeat an unexpected adversary with a connection to Superman's nemesis Lex Luthor! And if that STILL were not enough, the fellas get some new comic

One of this summer's big movie hits was Thor: Love and Thunder, the 29th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is directed by Taika Waititi and stars Chris Hemsworth once again as Thor alongside Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Waititi, Russell Crowe, and Natalie Portman. In the film, Thor attempts to find inner peace, but must return to action and recruit Valkyrie, Korg and Jane Foster - who is now the Mighty Thor—to stop Gorr the God Butcher, a new adversary who is on a quest to eliminate all gods from existence! Steve and Bill are on hand to offer up what they thought of the movie along with discussing some of the news that came out of this year's San Diego Comic Con and head over to the virtual spinner rack to discuss a few new books. Also it is pretty much an Asgardian miracle that we are delivering this audio episode to you: we encountered Ragnarok-level problems with the mix.  There may be a few portions where Steve is a bit too low in the mix but we are proud to still be abl

The CBB boys are thrilled to welcome back Richard Rivera to the show! A veteran guest of ours and long time friend of the podcast, Richard is the Co-Publisher of Scout Comics and the writer/creator of the fan favorite series Stabbity Bunny. Stabbity is a plush toy rabbit that has been passed down generations in a family that has been hunted by supernatural forces for almost 100 years. It is now in the hands of young Grace Lee and we discover that Stabbity is far more than a toy! Richard is here to discuss the latest Stabbity-related Kickstarter campaign for collected editions of Stabbity Bunny Volumes 1 and 2 and much, much more!