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Pop Culture Squad’s Another Smart Marc Wrestling Podcast Episode #001: The 2023 Royal Rumble.

Pop Culture Squad’s Another Smart Marc Wrestling Podcast Episode #001: The 2023 Royal Rumble.

Posted on by PCS Staff

Another Smart Marc Wrestling Podcast is Pop Culture Squad’s corner in the squared circle. Join Marc Alan Fishman and his special guests as they discuss the best of WWE and AEW. From gauntlets down to squash matches, Marc and his friends who leave no holds barred.

Episode #001: The 2023 Royal Rumble

Join Marc Alan Fishman and his special guest Kayfabe Brewing’s Ed Bove for an in depth analysis of the 2023 Royal Rumble!

Marc brings his hot takes on WWE — proclaiming the show to be a bit “homogenous” for his taste. Ed, a longtime WWE fan, comes to run the milk truck hose to Marc’s spice. Be sure to keep both feet off the floor for this first episode of Pop Culture Squad’s “Another Smart Marc” Wrestling Podcast!

Happy Colorist Appreciation Day – Live SquadCast

Posted on by PCS Staff

It is January 24th. This is officially Colorist Appreciation Day. Today we celebrate the artist who give life to the black and white images that are drawn for comic books. Colorists add texture to the storytelling and set the temperature for the scenes that take place. They are often left out of the discussion but they are a vital part of the art team that makes modern comic books.

On our Facebook and YouTube Channels we will be broadcasting a live round-table discussion with a great group of colorists. Bob Harrison will have Chris Sotomayor as his guest co-host, and Tamra Bonvillain, Marissa Louise, Paul Mounts, and Anthony Tollin will be their special guests. You can see the feed below:

 

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Tony Fleecs and Tim Seeley about Their Upcoming Book Local Man

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Tony Fleecs and Tim Seeley about Their Upcoming Book Local Man

Posted on by Bob Harrison

In the latest episode of the Pop Culture SquadCast we sat down with a pair accomplished comic creators and talked about the book that they are creating together.

Both Tim Seeley and Tony Fleecs are known for creating excellent and inventive comics over the past couple of decades, and this one is off to a great start.

The two cartoonists are creating a book called Local Man that focuses on a superhero who is at a low point in his life and has to go back to his hometown and solve crimes without using his super powers.

Local Man is being published by Image Comics and issue one comes out next month.

We spent some time in our conversation talking about the interesting way that Seeley and Fleecs have worked together to create this comic. Since both have been writers and artists and letterers on comics, they are able to divide up the work in creative ways.

We also talked about their take on the state of the comic industry and what being and independent creator means today.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Pop Culture Squad: Let’s start off with Local Man. How fun is making this book?

Tony Fleecs

Tony Fleecs: It’s pretty great. Like, I’ve done a lot of collaborating and Tim’s done a lot of collaborating and co-writing and working with people, and it’s always fun working with somebody who’s also
a writer/artist because it’s sort of like both of us. We both do things differently, but we both can sort of do the, the whole thing, which is neat. I can send something to Tim and just be like, “Can you draw on this? Or can you fix this writing or whatever?” Continue reading “Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Tony Fleecs and Tim Seeley about Their Upcoming Book Local Man” →

Spotlight Squadcast Interview with Michael Nathanson

Spotlight Squadcast Interview with Michael Nathanson

Posted on by Bob Harrison

We are roaring back into the new year with more exclusive Pop Culture Squadcast interviews. This latest episode was recorded last month while we were at LA Comic Con. The folks there were able to connect us with this opportunity for an exclusive one-on-one interview.

Actor Michael Nathanson has recently launched a unique and interesting podcast called Playing Dead, and he was gracious enough to spend some time with us talking about the project. We discussed the origins of the concept and some of the interesting things he learned through the process.

The concept for this podcast is that Nathanson, who played Sam Stein in Marvel’s The Punisher on Netflix, spends time talking to actors and other film professionals about the experience and mechanics of dying on-screen. It is a great concept, and the interviews are extremely well crafted and executed.

Nathanson is a very talented actor who has been in dozens of roles in TV and Film. In addition to his main cast role on Season 1 of The Punisher, he was also a major part of the Cinemax series The Knick as Dr. Levi Zinberg. He has appeared in films such as Young Adult, Side Effects, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Our conversation, while focusing on Playing Dead, also veered into the realm of Geekdom. Nathanson grew up reading comic books and loving sci-fi. We nerded out a little bit, and I hope you enjoy the conversation. Continue reading “Spotlight Squadcast Interview with Michael Nathanson” →

Spotlight Squadcast Interview: Cavan Scott and Nick Brokenshire Talk About Dead Seas

Spotlight Squadcast Interview: Cavan Scott and Nick Brokenshire Talk About Dead Seas

Posted on by Bob Harrison

We are happy to bring you our latest spotlight interview. In this episode, we spoke to a pair of creators who have a very cool comic project coming to shops soon. Writer Cavan Scott and artist Nick Brokenshire will be debuting Dead Seas from IDW Publishing in December.

This pair of longtime collaborators have a massive list of comic work between them. We have already reviewed the first issue of their new creator-owned book Dead Seas, and we were super excited to get the opportunity to talk about it with them.

Cavan has written quite a bit of Star Wars content in novel, audio book, and comic form over the years. He also has written for properties such as Pacific Rim, Transformers, Doctor Who, Adventure Time and more. His creator owned comics include Shadow Service from Vault Comics and The Ward from Dark Horse Comics.

Nick is an comic artist who has worked on Star Wars, Transformers, and The Once And Future Queen among others.

We talked about the process of making their latest collaboration and spent some time talking about the differences of growing up a fan of the comic media in the UK verses America.

We hope you enjoy the SquadCast below and check out some of the transcribe interview even further down the page.

SquadCast Interview:

Pop Culture Squad: Where did this book come from?

Cavan Scott: It comes from my love of old disaster movies shown on a rainy Sunday afternoon on British television. Things obviously like Towering Inferno and the direct inspiration, The Poseidon Adventure. I love these films, and I’ve watched them many, many, many times. But as with most things, I think most things would be better if there were ghosts and monsters.

I was literally watching The Poseidon Adventure, which was linked into another project I worked on, Star Wars: The High Republic. It was one of our touchstone movies that we watched before we started working on it. And I was watching it and, and I was looking at this amazing bit of cinema and all these wonderful characters that you fall in love with, and then you lose about ten minutes later.

I started to think, “Wouldn’t it be cool if some of those came back as ghosts, as the ship was going down?” And that was where the idea came from. So, in Dead Seas you have a haunted prison ship, which at some point in the future the series will start to sink. No spoilers there really, I think we’re quite open about that.

Yeah, as there’s already ghosts on board, that number will increase, and it all came from watching that movie on that rainy afternoon.

PCS: What can you tell us about the setting of this story? Continue reading “Spotlight Squadcast Interview: Cavan Scott and Nick Brokenshire Talk About Dead Seas” →

With Further Ado #222: Casper and the Sequential Crush Podcast

With Further Ado #222: Casper and the Sequential Crush Podcast

Posted on by Ed Catto

I love Halloween. I bet that many folks who read this column love Halloween too. But one of the downsides to this glorious, spooky celebration is how pop culture, television stations and retailers all seem to lurch to the next holiday season so quickly after Halloween’s last trick or treat.

In Adweek – you didn’t think I only read comics, did you – they’ve already started their analysis of holiday themed TV commercials. (I will admit, the Katy Perry+LEGO tv spot does look like fun!)

So, with that in mind, shall we drag out Halloween just a little bit longer?

Casper Instead of Candy

We’re one of the families that give out comics instead of candy to trick-or-treaters. Most of the comics we give away are current or recent comics. But I rescued a few old Harvey Comics from a bargain box and thought some kid might enjoy them. Harvey’s Casper, the Friendly Ghost #75 was from November 1964, and I thought it was charming on so many levels. Continue reading “With Further Ado #222: Casper and the Sequential Crush Podcast” →

Live SquadCast with Comic Creator Thom Zahler

Live SquadCast with Comic Creator Thom Zahler

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Join us live as we talk to cartoonist and comic creator Thomas Zahler.  Thom is currently running a Kickstarter campaign for print edition of Cupid’s Arrows Season 2. That comic was originally published on Webtoons.com and delves deeper into the mythos of the covert teams of “cupids” who ensure that the right people fall in love with each other. It is a funny and heartfelt property that explores the nature of love and destiny through the lens of romantic comedy.

Thom is also running a Patreon page where he regularly updates new pages of the latest volume of his long running magnum opus Love and Capes. The latest collection will be called Love and Capes: Home For the Holidays and is a follow-up to last year’s Ringo Award Nominated Love and Capes: In the Time of Covid.

We hope you enjoy the conversation and check out the Kickstarter campaign for Cupid’s Arrows.

Spotlight Squadcast Interview: Jeffrey Burandt and Sean Von Gorman Talk Ghost Planet.

Spotlight Squadcast Interview: Jeffrey Burandt and Sean Von Gorman Talk Ghost Planet.

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Our latest spotlight interview brought us to a team of collaborators about to bring a sci-fi horror comic to stores near you this October. Writer Jeff Burandt and artist Sean Von Gorman have Ghost Planet releasing on October 19th from Scout Comics.

We spoke with the two creators about the inspiration for the book as well as the interesting history of what went into getting it published.  Ghost Planet is a forty-page one-shot comic about a family of space explorers that land on a planet with a terrible secret. The first two chapters were released on Webtoons as part of a weekly challenge.

This pair have been frequent collaborators, and we talked about some of the cool things that they are working on besides Ghost Planet.

This conversation was a lot of fun. We hope you listen to the Squadcast below and then check out the info about Ghost Planet including our exclusive review following the audio.

Ghost Planet #1
Scout Comics
Written by Jeffrey Burandt
Art, Colors, and Lettering by Sean Von Gorman
Cover Art by Von Gorman

Release Date: October 19, 2022

Original Solicitation:

A family of deep space explorers rushes to solve the mystery of Ghost Planet before their recently-dead loved ones return to kill them next! Murder birds, eye stalks and space pigs abound in this 40-page graphic novella. Ghost Planet is a classic sci-fi tale with a body horror twist.

PCS Review: Continue reading “Spotlight Squadcast Interview: Jeffrey Burandt and Sean Von Gorman Talk Ghost Planet.” →

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Shelly Bond about Fast Times in Comic Book Editing

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Shelly Bond about Fast Times in Comic Book Editing

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Our latest spotlight SquadCast interview is with comic editor and publisher Shelly Bond. She is a returning guest and we were able to spend some time talking about her latest project Fast Times in Comic Book Editing.

Her latest effort from Offregister Press, the company that she runs with her husband Phillip Bond, is part memoir and part editorial handbook focusing on her time working on the Vertigo Imprint at DC Comics.

She had a hand in some of the most important comics of the 90s and that helped shape her into the superstar comic editor that she is today.

We talked about Shelly’s projects including the recently completed Filth and Grammar: The Comic Editor’s Secret Handbook, and Geezer. We also talked about comic books in general and why they became her passion.

The latest book, Fast Times, is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter and you can find out more about that project below the SquadCast recording.

We hope that you enjoy the conversation.

 

FAST TIMES IN COMIC BOOK EDITING

A Love Letter to New York City in the ’90s.

About the Campaign:

A collection of stories and comics that chart the rise and fall and rise of a career-driven editor working in New York City in the ’90s, who’s in over her head as she tries to secure a place in the male-dominated comic book industry.

FAST TIMES IN COMIC BOOK EDITING is told through a series of short comics, photo/visual montage timelines, prose, and experimental art including a satirical TTRPG “How to Climb The Corporate Ladder From Hell.” Guest writers and artists including Neil Gaiman, Jill Thompson, Paul Pope, Michael Allred, Steven T. Seagle, Mike Carey, and Peter Gross provide brief encounters along the way.

At its core, FAST TIMES celebrates the hustle of monthly comics and the rustle of feathers and heart chambers—the universal love for story and longing to connect through words and pictures. Continue reading “Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Shelly Bond about Fast Times in Comic Book Editing” →

Spotlight SquadCast Interview and Review with Cecil Castellucci, writer of Shifting Earth

Spotlight SquadCast Interview and Review with Cecil Castellucci, writer of Shifting Earth

Posted on by Bob Harrison

We have a special post today. This is a presentation of an interview that we did with writer Cecil Castellucci a few weeks ago as well as a review of her newest graphic novel, Shifting Earth.

Cecil is a fantastic writer and never fails to capture my attention. She has written comics, graphic novels, prose, opera, and was a rock singer at one point. Some my her favorite works of hers include: The Plain Janes, Shade: The Changing Girl, Girl on Film, Batgirl, and Female Furies just to name a few. We are very excited to get this recorded conversation to our audience. We delved into some of the interesting process that she uses in her writing and talked about her motivation for the stories she tells.

Cecil created her latest book, Shifting Earth, with artist Flavia Biondi for Dark Horse Comics’ Berger Books imprint. It is in stores now and it is wonderful.

The Squadcast linked below is a fun conversation that covers a lot of her work as well as her super interesting hobbies. We hope you enjoy the conversation.

 

Shifting Earth
Dark Horse Comics
Written by Cecil Castellucci
Art by Flavia Biondi
Colors by Fabiana Mascolo
Letters by Steve Wands
Cover Art by Biondi & Mascolo

Original Solicitation:
In a not-so-distant future, a freak particle storm has landed botanist Dr. Maeve Millay on an idyllic yet strange parallel Earth, with no way back home.

Here, two moons rule society, and nature outshines science. But just like her own climate ravaged planet, this verdant Earth has a sinister side. Children are rare. Humans must serve a purpose or pay an unthinkable price. Astronomer Zuzi battles this underlying darkness every day—just like Maeve did at home. Both women are fighters, and both face a choice: forge new paths, or save the worlds they’ve always known? Maeve will have to decide, and fast—because she’s fighting for more than just herself.

PCS Review:
I was blown away by this book. There are a lot of moving parts to the plot to this book and it is difficult to land on the proper cadence and pace of the story. Castellucci does not falter in that endeavor. The plot reveals seem to always come at the appropriate moment throughout the book. The interesting environmental and political topics that are explored in this book serve as a backdrop to a tale of two brilliant women and their struggles to both be heard and save their respective worlds. Continue reading “Spotlight SquadCast Interview and Review with Cecil Castellucci, writer of Shifting Earth” →