Comic Book Bears Podcast

Time for a new Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episode!  Steve, Caleb and Billy Z reconvene for two hours of four color funnybook talk! On the docket this time are a few news items (Diamond's bankruptcy, Marvel Studios not inviting Rob Liefeld to an afterparty) followed by a half dozen books we wanted to spotlight. Hit play and hear about what we thought of the inaugural issues of a few new series: Aquaman (DC), West Coast Avengers (Marvel), Lawful (Boom!) and The Death of COPRA (Image). We also chat about Tim Bird's autobiographical graphic novel Adrift in a Painted Sea (Avery Hill Publishers) and DC's tabloid reprinting of the 1980 Untold Legend of The Batman mini-series. Also, please note that this episode was recorded at the beginning of the month and as 2/3rds of the team here are huge football fans we offer up what were our Super Bowl LIX predictions. (One of us gets it spectacularly wrong.)  

The Comic Book Bears podcast goes All In this time around in our new audio episode! As much of the US is contending with a January winter freeze, Bill Z, Steve and Caleb once again huddle around the mic. And after a deep dive into recent news (specifically Diamond Comic Distributors filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the allegations by various women against Neil Gaiman), the CBB boys turn their attention to DC Comics and their All In publishing initiative which finds their entire main comics line enjoying a refresh! Justice League Unlimited, Justice League: The Atom Project, Action Comics, Birds of Prey, New Gods and Metamorpho are the main books discussed. And all you have you have to do is hit the play button to go All In with us!

The CBB Boys are thrilled to bring you the audio version of their 300th episode! And for this anniversary they welcome back to the show a very familiar name and a great friend - writer Richard Rivera! Richard is here to chat about his new Kickstarter for the latest Stabbity Bunny project: a remastered version of Stabbity Ever After #1 which takes Stabbity on a more humorous path through an alternative reality. But this time Richard brings along some friends to the show with their own Kickstarter campaign! Making their CBB debut to discuss it are writers and Insymmetry Creations co-founders Matt Knowles and Steph Cannon! Matt and Steph take us into the world of Heirs of Isildur, a collision of sci-fi, steampunk, heavy metal and graphic storytelling that is on its fourth issue! Heirs of Isildur is not the only project under the Insymmetry Creations banner and we also get to hear about a number of those. And best of all, there is a campaign component where Stabbity and Isildur crossover!!! (Links to the Kickstar

This new Comic Book Bears audio episode is our last episode of 2024 and a loaded one it is! The CBB trio of Caleb, Bill and Steve are all on hand to chat about a whole bunch of things! The teaser trailer for the upcoming Superman film written and directed by James Gunn dropped on December 19th and this turned out to be a very big deal. We opine on it along with the new Creature Commandos animated series on Max which kicks off this new DC Universe for film and TV. In terms of Marvel, in the movie theaters right now is Kraven the Hunter - the new film based on the Spider-Man adversary starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the title role, Ariana DeBose and Russell Crowe. 66.6% of the bear crew saw it and provide their viewpoints on it. We also take a few new books off of the virtual spinner rack and discuss JSA by Jeff Lemire and Diego Orlotegui (DC), Arcbound by Tom Hardy, Scott Snyder, Frank Tieri and Ryan Smallman (Dark Horse) and Tender by Beth Hetland from Fantagraphics. Lastly, each of us choose their favorite

The Comic Book Bears shake off the snow and ice from their fur ... well, two of them do at least ... to regroup to chat about some new comics now that winter has hit! One of them is DC's Absolute Wonder Woman! Three more of them are from Image: The Department of Truth, Falling on Love on the Path to Hell and Grommets! Another is a new interpretation of Dracula courtesy o Matt Wagner and Kelley Jones! And we also chat about Being Gordy, a situation comedy in comic book form! So heat up some hot chocolate (or whatever your favorite wintertime drink is), hit play and enjoy!

In our first Comic Book Bears audio episode recorded after the US election, the CBB boys (Bill Z, Caleb and Steve) spend the first few minutes talking about the results and the state of the nation. We then (mercifully) put that to the side to chat about some recent comics. And what a line up we have! Absolute Superman #1! DC Horror Presents Creature Commandos #1! Animal Pound, written by Tom King and published by Boom! The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen! Horny & High, Volume I by Ed Firth from our good friends at Northwest Press! And the new Jonny Quest series from Dynamite! Hit play and enjoy!

New Comic Book Bears audio episode! For the first time in ages it is just Big Two books this time around as Caleb, Steve and Bill Z reconvene to talk about recent additions to Marvel's X-Men line and DC's most recent soft relaunch! Who are the Exceptional X-Men? Which recent X students are featured in the NYC set NYX? Why is Dazzler going back out on tour? What is the new status quo for the DC Universe set by the DC All In Special? And why are the Trinity confronting a rabbit with a Brooklyn accent in Multiversus: Collision Detected? Hit play and all will be answered!

We are catching up on our backlog so this next Comic Book Bears audio episode dates back to this past September 26th when Bill and Steve had just returned from Baltimore Comic Con! BCC is one of the best comic book conventions out there and we have been past guests of the con as press for a number of years, so it was a thrill to return to Inner Harbor! Bill and Steve talk about their experiences, gets and hijinks that happened during this year's edition. Then Caleb joins in on the fun as we have an all-indie roundtable chatting about books including Jeff Lemire's Minor Arcana (Boom Studios), Morning Star (Mad Cave), EC's Epitaphs from the Abyss (Oni Press), Howard Chaykin's Hey Kids! Comics! (Image) and A Phone Call Away (Mad Cave)!!! So please hit play and enjoy this Charm City inspired ep!

The CBB Boys are back but this time they are focused on one era of comic books in this new audio episode! Set the controls for the 1950s and 1960s as we discuss some of our favorite books published during the Silver Age of Comic Books. The Silver Age is considered to cover the period from 1956 to 1970 and it was a time where the concept of the super-hero was revitalized for the Cold War period! Caleb, Steve and Bill Z are on the mic to talk about some of their favorites - Fantastic Four, Tales to Astonish, Aquaman, Tales of the Bizarro World, the sci-fi work of Steve Ditko for Charlton, The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and more! 

On this latest Comic Book Bears audio episode, we emphasize the "Comic" part of our show title to welcome to the show queer comedian Jeff Klein!!! While talking about not fitting into his communities or clothes anymore, Jeff has performed at comedy clubs and festivals from coast to coast. This Florida-born comic is the host of the online shows Beer with a Queer and Outside a Comedy Club and very recently taped his first comedy special entitled Fatty Gay!! Bill Z and Steve spoke with Jeff just before his special was taped and chatted with him about how he got into comedy, what goes into recording a comedy special and much, much more!! We also talk comic books with Jeff and dive deep into his love for CrossGen Comics, particularly Ruse, and also offer up some more recent comics which gave us a few chuckles including the first issue of the new X-Factor series by Mark Russell and Bob Quinn and DC's Super-Pets Special: Bite-Dentity Crisis one-shot featuring a lead off story by Tony Fleecs and Mike Norton starring

As we enter into Labor Day weekend, the CBB boys are providing one more audio episode for you this month and this time it is our review of Deadpool and Wolverine!!! D and W is the 34th Marvel Cinematic Universe film and finds Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman reprising their respective title roles! It is directed by Shawn Levy and also stars Emma Corrin, Matthew Macfadyen, Morena Baccarin, Rob Delaney and so many cameos it might make your chimichangas explode! In the film, Deadpool learns that the Time Variance Authority is set to destroy his home universe and enlists help to stop them in R-Rated glory! Please note that the episode is all sorta spoilerific if you have yet to see it. But, if you want to find out what Bill Z, Caleb and Steve thought about it and (as is our custom whenever we have a movie centered episode) be provided with suggestions about some comic book arcs you might enjoy reading featuring the movie's main characters, then hit play and Let's. F*ckin'. Go!    

Recorded back on 7/25/2024 and finally available as our new audio episode, this show finds the CBB Boys (Caleb, Steve and Billy Z) recounting what the big news items were from this past San Diego Comic Con. Additionally, a bunch of new comic books come under our ursine analysis. Hit play to hear our opinions about new series like Phoenix (Marvel), Namor (Marvel), Zatanna: Brining Down The House (DC Black Label), Gatchaman (Mad Cave) and Space Ghost (Dynamite) along with the graphic novella Viscera Objectica by Yugo Limbo (Silver Sprocket). Plus we have our expected banter, tangents, Geeks Gets and Woofs of the Week!

It's a new Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episode!! And we are thrilled to bring back to the show our most frequent guest, the one and only Steve Bryant!! This time around Steve sits down to talk with us about his successful Kickstarter campaign for Undead or Alive! The upcoming graphic novel that Steve wrote with art by Jason Millet and Patrick McEvoy follows a trio of supernatural investigators trying to determine what is terrorizing the swamps outside of Gerber's Crossing, Louisiana! A love letter to 1970s and 80s monster comics, Undead or Alive concerns a dozen people who have gone missing—the most famous one being Arael Moon: comic book writer, pop culture icon, and practicing magician. What mysteries lurk in this macabre parish and can the Undead or Alive Agency put an end to the disappearances? Beyond that, Steve chats with us about a whole lotta stuff, including a certain Universal Monster with ties to Undead or Alive! The CBB Boys (Steve, Caleb and Bill) then stay on the mic for their round table abo

New Comic Book Bears audio episode! HeroesCon 2024 a few weeks ago marked the very first time that the current roster of CBB Boys - Bill Z, Steve and Caleb - were all under the same roof IRL! And to recount what went down in Charlotte we are once again joined by special guest Brian Newberry of the Comics Discourse 114 podcast! Apart from the con wrap-up we also dive into some recent books we have been enjoying which include Ain't No Grave (Image), Bloodshot Unleashed (Valiant), the long awaited My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book 2 (Fantagraphics) and the pure throwback joy of Bloodscar Megazine by Jason Horn! So hit play and enjoy two hours of 3/4 bearded and bombastic book banter!!

On this new Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episode, we are joined by Brian Newberry of the Comics Discourse 114 podcast! Though we have been friends with Brian for many many years, this is the first time he has joined us on our show! Hit play and listen in as Caleb, Bill Z and Steve talk with Brian about how he got into comics and what all four of us are looking forward to this upcoming weekend as we will all be meeting up in Charlotte, NC to attend Heroes Con! Then when the comic talk starts, it's a varied lot! Under the CBB microscope this time around are X-Men #35 (the legacy #700 anniversary issue), DC's 2024 Pride and DC Pride: A Celebration of Rachel Pollack anthologies, Parallel by Matthias Lehman, The Midnight Order by Mathieu Bablet, Self-Esteem and the End of the World by Luke Healy, Titan's new Savage Sword of Conan series and Lifeline Comics' crossover of their titles Haunting and Like Father, Like Daughter! There is nothing better than a hot guest bear like Brian during Pride month so whether you

Time for a new Comic Book Bears audio episode! On May 23rd the regular CBB crew (Steve, Caleb and Bill Z) convened to once again chat about the funnybooks. After a few tangents (Memorial Day weekend plans, our favorite Rolling Stones songs, prepping for HeroesCon) the boys finally sashay over to the virtual spinner rack in the Bearcave. Among the books discussed - Batman: Dark Age (DC), Batman/Superman: World's Finest (DC), Vengeance of the Moon Knight (Marvel), The Last Mermaid (Image), Pine and Merrimac (Boom) and Spectregraph (DSTLRY) - just hit play for two hours, one minute and twenty-five seconds of hairy heavy homo comic chat!

On this new Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episode we are thrilled to talk with two of the folks behind new indie publishing company Bamboo Panel Studios and their Kickstarter campaign for the first project, Kosmotrope! BPS CEO Jon Runyan is a long time friend of the show and past guest and he appears along with BPS Editor-in-Chief Randy Faustino! Randy also serves as the writer of Kosmotrope! Described as an urban fantasy thriller, Kosmotrope concerns a mysterious affliction begins striking down residents of the community of Sequoia Pass and it is up to conservation officer Liam O’Sullivan to stop the malady before the town and its people are consumed by it! Their Kickstarter runs until May 27th; the link is below. Beyond that Steve, Caleb and Bill Z talk about some new comics including the MAD Magazine Free Comic Book Day offering, Space Ghost #1 and Slash Presents (yes, THAT Slash) Deathstalker, based on the sword-and-sorcery film series from the 1980s! (And on that note R.I.P. Roger Corman.) https://www.

"X-Men '97" premiered on Disney+ on March 20th, 2024 and this series continues the storyline for the 1990s "X-Men: The Animated Series" and details the plight of the team as they face new challenges following the apparent death of their leader, Professor X. Hit play and you will hear Steve and Bill Z discuss the first few episodes and joining in them in their chat is longtime friend of the show Tony Gilkinson, appearing on the podcast for first time! Beyond X-Men '97, Tony and the CBB Boys also talk about some of their favorite X-Men stories in the funnybooks including the Neal Adams/Roy Thomas late 1960s X-Men run, the original graphic novel and the initial issues of The New Mutants, the Muir Island Saga and series starring Jimmy Hudson, son of Ultimate Wolverine! Hit play to join us for two plus hours of marvelous mutant musings!  

Hey kids - it's another new Comic Book Bears audio episode and we are thrilled to welcome back to the show our Ursine Operative from Oz, the Koala of Comics himself Nottingham scribe David Hazan!! Nottingham is on its 11th issue which is the start of the thrilling final arc of the series! David talks with us about what is ahead as the Sheriff returns home to find a city he barely recognizes. David also chats with us about his recently Kickstarted Requiem #2 and more about his process and his work! Then we move onto comic book roundtable time as the CBB boys Bill Z, Steve and Caleb discuss recent books like Feral (Image), Suicide Squad: Dream Team (DC), Black Hammer: The End (Dark Horse) and much more!  

The weather is getting warmer and the CBB boys have more comics to talk about! After covering some news items Steve, Caleb and Bill Z chat about some recent favorites of theirs including the end of the X-Men's Krakoa era books Rise of the Powers of X and Fall of the House of X (Marvel), Wonder Woman (DC), Outsiders (DC), The N Word of God (Fantagraphics) and Rare Flavours (Boom)! Plus, with this episode, we may be the only comic book podcast to have ever referenced the work of Lincoln Center Theater poster artist James McMullan! Plus our Geek Gets, our Woofs of the Week and more!