Comic Geek Speak Podcast - The Best Comic Book Podcast

Summer is on its way, at least according to this month's Previews! A full crew of Shane, Chris, Murd and Ian go through the April catalogs, covering Diamond Previews 415, DC Connect 35, and Marvel Previews Vol 6 issue 19, with books mostly set for a June 2023 release. Highlights include Hickman and Hitch's return to the Ultimate Universe, milestone 800th issues for Wonder Woman and The Flash, the return of Joe Madureira's Battle Chasers after more than twenty years, Kirkman's Void Rivals, a new collection of Strangers in Paradise, Murd's luxurious mustache and more! (2:48:42)

The Next Generation reunion has arrived! Hear Peter and Shane's in-depth thoughts on Star Trek: Picard season 3 episode 8, Surrender. From the original seven to the next Next Generation, we examine character journeys, theories about Jack Crusher and the big bad, our hopes for the finale, excitement for the future of Star Trek and more. (1:01:59)

Time to play some catch-up and discuss all things comics and geek related! Chris, Shane and Ian start us off with news on Ike Perlmutter's removal from Marvel after more than thirty years. They then discuss some recent movies watched, including Chris and Ian's thoughts on John Wick Chapter Four, Ian's journey into Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and Shane getting his first viewing of Everything, Everywhere All at Once. The meat of the episode is a spoiler-filled review of Shazam: Fury of the Gods (37:15-1:08:00), followed by spoilery discussion of Picard (through episode 4) with some occasional very light spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery and its universe (1:08:00-1:32:00). And then, as we begin talking comics read...MURD COMETH!!! Once arrived, he gives his thoughts on the Shazam: Fury of the Gods movie from 1:40:58 until about 1:55:00. Recent reads include Shane's return to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Murd talks Wolverine: Origins from back in the day, Justice League: Detroit's turn at JLA: Classified and Bria

Murd, Shane, Peter and Bryan lead the table this week, with tons to discuss! Topics include Movies of the '70s, the Offer, the decline of long-running TV shows, ER, Cowboy Bebop, TV cancellations, the 2023 Oscars, Picard season three, the upcoming new Titans comic, how big is your Geekdom?, CGS History for the month of March, Gotham by Gaslight by Augustyn, Mignola and Russell, Jack the Ripper, DC Elseworlds, future reading topics, and more. (2:04:05)

There's tons of great comics to showcase this month, and we have three solid hours of Previews content to prove it! This round of Previews showcases issue 414 of Diamond's Previews, DC Connect 34, and Marvel Previews Volume 6 issue 18, for books mostly set for release in May, 2023. Highlights include the launch of Waid and Mora's Shazam! and Jed Mackay's Avengers, the return of Kevin Smith's Maskerade and Tom King's Love Everlasting, multiple projects from friends of the show such as Dave Dwonch, Mike Norton, Brent Schoonover and Jeremy Whitley, TWO Dark Horse sections, and so much more. And while we're at it don't forget to put in your FCBD picks this month! (2:59:08)

The annual tradition continues! Your votes have been tallied, the results have been confirmed by our internal auditor Time Bubble, Crisis and Murdough, and the ballots from Chris, Ian and Murd have been submitted. Let's do the Best of 2022! All sixteen categories are prepped and ready, and those of you still reading this will have until Sunday, April 2nd at 11:59pm Eastern to submit your results to bestof@comicgeekspeak.com. Who will win the coveted Jamie Award (which is virtual and not an actual real-life statue) for each category? Tune in to hear who has a chance! (2:47:57)

In this episode, Bryan, Peter and Shane celebrate the memories and friendship of Darren "Rainbow Cloak" Nowell, a longtime member of the CGS, comics and podcasting community. From conventions, to fun anecdotes, our reminiscing takes us to other topics such as how the Geeks first became friends, roleplaying, current TV watching, Dawn of DC, Mike Mignola, One Piece, Five Years Later Legion, comics we would love to read for the first time again, a classic Bryan rant - updated, and more. (1:49:12)

Kang is upon us! His first foe in the Marvel Cinematic Universe may be small, but technically so is Kang in this movie so it evens out. Listen as Chris, Murd, Ian and Shane go through the Quantum Realm barrier and delve deep into spoiler territory on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Does this beginning of Phase 5 live up to hype, or does is fall short? Will we ever stop calling the Quantum Realm the Microverse? Are there even more miniscule puns to be found inside the episode itself? I'll give you a little hint...you'll find out, shortly. (1:16:02)

Which three men have what it takes to go through Diamond Previews issue 413, DC Connect 33 and Marvel Previews Vol 6 issue 17, with books mainly set for release in April 2023? Why Ian, Chris and Murd of course! And all three of them stick through all the way to the end, even. Highlights include the launch of a new Green Arrow series, the conclusion of Sins of Sinister, the return of Planet of the Apes comics, more 007 from Dynamite, and so much more. Dig in! (2:40:09)

Sean Whelan, longtime friend of the show and host of the Raging Bullets podcast returns to CGS to help Ian, Shane, Murd and Chris dissect Chapter 1 of DC's Film and TV slate, now known officially as Gods and Monsters. Conversation then drifts into what we may expect to see next from DC's franchises, and how these upcoming movies will set the stage on what will come next. The group then delves into some recent reads such as The Last of Us: American Dreams, The Flash: One Minute War, NPR's Micro-Face, Marvel's The Thing miniseries, Darkwing Duck #1, Tom King's Danger Street, Catwoman: Lonely City, Miller and Jansen's Daredevil Omnibus, Mickey Mouse: Race to Death Valley, William Shakespeare's Avengers, and more. Plus discussion of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Discovery, Velma, Dogs in Space, Muddle the Murd, and more more! (2:22:19)

Peter, Shane, Murd, Bryan and Comic Talk! Topics include: AMC's new ticket pricing; House of the Dragon; comic retailing; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; DC Studios Gods and Monsters slate announcement; the potential of DC Elseworlds; IDW's new Star Trek series; celebrating 30 years of Vertigo Comics by discussing the Mercy oneshot and the first issues of Enigma, Kid Eternity, Death the High Cost of Living, and Sandman Mystery Theatre; the Star Wars "Morphy Find" vintage action figure auction and more! (2:36:59)

Grab your flux capacitors and find your nearest Time Bubble™ one and all, because it's time to head to the future! Shane, Murd, Ian and Chris regale us with their individual choices for the Top 5 Future Timelines. And try not to step on anything while you're listening to the episode in the present, or the future timeline may shift and all of a sudden the list will be completely different. Strap in for a wide range of expected and unexpected, including some musical interludes; and these lists aren't just DC and Marvel. As always, our hill, our beans! (2:44:22)

Bryan, Peter, Shane, Kevin, and Murd gather for all sorts of topics including: Ancestry Geek Speak; Marvel Saga; History, Index and Reference comics; a Spotify for comic books; what is to become of our collections?; geek hobbies; Kevin's review of Shin Ultraman; discussing Simonson's Thor run issues 354 thru 359; comic book documentaries on Prime; a trip through CGS History for the month of January; Kaleidoscope on Netflix; and more! (2:04:06)

Shane! Murd! Chris! Ian! When their powers combined, there is...Comic Talk! We catch up on the last few weeks of watching, reading and news, including Comixology's recent layoffs, the latest Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer, Shane's trip to Disney and his experiences with Star Wars Land and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, talk on the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Chris' trip to Pittsburgh and his most recent Eide's purchases, including Comic Book Artist 18 and some Micronauts, Ian discusses Hunters Seasons 1 and 2 and Avatar: The Way of Water as well as the conclusion to Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths (Shane talks about it too) and some recent and upcoming Image Comics releases from Joe Kelly (Immortal Sergeant), Peter Tomasi (Blood Tree) and Edward Laroche (Almighty) and Rodney Barnes (Monarch), Murd gives us recent reads from Mark Millar's Night Club to Eric Bennett's Indieversity Project, and much more. More includes Paul Levitz's Avengers, opening our Christmas gifts from Dr. E

While Shane is on vacation and Chris celebrates his birthday, Murd and Ian man the fort for Previews! This January set of catalogs, aka Diamond Previews issue 412, DC Connect 32 and Marvel Previews Volume 6 issue 16, look at issues mainly set for release in March, 2023. Except for the random hardcover that won't be coming out until August that is (yeesh!). Highlights include the return of Electric Blue Superman in Jonathan Kent form, Brubaker and Phillips new crime book, Cantwell continuing his take on Hellcat, the return of Doctor Strange and so much more! (2:47:28)

We welcome you to a New Year with a new Spotlight! This goes through the entire character history of one Max Eisenhardt, alias Erik Lehnsherr... but the nom de plume we are most familiar with is that of Magneto, Master of Magnetism! From his beginnings in the 1960s as X-Men enemy du jour to Claremont's crafting and rebuilding of his personality in the 1970s, that time he was a baby for a while, all the way to the launch of Volume 2 of X-Men and Magneto's return to villainy to the creation of Onslaught, ruling Genosha, that whole Xorn thing, and so much more, we do our best to give you a full breakdown of one of Marvel's most prevalent presences both in comics and related media. And yes, we even mention Joseph. Fair is fair, after all. (2:50:35)

Bryan, Shane, Kevin and Adam, with a brief appearance by Peter, gather for some classic Comic Talk! Topics include a bevy of birthday wishes; Crusaders memories; Cheers; Black Adam; the future of DC Movies; DC TV; Tulsa King; recent purchases; Dark Crisis; Impossible Jones; Construction Geek Speak; art projects; Comic Book Binding; Bryan's new family addition; and more! (2:05:57)

Gather 'round the fireplace, paper cone of chestnuts in hand, for the second and largest installment of L. Frank Baum's 'The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus,' courtesy of Murd! This account of the good Claus's journey from boyhood to manhood includes the Royal Oz-torian's interpretation of the first Christmas tree, the first stockings hung by the hearth, the first reindeer-ride on Christmas Eve... and a Ragnarok-style epic battle between supernatural forces of good and evil, with Santa's life in the balance! A holiday tale like none other! (2:01:12)

GO JOE!!! In celebration of 40 years since the creation of the GI Joe comics and animated series, we venture back to the very beginning of it all. Shane, Chris, Ian and Matt give their thoughts on issue 1 of the GI Joe comic, written by the one and only Larry Hama, with art by the legendary Herb Trimpe. But do they stop there? NO! The crew also goes deep into GI Joe's very first five-part animated miniseries, The M.A.S.S. Device. Discussion includes variation in tone between the two versions of the franchise, whether the comic is as kid-friendly as the show, if the show is even as kid-friendly as we remember it to be, the 80s house animation style, Scarlett's split romantic longings, Cobra Commander's competency or lack thereof, Snake Eyes glowing like a Christmas tree, a lot more references to slavery than we remembered, the slaughtering of an entire village, Destro having all the best one-liners, and so much more. Much more includes plenty of toy talk from Shane and the rest of the Geeks, that's for sure! S

Tis the season for reading Previews, falalala lalalala. Well okay fine, it's always the season to read Previews, but it is especially so come December! Ian, Murd and Chris (who sticks around until Marvel is done) discuss their choice choices within Diamond Previews issue 411, DC Connect issue 31, and Marvel Previews Vol 6 issue 15, with books mostly set for release in February 2023. Highlights include the return of Superman and his corresponding book, a whole lot of Paco Medina art in X-Men's Sins of Sinister event, Fleecs and Seeley's Local Man, and there's a few romance books to be found, but there's also a surprising amount of horror titles all over the catalogs; take that to mean whatever you'd like it to mean. Plus, we peruse the Free Comic Book Day selections that will be available come May 2023, when the weather is warm once more and snow is a distant memory! (2:40:37)