Comic News Insider

In our 5th episode of COMIC BEAT INSIDER (CBI), Heidi MacDonald (The Beat Chief) and Jimmy are joined by friends Jon Hoche and Marta Balusek. This week, we discuss the hit cult film THE CROW that starred Brandon Lee. We'll delve into what we loved about it, the lore, how it impacted Hollywood and more. We'll also touch on the original James O'Barr comics as well as the TV series and movie spin-offs. Send in topic ideas for future episodes. Be it in comics, TV or film. Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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It's a quickie episode and Jimmy recruits some new audio reviewers in friends Steph, Megan, Lorna, Kate, Emma, Anna and Sonia to assist in this episode! Since he's the only one not playing ANIMAL CROSSING right now, he tasked them each to convince him to join in the fun and finally play. They tell him what they like about it, how much fun it is and some of the activities that are to be done. Did it work? Is Jimmy playing now?! Tune in to find out! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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Jimmy recruits some of his regular audio reviewers Melissa, Emily, Ashley, Jon, Heidi, Marta, Nic and Jonathan to assist in this episode! He tasked them each to go find some of their favorite comic book story arcs or sci-fi/fantasy books to recommend. He chose a few as well. No news this week but lots of great recommendations for you all to check out! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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In our 4th episode of COMIC BEAT INSIDER (CBI), Heidi MacDonald (The Beat Chief) & Jimmy are joined by Joe Grunenwald (The Beat Acting Manager) & Alex Lu (The Beat New Media Editor). This week, we discuss the recent news of DC distributing their own comics, Diamond's plans, digital vs print, how to help comic stores/creators and more! There's even a tangent about what we're cooking and how we're all hanging in there. TOPICAL! Send in topic ideas for future episodes. Be it in comics, TV or film. Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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Jimmy recruits some of his regular audio reviewers Melissa, Emily, Jon and Ashley to assist in this episode! He tasked them each to go find 2 webcomics to recommend. He chose a few as well. News (thanks to newsreader Heidi!) includes: DC will distribute comics, Diamond will restart shipping in May, San Diego Comic Con finally cancels and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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In our 3rd episode of COMIC BEAT INSIDER (CBI), Heidi MacDonald (The Beat Chief) & Jimmy are joined by pals David Monteith (Geek Syndicate) and frequent CNI co-host Jon Hoche. This week's topic is all about the 1980 cult film FLASH GORDON! Heidi only saw it for the first time recently so we compare our thoughts on it all. The actors, sets, the costumes, the campiness, the soundtrack, the behind the scenes drama and more! We also touch on the original comics, old serials and other spin-offs over the years. And Jimmy casts a modern version of the movie with a little help from the gang and some listeners. Send in topic ideas for future episodes. Be it in comics, TV or film. Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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Jimmy recruits some of his regular audio reviewers Melissa, Emily, Jon and Erica to assist in this episode! He tasked them each to go into their Comixology accounts and pick comics from the "Free Comics" section to recommend. He chose a few as well. News (thanks to newsreader Emmy!) includes: many comic creators are contributing to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation auctions, Jim Starlin returns to Dreadstar, Sam Raimi will direct the Doctor Strange sequel and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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In our 2nd episode of COMIC BEAT INSIDER (CBI), Heidi MacDonald (The Beat Chief) & Jimmy are joined by Joe Grunenwald (The Beat Acting Manager) & Alex Lu (The Beat New Media Editor). They chat about the current state of the comic industry during this pandemic, what may happen, ideas to help, will it survive and more! It's an in-depth and fun discussion. CBI will potentially be weekly while things are shut down and each episode will vary. From serious comics journalism as led by Heidi to more fun pop culture chats when led by Jimmy. Send in topic ideas for future episodes. Be it in comics, TV or film. Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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Reviews: Batman: The Adventures Continue #1, The Kill Lock #1 & #2, Rogue Planet #1, Sabrina the Teenage Witch: Something Wicked #1, Stealth #1

Jimmy recruits his regular audio reviewers Melissa, Emily, Jon and Marta to assist in this episode! MoCCA Fest here in NYC was one of the many comic conventions cancelled and was supposed to happen over the weekend. Since they couldn't be here to table and sell their work, I reached out to a few creators and asked them to talk about their work. You'll hear from Eunsoo Jeong (Koreangry), Vera Greentea (Grimoire Noir) and Jonathan Baylis (So Buttons). Definitely check out their work as it's all outstanding! News (thanks to newsreader Heidi!) includes: Marvel pauses on some publishing, a Super Mario manga will be out this year, Charles Schultz's Peanuts offers educational materials and more! Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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In our inaugural mashup episode of COMIC BEAT INSIDER, Jimmy is joined via Zoom by Heidi MacDonald (The Beat) and Jon Hoche to talk about the original Evil Dead trilogy. Heidi and Jon are Evil Dead and Bruce Campbell fans/aficionados and Jimmy only saw the 3 films last week for the first time ever. They chat about all 3 movies (The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness) and the differences and similarities in them. Jimmy has questions for Heidi and Jon and they step up to answer. Why did the genres change between each movie? Is ED 2 a remake, sequel or both? Is there a better answer than "He's just being Ash!"? Listen in to find out! Such a fun discussion and we definitely plan on doing more of these. Send in topic ideas for future episodes. Be it in comics, TV or film. Leave your iTunes comments! 5 stars and nothing but love! Also, get a hold of us!

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p.s. The picture of the 3 of us is from January. Practice your social distancing!