Convention Report, Podcast

Comic Timing Episode 277 – Toy Fair 2026 In Review

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We’re back for what has now become our annual Toy Fair episode! Ian and Kris are here to give their takes on this year’s trade show. How did 2026 compare, as the toy industry faces some real life hurdles such as tariffs and inflation? Highlights include their experiences at booths manned by Mattel, Hasbro, Spin Master, Lego, Bandai Namco, and Funko, thoughts on the upcoming Masters of the Universe movie and the related toy line, WWE x Street Fighter, swapping Barbie heads, Cars as a franchise turning 20 years old making us all feel old, Optimus Prime is our Truck-Dad, Pokémon pinball, the return of Crossfire to have its theme song get stuck in all of our heads again, KPop Demon Hunters toys EVERYWHERE, some New York City geography and survival guide tips, and so much more.

Show notes:

Mattel: 0:16:04

Hasbro: 1:21:04

Spin Master: 1:53:58

LEGO and Bandai Namco: 2:10:05

Kris’ Day 2, including Funko: 2:47:50

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Kris is lampbane on Bluesky, and you can check out her various other works at http://linktr.ee/krisnaudus.

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:21:25 — 185.2MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing Episode 276 – I, Wonder Man

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A cold won’t keep Ian down, as we’re back with a brand new episode! Kris, Donovan, Brent and Jamal join in for conversation including JLA/Avengers coming back into print via facsimile editions, Comixology layoffs and subsequent talk on the state of digital comics, the 20th anniversary of the first New York Comic Con and reflections on Ian’s coverage of it, and then we give our spoiler-filled thoughts on Marvel’s latest TV series, Wonder Man; and here’s the article Kris mentioned about it from the Folger Shakespeare library. Finally, recent reads and whatnot to finish us off!

Show notes:

Marvel/DC crossover talk: 0:08:32

State of digital comics: 0:22:23

20th Anniversary of New York Comic Con: 0:39:58

Marvel TV’s Wonder Man (spoilers): 0:52:27

New Marvel retro video game collection: 2:01:25

And here’s the video version:

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Brent posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets and can be found on Bluesky; Donovan is on Bluesky, writes for DC’s blog and The Batman Universe, and check out his podcast, Questions: We Don’t Have Answers. Kris is lampbane on Bluesky, and you can check out her various other works at http://linktr.ee/krisnaudus. Jamal is on Bluesky and Instagram and you can find everything else about him at his website.

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:19:26 — 128.5MB)

Podcast, Previews

Comic Timing Episode 275 – February 2026 Previews

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Mid-month Previews action for all, as Murd, Ian and Raph bring us the finest choices of books set mainly for April 2026 release. But first, an update on where you’ll be finding Oni Press in the future, as it is about to go Penguin Random House exclusive. Then picks begin, including Marvel’s half of the Spider-Man/Superman crossover, a whole bunch of new miniseries sprouting up at Image, Thundercats vs SilverHawks go into high gear with a FIFTEEN part crossover, a Batman/Wonder Woman book spanning out of the pages of H2sh, a teen witch comic called Grandpa, Chip Zdarsky goes MAD, Archie goes gaming, Alter Ego reaches its milestone 200th issue, a whole bunch of Absolute, absolutely, Ultimate ultimately, and even a few The Ends.

And here’s the video version:

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Brent posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets and can be found on Bluesky; Raph is on Twitch at RaphDoesStuff, Instagram, and Bluesky.

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:45:15 — 111.7MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing Episode 274 – Trekkin’ Around with Tim Sheridan

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Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of…Comic Timing. And boy oh boy, what a voyage this one is. Ian goes Star Trekkin’ with his two favorite allies, Kris and Raph, as they’re joined by current writer of the Star Trek: Lower Decks comic for IDW and lifelong Trekkie, Tim Sheridan! The crew go into their shared Trek histories, talk about where the franchise has gone over the years and how Trek continues to reinvent itself, what makes Star Trek unique in its personality and quality, how Deep Space Nine is all about family, some amazing stories from Tim in and around the industry over the years, and so much more. The group then discuss the first three episodes of the latest series to launch, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, along with the most recent season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, lots of Lower Decks (both the comics and the animated series), and so much more!

Be sure to check out Tim’s Lower Decks comics if you haven’t already done so; issue 16 goes on sale February 11th at your local comic shop, and the trade collecting his first six issues on the book will be out in April. You can also check out all things Tim Sheridan at https://www.timsheridan.com/, and follow Tim on Bluesky, Instagram, and Threads. And thanks once again to Tim for coming on, it was a great time!

And here is the video version on YouTube:

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Brent posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets and can be found on Bluesky; Kris is lampbane on Bluesky, you can read her thoughts on the first two episodes of Starfleet Acedemy on Engadget, and you can check out her various other works at http://linktr.ee/krisnaudus. Raph is on Twitch at RaphDoesStuff, Instagram, and Bluesky. Brandon is on Bluesky and Twitch!

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:27:42 — 89.8MB)

Podcast, Previews

Comic Timing Episode 273 – January 2026 Previews

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Happy birthday to me, it’s this month’s Previews! Murd and Ian are back at it again, streamlining the process to touch on publishers already part of Lunar’s main catalog as they come up in it, just to make life easier. That means Image is later on in the episode than usual, but otherwise everything else is pretty similar. Highlights include DC and Marvel’s Superman/Spider-Man crossover, a facsimile of Marvel Team-Up issue 14 featuring Invincible and Spider-Man, Dan Abnett returning to Marvel cosmic with Imperial Guardians (Darkhawk is in it so Raph is buying it), a Disney Villains: Gaston and Thundercats x Silverhawks at Dynamite, Bible 2: King of the Jews, Baby!, Doug Wagner’s Narco, SuperCreepshow, and more!

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Brent posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets and can be found on Bluesky.

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:54:02 — 116.1MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing Episode 272 – The New History of the DC Universe: Issue 1 Cover Breakdown, Part 2

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We are back, concluding our epic breakdown of ALL the characters rendered on Scott Koblish’s variant cover to New History of the DC Universe issue 1. Murd and Ian are the crew for this one, beginning with the middle left portion of the cover and making their way right to get through the rest of it all. Any of you DC history buffs, you’re in for some treats! Not only are there plenty of characters you’ve probably never heard of, but there’s also Annie and Tin Tin rip-offs, a few animals, a few talking animals, and versions of characters you’d barely recognize based on what they look like today. History at its finest here! And here is a link to DC’s high resolution version of this cover that we used for the YouTube version of this episode.

And here’s the video edition on YouTube:

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Brent posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets and can be found on Bluesky.

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:19:04 — 92.4MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing Episode 271 – The New History of the DC Universe: Issue 1 Cover Breakdown, Part 1

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Welcome to 2026, one and all! And boy oh boy are we starting this one off with a BANG. Gold Team gathers together in the form of Ian, Chris Eberle and Adam Murdough, as we begin our journey into Mark Waid’s New History of the DC Universe! But before we go into the issues themselves, we must first start at the very beginning. In this instance, that means…the cover. That’s right, over the course of this and the next episode, we will be breaking down each and every character included on Scott Koblish’s Cover D Variant for this first issue, focusing on the Golden Age of DC (and subsequently Fawcett, Charlton, Quality, and a few other publishers) Universe. And here is a link to DC’s high resolution version of this cover that we used for the YouTube version of this episode. Prepare yourself for plenty of punny nom de plumes, ridiculous origins, and villains becoming villains so they can murder a dog; okay that was just one of them, but that’s still one too many. Positively Murdoughnian, baby!

And here is the video version so you can peruse the image along with us:

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Brent posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets and can be found on Bluesky.

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:47:31 — 72.1MB)

Podcast, Syndicated Episodes

Comic Timing Presents: Wrestling Conversations

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One more syndicated episode as we welcome you to 2026. This episode originally aired in May 2025 on the Wrestling Conversations podcast, hosted by Matthew Bergren. Matt delves into Ian’s history watching wrestling and being a fan, and also goes into how Ian first got into comics, podcasting, and everything else along the way. Well worth checking out for some behind the scenes podcast history!

Be sure to check out further releases of Wrestling Conversations , and thanks again to Matt for the opportunity!

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Brent posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets and can be found on Bluesky.

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:17:28 — 57.2MB)

Podcast

Syndicated Episode: Back to the Bins – Episode 697: Batman Year One

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Keeping the releases going while the show is on vacation, this one is a treat for any of you who may have otherwise missed it. The Gold Team of Chris Eberle, Adam Murdough and Shane were recently invited on Paul Spataro’s Back to the Bins podcast to discuss one of Chris’ favorite books of all time, Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. Longtime friend of the show, Sean Whelan of Raging Bullets, is also a guest on this one, and it is an absolute delight of a listen all around. So give this one a go, and we’ll talk to you all in 2026!

Be sure to check out further releases of Back to the Bins , and you can also listen to Sean and Paul on their movie podcast, Is It Jaws?

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Brent posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets and can be found on Bluesky.

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:39:10 — 62.4MB)

Podcast, Previews

Comic Timing Episode 270 – December 2025 Previews

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We close out 2025 with this month’s Previews episode! Ian, Murd and Raph begin with some updates on Diamond, as their bankruptcy shifts from a Chapter 11 to a Chapter 7; also, Universal Distribution are now the owners of the Free Comic Book Day name. Then, they dive right into the books mainly set for February 2025. Highlights include the official return of Vertigo as an imprint, a new Criminal book and The Phantom of the Opera from Image, Archie X Army of Darkness, a new Larry Hama driven superhero universe over at Boom, Roger Langridge returns to Muppets comics, Smile gets a comic book at IDW, tons of Valentine’s Day comics, a new beginning for Daredevil at Marvel, and so much more!

Time stamps:

Diamond discussion: 0:02:59

Image Comics: 0:14:16

IDW: 0:37:16

Titan: 0:53:19

Dark Horse: 1:01:02

DC Comics: 1:10:00

Marvel: 1:42:49

Dynamite: 2:18:22

Boom: 2:26:41

Lunar: 2:29:47

And here’s the YouTube video version:

You can support future releases of Comic Timing and get in on the occasional early releases of the show at http://www.patreon.com/ComicTiming. Video versions of most episodes are at http://youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast, along with Raph’s new shorts series, Raph’s Comic Catch-Up, so go ahead and subscribe if you haven’t already done so.

You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners! Finally, you can join in on the conversation at our Comic Timing Fans group on Facebook, which is a great place to hang out and talk comics.

Follow Ian on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. Brent posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets and can be found on Bluesky. Raph is on Twitch at RaphDoesStuff, Instagram, and Bluesky.

Thanks for listening, we’ll catch you next time, and as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:03:52 — 125.9MB)

Join Ian, Brent, and a rotating panel of guests as we discuss one of our favorite things: comics! Because there's always time for comics.