Comic Geek Speak Podcast - The Best Comic Book Podcast

It’s a current Marvel Comics Off the Rack reviews episode! The Speakers of Geek are joined by special 20th Anniversary sponsor guest, color artist Charlie Kirchoff, to catch up and talk about current projects. And then we give our Buy/Borrow/Pants recommendations for the first issues of Exceptional X-Men, Dazzler, Wolverine, Iron Man and Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu. We also give quick thoughts on Hyde Street, Zdarsky’s Batman, a few Energon Universe titles, classic Generation X and recent back issue purchases from Pants. And then the episode wraps up with CGS Trivia for Year 8! (1:17:20)

Thoughts and reactions to the news, announcements, and surprises from this year’s New York Comic Con. Bryan and Pants talk about their experience, walking the floor, and meeting creators and listeners. And then we cover various news stories including Loeb & Lee on Batman: Hush 2, Rise of Emperor Doom, the return of DC Vertigo, the launch of Ignition Press, new titles such as Aquaman, Absolute Martian Manhunter, Daredevil Cold Day in Hell and more. We then wrap things up with CGS Trivia for Year 7! (1:20:27)

Previews! We round out the year of comic coming attractions for books shipping mostly in December 2024! To help us with recommendations we are joined by Martheus Wade of the Toshigawa Universe, one of the many sponsors for our 20th Anniversary event. We talk about the new Ready 2 Spar: Fighting Femme Fatales GN being solicited this month as well as the Wade Family’s upcoming convention appearances. And then we dive into the Previews catalogs to suggest titles such as Mr. Mega Man, the Pedestrian tpb, ThunderCats: Apex, Manhole vol.2, Dust to Dust, New Gods and more from Alien Books, Dark Horse, Boom Studios, Image, Marvel and others. Along the way we say hello to Janet Wade, talk about Horror comics, and give quick thoughts on the first issue of Absolute Batman. (1:09:32)

Author and comics historian John Jackson Miller joins us to discuss his newly released Batman: Resurrection novel. A direct sequel to Tim Burton’s blockbuster Batman movie of 1989, this new prose story takes place after the Joker’s death and sets familiar faces against a new mysterious threat. Our conversation dips into John’s comic book history as a fan, writer and historian, the importance of Batmania on comics culture and writing within an established universe. As well as comic book topics such as organization, sales vs circulation, and keeping comics book lore alive for future generations. Enjoy! (1:37:25)

The Speakers of Geek tackle the trend of cartoons turned comics in this Saturday Morning Comics episode! Along with special guest Jimmy “The Napkin Guy” Ettele, we give our thoughts on a number of first issues from Mad Cave Studios (Gatchaman, Flash Gordon, Defenders of the Earth), Dynamite (Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, ThunderCats, ThunderCats: Cheetara) and Oni Press (Biker Mice From Mars, RoboForce). We pick our favorite reads, compare titles to the original cartoons, sing the praises of artists such as Jonathan Lau, Will Conrad and Sebastian Piriz, list a bunch of cartoons ready to make the jump to comics and more! (1:26:25)

Absolute Power comes to an end with issue 4 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Alejandro Sanchez, Ariana Maher and company! The Speakers of Geek give their thoughts on the finale and the all out battle against Amanda Waller to reclaim the DC Universe. We then spend the second half of the episode talking about the DC All In Special by Joshua Williamson, Scott Snyder, Daniel Sampere, Wes Craig and company. The Justice League has gone Unlimited, Darkseid has returned and Booster Gold finds himself caught in the middle. Also, a recent hospital adventure update from Pants! (1:01:27)

Joined by Tivis, one of the co-hosts of the Munster Cast (and a sponsor for the CGS 20th Anniversary!), the Speakers of Geek engage in a meaty Comic Talk episode celebrating everything from ‘60s TV (Oh, Lily!) to Batman Day 2024 (Take the quiz!) to the 25th Anniversary of Baltimore Comic Con (and the shopping!). Along the way we also share thoughts on the passing of John Cassaday, a Golden Eagle query concerning the Eisners, unspoken convention etiquette, a comic shop rant, our reading habits, and more! (1:42:02)

The Speakers of Geek take a bite out of Marvel’s five issue summer event, Blood Hunt! From the creative team of Jed MacKay, Pepe Larraz, Cory Petit, Marte Garcia, and Fernando Sifuentes, Blood Hunt pits the Avengers, Miles Morales, Doctor Strange, Moon Knight and others against hordes of Vampires with Blade as their new Lord! Twists and turns follow leading to a surprising new status quo for the Marvel Universe! We give our thoughts on the event, the differences in the Red Band issues, give high praise for the art and speculate on the repercussions. (39:19)

Previews! Can you believe it’s time again to go through the new catalogs for comics starting to ship this November! And to help us this month, we have guests George and Rich, two members of the Meanwhile at the Podcast show. One of the many sponsors for our 20th Anniversary event, we spend a little time learning about their podcast and then we all give recommendations including titles such as Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Justice League Unlimited, Black Canary: Best of the Best, the Rocketfellers, Duck Tales, Popeye: Man Overboard and so many more from IDW, Image, Marvel, Ahoy, DSTLRY, Dynamite and others. (1:15:16)

The penultimate chapter of Absolute Power by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Alejandro Sanchez, Ariana Maher and company is here! The Speakers of Geek give thoughts and reactions to issue 3 as well as connect the dots between tie-ins, give theories for the ending and map out all the leftover questions yet to be answered for the finale. We also drop in some CGS odds and ends including more X-Men From the Ashes talk, recent video releases on our Youtube and Patreon pages and upcoming trips to the Baltimore and New York Comic Cons! (1:01:55)

Recorded on Jack Kirby’s 107th birthday, this Comic Talk episode dips into all kinds of topics including: our first exposure to Kirby’s artwork, changing opinions as we age on artists, what parents thought of our comic collecting, listener feedback, Overstreet’s Top Ten Comics of the Golden Age, CGS Year 6 Trivia, an obscure Superman factoid, remembering Drunk Cap and a bunch more! (1:25:30)

X-Men have risen From the Ashes! It’s a new beginning for the X-Universe of titles and the Speakers of Geek give their Off the Rack reviews on a number of first issues: X-Men by MacKay and Stegman, Uncanny X-Men by Simone and Marquez, NYX by Kelly, Lanzing and Mortarino, and Phoenix by Phillips and Miracolo with quick comments on X-Force by Thorne and To and X-Factor by Russell and Quinn. Which books rose to the top, how will readers react to the new directions and where do we go from here? Listen in to find out! (57:47)

Previews! TerrifiCon! Comics and Conventions! Before we jump into this month’s Previews for books shipping in October, Pants and Shane recount their Tales from TerrifiCon: meeting creators, actors, buying art and comics, listener shoutouts and more! We then jump into comic coming attractions including DC’s All In and Absolute books, the return of Origins of Marvel Comics, a new Batman novel, offerings from Shawn Pryor, Dave Dwonch, Katie Cook and Charlie Kirchoff, new titles from Image, Ghost Machine, Oni and more! (1:13:17)

DC’s big summer event continues as the Speakers of Geek discuss issue 2 of Absolute Power by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Alejandro Sanchez, Ariana Maher and company. The depowered heroes battle one of their own in the Fortress of Solitude when amid the chaos, there comes... costumes! Also, Nightwing takes charge, Dreamer makes a big move, and Green Arrow has a plan. We touch briefly on a few tie-ins and offer up speculations on how this may all connect to DC All In and Absolute DC. (35:04)

“What is in your Comic Book D.N.A.?” continues! Bryan and Shane are back from vacation and it’s their turn to reveal those titles and characters that have informed their love of comics. We also discuss Bryan’s Pennsic adventures, some recent purchases for Shane, Batman: Caped Crusader thoughts and more. It’s a true “Get to Know Us” episode with some surprises along the way. (1:24:02)

For newer and longtime listeners, this Comic Talk episode covers a number of “Get to Know Us” (or “Get to Know Us Again”) topics including: catching up on Pants’ TV watching, DC cartoons we grew up on as well as initial thoughts on Batman: Caped Crusader, comics retailing, CGC vs Original Art collecting, listener feedback and more! We also kick off a main discussion of “What is in your Comic Book D.N.A.?”: those comics or runs that define us as comic book readers and collectors! (1:17:48)

Thoughts and reactions to the news, announcements, surprises and awards from this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Topics include a new Justice League by Waid and Mora, more cartoon comics from Dynamite, a slew of new Marvel titles, Joe Quesada’s new imprint, the Eisners, and so much more. Plus! Where were you when the sound of Doom was heard around the world? (1:08:47)

The end of Star Wars: The Acolyte has arrived! Listen in to hear our discussion on the final two episodes as we cover the secrets, the revelations, the surprise appearances, the fight choreography, listener feedback and more. Plus, speculations and hopes for the future of the Thrawn era of Star Wars, including recasting, as the franchise builds and expands. (59:05)

CGS presents a new episode feature entitled Top 3! In celebration of Wolverine guest starring in the new Deadpool movie, this episode presents Peter’s Top 3 Wolverine Guest Appearances outside of X-Men or Wolverine comics. He’s the best there is at what he does, but how does the character fare when not surrounded by his usual cast of characters or creative teams? Listen in to hear the Speakers of Geek discuss the Top 3 choices, Wolverine’s role in the stories, how the character is handled by other comic creators, meet ups with other Marvel characters, honorable mentions and listener selections. (54:00)

It’s another Previews deep dive this time for books shipping in September! The Speakers of Geek cover a bevy of publishers giving recommendations for American TV Comic Books from Twomorrows, Kill Shakespeare: First Folio from Gemstone, Kevin Maguire’s Tanga vs the Kaiju of Cammera GN, The Moon is Following Us by Johnson and Rossmo, a new Lady Mechanika mini-series entitled the Devil in the Lake, Incredible Hulk 900, Star Wars: Darth Vader 50, Batman the Barbarian and so much more. We then wrap up the episode with preliminary reactions to the recent announcement for DC All In! (1:10:44)