In the first part of this new episode, Bill Zanowitz interviews Andy Mangels! Andy is a man of many pop culture credits including authoring novels, comic books, and magazine articles and producing DVD collections. Andy is here to discuss the recent Wonder Woman 77 Meets The Bionic Woman from Dynamite and DC which he wrote and which has recently been released in a collected edition. Apart from taking us through this historic first meeting between Princess Diana and Jaime Sommers, Andy also discusses his long standing role in fandom, his work with Gay Comix, his moderating of the first Gays in Comics panel ever and his work producing DVD documentary materials for many TV seasons sets! And if that's not enough we also get to hear about with his performing with the Broadway Bears singing group and about his creating the first prominent LGBT character in the Star Trek universe!

After the interview, Bryan and Steve join up with Bill to discuss a couple of movies that you may have heard were recently released - Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League!

We did things a little different on this episode.  We turn on the tube instead of heading over to the spinner rack as Bill, Bryan and Steve are all on the mic in this ep to talk about the first few weeks of comic book based TV of the 2017-2018 season. Plus we throw alcohol into the mix. We flip the channels to talk about Lucifer, Supergirl, The Gifted, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Riverdale, Gotham, Arrow and Inhumans. Listen to this barely edited episode with some bits of snark, excessive appearances of "um"s and "like"s, Bill forgetting Steve's name and all of us forgetting Lou Diamond Phillips' name. 

Bryan and Bill recently went to New York Comic Con and also participated in a number of NYCC Presents events, just as they have in years past! Listen in and you'll hear about when went down at NYCC 2017! Then, while we were recording we went off on a tangent! Neither Bill nor Bryan were able to go to the queer oriented panels at this year's con but that doesn't mean they not did have opinions about the recent panels of a similar stripe that they either hosted or attended.  It turned into a really robust discussion and the CBBs decided to include it in full (and naturally would welcome anyone else's opinions on the subject matter that we cover.) We eventually course correct, get back to the con coverage and then head over to the spinner rack for some chatter about DC Rebirth titles, Marvel Legacy, Iceman, Mister Miracle and more current comics!

Just sneaking in with another end of month check in! Bryan is otherwise occupied but Steve and Billy Z are back to let you about what has been going on, a preview of NYCC events that the co-hosts will be part of as well as some comic book talk with hairy heavy homo chatter about Dark Day: Metal, Archie #23, Heavy Metal #287, Runaways #1 and more!

Intro: Bear In Heaven - "Reflections of You"

Outro: Elbow with John Grant - "Kindling (Fickle Flame)"

And make sure you check out this Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/keepleft/captain-freedom-combat-hate-comic-book

We have been quiet on the Comic Book Bears front for most of the summer but we didn't want to send off Summer 2017 without leaving you with another episode.  This time around Bryan talks about what it was like hosting a panel at San Diego Comic Con! After that Bryan joins Bill and Steve at the spinner rack where they discuss books that are making them smile including Valiant's Secret Weapons, Mr. Miracle (and the Fourth World in general), Batgirl, Gotham Academy: Second Semester, Secret Empire and Super Sons!

The Comic Book Bears had an unplanned summertime hibernation but we can't think of a better reason to get us up and moving within our cave than to welcome Thom Collins to the show for the first time! Thom is the creative force behind Occultation, a three part graphic novel series that explores a distant dystopian future and what happens when the religious, right-wing fundamentalists take power. The central character, Ellis Becker, is a 6’7″, 340lbs gay man who works as an "extractor" - a highly trained specialist who’s purpose is to extract people, art, literature and anything of value to the human race, without detection. Thom takes us through how he came to develop the universe that Ellis, his teammates and his adversaries inhabit, his creative process in crafting the very distinctive look of the series, his influences and much, much more! Occultation II was the first book in the series released and was the subject of a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign. A campaign to fund Occultation III is under way right now!

After the interview, Bill Z and Steve reconvene to talk about what they have been up to, what their missing co-hosts Bryan and Justin are up to, their experiences at HeroesCon and Garden State Comic Fest and then they head to the spinner rack for reading of books both new (Mage: The Hero Denied; the Batman/Elmer Fudd and Legion of Super-Heroes/Bugs Bunny crossover specials) and old (Common Grounds, Ex Machina) and much more!

Links:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1235603036/occultation-iii

https://5ive9ine2wo.com/

https://www.facebook.com/occultationgraphicnovel/

We really wanted to get out an episode to you in time for the theatrical release of Wonder Woman so we crafted this very special episode with some very special guests! Joining Bill and Steve are Brad Taylor of the Wonder Words Podcast and James Figueiredo of Bear Nerd for an hour and 45 minutes of solid Wonder Woman talk! We discuss the history of Princess Diana of Themyscira in comics and in other media, her deep association with queer culture, what comic book arcs and graphic novel collections featuring Wonder Woman we would recommend and lots more!

The latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise came out recently and there is no better time for the Comic Book Bears to bring back to the show William Lindus of the Movie Bears Podcast! Will joins Bryan, Justin, Bill and Steve to discuss the continuing big screen adventures of Star Lord, Rocket, Drax, Gamora, Baby Groot, Nebula, Yondu and more! And after some comic book related TV and film news, Will gets the chance to talk comic books with the CBBears as X-Men Blue, Secret Empire, Batman, The Flash, Bug and Youngblood are among the books on the spinner rack on this episode!!!

One last "missing" episode from our archives that we are bringing back to you! Originally released on January 26th, 2015.

The CBBears present to you the second of our special satellite episodes. This time around regular co-host Bill Zanowitz is joined by Michael Myers of the Valiant Podcast, DC Noise and Geek Brunch! Mike and Billy Z came to be comic fans at the same time and they will present their argument that 1973 was a GREAT year to enter the world of four color heroes! Through this episode you will hear them recount how they came to start reading and collecting, what it was like to experience the premiere episode of Super Friends, the magic that was the Mego World's Greatest Super-Heroes action figure line and what their early and long-time favorites were and are. Some of those favorites - 100 Page Super Spectaculars, The Defenders, Justice League of America, OMAC, The Flash, Spider-Man, Jack Kirby, Mike Grell, Cary Bates, Len Wein and much, much, much more! And, in keeping with the tradition of the their respective podcasts, Mike and Billy Z's involvement insures that there will be tangents galore!

The CBB Bears are back and now that Legion, the FX TV series based on the Marvel comic, has wrapped up its first season, Bill, Bryan and Steve reconvene to discuss the entire season.  And to help them with this task they are thrilled to welcome for the first time to the show as a guest Chris Roman! Chris is a professor of English at Kent State and a huge comic book fan! (Boys, he's also very easy on the eyes!) Apart from the televised beauty that was Legion Season 1, they also discuss the recent Ardian Syaf X-Men controversy, the Woofs of the Week and more!

We are THRILLED to announce that with this episode being re-posted that all of the past Comic Book Bears episodes which went missing for a time are now back in circulation!

On this one from just shy of a year ago, we were five strong in the Comic Book Bears den as Bill, Justin, Matt, Bryan and Steve were all on hand this week. First up, Daredevil's Season 2 on Netflix! Some of the bear boys had finished up their binge watching and chime in about what they thought of this season in which The Punisher and Elektra make their MCU debuts. Then, the long awaited Wonder Woman: Earth One graphic novel by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette was recently released and that too comes under the CBB microscope. The (then) current comic talk continued on with Aliens: Defiance, Faith, Avengers: Standoff, The Ultimates, Harley Quinn and Suicide Squad: April Fool’s Day, Injection, The Omega Men, X-Men's Apocalypse Wars, Lois and Clark, Batman, Silver Surfer (complete with an Alicia Masters tangent) and more!

Original Show Notes from April 15th, 2016:

The CBBears are taking a brief breather so Tito and Bill fill the hairy homo weekly podcast slot this time. Grab some cereal and for the next hour (well, hour and 15 minutes) plant yourself on the couch, turn on the TV and listen in as Messrs Gutierrez and Zanowitz run down their favorite Saturday morning and weekday afternoon shows from when they were growing up.  If the names Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, Sid and Marty Krofft, Protoculture, Tusky The Walrus, The Regal Beagle and The He-Man Women Hater's Club mean something to you, you just might have something in common with our hosts' respective top 10 lists!

Original Show Notes from February 21st, 2016:

Tito and Bill head over to their bookshelves in this episode and talk about their all time favorite books about music and musicians. The subjects range from punk rock, The Beatles, The Louvin Brothers, Throbbing Gristle, KISS, Donovan, Patti Smith, The Partridge Family and death metal to Dean Reed, Broadway musicals, The Germs, Frank Zappa and bugglegum music!

Rock books rock!

Intro and Outro - Echo and the Bunnymen: "Read It In Books"

Original Show Notes from January 25th, 2016

Tito and Bill are back with their first regular episode after a "zero episode" preview but unfortunately the topic is an unexpected and somber one. Listen in as they memorialize the life and career of David Bowie. They pick their favorite Bowie songs, recount their experiences seeing him live, how they first came to be aware of Bowie, their favorite cover versions of Bowie songs and a lot more.

Very happy to announce that we are getting the missing Tito and Bill Goodtime Hour episodes back into circulation! Does this mean that there will be more? Hmmmm!

Original show notes from January 3rd, 2016:

The boys of the Comic Book Bears remain in holiday hibernation this week BUT that doesn't mean we won't stick to our weekly release schedule and have something special to share with you this week! And it is just what the pop culture doctor ordered– the very first episode of a new podcast with two middle aged gay dudes talking about music, movies toys and such.  You might not want it but you need it! Join Tito Gutierrez (guitarist with LA punk band Bear Fight) and Bill Zanowitz (host of the Comic Book Bears Podcast) as they introduce themselves in this getting-to-know-you episode. And what do they talk about? How does rapping about Mego action figures, Cliff Richard, Flash Gordon, concert venues in LA and NYC, Cheap Trick, Olympic skating superstar Scott Hamilton, Peter Boyle, Cary Grant, Elvira, Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, Kraftwerk, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death, the Zodiac killings, Elvis Costello, John Waters films, Pete Townshend, Arthur Lee and Love, Johnny Depp, hair metal and Cinderella, Star Wars and more sound to you?!

The Comic Book Bears Podcast is thrilled to bring back to the show Sina Grace! Sina is here to talk about the just released second season of his Self-Obsessed webseries, based on his graphic novel of the same name from Image Comics! As an added (and very woofy) plus, Sina brings along with him Kevin Sonnichsen who directed season 2! Listen in as Sina and Kevin take Steve, Bill and Justin through what to expect in Self-Obsessed Season 2 along with some of Sina's other recent work including his All-New X-Men Annual story, Persian Version, The Nine Weirdest Dicks I've Sucked and hella more! (And we totally earn that "Explicit" tag applied to this episode!)

http://sinagrace.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/sinadarkcomics

http://sinagrace.bigcartel.com/

Matt, Steve, Bryan and Bill take a look at some very recent comics and cover what they are grooving on and what didn't ring their bells on this episode. On the Comic Book Bears spinner rack this week you will find The Walking Dead, Outcast, Cyborg, The Ultimates, Batman, Fight Club 2, X-Men '92, Patsy Walker Hellcat, Superman, Action Comics, Captain America and Jughead. Plus a little bit of Rhode Island talk (because you always need a little bit of that in your life.)

The Comic Book Bears are thrilled to bring back to the show for a second time special guest Steve Lightle! You will know Steve from his decades long association with the Legion of Super-Heroes and as a prominent cover artist (Classic X-Men and The Flash among others), not to mention interior work on a host of titles. In recent times Steve has been the writer and artist of the webcomic Justin Zane.  As Steve details on his website Justin Zane "is the name of a hit tune in 2769 A.D., as well as the name adopted by an incredible mental patient on the satellite asylum known as "the TOMBS."  He lost his freedom because he is too dangerous to be free - or so they are telling him.  The psychiatrist assigned to his case is the intelligent and beautiful Doctor Glimmer Starborn - but she seems too good to be true.  Then there's the matter of the glamorous newscaster Catrina Fellina, the anarchist skrok band known as The Idle Reich, and the destruction of Yasgur's Planet." Steve goes into some of his future plans for Justin Zane, the supporting cast (which includes a character Steve created when he was six years old), his influences, a little bit of the Legion, working for the big two, his artistic process, The Beatles, sci-fi authors Steve loves, H.P. Lovecraft and horror comics ... and as an exclusive he lets us in on a big Justin Zane secret!

LINKS:

http://stevelightle.wix.com/justin-zane

https://www.patreon.com/Lunatick_Press

Intro - "Reflection of You" by Bear in Heaven

Outro - "86" by Green Day

With our bear brothers Justin and Bryan unavailable, Steve, Bill and Matt make sure that your weekly quota of hairy heavy homo comic book talk is filled. Listen in and you will hear us chime in on The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, what Marvel titles we are still getting, Zodiac Starforce, Toil and Trouble, Saints, the New 52 books that we really liked, the Superman books, Deadpool Reborn, Deathmate (the Image/Valiant crossover in the 90's), Titans Hunt, Neal Adams, Superman vs. Muhammad Ali and a lot more!

The Crimson Comedian! The Asinine Assassin! The Regeneratin' Degenerate! The Merc With The Mouth! Yes, on this new episode the CBBears talk about Deadpool! The new film starring Ryan Reynolds smashed box office records over the last week and the boys talk about what they thought of the movie! Then, since this is a comic book podcast, each of the Bears provides a Deadpool comic that they would recommend. It is also worth mentioning that on the day we recorded this show, it was also National Drink Wine Day ... and who are we to not celebrate? So, on top of a whole lot of Wade Wilson, we also jabber on about stand up comedians, DC Rebirth, Matt loving The Manhattan Projects, which two of us hate maple syrup flavored bacon and making his first appearance on the show in two years  - Drunk Bill!

Intro - "Reflections of You" by Bear in Heaven

Outro - "Since 84" by Mac Dre

The episode kicks off with our coverage of Batman: Bad Blood, the new DC Universe animated feature! Our Grand Poobear Billy Z attended the premiere of the film at the Paley Center in New York City and you will hear him speak with some of the actors and creators involved with the film - Yvonne Strahovski (Batwoman), Sean Maher (Nightwing) and character designer Phil Bourassa. After that Matt and Steve join Bill with what they thought of the movie.  Then Bryan and Justin add to the fun with some comic book talk including where things stand with Marvel's X-books, The Illuminati, Thor, Marvel's Contest of Champions, Poison Ivy, Alan Moore's Providence, IDW's Jem and the Holograms and as always a lot more.

Intro: "Reflection of You" by Bear in Heaven 

Outro: "83" by John Mayer

On the latest episode of the CBB podcast, snowstorms and wisdom teeth prevent Justin and Bryan from joining us but Bill and Steve are still on hand! And this duo is thrilled to welcome to the show artist/writer/poet Bubba from Wabi-sabi Zinez for the first time! Bubba talks with us about the super-cool 2017 NYC Queer Comic Fair happening on April 8th! The discussion then turns to some of Bubba's work including Odd Men Out, The Neighborhood is on Fire, Bad Sex, Papa and more!!!

Afterwards, Bill and Steve head over to the spinner rack to chat about some recent books including Harrow County, Valiant's A&A, the Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye Revolution one-shot, a bunch of DC Rebirth titles, The Wild Storm #1, Astro City #41 and ... well ... a whole lotta Astro City!

Intro - "Reflections of You" by Bear in Heaven

Outro - "A Kind of Love" by Marc Almond

LINKS:

http://bgsqd.com/event/2017-nyc-queer-comic-fair/

https://www.facebook.com/events/964331220365856/

http://wabisabizinez.storenvy.com/

www.facebook.com/WabiSabiZinez

This time on the UKPNW@40 Podcast we will focus in on a pre-stardom recording by Joe Jackson.  Prior to his hitting the New Wave scene in 1978 as a solo artist he was part of the group Arms & Legs. Listen in as you'll get to hear his first ever lead vocal on vinyl from 1976!

We have sung the praises of Dash - the GREAT noir detective comic book set in 1940's Los Angeles centered around openly gay private eye Dash Malone from Northwest Press - a few times already on the show.  Now we are thrilled to welcome to the show for the first time Dash writer Dave Ebersole! We kick off the show interviewing Dave and delve into the world of Dash, what might lie ahead for Phil, Zita, Cindy, Sal and the other characters, Dave's process and his work as a playwright and much, much more.  We then head into our Baltimore Comic Con wrap-up with a healthy CBBears contingent in attendance this year. Afterwards the whole group joins in to talk current comics with our observations regarding Sex Criminals, The Manhattan Projects, The New Deal, Ninjak, Brandon Graham’s Island, Book of Death, Captain America: White, Toe Tag Riot, Sentinel, A Piggy’s Tale: The Adventures of a Three Legged Superpup, Justice League, Sandman: Overture and much more!

Intro - "Reflections of You" by Bear in Heaven

Outro - "Attica 71" by Olivver

We start the episode off with an in depth interview with writer/artist Steve MacIsaac! Steve has recently released the fifth issue of his Shirtlifter series and he discusses with us what Shirtlifter is all about, the creative process, his successful crowdfunding effort for the book, the complexities of promoting a gay oriented indie comic, what is up next for him and so much more!

Then the hosts are pleased to welcome back to the show producer Sam Kite from Bear City 3! But this time Sam gets to talk about the funnybooks with us.  There's a whole lotta of Marvel and Secret Wars talk, a lotta DC talk, some Valiant talk, Archie #2, The Wicked and the Divine, Tula Lotay, Phonogram: The Material Girl, Astro City #26, Hawkeye, Secret Wars tie-ins recommendations ... that's just skimming the surface.

(Also, one of the hosts was still dealing with the effects of strep throat when we recorded so there are some coughs here and there that snuck in before the mute button was hit. We hope what we couldn't edit out isn't too distracting.)

 WOOFY LINKS:

http://www.stevemacisaac.com/

http://www.bearcity.com/

http://www.bearcity3.com/

http://sinagrace.com/

http://www.dragoncon.org/

http://nerdyshow.com/flameon/

http://www.bearbust.org/

https://www.teepublic.com/user/VeryBear

http://espn.go.com/30for30/film?page=small-potatoes-who-killed-the-usfl

http://www.newyorksuperweek.com/en/Sessions/13308/Comic-Book-Bears-vs-Flame-On-Live

The UKPNW@40 PODCAST is back and this time the spotlight sets on early November of 1976 when we first got to experience Ultravox.  After debuting in 1974 as Tiger Lily, the group first released music under the Ultravox name as part of the line-up of an Island Records compilation album.  Listen in and host Bill Zanowitz will tell you all about it!

On this episode of the Comic Book Bears podcast, the CBBears are thrilled to welcome to the show Joseph Carriker! Joe has been writing in the gaming industry for over fifteen years and is about to release his first prose novel - Sacred Band from Lethe Press.  Sacred Band is a queer themed super-hero tale which depicts the rise of a loose-knit super powered team dedicated to helping those who fall between the cracks in a world where the golden age of heroes is decades past.

After that Steve, Bryan and Bill spend some time discussing the first episode of Legion, the new X-Men related TV series on FX! (Mini-spoiler - they all liked it! A lot!)

http://josephcarriker.com/sacred-band/

https://twitter.com/oakthorne

https://www.facebook.com/sacredbandnovel/

This week Bill, Bryan, Steve and Matt are all on the mic to talk about Captain America: Civil War, the thirteenth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe series of films! Civil War centers around The Avengers and disagreement over international oversight of the team which fractures them into two opposing factions – one led by Steve Rogers and the other by Tony Stark. The CBBears weigh in on the film and also briefly discuss the 2006-2007 Marvel Comics crossover event that inspired the new movie in part!

 Intro - Bear in Heaven - "Reflections of You"

Outro - As I Lay Dying - "94 Years"

Billy Z, Justin, Matt and Steve are back this week with an abbreviated episode that still manages to pack in a whole lotta funnybook talk! We hear a little bit about Bill's Chicago adventure at the C2E2 convention along with a healthy dose of Valiant (Archer and Armstrong, Ninja ... um ... Ninjak, Wrath of the Eternal Warrior), Marvel's Infinity Entity by Jim Starlin and Alan Davis and one of the Woofs of the Week leads to some unexpected Doom Patrol talk - which we promise to follow up on at a later date!

 Intro - "Reflections of You" by Bear in Heaven

Outro - "88 Lines About 44 Women" by The Nails

The Comic Book Bears are Matt-less this week but Bill, Justin, Bryan and Steve still assure you a good amount of hairy-heavy-homo comic book talk in this episode loaded with recent issues! On the spinner rack in this episode are various X-books from Marvel, the first issue of Patsy Walker, Hellcat (with a new favorite character of ours among the supporting cast), Jupiter's Circle, Last Gang in Town, Dark Knight III, Darkseid War, Swamp Thing and much more!

Intro - "Reflections of You" by Bear in Heaven

Outro - "1979" by Smashing Pumpkins

The CBB boys were all about the Big 2 last time so this episode shifts focus to some of the finest books from independent publishers that they are digging. They start off with some discussion about their favorite bits of news from last month's San Diego Comic Con and then they launch into the indie talk! You get the lowdown on - Secret Identities; Gravedigger: The Predators; Dash; The Manhattan Projects; The Dying and the Dead; God Hates Astronauts; Luther Strode; Providence; 8 House: Arclight; Strange Fruit; Archie; Hellboy and BPRD; Airboy (of two different eras); Nathan and the Adonai; The Spire; Grant Morrison's 18 Days and more!

We are absolutely thrilled to bring to the Comic Book Bears Podcast for the first time the creative force behind Wuvable Oaf, the one and only Ed Luce! Ed joins Steve Mowry and Bill Zanowitz and they have Ed take us through the origins of everyone's favorite kitty cat loving, headbanging and hirsute masked wrestler up to the most current Oaf book Blood and Metal which recently came out on Fantagraphics! Amidst the expected talk about bears and cats and music and wrestling, we also explore Ed's work on Henry and Glenn Forever, his story in a sex themed issue of Heavy Metal along with some insight into Ed's future work! (Big thanks to Bennet Marks for the pic of Ed with Goteblüd himself!)

All four CBBears (Bill, Justin, Bryan and Steve) are on the mic for this episode! And for their first episode of 2017 they choose to look back and offer up their favorites for 2016! Listen in and find out what their picks for best ongoing title, best limited series, best writer, best artist and more are!