As a new fan of comic books, I find it frustrating that only a couple of my friends share an interest in collecting and reading comics. For me, half the fun is hearing someone else's reaction and exchanging opinions and predictions. Have you ever felt that way? About a good book, CD, movie or show? If so you can understand what it's like. Well a little over a month ago, I decided to look for good comic podcasts so I could get some idea of what other fans think about my favorite books. I found a few shows, but nothing looked especially enticing. As I clicked through page after page of iTunes search results, my attention was drawn to one in particular:
Raging Bullets, A DC Comics Fan Podcast. This was exactly what I had been looking for. Other shows covered too broad a range of comics, including Marvel and independent books in their reviews. Personally, I'm a DC fan so I checked out
RB. Hosted by Sean "Dr. Norge" Whelan and Jim "Sensei of the Whatnot" Segulin,
RB reviews DC comics past and present on a weekly basis. They read and discuss dozens of DC titles, so pretty much anything you want will get coverage. The best part is that they include timestamps in each episode's iTunes description so you can skip ahead to the reviews you
want to hear without having to sit through reviews you don't care about. This is especially helpful given that their episodes average anywhere from 2 to 4
hours in length. While I don't always agree with their opinions, I
do enjoy hearing different points-of-view on well-written books Over the last few weeks, I've been listening to all of their older episodes that are relevant to books I enjoy reading (which is mostly Superman stuff). So far I've only heard them review material that I read months ago, so it's been sort of a recap of DC Comics essentials for me. I look forward to getting caught up on current episodes so I can hear their thoughts on fresh materical.
Raging Bullets gets a 3.5 out of 5 Raging Bullets (get it?) I like it, but it doesn't necessarily merit my Seal of Approval. Still if you read DC, listen to
RB.
Around the same time that I was searching for comic podcasts, while listening to an episode of
Geek Out Loud, I heard host Steve Glosson mention a show called
Views from the Longbox. He said it was hosted by Michael Bailey. I already knew of Mike from the
Superman Homepage, where he regularly writes reviews of Superman comics. Since I like his written reviews, I thought I'd enjoy his podcast. Well that was an understatement. I downloaded all his episodes that were pertinent to the comics I enjoy and I listened to them. Michael is a long-time comics reader, but even I was able to appreciate his reviews as a new reader. I especially loved his episode on
The Death of Superman story. That was a very personal look at his road to fandom, and it really showed why Superman is his favorite hero. Just great stuff. Once every so often, Mike is joined by his friend Shag and they chat about a whole host of geeky subjects. Recently, Mike attended Dragon*Con, where he recorded a month's worth of episodes. They are being released weekly throughout October. Because Dragon*Con attracts geeks from all over the US. Mike was able to sit down with all kinds of fans who, like him, use the internet to share their hobbies with the world. They have been really interesting so far. Support Mike by giving him a listen at
viewsfromthelongbox.com. Mike gets 4.5 of 5 bags & boards, as well as the world-renowned Frank Ramblings Seal of Approval.
On Deck:
Speeding Bulletin and
Radio K.A.L.
