Episodes

This week on Creannotators, I talked with comics writer Karla Pacheco about her first arc on Marvel’s Spider-Woman, preparing for the King in Black event, and what’s up next for her and Jessica Drew! On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio annotative...

In 1988, Marvel Comics’ X-Men Universe combined to tell the Fall of the Mutants, a crossover event built around three major devastating separate events spanning the X-Men, X-Factor, and the New Mutants. Fall of the Mutants is the follow-up to Mutant Massacre, and part of the build to 1989’s Inferno, with some of the stranger and least discussed ideas and beats from the Chris Claremont era of X-Men. Today I’ll answer: What are the themes of Fall of the Mutants and what impact do they have on th...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with novelist Carrie Harris about her work X-Men: Liberty and Justice For All, the first entry in Aconyte Books line of Marvel’s Xavier School prose stories! We talk about Carrie’s history with X-Men comics, the specific era of X-Men and characters Harris is working with (right down to the in-continuity location in Marvel’s comics!), and much more. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specif...

In general, Marvel event handbooks are a quick recap, a visual Wikipedia, of story details that can help readers understand the players, reasons, and storylines applicable to the event comic. While this is true of the X-Men: X of Swords handbook, there’s so much we still don’t know, and so many fascinating mysteries in the event and the Hickman era of X-Men at large, that I was deeply engaged with the handbook’s 50+ pages hunting for clues. Today I’ll answer: What are the most interesting secr...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with comics writer Mark Russell about Billionaire Island and Second Coming from Ahoy Comics, as well as his DC Comics career including Flintstones, and what comes next! On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio anno...

Who are the missing mutants in the Krakoa era of X-Men? In part 2 of this series, I explore 5 more major missing mutants from the Hickman era of X-Men, and count off some listener picks that could be considered for a part three. Spoilers for X-Men comics will follow! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis, or Bensound. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com or https://www.bensound.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can supp...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with comics creator Kazu Kibuishi about the incredibly successful all ages series Amulet, the impending 9th and final book, and some teases and revelations about what’s next! On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audi...

Who are the missing mutants in the Krakoa era of X-Men? Spoilers for X-Men comics will follow! ——————————————————————————————————- Music for Best Comics Ever by Anthony Weis, or Bensound. Check out more music at anthonyweis.com or https://www.bensound.com. Subscribe on iTunes Subscribe on Android To learn how you can support Best Comics Ever and receive more exclusive content from Comic Book Herald, check out the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/comicbookherald For the Comic Book Herald read...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with novelist and comics writer Victor LaValle about his Boom Studios work on Destroyer, a modern sequel to Frankenstein! We talk about writing for comics vs. novels, upcoming comics work from LaValle, and the increasing social relevance of Destroyer among many other topics. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspir...

This weekend I was joined by musician & podcaster Open Mike Eagle to talk all things X-Men on a special episode of Krakin’ Krakoa #100! You can check out the full conversation via podcast, or via the Youtube recording here! Spoilers for X-Men comics will follow! Krakin’ Krakoa will continue with X of Swords coverage this week. In the meantime, check out Open Mike Eagle’s new album “Anime, Trauma & Divorce.” For Krakin’ Krakoa X of Swords Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbUTT7...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with writer Johnnie Christmas about his work on Tartarus, a science fiction series full of supernatural mythology from Image Comics. We talk about coordinating massive worldbuilding, the balance between writing and illustrating comics, and future plans for Tartarus among other topics! On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on ...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with writer Alex Sanchez about his work on You Brought Me the Ocean, a YA Aqualad graphic novel from DC Comics. We talk about the importance of representation in comics, what it’s like writing a DC graphic novel, and much more. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden mater...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with cartoonist Derf Backderf about his work on Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, an investigation and accounting of the events that took place on the campus of Kent State in 1970, leading to four college students shot and killed (and more wounded) by the US National Guard. We talk about the emotional resonance of the student’s stories, the harrowing modern parallels around protests across America, and whether we’ve learned any lessons from Kent State. On Comic...

Swords! In my coverage of X of Swords Creation, I asked if you’d all be interested in a follow-up Krakin’ Krakoa ep on the history of the swords in this event, and the answer was a resounding YES. Swords! More Swords! Today I’ll answer: What are the 10 swords mutantkind will use in their battle against the forces of Amenth in X of Swords? What’s the Marvel history of each blade and what can it tell us about the story to come? What small clues do we have about the Arakkan forces named swords?...

It begins! The 60+ page “Creation” kickoff to X-Men: X of Swords is here, marking the epic beginning to the 22 part X-Men event of 2020. The launch book is fantastic, effectively a Lord of the Rings for the Krakoa era of X-Men, with plenty to dig into. Today I’ll answer: How does Creation kick off Ten of Swords, and what do we learn about the event? What major or minor revelations are given, and what X-Men characters are most impacted? What are the secrets of Otherworld and S.W.O.R.D.? Theo...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with cartoonist Kyle Starks about his work on Old Head, one of my favorite graphic novels of 2020, a comedic masterpiece about a retired NBA player taking on Dracula and the monsters in his neighboring castle. Oh, also we talk NBA. Like, a lot. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and idea...

This weekend marked the first ever Comic Book Herald Youtube livestream, and it went pretty well! I got to talk X-Men with Verno of The Cerebros podcast, and Ernie of Blerd Without Fear, and we dove into our X-Men: X of Swords event theories before kickoff on 9/23/2020! If you’re excited for the X-Men event, check out the (spoiler heavy!) conversation below. Spoilers for discussed comics will follow! It was a lot of fun and I hope to have more livestreams on the Krakin’ Krakoa youtube work comi...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with creator Dave Chisholm about his work on the excellent Chasin’ The Bird, a graphic novel about the life of jazz legend Charlie Parker. We talk jazz history, bringing Parker’s mythology to this moment in time, and the distinct visual challenge of conveying music in comics. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspi...

Following my review of 2020’s X-Factor #1, I saw a fair amount of commentary from listeners and readers wondering why there’s all this focus on character sexuality in the book, specifically with queer X-Men. Hot on the heels of Marauders #12 and Kate Pryde’s same-sex kiss, the question is of course resurfacing, making it a good time to really dig into the relevance and importance of sexuality in the world of Marvel’s X-Men. Up front, I’ll admit this is a sensitive issue and I don’t pretend to h...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with creator Sloane Leong about A Map To The Sun, the graphic novel’s incredible colors, studying the game of basketball, and her sci fi Image series Prism Stalker. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio/visual an...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with artist Leila Del Duca about Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed, her creator-owned work like Shutter and Afar, and the process of working on a DC graphic novel compared to monthly ongoing comics. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Crean...

I was caught by surprise recently when Krakin’ Krakoa listener Xavier D pointed out the children sitting around Krakoa campfires led by longtime X-Men villain Exodus look like kid versions of omega level mutants. The more I’ve thought about the observation, the more potential I find, and now I’m convinced Hickman’s X-Men is secretly telling us exactly what Krakoa’s plans are for Omega Level Mutants. Today I’ll answer: Is there a secret school for Omega Level mutants on Krakoa right under our n...

This week on Creannotators, I talked with artist Gisele Lagace about her work on the Image Comics series Exorsisters, her creator-owned webcomics careers, and the benefits of funding comics through Kickstarter. On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio...

I get a fair amount of Krakin’ Krakoa sleuths sending me theories and links about X-Men, which is a really fun way to see that people are engaging with the comics and with my own obsessing about them. In response to my X-Men FCBD 2020 video review, and theories about X of Swords and the mysterious Swordbearers of Arakko, a listener sent me their theory on the “Classified” apparent leader of the bunch. I stored the link away for later, but now that I’ve looked into it, I’m 98% certain their theor...