CZ#53 – “Superman” (2025) and “Fantastic Four: First Steps”! – Podcast

Posted by ErikSlader on October 2, 2025

Click here to listen to the new episode!

“That is where you’ve always been wrong about me, Lex! I am as human as anyone. I love, I-I get scared. I wake up every morning, and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make the best choices that I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human, and that’s my greatest strength. ” – Superman to Lex Luthor

That’s right, it’s the one you’ve all been waiting for (probably) Chris and Erik are finally back with their thoughts on James Gunn’s “Superman” (2025), and the MCU’s latest entry, “Fantastic Four: First Steps”!

Featuring cameo reviews by:

Kory Torjussen from ⁠The World Is My Burrito⁠
Ben from ⁠Dragoon Effect⁠
Johnny from ⁠the Rapper’s Corner⁠ AND ⁠The Super Switch Club⁠
And Zack Derby from ⁠Podcasters Assemble!⁠

(Episode edited by Erik Slader)

Also be sure to listen to Episodes ⁠⁠#40 – “All 4 Fantastic Four Movies?!” ⁠⁠and ⁠⁠#49 – “The Superman Movies (1978-2013)”!⁠

10 (More) Great Spider-Man Stories

Posted by comiczombie on August 9, 2025

Spider-Man, obviously, is one of the most popular characters in comic books (or movies, or cartoons, or video games, or…) and has been for decades now. His popularity has meant for most of the 60+ years of his publishing history he has had more than one ongoing title running simultaneously. Not counting what if…? or Ultimate stories (those would need to be different lists), I wanted to pick out 10 tales of the webbed wall-crawling wonder that will show you why he, his villains, and his cast of supporting characters are second to none.

I should point out this is NOT a top 10 list, in that these are not ranked in any particular order, nor are they the 10 BEST Spider-Man stories, or my absolute favorite 10. These are just 10 cool stories that maybe slipped your radar or were out before you were reading Spider-Man and/or were born. I imagine I will revisit this topic, because it was hard to narrow it to just 10 for this article.

So, if you haven’t read these, do yourself a favor and check them out, and if you have read them, well… good.

Check out our first installment of great Spidey stories here, and check out some X-Men recommendations here and here!

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CZ #51: Thunderbolts, Ultimate Spider-man, Spidey Villains, Cap, Kingpin, Krakoa, and more! (Podcast)

Posted by ErikSlader on July 16, 2025

Issue #51: Thunderbolts, Ultimate Spider-Man, Spidey Villains, Cap, Kingpin, Krakoa, and more! (Podcast)

“There’s something wrong with me. An emptiness. I thought it started when my sister died, but now it feels like something bigger. Just a void… Or maybe I’m just bored.” – Yelena Belova / Black Widow (Thunderbolts)

Chris and Erik are back at it with another random episode…

MCU Catch-Up: “Thunderbolts”, “Captain America: Brave New World”, and “Daredevil: Born Again”
Ultimate Spider-man (2024)
X-Men: The Krakoa Era
Pitch Ideas – Event Books: “Kingpin Takes the Marvel Universe” (Erik) and “Acts of Vengeance 2” (Chris)
Mount Rushmore: Spider-man Villains
Essential Reads: Captain America

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

Check out our blog at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ComicZombie.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more!

Follow us on Social Media: Instagram: @ComicZombiePodcast / BlueSky: @ComicZombie

Top 100 Comic Book Heroes Master List

Posted by ErikSlader on June 7, 2025

The age old questions of comic fans: Batman or Superman? Spider-Man or Wolverine? The debates about the best heroes are endless. We tried to make a top 10 list, but that was just too hard. So we tried a top 25, but that quickly became a top 50… you get the idea. So we were able to ‘narrow’ it down to an even 100. Odds are you will vehemently disagree with who did or did not make the list, or just the order that we placed them. But, hey, it’s our list.

(Honorable mentions to Beta Ray Bill, USAgent, Martian Manhunter, Kid Flash, Hercules, The Frenchman and the Female (the Boys), Abe Sapien, Spider-Man 2099, Static Shock, Nite Owl, Guy Gardner, Booster Gold, Spawn, Atom Eve, Mary Marvel, and a hell of a lot more. So many more we could- and may- do another whole 100 list!)

We will release these in installments of 10 so that you don’t have the longest list ever to read through. Agree with the placement or who made the list? Disagree with the burning power of a thousand suns? Let us know! Enjoy!

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Top 100 Comic Book Villains Master List

Posted by ErikSlader on June 7, 2025

Everyone knows nothing makes a good hero like a great villain. Sherlock Holmes needed Moriarty, G.I. Joe needed Cobra, the rebels needed Darth Vader, etc. Nothing makes a story better quite like an interesting, intriguing, and yet hated adversary. Readers tend to flock to the villains they love to hate. The best villains bring something out of the hero that nobody else does or force the hero to push themselves further than before to find a way to win.

We wanted to make a top 10 list, but that’s impossible. There are just too many good choices, and we couldn’t agree on any of it. So we increased the list, and increased it, and increased it (honestly, we probably could have kept going, too). So, before it gets too out of hand, here are our choices for the 100 best villains in comics.

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Erik’s Top 25 Time Travel Movies

Posted by ErikSlader on June 6, 2025

With the release of my latest book, “Tempus Machina: A Short (Time Travel) Story” (available now on Amazon, Kindle, and Audible), AND Podcasters Assemble – Season 12 on the “Back to the Future” Trilogy, I figured it would be a good opportunity to take a look back at some of my favorite Time Travel movies… so far!

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10 Great X-Men Stories

Posted by comiczombie on May 22, 2025

You know ’em, you love ’em, it’s Marvel’s- maybe comics’- greatest team, the Adjectiveless, Exceptional, Astonishing, Wolverine & The, New, Immortal, X-Men! They’ve been around for over 60 years now, and insanely popular for 40+ of those years. Combining that with the fact that for many of those years there have been numerous titles running simultaneously, you end up with thousands of X-Men comics!

Out of those thousands there are so, so many great stories. The Marvel universe’s best and most important moments are full of X-Men stories. There are so many amazing ones, and many of them so drastically different, that creating any kind of ranking is both impossible and panic inducing, so instead of ranking I will do what I did with our buddy Spider-Man and just list ten great X-Men stories that have connected with me for whatever reason over the years.

These are not necessarily my ten favorite X-Men stories, but I love all of the ones listed today. There are so, so many more I could include that it’s maddening, but I’ll save those for another future installment.

So, let’s get to it! Here are, in no particular order, 10 great X-Men stories!

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Issue #48: Comics Round-Up, Trailer Reactions, and Pitching Stories! (Podcast)

Posted by ErikSlader on March 31, 2025

Comic Zombie Podcast – Issue 48: Comics Round-Up, Trailer Reactions, and Pitching Stories!

Chris and Erik catch up on some comics, give their takes on the recent trailer for “Fantastic Four: First Steps” and James Gunn’s “Superman”, and pitch their ideas for what they would do if they were given a chance to write for Marvel or DC!

Also on this Episode:

Pitch Ideas: “Flash / Green Lantern: When Barry Met Hal” (Erik), “Spider-man: Doc-Ock vs the Green Goblin” (Chris)
Mount Rushmore: Marvel Writers
Essential Reads: Green Arrow

(Episode edited by Chris Carroll)

Check out our blog at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ComicZombie.net⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more!