Comic Book Bears Podcast

The Comic Book Bears Podcast fellas (Bill Z, Steve and Caleb) each made the journey to their local multiplex to see Clayface, the third film in the DC Universe franchise following last year's Superman and this year's Supergirl. Directed by James Watkins, Clayface stars Tom Rhys Harries as Matt Hagen/Clayface, alongside Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan. After becoming disfigured by a mobster's vicious attack, on-the-rise actor Matt Hagen seeks help from a scientist to restore his appearance, but the procedure transforms him into a shapeshifting creature. Part body horror, part revenge story, part crime drama and part psychological study, Clayface operates on many different levels. Hit play to hear what the CBB trio thought of it with their (totally spoilerific) takes! But that's not all in this episode - afterward, as the Halloween season says goodbye, we stay gathered around the mic to discuss recent books, with more than half of them horror themed. The first issues of Midnight X-Men (Marvel), Mark Spears' Graveyard Shift (Keenspot) and Black Tower: The Raven Conspiracy (DC/Vertigo) are spotlighted along with 2025's Strange Tales mini-series (Marvel), the graphic novel collection based on Paul Auster's New York Trilogy (Pantheon) and a look back at Peter Bagge's Hate (Fantagraphics). (And since it is that time of year, Caleb and Bill can't help but sneak in a little football talk.)

We are closing out October 2026 and that means a couple of new Comic Book Bears Podcast audio episodes! Caleb, Bill Z and Steve met up earlier in the month to discuss the 20th anniversary of New York Comic Con and a whole lot more! And the recent comics that get roundtabled in this episode are a varied bunch, including new series from big name creators. Hit play to hear our discussions about the landmark Amazing Spider-Man #1000, where things stand with the current Batwoman series, Steve Skroce's Tales of Wonder, Mind MGMT: New and Improved from Matt Kindt, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's Crowbound and Spawn 77 which pairs creator Todd McFarlane with red hot artist (and in this case, co-writer) Mark Spears!

Our esteemed compatriot Caleb was traveling for work during our last regularly scheduled episode of September, so for this episode it is just Steve and Billy Z manning the Comic Book Bears mics! First up we talk about two recent Absolute (or partially Absolute) books from DC! Saturday, September 19th was this year's date for the annual Batman Day and a new one-shot book - Batman of Two Worlds #1 - was released on that day. Batman of Both Worlds features two new stories featuring the main DC Universe Batman and the Absolute universe Batman, spotlighting what makes those respective Bruce Waynes special. We also chat about Absolute Cassandra Cain: The Shadow's Hand#1! Absolute Cassandra was recently introduced in the Absolute Catwoman series and this one-shot delves not only into Cain's past but also the Absolute Joker's history with the League of Assassins. Then, for a change of pace, Bill Z and Steve each pick a past comic run that they think is underrated, and worthy of re-appreciation. For Bill, it is the Gerry Conway-written New Gods from the 1970s. For Steve, it is the 2008-2011 Vertigo re-imagining of House of Mystery. And why do they think they are underrated? Well, just hit play to find out!

As we transition from summer to fall, the CBB boys (Caleb, Billy Z and Steve) are back with another dose of comic book discussion for your earbuds! After shorter than usual opening ramblings, we get right into the roundtable. On this ep we chat about the new Legion of Super-Heroes reboot from DC Comics by the team of Joshua Williamson and Hayden Sherman (complete with a huge faux pas thanks to a Billy Z brain fart), a double dose of Hulkish goodness with Planet She-Hulk and the Spider-Man/Hulk: Fire and Brimstone mini-series co-written by Kevin Smith (and both from Marvel, natch!), the monster themed Dingoliath (Bad Idea), Mirion Malle's graphic novel Beware Her Fury (Drawn & Quarterly) and the latest addition to the Hellboy/BPRD canon with Frankenstein: New World (Dark Horse) - all this plus our Geek Gets and Woofs of the Week!

As August draws to a close the CBB boys effectively say goodbye to Summer 2026 with this new audio episode. (Yeah, yeah, yeah - we know summer lasts until September 22nd this year but let's be practical.) Listen in as Billy Z, Steve and Caleb first memorialize the angelic Dolly Parton and the incredible Tim Curry whom we both lost last week. Then it is onto our comic round table where we discuss an interesting set of recent books: Clayface: Celebrity Dirt #1 (DC Comics), Alien: King Killer (Marvel Comics), Wake Now in the Fire by Jarrett Dapier (Ten Speed Graphic), Space Ghost Annual 2026 (Dynamite Entertainment), Was That Normal? by Alex Potts (Avery Hill Publishing) and Matt Kindt and Lewis LaRosa's Megalith: The Olympus Saga (Bad Idea)! Hit play for all this plus a little but of Lanterns talk toward the end. (We will have a dedicated Lanterns episode down the road, don't worry!)

On our first Comic Book Bears livestream for August 2026, the CBB boys (Steve, Caleb and Billy Z) spoke about Spider-Man: Brand New Day soon after it was released to cinemas. Here we are at the end of the month and it is still dominating the global box office, and now that livestream is here in audio form! The movie is the 38th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the fourth film in the MCU Spider-Man film series. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, Spider-Man: Brand New Day stars Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man alongside Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Jon Bernthal, Florence Pugh, Marisa Tomei, and Mark Ruffalo with Sadie Sink as a major Marvel Comics character making her MCU debut. In the film, Peter Parker is on his own and dedicated to protecting New York City as Spider-Man, just as personal struggles and an evolutionary development to his superpowers complicate matters while contending with a new threat. As is the tradition when we have a film-based episode, we offer up what we thought of the movie (be forewarned, in a very spoileriffic manner) and then we each make a suggestion regarding a collected edition featuring characters from the film. After that we even get in a little bit of roundtable time to talk about some recent comics - in this case, Terminal #1 by Robert Kirkman, Joe Casey and Adam Kubert (Image Comics), the final installment of Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (Graphix) and the latest installments of Silence (#5: Dream and #6: Nightmare), the queer themed wordless project from Łukasz Majcher's Moom Comics! So hit play for all this and more! 

While many bear fellas were headed to Provincetown for the annual Bear Week goings on two weeks ago, your honorable and distinguished Comic Book Bears Podcast boys were keeping the funnybook flames alive at home just to present this new audio episode to you! Steve, Caleb and Billy Z start off with the big ticket news item of a change in the Editor-in-Chief position at Marvel Comics. Then from there it is a roundtable discussion of a bunch of recent first issues - Absolute Catwoman #1 (DC), Barbara Gordon: Breakout (DC), Avengers: Armageddon #1 (Marvel), Death Fight Forever (Image) and Universal Monsters Blood of the Wolfman #1 (Image) - as well as getting caught up with the latest collected edition of Image's ongoing series Feral by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forster! CBBP is here to help say goodbye to July so hit play to do it the four-color way!!

The Comic Book Bears Podcast returns to the movies in this new episode, and this time it is for the Maiden of Steel! Supergirl was recently released on June 26th with Milly Alcock starring in the title role of Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El. Directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, it is the second film set in the DC Universe (DCU) following last year's Superman. The film also stars Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Corenswet returning as Superman, and Jason Momoa as fan favorite character Lobo! In the film, Kara embarks on a journey across the galaxy to hunt down an adversary who has harmed her pet dog Krypto in a story based in part on the 2021 Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic miniseries by writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely. Steve, Caleb and Billy Z relay what they thought of the film (spoilers included) and also discuss some of the "fandom" reaction to it. And instead of our regular round table, as we just said farewell to Pride month the CBB boys offer up LGBTQIA+ themed comics graphic novels they feel should be on alphabet mafia bookshelves.  And what are those works? Just hit play to find out!

When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster contracted with National Periodical Publications to publish their creation Superman in 1938, it was not only the beginning of the Man of Steel's legacy as one of the most important fictional characters ever created, it also was the start of Jerry's decades long battle over control of the character and for fair compensation and credit. This is all covered in The Superman Wars, the new book by William Bernhardt! William is an attorney, an author of over 60 books and a past Jeopardy champion (!) and in this painstakingly researched book, he takes us through the tale of Siegel's search for his own claim to truth, justice and the American way in the face of corporate swindlers, gangsters, pornographers, blackballing, crooked lawyers, and broken promises. CBB hosts Billy Z and Steve are on hand to interview William so hit play to hear all about this fascinating story and cautionary tale!

Another HeroesCon is in the books and the Comic Book Bears are looking back on their times in Charlotte this past June 12-14! Joining them on this new audio episode is good friend Brian Newberry of the Comics Discourse 114 podcast! Hit play to hear Brian, Caleb, Steve and Bill Z talk about what they did in and around the con including many of their gets! Regarding new books, there was a touch of Blind Bag Fever with the first issue of Image/Skybound's new MASK ("Mobile Armored Strike Kommand") series set in the Energon Universe recently hitting shops. Some of the group succumbed to the fever and Brian and Bill were lucky enough to score the exclusive Rom and MASK: Origins comic incentives! HeroesCon is also known for Indie Island where independent creators spotlight their work and the CBB boys chat about some of the books they picked up including Giant Robot Warrior Maintenance Crew, Rajik's Demon, Adventure for Hire and Haint Tales! All this plus classic Creepy, pushing the limit with carry-on luggage, getting your flight days mixed up (!), panels, favorite vendors, the Andy Griffith Museum and much more!