Comic Book Bears Podcast

Justin, Bryan and Billy Z are back together in the bear den for the first time in a while! Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Marvel's Agents of SHIELD dominates the opening part of the cast, then they switch over to current comic talk, rapping about the current Cap books by Rick Remender, Uncanny Avengers, Magneto, All-New X-Men, Nightcrawler, All-New X-Factor, Inhuman, Daredevil, Action Comics, Supergirl, Batman and Wonder Woman, Batman: Eternal, Batgirl, Earth 2, The Wake, Trillium, Molly Danger by Jamal Igle, Iron Bound by Brendan Leach, curling, RuPaul's Drag Race and transphobia and much more.

Through the course of the episode we discover that Bryan has a thing for Lana Lang and that Justin is a Pumpkin Pounder. (If you don't know what that is, well you'll just have to listen in.)

Billy Z and past guest Bob Joy are joined by Chris Cummins for an Riverdale-riffic episode. Chris is a geek culture writer for Den of Geek US, Topless Robot and Geekadelphia and he also hosts the Nerd Nite Philadelphia events. Chris has hosted a number of trivia events in the past. He serves in the same function here with a trivia contest between Bob and Billy. Chris is also an Archie Comics expert and the conversation turns to a lengthy discussion of all things Archie, past and present. Life with Archie, Sabrina, Jughead's Diner, The Fox, Kevin Keller, Cosmo the Merry Martian, Josie and the Pussycats, Afterlife with Archie - they're all in there and much, much more! Then we get into new comics talk including Animal Man, 50 Girls 50, Daredevil, The Joker: The Clown Prince of Crime, All-New Invaders, Silver Surfer, Justice League of America and more. The episode is closed out, as always, with our Woofs of the Week!

And Billy overuses the word "affection" - might make for a good drinking game!

Bill Zanowitz of the Comic Book Bears and Rob Staeger are the hosts for a new podcast about one of the coolest concepts from the Silver Age of Comics - The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents!! Rob and Bill will be conducting an issue by issue examination covering the entire history of the super-heroic espionage team, from its beginnings in 1965 to the current book published by IDW. On this first episode, the spyglass is focused firmly on T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1, published by Tower Comics and cover dated November 1965. Hear all about how Dynamo, NoMan and Menthor came into being as we discuss tales crafted by such comic greats as Wally Wood, Reed Crandall, Gil Kane, George Tuska and Mike Sekowsky.

This episodes T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Tracks -

The Blasters "Samson and Delilah"

Duran Duran - "Sound of Thunder"

Billy Z and Justin welcome the amazing Wendi Freeman to the Comic Book Bears Podcast for a rockin' crossover episode with Wendi's Double Page Spread podcast!!! In the first of a two episode crossover, Wendi and the bears talk about rock and roll related comics from the 50s to the 80s. On the turntable - The Beatles, The Originals, The Defenders, Korn, Wings, Matt Wagner, The Micronauts, The Archies, Josie and the Pussycats, Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space, the Josie and the Pussycats movie, Riot Grrrl Josie and the Pussycats (we wish), KISS, John Romita Jr., Teen Titans, Alice Cooper, rock stars who freaked us out as kids, Dazzler, more Dazzler, even more Dazzler, Shrapnel, Sonic Disruptors, Steeltown Rockers, Rock and Roll Comics, Todd Loren and Revolutionary Comics, The Plasmatics, Dan DiDio impressions, Undertow from Image, True Detective, Patrick Cox, Legands of the Knight and tangents galore! And this is just the beginning - check out Wendi's Double Page Spread Podcast for the second part soon!

INTRO - Matthew Sweet - "Where You Get Love"

0:42 - Introducing Wendi

1:45 - The Boob Toob Podcast Promo

2:54 - Wendi tell us how she got into comics and her podcast

6:00 - Image to Grunge

7:13 - Early developments with rock and roll comics, Pat Boone and The Beatles

8:38 - Associating comics to rock performers

13:57 -The Archies and Josie and the Pussycats

19:14 - The 1970's - KISS, Alice Cooper, Teen Titans #46

26:46 - Dazzler

38:48 - The 1980's - Dave Wyndorf, Sonic Disruptors, Steeltown Rockers, The unauthorized and proud of it Rock and Roll Comics

49:05 - Woofs of the Week

Outro - U2 - "40"

Brother Bear Justin is still on the mend from his most recent surgery so filling his corner of the den this time around is James Figueiredo of the amazing Brazilian online community Bear Nerd! We start off with James taking us through the comic scene in Brazil, some of his all-time favorite books, Bear Nerd, Grizzly and the Bear Patrol (which weaves a little bit into the upcoming Crime Fighter Inquiry) and comic translations. Then it's a whole lotta comic book and comic creator talk with James, Bryan and Billy Z - The Trial of Jean Grey, Amazing X-Men, X-Factor, X-Force, the Avengers books, She-Hulk, Fantastic Four #1 and Leonard Kirk, James Robinson, Leave It To Chance, Miracleman #3, Forever Evil #6, Action Comics #29, the First Contact crossover, Forever Evil: Blight, Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Two, Wonder Woman, Starlight, Jupiter's Legacy, King's Watch, Mark Lanning, Archer and Armstrong, Loki: Ragnarock and Roll, classic Justice League International, The Wake, Zombie Killer Rex and much more!

It's an especially schizophrenic episode this time round. Our bi-weekly bear blabfest covers a whole lot of ground - Charles Soule's Strange Attractors and She-Hulk, Mike Allred, lawyers who write comic books, Ms. Marvel, Justice League, Batman, weekly comics (Action Comics Weekly, 52 and more), Scooby Doo Team Up, Looney Tunes, Batman: The TV Stories, Lil' Battlestar Galactica, Bergen Street Comics scaling back on carrying monthly titles from the Big 2, Miracleman, Marvelman, more Miracleman, even more Miracleman, The Lego Movie, Justice League 3000 and wrapping up with our Woofs of the Week (and some unexpected parrothead talk!)

INTRO - Matthew Sweet - "Where You Get Love"

0:52 - Charles Soule's Strange Attractors (Archaia) and She-Hulk #1 (Marvel)

21:13 - Mike Allred and cartoony art styles

27:47 - Lawyers Who Write Comic Books

28:44 - Ms. Marvel #1 (Marvel)

36:00 - Justice League #28 (DC)

38:00 - Batman #28 (DC)

40:50 - Weekly Comics (Action Comics Weekly, 52, Countdown and more.)

50:14 - Sccoby-Doo Team-Up #2 (DC)

52:15 - Looney Tunes #217 (DC)

53:48 - Batman: The TV Stories TPB (DC)

53:43 - Lil' Battlestar Galactica (Dynamite)

58:15 - Bergen Street Comics' decision to cut back on carrying DC and Marvel monthlies

1:07:00 - Miracleman #s 1 + 2 (Marvel) and the history of Marvelman

1:28:12 - The Lego Movie

1:37:07 - Woofs of the Week - including Bill Mantlo, Flame On!/Drag is the New Spandex, Music on the Bay 2014 and Tell God to Blow the Wind from the West (Oily Comics)

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.

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.

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"

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.)