Dear Watchers: an omniversal comic book podcast

"Oh say can you see... Captain America in the Civil War... and throughout US history?" We head back to 1976 with Jack Kirby's Captain America's Bicentennial Battles where Cap is annoyed by Ben Franklin, meets Geronimo in the Old West and witnesses the creation of the atom bomb. We then tackle an interesting if problematic modern What If and the United States of Captain America which both feature I...

Hope this episode scratches your Poison Ivy itch! This Pride month, we are diving into how Poison Ivy became a genuine queer icon and had the sweetest relationship ever with the "Cupid of Crime", Harley Quinn. We cover Poison Ivy's first appearance in 1966, the start of her partnership with Harley on Batman: The Animated Series, and chat about her 2023 solo series.  Ep. 103 What if Batman villain...

You want to get nuts? Let's get nuts! We are telling the story of DC Comics in film from Christopher Reeve's Superman to Michael Keaton's Batman through the Synderverse, all leading up to our coverage of 2023's The Flash and its take on the multiverse alongside a brief recap of the film's messy production history. Plus we speculate as to what's next for DC on film.  Ep. 102 What if the DC superher...

For episode 101, we explore the history of the multiverse in DC comics...and it's not what you think! We provide a (brief) overview of the first examples of multiversal theory in fiction and science before discussing the first multiverse story in DC comics (which is NOT The Flash but rather in the pages of Wonder Woman)! We then discuss the iconic and meta Flash of Two Worlds and the first use of...

It’s our 100th episode and we’re celebrating! Guido and Rob count down the 10 most listened to episodes while sharing alternate universe characters they want to see on screen, favorite episodes, what they’ve learned about themselves hosting the podcast and more. Plus we announced an exciting summer long giveaway!  Ep. 100 What if to celebrate 100 episodes we counted down multiversal things (plus h...

Hey ho, let's go! As we prepare for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, let's visit the introduction of Hobie Brown aka Spider-Punk in comics! We start with his first appearances in The Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Verse before unleashing the power (chords) of his five-part mini-series by Cody Ziglar and Justin Mason. Plus we share a Ramones song (meaning it is very short) size history of punk r...

We return to the worlds of What If as we wonder what if Spider-Man had remained possessed by the evil alien symbiote suit? We discuss the unusual story behind the suit’s creation by fan Randy Schueller to its introduction in both The Amazing Spider-Man 252 AND Secret Wars 8. We dive into this week's What If that sees both a Venom-ized Hulk and Thor plus an awesome turn for Black Cat before diving...

It’s Sore vs Superbman, I mean…what the?! Yes exactly! We cover Marvel’s humor book What The—?! featuring The Avengers (The Revengers) vs the Justice League of America (Just-Us League) years before this battle became official. We discuss a history of both parody books and the “big two” crossovers plus speculate if we will ever see Marvel and DC team up in print or on screen again.  Ep. 97 What if...

We have another One Bad Day as we head to Hollywood with Batman's shapeshifting foe, Clayface! We go back to 1940 for the first appearance of Basil Karlo aka Clayface then to James Tynion IV's revamp of his origin story (with a nod to Batman: The Animated Series). And we trade gloomy Gotham for sunny LA as Basil leaves a muddy trail of destruction through Tinsel Town in the truly amazing take from...

We got the band back together and we are heading to Riverdale to discuss Josie and the Pussycats from Archie Comics. We cover a brief history of Archie Comics and Josie, the band’s first appearance in the 1960s, the 2016 reboot, their role on Riverdale and especially the 2001 film which is much more satirical and meta you might remember. Plus Rob discusses his experience working on the Archie Comi...

Hey Girls and Boys, Lads and Lasses, the biggest superhero team on any Earth, The Legion of Super-Heroes, tangles with the villainous Time Trapper as he turns their former ally Superboy against them. It’s an ambitious story in the post-Crisis world that serves as a template for DC storytelling to this day. We discuss this all with Legion super-fan and "DC Book of Lists" author Randall Lotowycz! Ep...

ThunderCats hooooo! Or should we say, By the Power of Grayskull! Two 1980s icons join forces in He-Man / ThunderCats as the Masters of the Universe pair up with Lion-O and team to battle the combine forces of Skeletor and Mumm-Ra in this six-part comic book series from DC Comics. And speaking of joining forces, we are joined in this conversation by special guest Mike from Multiverse of Badness. Ep...

This episode is as big as Lex Luthor's ego! We finally cover the legendary Elseworlds story Kingdom Come that sees DC Comics' holy trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman battling a new generation of meta humans, aging super villians, the United Nations and each other in Alex Ross and Mark Waid's epic tale of visions and visionaries. We talk through all four parts with special guest and Super...

You've heard her name mentioned in countless past Dear Watchers episodes so we were thrilled to sit down with legendary comic book letterer Janice Chiang to discuss her amazing life and career including her activist beginnings, her long tenure at Marvel, the role of a letterer and how it has changed in the digital age, breaking ground as a woman and Chinese-American in the comic book industry, how...

In this week's multiverse, we return to the pages of What If to see the post-apocalyptic world ruled over by Charles Xavier as the Juggernaut. It's Professor X with brain and brawn as he battles Magneto, Cyclops, Jean Grey and a non-powered Cain Marko. We also explore the Juggernaut's first appearance in 1965 and discuss how Charles and Cain's relationship has evolved over time with special guest...

A rocket with the last son of Krypton lands on Earth and the child inside becomes...Batman? Join us and extra special guest and super-fan Lance from Comic Book Keepers as we  cover Superman: Speeding Bullets. Kal-El is adopted by Thomas and Martha Wayne and becomes Bruce Wayne but after a fateful trip down a dark alley, a vengeful "Bruce" becomes Batman, falls in love with Lois and battles a Lex L...

Bang! Or should we say, Shazam! In this pseudo-alternate earth, Fawcett's Captain Marvel (aka Shazam) accidentally destroys the world by furthering a nuclear war, oops! On this episode, we discuss the history of Fawcett Publications and Captain Marvel, from creation to lawsuits to the long road of being part of the DC Comics family. Ep. 88 What if Shazam (aka Captain Marvel) caused a nuclear holoc...

When the 1980s run of Marvel's Ka-Zar is canceled, our hero finds himself the king of the Land of Canceled Heroes! This multiverse is home to heroes who have had their comics canceled and believe it or not, we return to this earth again in issues of Silver Sable and the Wild Pack AND Deadpool. We discuss these visits, other meta comics, Mike Carlin's wedding proposal and more. Ep. 87 What if there...

We were thrilled to talk to the multitalented Luciano Vecchio about transitioning from fan to creator, how constraints can fuel creativity, on being both a writer and an artist, his passion for championing queer and Latinx creators and his work for Marvel, DC plus his creator owned work Sereno. Ep. 86 CREATOR INTERVIEW: Luciano Vecchio (artist, writer, creator) Highlights of Luciano's works includ...

Join us for quite the MILESTONE episode! In a birthday tribute to the late comic ICON Dwayne McDuffie, we are taking our first exploration of Milestone Comics and their mega event with DC Comics, Worlds Collide. We are joined by Milestone mega fan Ethan from MakeMineAmalgam  for the origins of Hardware, Blood Syndicate, Icon & Rocket and Static and the time they teamed up with Superman, Superb...

We are continuing our exploration of Kang the Conqueror via his teen incarnation Iron Lad by discussing two youthful superhero teams: The Young Avengers and The Runaways and that time they merged (sort of). We explore the origins of each team, discuss The Runaways TV show, and why we might see the Young Avengers in the MCU sooner than you think. Ep. 84 What if the Runaways became the Young Avenger...

In this timely & time-filled episode, we explore the complicated history of Kang the Conqueror, from his first appearance in 1964 to the Council of Kangs' war on each other (and the Avengers) in the 1980s to his recent and upcoming depiction by Jonathan Majors in the MCU. Ep. 83 What if Kang the Conqueror tried to kill himself over and over again? Earth-267 & 616 (Marvel Comics), as seen i...

Ep. 82 What if the Doom Patrol was re-created in name only, on a tangent? Earth-9 (DC Comics), as seen in Tangent Comics: Doom Patrol #1 Reading List: My Greatest Adventure #80 (1963 DC Comics) Tangent Comics: Doom Patrol #1 (1997 DC Comics) Doom Patrol (TV series 2019) Learn more about Dear Watchers: Find us at https://linktr.ee/dearwatchers Email Podcast@DearWatchers.com Theme music is Space Her...

Ep. 81 What if Buffy was the last vampire slayer in 30 years aka Old Woman Buffy? Earth of an unknown designation (Boom Studios / Buffyverse), as seen in Buffy The Last Vampire Slayer Vol. 1 Reading List: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 TV series) Buffy the Last Vampire Slayer #1-4 (2022 Boom Studios comics) Multiversal Buffies Learn more about Dear Watchers: Find us at https://linktr.ee/dearwatche...

Ep. 80 What if The Punisher's family hadn't been killed? Earth-90200 (Marvel Comics), as seen in What If Vol. 2 #10 Reading List: Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1974 Marvel Comics) Marvel Preview #2 (1975 Marvel Comics) What If #10 (1990 Marvel Comics) Punisher #1 (2022 Marvel Comics) Learn more about Dear Watchers: Find us at https://linktr.ee/dearwatchers Email Podcast@DearWatchers.com Theme music is...