Comic Book Bears Podcast

Taken from our Livestream on November 4th, this episode finds Steve and Bill discussing what went down on Stargirl Season 2! We both waxed very poetically about Season 1 last year so tune in and find out what the CBB boys thought of this season that found Courtney and her fellow JSAers in Blue Valley taking on Eclipso as the big bad! Then we continue on with comic talk with this episode's spinner rack featuring Deadbox, Rainbow Bridge, ET ER and a round up of recent DC Comics from Bill with a special focus on the Locke and Key/Sandman Universe crossover concluding!

Join us for another convention wrap up episode, this time concerning this year's Baltimore Comic Con! Bill and Steve attended and had the pleasure of Jon Runyan of A Comic Book Look podcast joining them as their roommate for the weekend ... AND he joins us again for this episode! Listen in as we hear about encounters with creators, panels attended, treasures acquired and more! Then, Caleb joins in on a discussion of the new cinematic vision of Frank Herbert's Dune from director Denis Villeneuve! And of course a healthy dose of comic book talk!

As the Comic Book Bears Podcast takes a Thanksgiving break from video livestreaming we are taking advantage of that downtime to catch up on the audio versions of our episodes. This episode was recorded after one of our hosts made it out to New York Comic Con so listen in to Bill Z’s wrap up of that con’s goings on and be prepared for some rambling with tangents ranging from Jon Kent’s bisexuality in the current Superman comics to the virtues of one particular punk group from the UK. We don’t go off the rails so greatly that we don’t get to the round tabling of recent comics with Inferno (Jonathan Hickman’s denouement to his overseeing the X-Men line), A Thing Called Love (an Image book from the wonderful Iolanda Zanfardino and Elisa Romboli), Turbo Kid: Apple's Lost Adventure (from Happy Tank, a new Behemoth Comics imprint), Chicken Devil (a comedy thriller from Aftershock), Suicide Squad: Get Joker! (Brian Azzarello and Alex Maleev tackling Task Force X for DC Black Label) and much more!

We decided to head over to the movie theater section of the Comic Book Bearcave this time around ... it's a big cave ... as we each discuss our five favorite comic book films of all time! The Dark Knight! Guardians of the Galaxy! Dredd! Superman! Ant-Man! Sin City! Avengers: Endgame! Road to Perdition! Watchmen! Captain America: The Winter Soldier! The Rocketeer! Some of these are among our favorite comic book based films; some of these aren't! And one even makes all of our lists! Listen in and find out!

On this new audio episode, recorded on 9/23/2021, Steve and Caleb review Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings which is the 25th Marvel Cinematic Universe film, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Simu Liu as Shang-Chi alongside Awkwafina, Meng'er Zhang, Fala Chen, Ben Kingsley, and Tony Leung. In the film, Shang-Chi is forced to confront his past when his father Wenwu, the leader of the Ten Rings organization, draws him and his sister Xialing into a search for a supposedly mythical village. Bill then joins them for some comic news talk about this year’s Batman Day and IDW’s new distribution. Bill and Caleb get all lawyery over the Ditko Estate suit against Marvel and about the public domain and then finally comic book talk! As this is a longer-than-usual episode, there are a lot of books covered including Pyrate Queen, Midnighter Annual 2021, Green Lantern Annual 2021, Superman: Red and Blue, Batman: Urban Legends, Maw, Die, Wiccan and Hulking, Batman 89, Superman 78 and Pennyworth!

Time for another new Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episode! Recorded on 9/16/2021 the CBB boys are thrilled to welcome back to the show “the koala of comics” David Hazan, the writer of Nottingham from Mad Cave Studios! Nottingham, an amazing reinterpretation of the Robin Hood legend with art by Shane Connery Volk, recently completed its first arc and those five issues are collected in Nottingham Vol. 1: Death and Taxed (available now digitally and in TPB on 11/3!) As seen in this esoteric take on medieval noir, the Sheriff of Nottingham hunts a serial killer with a penchant for tax collectors. His investigation makes him the target of England's most nefarious power-brokers while the Merry Men, terrorists lurking amongst the trees of Sherwood, are led by an enigma known only as "Hood." David talks to us about the collected edition, some of what he has planned next and then joins Bill Z and Steve for an international comic book roundtable!

We are starting to get the Comic Book Bears Podcast cave in order again and are finally releasing the audio versions of our livestreams over the last few weeks and this will be the first of four such episodes to bring things up to speed.  On this episode, originally recorded on 9/9/2021, the CBB boys welcome to the show Chris Fildes! Chris is the author of Fanny Galactic: Tuck to the Future and he is here to talk about its sequel Crime + D'Sorder, which like its predecessor was the subject of a successful Kickstarter campaign! Imagine waking up and finding the world has been taken over by crazed drag queens! That's what happened in the world of Fanny Galactic which saw the unlikely emergence of a reluctant drag queen super-heroine. Now in a brand new story Chris gives you the rise of Sybil D'Sorder - drag queen super-villain! This comedic thriller is the perfect book for LGBTQ+ comic fans and those looking for something different and fun! Tune in to hear all about it along with Chris's influences and history

Recorded before we took a break for the Labor Day weekend, Steve, Caleb and Bill convened in the Comic Book Bear cave for a roundtable on recent (and one not so recent) comic books. The funnybook talk starts after a whole lotta tangents at beginning ranging from current comic book related TV to the passing of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts. So … Descender. Kang the Conqueror. The Trial of Magneto. The Other History of the DC Universe. Superman: Red and Blue. John Lewis’s Run. A 1981 UK reprinting of Jim Steranko’s Captain America work. Which of these … and there is more than one … are the comics that made us cry … twice?

All four Comic Book Bears - Bryan, Bill, Caleb and Steve - are on hand for this new episode! This past August 14th marked the latest Free Comic Book Day and there were nearly 50 book offerings this year; listen in to hear which comics each of the CBB boys selected as their picks! The Eternals trailer, the comic books supply shortage of boxes, bags and boards, the recent Substack deals for top creators, the Paris Review (seriously!) along with comics such as Runaways, Cable, It's Not What You Thought It Would Be, the 2021 Flash Annual and more are among the other discussion topics this time around!

The CBB boys return to the movie theatre to discuss The Suicide Squad, the tenth film in the DC Extended Universe! The film was written and directed by James Gunn and stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, and Pete Davidson. The covert task force of convicts known as the Suicide Squad are sent to the island nation of Corto Maltese after its government is overthrown by an anti-American regime, and are tasked with destroying the Nazi-era laboratory Jötunheim which holds a secretive experiment known as "Project Starfish".  Tune in to hear what Caleb, Bill and Steve thought about the movie and afterwards they get to yapping about current comics with I Am Not Starfire (DC), The Delicacy (Top Shelf), Not All Robots (AWA) and others among the books discussed!

Bill and Steve head over to the bookshelves instead of the spinner rack on this special episode as the CBB boys talk about the earliest graphic novels that they enjoyed reading!  From the first Superman and Batman hardcover collections in the 70s to Peanuts treasuries to groundbreaking collected works from the 80s like Maus, the Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen to projects like the very last collaboration of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, there are a huge number of books that are under discussion this time around.  Hit play and enjoy!

Bill and Bryan and Steve and Caleb! That’s right all four CBBears back together on this new audio episode that finds a return to the comic book roundtable! This time around the X-Men books, the American Cults graphic novel, The Mighty Crusaders: The Shield one shot, M.O.M.: Mother of Madness #1, Black Hammer Visions #6, Harrow County, Everyone is Tulip, Claire and the Dragons #1 and more are part of the discussion!  Throw in getting sick in Provincetown, the resurgence of vinyl albums and Space Jam Happy Meal toys and you have a solid one hour and 45 minutes of comics-and-more talk from your four-color hairy, heavy homos!

We head back to the movies on this new episode as Steve and Bill take their seats in the cinema to welcome the return of Marvel Cinematic Universe films with the release of Black Widow! Directed by Cate Shortland, the film stars Scarlett Johansson once again in the role of Natasha Romanoff alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz. Taking place between the events of Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War, Romanoff is a fugitive for violating the Sokovia Accords and flees to a safehouse in Norway where a series of events triggers a reunion with Natasha’s “family”, culminating in a battle royale in the skies of Russia! The CBB boys weigh in with what they thought of the film along with some comic book chat – Steve talks up Bad Idea and what’s happening in the X-books at Marvel as Bill offers up a DC title round up. All this plus the Woofs of the Week and more!

The Comic Book Bears boys come back to their funnybook cave to talk about the wonderful new series from Black Mask, Alice in Leatherland! Italian comic creators and real-life couple Iolanda Zanfardino (writer) and Elisa Romboli,(artist) have crafted an unabashedly queer, romantic, funny and kinky comic! Alice is a children’s fairy tale writer and after her fantasy life is destroyed by her girlfriend’s infidelity, sheltered Alice heads to raucous San Francisco on a journey of sexual awakening, community building, and self-discovery in this bawdy sex-comedy and queer romance that celebrates its diverse ensemble’s joys, kinks, and loves! Bill and Steve dedicate the majority of this episode to discussing Alice’s tale but also discuss other recent series including Marvel’s Heroes Reborn and Good Luck from Boom! You’ll hear some recent comic news coverage and they somehow also work in the 1969 Woodstock festival and one of the more dopey QAnon theories into the mix!

We had a rare recording on a Monday night (6/21 to be exact) but you can play this episode any darn day of the week you would like! Listen in as Steve, Caleb and Bill give an update on the Hellfire Gala goings on in the X-Books, delve into some indie books like Stone Fruit by Lee Lai (Fantagraphics) and Save Yourself #1 (Boom!) and then open the pages of a whole bunch of DC books including Justice League: Last Ride, Truth and Justice, The Flash, Stargirl Spring Break Special and more! Also the tangents range from slasher films to the effects of continued drug use by members of Madchester groups on this last Pride Month episode!  

On this new audio episode, Bill, Caleb and Steve start the show off by discussing the premiere of Loki, the new Marvel Cinematic Universe series airing on Disney+ with Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as the Norse God of Mischief! What is Loki up to, what is the Time Variance Authority and exactly what is Owen Wilson doing there? Well, hit play and find out! We also head over to the virtual spinner rack to discuss the JLA: Tower of Babel collection, Fantastic Four: Life Story, Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon, Crush and Lobo, The Other History of the DC Universe and more!

On this new audio episode, Bill, Caleb and Steve are focused on original graphic novels. The Times I Knew I Was Gay (Scribner), Fictional Father (Drawn and Quarterly) and Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge (DC) all get some time under the microscope but the majority of the episode is dedicated to the stunning I Never Promised You a Rose Garden by Mannie Murphy, published by Fantagraphics. The book begins as a reflection on the author’s 1990s teenage infatuation with River Phoenix and transforms into telling the larger story of the city of Portland and the state of Oregon's dark history of white nationalism. And all from a queer AF sensibility. We also talk little bit about our coming out stories and what our personal Pride anthems are in this first episode recorded during the Pride month of June!

On this Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episode, Steve and Bill Z turn on the tube and chart the comic book related TV we have seen throughout 2021 so far.  And there is a lot - Superman & Lois, Batwoman, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Jupiter's Legacy, Lucifer, The Flash, Supergirl, M.O.D.O.K., DC's Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, Teen Titans Go!, Invincible, Fear the Walking Dead, Wynonna Earp and even more! So if you are in that boob tube mood, hit play and enjoy!  

New Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episode! Not only do we have Caleb back with us, we also have Jon Runyan of A Comic Book Look podcast joining us again for 105 minutes of comic book roundtable goodness! I Walk with Monsters #6, Challenge of the Super-Sons #1, Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal #1 and Geiger #1 are just a few of the titles from Marvel, DC and independent publishers that we talk about this time around!

The Comic Book Bears are thrilled to welcome to the show for the first time Sean McArdle! Sean is an Eisner nominated comics creator, filmmaker as well as a college professor at Kent State University. His work has appeared in array of tiles from Image Comics, IDW, and Arcana Studio and he joins us to talk about his graphic novel The Führer And The Tramp! The book is an alternative history retelling of the making of Charlie Chaplin’s landmark film The Great Dictator. It begins in 1939 as Hitler’s reign of terror is continuing to spread across Europe. Personally engaged by President Roosevelt to help sway public opinion we find Chaplin transforming from comedic movie maker to provocateur, traveling the world and facing down the American Bund, Nazi spies, his own insecurities and Hitler himself to complete his film. Originally a comic web series, The Führer And The Tramp is being published by Source Point Press on 6/29/2021 and trust us, it is EXCELLENT! Hit play and enjoy! http://thefuhrerandthetramp.com/ https