The Comic Literate Podcast

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read issues 1-5 of the 2026 ongoing comic series, The Deadman. Created by the acclaimed team from the Ice Cream Man comics, writer W. Maxwell Prince, artist Martín Morazzo, and colourist Chris O'Halloran.  They also discuss how DC has been producing more interesting comics for a wider audience, and the collaboration between comic writers and artists.  Timec...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the first issues of Marvel's new Midnight Universe, Midnight Spider-Man, Midnight  Fantastic Four, and Midnight X-Men.  They also discuss how it compares to other comic imprints like DC's Absolute Universe, what happened to Marvel's previous attempt with the Ultimate Universe 2.0, and how much does writing quality matter to comic book fans? Timecodes 0...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read issues 1-6 of the 2026 comic series, Bleeding Hearts. Written by Deniz Camp, art by Stipan Morian, and colours by Matt Hollingsworth.  They also discuss some of the history of DC's imprint Vertigo Comics, the genre of lighthearted Zombie stories, and somehow they get a little political as well.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro 02:20 - Comic Talk Starts 04:34 -...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the first collected volume of the 1980's Miracleman comics, Miracleman: A Dream of Flying. Written by The Original Writer (Alan Moore) with Mick Anglo, art by Garry Leach and Alan Davis, and colour art by Steve Oliff.  They also discuss the origins of the Miracleman character, the crazy legal history of his ownership, and the current Marvel controversy...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read issues 136 - 141 of the ongoing comic series, Nightwing. Written by Dan Watters, pencils by Denys Cowan, inks by Norm Rapmund, and colours by Francesco Segala. They also discuss the success of the current Nightwing run, whether Dick Grayson needs to be further removed from Batman or not, and is the Bat-Family too big? 00:00 - Intro 01:46 - Comic Talk S...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie watch the 2026 DC animated movie, Batman: Knightfall – Part 1: Knightfall (that is the correct full name according to Wikipedia) They also discuss how it improves on the original comic book story line, some of the specific design choices, how big should Bane be, and DC's success in making animated movie adaptations of their comics.   Timecodes 00:00 - Intro...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read (some of) the 1993 comic story arc, Batman: Knightfall. Specifically, the parts leading up to and including, Bane breaking Batman's Back.  They also discuss how DC published this story across different comic titles, how this comic was a push back to more violent characters of the time, and the legacy of Bane.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - Comic Talk...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the 2026 limited series, Absolute Green Arrow. Written by Ponksak Pichetshote, art by Rafael Albuquerque, and colours by Marcelo Maiolo.  They also discuss how this kind of story gives readers catharsis, how the themes connect to Jefferey Epstein and Luigi Mangione, and the effects of trading apps and prediction markets on society.  Timecodes 00:00 - I...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie watch episode 1 of the 2026 TV series, Lanterns. Staring Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre, and Kelly MacDonald.  They also discuss they are now Green Lantern guys, some of Damon Lindelof's previous work, the themes of courage and fear set up in this episode, and their own relationships with the medium of TV.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro 05:07 - Credits 09:13 - Gener...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read issues 1-4 of the 2005 comic series, Green Lantern. Written by Geoff Johns, art by Ethan Van Sciver, Jesús Merino, and Carlos Pacheco, and colour by Moose Baumann.  They also discuss the new Lanterns HBO show, a brief history of the Green Lantern character, and some of the recent MCU casting news/rumors.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro 02:50 - Lanterns Show 0...

In this week's episode, Ryan and Jamie discuss the 1988 Batman story arc, A Death In The Family. Written by Jim Starlin, pencils by Jim Aparo, inks by Mike DeCarlo, and colours by Adrienne Roy.  They also discuss the history of the Robin character, how DC decided to kill off such an important comic book character, whether the comic lives up to the reputation or not, and how this all connects to th...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie watch the 2026 MCU film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.  They also discuss how this compares to previous Spider-Man films, what's going on with Bruce Banner/Hulk, how many other MCU properties do people need to see to understand this one, and what we know about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro 01:37 - Movie Talk Starts with...

In this week's episode, Ryan and Jamie discuss the 2000 comic series, Ultimate Spider-Man. Written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Mark Bagley, and colours by Art Thibert.  They also discuss how this led to the creation of Marvel's first Ultimate Universe, what this comic says about the overall quality of Spider-Man comics, and where the term "Bendis Speak (dialogue)" comes from.  Timecodes 00:00...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the 2026 limited series, The Sentry. Written by Paul Jenkins, art by Christian Rosado, and colour by Matt Milla.  They also discuss how the limitations of the Sentry character can make him more interesting, how the Sentry/Void relationship is a metaphor for mental health struggles, and why this comic got one of the hosts so emotional.  Timecodes 00:00...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the 2026 limited series, Ultimate Endgame. Written by Deniz Camp, art by Terry & Rachel Dodson and Jonas Scharf and colored by Federico Blee and Edgar Delgado.  They also discuss whether this ending lives up to the quality of Marvel's second Ultimate Universe, what the future of Marvel comics looks like following this conclusion, and the current di...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the 1982 graphic novel, X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills. Written by Chris Claremont and art by Brent Eric Anderson.  They also discuss how this story, and the X-Men in general, are used as a racism allegory, how Magneto's helmet was changed by the movies, and how this comic is so relevant to today's politics.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro 01:49 - Comic Talk Sta...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie watch and review the 2026 DCU film, Supergirl.  They also discuss how it compares to the comic it's based on, Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow, how it fits in to the larger DC Cinematic Universe, and whether going up against Toy Story 5 was a good idea or not.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro 02:41 - Movie Talk Starts 03:37 - General Thoughts (non spoiler) 06:56 - Poss...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read issues 121-122 of the 1963 comic series, The Amazing Spider-Man. Also known as The Night Gwen Stacy Died. Written by Gerry Conway, Art by Gil Kane, and Inking by John Romita (Sr) and Tony Mortellaro.  They also discuss how exactly Gwen Stacy died, how her death signified the beginning of the Bronze Age of Comics, and a lively debate on comparing the wr...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the 2002 limited series, Spider-Man: Blue. Written by Jeff Loeb and art by Tim Sale.  They also discuss the stagnation of Spider-Man as a character, the quality of his comics compared to other popular superheroes, and the new Avengers comic line up following Marvel's Armageddon.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro and Comic Credits 06:01 - General Thoughts 12:24...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the 2026 one-shot, New History Of The DC Universe: The Dakota Incident. Featuring the heroes of the Dakotaverse, including Static, Icon, Rocket, and Hardware.  They also discuss the how DC's lack of use and promotion of black characters led to the DC Blackout campaign (which was happening at time of recording), how the Dakotaverse characters could be u...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the 2026 limited series, Wolverine: Weapons Of Armageddon. Written by Chip Zdarsky, art by Luca Maresca, and colours by Bryan Valenza.  They also discuss the upcoming Armageddon event and Zdarsky's possible creative plans, how the super soldier program reflects the military industrial complex, and how movie actor's physiques have changed over the years...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read most of the nominees for the Eisner Awards 2026: Best One-Shot/Single Issue category. Including Absolute Batman Annual, Absolute Martian Manhunter, Ice Cream Man, and Something's Killing The Children.  They also discuss some of the other categories including Best Continuing Series, Best Limited Series, and Best New Series.  Full Eisner Awards 2026 Nomi...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the collected edition of the 1982 Captain Britain stories from Marvel UK. Co-created by Alan Moore and Alan Davis, with lettering by Steve Craddock.  They also discuss the state of Britain (the country) in the 70's and 80's, how this comic was originally released, and the early days of Alan Moore's work as a comic book writer.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read issues 25–30 of the 2004 Punisher MAX series, also known as The Slavers story arc. Written by Garth Ennis, pencils by Leandro Fernandez, Inks by Scott Koblish, and colours by Dan Brown.  They also discuss Ennis's use of shocking content as a writer, and debate whether The Punisher as a character is just a revenge, power fantasy, or something deeper and...

In this week's episode, Ryan makes Jamie read the 2013 limited series, The Star Wars. Written by J.W. Rinzler, art by Mike Mayhew, and colours by Rain Beredo.  They also discuss the inspirations of the original draft, the changes and influences that led to A New Hope, and the strengths and weaknesses of Lucas as a story teller.  Timecodes 00:00 - Intro & Credits 01:45 - What is THE Star Wars?...