Today on the podcast, we're joined by writer Che Grayson! Best known for their work on Dark Spaces: Good Deeds from IDW Publishing and Exquisite Corpses from Image Comics. Che is currently writing Absolute Catwoman for DC Comics and the recently announced Absolute Cassandra Cain: The Shadow's Hand, both of which we're chatting about today.

Absolute Catwoman #1-2 are currently available, with #3 out August 26th.

Absolute Cassandra Cain: The Shadow's Hand #1 releases September 9th.

Today on the GateCrashers podcast sees James Tynion IV join us to chat more comics with Dan. Known for his work at DC Comics with extended runs on Detective Comics, Justice League Dark, and Batman, James has been acclaimed in recent years for his horror work with his own comics imprint, Tiny Onion Studios. James started off with the acclaimed books Something is Killing the Children, The Department of Truth, and Exquisite Corpses. Now, James is back on the pod to chat his new series ODIN, a Norse horror story co-written with Marguerite Bennett and art by Letizia Cadonici, and the recent issues of W0rldtr33 with artist Fernando Blanco. Listen to our chat with James Tynion IV below!

The first three issues of ODIN are available now, and issue four releases September 9th.

The first three trade paperbacks of W0rldtr33 are available now, and Vol. 4 releases September 9th.

Today on the podcast we're joined once again by Phillip Kennedy Johnson. Writer of Action Comics, Green Lantern: War Journal, and his current Hulk saga with artist Nic Klein, Johnson joins us today to discuss his upcoming work on the new, horror-focused Marvel imprint Midnight with Midnight Spider-Man with artist ScieTronc, and the next stage of his Hulk saga, Infernal Hulk and a series of one shots which sees Hulk taking on some of Marvel's most famous heroes. We dig into the horrors of Hulk, Appalachia, and more.

If you know the name Bear McCreary, it's probably from the goosebumps he's given you without you even knowing it was him. You may know his work from Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead, God of War, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. He's one of the most prolific composers working today, and on July 31st, he's releasing Singularity: Ekleipsis, his second metal album. He sat down with us to talk about creating something that is his own art.

We dug into how neither of us comes from a metal background and what that means for the music he is creating. He drops some great recommendations of things to listen to in order to find your way into the genre. The album itself is brilliant from top to bottom. Bear McCreary discusses how this was, in his opinion, more finely tuned than the first, but both albums have been on constant repeat for me lately.

About Bear McCreary and Singularity: Ekleipsis

Award-winning composer and recording artist Bear McCreary began his career as a protégé of legendary film composer Elmer Bernstein, before bursting onto the scene scoring the revered series Battlestar Galactica in 2004. Since then, McCreary has won three Emmy Awards, including two for Disney's Percy Jackson and the Olympians and one for his theme for Da Vinci's Demons, a musical palindrome, and has won twelve International Film Music Critics Association Awards, including the award for Score of the Year in 2024, his second. Named the 23rd Most Definitive Bear in Popular Culture (The Ringer), he's also been the subject of a clue on Jeopardy! Project highlights include The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Amazon); Foundation (Apple TV); the beloved series Outlander (STARZ); Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures); The Walking Dead (AMC); and Netflix's Academy Award–nominated documentary Crip Camp (produced by Barack and Michelle Obama). McCreary's celebrated scores for Sony PlayStation's blockbusters God of War and God of War Ragnarök have earned him two BAFTA Awards and two Grammy nominations.

In 2024, McCreary released The Singularity, a hard-rock concept album featuring legendary rock talent including Slash, Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Rufus Wainwright, and more.

McCreary has collaborated with artists from across the musical spectrum, including Hozier, Fiona Apple, Shirley Manson (Garbage), Annie Lennox, and the late Sinéad O'Connor. In 2014, Maestro Gustavo Dudamel conducted a suite of McCreary's music with the L.A. Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.

Chuck Tingle is one of the most inspiring people I have ever had the chance to talk to. Our first interview changed how I approached interviews entirely. He taught me to come at things from my place with my heart on my sleeve. I owe so much to Chuck Tingle's influence on me, so getting the chance to chat again was a blessing. This time around, we are diving into his new book, Beautiful Bodies. We dive deep into the role of influencers and how what they do is art, through a Warhol lens. We also took some time to talk about Busta Rhymes' brilliance. The interview spans the board, offering a deep conversation about art, humanity, horror, and all the things that make life worth living. LOVE IS REAL!

About Beautiful Bodies

Poppy Stringer was born to be a star.

An aspiring fashion influencer by day, Poppy moonlights as a grave robber to make ends meet, wheeling and dealing dead bodies across Palm Springs.

When her hero, the flamboyant, piano-slamming rockstar Eddie Michaels, unexpectedly dies, Poppy gets a call to retrieve his body from the medical examiner's office for a lucrative sum. It could be the last job she'll ever need—if everything goes to plan. But the night's delivery quickly veers off course when Eddie wakes up.

Now Poppy must fight for her life if she hopes to survive this blood-soaked joyride of carnage and extravagant entertainment.

About Chuck Tingle

Chuck Tingle is a USA Today bestselling author, as well as a two-time Hugo Award finalist, Bram Stoker Award nominee, Goodreads Award nominee, Golden Poppy Award finalist, Locus Award winner, Dragon Award winner, Audie Award winner, and the recipient of the 2025 Loud Hands Award for Autistic Storytellers. He is a mysterious force of energy behind sunglasses and a pink mask. He is also an anonymous author of romance, horror, and fantasy. Chuck was born in Home of Truth, Utah, and now lives in Los Angeles, California. Chuck writes to prove love is real, because love is the most important tool we have when resisting the endless cosmic void. Not everything people say about Chuck is true, but the important parts are.

Chuck self-publishes erotica and romance, and releases horror novels through Tor Nightfire.

Alex Paknadel has been a rising star in comics for a few years now, working on back-ups for Detective Comics, the wildly popular Cult of the Lamb, and doing some incredible work at Marvel such as Red Goblin, Cyclops, and the upcoming What If...? Secret Wars. In this episode Dan and Adam dive deep into the recently wrapped up Cyclops mini-series, discussing Paknadel's history with the character, his influences and inspirations, and giving some great insights on what makes the leader of the X-Men such a great character.

We also talk about the experience of working on Cult of the Lamb, the difficulties of revisiting the original Ultimate Universe and the fact that Adam and Alex were currently being boiled alive by the insane heatwave hitting the UK.

Cyclops: Seeing Red is available now in single issues and comes out on trade on November 10th, and What If…? Secret Wars releases this Wednesday, June 28th. Check them both out, and be sure to have a look at our Cyclops review and keep an eye out for our Secret Wars review coming this week!

Ariana Maher has been one of the top names in lettering for a few years now. With her work on many titles, such as Zatanna, she has made herself well known as one of the top talents in her field. On this episode, we get the chance to talk about lettering in depth with her. We talk about what good lettering looks like, Ariana's influences, and so much more.

Ariana Maher and Dan take the time to dive into the world of lettering to give listeners a better look at what it takes to letter a book. Ariana talks about how her relationship with book editors helps her get her lettering passes done. We also get into Ariana's origin story of her father giving her the Adobe suite years ago. Ariana also gives us a background on how she learned to letter through practice and fan works. We also discuss her study of Japanese

Ariana Maher recommends Nate Piekos's Essential Guide to Comic Book Lettering if you are looking to get started with lettering. She also built her own page-by-page reader's guide for critics/reviewers, which she posted on her blog, so they can better spot and appreciate lettering craft.

When I hear Monsters and love in the same sentence, I am in there like swimwear. I love monsters. But I love that monsters are such a powerful storytelling tool to discuss the other, identity, and queerness. In the Tiny Onion and Dark Horse Pride anthology Monsters in Love, we see a cavalcade of some of the best creators in comics telling stories of love, loss, and so much more using every type of monster imaginable. This year, we were lucky enough to get together with 11 of the creatives who worked on the book to talk about it. We all talked about sandwiches first before diving into conversations about queerness, storytelling, bears, and so much more.

We speak with:

Jadzia Axelrod

Vita Ayala

Zoe Tunnell

Aditya Bidikar

Bradley Clayton

Sina Grace

Jacoby Salcedo

Lee Knox Ostertag

Ed Luce

Josh Trujillo

Vash Taylor

About Monsters in Love

We need love and monsters now more than ever!!!

Beloved anthology Monsters In Love turns romance comics on their ogre-sized head with 10 swoon-worthy stories by fan-favorite LGBTQIA+ creators, including James Tynion IV, Jadzia Axelrod, Vita Ayala, Zoe Tunnell, Sina Grace, Josh Trujillo, Claudia Aguirre, Tench, and many others, just in time for Pride Month.

This super-sized special also includes a framing story by the creative team from The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos!

It's an 80-page one-shot for less than 10 bucks!

From the New York Times and multi-Eisner award-winning best-selling author James Tynion IV and Tate Brombal.

About Dark Horse:

Dark Horse Comics is a publisher based in Milwaukie, Oregon, in the Portland metro area. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse publishes creator-owned and licensed comics and art books, manga and other international titles, prose books, and products such as statues, figures, and accessories. These items are available through retailers, including comic shops and bookstores worldwide.

About Tiny Onion:

Tiny Onion is an independent production house from the mind of James Tynion IV, co-creator of critically acclaimed comic book bestsellers Something is Killing the Children, The Department of Truth, The Nice House on the Lake, and many more. Learn more and reach out on the home site below.