Comics A-Z Podcast

Y is for The Yellow Kid - The Birth of The American Comic Strip

Although later comic icons such as Superman, Mickey Mouse, and Charlie Brown would become more globally recognizable, The Yellow Kid occupies a singular historical position: it stands at the point where cartooning, mass media, urban culture, advertising, and serialized storytelling converged into what would become the comic strip industry and eventually the comic-book medium itself.

The history of The Yellow Kid is not merely the story of one comic character. It is the story of industrialized American media at the dawn of the twentieth century, the rise of immigrant urban culture, technological innovation in color printing, and the emergence of modern mass entertainment.

Recommended reading list for this episode:

Children of the Yellow Kid: The Evolution of the American Comic Strip by RC Harvey (1998)

The Yellow Kid: A Centennial Celebration of the Kid Who Started the Comics

Comic Strips and Consumer Culture 1890–1945 by Ian Gordon

The Comics: The Complete Collection by Brian Walker

The Funnies: 100 Years of American Comic Strips by Ron Goulart (1995)

American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide by Allan Holtz

Masters of American Comics - John Carlin Paul Karasik, editors

The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics by Bill Blackbeard & Dale Crain

Winsor McCay: His Life and Art

Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman

Three Rocks: The Story of Ernie Bushmiller: The Man Who Created Nancy by Bill Griffith

The Comic Strip Century by Bill Blackbeard

The Early Comic Strip: Narrative Strips and Picture Stories in the European Broadsheet from c.1450 to 1825 by David Kunzle

Comic Art in America: A Social History of the Funnies, the Political Cartoons, Magazine Humor, Sporting Cartoons, and Animated Cartoons by Stephen Becker

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics.  Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. 

Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine.

He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics.

Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026

X is for X-Men - A Tale of Two Super Teams

The X‑Men occupy a singular place in American popular culture, a franchise whose longevity and resonance stem not only from its colorful characters and superhero spectacle but from its deep engagement with the social anxieties, political tensions, and cultural transformations of the last six decades.

Their story begins in 1963, in the cramped offices of Marvel Comics, where Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were in the midst of reinventing the superhero genre in what would become a pop culture revolution.

Recommended reading list for this episode:

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe

The Marvel Age of Comics 1961–1978 by Roy Thomas

The X Men: The Characters and Their Universe by Michael Mallory

X Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series by Eric Lewald & Julia Lewald

Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier

Stan Lee: A Life in Comics by Liel Leibovitz

True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee by Abraham Riesman

Stan Lee Lied: Your Handy Guide to Every Lie in the Origins of Marvel Comics By Chaz Gower

Chris Claremont’s X Men (Documentary, 2018)

Jim Lee’s X Men Artist Editions (IDW)

The Ages of the X Men: Essays on the Children of the Atom in Changing Times by Joseph J. Darowski

The Unauthorized X Men: SF and Comic Writers on Mutants, Prejudice, and Adamantium — Ed. Len Wein

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics.  Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. 

Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine.

He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics.

Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026

W is for Wonder Woman - The Amazonian Goddess Next Door

Since her debut in All Star Comics #8 in December 1941, Wonder Woman has stood as one of the “trinity” of DC superheroes, alongside Superman and Batman, yet her origins, themes, and cultural mission have always been radically different. Wonder Woman was conceived not merely as a crimefighter or adventurer but as a political, psychological, and feminist project, created by a man who believed that comic books could reshape society.

Recommended reading list for this episode:

The Secret History of Wonder Woman — Jill Lepore (2014)

Wonder Woman Masterpiece edition: The Life and Times of the Amazon Princess by Les Daniels (2000)

Wonder Woman: The Golden Age Omnibus Vol. 1

Wonder Woman Unbound: The Curious History of the World’s Most Famous Heroine — Tim Hanley (2014)

The Ages of Wonder Woman — Joseph J. Darowski (ed.)

Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation — Carolyn Cocca (2016)

Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth — Paul Dini & Alex Ross

Wonder Woman: Earth One — Grant Morrison & Yanick Paquette

Superheroes!: Capes, Cowls, and the Creation of Comic Book Culture — Laurence Maslon & Michael Kantor (2013)

The Golden Age of DC Comics — Paul Levitz (Taschen)

The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines — Mike Madrid

Wonder Woman and Philosophy — Jacob M. Held (ed.)

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics.  Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. 

Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine.

He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics.

Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026

V is for Vampirella - Pin-up to Superhero

Today we trace the creation and evolution of Vampirella from her origins in 1969 through her decades of reinvention, exploring the corporate history that shaped her, the creative figures who defined her, the social and cultural forces that influenced her reception. In doing so, it reveals how a figure initially conceived as a tongue‑in‑cheek horror hostess became one of the most enduring female icons in comics history.

Featured Biography: Frank Frazetta 

Recommended reading list for this episode:

Vampirella Archives Vol. 1

Vengeance of Vampirella Vol. 1

Vampirella Masters Series

The Art of José González

James Warren: Empire of Monsters by Bill Shelly

Gothic in Comics and Graphic Novels by Julia Round

Comic Book Nation by Bradford Wright

The Encyclopedia of Superheroes by Jeff Rovin

The Vampire Encyclopedia by Matthew Bunson

Horror Comics in Black and White: A History and Catalog, 1964–2004 by Richard J. Arndt

Last Girl Standing by Trina Robbins

Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896–2013 Trina Robbins Editor

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics.  Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. 

Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine.

He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics.

Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026

U is for Understanding Comics - Scott McCloud Explains It All!

When Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art was first published in 1993, it arrived as something of a paradox: a comic book that sought to explain what comics are, how they function, and why they matter. Created by Scott McCloud, the work occupies a singular place in both comics history and media theory. It is at once a manifesto, a textbook, a historical survey, and a philosophical treatise—yet it is delivered entirely through the very medium it analyzes.

Recommended reading list for this episode:

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud

Reinventing Comics: The Evolution of an Art Form by Scott McCloud

Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels by Scott McCloud

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics.  Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country.  Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026

T is for Teen Titans - Sidekicks Unite!

From their origins in the 1960s Silver Age of comics to their reinvention in the 1980s and their subsequent expansion across television, film, and digital media, the Teen Titans have functioned as both a reflection of generational anxieties and a proving ground for new storytelling approaches within DC Comics.

Recommended reading list for this episode:

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 1 (2022 Edition)

New Teen Titans Omnibus Vol. 2

Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle between Marvel and DC By Reed Tucker

DC Comics : Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes by Les Daniels

American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1960s Volume Two: 1965-1969 by Wells and Dallas

The DC Comics Encyclopedia by Matthew K. Manning

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics.  Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country.  Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026

S is for Spider-Man - With Great Power...you probably know the rest

Since his debut in Amazing Fantasy #15 in August 1962, Spider‑Man has become not merely a superhero but a modern myth — a figure whose struggles, triumphs, and moral dilemmas have mirrored the anxieties and aspirations of generations.

His creation sits at the intersection of two towering creative forces, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, whose collaboration, and eventual conflict, produced one of the most enduring icons of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The character’s evolution across comics, television, film, and merchandising has made him a cultural touchstone, a symbol of youthful potential, and a lens through which American society has explored responsibility, power, alienation, and identity.

Recommended reading list for this episode:

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story — Sean Howe

Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle between Marvel and DC — Reed Tucker

The Ten Cent Plague — by David Hajdu

Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book — Jordan Raphael & Tom Spurgeon

John Romita, And All That Jazz 

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics.  Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country.  Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026

R is for The Rocketeer - Jet Packs, Nazis, & Betty

Dave Stevens remains one of the most distinctive figures in modern comic art history. His career defies conventional metrics of success: he produced relatively little work yet achieved enduring influence.

Through The Rocketeer, Stevens created more than a character—he created a visual language. His fusion of nostalgia, technical mastery, and personal passion resulted in a body of work that continues to resonate decades later.

Featured biography - Dave Stevens

Recommended reading list for this episode:

Vamps and Vixens: The Seductive Art of Dave Stevens, Verotik (1998)

Dave Stevens: Selected Sketches and Studies, (Vols. 1–4), Bulldog Studios

Brush with Passion: The Art and Life of Dave Stevens, Underwood Books (2008)

Dave Steven's The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures, IDW Publishing (2010)

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026

Q is for The Question - From Ditko to DC Comics

Among the pantheon of American comic-book heroes, few characters embody the ideological convictions of their creator as thoroughly as The Question, introduced by Steve Ditko in 1967 for Charlton Comics.

Where most superheroes are collaborative constructions—shaped by editors, writers, artists, and decades of reinterpretation—The Question stands as a rare example of a character whose core identity is inseparable from the worldview of the man who conceived him.

To understand The Question is to understand Ditko: his aesthetics, his philosophy, his uncompromising moral absolutism, and his lifelong devotion to the Objectivist ideas of Ayn Rand.

Featured biography - Steve Ditko

Recommended reading list for this episode:

The Steve Ditko DC Omnibus (DC Comics, 2012)

Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko (Fantagraphics, 2008)

The Creativity of Steve Ditko (IDW, 2010)

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (Harper Perennial, 1993)

Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book (Basic Books, 2004)

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story (HarperCollins, 2012)

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026

P is for Peanuts - A Boy and his Dog who are all of us

Charles Schulz's Peanuts is a masterpiece of American art—a work of humor, melancholy, philosophy, and beauty. It captures the essence of being human: the struggle to belong, the fear of failure, the hope for connection, and the courage to keep trying.

Featured biography - Charles Schulz.

Recommended reading list for this episode:

Schulz and Peanuts — David Michaelis (2007)

My Life with Charlie Brown — Charles M. Schulz, ed. M. Thomas Inge (2010)

Good Grief: The Story of Charles M. Schulz — Rheta Grimsley Johnson (1989)

The Complete Peanuts (Fantagraphics, 2004–present) — with essays by various scholars

Peanuts: A Golden Celebration — Charles M. Schulz (2000)

The Peanuts Papers — Editor, Andrew Blauner (2019)

The Gospel According to Peanuts — Robert Short (1965)

A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition — Lee Mendelson (2000)

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry.

COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine.

Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country.

He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. 

Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer.

This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes.

© Kevin Cleary 2026