Doug Bost and Adam Bernstein are Grown Ass Men

Happy holidays from your team at Grown Ass Industries! Our specialists have been working long hours crafting one more burst of epic nerdery before the end of the year, and here it is: Your dedicated representatives, Adam and Doug, are sharing gifts with each other in our latest episode. They're also standing by our toll-free phone lines 24/7 for your topic requests for 2025. Thanks and have a great new year!

‘Deadpool & Wolverine'. That ampersand is significant, isn't it? Because it could have been ‘Deadpool vs. Wolverine', but the truth is a little more snuggly than that. These dudes are a match made in Marvel Heaven and in our latest episode, only 6 months late, we break down all the ways grown ass men felt about 2024's blockbuster.  Put this one in your ear holes to hear Doug make Adam say, “You must be joking”, to hear Sam give Deadpool & Wolverine a 12-star review, to hear Adam veer heavily in the other direction, and also to hear Acadia Bost's plans to start a GAM chapter at her university. Music by Adam Bernstein, as always!

Attention, true believers! We've just dropped a very special, no-nonsense, get-in-get-out episode of Grown Ass Men, all about the new work by our friend J.M. DeMatteis. JM makes his pitch for why you should support his new Kickstarter, and also talks about what can happen when hundreds of people contribute to the world of a single fictional character. Music by Adam Bernstein, natch. Oh, and here's the link to that Kickstarter: http://kck.st/460rQ64

There are men who carelessly skip over the letters pages in old comic books. But that's not Doug or Adam. And it certainly isn't JM DeMatteis, our charming, returning fan-favorite guest. On this episode, we all dive into the best letters ever published in comics, (yes, including the first writing George RR Martin ever had in print) and JM talks about his path from fanboy to letter-writer to comics scribe extraordinaire. It's a good one! Original music by Adam Bernstein

When Alex Maleev paints Daredevil, you can feel the sweat in that red suit. When he sketches Miles Morales  you might get worried Miles is gonna fall off that building. We know and love his art from Spider-Woman, Moon Knight, Batman, Hellboy, and the Scarlet series, many created with Brian Michael Bendis. But we also know Alex because he lives here in Brooklyn and we were lucky enough to sit down in person with Alex to talk about his gorgeous new series Masterpiece. Also, to talk about why he loves the UFC. Music by Adam Bernstein!

On this episode, find out why Doug and Adam will NEVER interview Jim Steranko—and why we love him anyway. Artist, writer, historian, magician, escape artist, musician, character designer of Indiana Jones, character designer of Coppola's Dracula, and owner of an amazing head of hair, there is only one Steranko. We met him at Comicon this year and here's the story of the handshake that almost cut off the circulation to my whole arm. With music by Adam Bernstein, natch!

Sure, you've heard about Dr. Wu. Peg. Josie. Rikki, who really shouldn't lose that number. But here's a question: What do they look like? Well, wonder no more. In this episode, Doug and Adam sit down with the amazing artist who decided to paint every Steely Dan character. You read that right. Joan LeMay has painted ALL of the characters in Steely Dan's songs in the book she created with the very talented Alex Pappademas. And Joan was just as much of a fun, unpredictable character as any of her subjects. Listen, download, like, subscribe and we promise Mr LaPage will be your man. Original music by Adam Bernstein!

On the 101st Episode of the Greatest Comic Book Podcast of all time, we dive into uncharted territory: Power Records! In the 1970s, you didn't just want to read your comics. You wanted to hear them, too. That's where Power Records came in, creating comic books for your turntable, and this episode plays all the hits, from the Six Million Dollar Man vs Santa, to the Planet of the Apes, to Spidey vs Little Women. Elevating the conversation is the fabulous Kevin Maher. Kevin geeks out as only he can do, and also explains to us why these little 45 RPM records were actually good for kids! As if this isn't enough, you'll also get the superhero earworm you didn't know you needed (by Adam Bernstein and Sam Mastandrea), but you really do need it. Put the needle on the record!Original music by Adam Bernstein

It's our 100th episode! Can you believe it? Being it's episode #100 we knew we had to do something special and we are delivering! Here it is - An interview with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! Don't miss it!Original music by Adam Bernstein

The greatest sci-fi movie of all time. The greatest comics creator of all time. The power of Marvel Comics. Bring them all together, and what could go wrong? Everything. On this episode, we crack open the mystery of Jack Kirby's weirdest sci-fi comic, tell stories about Stanley Kubrick, propose new ideas for tattoos, and Adam Bernstein gets operatic. With special guests, Dave Baeumler, Sam Mastandrea, and Julian Darius. What's not to love? 

On our latest episode: The world's greatest comic book shop opens its doors for the Grown Ass Men! We toured the amazing Metropolis Collectibles and invaded the sanctum sanctorum of suave head honcho Vincent Zurzolo to see the collection and hear stories of Vincent's career, Harry Houdini's handcuffs, Nicolas Cage's stolen comics and tons more. Vincent's theme by Adam Bernstein!

It started with an irresistible tweet: What are your favorite runs in comics? It's the kind of easy/hard question grown ass men love to ask themselves, and this time it was being asked by writer Jimmy Palmiotti. Adam leapt into action, contacted Jimmy, and we made our lists. The conversation was a total pleasure because Jimmy's not only knowledgeable and funny, he's also a total fanboy of the comics he loves. We covered our favorite runs as well as some of the great work he's done with the amazing Amanda Conner. Thanks for being on the show, Jimmy!

What's your favorite 70s TV theme song? Hawaii 5-0? Laverne & Shirley? Don't have one? Well, Adam & Doug are here to help, unearthing classics and rarities from simpler times when gas was way too expensive, war seemed just around the corner, and the Fonz hadn't jumped any sharks. Tune in with us and fan-favorite guests Mary Micari and Sam Mastandrea!  

It's time for the official G.A.M. review of Matt Reeves' The Batman -- and, to cover every Bat-angle, we're pulling in Sam Mastandrea plus Bat-Authority Sean Wasson. This is also the ONLY podcast anywhere that will musically connect Paul Dano's Brian Wilson with Paul Dano's Riddler. Enjoy the Bat-earworm!Original music by Adam Bernstein

To capture the amazing life of Steve Gerber, we went way beyond Wikipedia. We got great stories from the one and only Mary Skrenes (his writing partner on Howard the Duck, Omega the Unknown and more) along with Gerry Conway, Scott Edelman and JM DeMatteis. Plus music by Adam Bernstein! What more do you need?

“The idea that (Stan Lee could say), ‘Hey kids, write in and you can be part of this giant cultural project' is transparently a lie -- and it also turned out to be true.” On this episode of the Grown Ass Men podcast, Douglas Wolk, author of All Of The Marvels, proves you can be super-nerdy and super-eloquent at the same time as he tells us about reading EVERY SINGLE MARVEL COMIC. He also sings a song about it! Pure pleasure, this one. Enjoy.Original Music by Adam Bernstein

It's 2022 and Grown Ass Men are starting the year off right! In this episode we chat with comic book writer legend Gerry Conway! Gerry has written for both Marvel and DC (as well as TV and film) and created The Punisher, Ms. Marvel, Firestorm and many others. His work on Spider-Man includes some of the most well known loved issues in the history of the character. Don't miss this one!Original music by Adam Bernstein

It's time for our annual holiday episode! The Grown Ass Men podcast team get together every December for a gift exchange where we always get what we want, comic books! A fun time is had by all. We also give a giant shout out to one of the all time great artists, George Perez. 

J. M DeMatteis is comic book writer legend! His prolific work with Marvel, DC and many of the big independent companies are well respected within the industry. Grown Ass Men were lucky enough to spend time with him discussing his work on Spider-Man, The Defenders, Captain America. Justice League and his fantastic semi autobiographical graphic novel Brooklyn Dreams. You don't want to miss this one!Original music by Adam Bernstein 

Grown Ass Men have been fans of Shang Chi and his Master of Kung Fu comic since it came out Dec 10, 1973. Well maybe we discovered it in 1974 but we, like so many other fans, regard these books as some of the best in the Marvel canon. When the new Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was released, we were first on line. In this episode we review the movie, plus chat about our correspondence with the great MOKF artist Paul Gulacy. It's a good one and you don't want to miss it!Original music by Adam BernsteinSpecial guest vocal on Shang Chi! by Sam Mastandrea

"Lets just say, whatever few bits of cool we had have been destroyed."Yup, this is our nerdiest episode EVER, which is saying a lot. Grown Ass Men drove to Long Island, Maine and upstate New York just to look at peoples comics. In Maine, we did end up at a Comic Book store, so while that's not that unusual, it was still incredibly nerdy. But, we know you understand and want to hear all about it.

It comes down to this - Do you prefer Spiderman or the Thing?! Join GAM as we geek out about the classic Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-In-One comics from the 70's. We debate what's better, the strange Super-Villain Team-Up books and the team-ups we hoped for but never came to fruition. Don't miss it! Original music from Adam "Warlock" Bernstein

Hard to believe now, but it used to be there was no such thing as Comedy Central. Then in the early 90s, Art Bell (and some other bright folks) came along and changed all that. Art also gave co-host Doug Bost his first job out of college, but to find out why that job was called “Cliptomaniac”, you’ll have to listen to our new episode. Art chats with us about his excellent new memoir, Constant Comedy, with stories about HBO mogul Michael Fuchs, Jon Stewart, and Bill Maher, to name a few. Jazzy score by Adam Bernstein, natch. Enjoy!

If you're a Mad Magazine fan, you know Al Jaffee! A legend in the comics industry, Al worked for tons of publications but was responsible for some of the longest, most endearing Mad Magazine features including the famous Fold In and Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions. Al just turned 100 (!) so, along with the rest of the comics world, Grown Ass Men wanted to celebrate as well. Every party needs top notch guests so we called upon Karen Green (Curator for Comics and Cartoons at Columbia University Libraries) and R. Sikoryak (brilliant artist of Constitutional Illustrated and The Unquotable Trump). We had a great time discussing everything Jaffee. So give a listen! A special shout out to Blythe Gruda, the amazing singer on Al Jaffee's theme song. Original music by Adam Bernstein

WandaVision episode 5 is about to drop -- so it’s the perfect time for a spoiler-filled, Grown-Ass catch-up on the first 4 episodes. Hear wild educated guesses about who will appear next, and how this whole crazy thing might end, from Rhonda Goldstein, Steve Garvey, Joanna Parson, Graham Stevens, Sean Stoops and Art Dupras.

We’ve never done this before, but it was necessary to record a special emergency episode in response to the WW84 crisis. We have a lot of guests to help with this one. Good luck to all of you in this difficult time. Thanks to Mary Micari, Carolyn Bost, Acadia Bost, Jeff Ward, and Sam Mastandrea.

It’s the Great Grown Ass Grab Bag Gift Giving Guide! Anytime before Valentine’s Day is still the holidays to us, so enjoy these ideas for the grown ass man or woman in your life -- from Hans Gruber tree ornaments to Harrison Ford menorahs. This is what your loved ones REALLY want under the tree. We’ll also help you mix our signature seasonal cocktail! And you’ll dig the music by Adam Bernstein and Sam Mastandrea. Happy holidays, true believers!

Time flies in Grown Ass Men world. Last time we had comic book author/artist Jamar Nicholas on our show it was November 2016 (which shocked all of us!). It's crazy times for everyone but great things are happening for Jamar and his character Leon. He just signed a publishing deal with Scholastic for multiple Leon books so it was perfect timing to catch up again. We chat about his deal, life during Covid and other comic book related stuff. Don't miss it! Original music by Adam Bernstein

The US Constitution might seem -- well, frankly, boring. But not to R. Sikoryak. Do yourself a favor and check out our inspiring conversation with him about his book, ‘Constitution Illustrated’ (Drawn & Quarterly), and see how his amazing artwork kicks originalism to the curb, just in time for the election. It’s a perfect thing to listen to while standing in line to vote. Music by Adam Bernstein, natch.

It's summer in the city. It's not your typical Lovin Spoonful summer, it's a freaking Covid summer, so Grown Ass Men decided to dig into one of our fave topics; The Convincing. This is where we convince each other that you must check out this book. This time is different though. We decided to do a musical "convincing" so we called upon honorary GAM and fantastic musician Sam Mastandrea to join us. We chat guilty pleasures, Prince, Hall and Oates, Jefferson Airplane and the great year 1977! We also send a shout out to recently departed genius inker of Marvel's greatest, Joe Sinnott. You don't want to miss this one. Original music by Adam Bernstein

As everyone knows, the coronavirus is doing damage through out the world. When Grown Ass Men recorded Ep. 77, the virus was just beginning to hit the US and we had no clue what was to happen shortly after. In NYC were we live, the numbers effected are extremely high and we recorded this episode under quarantine. So what better topic than to discuss how superheros would deal this situation. Would Wolverine observe the quarantine? Does Bruce Banner have the virus if the Hulk contracts it? We also chat about the classic Marvel title What If. Honorary Grown Ass Man Sam Mastandrea joins us for the fun. Original music by Adam Bernstein

Music is helping all of us in this crazy time. But you’re probably sick of listening to ‘Splendid Isolation’ by Warren Zevon on repeat. Well, the Grown Ass Men are here to help by diving deep into the great (and not-so-great) theme songs from James Bond movies, in our brand new quarantine episode! Featuring 007 superfan Gil Sembrano, this one will definitely give you some new tracks to listen to. Oh, and you’ll learn what Thom Yorke thinks is the sexiest song EVER. Stay well, friends!

Happy New Year folks! Hope everyone had a fantastic grown ass holiday where Galactus didn't devour your entire planet! Every year at this time, Grown Ass Men have a tradition of acknowledging what we really want for the holidays (besides world peace) are comic books. This year we got the Superhero Holiday Grab Bag Treasury editions, so we had to chat about some of the weirdest collections of reprints in a giant over sided book ever put out. Our other tradition is to try to convince each other about other comic book related topics. This years "convincing" needed, uh, not much convincing. Give a listen! Here's to a great 2020. Original music by Adam Bernstein.

Ever since Stan Lee died just over a year ago, the Grown Ass Men have been talking about doing a Stan episode. Well, we got lucky because we got to interview writer and editor Danny Fingeroth just as his new book 'A Marvelous Life - The Amazing Story of Stan Lee' was just about to drop. Danny worked with Stan at Marvel and has been a big part of the comic book industry since the 70's! It's a great book which we highly recommend! Do not miss this episode! http://dannyfingeroth.com Original music by Adam Bernstein

On Oct 30th, 1938, radio listeners got a special Halloween gift from a man who would become one of the greatest film-makers ever, Orson Welles. An adaptation H.G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds' aired -- and people were panicked! Just what you want on Halloween, right? I guess it depends on who you ask. It's a must-listen radio program. Grown Ass Men decided to revisit that historic radio program with Welles expert and friend of the show Jeff Ward. Jeff is a playwright, composer and actor and let's just say he's very knowledgable on this topic. We also revisit the Marvel Comics War of the Worlds starring the rather mundane Killraven. Check it out! Original Music by Adam Bernstein.

Some things need to be digested properly in order to comment intelligently. But, we'll let you decide if we did that because here it is - our reaction to Avengers Endgame! Grown Ass Men have opinions for sure but apparently not enough because we brought honorary GAM Sam Mastandrea along for the ride! Check it out! Original music by Adam Bernstein

The Marvel Comics Universe is on fire! At San Diego Comic Con, Marvel unveiled their Phase 4 plan which is an incredible group of films and TV shows featuring so many cool characters. Some of them we haven't see before like Shang-Chi and The Eternals. Super cool! GAM had to chime in so we did this quick shorty. Check it out! Original music by Adam Bernstein.

Spider-Man fans are psyched for the new Far From Home film about to come out and Grown Ass Men are no different! Finally in this movie we get an appearance from one of Spider-Man's greatest villains; Mysterio! So we got honorary GAM Sam Mastandrea to join us for a conversation about Mysterio, some of the other great Spidey villains and some things we are reading right now. Don't miss it! Original music by Adam Bernstein.

Sometimes you have to return to the source. These are tough times and when times are tough, you know who you have to call (hint: its not Ghostbusters). Yes, the first Avenger Captain America! In this episode we called upon the Captain America expertise of Maine's own Sean Wasson. Sean's a veteran educator but more importantly, he owns every issue of Batman from 1967 on. Join us as we discuss all things Cap - nazi fighting Cap, 50's Cap, who's Cap's best sidekick and Ta-Nehisi Coates' new Marvel run. Check it out! Original music by Adam Bernstein.

Welcome to Adstravaganza Part II! There's so much we wanted to cover about comic book advertising that we had to have a second episode; this one is jammed packed with Grown Ass Men goodness. This time we have three fantastic special guests. Joseph Dasaro creates art inspired by comic book ads and even has some tattooed on his body. https://twitter.com/dasarosmith Cultural expert Paco Taylor lays out the saga of the deadliest man alive, Count Dante! https://pacotaylor.contently.com Last but not least its another visit with Grown Ass young person Acadia Bost who continues the melancholy tale of trying to raise sea monkeys. Don't miss it! Original Music by Adam Bernstein Also follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/GAMcomicpodcast?lang=en

Any comic book fan, especially those who read comics in the 60's and 70's, will remember all the crazy ads that ran monthly across the pages. Perhaps you remember, Sea Monkeys, Count Dante, Raquel Welch pillows and other amazing items that you just had to have. Well, Grown Ass Men have always been super interested in these so we contacted an expert on the subject, Kirk Demarais. His book "Mail Order Mysteries" is a definitive look at the ads and what was going on behind the scenes. Also in this episode - a brand new cover of the Traits classic "Nobody Loves the Hulk" by Sam Mastandrea and Adam Bernstein. Give a listen folks! Original music by Adam Bernstein

Welcome to a Grown Ass Men 2019! It's only fitting that as dates actually start to look like Star Trek years, that we decided to explore the glorious past of old time radio! If you're a NYC person and a fan of progressive radio station WBAI, there's a good chance you've come across Max Schmid and his radio show The Golden Age of Radio. Max has hosted this show since the 1977 and provides the airwaves with classic old time radio shows like The Shadow and The Jack Benny Program. We sat down with Max in the WBAI studios now located in Brooklyn. Don't miss it!

Happy holidays folks! This season is a great one for the Grown Ass People in our orbit because we know we are getting some comics for presents. Yeah, maybe this lacks the element of surprise but who cares!? Do you really want any other gifts?! Join us and our bunch of special guests as we chat Mr. Miracle, The Partridge Family, the other Hey Jude single and the exciting comics in our gift bags. See you in 2019! Original music by Adam Bernstein

Let it be known that Grown Ass Men likes a good art show. A comic book art show!? We are there. A year ago or so we went down to an amazing exhibit of Spider-Man original art at The Society of Illustrators in NYC. We had never seen so much original art (Ditko, Romita, Kane and many others) in one place, it was unreal! Turns out all this art was loaned to the Society by one of the biggest comic book art dealers, Mike Burkey. One look at Mike's website and you will be blown away by his collection. So, we got in touch to talk about his collecting and got some great stories too. Check it out! Mike Burkey - http://www.romitaman.com The Society of Illustrators - https://www.societyillustrators.org Original music by Adam Bernstein

Remember 1974? Along with all the comics Grown Ass men bought back then (which was a lot!) we also bought magazines! What a surprise! In this episode we chat with great comic creator R. Sikoryak, in order to figure what's great about Mad, Cracked, Sick, Crazy and National Lampoon back in 1974. We also check into Sikoryak's fantastic work which can be found here - http://rsikoryak.com Don't miss this one! Original music by Adam Bernstein

Folks, how is it that Grown Ass Men is 63 episodes in and we haven't discussed the great film/TV franchise Planet of the Apes!? Well we know that's unacceptable so here we go! We chat the original five films, the forgettable Marky Mark ones and the fantastic recent three. To reminisce about the TV show and some other 1970's Saturday morning classics we call upon chief memory stirrer Carolyn Baeumler Bost. You do not want to miss this one!

This is a re airing of episode 5 from July 8th 2015. Here's the original description. In this episode we're lucky enough to talk with special guest actor/writer Mary Micari! Join us as we discuss Ant-Man, The Avengers, the Bionic Women, Wonder Women and what super powers we'd like to have. Don't miss it! Original music by Adam Bernstein

Like you, Grown Ass Men like games. When you're comic freaks like us, you figure you can create some great heroes and villains too. So we called the funny creative Sam Mastandrea to join the festivities and play what eventually became named the Gerber Game (for Steve Gerber, not the baby food). Join as we explore The Human Porch! Don't miss it! Original music from Adam Bernstein.

“What if things had turned out differently ? Only I know…  For I am the Watcher, and mine is the power to see what was… And what might have been !” Yup, in this episode we explore the cosmos' greatest observer, The Watcher! We chat about the history of The Watcher in Strange Tales, What If and of course his origins in Fantastic Four. We also talk about some of our favorite current shows and how we're having a hard time getting through Jessica Jones. Give a listen! Original music by Adam Bernstein

The buzz about the new Black Panther film is everywhere and for good reason, it's the best of the superhero movies. Grown Ass Men loved the film so we discuss it, the fan reactions, and Black Panther in the comic books. We also chat about Doug's trip on Disney's Marvel Day at Sea Cruise and how they befriended Loki. Don't miss this one! Original music by Adam Bernstein

When it comes to Star Wars vs. Star Trek, Grown Ass Men take a radical stance; why compare? Let's just rate them all as one great collection of science fiction. That's a big task for anyone but we knew to call award-winning American stage actor, singer and narrator Robert Petkoff! Besides Robert's great accomplishments on the stage and screen, he's an expert on both shows and records voiceovers on the recent Star Trek audiobooks. Don't miss this one, take a listen! Original music by Adam Bernstein