War Rocket Ajax

Chris and Matt are taking your questions on the show this week, and a lot of them invariably come back to DC Comics characters and their parents!

The writer and artist of the new Patreon-exclusive comic Settle joins us this week to talk about quitting comics, what brought him back, making art for yourself, working out grief through comics, the best sci-fi westerns and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take it back to the ComicsAlliance days with a listener question!

It took a little longer than planned, but we were finally able to catch up on this controversial Ahoy Comics series by Mark Russell, Richard Pace and Leonard Kirk!

How about a whole bunch of Great Indoor Fight bouts? That's what we're up to this week, pitting characters selected by our listeners against in other in battle.

The writer and artist of La Mano del Destino joins us once again this week to talk about his book being picked up by Top Cow, future plans for the project, a health scare during Kickstarter fulfillment, the best parts of the Spanish translation of the book, and a whole lot more! Plus, two Great Indoor Fight bouts!

Matt's back, and he's ranking comic book stories with Chris as they do every month!

This week, Chris and special guest host AC Sullivan take listener questions about movies, their dog, and more.

The author of True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee makes his return to the show this week to dig deep on Stan Lee's public persona, hair plugs, salesmanship, saying yes to everything, enthusiasm, Jack Kirby, and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a listener question about WandaVision!

The writer of the upcoming Bad Idea series Tankers joins us for the show this week to talk about his curious comics history, Paul Verhoeven, high-concept idea, fixing Hawkman, dragons and a whole lot more! Plus, Chris and Matt judge two new fighters in the Great Indoor Fight!

We're taking questions from our listeners this week, including discussing at length what would be in our utility belts, among many other topics.

New year, new rankings of comic book stories!

The co-creator of The Wizerd from Oni Press joins us this week to talk about graffiti, what it takes to get published, getting out the bad pages, wizards (obviously), Wizard magazine (obviously) and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris kick off the Great Indoor Fight!

To make way for our new 2021 post-interview segment, we had to finish up all the linestepper This or That scenarios from last year, plus a few more to boot!

It's Matt's fault that this series ended abruptly at issue 5, and he and Chris talk about what could have been in this promising series, but ended up not happening because of a clearly shortened run.

We're back from our holiday break, and we're handing out some Flash Gordon Memorial Awards to the best of 2020, with the categories chosen by you, the listeners!

Happy new year, everybody! We hope you enjoy us ranking these stories to wrap up 2020.

It's Christmas, Matt Fraction is here, and yes, we've got John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats, too. The four of us are drafting our top Christmas song picks, fantasy baseball-style, to create the ultimate mix. It's surprisingly tense, and there are some very unexpected picks!

For the playlists, check out the War Rocket Ajax Twitter and Tumblr!

The co-writer of the new MODOK Head Games comic series, as well as the showrunner of the new MODOK animated show on Hulu, joins us this week to talk about supervillain corporate governance, Mark Gruenwald, Monica Rappaccini, the best acronyms, what we'd be designed only to do, and much more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a question about controversy, which creates cash.

By your request, we caught up on three holiday comics this month: Two Klaus one-shots and a Hanukkah story from the 2017 DC Holiday Special!

The writer of the new Aftershock Comics series Knock 'em Dead joins us this week to talk about the world of stand-up, how horror and comedy are the same, not writing the jokes, writing the jokes, Halloween vs. horror and much more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a musical This or That!

While you enjoy leftovers and shop for presents, enjoy listening to us rank some comic book stories!

On this Thanksgiving week, Matt and Chris are chatting it up about the games they're playing, the movies they're watching, the TV that's getting them through These Unprecedented Times, and more. Plus, we give thanks!

This month we dive into the Marvel revival of Conan with the Jason Aaron/Mahmud Asrar take on the classic Barbarian, spanning a lifetime!

The creator of the new tabletop roleplaying game Anyone Can Wear the Mask and the host of the Party of One podcast, Jeff Stormer, joins us this week for another discussion of gaming! We talk about one-on-one games, superhero roleplaying, pets, the best starter games and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take some listener questions about superheroes and food!

The writer of Star Trek: Voyager: Seven's Reckoning and Night Hunters joins us for the show this week for, what else, a ton of Star Trek talk! That leads into a larger discussion of comics about TV shows, futuristic stories, an alien race that thinks life is a story, and a lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a this or that about diversifying DC Comics!

Matt and Chris take some of your listener questions this week as a means of distraction from, you know, everything else.

Halloween is here, so Chris and Matt are taking your Every SPOOKY Ever lists on the special this month!

It's our annual Halloween show, and our annual Halloween guest, Benito Cereno, is here to talk to us about spooky movies Chris could possibly watch, which vampires represent us, Bible monsters, the Hatchet series of films and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a listener question about spooky comics!

The creative team behind the graphic novel series November joins us this week to talk about process, art styles, math, French geography, Guns 'n Roses, quarantine activities, audiobooks, limited color palettes, and much more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a This or That about comics history!

The times are unprecedented, so we're welcoming another old pal to the show to just joke around and shoot the breeze: Curt Franklin of Let's Be Friends Again and ComicsAlliance! The conversation goes places you'd never expect. Plus, Matt and Chris take some video game-related listener questions!

It's Halloween month, and what would be more appropriate for the season than this 1992 four-issue Eclipse Comics series about vampires (and, at least briefly, barbecue) written by Clint McElroy?

We took a whole bunch of This or That scenarios on this week's show, and you know Bobby Badideas is in the house.

We're ranking lots of stuff on the show this month, including '90s Superman, What If?, Lee/Kirby Thor, some Valiant books and more!

The writer and artist behind Young Offenders!, now on Kickstarter, join us this week to talk about Smallville's take on Buffy plots, teen superheroes, Young Justice, meeting by virtue of this podcast, comics events, and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a listener question about post-Crisis Superman!

Friend of the show J. Gonzo drops by the show this week to ostensibly talk about the La Mano del Destino collection on Kickstarter, but we mainly end up talking about dogs, Jarritos, The Legend of Korra and The Power Team instead. So basically a regular interview. Plus, Matt and Chris take a This or That from the Sunday comics page!

We caught up on the 18 issues of the Mark Waid/Chris Samnee Daredevil relaunch this month!

The writer and artist behind the new graphic novel Dracula, Motherf**ker drop by the show this week to talk about their horrific Dracula design, using a cuss in a title, vampire tropes, the Brides, their copious workloads, and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take some highly animated listener questions!

Chip Zdarsky returns to the show this week to talk about his new book Stillwater! He also critiques Chris' questions, talks about a formative camping experience, explains why it's not so bad if another writer has your idea, and does a Google search, among other things. Plus, Matt and Chris take a this or that about the future of War Rocket Ajax!

Matt and Chris are taking your listener questions this week, some of which are about Three Jokers. That's after we already talked about Three Jokers for twenty minutes. It's unavoidable.

It's been a tough month, but we did our best to push ahead and rank as many comic stories as we could including a wild Brave and the Bold, some '90s Superman, miniseries from 2019, and much more.

The writer of School for Extraterrestrial Girls joins us this week to talk about his comics (briefly), challenging himself with fast food, samurai movies, the food of Christmas, characters he apparently hates, and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take at least one aggressive listener question!

Kat Kuhl, one of the creators of the new Roll20-exclusive role playing game Burn Bryte, joins us for the show this week to talk about building game systems, creating species of game characters, avoiding the standard "human" characters, gender fluidity in games, sci-fi settings and a lot more! Plus, Chris and Matt take a formidable This or That!

By your request, we read the first four issues of this fun and funny Boom Box series! Is this one volume a story? It's hard to say, but we did our best to rank this charming comic that definitely is paced more like a webcomic than a traditional comic book series.

Tom Scioli, the writer and artist of Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics, drops by the show this week to talk about research, doing nonfiction comics, the way he chose to draw Kirby, his favorite Transformer, Stan Lee's point of view, the Fantastic Four and a whole lot more! Plus, Chris and Matt take some of your listener questions!

Miracle of miracles: We actually got through all the extant This or That scenarios we've been sent in this week's special episode!

Gather round as we rank a grip of Peanuts strips, Giant-Size X-Men #1, the most infamous Penny Arcade comic, some DC humor comics from the 90s, and much more!

Friend of the show and writer of Headlocked Michael Kingston returns to War Rocket Ajax this week to discuss his new book on Kickstarter, Headlocked: Tales from the Road. We also discuss Bigfoot, working on comics with wrestlers, how comics and wrestling are similar, life on the road, watching Wrestlemania with Ric Flair and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a listener question about DC One Million!

Longtime friend of the show Kel McDonald drops by again this week to talk about her Patreon-exclusive comic You Are the Chosen One, along with werewolves (of course), anxiety, giving up, how many kid characters is too many, and more! Plus, Matt and Chris take an easy Achewood-themed This or That!

As of now, 2020 is not the year we got into Dragon Ball.

Shawn Pryor, creator of Cash & Carrie, joins us for the show this week to talk about Power Rangers, fancomics, that Fruity Pebbles Christmas ad, Kentucky Kaiju, quarantine life and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a follow-up question!

It's the last day of the month, and we're ranking comic stories once again, ranging from Captain America classics to very weird ads for boys' pants.

We're extremely pleased to welcome the creative team behind the upcoming Side Quest: A Visual History of Role Playing Games to the show this week to talk about the long history of RPGS, LARPing, the own relationships to tabletop gaming, dining choices, RPG art, and so much more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a listener question about a proposed Super-Verse.

For this week's show, Chris and Matt did a whole lot of deciding, because they took as many of your This or That scenarios as they could manage!

On this week's show, Matt and Chris are taking your listener questions about historical figures fighting wrestlers, superhero casting, what Batman comics to read next, and a whole lot more.

This month, we decided to catch up on this post-apocalyptic Black Mask series by Vita Ayala and Emily Pearson! It is shockingly relevant!

The creative team behind the comic series Black joins us this week to talk about sci-fi TV, donating proceeds from their t-shirt store to bail funds, The Wrong Earth, their sequel series White, long-term story planning, explaining superpowers, the X-Men, and a whole lot more! Plus Matt and Chris decide between two comic universes to live in!

The Franchise Kyle Starks drops by this week to discuss Karate Prom, his digital Free Comic Book Day offering, as well as dogs (of course), his top 4, setting deadlines for himself, the Presidential Fitness Test, the concept of a WrestleHeist and much more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a listener question about haircuts.

In which we spend an hour ranking Doomsday Clock. It's a weird time, everybody.

For our 500th episode, we're bringing back every segment we've ever done.

They are, in order: Patreon Thanks, Earth Shattering News, Checks and Recs, The Hundo Club, MMA Update, Health Situation, Comics Reviews, a LootCrate ad, Interview (with Matt Fraction), Comics Roundtable (with Elle Collins and David Wolkin), Twitter Questions, Listener Questions, Big Ups To All My Haters, Making Fun of a Swimsuit Issue, Tales From the Comic Shop, What's Pissing Us Off This Week, Love Haters, Letters From Thrasher, Every Story Ever, Word Heavyweight Champions, Panel President, and This or That.

We love you!

We took your listener questions as we await the huge event that is Ajax 500 next week!

The writer of Marauders joins us this week to talk about pitching Dawn of X, the concept of X-Men pirates, parrots, the dynamics of the Hellfire Club, how the X-writers work together, what pirate tattoo he'd get, LEGO sets and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris choose between to Captain Marvel scenarios!

You demanded it. We re-ranked it. How did Maximum Carnage fare on re-evaluation? Did it rule, or was it eviscerated?

Our longtime pals Allison Baker and Chris Roberson return to the show after a long absence this week to talk about Superman, Batman: Brave and the Bold, generational X-Men teams, the Wynona Earp and iZombie TV shows, the best adaptations, baking, and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take two listener questions!

Nothing can stop us from adding more comic book stories (and only comic book stories, not things that kinda seem like they might be comic book stories) to our ever-expanding list!

This week, we dedicated our full interview segment to taking as many This or That scenarios as we could! Plus, we announced an auction for a guest spot on Ajax #500! Check out @WarRocketPod on Twitter for details!

Our longtime pal Laura Hudson drops by this week to just shoot the breeze! We talk dogs, Picard, prestige TV, the ComicsAlliance days, watching Blue Bloods, Twilight and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a listener question about Blue Devil!

We wrap up our look at this 24-issue Warren Ellis/Jon Davis-Hunt series! We probably, honestly, just could have ranked it last time.

The writer of a little book you may have heard of called Batman joins us this week to talk about the TMNT/Batman crossover, some of his favorite characters, the idea behind The Designer, his indie books, pet names and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take on a movie-focused This or That!

On this week's show, we're taking your listener questions, which include a request for us to draft our own Justice Leagues. It proves more difficult than you might expect.

Wake up, wake up, wake up, it's the last of the month! And we're ranking comic book stories for two full hours.

The writer and artist behind the upcoming book Maids joins us on this show this week to talk about true crime, creating her own version of a well-known story, how to watch Sailor Moon, eye trauma, hating your boss and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a listener question about a major television event.

The writer of G.I. Joe, Paul Allor, joins us this week to talk about bringing a real-world feel to the series, how he'd fix Serpentor, his own appearance in the book, whether he'll do a silent issue, working with Hasbro, and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris choose how they'd become Captain Britain!

Based on your votes, we read the first half of Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt's The Wild Storm! What did we think? And will we read the second half next month? Listen and find out!

We took your listener questions this week for a full 90 minutes!

The writer and artist behind the new Comic Book History of Animation join us this week to discuss the drawing that inspired the book, doing research, finding the cut-off for a history book, Walt Disney, cartoons of the 1980s and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a listener question about Batman's origin!

Friends of the show Jennifer Wright and Daniel Kibblesmith, who you may know from their many books and comics and also from attending a Garfield convention with us, join us this week to explain the utterly bonkers first season of the Epix original series Pennyworth. Strap in for a wild ride. Plus, Matt and Chris take the most serious This or That yet.

Who wants to hear us argue about Heathcliff for 20 minutes? If the answer is you, you're in luck.

The segment where we ranked the decades of Spider-Man proved to be so popular, we made an entire episode out of it! So on this week's show, Matt and Chris are going through the decades, from the 1960s through the 2010s, and deciding whether Marvel or DC had the stronger output. Some surprises are in store!

This Gerry Duggan/Juan Ferreyra joint from 2019 was the winner of our catch-up poll this month, and we read it and ranked it, as is our charge. It's the Punisher vs. fantasy monsters!

Ryan North returns to War Rocket Ajax this week to talk about the conclusion of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, his upcoming comic adaptation of Slaughterhouse Five, that time he was in a hole and how it almost became a TV show, the worst invention, his Wikipedia page and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take on a D&D related This or That!

We're christening our new show Twitter account -- yes, we finally had to break down and get one, which we'll explain -- by taking your listener questions on this week's show!

Friend of the show and upcoming Spider-Woman writer Karla Pacheco joins us for the show this week, and no, we didn't use the episode title we suggested, which would definitely get us banned from Apple Podcasts, and maybe podcasting in general. But it's in the show, along with talk about a meteoric rise to writing for Marvel, Jessica Drew's new costume, killing off characters, boat life, seecrets, and so much more! Plus, Matt and Chris take on a Catwoman-related This or That!

It's a new year. We're ranking comic book stories. And we're, uh, earning our explicit tag this time around.

We couldn't be more pleased to welcome Matthew Rosenberg, writer of 4 Kids Walk Into a Bank, The Punisher, Uncanny X-Men and the current Hawkeye: Freefall to the show! We talk about bringing together various versions of Hawkeye, The Hood, Mark Gruenwald comics, Clint as the everyman, researching stories, and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris answer a question about one of our favorite topics: Utility supervillains!

We had both already read some of it, but this month, we caught up on all five issues of the Kieron Gillen/Caspar Wijngaard Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt series! It's about formalism, and is really comics scholarship in the form of a comics story. So we talk about that!

Independent comics writer Mark O. Stack joins us this week to talk about the Weekend Warrior anthology he funded on Kickstarter, as well as an offshoot Weekend Warrior Presents series he's starting! We discuss the realities of Kickstarter, self-publishing, money in comics and a whole lot more! It gets real. Plus, the first-ever This or That segment, about street toughs.

It's our annual awards show, on the grandest stage of them all! Listeners submit the categories, and everything from 2019 battles it out for the title!

Plus, it's our first episode on the Greenlit Podcast Network! The showcase of the immortals!

It sure is still 2019! And we're ranking as many comic stories as we can in two hours to close out the decade.

As is tradition, Matt Fraction joins us for our annual Christmas special, and this year, we're reviewing the new Rob Halford Christmas album, Celestial, track by track! Plus we inadvertently learn a lot about the upcoming film Keep Hope Alive.

After four years in office, Panel President's term has come to an end. We take all the lists we can as we wrap up the segment this week!

We read two Christmas stories featuring two of our favorite characters for Catch-Up this month. Did we feel the spirit of the holiday in these stories? Listen and find out!

The writer of Superman Smashes the Klan, Gene Luen Yang, joins us for the show this week to talk about adapting a radio serial to comics, what drew him to the story, all the different versions of Superman he's written, making a story set in the '40s relevant to today, what type of bender he'd be and a lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a question about one of their faves: G.I. Joe!

It sure does.

Based on a number of different issues -- old episodes disappearing, unwanted ads, etc. -- we ended up moving from our old host to Libsyn about a month earlier than we thought we would. 

So this is basically our new website! Just to your right there you'll find links to the Google docs versions of the Every Story Ever and Panel President lists, as well as to an archived version of our old site if you want to see old show notes.

My plan is to eventually get rid of the old site, so please let me know how important those old show notes are to you! It might take some work to preserve them.

It's time to give thanks, shop and rank some comic books!

Panel President is only going to be going for a few more short weeks, so we're ranking characters this week to get through as many lists as we can!

Jeff Parker returns to the show this week to talk to Chris about James Bond: Origin, the decade-spanning trend of bros icing bros, biscuits, theme songs and a whole lot more! Plus, Elle Collins fills in for Matt for checks, recs and comics reviews!

We're once again making some recommendations (and anti-recs) for most of the episode this week!

We read the full eight issues of the 2014 Thor series, and our feelings about it might surprise you!

The writer of the new Comixology series Afterlift returns to the show this week to talk about Spider-Man: Life Story, getting ideas before bed, his favorite childhood comics, sending companies to jail and a whole lot more!

It's spooky season, and we overcame the spookiest thing of all: getting this special where we rank comic stories up by the end of the month!

Our traditional Halloween guest, Benito Cereno, returns once again! This year, we're talking about various cryptids and local legends to get us into the spooky spirit of the holiday!

Because of passionate fan demand, we checked out this six-issue horror miniseries by Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham! It's well-made to be sure, but is it the Morrison we really like?

With only a few months left to get through lists, we're trying our best to rank as many characters as we can!

The writer and the artist of the new Kickstarter-funded comic Old Head joins us this week to talk about having lines from his comics quoted at him, his love of My Hero Academia, working with artists like Erica Henderson, how long he's wanted to make a basketball comic, and a whole lot more! Plus, Matt and Chris take a question about a comics dynasty.

We're back again, ranking characters this month, including one particularly emotionally affecting Irish vampire.

Writer Kelly Thompson joins us this week to talk about her writing process, Sabrina, West Coast Avengers, Gwenpool, Nancy Drew, Deadpool (a little bit), Jessica Jones, Captain Marvel, and, of course, Jem! Plus, Matt and Chris take a manga-focused listener question!

It's a very special Every Story Ever special this month, as we rank the 1,000th comic to appear on the list. And to do it, we get a little sentimental.

We're taking your listener questions this week, on a wide array of topics!

At your request, we read the first volume of My Hero Academia, and liked it! But it also made us feel very old.

Scott Snyder, writer of Batman: Last Knight on Earth, The Batman Who Laughs, Justice League and a whole lot more, joins us for the show this week! We go deep on his interpretation of Batman, how Grant Morrison inspired him to write Last Knight on Earth, classical literature, transitioning from prose to comics, and lots of other topics!

We’re taking it way back to January 2016 as we try our best to catch up on non-linestepper Panel President lists this week!

Brian Clevinger, Atomic Robo co-creator and co-writer of the brand new webcomic project The Bureau of Infernal Affairs, returns to War Rocket Ajax this week! We talk to him about Kickstarter, the worst movies of the 1980s, investigative teams that have one man and one woman, working with Erica Henderson, and, of course, insults. Plus, (the last?) Every Story Ever!

This week, we welcome the writer/artist of Sorcery 101 and Misfits of Avalon, Kel McDonald! We talk to her at length about urban sorcery television, particularly Sleepy Hollow, her positively massive new Sorcery 101 omnibus, Gambit, our yogurt-eating session at San Diego Comic-Con and much more! Plus, three more Every Story Ever entries!

We’re thankful to have James Asmus, writer of Quantum and Woody and co-writer of the new miniseries The Delinquents, as our guest this week! We talk with him about dirty plays, Gambit, hobos, comedy, collaborating with Fred Van Lente, and so much more! Plus, more Every Story Ever entries!

Our guest this week is Nolan T. Jones, one of the co-founders of Roll20 and the writer of the new digital comic Colonial Souls! We talk with him about mashing up genres, writing comics that do things readers don’t expect, assembling a creative team, tabletop gaming (natch), Kanye West, and much more! Plus, more Every Story Ever entries!

We’ve got the eye of the tiger with another Every Story Ever special!

We’re welcoming back Dredd: Uprise writer and expert about all things 2000 AD, Arthur Wyatt to the show! We talk to him about how Uprise may be treading on controversial ground, Judge Dredd’s history with fast food mascots, Rogue Trooper, tropes of dystopian future tales, and much more! Plus, three more entries into Every Story Ever!

It’s our annual Halloween special, and our old pal Benito Cereno is back to talk about his story in this year’s Boo! anthology, his childhood werewolf character, costumes of his youth, candy, and of course, his spooky movie recommendations! Plus, one more Every Spooky Ever list!

The editor of the Boo! horror comics anthology, Jon Morris, joins us for this week’s episode! We talk to him about the long history of Boo!, just what kinds of Halloweeny stuff he really likes, post-mortem body plans, his new book about regrettable superheroes, and much more! Plus, another Every Spooky Ever list!

It’s another Every Story Ever special, but this time, in honor of Halloween, we’re strictly focusing on the spooky stuff!

Our old pal Rusty Shackles is back after a long absence from the show, and he’s talking to us about one of our favorite topics: Castlevania! We also talk about his cover art for the newest installment of the Boo! anthology, kung fu movies (obvs), the Nintendo 64, and much more! Plus, more Every Story Ever entries!

Jim Zub, the writer of Wayward and Skullkickers among many, many other comics, joins us for the show this week! We talk with him about realistically depicting teen angst, the comparisons between Wayward and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, juggling six monthly titles, and (of course) role-playing games. Plus, three more entries into our Every Story Ever list!

This week, Chris and Matt are talking with Box Brown, the writer and artist behind Andre the Giant: Life and Legend! We talk to him about research, figuring out just what to believe when wrestlers give “shoot” interviews, what he had to cut out of the book, Joey Bishop, and much more! Plus, three more Every Story Ever entries!

Chris and Matt are back with another Every Story Ever special!

The writer of DC Comics’ New Suicide Squad, Sean Ryan, joins us this week! We start off with a discussion of “Hot for Teacher” and people who have the same names as us, and it just picks up from there. We discuss how Sean worked as an editor at Marvel and DC, the concept for his Suicide Squad, c-list villains, and much more! Plus, more Every Story Ever entries!

The co-creator and artist of Southern Bastards, Jason Latour, joins us this week to talk about sweet tea, barbecue, logos on clothing, meeting Jason Aaron, dog poop, and so much more! It’s our most Southern episode ever. Plus: More Every Story Ever entries!

The writer and artist behind the Image Comics series Rocket Girl join us for this week’s show! We talk about costume design, 1980s nostalgia, cool comic titles, Kickstarter, Japanese death tea, and much more! Plus, more entries into our Every Story Ever list!

Our guest this week is the writer of Princeless and the upcoming series Illegal, Jeremy Whitley! We talk with him about con experiences, My Little Pony, the Baroness, Kickstarter, and much, much more! Plus, more entries (this time guest-suggested) into our Every Story Ever list!

We’re back from San Diego with another all-Every Story Ever special!

Chris and Matt were at Comic-Con International in San Diego last week, and surprisingly, it wasn’t all terrible. Here’s their fully raw roundup of the events of the year’s biggest con!

This week, we’re talking to the co-writer of Grayson and Batman Eternal, and the writer of the new Dark Horse series Sundowners, Tim Seeley! As you might expect, we discuss spy stuff and Batman, but we also talk about Myrtle Beach comic conventions, weird panels, real-life superheroes and a ton more! Plus, three new entries in our Every Story Ever list!

As a thunderstorm crashes around them, Matt and Chris add a whole bunch of new stories to their list of Every Story Ever this week!

Brandon Stroud, writer of With Leather’s “Best and Worst of Raw” column and the new horror movie Meet Me There, joins us for this week’s show! We talk about wooing Dustin Rhodes and Jill Thompson to be in his movie, Rob Liefeld, how Todd McFarlane’s art is like fashion, what it’s like to write a low-budget movie, and much more! Plus, three more entries to our ever-growing list of Every Story Ever!

Our guest this week is the an accomplished critic and commentator, as well as the writer of Judge Dredd Mega City Two: City of Courts, Douglas Wolk! We talk to him a ton about the history of Judge Dredd and 2000 AD, balancing being a critic and a creator at the same time, fans becoming creators, the moving target of authorship, and, of course, Prince. Plus, more entries into our Every Story Ever list!

It's our annual special from the Heroes Convention in Charlotte, NC! Join us for about 45 minutes of revelry with Chad Bowers from the Westin Hotel, and check out the show notes below to watch the videos we discuss!

We'll be back with a guest and Every Story Ever next week!

This week, we're welcoming Ben Marra, the writer and artist of such comics as Night Business, Blades and Lazers, Gangsta Rap Posse, The Incredibly Fantastic Adventures of Maureen Dowd (A Work of Satire and Fiction) and many others! We talk about influences, video stores, making Nazis bad guys, the appeal of trash, and much more! Plus, three more Byrne-tastic entries into our Every Story Ever list!

Matt has returned from a long and arduous move, and he and Chris are talking to the writer and artist of the webcomic Tagged! this week, Meg Lovell! They talk about being a wrestling fan, calling a comic on Tumblr "Tagged," Patrick Swayze, Sailor Moon, The Shield, and much more! Plus, Every Story Ever returns!

This week, Chris and special guest host Kieran Shiach welcome the writers and two cast members from the play King Kirby! They have a big old time talking about the King of Comics.

Ryan North, writer of The Midas Flesh, Adventure Time and Dinosaur Comics, is on the show this week to talk about all-ages comics, being tall, genocide, the Canadian video game tip line, comics being autobiographical, comics not being autobiographical, and much more! Plus, an X-Men themed Every Story Ever list!

Our guest this week is Dream Thief and Toshiro writer Jai Nitz! We talk at length about Hellboy, John Byrne, getting con commissions, and eventually even a little bit about his comics. Plus, three more entries are added to our list of Every Story Ever!

On this week's show, we're gazing into the fist of Dredd with Dredd: Underbelly writer Arthur Wyatt! We're talking a whole lot about the many writers who have penned stories for 2000 AD, how Dredd is an outsider's look at America, moving to the U.S. from the U.K., the decision process for making a comics sequel to Dredd, and much more! Plus, a new set of entries into our Every Story Ever list!

Because Matt spent the weekend at C2E2 and couldn't edit the show this week, he and Chris and doing a special edit-free Every Story Ever special this week! Among the comics we discuss, the best (?) Mark Millar comic, Superman Red Son, and the worst Grant Morrison comic. Which one is that? Listen and find out!

This week, the writer and artist behind Dynamite's new Flash Gordon series, Jeff Parker and Evan "Doc" Shaner, are our guests! We're talking about Flash's shirt, logos, Timothy Dalton, bros, the forgotten art of "icing," Queen, EC Comics, and so much more! Plus, more comic stories get added to our Every Story Ever list!

This week, we're really excited to welcome the one-man powerhouse behind COPRA and the writer of the just-launched All New Ultimates series, Michel Fiffe! We talk about writing comics at a breakneck pace, his insane schedule, the difference between working for yourself and working for Marvel, street gangs, Street Fighter, and so much more! Plus, two more stories join our Every Story Ever list!

This week, Chris is back from his trip to the Pacific Northwest with a lot of stories and a particularly odd souvenir: A time machine! How will he and Matt put it to use? Who will they meet on their journey? Listen and find out!

Chris is at Emerald City Comic-Con this week, so Matt invited David Wolkin to come co-host the show with him! During the interview segment, Matt and David chat with Wired's Laura Hudson about how the three of them got started with comics! We discuss Psylocke, sleepovers, supermarkets, Guy Gardner, cartoons, Suicide Squad and much more!

It's our annual Wrestlemania show this week and we're welcoming The Mandible Claw and WithLeather's Danielle Matheson and Let's Be Friends Again and The Gravity Falls Gossiper's Chris Haley to talk about it! It's a lot of wrestling talk this week, folks. There's no way around it! Also, lots of jokes.

This week, Chris and Matt are working their way through a few more Every Story Ever lists, and in a huge surprise, a story makes its way into the number one spot after an exhausting debate! You may be surprised as to what it is! Also: A few stories make a charge for the bottom spot on the list!

The writers behind Monkeybrain Comics' Amelia Cole, Adam P. Knave and D.J. Kirkbride, join us for the show this week! This is a crazy one, folks. We talk about interviewing Laurell K. Hamilton, Lloyd Kaufman, cardigans, personalized jackets, comedy writing, ninjas, and, if we get the chance, their comic. Plus, more Every Story Ever!

The writer and artist behind Dresden Codak, Aaron Diaz, joins us this week! We talk about what goes into designing and redesigning characters, people believing that his Zelda art was for an actual game, men's rights activists, falling in love with Daniel Bryan, Power Girl, martial arts, and much more! Plus, a JMS-fueled set of entries in Every Story Ever!

This week, we welcome Chikara Pro Wrestling’s resident Big Blu ant, AssailANT! We talk with him about Chikara’s Phoenix-like rise, what comics he’s reading, manga, his journey from villain to hero, what wrestling move he’d like to be able to do to annoying people on the street, and much more! Plus, more entries into the list of Every Story Ever!

We had to postpone our normal episode this week because the ice storm in South Carolina knocked out Chris’ internet, but we did manage to add some more stories to our Every Story Ever master list!

On this week’s episode, we welcome the creative team behind Archaia’s upcoming graphic novel, The Joyners in 3D: R.J. (Josh) Ryan, David Marquez, and Tara Rhymes! We talk to them about why they decided to do a 3D comic, the 3D comics that inspired them, the process of making the comic 3D, The Jetsons, why George Joyner is such a powerful character, the most disappointing movies we’ve seen, and much more! Plus, more entries into the list of Every Story Ever!

This week, Chris and Matt are giving in and interviewing each other about their new comics, Down Set Fight and Copernicus Jones: Robot Detective! We talk about how Copernicus Jones started as a parody and turned into something else entirely, how Dog City and Who Framed Roger Rabbit were our introduction to noir, Down Set Fight’s early life as an NFL Superpro pitch, and how cartoony flashbacks actually make a family story work a little better. Plus, more entries in our ever-expanding catalog of Every Story Ever!

Comedian Mike Lawrence joins us for this week’s show to talk about doing comedy at comic conventions, being heckled by the Hulk, telling jokes about wrestling and comics in clubs, the Clone Saga being like cocaine, who’ll win the Royal Rumble even though it already happened last night, whether superhero movies make it easier to do comedy about comics, and much more! Plus, three more things get added to the list of Every Story Ever!

The creative team behind the Action Lab series Fracture joins us for this week’s show! We talk about the comic-book history of heroes with multiple personalities, how to show those different personalities in art, putting hilarious characters in the background, ramping up craziness, whether Gambit is a good addition to a story or not, a barbecue conundrum and much more! Plus, we kick off a brand new segment for 2014!

It’s time once again to hand out the annual Flash Gordon Memorial Awards for Achievement in Things We Could Remember from 2013! Listen as we try to think of stuff that happened this past year (or maybe in late 2012 or early 2014, but it all counts)!

For this year’s Christmas special, we all challenged each other to create the worst Christmas mixtapes we could.

We succeeded.

Action Comics and Code Monkey Save World writer Greg Pak joins us this week! We talk at length about Lana Lang, what makes a good supporting character, how collaborating on comics is like making a movie, Superman’s best trait and favorite video game, Terra Man, and much more! Plus, a Christmas-themed Love Haters!

The creative team behind Monkeybrain’s Edison Rex comes by to talk to us this week about building a superhero universe, character designs, falling into naming characters after comic book publishers, whether supervillains can really find redemption, food freshness, The Goonies, and much more! Plus, the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters go full Kanye!

We’re answering your listener questions in our Thanksgiving-week special this week! Thanks for listening to us and helping make the show what it is!

Strange Nation and G.I. Joe writer Paul Allor joins us this week to talk about the Weekly World News, Shredder, Splinter origin stories, Cobra Commander through the ages, vipers, ninjas, favorite Joes, and much more! Plus, a regionally themed edition of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

Our guest this week is the illustrious author of The Batman Files, The Superman Files and two Tony Hawk books, Matthew K. Manning! We talk about, you guessed it, Batman, and even have a little impromptu trivia challenge. Plus, we discuss writing in Superman’s voice, writing about skateboarding without knowing anything about it, “cartoon” comics, and much more! Plus, a blood-sucking edition of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

J. Gonzo, the creator of the lucha libre comic La Mano del Destino, comes by to talk to us for this week’s show! We chat about being a hipster Mexican wrestling fan, classic El Santo films, Todd McFarlane’s meeting habits, collectible baseballs, tattoos, and much more! Plus, a simple, one-item War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

Hector Plasm and Tales from the Bully Pulpit writer Benito Cereno joins us this week for our annual Halloween Spooktacular! We jabber about horror movies (of course), the musical stylings of Carman, Godzilla in a Dracula costume, Thanksgiving, haunted houses, and much more! Plus, a monstrous edition of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

The writer of Skullkickers and the brand new Samurai Jack series from IDW, Jim Zubkavich, is our guest this week! We talk about Halloween, what makes a great horror story, the melting pot of genres that is Samurai Jack, hearing established character voices in one’s head while writing, and much more! Plus, a spooooooky wrestling themed-love haters!

While Chris was away at New York Comic-Con, we welcomed two guests this week: Lee Leslie, the artist of Screamland and writer/artist of Rigby the Barbarian, and Daniel Kibblesmith, comedian and co-author of the upcoming book How to Win at Everything! Spooky, monster-related things are discussed, along with classic adventure games, doing characters on podcasts, how one can be a victor at reading, and of course, Cracker Barrel.

Impact wrestler and comics superfan Christopher Daniels is our guest this week! We talk about the link between wrestling and comics, Brian Michael Bendis, Jonathan Hickman, how comics writers and wrestlers can get pigeonholed, getting guys in the locker room to read comics, and much more! Plus, a Stand By Me-themed Love Haters!

To celebrate their new all-crossovers issue, three of the editors from The Devastator magazine, Geoffrey Golden, Amanda Meadows and Asterios Kokkinos, join us to talk about them this week! We get into our first crossovers, why they’re so interesting, why inter-company crossovers beat out intra-, and our absolute favorites!

One of his comics projects, Queen and Country, is reportedly becoming a movie, and one of the comics he wrote for quite a while, Batwoman, was in the news a lot this week, but we’ve got Greg Rucka talking to us about something else entirely: The Prisoner! We dig deep into the classic show and its influences on comics, including Greg’s own work! Plus, a highly musical installment of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

Our guest this week is the writer of FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics, formerly known as Collider, Simon Oliver! We stay shockingly on-topic with our discussion of physicists in documentaries, an anti-gravity high school, the difficulty of titles, whether people can turn into boats, describing crazy physics anomalies to artists, and much more! Plus, a Charles-based Love Haters!

The “NPR brony” and writer of two issues of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Micro-Series, Ted Anderson, sits down to talk with us this week about brony culture, doing impressions, Daniel Day-Lewis, “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me,” and much more!

The creator of Templar, Arizona, writer of Poorcraft and editor/contributor to Smut Peddler, C. Spike Trotman, is our guest this week! We have the Ajaxest interview ever with her, talking about wrestling, porno, doing things on the cheap, white tigers, college, Achewood and more! Plus, a not-particularly-thematic installment of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

This week on War Rocket Ajax, our guest is the author of Bill the Boy Wonder and Boys of Steel, Marc Tyler Nobleman! We talk about Bill Finger, obviously, as well as hearing Marc’s best Bob Kane stories, his research techniques, opinions on the best Joker, teaching kids about Batman’s actual creator, and much more! Plus, a John-themed Love Haters!

Our guest this week is the writer of the new Arcana/Rodenberry Entertainment graphic novel Worth, Aubrey Sitterson! We talk with him a bit about his day job at WWE Games, a whole lot about tattoos, what machine he’d want to talk to (like Worth), why he set his OGN in Detroit, getting surprises back from artists, mutual friends, and much more! Plus, a polarizing edition of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

Atomic Robo writer extraordinaire Brian Clevinger joins us this week to talk about his Kickstarter campaign, working in a comic shop, Orlando architecture, literacy, his awareness of martial arts, unfollowing Chris on Twitter and much more! Plus, a brief War Rocket Ajax Love Haters in which our listeners try to get clever!

The creative team behind the new graphic novel World War Kaiju joins us for this week’s show! We talk about the cultural moment of kaiju, living in San Diego during Comic-Con, the best Godzilla monsters, replacing the atomic bomb, and much more! Plus, a podcastual installment of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

Sims was away at Comic-Con this week, but we’re still doing a big old show with Chris Haley of the Gravity Falls Gossiper podcast and Let’s Be Friends Again! He and Matt tear down the format of the show to have a freewheelin’ conversation about impressions, Bill Hader, wrestling (more than you would ever think), art in comics, whether box office should matter for movie fans, game shows, comic convention crowds, and a lot more! Not discussed (at length): Connecticon and Van Halen, even though we say we’re getting to those. Plus, Sims does check in from the con!

Tom Fowler, artist of the brand new Valiant Comics series Quantum and Woody, joins us for the show this week! We talk about comics critics and what they say about art, playing D & D, penises, “acting” in comic art, Golden Corral, and much more! Plus, a hip-hop-themed installment of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

The artist behind Archaia’s new re-imagining of Cyborg 009, Marcus To, joins us this week to talk about adapting a classic manga, “Thor buttons,” cyborg babies, Tim Drake, the best cyborgs of all time, and, of course, hairstyles. Also, a Comic-Con-related listener question!

In honor of Monkeybrain Comics’ first anniversary, co-publishers Chris Roberson and Allison Baker are our guests this week! We reflect on Monkeybrain’s beginnings, discuss knowing your limits, talk Eisner nominations, dream about creative teams, do Danzig impressions, fawn about Kurt Schaffenberger, and more!

This week we’re welcoming Molly Danger writer/artist Jamal Igle to the show! We’ll discuss the exact number of M’s on Molly’s costume, Supergirl’s shorts and how emotional people got about them, character design, why it’s not worth it to pretend you’ve read something you haven’t, and much more! Plus, a Superman-movie-themed installment of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

Chris and Matt are back in their respective homes — Matt’s got the brand new War Rocket Ajax studios humming along — and ready to gab about three weeks worth of collected stuff! We’re taking your listener questions about the state of DC Comics, our favorite wrestlers, Flash Gordon, Heroes Con, and much more!

This weekend, Chris and Matt were at Heroes Con 2013, where they decided to do what they called an audio sketchbook. They asked 18 comics creators the same question: What have you seen or heard at a comics convention that left you speechless?

These are their answers.

Our guest this week is writer/artist of the brand new Action Lab series Skyward Jeremy Dale! We talk to him (and a special surprise guest) about being inspired by video games, his G.I. Joe comics work, Firestar, the fantasy genre, and much more!

For this bonus episode, Mark Waid told Chris he wanted to ask him a trivia question. What followed was a challenge for the ages.

Writer of just about everything Mark Waid comes by to chat with us this week! We talk about the cancellation of The Legion of Super Heroes, working with Walt Simonson, the pluses and minuses of renumbering books, that amazing fight between Daredevil and Ikari, the best non-Waid Flash story, and much more! Plus, new projects are discussed and a very brief installment of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

Writer Greg Rucka returns to War Rocket Ajax this week to discuss his recent Kickstarter success with Lady Sabre and the Pirates of the Ineffable Aether! We’ll talk to him about what kind of caution pros looking for project funding on Kickstarter have to take, how Kickstarter can be a full-time job, the concept of vindication, why Batman has to be allowed to make mistakes, how that aether got so ineffable, and much more! Plus, Matt and Chris announce a brand new project!

Former ComicsAlliance editor and current writer of the new comic Task Force Rad Squad Caleb Goellner joins us for this week’s show! We talk to him about how TFRS evolved from a Power Rangers parody into something a little deeper, drugs, pay-what-you-want comics, and, oh yeah, this website that got shut down last week. Plus, another edition of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

We don’t often talk about Star Wars on War Rocket Ajax, but we’re breaking one of our own rules this week to talk about it with Justin Aclin, the writer of two Dark Horse graphic novels in the series. We’ll talk about our histories with the series, how side-stories can be really good, bright colors, Justin’s work on the video game tie-in Akaneiro, and much more! Plus, a quick Love Haters segment!

The Eisner nominations are out and we’re having a roundtable this week to talk about ’em! We invited ComicsAlliance pals David Wolkin and Dylan Todd to talk about what was missing, what people have been saying is missing, what’s surprising, the shifting nature of digital comics, and a ton more! Also, we divide ourselves into two camps in regards to Chris Ware, though we all find Building Stories just a little big daunting.

Our guests this week are the creative team behind Monkeybrain’s new title Knuckleheads, Brian Winkeler and Robert Wilson IV! We’ll talk them about how they avoid having a completely unlikable main character, how the comic has evolved over the years, how they met, what it takes to be a music artist and Brain’s work on Bastard Road! Plus, another edition of the War Rocket Ajax love haters!

Kickstarter phenomenon and God Hates Astronauts creator Ryan Browne is our guest this week! We talk about the secret to a great Kickstarter, what it’s like to deal with literally two tons of books, the improvisational origin of Blast Furnace, Indiana Jones, owls, and much more! Plus, yet another edition of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

It’s Wrestlemania time! And this year, we’re welcoming the writer of Glory and Morbius, Joe Keatinge, and WithLeather.com’s Danielle Matheson to run down the card with us! Also discussed: How cold it’s going to be, which matches warrant nacho breaks, what merch is going to be available, and much more!

This week we’re talking to the writer of Dark Horse’s brand new title Dream Thief, Jai Nitz! We discuss among other things, his work on The Batman Strikes, why he opted to set his new comic in the South, the Back to the Future sequels, the origin of Agent Nitz from Scalped’s name, St. Louis pizza, saying awful things at cons, and much more! Plus, the return of Big Ups to All My Haters!

Something is wrong on the show this week. Very wrong.

The artist of the sold-out Huge Event comic Batman Incorporated #8 (as well as most of the rest of the series), Chris Burnham, is our guest on this week’s show! We talk about the worldwide reaction to that very issue, complaints on Twitter, his sure-to-be-controversial upcoming story in Heavy Metal, Batman’s “new look” costume, what Grant Morrison’s scripts are like, and much, much more! Plus, another installment of the War Rocket Ajax Love Haters!

In advance of his new Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight story, Josh Williamson of Monkeybrain Comics’ Masks and Mobsters joins us for this week’s show! Topics of discussion include Batman, Batman, Batman, Batman’s origin, Batman, Alfred, Batman, and Christmas! Also other things. Also also: Another WRA Love Haters segment!

The writer of Monkeybrain Comics’ brand-new series High Crimes, Christopher Sebela, joins us on this week’s show! We talk at length about the new Die Hard movie, the series as a whole, what inspired a comic about crime on Mount Everest, whether someone can snowboard down the world’s highest peak, how he and Kelly Sue DeConnick divide the work on Captain Marvel, and much more! Plus, more love and hate from Chris and Matt!

Our guest this week is Sean Howe, author of the terrific book Marvel Comics: The Untold Story! We’ll talk with him about whether Stan Lee and Jack Kirby get too much or not enough credit, the big personality of Jim Shooter, how he was able to stay objective through the process of writing the book, which publishers he’d like to see covered in new books, Marvel’s unsung heroes, the hidden genius of Gerry Conway, what he thinks of Marvel today, and much more! Plus, we do our first-ever War Rocket Ajax Love/Hate Inventory!

The creators of Trip Fantastic, Jason Baxter, Mac Hamilton and Derek Charm, join us for this week’s show! We talk about their comics, but we spend a lot of time on their influences, mid-1990s adventure shows including Baywatch Nights and Thunder in Paradise! We also dig into our favorite Batman ’66 bad guys, designing t-shirts for K-Mart, influencing Mark Millar’s TV tastes and much more! Plus, we answer a big question about Kevin Smith!

We’re listing our favorite and least favorite stuff again this week, and this time our sights are set on Marvel’s merry mutants! ComicsAlliance’s David Brothers and Andrew Wheeler stop by to talk about the conundrum that is Gambit, that period in which Joseph was around for like eight years, just how bad “The Draco” gets, the wonders of Australia and much more!

This week we’re welcoming the writer and artist of The Legend of Ricky Thunder, Punch Captain, Adventure Wizard and much more, Kyle Starks to the show! We’ll talk with him about how difficult (or not) it is to write dialogue, the beauty of nonsense, why Wild Dog is so great, having an incredibly busy year, wrestling (of course) and much more! Plus, Chris and Matt answer a lengthy listener question about what comics make us happy!

Friend of the show and writer of the new Uncanny X-Force Sam Humphries stops by for the show this week! We talk about pogs, the Wood Whisperer, rap camp, Tony DiMera, Andy Khouri’s first word, oh, and some comics, too, when we find the time for it. Chris and Matt also talk about their New Year’s resolutions  and what they did over the Christmas break!

We’re kicking off 2013 by looking at the best and least-best of what 2012 had to offer! That’s right! It’s time for the annual Gordie awards, with categories selected by you, the listeners!

It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas time! Matt Fraction is here to talk with us about comics, and also to discuss our favorite and least-favorite holiday music, specials, movies and comics!

This week, Chris and Matt welcome Adam P. Knave, co-writer of the MonkeyBrain Comics title Amelia Cole and the Unknown World! We’ll talk to him about the advantages and disadvantages of being half of a writing team, sticking to a schedule with a digital comic, his history with the fantasy genre, getting jetpack science right and much more! Plus, find out the incredible secret of why Chris has been feeling so crummy lately!

Jason Aaron, writer of Scalped, Wolverine and the X-Men and Thor: God of Thunder joins us for the show this week! We talk with him about the religious themes throughout his comics, what his Marvel Barkitecht name would be, how varied his work is, whether he’s got another crime book coming down the line, what we love about Doop and much more! Plus, Chris and Matt answer some listener questions about their alternate-universe tag team!

It’s our extra-special Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday episode! Chris and Matt are taking your questions on Christmasy stuff, digital comics, imagined wrestling matches between us, Batman trivia and more!

This week, we’re welcoming the writer of The Sixth Gun and the new Fearless Defenders series from Marvel, among many other things, Cullen Bunn! We’ll talk to him about putting together a book with an all-female cast, the Marvel character with the most convoluted history, plans for The Sixth Gun’s TV show, how Marvel NOW is affecting his other books, and much more! Plus, we quickly answer some listener mail!

We welcome Battlepug and The Curse creator Mike Norton, who also draws a whole bunch of stuff including Revival and It Girl, to this week’s show. We talk to Mike about the origin of his love of pugs, what it’s like working with creators across the pond, Steve Ditko’s work and influence, making 24-hour comics, and, of course, Troll 2. Plus, a harrowing story of rap embarrassment from our mailbag!

Writer of The Tick and expert in all things spooky Benito Cereno joins us once again for our all-listener-question Halloween episode! We’ll discuss the results of a hypothetical super-fight among ghouls and deities, the worst horror movies, what comics can do for horror that movies can’t, the craziest movie deaths and much more!

We’re back from a week off with our first of two ghastly Halloween episodes! This week, we welcome the writer of Dear Dracula and Masks and Mobsters, Josh Williamson! He’ll talk with us about the process of making Dear Dracula into a Cartoon Network special, vampires gaolore, where the idea for Masks and Mobsters originated and, of course, the creation of the Craftsman Technician! Plus, Chris’ full New York Comic-Con report!

This week we welcome the writer of The Manhattan Projects and soon-to-be-writer of Avengers, Jonathan Hickman to the show! We talk with him at length about the euphoric experience that was MorrisonCon, and just a little bit about Avengers and just how many times a month that book is going to be hitting shelves. Plus, we insult a child!

Our pal and the co-host of the Comics Alternative podcast, Dr. Andrew Kunka is our guest this week! We’ll talk about his research into racism in comics, what he considers alternative comics, what comic is worse than Justice League, what he’d like to do with a Blackhawks title, and much more! Plus, Matt and Chris both celebrate big life events!

While Matt’s off gettin’ hitched, we’re queuing up this special bronus episode where we answer your listener questions! Hear our definitions of “high concept,” about our favorite and least favorite runs of Avengers/JLA/Legion, a meandering response about power pop, and much more! Plus, background noise! (Deal with it.)

This week, we’re welcoming ComicsAlliance Editor-in-chief Joe Hughes to the show! We’ll talk with him about how he went from being a comics fan to a comic shop employee to a DC assistant editor to editor of a comics news site! Plus, we’ll hear about what he has in store for Chris in the near future, the time he met Mark Hamill, just what an assistant editor does, and much more! And since we won’t be doing full shows the next couple weeks, we’re super-sized!

The writer of Valiant’s new Archer and Armstrong series, Fred Van Lente, joins us for this weeks show! We talk to him about the response he’s gotten to his politically charged comic, how he likes his reputation as a history comics guy, how Armstrong is kind of like Marvel’s Hercules (and Archer is nothing like Amadeus Cho), what other Valiant titles his book might cross over with, and much more! Plus, a particularly lyrical reading from the pages of Thrasher magazine!

Bill Willingham, the writer of Fables and its associated spinoff titles, formerly of Shadowpact, Robin and JSA, and soon to be of a new MonkeyBrain Comics title, joins us this week! Hear all about the new Fabletown and Beyond Convention in Minnesota next March, just what exactly happened with Stephanie Brown, his favorite classic movies and much more! Plus, a report from Chris about his trip to Summerslam!

The cartoonist behind the new Friends With Boys, Zombies Calling and Demonology 101, Faith Erin Hicks, is our guest this week! We’ll talk to her about the differences between Web and print comics, winning over people suffering from zombie overkill, what adding a ghost to a story is all about, Scooby-Doo, whether volleyball is more popular in Canada, and much more! Plus, Matt tells a story about when he was a bad comic shop customer!

Our guest this week is our old pal and writer of Monkeybrain Comics’ brand new Wander, Kevin Church! Get ready for a lot of discussion of that comic’s fantasy setting and formatting for digital plus some talk about 1970s cinema, watching Star Treks, and a rundown of Kevin’s favorite comic runs! Plus, Matt and Chris share some video-store memories from their youths.

This week we welcome the writer of Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog and Mega Man comics, Ian Flynn! We chat with him about what it’s like dealing with…zealous fandoms, whether he’s any good at Mega Man video games, why you should be into the Sonic comics, working with licensed properties and much more! Plus, we take a listener question about a particularly angry comic-shop customer from Chris’ store-employee days!

Danger Club and Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade writer Landry Walker is our guest this week! We talk with him about his days at Disney Adventures magazine, the shockingly dark secret of how his Supergirl book would have ended, how the hyper-violent Danger Club came into existence and much more! Plus, Chris and Matt answer a particularly…kinky listener question.

This week we’re back to the regular format and welcoming Tim Seeley, creator of Hack/Slash, co-creator of the new Revival, Witchblade writer and artist on a ton of other stuff! We talk about how Tim deals with the pluses and minuses of creating an exploitation comic, how satire doesn’t always seem like satire, doing something new with the zombie genre, why he doesn’t draw his own stuff more, the prevailing temperature in the Hack/Slash universe and much more! Plus, we get the full rundown from Chris’ trip to Comic-Con!

Chris was at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend and all attempts to find a guest co-host fell through, Matt’s wingin’ it himself this week! He answers your Twitter questions regarding Meatwad, his favorite (non-classic) Spider-Man stories, Miles Morales’ viability in non-comics media, Darkseid sleeping on the couch and much more! Plus, Chris checks in with some phone messages about the con’s ridiculous advertising!

It’s our panel from HeroesCon 2012, right here for you to listen to! We take questions about Jason Statham, a few other celebrities, board games, gay characters in comics. what we’d call the current age, what superhero duo we’d be, and much more!

This week we welcome the co-publishers of the brand new Monkeybrain Comics brand on Comixology, Chris Roberson and Allison Baker! With them, we discuss how the whole venture came together, who they’re working with, rubber, roads, pie, book formats, Roberson’s own book on the imprint, salsa, the fallout (or lack thereof) of his public divorce from DC Comics and a ton more! Plus, Chris and Matt jab about some cereal for a while.

Our look at DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio’s list of the his top 10 projects of the last decade wraps up! Plus, we take your Twitter questions!

It’s the first part of our first-ever two-parter on War Rocket Ajax! We welcome ComicsAlliance Senior Editor Andy Khouri to talk with us about the first seven entries in DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio’s list of his 10 favorite comics projects of his 10-year tenure at the company!

The creator of the Crogan Adventures series (the most recent installment of which, Crogan’s Loyalty is brand new), Chris Schweizer, sits down with Chris and Matt this week to tell ’em a few stories. Among them: How he came to work with Oni Press, just where the books’ framing stories came from, how much of his own family you can find in the books, why the series isn’t in chronological order, what will happen if he goes crazy, his work at the Savannah College of Art and Design, and much more! Plus, we answer a listener question very near and dear to our hearts.

The man behind Empowered, Dark Horse’s Dirty Pair, Livewires and Iron Man: Hypervelocity, Adam Warren, is our guest this week! He tells us about how Empowered emerged from art commissions, his time at the Kubert School, how his Dirty Pair comics were almost a direct adaptation of the manga, a Marvel project that never happened, drawing in a smaller format and much more! Plus, another reading from Thrasher magazine!

Justin Pierce of the webcomic Wonderella joins us for this week’s show! We discuss what exactly Wonderella is a parody of, how it evolved into having as much political content as it does, the importance of “soon,” drawing the impossible, why Justin is often mistaken for Justine, and much more! Plus, we answer a biblical piece of listener mail and welcome Hundo Club member Ziah Grace!

John Rogers, writer of IDW’s Dungeons and Dragons comic, former writer of DC’s Blue Beetle and showrunner on TNT’s Leverage, joins us for this week’s show to talk about his work with Mark Waid’s Thrillbent digital comics project, the draft he wrote of the Halle Berry Catwoman movie, how he got hired by DC Comics by making fun of them on his blog, exactly what a “dirty over” is an much more! Plus, we answer some listener mail about The Legend of Korra!

On this week’s show Glory and Hell Yeah writer Joe Keatinge sits down to chat with Chris and Matt! Among the topics we cover are Joe’s love of pro wrestling, how he got involved in the Extreme Comics revival, how he got so into violence, what should follow the question “Are you OK?” and much more! Plus, Chris gives some big ups to some haters who love too hard.

This week, Chris and Matt sit down with Robert Venditti, writer of the new X-O Manowar series from Valiant, The Surrogates and The Homeland Directive! Rob talks about how he didn’t get into comics until was in his late 20s, how he got in with Top Shelf and Valiant, what it was like being on set of the film adaptation of The Surrogates and a ton more! Plus, we use a listener email as an excuse to talk about barbecue some more (as if we needed one)!

On this week’s show we power through technical difficulties to bring you our interview with Kelly Sue DeConnick, writer of the upcoming Captain Marvel series and Ghost from Dark Horse! She tells us about how a note to Neil Gaiman kicked off her career, why you can’t really get a literal translation of manga, her transition from manga adaptations to superhero comics, exactly how she feels about continuity and a ton more! Plus, we answer not one but two questions from the War Rocket Ajax Mail Rocket!

Atomic Robo writer Brian Clevinger joins us for his third appearance on the show this week! We’ll hear about his inaccurately titled Real Science Adventures series, why his all-ages Captain America was cut short, his work experiences (or lack thereof) at DC, who’d win in the struggle between Robot Dracula and Robot Santa Claus, and much more! Plus, we give some celebrity big ups!

Famed cop fighter David Marquez, also the artist of Fantastic Four: Season One and Ultimate Spider-Man at Marvel, joins us for the show this week! We’ll hear how he transitioned from animation to comics, how he jumped to such high-profile projects at Marvel in less than two years of pro work, how he draws The Thing, Sue Storm’s powers, types of jam and much more! Plus, Matt and Chris address the controversial ending of Mass Effect 3! Our thoughts may shock you!

This week we welcome back the writer of Archaia’s Cow Boy and co-writer of Image’s Pigs, Nate Cosby! We get into how he transitioned from editing all-ages comics at Marvel to writing the salty language of Pigs, how Cow Boy isn’t the comic you’d expect, how working as an editor affected his collaboration with artists, the true modern poetry of Freak Nasty, and much more! Plus, we enjoy a listener’s description of the wonders of the Batman arena show!

It’s 2012, it’s time for Wrestlemania! In anticipation of the biggest professional wrestling event of the year, we welcome Super Pro KO’s Jarrett Williams and Chikara Pro Wrestling commentator Leonard F. Chikarason to the show! Chris and the guys run down all the stuff they’d like to see happen at this year’s showcase of the immortals, and Matt asks some questions from the perspective of someone who hasn’t kept up in a few years. It’s an extravaganza!

This week we welcome Jeremy Whitley, writer of the fairy-tale/adventure comic, Princeless! We discuss how he managed to land a publisher for a comic so outside the typical comics fan’s purview, what he learned from the various Disney princesses, what you learn at a convention, which ’80s movie would make the best fairy tale, whether a certain royally named celebrity will make an appearance in an upcoming issue, and much more! Plus, we answer a listener question about a form of entertainment very close to Chris’s heart.

We drop all pretense this week and spend almost an hour talking to Daniel Butler and Matt Digges, the artists of Copernicus Jones and Awesome Hospital, respectively! We give them both an opportunity to vent about the hardest stuff we’ve given them to draw, how we get together from across the country, doing webcomics, going to cons, and more!

This week we welcome a writer who is exploding with projects in the coming months, Sam Humphries! We discuss the meaning behind the insanity that is Our Love is Real, the craziest interpretations of the comic he’s heard, how he became fascinated with Aztecs, self-publishing, how he snagged a job co-writing The Ultimates, and much more! Plus, we welcome another member of the Hundo Club, Chad Wago, and indulge in another reading from Thrasher!

This week Chris and Matt went to the slums of Shaolin to speak with Kagan McLeod, writer and artist of Top Shelf’s Infinite Kung Fu! Kagan talks about taking a decade to wrap up the book, how he kept his art consistent that whole time, who he based the characters on, and, of course, his favorite kung fu films! Plus, we take a call from a special guest who hosts a show on a certain radio station Chris loves.

Throw up the horns, because this week we’re talking with writer Rick Spears and artist Chuck BB of Oni Press’ Black Metal graphic novels! Find out the soundtrack for creating the graphic novels, what kinds of rings a man should wear, why metal is best when you’re a kid, why music is such an influence on Rick’s work and the true story of Chuck’s meeting with Mystery! Plus, we team up with Hundo Clubber and third chair to answer a pair of listener questions…about metal!

We’ve Marvelized ourselves! That’s right, we’ve gone back to our original episode numbering to celebrate our 100th episode, and we’ve invited our pals from LBFA Inc., Chris Haley, Curt Franklin and Eugene Ahn (a.k.a. Adam Warrock) to help us answer a metric ton of listener questions! And some special guests might just be dropping by! It’s a party!

Chikara Pro Wrestling founder, wrestler, podcaster and comics fan Mike Quackenbush joins us for this week’s show to talk about wrestling his hero, his least favorite artists, how he lucked into a lifelong love of comics, why The Falcon is great, a little team called The Champions and much more! Plus, against their better judgment, Chris and Matt yet again discuss the topic of Insane Clown Posse.

Our old pal Chris Roberson drops by this week with artist Rich Ellis to talk about their new IDW series, Memorial! Hear about the difficulties and the fun of drawing crazy abstractions, what led the guys to create a modern-day fairy tale, the secret origin of Memorial and its connections to Doctor Who, an honest assessment of director and Visionary Genius™ Zack Snyder, and much more! Plus, we answer a listener question about the etiquette of artist sketch requests!

We’re back to our regular format this week with Ben Jones, director of some of the best episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and animator/storyboard artist on lots of stuff including The Iron Giant, Harvey Birdman and Teen Titans! We talk to him about how he got his start in animation, what it means to have a classic animation style, and, of course, that show with that Batman dude in it. Also: We welcome Hundo Club member James Meiers to chat with us and hear yet another wonderful reading from Thrasher magazine!

Based on your suggestions, Chris and Matt are giving out awards for the best and worst of the year! Comics! Wrestling! Video games! Barbecue we ate! Self-indulgence! It’s all here! And remember: You asked for it!

You’re just going to have to listen to this extra-sized episode, my ninjas. Merry Christmas! See you all in 2012.

We finally welcome someone from Archie Comics onto the show this week, as we talk with Alex Segura, director of publicity and marketing for the publisher, and writer of “Archie Meets KISS!” We talk to Alex about how he managed to snag the elusive band, Archie’s distribution policies, his top Archie books of all time, how Archie ended up becoming such a progressive company, and much more! Plus, a reading from Chris’ favorite magazine!

It’s time for another roundtable comics discussion, this week with Chad Bowers of Monster Plus and Josh Krach of Troop Infinity! We continue to talk about the DC reboot with our picks for what new titles we’d like to see in the line (and, you know, write). Plus, we get into what Marvel’s recent turn of the axe on some not-even-published-yet books means for comics makers like us and get into the question of whether fans seeing sales numbers is bad for out-of-the-mainstream titles. Plus, we answer some quizzical listener mail!

Ming Doyle, artist of The Loneliest Astronauts and a story in the upcoming Fantastic Four #600, enters the official War Rocket Ajax records as our guest this week! We discuss the end of TLA, her new Star Trek webcomic with Kevin Church, why Benjamin Sisko is the best, the gender-based reasons for why her art is so stylish, the meticulous labeling of her kitchen, and much more! Plus, Chris once again gives big up to one of his haters!

Fear Itself and Casanova writer Matt Fraction becomes our first Five-Timers Club member this week! We ask what he’d like other writers to learn from Fear Itself, what real-life stuff led him to subject matter, that scene from Casanova: Avaritia II, how he celebrated Halloween, how he’s preparing for Christmas (already!), how much visual stuff he puts in his scripts and a ton more! Plus, Matt and Chris become more and more exacerbated while talking about the nonsensical plot of Arkham City (which they both recommend, by the way).

For our super-spoooooky Halloween episode, Chris and Matt conduct an interview with The Tick, Tales from the Bully Pulpit and Hector Plasm writer Benito Cereno deep from the depths of a reception nightmare! We talk to Benito about the types of horror movies we like, our essential Halloween flicks, the spookiest candy, Halloween memories and much more! Plus, Chris and Matt discuss their scariest video game experiences!

Comics Alliance editors Andy Khouri and Caleb Goellner sit down with Chris and Matt this week for a roundtable discussion New York Comic-Con, and things go to weird, weird places. Among the topics: Lack of cell phone and wi-fi at the convention center leading to caveman tactics, Conan on a sailboat, Catwoman’s “stripper idiom,” the lack of big news at the con, Andy’s debilitating con injury, whether the Marvel layoffs were foreshadowed at all at the con, the best Power Rangers season, which one of us would look best in hot pants, violence against Michelangelo and much more! Plus, Chris and Matt take a biased stance in favor of Adam Warrock.

War Rocket Ajax welcomes Wondermark creator and Machine of Death co-editor David Malki! to the show this week! You’ll hear how he creates his comics, how someone objected to that method, his early work using the Bic pen mascot, the amazing story of how Machine of Death got to number 1 on the Amazon sales chart, the best mustache to have, what fictional character he’d hang out with on a desert island, and much more! Plus, Chris reads more of the modern poetry that is the Thrasher letters column and we welcome Hundo Club member Bradley Moyer!

This week we welcome the team behind the webcomic Bucko to the show: Jeff Parker and Erika Moen! We discuss the often-raucous work environment at Periscope Studios, just how accurately Bucko depicts Portland, just what comics Juggalos are looking for these days, what Erika would most like to do if she was a guy, whether Bucko’s luck is going to change and much, much more! Plus, Chris and Matt answer a sexy question about Captain America!

We celebrate the return of the War Rocket Ajax/Comics Alliance roundtable and the close of our unofficial Ladies’ Month by welcoming CA Editor-in-Chief Laura Hudson and correspondent Bethany Fong to the show to discuss just how DC fared with the past month of new number-one issues, potential tattoo ideas, what we’d cancel from the New 52, best-and-worst CA moments, and a ton more! Plus, find out what has laid Chris Sims so low this past week and find out what the iTunes hold-up is.

G4TV’s Blair Butler, writer of the upcoming MMA comic Heart from Image, sits down with us this week to talk about going from comics criticism to creation, how she got her job as the only comics critic on national television, why she likes MMA more than pro wrestling, and, as you might expect, this week’s DC comics! And a ton more! Plus, Chris and Matt answer a listener question about their favorite character concepts with lacking executions.

This week Dark Horse editor  Rachel Edidin comes by the show to talk about editin’ them books! She talks to us about the difference between being an assistant editor and an out-and-out editor on a project, what an editor on a collection of a webcomic actually does, running the Conan message board, digital comics, dealing with allergies and a ton more! Plus, Matt and Chris give more generally-focused big ups to haters and talk about another week of DC #1s!

This week we welcome Chester 5000 XYV writer and artist Jess Fink to War Rocket Ajax! We talk with her about why it’s more fun to draw dirty things, Halloween costumes, how she’s making things difficult for male comics creators, dealing with copyright infringement and much more! Plus, our pals Evie and Aaron from the Awesomed By Comics Podcast sit in as our third chairs to celebrate an upcoming milestone show of theirs!

This week we’re very excited to welcome Scott Snyder, writer of American Vampire and Severed, and who just wrapped up his run on one of our favorite books of the last year, Detective Comics! Scott talks to us about his upcoming work on post-DC-reboot Batman, how he get his start in comics, a nerve-wracking meeting at C2E2, how he got Jock and Francesco Francavilla to work on Detective, the Bat-Family’s favorite Elvis songs, and more! Plus, we welcome another member of the Ajax Hundo Club, Susan Cole, and answer a question from our listener mailbag!

This week, we welcome back the Alec Baldwin to our SNL, outgoing Superman writer Chris Roberson, for his fifth appearance on War Rocket Ajax! Chris sits down with us for an in-depth discussion of his Superman #714, the last appearance of pre-reboot Supes, why the issue with Sharif never hit the stands, how his run ties in to All-Star Superman and DC One Million, Superman’s favorite movie, what Stan Lee’s really like, his upcoming Star Trek/Legion of Superheroes crossover, and much more! Plus, we welcome another member of the Hundo Club, Derek Lancaster, who may just be attempting to become one Mr. Chris Sims.

This week we’re proud to welcome the writer and artist of Tales Designed to Thrizzle and the upcoming Autobiography of Mark Twain 1910-2010, Michael Kupperman! We talk with him about his long-standing obsession with the author and his lookalike, Einstein, as well as performing his comics live, the Snake ‘n’ Bacon pilot for Adult Swim, the creative process, doing photo-comics and a ton more! Plus we take a ton of questions from Twitter to determine the winner of our book giveaway!

In celebration of his brand new Punisher #1, Greg Rucka — writer of Detective Comics, Whiteout, Queen and Country, Stumptown, Gotham Central, Wolverine and a ton more — stopped by to talk to us about it his new webcomic and, of course, Batman. We get deep into the nature of those characters and heroism. Plus, why Wonder Woman’s DC’s best character and Superman’s so difficult to write. Plus, Chris and Matt answer a listener question about their old Carolina hometowns!

It’s the first Monday of the month, which means it’s time for another War Rocket Ajax/Comics Alliance roundtable! This month, we welcome Comics Alliance’s own David Brothers and Andy Khouri to the show to talk about the madness that was San Diego Comic-Con International! Among the topics we cover are the huge reaction to DC’s response to a fan dressed as Batgirl, how tough it is to get into panels, everyone’s best and worst moments, post-Comic-Con doldrums, the lack of a big movie presence this year, and a ton more!

Chris was away at Comic-Con International last week, but we made up for it by welcoming Adam Warrock, a.k.a. Eugene Ahn, back to War Rocket Ajax for a triumphant return! Euge talks about his recent adventures as a performer at Nerdapalooza, his upcoming Firefly mixtape, the effects of Nos energy drink on the body, the new Amazing Spider-Man trailer and music, music, music. Plus, Chris calls in for a report direct from San Diego!

Name a pivotal comics character, and there’s a good chance Mark Waid has written one of that character’s defining runs. We were lucky enough to chat with him this week about lots of the stuff he’s worked on: Fantastic Four, The Flash, Impulse, Ruse, Empire, Legion of Superheroes, Kingdom Come, Spider-Man, his upcoming Daredevil run and more, and we barely get to scratch the surface. Plus, Mark and Chris get embroiled in an intense debate over Superboy! On top of all that, we answer some of your listener mail!

In this week’s episode, we’re delighted to welcome illustrator, designer and former Venture Bros. colorist Carly Monardo! She’s kind enough to talk to us about the creation of Strong Female Characters, the craziest things she had to color for Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, the sad decline of video stores, her dog, pants in superhero costumes, and much more! Plus, as you may guess, we have an extended Big Ups to All My Haters segment about a small, independent movie Chris went to see last week.

On this July 4 edition of War Rocket Ajax, Comics Alliance Editor-in-Chief Laura Hudson and Let’s Be Friends Again artist Chris Haley check in with us for the first ever, all-American War Rocket Ajax Comics Alliance roundtable! Among the topics we cover are the DC reboot, Comic-Con memories, and Chris Haley’s valiant, patriotic effort to get everyone to eat a Captain America donut Friday, #THEPACT. We also answer some tipsy listener mail and discuss the most American of pastimes: professional wrestling!

After discussing his work on PunisherMAX pretty much every week it’s come out, we finally managed to snag an interview with Scalped, Wolverine and X-Men writer Jason Aaron on this week’s show! He even braved a deadly gas leak to talk with us about VHS cinema, crazy storytelling, characterizing the Punisher, his CBR column, collaborating with artists to create super-cool scenes, a hint about what Bullseye whispered in Frank’s ear and a ton more! Plus, we take on a hater who…well, um…has a point. Plus, we welcome Hundo Clubber Clayton Johnston to our third chair!

This week we feature our first guest of the Comics Alliance era (who was also our first guest ever), Matt Fraction, writer of The Mighty Thor, the Invincible Iron Man, Casanova and Fear Itself!  Matt talks with us about what it takes to get into the mindset of writing an event comic, the event comics that helped him create Fear Itself, tie-ins, why his Iron Man book wasn’t originally meant to be the “main” book, Van Halen’s greatest hit, weird television, and much more! Plus, we give our new CA listeners a taste of a fan-favorite segment!

This week, we begin a whole new era as the official podcast of Comics Alliance! For our likely influx of new listeners, Chris and Matt are retelling their origin stories while also answering some listener questions! If you listen closely, you’ll hear the sound of our brand new raised collars! You’ll hear our take on what we’d do as Two Kings, overrated comics (hello Hush!), what we’ll be picking up in the big DC reboot and what would get us to attend the Gathering of the Juggalos (nothing). PREPARE YOURSELVES for a new era of War Rocket Ajax!

It’s the last episode of War Rocket Ajax AS YOU KNOW IT! That’s right, folks. We’re taking next week off because we’ll both be at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC, but we’ll be back the week after with some big, but good, changes to the show. Stay tuned. To cap off this era of WRA, Chris and Matt decided to have a little brodown to mourn the loss of “Macho Man” Randy Savage, answer a bunch of listener questions, rail against the great horror that is Blues Brothers 2000, and much more!

This week we welcome South Carolina resident and writer of FF, S.H.I.E.L.D., Secret Warriors, The Red Wing and a ton of other stuff, Jonathan Hickman! Of course, we talk about the most important topic of all, barbecue. But after that, we get to Jonathan’s design work in comics, how he juggles all those books he writes, which FF character speaks in his voice, what he thinks Doctor Doom really ought to sound like, the mystery of what happened to Ed Brubaker’s jacket, and much more! Plus, we welcome yet another Hundo Club member, Luke Herr, to the show! And it’s our 69th episode so expect things to get…saucy.

Superman writer Chris Roberson stops by for the fourth–count ’em, fourth–time this week to celebrate a special holiday with us: Miracle Monday! While he’s at it, he also talks with us about his writing process, juggling multiple projects, his favorite moment in the first Superman movie, what DC had to change about Superman #711, his eventful dinner with Michael Moorcock, and much more! Plus, we highlight our second hater in a row, and gush about how much we liked Thor!

War Rocket Ajax chops into your life this week as we chat with Axe Cop co-creator and artist Ethan Nicolle! We discuss getting into the mindset of  a six-year-old, comics and money, violence, deadlines, what to tell a concerned mom who disapproves of a story all about poop. Also: We get into it with a hater who challenges our comedy knowledge. We don’t take it well. Plus: A stunning account of how a bar of South Carolinian wrestling fans took the news of Osama bin Laden’s death, in case you were wondering.

This week, we welcome out first video game creator guest, Jay Pinkerton, co-writer of Valve’s Portal 2, which is already, in my humble opinion, a contender for game of the year. Jay’s an old pal of ours, so he sits in with us for the whole show! He talks with us about his (and our) time in the early days of internet comedy, writing comics for Valve, following up the surprise success of the first Portal, working with Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons, music to write to, and a ton more! Plus, we examine the fallout of that Action Comics #900 backup. You know the one. And Dracula MAY show up. You’ve been warned.

Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt, the writer/artist team behind Oni Press’ The Sixth Gun and The Damned, sit down with us this week to talk about their comics, the best Westerns, collaborating, the power of a good margarita, the difference color makes, why supernatural stuff is a part of their stories and much more! We also welcome another member of the Ajax Hundo Club, Alberto DeJesus, and answer a philosophical listener question!

Atomic Robo and Captain America: The Fighting Avenger writer Brian Clevinger stops in to talk with us about Cap, Thor: The Mighty Avenger, his new Robo anthology, the future of digital comics, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who he’d pick to voice Robo and lots of other stuff! Plus: A momentous checking of ourselves, one last reading of pledge drive names, and more!

Chris Burnham, artist on Batman Incorporated, Officer Downe and Nixon’s Pals,  stops in this week to talk about his work, particularly on a character one host seems to have some kind of affinity for. Among other things, Mr. Burnham tells us how difficult it is to draw death traps and to not draw Batman murdering people. We also welcome yet another member of the Ajax Hundo Club, Mr. Rob Dean! With him, we answer an age-old question about donuts.

Fellow Carolinian and barbecue enthusiast Jeff Parker returns to War Rocket Ajax this week to talk about his work on Hulk, Thunderbolts and his webcomic, Bucko! We talk at length about barbecue (it wouldn’t be WRA without it), why Jeff wasn’t able to have any snow cream this year, the zen-like conundrum of Shaolin monk vs. caveman and much, much more! Plus: We offer one last big incentive in the very last week of our pledge drive, answer a listener question and give our first ever anti-recommendation!

This week we reveal our full arsenal as we talk with our pals Evie and Aaron of Awesomed by Comics! In addition to the Punisher and his guns, we talk about how Evie and Aaron met, their wedding, Pokemon (big surprise there), Jim Davis, and much more! Plus, Evie and Aaron sit in with us for our checks, recs and comics discussion!

We welcome Colleen Coover back to the show this week to talk about the comics she drew for Marvel and Taco Bell, video games, storytelling, horror and more! Plus: Our pledge drive rolls on, and Chris talks about why the money’s coming in so handy.

This week Chris and Matt welcome Dr. McNinja artist/writer and recently named Deadpool: Fear Itself writer Christopher Hastings to the show! We talk with him at length about Dr. McNinja, Deadpool, influences, cursing in webcomics, the classic action film Commando and much more! If that wasn’t enough, we’re also joined by Ajax Hundo Club member Evan Guidry, and Chris takes on a hater on the topic of versatility!

We managed to get an in somehow and get Jim Zubkavich, creator of Skullkickers and editor/writer of a whole bunch of Street Fighter comics, to talk to us this week! We get Jim to explain what possessed him to allow Chris Sims to write a story in the latest issue of Skullkickers (#6, in stores now), to talk at length about Street Fighter and to answer the burning question of whether there’ll ever be a boy born who can swim as fast as a shark. Plus, our pledge drive rolls on as we welcome the first member of the Ajax Hundo Club, Ryan Holliday, to our third chair!

Our bro blogger and Agreeable Comics writer Kevin Church stops by this week to talk about the abrupt ending to The Rack, his other comics, working with artists, Internet commenting vs. blogging, good ’90s comics and much more! Plus, our pledge drive keeps rolling on and Chris and Matt discuss their recent travels. If that wasn’t enough, we also take on someone who’s been hating on the both of us!

Love is in the air in this week’s special Valentine’s Day episode, as lucky bachelorette Jen Vaughn picks between Chris, Matt and third chair David Wolkin in our very own version of the Dating Game! Romance and awkwardness abound. We also graciously thank the surprisingly large group of donors from the first days of our War Rocket Ajax pledge drive, and beg for more money. Also: Find out the disaster that was Matt’s Jeopardy! online test!

The ban has been lifted! That’s right, Curt Franklin and Chris Haley of Let’s Be Friends Again join us again for a show full of inappropriateness about Crocodile Dundee, Ernest, characters from ’80s commercials, cinnamon, a challenge involving lasagna and a chest, Joel Schumacher and “the bush.” Plus, we talk about today’s big LBFA/Adam Warrock announcement! If that wasn’t enough, Chris and I kick off our big pledge drive!

REVEALED: The true reason Chris Sims traveled to New York last week! DISCUSSED: Crappy winter weather, delicious food, good times! ANSWERED: A whole bunch of listener questions, including quite possibly the most baffling one we’ve ever received! And more in this all-tired episode!

This week’s episode is a big one as we talk for a good long while with actor James Urbaniak, Dr. Venture himself, about The Venture Bros., his hilarious web videos, his enjoyment of alternative comics (including those by a fellow he played in American Splendor, R. Crumb) and our mutual love of Gene Wilder, among other things. We also debut a new theme song by a guy you may have heard of, Adam Warrock, and explain the reasons we needed a new theme pretty much immediately. Add in some Jeopardy! talk and some mysterious news from Chris and it’s a jam-packed show!

Jimmy Olsen, Morning Glories, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and Infinite Vacation writer Nick Spencer sits down with us this week to talk about the tough lessons of the Silver Age, giving voice to the people behind the biggest names in Metropolis and, of course, that whole Heavy Ink thing. We also debut our brand new sort-of-kind-of standard Twitter question (a top hat is involved) and discuss what’s pissing Chris off this week.

We’re recovering from our New Year’s hangovers this week and trying to relearn the basics of podcasting after a long break. Luckily, the always entertaining Chris Roberson, who is taking over for J. Michael Straczynski on Superman and is writing Starborn with Stan Lee, stopped by for the third time, despite officially now being a capital-b Big Deal! We also read out your favorite moments from the show’s first 49 episodes and answer some listener questions!

It’s our SUPER-SIZED 50th episode Christmas spectacular! Happy holidays, everybody!

It’s an episode of firsts this week! Chris unveils a brand new segment, our guest, Evan “Funk” Davies, reveals the origin of his nickname and his methods for selecting music for his show on WFMU, and Matt reveals, for the first time ever, his plan to use Gandhi’s ghost to collect huge gambling winnings. Unfortunately, it’s also WRA’s first completely Euge-free show, but don’t hold that against us.

Just who is War Rocket Ajax’s new co-host? Listen to the show and find out! He’s known Chris for a good long while, and he’s been on the show before. Those are your clues.

Chris and his new host answer some listener questions, talk about Batman at length and explain why the changeover happened a little earlier than expected. We also call up Euge and talk to him via speakerphone to find out what he’s up to in the early stops of his comic shop tour.

Chris is recovered from his horrible plague, and Euge and Matt have emerged from the crowd at the DC Rally to Restore Sanity. We talk about all that, and comics and twitter questions. Time for a good ole’ fashioned Bro-down!

Artists and friends-of-the-show Tom Fowler and Jen Vaughn stop by, as we dig through some listener questions and talk about…well, very weird stuff.

Creator of the awesome pro-wrestling graphic novel series Super Pro KO, Jarrett Williams, stops by to talk about…well, wrestling. A lot of wrestling. Chris and Euge also recap their NYCC experiences. Lives are changed.

Before writing GI Joe comics, Brandon Jerwa had some interesting jobs. He comes on Ajax to talk to us about them, among other things. And now you know. And knowing is…like, some part of the battle or something.

Show favorite Colleen Coover joins the show to talk about Bioware, sandbox games, and D&D. Grab your controllers, it’s time for our video game show!

Writer and artist Phil Hester talks about art vs. writing, Green Arrow, The Wretch and con memories with Chris. Euge is back from SPX and ready for action. And a very, very special haters segment.

Marvel Editor Nate Cosby stops by to discuss a bunch of things, most importantly Nova Vs. Horse. It’s an instant classic, as our second editorial guest talks about having fun on the job, the secrets of his favorite writers, and college football? Also, new haters theme!

So, we were supposed to do a real episode, but Euge’s computer decided to majorly crash a day before he was going out of town. So after a night of recovering all of the stuff necessary to record and process a podcast, we cobbled together this mini-live-to-tape episode, just to keep our Cal Ripken-esque streak going (note: we have no Ripken-esque streak).

It’s been one year on the War Rocket Ajax, and Sims and Euge sit around, reminisce and answer listener questions and talk about comics and stuff. Also, return of BIG UPS TO ALL MY HATERS!

Paul Tobin joins us to talk about villains, superheroes, and mustaches. Chris and Euge talk about comics (sorta), and we continue to not stop believin’.

Sims is back from San Diego Comic-Con, so we gab about that with fellow ComicsAlliance contributor and House of Chicken and Waffles and Comics proprietor, David Wolkin. Also, Skymall, Mega Man, and comics!

While Sims is away at San Diego Comic-Con, Euge and Matt Wilson soldier on to talk about dreams, robot detectives, an extended comics segment and Metal Gear Solid. Also, Sims does check in with voicemails, and general tomfoolery.

Brian Clevinger, of 8-bit Theater and Atomic Robo fame, steps into the thunderdome to talk about US-1, The Infinity Gauntlet, and why Stephen Hawking is such a jerk. Also, South Carolina politics, Ice Cube lyrical analysis, and Harry Potter! Check your self.

Editor of Toyfare Magazine, Justin Aclin, stops by to talk about toys, eating contests, and comics, as he touts his titles Hero House and S.H.O.O.T. First. Chris and Euge celebrate Independence Day in more ways than one. Happy 4th of July everyone.

Rick Remender is our first guest to pull a hat trick on War Rocket Ajax, as he stops by to talk about Fear Agent, Frankencastle, and colorful stories about ice cream and hardcore music. We debut a new format for the show, and Chris and Euge talk about Superman just walkin’ the earth n’ sh*t.

We’re back! I know we said Rick Remender would be our guest, but due to some last minute complications, we had to reschedule him (to next week!). So Chris & Euge get to sit with the lovely and talented Ming Doyle, artist of The Loneliest Astronauts and whose work you’ve also seen in Marvel’s Girl Comics anthology. It’s an episode about HeroesCon, dream romance, and lovely skies as the crew is back again with the incredible, and all that goodness.

It’s been a weird week for Euge. So when shit gets real on War Rocket Ajax, Chris and Euge do an Edit-Free Ajax Bonus Round, answer listener questions, and just when you think the show’s over….they go to Cuba and blow a bunch of stuff up. Maybe not that last part, but you get the idea.

It’s a show that’s as familiar as your Sunday Morning Newspaper Comics section, when Josh Fruhlinger of the Comics Curmudgeon chats with the crew.  Hear us talk about Funky Winkerbean, Apt. 3G, Beetle Bailey, and why they all suck while we continue to love them. Also, Chris takes on a slew of haters and we talk about Iron Man 2. It’s an Episode 30 blowout!

With the skill of gymnastics, and the kill of karate, Matt Singer, host of the IFC.com podcast and on-air host of IFC news, joins us to talk about his lifelong scholarly pursuit of watching and discussing the cinematic merit of Gymkata. We also talk about his time interning with Troma Entertainment, and comics reviews!

Tom Katers, of Tom vs. the Flash, Tom vs. the JLA, Around Comics and iFanboy, joins us for the whole episode as we talk about D&D, Miley Cyrus, Silver Age comics, and well…anything else that comes up. This guy knows what I’m talkin’ about, right?

Hit Me! Back at it, talking about a ton of comics, and rapping with guest writer and artist Ryan Dunlavey about philosophers, MODOK, and new jack swing.  All of you go to your rooms.

Euge and Chris are back this week, and we mostly just talk about nonsense. Comics come up, sorta. It’s a shorter episode with new theme lyrics and more twitter questions than you can shake a stick at.

Kieron Gillen, writer of Thor, S.W.O.R.D. and Phonogram, stops by to talk about generally awesome stuff. Arm-shattering news, we review a light week of comics, and big ups to all my waiters!

Curt Franklin and Chris Haley of Let’s Be Friends Again sit in on the whole episode, and basically try their best to ruin our show. Did they succeed?! Tune in to find out.

Comic artist and Mad Magazine contributor Tom Fowler stops by to earn our explicit tag, talk about Mysterius, and engage in some good old fashioned nostalgia for our favorite childhood humor magazine. Also, Chad Bowers stops by to show us the friendlier face of the Action Age.

Sims, Euge, Rusty and Matt Wilson answer listener questions. Our hater story winner tells his tale. No edits, all live to tape. Beers. God save all of us.

Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak stop by to talk about The Incredible Hercules, as well as The Hulk and other titles. Chris and Euge talk about Girl Comics. Haters, Listener questions, art by Max Huffman, and the announcement of the winner of our Hater Contest! 

Through snow, through sleet, through hail, love prevails. Appropriately, Thomas Zahler, creator of the superb superhero situation comedy comic book Love and Capes, is our guest, as we chat about love, relationships, and Superman. Also, 3rd Chair Smithy is back to spread sunshine in our lives. We talk about Kick-Ass, shameless self-promotion, power ballads, and sex in Mass Effect 2. It’s a jumble of goodness, as War Rocket Ajax returns.

Great Googily Moogily! Mike McGee and Tamas Jakab from El Gorgo join the party, along with 3rd chair Emeritus Rusty Shackles, as the War Rocket Ajax crew grabs their guitars and makes their way to the concert! Will they make it in time?!

You gotta believe! ….that we have Bryan Lee O’Malley as our first guest of 2010. We talk to him about DUH! Scott Pilgrim and the forthcoming movie, Michael Cera, video games, and the sensitivity of Asian boys. Happy New Year everyone!

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone! See you in 2010!

What do you get when you have Rick Remender on your show? A lot of talk about Punisher: Franken-Castle, punk music, and some absurd convention stories. What better way to close out 2009, as Chris and Euge talk also talk about Twilight, drink recipes, more listener emails, and a special holiday hater!

Sims has a big announcement! I have a new website! And author, Southern gothic zombie steampunk historical enthusiast Cherie Priest talks about her book, Boneshaker, as well as Alfred Hitchcock and why historical fiction or steampunk culture shouldn’t forget about the fun.

We take a week where we give thanks for our bros and the bro-tastic bro’in’ that bros do. Errr..I mean, we invite Rusty Shackles, Matt Wilson, and Smithy to the show and answer listener emails, and the topics range far and wide. It’s a week without a guest, with a lot of non-comics discussion, and a chance for us to give thanks to everyone for listening to our little show.

It finally happened. We breached the 2 hour mark. For those who hate how long our episodes are, maybe you can blame writer Chris Roberson for being too interesting, as he talks about Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love and his upcoming title I, Zombie. Or, you can blame Dr. K, since he stops by to talk about his trip with Sims to the infamous South of the Border. Or maybe, just maybe…you can blame the REGGAETON AIR HORN. Either way, it’s an episode of international intrigue and racist tourist traps. And really, how can you shortchange any of that?

In our most jam-packed episode yet, four writers from Toyfare Magazine’s Twisted Toyfare Theatre series stop by to chat about the creative process, and GI Joe. Justin Aclin, Rob Bricken, TJ Dietsch, and Jon Guitierez all join in on the fun. Also, it’s our obligatory Dark Reign tie-in episode, as a special guest stops by to take over third chair duties in the name of H.A.M.M.E.R.

The gang’s all here, as Rusty Shackles joins the whole show, including our interview with special guest James Lucas Jones, the editor-in-chief of Oni Press. He talks to us about his history with comics, hate mail to editors, and his feelings on the personality of Oni as a publishing house. Also, apparently the crew decided to get drunk for every other segment completely independently of each other.

Get in the Halloween spirit with our guest Matt Sturges, as he talks about Blue Beetle, House of Mystery, and zombie princesses. Then, Evie and Aaron from Awesomed By Comics stop by, as Chris and Aaron engage in a Castlevania Trivia Contest to determine once and for all, how much does Simon’s Quest really suck?

Comics writer Tom Peyer stops by to talk politics and responds to the rabid fanbase of Legion of Super-Heroes once and for all. Also, Chris Haley of Let’s Be Friends Again sits in the third chair, as we discuss….well, you don’t want to know what we discuss.

It’s the Bonus Round! As our resident artist Rusty Shackles debuts on the War Rocket Ajax program. Matt Wilson a/k/a King Oblivion PhD comes back to talk about the Marvel Swimsuit Issues. Euge goes to SPX 2009 and report from the floor. And we talk about the conclusion to Planetary and take your twitter questions for US. Who can smash the car FASTER?

What’s beef? We start off blazing with our new beef track against the Awesomed By Comics crew. Then writer Benito Cereno comes on the program to usher in October with some talk about Hector Plasm, as well as putting his own sorta-Internet beef to bed. We also have Kevin Church stopping by to address a particularly intense hater’s beef regarding a certain bodily function. All in this jampacked edition of War Rocket Ajax.

Comics journalist, blogger and industry professional Laura Hudson stops by.

We're just three new kids on the block, swingin' it, as Jeff Parker stops by to talk about his new title Underground, as well as his experiences working  on Agents of Atlas, Thunderbolts, Mysterius: The Unfathomable, Interman, and everything else that he does. We intended to talk about the "Awesome Approach" to writing comics (Jeff's choice), but really we just ended up talking about MODOK, Yo! MTV Raps, and the history of new jack swing. Also, a surprise guest in the imaginary studio, and Chris and Euge ramble about comics a lot.

We're back from our Labor Day break with artist and writer Colleen Coover. Our topic is "All Ages," as we talk to Colleen about writing for both younger and older audiences, ranging from the younger themed Banana Sunday to her more adult-oriented title Small Favors. We also talk about how our habits of comic buying and reading have changed since childhood, and have a long, detailed discussion about what it's like working for Marvel, the distinctive traits of a monkey, and the concept of new jack swing. Also, a special guest stops by to address a hater.

Our third episode welcomes comics scholar and pulp/victoriana master Jess Nevins to the show to talk about the details in comics. Which really boils down to Jess talking about things like the Golden Age Black Widow, Six Gun Gorilla, and what it's like having Alan Moore as a friend.

We're back with our second episode, as we talk to Caitlin Kittredge, author of the Nocturne City novels and co-author of the superhero novel, Black and White. Since Caitlin's a successful published author (and hardcore comics fan), we talk about dialogue and writing in comics, as Caitlin and Chris talk about their favorite lines of dialogue in comics, their writing processes for novels and comics, and the many reasons why Caitlin is NOT Alan Moore.

In our historic first episode, Chris and Eugene talk about first issues and new beginnings with Matt Fraction, esteemed writer of The Uncanny X-Men, Invincible Iron Man, Casanova and many other titles. Hear the answers to the questions you've always pondered, such as: What comics did Chris and Eugene first purchase? What fan atrocities have been committed against comic and sci-fi writers? And what is Matt Fraction's favorite new jack swing song?