Over the last year, we’ve found community and celebration through comic book podcasts. Here are the ten best shows worthy of your ears and time.
We’re podcast junkies. We love comics and we love movies, but if we’re being honest, the entertainment we collectively consume the most are podcasts. Whether we’re on the road, doing the laundry, or soaking in the tub, we’re streaming podcasts into our brains. And we listen to pretty much everything. No subject too dull.
Comic Book Podcasts, obviously, are our main jam. We’ve always been about them, but since launching our own two years ago, comic book podcasts have become an obsession. We no longer just listen to our favorites, we listen to everything. Or, at least, we try to listen to everything.
Too often, comic book podcasts are not actually comic book podcasts. Instead, they’re comic book movie podcasts, celebrating the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DCEU, and everything else that falls between. We dig a lot of these shows, but they don’t really scratch the itch we're desperately interested in right now.
Sequential storytelling is a particular passion, and when you encounter fellow addicts, the energy produced is immense. We love to be amongst our kind. If we had it our way, we would hunker down at the San Diego Comic-Con year ‘round. Unable to gather for even a few days this past year has been incredibly frustrating. We miss our buds. Thankfully, we’ve latched onto several podcasts to get us through these long days.
In 2020, we fell in love with so many comic book podcasts. What you’ll find below are our current ten favorite shows. We recognize that our tastes may not be your tastes. For the most part, we don’t dwell on news podcasts or shows that are mostly concerned with the current comic book newsstand. We like those shows that dig in a little bit deeper, and root around the history of the industry as well as our favorite characters.
In putting the ten best comic book podcasts together, we chose not to rank these shows either. They’re all great. You should check them out. As such, these shows are listed alphabetically.
Before we get on with it, just in case you stumbled onto this list via Google or whatever, we want to let you know that We, Brad Gullickson and Lisa Gullickson, host a pretty dang cool podcast as well. It’s the Comic Book Couples Counseling podcast. We’re a married couple who pair our favorite comic book couples with various self-help guides in an effort to better understand our own relationship. When we’re not doing that, we’re interviewing rad comic book creators like Stephen R. Bissette and Tom Scioli. Please feel free to browse our show by clicking HERE.
So, without further ado, here are The 10 Best Comic Book Podcasts of 2021 according to Comic Book Couples Counseling.
AIPT Comics
So, we realize we just said that we typically don’t enjoy comic book podcasts that simply focus on news and what’s currently going on within the industry, and that’s true, but David and Nate are just too dang good at their jobs. The AIPT Comics podcast is a joyous back-and-forth that does more than rattle off the bullet points. These two bring decades worth of fire and enthusiasm to their conversations, and you’ll walk away jazzed after every episode. Click Here to Listen.
Amazing Spider-Talk
We love Spider-Man. You love Spider-Man. Dan Gvozden and Mark Ginocchio really, really, really love Spider-Man. Every week they look into a different aspect of the character and break it down through a rich and always giddy analysis. It’s a love fest, but it’s not a blind show either. Dan and Mark are not afraid to highlight the weaker or more disappointing entries within the franchise, and these dissecting conversations can sometimes be the most entertaining and insightful. Click Here to Listen.
Battle of the Atom
What are the best X-Men comics? You probably have an opinion, but have your read every single X-Men comic? Whatever your answer, you’ll enjoy this show as hosts Zachary Jenkins and Adam Reck blitz through the canon, ranking the comics as they go. We’re not just talking Uncanny X-Men, here. They're delving into the X-Men guest-appearances inside ROM: Space Knight. Yeah, it gets real. The conversations are always spirited and you’ll find yourself gleefully shouting back at the gang. Click Here to Listen.
Bitches on Comics
Bitches on Comics will crack your skull open. Each week, hosts Sara Century and S.E. Fleenor tackle a topic or character, and by the time they’re done, you’re considering their subjects in a totally new light. The best part, Bitches on Comics takes comics god damn seriously. They love these things, and they want you to love them too, and they want the industry to do better by them. Century and Fleenor are here for the art, and their debates will make anyone a champion for these books and characters. Get riled by Bitches on Comics, and take that enthusiasm out into your own art and criticism. Click Here to Listen.
Cerebrocast
Cerebrocast host Connor Goldsmith is not interested in surface level blather. Half-hour podcasts are for chumps. Cerebrocast matches its runtime with its passion for the Uncanny X-Men. Each episode selects one merry mutant and drills down into their history. Usually partnered with a guest-host who claims that week’s subject as their top fave, Cerebrocast poetically explores the fictional biography and publishing history of various X-Men. Whether you love Rachel Summers or Stryfe as much as the hosts do or don’t doesn’t matter. You love the world and you will want to live in it alongside Cerebrocast. Click Here to Listen.
Girls Talk Comics
Girls Talk Comics offers a warm, welcoming, and informative environment. Hosts Jessica and Erin dip into a variety of topics, and mischievously venture into whatever wild offshoots those topics spark. Comic books are their bliss, and they use them to consider larger ideas and themes. Whether they’re spotlighting a specific artist or interviewing a creator, Girls Talk Comics brings a unique perspective to each episode, and it’s a perspective that’s much needed inside the comic book podcast space. Click Here to Listen.
Is It An X-Man?
X-Men comics are weird. Don’t you wish you had a best bud to help you through the X-Men reading process. Britt is wading into the X-Men universe, and Katie is there to guide her hand. The two tackle the good, the bad, and the ugly regarding Marvel’s merry mutants and each episode is an absolute pleasure. Is It An X-Man? is the kind of podcast that makes you feel like you’re in the room with the hosts. Britt and Katie quickly become your friends and you’ll never want to miss a session. Click Here to Listen.
King Kirby
Ok, so this one is a little different. King Kirby is an audio adaptation of the New York Times Critics’ Pick play by Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente. If you’re not already sold, you better get sold. King Kirby takes you back in time, to the early days of Marvel Comics, showcasing the genius architect behind the superhero empire. Whether you’ve heard these tales or not doesn’t matter. King Kirby puts you in the mindscape of these legendary stories, and it’s an incredibly emotional experience. We’ve wanted to be a fly on those Timely walls for so long, and this podcast puts you there, or about as close as you will ever get. Click Here to Listen.
My Marvelous Year
My Marvelous Year is a reading club as much as it is a comic book podcast. Hosts Zack and Dave attempt the impossible, to cover the entire Marvel Comics history one year at a time. Yes, that’s a lot of comics, but these two are determined to turn over all the rocks. They cover great comics, good comes, and oh-dear-god-dreadful comics. The conversations are raucous and energetic. Marvel Comics is a wild realm featuring all kinds of stories. My Marvelous Year spotlights the madness, injecting a newfound eagerness in yourself to double down on your own passion. If you’re looking to get your flames fanned, look no further. Click Here to Listen.
Off Panel
David Harper gets the guests. Better yet, he gets them to talk. Off Panel is a weekly interview show, featuring conversations from the industry’s entire talent spectrum. Certainly, many of us are curious to hear what folks like Chris Samnee or Vita Ayala have to say, but often, the most enjoyable conversations are the ones with retailers or fellow podcasters (like Battle of the Atom's co-host Zachary Jenkins). Off Panel offers fans an opportunity to consider comic books from every angle, behind the panel and beyond. Click Here to Listen.
Honorable Mentions:
While there may not be enough comic book podcasts in the market for our insatiable appetites, there are still far too many to include in a Top Ten list. We gotta celebrate the runners up as well. These Honorable Mentions deserve your ears, and we look forward to adding many more in the near future.
- Casual Wednesdays
- Cheers to Comics!
- Chrises on Infinite Earths
- Comics in the Golden Age
- Comic Book Keepers
- The Comic Conspiracy
- Capes on the Couch
- First Issue Club
- I Read Comic Books Podcast
- Jacked Kirby
- The Last Comic Shop
- Longbox Heroes
- Mangasplaining
- Marvel by the Month
- The Marvelists
- Mutant Musings Podcast
- Next Issue Podcast
- The Oblivion Bar
- The Wednesday Pull List!
- Word Balloon
- The X-Reads Podcast
- The X-Wife Podcast
Don't see a show you love? Maybe we haven't listened to it yet. Let us know, by sharing your favorite podcast with us by emailing us at cbccpodcast@gmail.com or Tweeting us @CBCCPodcast.