The Greatest Pod

“The Greatest Writers in Comics” (Part One) MOSTLY concerns people who work for “the big 2” meaning Marvel and DC, however within that framework we will discuss everyone from iconoclasts to “jobbers” as the Cartoonist Kayfabe guys say. There are also people who can do both superhero AND independent “mature” work with equal aplomb. We will speak with some nuance about what these men and women accom...

*Next week we will be back on a more or less weekly schedule. Thanks for enduring the dog days.* The question mark in “The Greatest Powers?” refers to Ed’s relentless pursuit of the downside of superpowers if they were to exist. Would having them be the greatest? This made for a slightly more interesting conversation than the typical “who could beat who” feats convos that dominate the nerd space....

“The Greatest Pet Peeves In Pop Culture” is our attempt to discuss the tropes and trends that Ed, Ron, and Bill dislike the most in pop culture. Can we stop shooting everything from diner scenes to space battles in the same four by five area against a greenscreen? Can we stop the generic superhero origin story with no twists? Can characters in movies stop obsessively mentioning other movies? Can w...

“The Greatest Future For Movies” is about what it takes to get people back into the movie theater now and in the near future. The crew asks what drives people to movies now and what will it take in the future. Will it be spectacle, intellectual properties, or concepts and stories (ha) that get people into the theater? Notice how we didn’t say movie stars. We’ve debated before whether they actually...

“The Greatest Cinematic Experience” means different things to different people.  To some it’s a stirring script, others it’s innovative direction, and then there’s the people who simply love certain actors. We, Bill and Ed, tend to think it’s a mix of all three and some other things like practical effects, a sense of scope, and a main character that doesn’t necessarily have to break the mold. Obvi...

“The Greatest Archenemies” is our attempt to examine villainy in our pop culture lifetimes. What qualities must an archenemy possess to attain that status? Serialized fiction lends itself to operatic cycles of violence which seem necessary for archrivals to exist. So how do creators keep these classic fights and relationships fresh? This one’s for the haters and the people who love them. From Lex...

This is our thorough yet not at all comprehensive podcast (best experienced on our Youtube Channel which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/@thegreatestpod5755 ) about our “Greatest Costumes In Comics”. Yes it’s too obsessed with the big two and the comics we read as kids in particular but trust me, this series isn't over by a damn sight so look out for our next installments. Follow us! He...

“The Greatest Lovers In Comics” is Ed, Ron, and Producer Bill discussing the best couples, partnerships, and situationships in the medium. Of course, there’s some movie talk too but we really tried to respect the opportunities and limitations of comics as the basis of this conversation. Mary Jane and Spider-Man, Reed and Sue, Big Barda and Mr. Miracle, Dick and Babs, Dick and Kory, Supes and Lois,...

A character shows their mettle in life and sometimes in death. “The Greatest Deaths in Pop Culture” is Ed and Producer Bill’s offbeat list of character demises that affected us deeply. From Tony Montana to Robocop we explore characters defined by their deaths. This prompts an existential discussion about the purpose of depicting death in fiction and what it has done to our understanding of the con...

This super-sized ep features Ed and Producer Bill talking about “The Greatest Duos” in pop culture.  All the usual suspects come up from Lethal Weapon’s Riggs and Murtaugh, comics’ Batman and Robin, literature’s Holmes and Watson, and so on.  We also play Greatest Pod Survivor with teams like the Titans, Thundercats, the Bat family, the X-men, etc. in an effort to determine who the REAL power coup...

“The Greatest Origins” is our conversation about comics, movies, and novels' origins and backstories. Origins define most superheroes, like Spidey and Batman, etc. But then again mystery is often the coolest thing about certain characters and when you find out their definitive origin it ruins them…like Wolverine. We also discuss the origin story of everything from our podcast, to some of the filmm...

Robot, or AI? “The Greatest Robots” in pop culture are usually both. In this episode, we try to define what a modern sci-fi robot is while also trying to rank our personal favorites. From Data to the Terminator, robots in sci-fi are everything from our mirror images, to our servants, to our eventual oppressors. From helpful buddies to genocidal maniacs, ironically, robots have more range than perh...

Ed and Producer Bill get into a star spanning, turbo charged conversation about “The Greatest Vehicles” in pop culture. We discuss Millenium Falcon, Mad Max’s V8 Interceptor, KITT from Knight Rider, and many more pop culture vehicles including weird ones like Silver Surfer’s board. This one has all of the funny riffs and oddly moving philosophical dissertations you’ve come to expect from us.   Fol...

This is a conversation about “The Greatest Weapons'' in pop culture. Lightsabers, Wolverine claws, Batarangs, that sharp starfish thingy from Krull, and MANY more sci-fi and fantasy weapons are discussed. We end up having wild conversations about everything from prophecies to labor unions. Also, don’t miss Ed and Bill trying to convince Ron that a certain Marvel character is plausible. Nerds nerdi...

“The Greatest Redefinition of Nerd Culture” is our 100th episode!! Ed, Ron, and Producer Bill ask, “What does ’nerd’ mean when everybody thinks they are one?” Or when everybody, via the internet, can connect to like-minded souls and be nerds about damn near anything? Nerd culture has gone from niche to a major part of entertainment marketing. If everything that was once nerdy is now mainstream wha...

Today we discuss “The Greatest Sports Movies” BUT we aren’t some normal podcast so of course our pics are weird. All of us played at least high school level sports and Producer Bill played D1 football but we are all nerds to the core and our talk proves it. This one has some serious laughs and insights from both sides of the nerd/jock coin. Amongst the films discussed are obvious pics like Field O...

"The Greatest Movie Scores" features Ed, Ron, and Producer Bill talking about the music that makes you feel something while you're at the movies. A companion to our "Greatest Movie Soundtracks" episode, this one is about classic movie composers like John Williams, Bernard Herman, and Ennio Morricone and the movies they scored. But we also discuss our personal faves like Basil Poledouris, James Hor...

WATCH THIS on THE GREATEST POD YOUTUBE CHANNEL!! https://www.youtube.com/@thegreatestpod5755 This is the titanic conclusion of our opus on one of the greatest living comic book artists. In this one we examine the brilliant Scottsman’s work on books like WE3, All Star Superman, Jupiter’s Legacy, Pax Americana, Batman and Robin, a host of cover images and even some paintings. This and Part 1 are our...

“The Greatest Pod and The Multiverse Of Movie Star Mayhem” pits some of our favorite movie stars against themselves!! Could Maverick beat Ethan Hunt? Could Mike Lowry from Bad Boys beat Robert Neville from I Am Legend? Could Rambo beat Rocky in a boxing match?? Could Black Widow defeat the AI in HER????? This one is nuts and the start of a series. Follow us down the rabbit hole into the multiverse...

This is part 1 of a giant-sized VIDEO of Ed and Producer Bill asking, “Is Frank Quitely The Greatest”. WATCH us go through his entire career chronologically on The Greatest Pod YouTube https://youtube.com/@thegreatestpod5755 accompanied by visual examples of specific pages from his illustrious career and you’ll SEE why we think so. A comic book artist has to be a designer,  a draftsman, a characte...

This episode, “Is The Authority The Greatest” could also have been called “Is The Authority The Greatest Influence” because we make a case for the original Bryan Hitch and Warren Ellis run being the most ripped-off comic book of the last thirty years. Its influence ripples to this day in the modern conception of the superhero film from looks to morality, especially in the MCU. Ed, Ron, and Produce...

This one is going to show The Greatest Pod’s musical tastes and our ages, but we also make some compelling arguments for our “Greatest Movie Soundtracks”. There are of course interesting choices and glaring omissions. We discuss and debate the soundtracks that introduced us to new songs back in the pre-Tik Tok music market. How fresh did “Regulate” by Warren G and Nate Dogg on the Above The Rim so...

While the boys are out and about doing other stuff. Please, enjoy this excellect throwback of The Greatest Pod where we talk about The Greatest Immortal. This is where this episode starts but Ed, Ron, and Producer Bill quickly find themselves discussing what their individual goals would be if they could not die. Sure, there’s some talk about Galactus, The Highlander, demons, vampires like Lestat,...

This one is a nerd’s dream. “The Greatest Supersoldiers” is Ed and Producer Bill breaking down the concept of the soldier as superhero. Have the changing cultural attitudes about the military industrial complex affected pop culture depictions of this type of character? The way the guys discuss the bodies, powers, adventures, morals, and skills of these ultrahuman characters is truly inventive. Thi...

Bang this one in the comic book shops cuz it’s provocative! It really gets the people going! Everybody knows that Marvel and DC copy each other’s characters so in “The Greatest Comic Book Doppelgangers” Ed, Ron, and Producer Bill try to determine which of these extremely similar characters is the best. Who is Marvel’s Martian Manhunter? Who is DC’s Daredevil? The answers may surprise you. Who is t...