The ComicsXF Interview Podcast

This week on the podcast, Dan and Matt welcome writer Alex Paknadel to talk about his series "Friendo" (Vault) and "KINO" (Lion Forge), his upcoming "Incursion" at Valiant, techno dystopias, our dark political present and, for funsies, turn-of-the-millennium alternative music.

For the final WMQ&A of 2018, Dan and Matt chat with Anthony Marques, an artist for Dynamite and IDW and the owner of Dewey's Comic City in Madison, New Jersey. They talk about the year in comics retail, from bait-and-switch weddings to Batman's penis, his creative projects, including his short story in A Wave Blue World's "All We Ever Wanted" anthology, and whether "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" holds up (Spoilers: It does not).

This week on the podcast we're celebrating a new volume of X-Force, featuring the return of the original lineup, with Charlie Davis, co-host of the Young Ones podcast and publisher of the X-themed cuisine zine the Guide to X-Ceptional Baking. We will be talking about Shatterstar A LOT.

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Super Solstice! Happy Holidays! In this week's episode, the Three Amigos (Dan Grote, Matt Lazorwitz and Rob Lynch) reunite to talk about their favorite yuletide comics, from that time the Joker kidnapped Tim Drake on Christmas Eve to that time the X-Men returned treasures stolen by the Reavers to their rightful owners to that time Spider Jerusalem claimed he killed Santa with his genitalia.

This week on the show, writer Ron Marz joins us to talk about his upcoming World War II graphic novel, "Harken's Raiders," art from which you can see above and the Kickstarter campaign for which is going on right now. The book reunites Marz with artist Darryl Banks, with whom he co-created the Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. We also talk about Marz's upcoming run on Turok at Dynamite and his deep catalog of previous work, including "Green Lantern," "Silver Surfer," his friendship with the late Bernie Wrightson and his time at late-'90s/early 2000s publisher CrossGen. Also, dogs!

In addition to being a comics journalist, comics writer, comics podcaster and comics consumer, Chris Sims bills himself as the world's foremost Batman-ologist. But what happens when the writer of "X-Men '92," "Swordquest" and "Infinity Wars: Sleepwalker" goes cowl tip to cowl tip with our own resident Batman expert, Matthew Lazorwitz, in a Batman trivia contest? Tune in to this week's episode to find out!

Throughout November, a number of comics podcasts have been participating in a crossover affectionately called Acts of Friendship. This week on the show, it's Dan and Matt's turn to host, so we've laid out a veggie tray and hidden our good silverware from our guests, Chris Eddleman from Chrises on Infinite Earths and Chris Osborne from Play Comics. We talk about why we started our respective shows, favorite episodes, choice guests we've had, and just for fun, crow about the "Uncanny X-Men" relaunch.

This week on the podcast, writer Eliot Rahal stops by to talk about his AfterShock series "Hot Lunch Special" and his work with Valiant, including "Quantum and Woody" and "Bloodshot's Day Off." We also take a minute to talk about the death of Stan Lee, the comics scene in Minneapolis, and Eliot's background as a standup comedian.

In honor of the return of "Uncanny X-Men," Dan and Matt chat with Trent Seely, who recently wrote a history of Marvel around the time of the "Age of Apocalypse" crossover. We talk about our hopes, fears and dreams for the new era of X-Men, puzzle over the upcoming "Age of X-Man," and talk a bit about the passing of Stan Lee. Also, Dan and Trent talk about "Final Fantasy VI," just because it's one of the greatest video games ever made.

This week, Dan and Matt chat with writer Stephanie Phillips about her Black Mask horror series "Devil Within" and her all-ages ode to women's hockey, "Kicking Ice." They also chat with Miguel and Illiana Figueroa from the YouTube unboxing show ToyQuest 101 about collecting toys, meeting celebrities and supporting people with autism.