Comic Book Bears Podcast (general)
Comic Book Bears Podcast Issue #37 - Neal Adams Killed the Silver Age

Former DC collections editor Bob Joy joins us once again for a spirited discussion about the Silver Age of Comics! With Bryan about to get his Silver Age on by reading the Steranko S.H.I.E.L.D. collection, the other bear boys take us through their favorites from this era in comics. Jimmy Olsen! Curt Swan! The Brave and the Bold! Fanastic Four! Arnold Drake! Tales of the Bizarro World! Wally Wood! Mighty Crusaders! Dick Dillin! The White Suit Wonder Woman! Alex Toth! Challengers of the Unknown! Roy Thomas! The Inhumans! Jack Kirby! Millie the Model! Steve Ditko! T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents! And that's just scratching the Silver Age surface! After that, some new comics talk with RASL, Fury Max, Charles Soule and Strange Attractors, Code Monkey Save World, All-New X-Factor, Superior Spider-Man, the Green Lantern/Red Lanterns flip book, Earth 2 Annual #2 and more in the CBB spotlight.  All this plus the bears being bears and "guest" appearances by Lisa Rinna and Joan Rivers.

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_37.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:46am EDT

Comic Book Bears Podcast Issue #36 - Loose and Lo-Fi (and in leather)

This time around we find only Billy Z and Bryan in the comic bear den (as Justin continues to hibernate) and they offer up a very loose and lo-fi episode. Discussion topics this time around include author and NPR contributor Glen Weldon, Mid-Atlantic Leather and other gay leather events (stick with us - there is a super-hero connection), All-New X-Factor, All-New Invaders, Jonathan Hickman's S.H.I.E.L.D. and unfinished mini-series, Boom's The Foundation, Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Cry of Shadows, Star Wars #13, Robotech/Voltron. Doc Savage, The Saviors, Green Arrow, buying back issues, Miracleman, illegal downloads of comics, gaps in our reading, DC's cancellations and the state of DC (just guess where that goes) and a new feature - The Woof of the Week.

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_36.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:49am EDT

Comic Book Bears Podcast Issue #35 - CBBears at the movies ... and in front of the TV ... and somewhere you won't expect

There weren't a lot of new books to discuss when we joined together on the mic early last week so the bear boys decided to talk about their all-time favorite comic book based movies, live action and animated series.  The recipe also called for a dash of overrated and worst comic book movies along with rehashing some celebrity encounters.  But we weren't going to give you a show completely devoid of comic book talk so you'll hear what we think about the Marvel 2014 teasers and recent Batman books.  Then Billy Z, Bryan and Justin talk ... sports!?!?! Warning - some explicit language. (But you already knew that.)

INTRO - OCEAN COLOUR SCENE - "You've Got It Bad"

01:55 - Intro and our favorite comic book based movies

17:50 - Overrated comic book movies

23:55 - Great scenes from comic book based films

25:57 - Least favorite comic book films

27:55 - Favorite comic book based live action series

39:35 - Celebrity encounters

52:40 - Favorite comic book based animated films

1:05:55 - Current comic book talk - Marvel 2014 teasers, Detective Comics #27, Batman: The Dark Knight #26, Legends of the Dark Knight #s 42 - 47

1:15:20 - Shout outs and salutes

OUTRO: KARMA TO BURN - "35"

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_35.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:51pm EDT

Comic Book Bears Podcast Issue #34 - Captain Action Talk with Ed Catto and the Best of 2013 in Comics

In our final episode for 2013, Billy Z, Bryan and Justin are pleased to welcome Ed Catto of Captain Action Enterprises to the show! Captain Action has a special place in history as being the very first super-hero action figure.  Ed takes us through the history of the character and his appearances in comic books past and present, including the current Codename Action mini-series written by Chris Roberson and published by Dynamite Entertainment. Ed is also a partner and co-founder of the Bonfire Agency, a marketing firm centered around helping companies connect directly with genre markets. And since we are close to the holidays, favorite comic-related yuletide gifts work their way into the conversation.

In the second part of the episode, the bear boys go through their favorites of 2013. Uncanny Avengers. Avengers Arena. Forever Evil. Saga. Hawkeye. Batman. The Fifth Beatle. Captain Midnight. All-New X-Men. Jonathan Hickman. Brian Michael Bendis. Charles Soule. Matt Fraction. Chip Zdarsky. Ramon Perez. David Aja. Chris Samnee. Afterlife with Archie. Injustice. Something Terrible. Will any of these be among our favorites? Well, you'll just have to listen in to find out! (And see if you can catch where Bill invents a new word to describe the people who put pencil to paper to draw the pretty pictures.)

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_34.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:47pm EDT

Comic Book Bears Podcast Issue #33 - With Special Guest William Lindus of the Movie Bears Podcast!

Brother Bryan is out celebrating so Billy Z and Justin welcome William Lindus from the Movie Bears Podcast to the CBBears Den to fill the third seat! Will lets us in on his history reading comics then we get into current comics talk.  You'll hear us rap about Saga, Earth 2, Forever Evil, Year Zero, Animal Man, Scooby Doo Team Up, Fearless Defenders, Avengers Arena, Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe (... again), X-Men: Legacy, Hawkeye, Amazing X-Men, Infinity, Inhumanity, The Fifth Beatle, the trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Gal Gadot cast as Wonder Woman, Alan Moore and Watchmen.  All this plus a huge tangent about lousy haircut and facial hair choices in our collective past, Justin thinks Watchmen is boring and the movie was better, Bill can't pronounce "Moira Queen" to save his life and this episode is probably the only time you will hear Alan Moore being compared to Faye Dunaway.

A word about the sound quality - for some reason when we recorded Bill was way over modulated and Will was a bit under modulated.  We fixed it as best as we could in the mix to mono.  If it is distracting, we still hope you will stick around because we think we get into some quality funny book conversation.

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_33.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:54am EDT

Comic Book Bears Podcast Issue #32 - Special Guest Paul Kupperberg!

The CBBears are pleased to have special guest Paul Kupperberg on for an interview during the first hour of our latest episode!  Paul is currently the writer of the best selling Life with Archie magazine from Archie Comics.  He also authored the first young adult prose novel featuring Kevin Keller.  Paul has written over 900 stories for Marvel, Charlton, 2000 AD, Bongo and most prominently for DC Comics, where he created Checkmate and Arion, Lord of Atlantis.  We touch on all of these as well as Paul's new novel from Crazy 8 Press, The Same Old Story and other upcoming projects.  Then the boys get into some new comic talk.  Wanna hear what we think about Afterlife with Archie #2, Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe, Green Lantern Corps #25, Harley Quinn #0, Captain Midnight, Triple Helix, X-Men: Gold, Rocket Girl and other recent books? Then listen in. (EXPLICIT WARNING - yeah, we let out a few cuss words here and there, shame on us.)

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_32.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:12am EDT

Comic Book Bears Podcast Issue 31 - Talking Collected Editions with Bob Joy

Collected editions are up first in the episode as Billy Z, Justin and Bryan are joined by former DC Comics collected editions editor Bob Joy! Bob offers up his insights into collected editions and discusses his experiences editing various books during his tenure at DC. Then we shift over to news of DC's move to Burbank and the passing of Nick Cardy.  From there we go into current comic talk, discussing Battle of the Atom, Infinity and Amazing X-Men from Marvel, Sex Criminals and Velvet from Image and DC's Forever Evil. At various points in the cast you will also hear us discuss tranny Jimmy Olsen, Spooky Bear in Provincetown, the Skip Ender's Game events, Greg Rucka, DC Showcase Presents releases, Supergirl as a teen model, the late 70's New Gods revival by Gerry Conway and Don Newton, The Adventures of Superman radio show, Ed McGuinness, Afterlife with Archie and a helluva lot more.

In the mood to play a drinking game as you listen? Then take a shot every time Billy Z says "esoteric".

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_31.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:34pm EDT

Comic Book Bears Podcast Issue 30 - Straight Bears Invade NYCC

Billy Z, Bryan and Justin are joined this time by a host of straight guys for a wrap up of New York Comic Con 2013! Lonnie Ruland of New World Manga, The Line it is Drawn and Back Issue magazine contributor John Trumbull and Rob Staeger of The Village Voice join Billy for a rundown of their con experiences.  Then the whole gang joins in, first for a talk about growing up on Saturday morning TV in honor of the passing of Lou Scheimer then they hit the spinner rack for dem funny books! IDW Artists Editions, Code Monkey Saves World, Jules Feiffer, Dan DiDio, Jason of Star Command, Sex Criminals, Green Arrow #24, Jupiter's Legacy, Ark II, Letter 44, Afterlife with Archie all get discussed along with so much more! There's a little bit of football talk - yes Virginia, there are gay men who like football - and ... wait for it ...  Monchhichis!!!

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_30.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:43pm EDT

The bear boys welcome author and columnist Charles Baserap.  Charles is a regular contributor to forcesofgeek.com and nerdtopiacast.com and he takes us through some of his interests in comics and topics of recent columns.  After that, the discussion turns to Marvel's Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series and some other genre TV talk, Dean Trippe's Something Terrible, DC Villains Month, the latest Infinity and X-Men goings on at Marvel, Mike Carey and The Unwritten and quick takes on Sex Criminals, Jupiter's Legacy, Sidekick, The Star Wars and Kings Watch.  And this episode is closed out by our uncoolest outro music yet.

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_29.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:25pm EDT

Comic Book Bears Podcast Issue #28 - Hey Kids! Rob Kelly

In our latest episode the bear boys welcome Rob Kelly, author of the new book HEY KIDS! COMICS, a great collection of contributions from a varied set of essayists discussing how comic books played a significant role in their lives. In addition to the book Rob also discusses ACE KILROY, a webcomic he writes.  And as Rob is the force behind the AQUAMAN SHRINE website, you know Billy Z wasn't going to have Rob guest on the show without some Arthur Curry talk.  After that, Bryan, Justin and Billy Z shift over to current comics with The Young Protectors webcomic, Battle of the Atom, Infinity, DC Villains Month books (including some talk about the hot bears of the New 52), X-Men Legacy, X-O Manowar and Eternal Warrior each getting their time in the spotlight.  You can hear all this plus, for once, the boys somehow do not venture off into Explicit Contentville! 

Direct download: Comic_Book_Bears_Podcast_Issue_28.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:01pm EDT