Two hundred and ninety-nine episodes ago, we could not have possibly imagined George Takei appearing on the podcast. Some version of the actor has hung in our imaginations for most of our lives, and we spent many days of our early marriage obsessing over Star Trek, the original series, and its subsequent films. Thankfully, through this beautiful medium called comic books, our paths have crossed, and we get to celebrate our three-hundredth episode with one of our creative and cultural heroes.
Takei's latest graphic novel, It Rhymes With Takei, reunites him with the same creative team behind They Called Us Enemy: artist Harmony Becker and writers Steven Scott and Justin Eisinger. Together, they tell the rest of Takei's story, which includes his time in the Japanese American internment camps during World War II. It Rhymes With Takei explores the many lessons George Takei learned from that experience, how it shaped his activism, and gave him the courage to battle through the numerous other injustices he would face and fight for and alongside others.
The word "dystopia" gets thrown around a lot these days. It's certainly a go-to for us, and when you look outside your window or scroll through your phone, it's an easy, seemingly apt descriptor. Star Trek has started to feel like fantasy, not science fiction. However, George Takei encourages us to hang onto utopian possibilities. He asks us to accept the inevitability of change but strive toward a brighter, better future.
As the news continuously fills us with dread, we needed this conversation with George Takei, and we're grateful to share it with you, beautiful comic book friends. Thank you for spending your time with us over these three hundred (or so) episodes. Your presence gets us to our recording table every week, and you've given new meaning to our lives.
It Rhymes With Takei is out now from Top Shelf Productions. Get it wherever rad comics are found. Follow George Takei on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and his Website.
This Week's Sponsor
We're sponsored by 2000 AD, the greatest comic you're not reading! Within its pages is a whole universe of characters, from Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog to Rogue Trooper, Shakara, Halo Jones, and the poor sods slogging across the Cursed Earth in The Helltrekkers. Get a print subscription at your door every week - and the first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, get free back issues, and download DRM-free copies of each issue for just $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible monthly comics for less than $10.
Don't forget to grab your tickets for our June 29th Alamo Drafthouse Winchester screening of James Gunn's THE SUICIDE SQUAD, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts.
Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators.
Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.
Denis Kitchen on His Oddly Compelling Life
Episode 301
Wednesday, June 4, 2025 • Duration 01:05:51
When you love comics, you become comics. Denis Kitchen began as a self-published underground cartoonist in 1969, but he quickly sprang into other roles, all serving the medium that first called to him. A year later, he launched Kitchen Sink Press, which would house numerous pioneers from the industry (R. Crumb, Howard Cruse, Art Spiegelman, Trina Robbins, Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, etc). His role as publisher would eventually force him into the position of defender, fighting for the rights of his artists and creating the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
Now, Denis Kitchen's career is the topic of a new documentary, Oddly Compelling: The Denis Kitchen Story, which is currently seeking funding via Kickstarter. The film gathers an astonishing array of talent to praise Denis Kitchen and offer context to a life that has shaped all comic readers, whether they know it or not.
In this week's podcast, we sit down with Denis Kitchen for a long chat about making comics and serving comics. The artist is an icon, but a humble one. He kindly accepts adulation while dismissing it in the same breath. We discuss how comics are "just pictures on paper," but simple images can have a world-altering effect. If you want to fall deeper in love with the art form, this episode is for you.
We're sponsored by 2000 AD, the greatest comic you're not reading! Within its pages is a whole universe of characters, from Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog to Rogue Trooper, Shakara, Halo Jones, and the poor sods slogging across the Cursed Earth in The Helltrekkers. Get a print subscription at your door every week - and the first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, get free back issues, and download DRM-free copies of each issue for just $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible monthly comics for less than $10.
Aubrey Sitterson on Free Planet
Episode 292
Monday, April 14, 2025 • Duration 01:16:57
If you listen to comic book podcasts beyond Comic Book Couples Counseling, you've probably already encountered Aubrey Sitterson. The writer has been making the rounds, discussing his radical new science fiction series Free Planet, made in collaboration with artist Jed Dougherty, colorist Vittorio Astone, letterer Taylor Esposito, and designer Mark Kaufman. Sitterson LOVES comics, and he LOVES talking about comics. He's spent years percolating in the medium, absorbing the code of how to make the best comics in the best way possible for his particular talents.
Aubrey Sitterson has developed something he calls "The Approach." It's a new method of storytelling discovered during the making of other such comics as The Worst Dudes, No One Left to Fight, and Savage Hearts. Sitterson is not just design-focused; he's design-obsessed, and it was a delight to chat with him about this intensely, carefully sharpened obsession.
We're in the weeds this week. We wanted to double down on a comics-making meal, possibly inspired by the last episode's heavy process conversation with Rick Quinn and Dave Chisholm about Spectrum #4. Aubrey Sitterson appears reinvigorated by Free Planet, and his enthusiasm for the craft is infectious and should encourage your leap into storytelling.
Final Order Cutoff for Free Planet #1 is Monday, April 14th (That's Today!), and Image Comics will finally drop the first issue in shops on May 7th. It's not a title you want to sleep on. Everyone involved is going for it, swinging for the fences. You can view the Preview Pages here, which are overwhelming in the best way possible.
A particular story has rattled around Christian Ward's imagination for years. It's been there since childhood, really. Since he first encountered Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth. Last year, he sent out a Tweet, taunting the universe to grant his wish - to tell his cosmic Batman saga. Now, we're weeks away from the cosmos' answer.
Batman: City of Madness #1 lands on shelves from DC Comics on October 10th. It's a real humdinger, a comic that feels unlike any other Bat-book that has come before but is absolutely in conversation with the stone-cold classic mentioned above. Christian Ward explores the questions that probably nag every artist who tackles the Bat, but he does so in ways that spark new ideas and new queries.
After catching a sneak preview of the first issue, we were eager to get the writer/artist in our Love Nest Zoom room. We discuss his relationship with Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth and how it evolved into Batman: City of Madness. We consider Bruce Wayne's relation to his rogues and what does and does not separate him from so-called villains like Joker and Two-Face. As we do every time the caped crusader comes up on the podcast, we challenge his role as Gotham's vigilante while also addressing how much fun it is to watch him punch punks in the face.
However, before we dig into City of Madness and the terrifying Batman Below that lurks underneath our favorite wretched city, we reflect on our Baltimore Comic-Con/Small Press Expo double-header weekend, including the world premiere of Married to Comics. We review these events and consider what makes each con so unique and why we could never give up one for the other.
This podcast continues our year-long partnership with Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader. Each episode from now on will feature our new "Referrals" segment, sponsored by them, where we recommend other comics titles for those wishing to explore this week's themes and concepts further. CLICK HERE to learn more and explore Omnibus' unique, browsable space.
Also, make sure that you keep abreast on all things Christian Ward by visiting his Website and following him on and .
CBCC 93: Leon & Cody - Light Carries On
Episode 201
Friday, September 8, 2023 • Duration 01:41:03
Episode 200! Light Carries On by Ray Nadine refuses to allow death to get in the way of a little life-changing romance. We go into session with Leon and Cody, two souls in stasis, unsure how to move forward and afraid their future won't hold happiness. Together, they uncover the beauty they're already living or un-living.
You may think you know where Light Carries On will take you, but Ray Nadine blissfully subverts genre convention and delivers a genuinely original ghost story. Only in the last moments does clarity strike, and through Leon and Cody's revelations, we find a few for ourselves as well.
This week, we turn to Dr. Terry Singh's TEDx Talk, "How to Get Unstuck," for expertise and guidance in navigating Leon and Cody's complicated relationship. Throughout our lives, we encounter various moments of stuckness. During these periods, catastrophic doubt and fear can creep inside. Dr. Singh gives us (and our comic book subjects) a few tools to free ourselves.
After nearly five years of Comic Book Couples Counseling, we still find new methods and narratives to unlock self-inspection and create growth. The hope we found within this episode's conversation was rejuvenating. We hope it offers you a similar relief.
Helplines are available if you do not have a support system. You can reach the Mental Health Hotline in Virginia by dialing 1-866-903-3787 or CLICK HERE. Not in Virginia? CLICK HERE.
Light Carries On was released earlier this year and is published by Dark Horse Comics. It's written and illustrated by Ray Nadine, edited by Konner Knudsen, designed by May Hijikuro, and assisted by Digital Art Technician Josie Weaver.
Episode 200 also begins a year-long partnership with Omnibus, the Digital Comic Store and Reader. Each episode from now on will feature our new "Referrals" segment, sponsored by them, where we recommend other comics titles for those wishing to explore this week's themes and concepts further.
SDCC 2023: Robert Kirkman & Friends (The Energon Universe)
Episode 200
Monday, August 28, 2023 • Duration 58:19
We close our San Diego Comic-Con International coverage with an epic roundtable conversation with Energon Universe shepherds Robert Kirkman, Sean Mackiewicz, Joshua Williamson, and Daniel Warren Johnson. As you have undoubtedly heard, Skybound Entertainment is the new G.I. Joe and Transformers license holder. They recently launched their shared universe with a new comic book series called Void Rivals, written by Kirkman and illustrated by Lorenzo De Felici, and we think it's the most exciting event in comics.
And that's based on only a tiny taste from Skybound. So far, we've read three Void Rivals issues, a three-page preview of Daniel Warren Johnson's Transformers, a Tom Reilly cover for Williamson's Duke #1, and an Andrea Milana cover for Williamson's Cobra Commander #1. Before we plunge into the chat, we dive deep into reviewing these early peeks, consider the cultural apocalypse on the brink within Void Rivals, and how it may ripple into the Transformers and G.I. Joe books.
We find beginnings to be the most exciting moments in stories. In these early stages, characters (and their creators) determine their principles. What do the G.I. Joes stand for in 2023? What does Cobra stand for? How will the Autobots' interaction with humanity alter their already well-established mission? We bring these questions to the creators, whose answers give you some idea of how the Energon Universe will stand apart from previous interpretations.
Also, listen to our guests' previous appearances on Comic Book Couples Counseling: Robert Kirkman on Invincible, , , and
SDCC 2023: Nicole Maines on Dreamer
Episode 199
Monday, August 21, 2023 • Duration 51:05
Moving one character from one medium to another is a complex task. Nicole Maines was desperate to see her Dreamer fighting alongside the other DC Comics superheroes. However, when she pitched the idea to the publisher, she didn't expect them to ask her to participate in that process. Quickly, Maines found herself as writer of Dreamer's destiny, and such responsibility was as thrilling as it was daunting.
Already, Dreamer has appeared in Superman: Son of Kal-El and the DC crossover event, Lazarus Planet. She's rapidly becoming an essential element within the comics universe. Next year, she'll get some serious space to explore with the original graphic novel Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story, written by Nicole Maines and illustrated by Rye Hickman.
At the San Diego Comic-Con International, we sat down with Maines to discuss her hopes and dreams for Dreamer. She reveals the critical advice that fellow comic scribe, Tom Taylor, delivered when her stress levels were high. Nicole Maines also reflects on how moving Dreamer through the comic book medium revealed unique aspects about the character she had not considered previously.
Maines has been bitten by the comic book bug. She's here to stay, and she's delighted about the possibilities - for herself and Dreamer.
Remember, you can now pre-order Bad Dream: A Dreamer Story at your local comic book shop. Not sure how to locate your closest comic book shop, CLICK HERE to find it. Also, be sure to follow Nicole Maines on Twitter and Instagram.
During this year's San Diego Comic-Con International, finding someone working harder or as urgently as Todd McFarlane would be difficult. He was everywhere, announcing numerous projects one after the other. His partnership with Warner Bros. shows no signs of weakening as they unveiled numerous DC Multiverse figures, including a definitive cinematic Batman six-pack. McFarlane and Count Crowley creator David Dastmalchian revealed their Knights vs. Samurai series. He announced not one but five new Spawn comic book titles. And, yeah, he promised some big future news regarding his original character's big screen return.
We were prepared to break it down with McFarlane when we met him inside the Image Comics booth on Saturday. He was probably excited to do the same, but something immediately shifted as we sat across from each other. He leaned into the Comic Book Couples Counseling concept and got vulnerable with us.
Undoubtedly, you've read some Spawn comics. You know the character; you know his deal. You may not know or appreciate the philosophy driving the creation, however. Todd McFarlane puts it all out there in our conversation, leading to unexpected avenues regarding "chaos and consequence" and why he's so often disappointed by other comic books.
We reflect on Marvel's Silver Age and Stan Lee's "The World Outside Your Window." Todd McFarlane challenges our idealized notions of this classic era and explains what he believes catapulted those characters into the public consciousness they preoccupy today.
This episode is one of those episodes you wish could go on for a few more hours. There's never enough time. Maybe he'll join us again, and we can further follow these threads. Perhaps he won't. We're eager for you to hear this chat, though, and we think you haven't heard one quite like it from Todd McFarlane before.
If you want to continue this discussion with McFarlane, you can find him on Twitter and Instagram, as well as his Website. Follow McFarlane Toys through Twitter and .
SDCC 2023: Jamie Lee Curtis, Russell Goldman, and Karl Stevens on Mother Nature
Episode 197
Monday, August 7, 2023 • Duration 01:07:29
The path Mother Nature took to its sequential form is beautifully compelling. When Jamie Lee Curtis was nineteen, an angry story of global catastrophe and corporate greed took root. Time would pass, and along with her co-writer Russell Goldman, she would mold it into a potential movie. Her eventual friendship with New Yorker cartoonist (and former CBCC guest) Karl Stevens would ultimately yield the new graphic novel from Titan Comics.
Curtis never imagined herself as a comic creator, but here she is, and she couldn't have been more thrilled to attend the San Diego Comic-Con International as one. We spoke with all three Mother Nature collaborators on the convention's second day. They were eager to share the book with us, making sure we had a physical copy in our hands, not satisfied with our PDF preview experience. It's one thing to see a comic on a screen; it's another to hold within your mitts.
Mother Nature is a violently urgent comic. It's a supernatural revenge story in which a young woman goes on the attack against the oil organization that casually killed her father. Stevens illustrates numerous bits of bloody gore, and we chat with the creators about why this story had to be as gnarly as it is.
The world is on fire, and she's furious. Don't believe the corporate narrative, maternity is defensive, and when it needs to be, it's vicious. While we devour the ground beneath our feet, the ground retaliates, and Earth's vengeance is as brutal as anything you've seen in a horror movie.
Also, in this episode, we discuss our time inside the San Diego Comic-Con Museum, reviewing the current Animation Academy and Stan Lee exhibits. We extensively discuss our time outside the convention, visiting the best comic book shops in San Diego.
You can find Karl Stevens on Twitter HERE and on Instagram . Jamie Lee Curtis is on , , and . You can find Russell Goldman on , , and his .
SDCC 2023: Erik Burnham on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Episode 196
Friday, August 4, 2023 • Duration 01:01:04
For most of us, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series is where our shellshocked obsessions began. Now, IDW Publishing returns to this glorious era with their Saturday Morning Adventures offshoot with writer Erik Burnham and artists Tim Lattie, Jack Lawrence, and Dan Schoening busting out all the best Playmates action figures. The new series tickles nostalgic pleasures while keeping itself grounded in the now.
Last week, we unleashed an onslaught of creator content to coincide with the San Diego Comic-Con International. And we are not done. On the west coast, we spoke with numerous comic artists about an eclectic batch of titles. This episode with Erik Burnham is part one, recapping our unique Comic-Con experience while also celebrating Turtle Mania 2023 with IDW and the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem film leading the charge.
Burnham has worked in the Turtle trenches for years, but operating within the Saturday Morning Adventures realm is a tricky balancing act. In addition, since many found their Turtle love with the cartoons, there's an extra sting of responsibility that comes with it. From inside the SDCC IDW Booth, we chat with Erik Burnham about the joys and burdens of playing with these particular toys. We also discuss his new, secret TMNT project and what he'd still love to do within this universe.
We adore any chance to dig deep into the mythology built by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman. This chat is just the next chapter in an ongoing Comic Book Couples Counseling/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles conversation, one that began with our Kevin Eastman interview and hit hyperdrive with our sibling counseling sessions. CLICK HERE to find all those CBCC/TMNT episodes.
You can continue this conversation with Erik Burnham by following his Twitter, Instagram, and Website. Saturday Morning Adventures: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is now available in comic book shops. Find your local store HERE.
FINAL ROUND OF PLUGS (PHEW):
Don't forget to for our July 30th Alamo Drafthouse Winchester screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
Don't forget! Watch , where Brad and Bryan Review the Hottest Cinematic Releases.
And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling , , and on Twitter , and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson & Lisa Gullickson .
Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-Star Review .
Don't forget to grab your tickets for our June 29th Alamo Drafthouse Winchester screening of James Gunn's THE SUICIDE SQUAD, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies.
We're sponsored by 2000 AD, the greatest comic you're not reading! Within its pages is a whole universe of characters, from Judge Dredd and Strontium Dog to Rogue Trooper, Shakara, Halo Jones, and the poor sods slogging across the Cursed Earth in The Helltrekkers. Get a print subscription at your door every week - and the first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, get free back issues, and download DRM-free copies of each issue for just $9 a month. That's 128 pages of incredible monthly comics for less than $10.
In a few weeks, Christian Ward will appear in our Patreon feed, conducting a page-by-page breakdown of Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on a Serious Earth. Join now for just one dollar, and listen to the previous entry in our comic creator series where artists celebrate their favorite single issues - Daniel Warren Johnson on The 'Nam #9.
If you missed our previous conversation with Christian Ward, talking about Blood Stained Teeth, you can find it HERE.
Skybound is set to release Transformers #1 in October, Duke #1 in December, and Cobra Commander #1 in January. Keep up to date on the Energon Universe by visiting their website and pre-order the comics through your local comic book store. What shop is closest to you? Find out by clicking HERE.
As we discuss toward the end of this week's episode, cartoonist extraordinaire Jeff Smith recently suffered a cardiac arrest and was forced to cancel his "Dawn of Man" book tour. This means he won't be able to promote new books like Tuki and Bone: More Tall Tales. It's on you and us to get the word out. Help an artist who brought joy to our lives by nabbing his new comics for yourself and your friends. Visit Boneville HERE.
Don't forget to grab your tickets for our August 27th Alamo Drafthouse Winchester screening of The Mask, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies and featuring a Tradd Moore in-person introduction.
And, if you haven't already, now's the time to join our Patreon, where superstar cartoonist Daniel Warren Johnson just recorded an epic chat with us about his favorite single-issue comic, The 'Nam #9. It's all part of our new Patreon podcast series, where we ask cool comic book creators to choose their favorite floppy comic.
FINAL ROUND OF PLUGS (PHEW):
Don't forget to grab your tickets for our August 27th Alamo Drafthouse Winchester screening of The Mask, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies and featuring a Tradd Moore in-person introduction.
And, if you haven't already, now's the time to join our Patreon, where superstar cartoonist Daniel Warren Johnson just recorded an epic chat with us about his favorite single-issue comic, The 'Nam #9. It's all part of our new Patreon podcast series, where we ask cool comic book creators to choose their favorite floppy comic.
FINAL ROUND OF PLUGS (PHEW):
Don't forget to grab your tickets for our August 27th Alamo Drafthouse Winchester screening of The Mask, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies and featuring a Tradd Moore in-person introduction.
And, if you haven't already, now's the time to join our Patreon, where superstar cartoonist Daniel Warren Johnson just recorded an epic chat with us about his favorite single-issue comic, The 'Nam #9. It's all part of our new Patreon podcast series, where we ask cool comic book creators to choose their favorite floppy comic.
FINAL ROUND OF PLUGS (PHEW):
Don't forget to grab your tickets for our August 27th Alamo Drafthouse Winchester screening of The Mask, co-sponsored by Four Color Fantasies and featuring a Tradd Moore in-person introduction.
And get ready for our upcoming discussions with Jamie Lee Curtis, Karl Stevens, Todd McFarlane, Robert Kirkman, and more. You better get subscribed to Comic Book Couples Counseling.
And, if you haven't already, now's the time to join our Patreon, where superstar cartoonist Daniel Warren Johnson just recorded an epic chat with us about his favorite single-issue comic, The 'Nam #9. It's all part of our new Patreon podcast series, where we ask cool comic book creators to choose their favorite floppy comic.
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