It’s time to witness what you were previously denied as a reader. Jadzia Axelrod returns to the podcast, talking full spoilers about her new weekly DC Pride event series, Justice League: Dream Girls. Done in collaboration with co-writer Nicole Maines, illustrators Nicola Scott, J. Bone, Ted Brandt, Ro Stein, and a mess load of others, this series reunites superheroes Galaxy and Dreamer immediately after the harrowing events of Justice League Intergalactic. They awaken as princess and champion of the Amazons, rescuing someone who sure looks a lot like Steve Trevor before being propelled into a dramatically different, animated Gotham landscape. Reality and unreality blend together.

This week’s episode offers a perfect opportunity for reflection: Jadzia Axelrod contemplating the non-linear path that her precious character has taken from Galaxy: The Pretties Star to Hawkgirl to Galaxy: As the World Falls Down to Justice League: Dream Girls. We discuss why her Galaxy pairs so beautifully with Nicole Maines’ Dreamer, the tricky oppositions these two characters faced after Justice League Intergalactic, and how their trip through iconic DC storylines in Dream Girls reveals the brilliance and joy readers were previously denied in their comics.

Justice League: Dream Girls #1 is out now from DC Comics, with each issue in the four-issue event hitting every Wednesday in June. It’s written by Jadzia Axelrod and Nicole Mains, illustrated by Nicola Scott, J. Bone, Ted Brandt, and Ro Stein, colored by Marissa Louise and Dearbhla Kelly, and lettered by Jodie Troutman and Frank Cvetkovic. To continue this conversation with Jadzia Axelrod, make sure you’re following her Website and BlueSky.

This Week's Sponsors

This June, Top Shelf Productions is bringing you unforgettable stories from the deeply personal to the absolutely colossal. On June 2nd, discover We Are Pan, the powerful historical graphic novel from writer Andre Frattino and illustrator Yasmin Flores Montanez. Inspired by the true story of Operación Pedro Pan, the secret mission that evacuated over 14,000 Cuban children to the United States during Fidel Castro’s rise to power. Then, on June 23rd, buckle up for Minnie Pouches in the MicroRealm! From Caleb Goellner and Eric Lide comes a wildly imaginative all-ages adventure about a super-anxious super-strong girl battling pizza dinosaurs, laser robots, and floating nightmares across bizarre dimensions to rescue her pets and save her family.

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Previously on CBCC: Jadzia Axelrod on Hawkgirl

• Previously on CBCC: Nicole Maines on Dreamer

• Brad and Lisa on Near Mint Condition

• Comic Book Club: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

On the podcast, survival comes up a lot. Is it enough to just make it through one more day? Should we strive for more? This week, we’re pondering the artistic life alongside cartoonists Dave Baker and Nicole Goux. Their latest graphic novel, Punk’n Heads, features several characters encountering adulthood and navigating an active/inactive existence. All while screaming their souls into punk rock, connecting to an audience adrift.

Dave Baker and Nicole Goux are longtime collaborators, and Punk’n Heads represents years of artistic evolution. It’s about as personal a comic as they’ve ever made together; maybe even teetering on memoir. It’s an exhilarating coming-of-age story that showcases the medium’s power while never skimping on complex characterization. Comics can do the impossible, make music where sound doesn’t exist.

Punk’n Heads is out now in trade paperback from Top Shelf Productions. Make sure you’re following Dave Baker on Instagram and his website. Do the same for Nicole Goux, follow her on Bluesky, Instagram, and her website.

This Week's Sponsors

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Previously on CBCC: Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque on Absolute Green Arrow

• Brad and Lisa on Near Mint Condition

• Comic Book Club: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

First things first, have you got your copy of Absolute Green Arrow #1? Have you read it? Okay, good. You may proceed. This week, we’re going full spoilers with writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Rafael Albuquerque, discussing the person behind the Longbow Killer’s mask. We pitch our theories. Pornsak and Rafael hear them. We read their microexpressions for clues.

Absolute Green Arrow #1 hit comic shops today (Wednesday, May 20th). It’s bound to stir some serious conversation. Some folks will react with discomfort, and that discomfort is an invitation for consideration and conversation, a mode DC’s Absolute Universe excels in.

As Pornsak Pichetshote says during our chat, Absolute Green Arrow is an angry book. It’s a reflection of the world outside our window today, and it should get you thinking about life beyond the pages you’re holding. The extremity pursued in this book, and other Absolute titles, is about more than looking badass. It’s a way to capture an emotional truth we’re all experiencing in 2026.

This week, we talk Longbow Killer suspects. We discuss the Italian horror slashers that inspired their green hooded killer, how unhinged wealth dehumanizes everyone, and why serialization is superior to binge entertainment. Absolute Green Arrow #1 is a single issue that excels as a single issue.

The first chapter is out now. It’s written by Pornsak Pichetshote, illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque, colored by Marcelo Maiolo, and lettered by Jeff Powell. Make sure you follow Pornsak Pichetshote on Bluesky and Instagram and Rafael Albuquerque on Bluesky and Instagram.

This Week's Sponsors

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Previously on CBCC: Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta on Absolute Batman

• Comic Book Club: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

The phone calls could be harsh. Daniel Freedman talked to a lot of shop owners. They told him anthologies didn’t sell. He explained that Stimulus was not an anthology; it was a short story collection. They continued to express cynicism. He went ahead and assembled an astonishing array of stories, galloping through numerous tones and showcasing an awesome stable of collaborators. Stimulus flaunts the heights that this medium can soar, and obliterates house style tastes. It’s on those LCS shelves now. Here’s your chance to prove the glass-half-empty folks that audiences crave structures free from corporate designs.

The comics in Stimulus should have your mouth watering. They’re science fiction and fantasy slanted idea outburts illustrated by - hold your breath - Robert Sammelin (Kali), Tomm Coker (Black Monday Murders), Filya Bratukhin(Nature’s Labyrinth), Amilcar Pina (Galactic), Dilraj Mann (Dalstron Monsterzz), Lorenzo Nuti (Dragonero/Conan), Arianna Farricella (College Apocalypse), Gavin Dias (PENTHOUSE Comics), Debbie Tsoi (Split Fiction), Stefano Realdini (Captain Gaia), Dan Morison (HELL-BENT), and Henrik Sahlstrom (Mirror’s Edge: Exordium).

This week, we had a blast chatting with Daniel Freedman about Stimulus. The short story collection spans more than ten years of his life, and each tale explores Freedman working himself out as well as the world he finds himself trapped in. We discuss the autobiographic nature of all storytelling, the power of a short story collection, and why comics allow him to create where other mediums do not.

And before all that, our kid on the beat cub reporter, Brad, regales Lisa with his journey to the Lower East Side and the Jack Kirby Way street-naming ceremony on May 11th. He discusses what and who he saw on Essex Street and even offers audio recordings of Jack Kirby Way presenters Roy Schwartz, NYC Council Member Christopher Marte, Tom Brevoort, Paul Levitz, and Jim Steranko. The King of Comics finally getting his name on an NYC street is a historic moment. Let’s all celebrate as comic book readers.

Stimulus is out now in trade paperback from Dark Horse Comics. Make sure you’re following Daniel Freedman on Instagram.

This Week's Sponsors

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Previously on CBCC: Todd McFarlane on Spawn

• Jack Kirby Way, as reported by The Beat

• Comic Book Club: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

Well, this is a surprise. Todd McFarlane returns to the podcast to discuss why he’s suddenly switching up the creative rosters on several Spawn universe titles. Starting with issue 376, friend of the show Matthew Rosenberg will script alongside artist Stephen Segovia. Roseberg will also serve as writer on the sibling series, King Spawn, with Thomas Nachlik on art. In Gunslinger Spawn #54, writer Erica Schultz joins returning artist Carlo Barberi. And starting today, She-Spawn #1 launches with Gail Simone as writer and Ig Guara as artist.

He’s said it before, and he states it emphatically on this week’s show: Todd McFarlane sees Spawn as his creative child, and as all parents want for their kids, Todd hopes to see him live long after he’s gone. To secure that reality, he needs to let go of the reins. So, today, he’s reflecting on his favorite comics and how regime changes propelled those books into legend.

Before all that, however, we banter back and forth about this past weekend’s Free Comic Book Day, and the awe-inspiring Charity Sketch Cover Auction Four Color Fantasies pulled off on Saturday, raising nearly $12,000 for the Literacy Volunteers of the Winchester Area. We discuss how we took that radical energy and moved it into our Comic Book Club on Sunday, and then work both events into the theme of community and how it bolsters the comic book industry, which leads directly into what Todd McFarlane is doing with his baby, Spawn.

This week, it’s all about the power of comics. Todd McFarlane details why he’s always happy to have others play in his playground, how he still has an ending for Spawn even though he never wants to use it, and why there are nuances to that tired artist vs. writer debate.

Spawn #376 arrives in shops from Image Comics on June 3rd, with Final Order Cutoff happening this upcoming Monday, the 11th.  If you want to continue our discussion with Todd McFarlane, you can find him on BlueSky and Instagram, as well as his Website.

This Week's Sponsors

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Help Send Chris Hacker to SDCC GoFundMe

• Previously on CBCC: Todd McFarlane and the Secret to His Success

• Previously on CBCC: Todd McFarlane and the 10 Best Spawn Comics

• Comic Book Club: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

When mom and dad go to war, it’s the children who suffer the most. Family tension bleeds into every aspect of their lives, and frequently, they have nowhere to hide or even space to process the external and internal strife. As a kid, we fled to stories. Whether it was E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial or Mrs. Doubtfire, fiction helped us process the big emotions we witnessed flowing from our parents. This week on the podcast, we’re talking with collaborators Jimmy Gaspero and Amber Akin about their new all-ages graphic novel, Penny and the Yeti. It’s a comic designed to help kids navigate the world when the adult voices in their home get too darn loud.

Currently, divorce rates in America fall between 40 and 50 percent. Whether a kid is personally affected by this rate or not, they’ll certainly encounter divorce among friends. They will rely on stories like Penny and the Yeti to clarify this reality. And creating such stories bears an incredible responsibility.

With Jimmy Gaspero and Amber Akin, we discuss Penny and the Yeti’s origins, its ties to Gaspero’s own daughter, and the joys of visualizing cryptids. Why a Yeti? If you know Jimmy and his work as a podcaster and journalist, you know the answer already. And we get into that specific aspect of his life as well.

Penny and the Yeti is out now from Papercutz. It’s written by Jimmy Gaspero, illustrated by Amber Akin, color flatted by Charlie Akin, and lettered by Buddy Beaudoin. You can continue this conversation by following Jimmy Gaspero on Instagram and BlueSky and Amber Akin on Instagram and BlueSky.

This Week's Sponsors

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Everyone loves to talk and debate about comics, but few people get to see what it’s actually like behind the scenes. Now, IDW Publishing is changing that with the launch of IDW Studios. The first monthly show is CreatorxCreator, a free-flowing, fun, and honest chat between two comic book creators as they discuss their craft, process, inspiration, and what life is really like as a creative. The second monthly show, Superlatives, brings IDW’s knowledgeable and spirited editors head-to-head to debate each of these categories, with another editor stepping in as the moderator to pick the winner once the pros have made their arguments.

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Help Send Chris Hacker to SDCC GoFundMe

• Previously on CBCC: Kevin Alvir on Lisa Chees and Ghost Guitar Book 2

• Comic Book Club: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

We’re sure you can relate to this sensation. You finish reading a comic, and as you close the back cover, you look over your shoulder. Has the creator responsible for this book been living in your home? Have they been watching you when you weren’t looking? Cuz this comic seems made specifically for you. That’s certainly how we feel about Kevin Alvir and his latest graphic novel, Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar: The Rock God Complex, out now from Top Shelf Productions.

This second book in his Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar series sees Alvir upping his game. He’s perfectly smashed the indie comics world with the superhero fantasy. As we state on the back of the book, in the pull-quote we’re most proud of, “What if Jack Kirby tabled at @SPXComics? You’d get Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar!” If you understand that statement, you’re already in. You should put this book in your hands immediately.

Kevin Alvir masterfully blends the mundane with the extraordinary. His characters are struggling, but they’re fighting the good fight, and they will overcome their internal and external battles. In this week’s podcast, we discuss with the cartoonist how he leveled up for his sequel, the power of unhinged, righteous anger, and how reading and creating comics help you sort your stuff out.

Every character in Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar: The Rock God Complex is searching for something: from guitar strings to vampire teeth to self-respect. What they eventually find carves a path for the reader to follow. It’s a beautiful, affirming, human story with cybernetic unicorns, ghost guitarists, demons, and naysayers.

Continue the conversation with Kevin Alvir by following him on Instagram and BlueSky.

This Week's Sponsors

Everyone loves to talk and debate about comics, but few people get to see what it’s actually like behind the scenes. Now, IDW Publishing is changing that with the launch of IDW Studios. The first monthly show is CreatorxCreator, a free-flowing, fun, and honest chat between two comic book creators as they discuss their craft, process, inspiration, and what life is really like as a creative. The second monthly show, Superlatives, brings IDW’s knowledgeable and spirited editors head-to-head to debate each of these categories, with another editor stepping in as the moderator to pick the winner once the pros have made their arguments.

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Help Send Chris Hacker to SDCC GoFundMe

• Previously on CBCC: Kevin Alvir on Lisa Cheese and Ghost Guitar Book 1

• Comic Book Club: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

With social media splintering and websites chasing clicks, navigating the comic book industry has never been more challenging. Tiffany Babb and The Comics Staple are here to help, hopefully. If you have any interest in comics criticism, you’re probably already aware of who Babb is and what fight she’s fighting. Her latest project is a monthly black-and-white zine designed to be a tool for readers entering their local comic shop. Her roster of tastemakers will guide you through what’s hot, what’s not, and break beyond the publicity machine.

You have less than a week to back The Comics Staple on Kickstarter. It’s already reached well beyond its goal. This beauty is happening, and we can’t wait to get our hands on the first issue in September. As we’re attempting to balance our lives between the online space and “the meat space,” endeavors like The Comics Staple seem poised to help.

It’s always a pleasure to have Tiffany Babb on the podcast. This week, we discuss why she added The Comics Staple to her workload, how she assembled her creative team, why the physical media movement is gaining steam with younger generations, and who will benefit from a twelve-page comic book guide.

Find The Comics Courier Kickstarter here. Continue the conversation with Tiffany Babb by following her on BlueSky, Instagram, and her Website.

This Week's Sponsors

Everyone loves to talk and debate about comics, but few people get to see what it’s actually like behind the scenes. Now, IDW Publishing is changing that with the launch of IDW Studios. The first monthly show is CreatorxCreator, a free-flowing, fun and honest chat between two comic book creators as they discuss their craft, process, inspiration, and what life is really like as a creative. The second monthly show, Superlatives, brings IDW’s knowledgeable and spirited editors head-to-head to debate each of these categories, with another editor stepping in as the moderator to pick the winner once the pros have made their arguments.

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Matttttttt on Blind Bags

• Previously on CBCC: Tiffany Babb on The Comics Courier

• Previously on CBCC: Christian Ward on Event Horizon: Dark Descent

• Comic Book Club: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

• Comic Book Film Club: Paying For It on 4/26 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia.

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

Before Christian Ward joins us for a full-spoilers conversation about Event Horizon: Inferno, we get lost in a lengthy discussion about Stephen King’s The Stand. We promise, however, that both stories tie nicely together and circle the vast concerns many of us are feeling in 2026. Event Horizon #1 is now available in comic book shops everywhere, thanks to IDW Publishing, and this week’s podcast is a full-spoilers conversation all about it, digging deep into modern anxieties while also celebrating kick-ass monsters and scary horror movie violence. As the solicits say for this surprise comic book sequel, Event Horizon: Inferno is indeed Aliens meets Dante’s Inferno. Get ready now.

Set 200 years after the film and its comic book prequel, Event Horizon: Dark Descent, Event Horizon: Inferno introduces a new crew of desperate humans and demonic antagonists. Christian Ward and artist Rob Carey (plus, colorist Xenon Honchar and letterer Alex Ray) profoundly expand the Event Horizon universe, taking it to realms barely hinted at in the original nineties scare fest. As Ward mentions, he’s giving Event Horizon the same treatment that Dark Horse Comics gave the Aliens and Predator franchises back in the nineties. If you remember those comics, damn, you’re probably pretty darn excited at the notion.

This week, we get ponderous about hell, heaven, and their servants. We dig into how this series demands expansion and the freedom in which the publisher and studio gave Ward and his collaborators. We consider how Event Horizon: Inferno reflects the world outside our window and what we can do to alleviate real-life dread. Buckle up, friends. We’re all on this ship together.

Again, Event Horizon #1 is out now from IDW Publishing. It’s written by Christian Ward, illustrated by Rob Carey, colored by Xenon Honchar, and lettered by Alex Ray. Variant Cover (see art above) by Eamon Winkle. Continue this conversation with Christian Ward by visiting his Website and following him on Blue Sky and Instagram.

This Week's Sponsors

Everyone loves to talk and debate about comics, but few people get to see what it’s actually like behind the scenes. Now, IDW Publishing is changing that with the launch of IDW Studios. The first monthly show is CreatorxCreator, a free-flowing, fun, and honest chat between two comic book creators as they discuss their craft, process, inspiration, and what life is really like as a creative. The second monthly show, Superlatives, brings IDW’s knowledgeable and spirited editors head-to-head to debate each of these categories, with another editor stepping in as the moderator to pick the winner once the pros have made their arguments.

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Watch Christian Ward in The Stacks

• Previously on CBCC: Christian Ward on Event Horizon: Dark Descent

• Comic Book Club: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

• Comic Book Film Club: Paying For It on 4/26 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia.

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

It’s a topic we discuss a lot. When you love comics, you eventually want to make them. Curt Pires heard Franklin Jonas professing his love for the medium on a podcast. Immediately, he recognized a kindred spirit. Pires invited Jonas to play. The result is the new Image Comics series Fireborn, spinning out of Pires’ massive comic book playground, Lost Fantasy.

Maybe you’ve already read the logline: Fireborn is Invincible meets How to Train Your Dragon meets Absolute Batman. Whoa, okay. That’s a lot, but what does that actually mean? On this week’s podcast, we get into it with Franklin Jonas and Curt Pires. We break down those other stories and consider what they owe to Spider-Man and his Amazing Fantasy #15 debut. Where do you begin when creating an F’d up Peter Parker?

And did we mention the hot takes? Franklin Jonas has them! We give the musician the space to profess his passion for comics, champion his all-time favorite Daredevil run, and explain why not enough of you are reading the current JSA monthly written by Jeff Lemire.

In Fireborn, Aaron Hillburg is a rich kid who runs face-first into Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. He answers the call to action, but when will he reject it? With great power there must also come great responsibility. One issue in, we got part one of that statement. Is part two coming?

Let’s geek out about what comics can do that no TV pitch can ever contain.

Fireborn #1 is out now from Image Comics. It’s written by Curt Pires and Franklin Jonas, illustrated by Patrick Mulholland, colored by Mark Dale, and lettered by Micah Myers. Make sure you’re following Franklin Jonas on Instagram and Curt Pires on BlueSky and Instagram.

This Week's Sponsors

Everyone loves to talk and debate about comics, but few people get to see what it’s actually like behind the scenes. Now, IDW Publishing is changing that with the launch of IDW Studios. The first monthly show is CreatorxCreator, a free-flowing, fun and honest chat between two comic book creators as they discuss their craft, process, inspiration, and what life is really like as a creative. The second monthly show, Superlatives, brings IDW’s knowledgeable and spirited editors head-to-head to debate each of these categories, with another editor stepping in as the moderator to pick the winner once the pros have made their arguments.

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• Previously on CBCC: Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill on Death to Pachuco

• The Four Color Fantasies Charity Sketch Cover Auction

• The Literacy Volunteers of the Winchester Area

• Comic Book Club: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

• Comic Book Film Club: Paying For It on 4/26 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia.

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

Comics don’t just happen. Artists will them from nothing. As you’ll hear from Henry Barajas and Rachel Merrill in this week’s podcast, comics arrive at your local comic book shop through tremendous persistence and imagination. The next time you cross your shop’s threshold, possibly to grab a copy of Barajas and Merrill’s Death to Pachuco, out now in trade paperback from Image Comics, take a moment to thank the makers. Each book on the rack is a tiny miracle.

In Death to Pachuco, Barajas and Merrill tap into history, detailing the 1943 Sleepy Lagoon Murder Trial and the Zoot Suit Riots. It’s a Chicano noir, heavily inspired by classic Hollywood tales, but springing from a perspective frequently silenced or ignored. Their private eye, Ricardo “Ricky” Tellez, fancies himself a Sherlock Holmes type, complete with a nearly debilitating drug addiction. He’s caught in the racial tensions boiling over during wartime Los Angeles, hunting for a killer, while navigating a femme fatale.

This week on the podcast, we chat with Barajas and Merrill about balancing fact and fiction, style and reality, and why humanity frequently allows fear steer its actions. We discuss the magnificent amount of will and persistence it took to materialize Death to Pachuco and how it feels to see it collected in trade paperback, finally.

Death to Pachuco is written and lettered by Henry Barajas, illustrated by Rachel Merrill, and colored by Lee Loughridge. The book featured several variant covers from folks like Sarah Gordon (see episode art), Tula Lotay, Ben Passmore, David Lapham, and others.

Make sure you're following Henry Barajas on BlueSky and Instagram, and Rachel Merrill on BlueSky and Instagram.

This Week's Sponsors

The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!

Everyone loves to talk and debate about comics, but few people get to see what it’s actually like behind the scenes. Now, IDW Publishing is changing that with the launch of IDW Studios. The first monthly show is CreatorxCreator, a free-flowing, fun and honest chat between two comic book creators as they discuss their craft, process, inspiration, and what life is really like as a creative. The second monthly show, Superlatives, brings IDW’s knowledgeable and spirited editors head-to-head to debate each of these categories, with another editor stepping in as the moderator to pick the winner once the pros have made their arguments.

Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode:

• Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel

• Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics

• CBCC on Word Balloon

• Comic Book Club: Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 5/3 at 3:30 PM

• Comic Book Film Club: Paying For It on 4/26 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia.

Final Round of Plugs (PHEW):

Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY.

And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @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.

Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.

Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.