We're back after taking some time off for Ben to have a baby and Josh to learn how babies are made. After some brief catch up, we dive right into some long-awaited comic talk. 

We recap Free Comic Book Day and the recent Boston Comic Con. Battle lines are drawn as we react to the first 3 issues of Avengers vs. X-Men and speculate about the rumored X-Bendis regime. Josh mourns the loss of Moon Knight, Ben get's lost in the Night of Owls and we weigh in on Before Watchmen. 

Later, we debate the etiquette of TV spoilers before launching into a longer-than-expected discussion on The Walking Dead TV series. In the obligatory summer movie discussion, we make our demands of The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spider-Man. Finally we wrap things up with some rapid fire reviews and recommendations including Venom, Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth, Tom Strong and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It's a cornucopia of comic talk to kick off the season of summer blockbusters!

Music in this episode by: Steve Miller Band, Dropkick Murphys, Phish, The Hooters

Ben Peirce is back with another NEAR MINTerview! Joining us this month from St. Louis, Missouri is Matt Kindt. Matt is a Harvey Award-winning writer and artist who made a name for himself with his breakout hits, Super Spy and 2 Sisters, from Top Shelf Publications. Since then, he's produced a number of graphic novels, including 3 Story: the Secret History of the Giant Man, from Dark Horse, Revolver at Vertigo, and The Tooth with Cullen Bunn from Oni Press. He recently took the reigns on Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth, where he penciled a pivotal story arc in the series.

We touch on many of those works over the course of the interview as well as some new projects Matt has coming up. His new ongoing series from Dark Horse, Mind MGMT is generating a lot of excitement. And in the coming months, he'll be taking over as the regular writer on Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. There's a lot to look forward to from Matt Kindt and we cover it all, as well as thoughts on the Watchmen prequels and predictions for the Oscars – don't miss it!

Happy New Year! It's the first show of 2012, but this episode is all about 2011. Join us as we honor the best comics, creators, characters and more in the 4th Annual Minty Awards! Hear what Ben, Josh and you the listener picked as the best of 2011. Find out who the biggest winners were. Listen as a favorite title is raised to the rafters of the Minty Hall of Fame. And gaze into the crystal ball with bold predictions for the year ahead.

All this, plus Ben schooling Thomas Vokoun, Josh's week of movies, the New DC Logo discussed and the films of P.J. Huot. It's a fitting send-off for the year that was and the perfect start to 2012.  

Music in this episode by: Mac Miller, Gashammer, The Beatles, Cee Lo, Timbuk 3, Harold Faltermeyer & Steve Stevens, Michael Bublé, Fred Rogers

It's Christmas in the Comic Cave. After tensions ran high last episode, Ben and Josh are back with a new episode overflowing with peace, love and good will towards men, mutants and monsters alike.  We open things up with talk of holiday plans and canceling cable before diving into some spirited comics talk.

Josh, reaffirms his love for Moon Knight and fills us in on the all-new, all-different but slightly-the-same Dark Avengers. Ben talks Legion of Monsters, Hellboy and Atomic Robo. We debate the merits of the Hulks and Josh goes space bananas for Mark Millar's Superior.

Later we preview the upcoming 2011 Minty Awards and open the Near Mint mailbag and answer a laundry list of listener questions.  It's the last episode of 2012, so thanks to everyone for listening and enjoy the show – yule love it!

Music in this episode by: Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dr. Elmo, the Decemberists, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Barenaked Ladies, the Whirling Dervishes

Freshly-stuffed following the Thanksgiving holiday, the boys are back with an all-ornery new episode. In the first half of the show, Greg Giorgio joins us in studio to talk about the first half-season of The Walking Dead (all TV talk, no comic spoilers). Conflict takes center stage and opinions differ on the season's success rate to date.   

In the second hour, the comic talk flows like scallop-wrapped bacon. There's jeers for Fear Itself, waves of praise for Spider-Island, and all things in-between. Both Ben and Josh part ways with FF but have good things to say about Moon Knight, Orchid and Ultimate Spider-Man. 

All this, plus comics Josh can't bring himself to read, congrats for Ben's new comic-fan-to-be and how a pumpkin spoiled 30+ years of monogamy for Greg. It's more fun than a barn full o' walkers.  

Music in this episode by: Reid Genauer, Al Butron, Alan Thicke, Gloria Long, Neil Sedaka, Tom Morello

It's been a while but we're back with a vengeance! In this action packed issue, the boys open up with some coffee talk, including Ben's award-winning appearance in the SNOB Film Festival, new additions to the website the upcoming NY Comic Con and the just-released Avengers trailer.

Then we get down to business and shake up the status quo as you know it. Ben and Josh (yes, Josh too) pitch a tent in the heart of DC and let thier voices be heard about the New 52.  You'll hear rapid-fire reviews lots of the the new titles, including Batman, Batgirl, Batwoman, Catwoman, Nightwing,Detective Comics ... and even a few books that don't take place in Gotham.

If you still have anything left after a lengthy DCUssion, there's talk of Spider Island, FF, Scud the Disposable Assassin, Ultimate Spider-Man and Fall TV.  It's more geek talk than you can shake a fist at!

Music in this Episode by: REM, Urge Overkill, Weezer, Juanes

Clocking in just shy of two-and-a-half hours, this episode has a little bit of everything.  If you’re joining us for the first time, you’ll have to forgive us as we ramble through the first half hour catching up on things like Ben & Josh’s trips to Philly and Sweden respectively and the sad departure of the Strange Ink family of podcasts.  Then it’s down to business with some comic talk including our picks to try out from the DCnU and an answer to the question. “Why the heck should I read Amazing Spider-Man?”

We briefly recap some of the more exciting announcements coming out of San Diego Comic-Con and check to see how Ben did with his Eisner predictions. We give our initial reactions to some of the recently-released comic movie trailers, including The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.  The movie talk continues with our take on Green Lantern and Captain America: the First Avenger.  Then we hop in the Delorian and travel back to the fall of 1995 where Wizard Magazine offers up a time capsule of what was happening in and around comics in the heart of the big bad 90′s.

All this, plus Fear Itself, Flashpoint, Next Wave: Agents of H.A.T.E. and X:Men Schism.  And, if or no other reason, you should listen just to hear the spicy interludes by comic-themed rapper, Adam WarRock.

Ben Peirce returns with another NEAR MINTerview.  This time, our guest is Nate Simpson, the breakout writer/artist behind the hit new series Nonplayer from Image Comics.  Nonplayer #1 took the comics world by storm selling out across the country and grabbing tons of praise from critics and industry professionals alike.  Series creator, Nate Simpson, is a complete newcomer to comics after working primarily in game design. He's crafted an exciting story that blends elements of sword & sorcery-style fantasy with distopian future sci-fi and multiplayer online gaming with breathtaking visuals.

Nate was recently honored at the Eisner Awards ceremony with the Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award and with just one issue to his credit, he now faces down a world of great expectations.  He talks candidly about the challenges he faces as a new creator – honing his craft, meeting deadlines and responding to the pressure of new-found fame.  We discuss his inspirations as an artist and a writer, find out about the inner workings of Image Comics and talk in-depth about the world of Nonplayer. Listen in as we bear witness to a comics star being born.

Just in time for 4th of July Weekend, it’s an explosive episode of the Near Mint Comic Show.  We open up the show with a recap of recent events including talk of Ben’s work on the Pilotgroove Pictures 48 Hour Film Project, Just Remember That They’re Dead and our review of X-Men: First Class. We dive in and talk about the major shakeups at DC Comics including our take on digital comics and a reading challenge.

Then, in the second hour, we spin a tale of sorrow and heartbreak as only the comic fan can appreciate – and thoroughly earn our explicit tag in recounting a recent Twitter interaction with Spider-Man Editor, Stephen Wacker.  We wrap things off on a positive note with some rave reviews of Daytripper, Spider-Man 1602, Amazing Spider-Man Annual, Locke & Key and Moon Knight … yes, Moon Knight.

After an action-packed month of May, that maxed out our available bandwidth, the Near Mint Comic Show is back with this much-anticipated NEAR MINTerview. In this episode we call across the pond to talk to superstar artist, Frank Quitely. Frank's unique style and gift for storytelling, have propelled him to the top of the industry's A-list. Frank's recent collaborations with Grant Morrison have garnered praise from fans, won awards and spawned everything from deluxe hardcover treatments of the work to animated adaptations.

In this conversation, we discuss Frank's early work for Judge Dredd and the genesis of his partnership with Morrison.  We dive into some of his recent work including the re-establishment of the X-Men in New X-Men, the iconic resonance of All-Star Superman the design of a new Batman in Batman and Robin and the chance to revisit old material in We3. We also discuss the challenge of balancing beautiful illustration with effective storytelling and get some of Frank's reading recommendations.   We're very excited to bring you this interview and we think you'll enjoy it!