Tag Archives: Ian Levenstein

Podcast, Previews

Comic Timing Episode 248 – April 2025 Previews

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Back at it again with that Previews magic! To start, Ian and Murd talk the final final final (for now) results of the Diamond Distributors purchase, as Alliance Entertainment has officially closed the deal after a last minute attempt at shenanigans by Diamond and their secondary bid. Then we delve into the multiple catalogs, including quick comments on Lunar’s catalog for TwoMorrow’s content, and a little bit of Penguin Random House’s very hard to read catalog. As for the usual suspects, we have Image Catalog Issue 6, DC Connect issue 59, Marvel Previews Vol 6 issue 43, and Diamond Previews issue 439, with books mainly set for June 2025 release. Highlights include Dynamite’s fever dream known only as Thundercats Powerpuff Girls, Brian K Vaughn and Nico Henrichson’s Spectators, Image’s foray into oversized with their Jim Aparo’s DC Classics Artist’s Edition, the conclusion of Michel Fiffe’s Copra, a whole lot of Godzilla in various forms as IDW, Marvel AND DC all get in on the game, Mark Waid’s New History of the DC Universe, the temporary return of Rainbow Rowell’s Runaways, Top Shelf’s It Rhymes with Takei, and so much more.

Time stamps:

Diamond acquisition talk: 0:01:41

It Rhymes with Takei: 0:09:26

Image Comics: 0:12:56

Dynamite: 0:46:05

Titan: 0:58:50

DC: 1:06:57

Marvel: 1:44:41

Back of the Book: 2:24:42

Two Morrows: 3:01:34

Manga: 3:03:13

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 the show, as well as occasional shorts and other goodies are available at https://www.youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast.

Follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@comictimingpodcast and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners!

Finally, we have a Facebook Group that is thriving nicely. If you’d like to join, do so!

Follow Ian on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/i_am_scifi, on Bluesky, Threads, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi.

Thanks for listening as always, we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and we will catch you all next time! And as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:10:09 — 132.7MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing Episode 246 – What is Modern Comic Book Art Anyway?

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Ian, Brent, Kris and Donovan return for the back half of their recent marathon recording. This time, Kris and Ian give their thoughts on the first nine issues (aka what was available on Marvel Unlimited at the time) of Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men run, based on varying degrees of response from different portions of the Interwebs. Does the run feel like the X-Men according to two longtime readers of the franchise? Will we someday remember the names of Calico, Deathdream, Ransom and Jitter outside of this run? The verdict is still out. We then deviate into a eye-opening conversation of what actually makes comic book art “modern” by today’s standards in the eyes of the “Youths,” and just how much color theory can make that determination. Finally, we conclude with some recent reads.

Time codes:

Kris and Ian talk Gail Simone’s Uncanny X-Men: 0:02:57

What makes comic art “modern?”: 0:25:00

Recent reads: 0:49:51

And here’s the YouTube version with full video:

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. 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 has a Bluesky of his own now due to peer pressure; Kris is lampbane on Bluesky, and you can check out her various other works at http://linktr.ee/krisnaudus. And Donovan is on Bluesky, writes for DC’s blog and The Batman Universe, and check out his podcast, Questions: We Don’t Have Answers.

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: 1:09:03 — 44.3MB)

Podcast, Previews

Comic Timing Episode 242 – February 2025 Previews

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Just in the nick of time, February’s Previews episode is out! And this one…took some doing. For one thing, for the first time, we made the executive decision to skip Diamond’s Previews catalog (with the exception of two Dynamite entries at the end of the episode). And how did Murd and Ian manage to still put out a nearly three-hour episode without the Diamond catalog? THEY FOUND A WAY. That way includes the Lunar Distribution catalog, and Penguin Random House’s offering, along with the usual Image, DC and Marvel catalogs. Here’s a link to where Ian grabs the catalogs monthly, and here’s a link to Penguin Random House’s offerings as well. Highlights include Dan Slott’s first Superman issue as the Summer of Superman begins, six Silent Interlude issues of G.I. Joe, Golden Rage: Mother Knows Best, Godzilla versus friggin Spider-Man AND the latest Amazing Spider-Man relaunch, Craig Thompson’s Ginseng Roots, and so much more. And please, Penguin Random House, start separating your catalog into individual publishers rather than single issues and then collections, that’d be great, thanks.

Here’s the video version for you all:

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. You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@comictimingpodcast 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 is on Bluesky, and he posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets.

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: 2:48:13 — 120.0MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing Episode 241 – Who Is Driving? Brent is Driving? How Can This Be?!?

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While Ian is busy adulting, Brent takes the wheel and drives this episode of Comic Timing in the host chair! He’s joined by Kris and Brandon as they discuss Kris’ non-spoiler thoughts on Captain America: Brave New World and the Alamo Drafthouse experience, Kris Krisplains Anime™ to Brent and talks some Dandadan in the process, and there’s some related convo on Invincible Season Three and the comparison to the comics. Then Ian joins in on the backhalf and Brandon touches a bit on his personal Diamond woes at the comic shop, the Thunderbolts* Superbowl trailer, recent reads such as Alice in Borderland and how the live action might be better than the manga, The Bronx Nobody Knows, Brent’s read Radiant Black Vol 1 and 2 after our Review Corner episode inspired him, One Hand and Six Fingers by Ram V, Ian gives his take on Kite-Man: Hell Yeah! and more.

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. You can also follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@comictimingpodcast 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 is on Bluesky, and he posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets; Brandon is at https://bsky.app/profile/thedabbadon.bsky.social and https://www.twitch.tv/thedabbadon. 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: 1:56:36 — 69.5MB)

Podcast, Review Corner

Comic Timing Episode 239 – Review Corner: Radiant Black, Volume 1

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A long-awaited episode from the before-times finally makes its way from deep space and into your ear holes! And with it, a return to the long-dormant Review Corner format of Comic Timing episodes. The foursome of Ian, Chris Eberle, Adam Murdough and Shane Kelly get their hands on Kyle Higgins and Marcelo Costa’s epic introduction to the Massive-verse, Radiant Black! This first volume covers the first six issues of the book, as Nathan moves back home just in time to accidentally come across a Radiant, granting him ever-growing gravity abilities. With the assistance of his best friend Marshall, he tries to figure this all out, while also figuring himself out. And if you think that’s the whole of the story, there’s a lot more where that came from! For instance, who is Radiant Red? And what villains are trying to track these new heroes (?) down and make their power their own? So much to uncover, so much to learn, and we are ready to dive right in!

And here is the video version of the podcast:

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 the show, as well as occasional shorts and other goodies are available at https://www.youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast.

Follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@comictimingpodcast and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners!

Finally, we have a Facebook Group that is thriving nicely. If you’d like to join, do so!

Follow Ian on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/i_am_scifi, on Bluesky, Threads, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi.

Thanks for listening as always, we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and we will catch you all next time! And as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:06:23 — 45.5MB)

Podcast, Previews

Comic Timing Episode 238 – January 2025 Previews

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Our first episode of the New Year is officially here! Chris Eberle, Adam Murdough and Ian are here to go through this month’s various Previews catalogs, Image Catalog Issue 3, DC Connect issue 56, Marvel Previews Vol 6 issue 40, and Diamond Previews issue 436, with books mainly set for March 2025 release. Before the trio get into the books at hand, listen for a full discussion of the news that broke this week that may very well affect future editions of this very show: Diamond Distributors has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. We discuss the potential ramifications of the news (since we recorded Image is now officially going Lunar-only after this month’s order cutoff date), is there is a way out of this for Diamond post-filing, and we are of course incredibly happy to have a former shop owner in Mr. Eberle to help sort through it all.

Then, as we pivot to the catalogs, highlights include Robert Kirkman’s return to the Invincible Universe with Battle Beast, Hush 2 at DC, Assorted Crisis Events make Murd and Ian quite happy, Godzilla vs Fantastic Four, David F. Walker’s return to Bitter Root, new Mouse Guard from David Petersen, the first Solomon Kane series in 15 years by Titan, and so much more!

Time stamps:

Diamond bankruptcy conversation: 02:41

Image Comics: 16:28

Boom Studios: 43:05

Dynamite: 48:03

Titan Comics: 54:34

DC: 1:02:04

Marvel: 1:29:58

Back of the Book: 2:04:01

And here’s the video version of the episode:

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 the show, as well as occasional shorts and other goodies are available at https://www.youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast.

Follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@comictimingpodcast and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners!

Finally, we have a Facebook Group that is thriving nicely. If you’d like to join, do so!

Follow Ian on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/i_am_scifi, on Bluesky, Threads, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi.

Thanks for listening as always, we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and we will catch you all next time! And as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:55:27 — 123.3MB)

Podcast, Previews

Episode 237 – December 2024 Previews

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‘Tis the season for more Previews, falalala lalalala! And this month it’s a foursome tackling the books, as Chris Eberle steps in to join Ian, Murd and Raph to end the year right. The books in question are Image Catalog Issue 2 (they finally went back to numbering these), DC Connect issue 55, Marvel Previews Vol 6 issue 39, and Diamond Previews issue 435, with books mainly set for February 2025 release. Highlights include Jason Aaron and Mahmud Asrar’s sendup to the 80’s toy commercial animated series with Bug Wars, One World Over DOOM at Marvel, a new Zatanna miniseries, tons of new Godzilla out of IDW, Rick and Morty enter the wrestling ring with Ricklemania, Powerpuff Girls Mwah Mwah Kissyface Valentine’s Special, the Smurfs get a proper linear collection in English FOR THE FIRST TIME, the main batch of FCBD books to come in May, and so much more!

Time stamps:

Image Comics: 05:18

FCBD Suggestions: 21:50

Boom Studios: 27:56

Dynamite: 33:00

Titan Comics: 38:40

DC: 46:37

Marvel: 1:16:00

Back of the Book: 1:42:35

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 the show, as well as occasional shorts and other goodies are available at https://www.youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast.

Follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@comictimingpodcast and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners!

Finally, we have a Facebook Group that is thriving nicely. If you’d like to join, do so!

Follow Ian on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/i_am_scifi, on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. And Raph is on Twitch at RaphDoesStuff, as well as Instagram, Twitter and Bluesky.

Thanks for listening as always, we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and we will catch you all next time! And as always, there’s always time for comics!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:50:12 — 113.1MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing Episode 236 – Agatha All Along Series Review

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Who’s been reviewing up everything, now that everything has gone wrong? It was Comic Timing all along! Kris, Raph, Brandon, Brent and Ian give us a full series review of Agatha All Along, with full spoilers. Then, Ian, Raph and Kris go through what they acquired at this year’s New York Comic Con, and there’s some general discussion of recent reads as well.

You can watch the video version of this podcast here:

Time stamps:

Agatha All Along (SPOILERS): 02:45

New York Comic Con purchases and convo: 43:42

Raph’s Monstrous by Sarah Meyer Review: 46:00

Godzilla Monsterpiece Theater: 49:00

Shinichirō Watanabe’s Lazarus – Episode 1 Review: 1:00:05

Spider-Man: Animals Assemble: 1:02:58

Matt Wagner’s Dracula: 1:05:10

Justice League Incarnate: 1:07:20

Bryan Q. Miller’s Batgirl: 1:10:35

Sentai & Sensibility: 1:11:14

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. 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 is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kossinab, and he posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets; Raph is on Twitch at RaphDoesStuff, Instagram, and Bluesky; and Brandon is at https://bsky.app/profile/thedabbadon.bsky.social and https://www.twitch.tv/thedabbadon. 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: 1:17:35 — 48.0MB)

Podcast

Comic Timing Episode 235 – Post-Thanksgiving Leftover Sandwich

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It’s been a few weeks, so we have tons of stuff to discuss on this episode! The full team of Ian, Brent, Kris, Donovan, Brandon, Raph and Jamal Igle join us for this one, as now that we’ve fully digested our Thanksgivings, we can open our mouths to talk once again. First, we delve into IDW’s new digital comics app, and how the industry is changing their stance on digital over time. Brent then discusses the behemoth known only as the DC Versus Marvel Omnibus, in all its glory. We also go into recent purchases in and around the holiday season, different form factors and how the new manga-sized collections are selling for DC, and we finish things up with a farewell to The Arrowverse and Superman & Lois, and a full review and overview of Max’s The Penguin.

Time stamps, for easy listening:

IDW app: 4:16

DC vs Marvel Omnibus: 14:22

Black Friday purchases: 19:14

Form factors for collections: 25:13

Arrowverse Farewell and Superman & Lois finale (light spoilers): 35:27

The Penguin (spoilers): 1:29:20

PAX Unplugged upcoming: 1:57:22

And here’s the video version of this episode:

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. 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 is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kossinab, and he posts regularly to YouTube on his channel, BK’s Bullets; Raph is on Twitch at RaphDoesStuff, Instagram, and Bluesky; and Brandon is at https://bsky.app/profile/thedabbadon.bsky.social and https://www.twitch.tv/thedabbadon. Kris is lampbane on Bluesky, and you can check out her various other works at http://linktr.ee/krisnaudus. And finally, Jamal is https://bsky.app/profile/jamaligle.bsky.social, https://www.instagram.com/jamaliglecomics/ and of course https://jamaligle.com/.

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: 2:02:25 — 76.1MB)

Podcast, Previews

Comic Timing Episode 234 – November 2024 Previews

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It’s hard to believe that we’ve reached the comic book year of 2025, but low and behold, here we are. Ian, Raph and Murd go through Image Catalog Issue 17, DC Connect issue 54, Marvel Previews Vol 6 issue 37, and Diamond Previews issue 434, with books mainly set for January 2025 release. Books discussed include a return to Oz with the Patchwork Girl of Oz at Image, Criminal is back in print, Ultimate Wolverine is a bit red around the collar for Marvel, Jeremy Adam’s gets wet and wild with Aquaman, two separate horror books set on moving trains, the return of our lost Lenore, and most of all, witness our collective surprise as a Disney Variant at Marvel actually corresponds with the comic book it’s honoring FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!

And here’s the video version so you can read Previews 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 the show, as well as occasional shorts and other goodies are available at https://www.youtube.com/@comictimingpodcast.

Follow Comic Timing on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/comictiming.bsky.social, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ComicTiming/, on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@comictimingpodcast and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/comictimingpodcast. And please, if you can, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps attract new listeners!

Finally, we have a Facebook Group that is thriving nicely. If you’d like to join, do so!

Follow Ian on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/i_am_scifi, on Bluesky, and on Instagram at http://instagram.com/i_am_scifi. And Raph is on Twitch at RaphDoesStuff, as well as Instagram, Twitter and Bluesky.

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:57:20 — 123.2MB)