Join married couple Brad and Lisa as they explore the various dynamics of comic book relationships throughout pop culture and publishing history.
Episodes
Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
Tuesday Aug 24, 2021
August 8th, 2021, The Fantastic Four celebrated their 60th Anniversary, and we're pulling out the red carpet and setting a birthday cake ablaze in their honor. And we're not partying alone; we've invited some of our bestest comic book creator friends over to the Love Nest to help champion Marvel's First Family.
On this week's show, we have Fantastic Four: Grand Design cartoonist Tom Scioli (back on the show), Marvel's Executive Editor and Senior Vice President, Tom Brevoort, Stan and Jack comic creator Pete Doree, superstar writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson, and Extreme Carnage scribe Clay McLeod Chapman.
We love the Fantastic Four, but it was a journey to reach that love. And it was a privilege to discuss Jack Kirby and Stan Lee's milestone comic book with these creators, and they helped us better appreciate the FF's role within the industry and the culture. Send our guests some love by tracking down their work via their social media accounts
You can find Tom Brevoort on Twitter HERE, on Instagram HERE, and over on his website HERE.
Follow Clay McLeod Chapman on Twitter HERE, on Instagram HERE, and visit his website HERE.
Follow Pete Doree on Twitter HERE, on Instagram HERE, and visit his website HERE.
Daniel Warren Johnson is located on Twitter HERE, on Instagram HERE, and on his website HERE.
And make sure to follow Tom Scioli on Twitter HERE, on Instagram HERE, and on Patreon HERE.
Our CBCC Sue & Reed episodes:
2 - The Fantastic Four Wedding
4 - Fantastic Four: Marvel NOW!
Our two previous Fantastic Four related interviews:
1 - Tom Scioli on Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics
2 - Abraham Riesman on True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee
Finally, follow the podcast on Facebook, on Instagram, and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-Star Review on Apple Podcasts.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Monday Aug 16, 2021
Monday Aug 16, 2021
Are Scott Summers and Jean Grey of the Uncanny X-Men meant to be? Are any of us? Is true love possible? We return to the comic book couple that started it all for us, Cyclops and Marvel Girl/Phoenix as experienced in "A What If Wedding Album." Oh, and is that Wolverine waiting in the wings? You're damn right. Snikt Snikt, Bang Bang.
And if we're returning to Scott and Jean that means we must also return to Gary Chapman and The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts. We consider the Love Languages of all parties and how they push these characters to make different choices from their Marvel 616 counterparts.
The Issue Covered in the Episode: "What If..." Volume 2 No. 60, published by Marvel Comics in April 1994. The comic is written by Kurt Busiek, penciled by Ron Randall, inked by Art Nichols, colored by Bob Sharen, and lettered by Janice Chiang.
If you have not listened to our previous five episodes on Scott and Jean you can find them here:
- The Dark Phoenix Saga--> https://bit.ly/CBCCFirstEp
- X-Factor--> https://bit.ly/CBCC2ndEpisode
- The Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix--> https://bit.ly/CBCC3rdEpisode
- New X-Men--> https://bit.ly/MorrisonNewXmen
- The Wedding--> https://bit.ly/CBCCXWedding
Make sure that you read the new Roy Thomas interview discussing What If's comic book origins over at ComicsXF.
Start listening to Dear Watchers: A What If Podcast by clicking HERE.
Read Lisa Gullickson's Comics Bookcase reviews by clicking HERE.
Be sure to follow the podcast on Facebook, on Instagram, and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-Star Review on Apple Podcasts.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Saturday Aug 07, 2021
Saturday Aug 07, 2021
Are we capable of change? Kid Loki sure hopes so as Asgard explodes into flames in the climactic Journey Into Mystery storyline, "Everything Burns." While his past self literally infects his brain, taking the shape of the devilish magpie Ikol, Loki attempts to rectify his sins by making a few new ones. And in the telling, we come face to face with everything we love and hate about comics.
Helping us unpack Loki's deceptive self-loathing strategy, we're using Ellen Michaud's "Twelve Ways to Forgive Yourself for a Past Mistake" found on Prevention.com.
Issues covered in this episode: Journey into Mystery issues 642 - 645 and The Mighty Thor Volume 2, issues 18 - 22. They're scripted by Kieron Gillen and Matt Fraction, illustrated by Alan Davis, Carmine di Giandomenico, and Stephanie Hans, inked by Mark Farmer, Barry Kitson, Jay Leisten, and Hans, colored by Javier Rodriguez, Chris Sotomayor, Wil Quintana, and Hans, and lettered by VC's Joe Sabino and VC's Clayton Cowles.
We also recommend reading Kieron Gillen's Tumblr post explaining why he ended Journey Into Mystery in the manner he chose. Find it by clicking HERE.
Be sure to follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
Wednesday Jul 28, 2021
Beta Ray Bill’s Final Fight with the fire demon Surtr is a knockdown, dragout brawl, but it’s those brutally contemplative final pages that really left us aching. On this week’s show, we’re calling an Emergency Podcast into session, so that we can discuss Daniel Warren Johnson’s final chapter in his Beta Ray Bill mini-series. It is everything we wanted it to be, despite it not at all being what we thought it would be.
No spoilers here, but there will be plenty of spoilers found within the episode itself. After chatting with Johnson on last week’s show, we find ourselves chomping at the bit to chat with him again. And we will, someday, but today, we gotta reconcile with those last few panels. Did Beta Ray Bill achieve what he set out to achieve? And what did we learn as fans of this character?
The issue discussed this week: Beta Ray Bill No. 5 “Ardent Star: Finale,” written and illustrated by Daniel Warren Johnson, colored by Mike Spicer, and lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino with Johnson additions.
If you haven’t already, please listen to our Conversation with Daniel Warren Johnson regarding the first four Beta Ray Bill issues. You can find it HERE.
Be sure to follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Thursday Jul 22, 2021
Thursday Jul 22, 2021
We're casting off Thor's shadow this week as we chat with Daniel Warren Johnson about Beta Ray Bill, the five-issue mini-series from Marvel Comics that reaches its epic conclusion this Wednesday. As is already well documented on this podcast, we're obsessive maniacs regarding Johnson's comics. We think Beta Ray Bill might be his finest achievement yet, which is crazy to say considering the obvious genius that is Murder Falcon and Wonder Woman: Dead Earth.
We asked Johnson to help us wade through Beta Ray Bill's tormented psychology for this week's Creator Corner conversation. The cartoonist happily obliged us as we rooted around Bill's deep-seated frustrations and complicated relationship with Lady Sif and Asgard. You might be surprised by what we uncover.
Issues discussed this week: Beta Ray Bill 1 - 4 (we're still waiting on 5), written and illustrated by Johnson, colored by Mike Spicer, and lettered by Johnson and VC's Joe Sabino.
You can listen to our Best Comics of 2020, featuring Wonder Woman: Dead Earth HERE.
You can listen to our Best Comics of 2019, featuring Murder Falcon HERE.
Be sure to follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Friday Jul 16, 2021
Friday Jul 16, 2021
Richard Donner is gone, but his films and their impact on the culture remain. We could not let his passing occur without taking a moment to celebrate the director who gave us so many incredible stories, including the film that ushered in a new era of "serious" comic book entertainment and kickstarted our current cinematic landscape, Superman: The Movie.
To help us properly honor this utterly iconic adventure, we're joined by Clark Kent obsessive Shawn Eastridge of the Missing Frames podcast. Shawn is one of the biggest Superman fans around, and a few years ago, he actually had the pleasure of interviewing Donner about the Man of Steel. He brings tremendous joy and insight into this conversation, and it was a giddy thrill to chat with him.
Please follow Missing Frames over at The Nerd Party network, and track Shawn down via his Twitter handle @YayShawndorman. And if you want to hear Shawn's conversation with Richard Donner, you can do so by clicking HERE.
Be sure to follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Wednesday Jul 07, 2021
Wednesday Jul 07, 2021
Welcome to National Lampoon's Fantastic Four, aka the rebooted Marvel NOW! For our final episode delving into the romance between Reed Richards and Sue Richards, we're going on a cosmic road trip and unpacking all sixteen issues of FF volume four. Did you think tensions were tight during Civil War? Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet.
As we've done for every FF episode, we're using Gretchen Rubin's The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How To Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too) as our relationship guide. We nailed Reed & Sue's Tendencies in our first FF episode, but have they finally shifted in this final arc? Maaaaybe.
This week's episode also opens by celebrating the life and work of Richard Donner, the filmmaker who helped bring Superman, Tales from the Crypt, and the X-Men to the big screen. If you want to listen to our friend Shawn's interview with the director, hop over to the Missing Frames podcast on the Nerd Party network.
Issues covered in this episode: Fantastic Four Volume 4, issues 1 - 16, published between November 2012 and January 2014. They're written by Matt Fraction, Christopher Sebela, Karl Kesel & Lee Allred, penciled by Mark Bagley, Raffaele Ienco, & Joe Quinones, inked by Mark Farmer, Mark Morales, Andrew Hennessy, Joe Rubinstein, & Mike Allred, colored by Paul Mounts, Wil Quintana, Edgar Delgado, Rain Beredo, Guru Efx, & Laura Allred, and lettered by Clayton Cowles. Fantastic Four #4 variant cover by Terry Dodson & Rachel Dodson.
Be sure to follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Friday Jun 25, 2021
Friday Jun 25, 2021
Sometimes you gotta embrace the Loki within. This week we're playing trickster, sharing a Patreon episode in our main feed because we had too much dang fun recording it. Are you all caught up on the God of Mischief's Disney+ series? No? Well, you better get caught up as we're going full-spoilers on Episode 3, "Lamentis."
We're deeply enjoying this latest installment in the MCU, and this episode in particular truly speaks to what we do here on Comic Book Couples Counseling. We're all about relationships, and on Lamentis-1, Loki strikes up one of the most unique ones we've seen in a superhero setting.
If you enjoy this episode, please consider supporting us by joining our Patreon. We've built an incredible community of listeners over there, and at the $1 level, you will immediately have access to over 50 extra episodes. Come see what's up over at www.patreon/cbccpodcast.
After you join, you can celebrate with a mighty rendition of "Jeg Saler Min Ganger." Seriously, how in love with Tom Hiddleston were you after that drunken revalry? So in love, right?
Be sure to follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
And one more time with feeling: SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY. Thanks to our Patrons, we've already upgraded some much-needed hardware and software. They're making this show happen at this point.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Thursday Jun 17, 2021
Thursday Jun 17, 2021
TKO Studios is the Criterion Collection of comic books. Every release is a blind-buy, and we try not to miss a one. As such, it's an incredible delight to have Editor-In-Chief Sebastian Girner and writer/artist Juni Ba on the show this week.
TKO is making its first serious move into the Young Adult (YA) market with three new graphic novels: Djeliya, Scales and Scoundrels Book 1: Where Dragons Wander, and Scales and Scoundrels Book 2: The Festival of Life. All three are currently available, and we happily slap our CBCC seal of approval on them.
Djeliya is the result of what happens when Cartoon Network seeps into a young boy from Senegal. It's a rich, gorgeous Afro-fantasy adventure that at once feels very familiar while also operating as an entirely original creation. In the future, you'll want to claim yourself as one of Ba's first fans. Get on the ground floor of this masterpiece today.
Girner's Scales and Scoundrels collections are also fantasy quest adventures but of a totally different variety. They are the antidote to grimdark Game of Thrones wannabes. Girner and artist Galaad craft a warm, sunny saga that contains all the tropes you want from the genre but also a bright optimism sorely missing these days.
Whether you've read the comics already or not, you're going to have a good time with this week's Creator Corner conversations. These two artists are stirring quality content, and the thought they bring to their stories is incredibly inspiring.
You'll want to follow Sebastian Girner on Twitter HERE, as well as Juni Ba HERE. And, of course, purchase your copies of Djeliya and Scales and Scoundrels via TKO Studios' website HERE.
Also, if you want to own Lisa Gullickson's first published piece of art, pre-order Weapon Echh over at 100% Comics HERE. Don't miss out on this parody tribute to BWS because it's Comic Book Couples Counseling history-in-the-making.
Follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.
Wednesday Jun 09, 2021
Wednesday Jun 09, 2021
We did it! 100 Episodes! And we're celebrating by smashing headfirst into the greatest fight to nearly tear the Fantastic Four apart - CIVIL WAR! Iron Man and Captain America are punching each other in the streets as Reed Richards and Sue Richards fall on opposite sides of the Superhuman Registration Act. With murderous Thor clones and Negative Zone prisons between them, how can this happily married couple ever hope to remain together? And, frankly, should they?
Our third episode exploring Reed and Sue as a couple hits DEFCON-4. To help us sort through the catastrophe, we turn to Gretchen Rubin and her self-help book, The Four Tendencies. Who's an Upholder? Who's an Obliger? Can they keep it together when their values fly in the face of each other? We get into it.
As an added 100 Episode Bonus, this week, we're also including a segment from our radical conversation with writers Josh Stafford and Howard Wong discussing their new kinda-sorta zombie series, Damned, Cursed Children. We frickin love this comic and we want all of you to love it too. Please seek it out via Source Point Press.
And before you hit play on this momentous episode, be sure to send some extra special love to Josh Cornillon, the brilliant artist who crafted our 100th Episode's show poster. Visit their website HERE. Follow them on Twitter HERE. Follow them on Instagram HERE.
The issue covered in this episode: Fantastic Four 538 - 543, written by J. Michael Straczynski and Dwayne McDuffie, penciled by Mike McKone, inked by Andy Lanning, Kris Justice, and Cam Smith, colored by Paul Mounts, lettered by Rus Wooten, and featuring covers by Adi Granov of Iron Man: Extremis fame.
Be sure to follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren.
SUPPORT THE PODCAST BY JOINING OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.
Podcast logo by Aaron Prescott @acoolhandfluke, podcast banner art by @Karen_XmenFan.