Capes and Tights Podcast

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes author Brian Raftery to the podcast to discuss his latest book, Hannibal Lecter: A Life, and more! Raftery is a journalist, podcaster, and author. His works include the books Best. Movie. Year. Ever.: How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen (2019) and the upcoming Hannibal Lecter: A Life (2026), both published by Simon & Schuster. He also wrote and hosted the narrative podcasts Mission Accomplished, The Hollywood Hack, Do We Get to Win this Time?, and Gene & Roger, all produced by Spotify and The Ringer. He is a former senior writer for Wired, Brian’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, GQ, The Ringer, and New York, among several other publications. Hannibal Lecter: A Life hits bookstores everywhere on February 10, 2026 from Simon & Schuster. The audiobook, narrated by the author himself, is available for preorder via Libro.fm! Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes comic book writer and illustrator Kristen Gudsnuk to the podcast to discuss Touched by a Demon and more! Kristen Gudsnuk is a comics writer and illustrator. She got her start with the webcomic Henchgirl, which was later published by Scout Comics in single issue and Dark Horse as a collection. Her other works include the middle grade graphic novel series Making Friends from Graphix, the Minecraft: Wither Without You trilogy, co-illustrating Amelia Aierwood: Basic Witch by Emily Hampshire, and illustrating Modern Fantasy by Rafer Roberts. Her upcoming Dark Horse series Touched by a Demon kicks off January 21, 2026 at local comic shops. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes comic book writer and author Benjamin Percyto the podcast to discuss all things comics and more! Benjamin Percy is an author and comic book writer who has seven novels to his name including most recently The Sky Vault, the final book in The Comet Cycle series. He broke into comics in 2014 and has many big titles on his resume including a long run on X-Force, Wolverine, Teen Titans, Nightwing, and the upcoming Dungeons of Doom, Punisher, and Star Wars: Shadow of Maul. Percy wrote two, ten-episode seasons of the audio drama Wolverine, which are presently streaming now on all podcast apps. The Long Night was listed as one of the top 15 podcasts of the year by Apple and won the iHeart Radio Award for best scripted podcast in 2018. His latest podcast is Wastelanders: Old Man Starlord (produced by Marvel and SiriusXM/Pandora), a post-apocalyptic take on the Guardians of the Galaxy that stars Timothy Busfield, Chris Elliot, Vanessa Williams, and Danny Glover. He also has sold many scripts to major production companies, including a few currently in development. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes IDW Publishing's Gregg Katzman to the podcast to discuss the year that was and the year upcoming at IDW and more! Katzman is the Senior Publicity Manager at IDW Publishing where he is in charge of promoting the entire IDW catalog by working with the creative teams, press, and media to ensure the success of the series. He works with the direct market, such as comic book stores, to promote the series such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Trek, Godzilla, IDW Dark, and more! Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes comic book retailer Paul Eaton back to the program to discuss our 2025 Comics of the Year. It's that time of the year once again! Our good friend and Galactic Comics & Collectibles shop owner, Paul Eaton, joins us again this year to countdown our favorite comics of 2025. This year, as in the past, both Justin and Paul discuss MOSTLY independent comics. What comics made the cut? Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes author and actor Tim Blake Nelson to the podcast to discuss his latest novel Superhero and much more! Nelson is an author, actor, and playwright best known for his acting roles in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America: Brave New World, Minority Report, The Fantastic Four, Holes, and many more! As an author his has penned novels such as City of Blows and the recently released Superhero. Superhero hit bookshelves everywhere on December 2, 2025 from Unnamed Press with an audiobook dropping on February 3, 2026. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes comic writer Hannah Rose May to the podcast to discuss The Guy in the Chair, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Smile: For the Camera, and more! Hannah Rose May is an Irish writer and actress know for her comics Rogues' Gallery, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, and The Guy in the Chair. Hannah has a stacked start to 2026 with the 1600 Penn sequel The Exorcism at Buckingham Palaceas well as Smile: For the Camera based in the Smile world from the feature films. As an actress, May has starred alongside her The Guy in the Chair co-writer Utkarsh Ambudkar on Ghosts, as well as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Ballers,Shooter, Altered Carbon, and more. The third issue in The Guy in the Chair drops on December 24, 2025 from Dark Horse. Smile: For the Camera #1 and The Exorcism at Buckingham Palace #1 are set to hit local comic shops in February and March 2026 respectively from IDW Publishing. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes comic creator Tyler Crook to the podcast to discuss his contribution to Hello Darkness #17, Out of Alcatraz, and more! Crook is a comic book artist and writer. After more than a decade of working in the video game industry, he transitioned to creating comics in 2011 with his first book, Petrograd. This effort won him the coveted Russ Manning Promising Newcomer award. In the years since then he has worked on titles like The Sixth Gun, BPRD: Hell on Earth, Witchfinder, Black Hammer, and most notably Harrow County, which was nominated for an Eisner award. In 2022, Tyler released The Lonesome Hunters, the first comic book series he both wrote and drew. His work has been awarded two Ghastly Awards and a Brahm Stoker Award and has been nominated for several Eisner Awards. His comics are notable for their lush traditional watercolor and ink rendering and emotive character work. Crook contributed to the Hello Darkness issue #17 which hits local comic shops on December 24, 2026 from BOOM! Studios. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes back comic book retailer Paul Eaton to the program to discuss everyone's favorite Christmas movie, Die Hard! New York City policeman John McClane is visiting his estranged wife on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a holiday party in the headquarters of the Japanese-owned business she works for. But the festivities are interrupted by a group of terrorists who take over the exclusive high-rise, and everyone in it. Very soon McClane realizes that there's no one to save the hostages, but him. Die Hard was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza, based on the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. It stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, and Bonnie Bedelia, with Reginald VelJohnson, William Atherton, Paul Gleason, and Hart Bochner in supporting roles. Over the years, there has been much debate over whether the film is a Christmas movie. Some have defended that since Die Hard's Christmas setting is enough to classify the movie as a Christmas film. While others, argue that it is an action film whose events happen to take place at Christmas. Die Hard released in theaters on July 15, 1988. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes back comic writer David M. Booher to the podcast to discuss Malloch the Damned, EC Comics Shiver SuspenStories and more! Booher is a GLAAD-nominated writer who has created comics for Dark Horse, Image Comics, IDW Publishing, Vault Comics and BOOM! Studios. His all-ages fantasy series Canto is in development as a feature film with Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios. His LGBTQ-led Killer Queens has been featured in the New York Times as a must-read in honor of Pride Month. He is also known for his work on Ghostbusters at Dark Horse as well as Specs at BOOM! Studios. Shiver SuspenStories hits shelves at local comic shops on December 11, 2025 from Oni Press. You can back his Kickstarter for Malloch the Doomed right now! Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

 This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes comic writers Jordan Hart and Chris Ryall to the podcast to discuss their upcoming holiday one-shot, Dread the Halls, and more! Jordan Hart is the creator of the Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated comic series Ripple Effects. Centered on an invulnerable superhero with type 1 diabetes, the story was placed on the American Library Association’s Best Graphic Novels for Adults reading list and was a finalist for the Excellence in Graphic Literature Awards. Additionally, he is known for his Image Comics supernatural adventure series The Cabinet with co-creator David Ebeltoft and artist Chiara Raimondi. Recently he has released one-shot comics including Dread the Halls, Dread the Hall H, and more. Chris Ryall is the co-founder and publisher at Syzygy Publishing, an imprint at Image Comics, that launched in January 2022 with the Eisner-nominated Joe Hill’s Rain. He is also the writer and co-creator of Syzygy titles Zombies vs Robots, Onyx, The Hollows, and Tales of Syzpense, among other titles. Prior to forming Syzygy, Ryall spent nearly two decades developing unique stories from multiple sides of the business. Prior to founding Syzygy Publishing, Ryall served as IDW Publishing's Editor-in-Chief, Chief Creative Officer, President, and Publisher over his long tenure with the publisher. He also worked with creators Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez in the development of Locke & Key, serving as editor on the acclaimed comic series and as an EP on its three-season Netflix series. Additionally, in 2017 joined Robert Kirkman and David Alpert’s Skybound Entertainment as Editor-in Chief and Special Projects in a gap at IDW. Ryall also authored Marvel Age of Comics: Daredevil: Born Again which hit bookstores everywhere on November 11, 2025. Hart and Ryall co-created Dread the Halls, a horror holiday one-shot. The 2025 edition hits shelves at local comic shops on December 3, 2025 from Syzygy Publishing / Image Comics. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes back comic book retailer Paul Eaton to the program to discuss the 1997 Spawn film and more! Covert government assassin Al Simmons is killed after being double-crossed by his boss, Jason Wynn. Upon arriving in Hell, Simmons is offered an opportunity to return to Earth if he's willing to lead an evil army. He accepts, and is reincarnated as a "Hellspawn" – a twisted, horribly disfigured version of his former self. However, Spawn serves as a force of good, much to the dismay of the Devil's henchman, a wicked clown. The film was directed by Mark A.Z. Dippé, written by Alan B. McElroy and Dippé, and stars Michael Jai White as the titular character, alongside John Leguizamo as The Violator, Martin Sheen as CIA Director Jason Wynn, Theresa Randle as Wanda Blake, D. B. Sweeney as CIA Agent Terry Fitzgerald and Nicol Williamson as Sir John of York / Cogliostro. First released in theaters on August 1, 1997 and more recently released in 4K. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes back author Clay McLeod Chapman to the podcast to discuss his upcoming novel Shiny Happy People and more! Chapman is the author of novels What Kind of Mother, Ghost Eaters, Whisper Down the Lane, The Remaking, and miss corpus, story collections nothing untoward, commencement and rest area, as well as The Tribe middle grade series: Homeroom Headhunters, Camp Cannibal and Academic Assassins. His new novel, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, arrived on January 7, 2025. Recently he released projects such as the novelette Stay On The Line (Shortwave Books), the novella Kill Your Darling (Bad Hand Books), a short story collection Acquired Taste (Titan Books), and the creator-owned comic limited series Seance in the Asylum (Dark Horse). His young adult novel Shiny Happy People hits shelves on November 11, 2025. In comics, Chapman is the writer of the Marvel series Scream: Curse of Carnage. He has written Absolute Carnage: Separation Anxiety, Iron Fist: Phantom Limb, Typhoid Fever, as well as for Edge of Spider-Verse and Venomverse, The Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, American Vampire, Scream: King In Black, and ORIGINS among others. He is the creator of Self Storage (451 Media) and Lazaretto (BOOM! Studios). Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

Finishing out Horror Week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes Dave Schilling to the podcast to discuss Horror's New Wave: 15 Years of Blumhouse and much more! Dave is known for contributing to the LA Times, The Guardian, The New Yorker, and more. His short film, which he wrote and directed, Can’t Float, is coming soon. More recently Schilling co-wrote with those at Blumhouse, Horror's New Wave: 15 Years of Blumhouse which hit stores this September. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

Next up for Horror Week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes Becky Siegel Spratford to the podcast to discuss Why I Love Horror and much more! Becky Siegel Spratford, MLIS, is a librarian specializing in serving patrons ages thirteen and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library. She writes reviews for Booklist and a horror review column for Library Journal. Known for her work with horror readers, Becky is the author of three text books for library workers, most recently, The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror. She is on the Shirley Jackson Award Advisory Board and is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association, currently serving as the association’s secretary and cochair of their library committee. She recently edited Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature which is available at bookstores everywhere. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

Continuing Horror Week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes Anna Dupre and Matt Morristo the podcast to discuss the horror genre, bookstagram, and more! Dupre is a contributing writer at Capes and Tights as well as a popular voice in the horror genre on Instagram and YouTube known as Anna Rose Reads. Matt Morris is another popular voice on Instagram as well as hosts a number of horror book clubs, he is known online as Matts Books and Drams. To celebrate our milestone 250th episode on the Capes and Tights podcast we found it fitting to discuss the world of horror with two of the great voices on social media and beyond! Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

Kicking-off Horror Week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes author Tanya Pell to the podcast to discuss her latest novel Her Wicked Roots, the horror genre, and more! Pell is a former high school teacher and aerial arts instructor who is the author of Killer VHS: Cicada as well as the upcoming Her Wicked Roots. Her stories have been featured in Mother Knows Best: Tales of Homemade Horror, Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night: A Halloween Horror Anthology, Obsolescence: A Dark Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Anthology, and more! Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes comic book writer Steve Orlando to the podcast to discuss their upcoming comic series War Wolf at Mad Cave Studios and more! Orlando has written for every major American comic book publisher. He's received Eisner Award Nominations for Outlaw Territory (Image Comics) and Rainbow Bridge (AfterShock Comics). Steve is also known for his work for DC Comics in Batman, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman, and two series starring Midnighter, which were nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. More recently Orlando has written Scarlet Witch, Godzilla vs. America: Boston, and the upcoming War Wolf. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes author Laurel Hightower to the podcast to discuss their upcoming novella Killer VHS: The Long Low Whistle and more! Hightower is the Bram Stoker-nominated author of The Long Low Whistle, Whispers In The Dark, Crossroads, Below, Every Woman Knows This, Silent Key, and The Day of the Door, and has more than a dozen short fiction stories in print. The Long Low Whistle hits bookstores everywhere on November 4, 2025 from Shortwave Publishing. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com

This week on the Capes and Tights Podcast, Justin Soderberg welcomes comic book retailer Paul Eaton to the podcast to discuss banned or challenged graphic novels for Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. Typically held during the last week of September (this year October 5-11), the annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas. The theme of this year’s event is Censorship Is So 1984 — Read for Your Rights. The most common justifications for censorship provided by complainants were false claims of illegal obscenity for minors; inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters or themes; and covering topics of race, racism, equity, and social justice. Facebook: https://facebook.com/capestightspod Twitter: https://twitter.com/capestightspod Instagram: https://instagram.com/capesandtightspodcast Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/capesandtights.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/@capesandtights Website: https://capesandtights.com