Podcasts – Funnybook Babylon

Chris and David Brothers chat about how they got into comics, how they drifted away, how they came back, and lots of other digressions about their formative years. Check out this gallery of some of the comics we end up discussing! Plus: Bronze Age DC, the Death of Superman novelization, Marvel’s Star Wars comics, the […]

We’re joined this episode by David Brothers, and he brought with him a classic Marvel run: Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr. on Daredevil! This isn’t the gritty noir Daredevil modern readers have grown to expect: It contains a critique of factory farming! Philosophical (and physical) fights about feminism! (And DD joking!) The Inhumans! (And […]

Welcome to 2012! Back in the dying days of 2011, we sat down and looked at some of DC’s “New 52” titles a few issues in. Titles discussed include: Action Comics by Grant Morrison, Rags Morales and others Batman & Robin by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason Batman by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo Batwoman […]

As the seasons change, Funnybook Babylon returns to look back on the work of Jeff Lemire! We reviewed Sweet Tooth back in Episode #125 and were divided on its relative quality, but after two additional volumes we are united: it’s pretty great. But don’t take our word for it! The first eleven issues are available […]

Hey gang! How’s your summer been? We’ve obviously been busy, but we found time to record a podcast awhile back, and now it’s up! We reviewed the five books up for the Best Single Issue Eisner. Obviously the Eisners have passed, and you all know who won, but that doesn’t stop us from having strong […]

Welcome to the New Look, New Technology Funnybook Babylon Podcast, powered by Skype and an overenthusiastic Chris editing the show so we all sound like we’re hopped up on amphetamines! We’re taking a look at the Eisner nominees, starting with Nick Spencer. We read Morning Glories and Jimmy Olsen and… we apologize to his fans […]

What more is there to say? Johnny Storm died, and we have joined the rest of the vultures in the media in discussing his tragic passing. We also share broader thoughts about Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four run, and you can also check out our earlier forays into Hickman’s work on FBB, plus David and Chris’s […]

Chris went to the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival, and gives a brief recap, comparing and contrasting it to MoCCA and Kingcon. We review Dark Horse’s Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites by Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson. SPOILER ALERT: It’s lovely. To clarify what we discussed, you can read the first three BoB shorts on […]

Another New York Comicon has come and gone. When the first NYCC happened, Funnybook Babylon was but a glimmer in the Internet’s eye! At the second NYCC, Chris met Joseph and Jamaal for the first time, and the FBB Podcast began! From the third NYCC was borne a horrifying beast, the FBB Posse Cut, never […]

If you’ve been reading Avenging the Week — and if not, why not? — you know how much Jamaal loved Daytripper, the recent Vertigo mini-series from Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon.  Now, you can listen to all four of us take a crack at heaping praise at it. Sorry for the spoilers, but we all […]

Controversial statements from veteran comic creators finally succeeded in cracking the Internet in half — or at least taking our site down for the week. We’re back now, and weighing in on: Kurt Busiek vs. Today’s Superhero Comics & Private E-Mails Darwyn Cooke vs. Today’s Superhero Comics & Perverted 45 Year Old Men Mark Waid […]

This week, we look two semi-autobiographical Young Man Coming of Age stories that came to their conclusion in July! Wolverine Origins #50 by Daniel Way & Will Conrad (Marvel Comics) Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O’Malley (Oni Press) We’ve talked about Scott Pilgrim before, particularly in FBBP #96. Be forewarned, we follow up […]

This week, the gang reads Invincible Iron Man Annual #1  by Matt Fraction and Carmine DiGiandomenic! It features Fraction’s “autobio comix” take on stalwart Iron Man villain The Mandarin, borrowing from both Kim Jong-Il’s kidnapping of Shin Sang-ok and, more cryptically, Fraction’s MK12 work alongside Kanye West on Common’s “Go” video. IIM Annual #1 was […]

As a follow-up to our theoretically award-eligible podcast Three Number Ones, Funnybook Babylon planned to look at Four Number Ones, the Billboard #1 singles on our respective birthdays! Sadly, due to a quirk of fate, our birthdays are paired closely together, so we only have two number ones: “MacArthur Park” by Donna Summer (Chris & […]

The Funnybook Babylon Podcast is back at full power and looking at a trio of books written by a trio of homophonic dudes! Yes, This is Being Published: Brightest Day #1 (DC) by Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi and a Big Bag of Artists Underground (Image Comics) by Jeff Parker & Steve Lieber (collected edition out […]

In an effort to present more unsolicited opinions on comics, Funnybook Babylon proudly presents THE SLIMCAST: shorter shows featuring our regular panel and guests briefly discussing the issues of the day. The stars have not been aligning for our traditional full-crew sprawling podcasts in recent weeks, but rest assured they will return soon. ON THIS […]

Funnybook Babylon has notice a trend: first issues from Vertigo are often given lukewarm or negative reviews, but once the series develops, we change our tune. It happened with Air, it happened with Young Liars (at least for some of us), and as we’ve previously panned the first issues of Greek Street (Episode 107) and […]

Just what it says on the tin: this episode, we put on our Speculation Stocking Caps and wonder aloud what the new DC Entertainment Executive Team announcement portends for the humble funnybook reader, and then add a pair of Wild Guess Earmuffs to the ensemble and wonder how we might one day read their output […]

In our first podcast of 2010, FBB looks back in love, not in anger at 2009. For regular listeners, our favorite books are

The holidays were hectic around FBB Headquarters, as you may have inferred from our posting schedule. But we managed to record one last podcast for 2009 that takes a look at Luke Cage Noir, the latest in Marvel’s dusky crime-inspired Elseworlds series. We also tackle a frequently asked question regarding a beloved creator-owned series and […]

This episode, we discuss changes over at the Comics Journal and what that means for the blogosphere, plus answer your questions about love, shame, professional wrestling and enabling habits! If you have questions or topics you’d like to see addressed in future podcasts, write us at editors AT funnybookbabylon DOT com, or take advantage of […]

This episode, we take a look at Peter Milligan’s recently started run on Hellblazer, as one of the original British Invasion writers becomes the latest in his gang to tackle one of the longest running monthly American comic books in print. Does Milligan still have “it”? Does John Constantine? Are they both self-sabotaging, self-destructive British […]

Sometimes our tough love strikes listeners as a little too tough. We’re sensitive to concerns about our negativity — and our tendency to ramble on — and so here we have a brief conversation where each of us describe a recent comic we’ve genuinely enjoyed. Want to be spoiled? Our picks lie below! Jamaal likes: […]

Rock ‘n’ Roll and Superhero Comics are two uniquely American creations of the twentieth century, and they share many traits — a patchwork Genesis story, arguments about who was really first, youthful rebellion, corporate co-option, a “British Invasion” coming along and showing up their American rivals, a decades-long struggle to be taken “seriously”. But the […]

The Planetary retrospective rolls on with a podcast dissection of the series. WHERE IS THE FOURTH MAN? Sorry Jamaalamanaics, he was busy this weekend. But he’ll be back later this week in our Umbrella Academy review from the archives! Also, if you haven’t already checked it out, our Planetary Timeline has been updated with corrected […]

For nearly twenty years, Deadpool has been a cult favorite Marvel character, beloved on the Internet for his scan-ready quips and pop culture references. But lately — whether it’s because his increased presence in movies and video games, change in market demographics, or just some sort of Yellow Word Balloon Zeitgeist — he’s a bonafide […]

This month, Dark Horse Comics released The Life and Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century, a behemoth six hundred page hardcover so balling only Pedro could fathom purchasing it. So instead, we just read 1990’s Give Me Liberty, the four issue series that introduced Martha. This was one of the first projects Miller […]

With Dark Reign entering a new phase with the release of the first Dark Reign: The List one-shots, the gang looks at Marvel’s recent experiments with telling One Big Story, from Civil War to today. Of special interest in Norman Osborn: is he the Green Goblin, Super-Cheney, or the second coming of Hitler? Marvel’s stable […]

As promised at the end of episode 111, we present a contentious look back at David Lapham’s Young Liars, a frequent podcast topic. In the end, did anyone change their mind? Were any of us Spiders? We may never know!

This week’s recording session unexpectedly expanded out to two podcasts, as we discuss the blockbuster announcement of Disney purchasing Marvel! Will Pluto join the Pet Avengers? Will Goofy be denied the same privilege? Will Punisher be forced to practice “Hanuka Matata”? Or will this just be another corporate merger that involves using the word “synergy” […]