Comics A-Z Podcast

COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Like an encyclopedia but it's a podcast. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry. Hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated, and TV Comics. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. Kevin was also the Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic, card, and toy distributor in the country, and the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic merchandise. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer. Thank you to our sponsor, the SantaBarbaraMint.com

Comics A-Z Podcast is a arts podcast hosted by ComicsA-ZPodcast, with 33 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

ComicsA-ZPodcast hosts Comics A-Z Podcast, a arts show with 33 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #34

  H is for Burne Hogarth - From Tarzan to Teacher

  Oct 2, 202639 min

  H is for Burne Hogarth - From Tarzan to Teacher Few artists in the history of the American newspaper comic strip approached their subject with the combination of theatricality, anatomical precision, classical training, and sheer visual energy possessed by Burne Hogarth. For millions of readers, Hogarth's name became inseparable from Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs's legendary jungle hero. Yet Hogarth was considerably more than an illustrator of an established character. He was an artist who regarded the comic strip as a legitimate form of visual storytelling, an educator who helped shape generations of commercial artists, and a theorist whose books on anatomy and drawing became standard references for artists long after his newspaper work had ended. Recommended reading list for this episode: Dynamic Anatomy by Burne Hogarth Dynamic Figure Drawing by Burne Hogarth Drawing Dynamic Hands by Burne Hogarth Dynamic Light and Shade by Burne Hogarth Drawing the Human Head by Burne Hogarth Dynamic Wrinkles and Drapery by Burne Hogarth The Arcane Eye of Hogarth by Burne Hogarth Tarzan - In The City of Gold (Vol. 1): The Complete Burne Hogarth Sundays and Dailies Library Tarzan - Versus The Barbarians (Vol. 2) The Complete Burne Hogarth Sundays and Dailies Library Tarzan - and the Lost Tribes (Vol. 4) The Complete Burne Hogarth Sundays and Dailies Library Tarzan - Tarzan and the Adventurers (Vol. 5) The Complete Burne Hogarth Sundays and Dailies Library Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan: Burne Hogarth's Lord of the Jungle The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics — edited by Bill Blackbeard and Martin Williams The Encyclopedia of American Comics — edited by Ron Goulart Children of the Yellow Kid: The Evolution of the American Comic Strip by Robert C Harvey The Art of the Comic Book: An Aesthetic History — Robert C. Harvey Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones Comic Book Nation by Bradford Wright The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry. COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics. Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer. This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes. © Kevin Cleary 2026

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #33

  G is for Gold Key Comics - The Leader in Licensed Comics

  Sep 24, 202638 min

  G is for Gold Key Comics - The Leader in Licensed Comics Gold Key Comics occupies a fascinating place in American comic-book history. It was neither the largest superhero publisher of its era nor the most aggressively experimental. It did not produce a continuous succession of characters as culturally dominant as Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, or the Fantastic Four. Yet for millions of American children growing up during the 1960s and 1970s, Gold Key was one of the most recognizable names on the comic-book rack. Its books offered a remarkably broad mixture of science fiction, fantasy, adventure, horror, mystery, humor, television adaptations, movie tie-ins, Disney characters, newspaper-strip properties, and original creations. Recommended reading list for this episode: The Art of George Wilson The Art of Walt Kelly Pogo: The Complete Dell Comics — Walt Kelly Carl Barks Library — Carl Barks The Golden Age of Comic Books — Bill Schelly American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960–1964 — John Wells American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965–1969 — John Wells The Encyclopedia of American Comics — Ron Goulart Magnus, Robot Fighter Archives — Russ Manning Russ Manning's Tarzan — Russ Manning Turok, Son of Stone Archives — Western Publishing The Unexpurgated Carl Barks — Carl Barks Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book — Geoffrey Blum The Art of Walt Disney's Donald Duck Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones Comic Book Nation by Bradford Wright The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry. COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics. Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer. This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes. © Kevin Cleary 2026

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #32

  F is for Flash Gordon: Alex Raymond and the Legacy of a Science-Fiction Icon

  Sep 21, 202640 min

  F is for Flash Gordon: Alex Raymond and the Legacy of a Science-Fiction Icon Long before Star Wars, before Star Trek, before modern superhero comics transformed outer space into a familiar fictional landscape, there was Flash Gordon: the handsome Earthman rocketing across the cosmos, the beautiful Dale Arden at his side, the brilliant and sometimes dangerously obsessive Dr. Hans Zarkov behind them, and the three of them confronting tyrants, monsters, alien civilizations, giant creatures, flying warriors, strange machines and fantastic worlds. Created and initially illustrated by Alex Raymond, with stories by writer Don Moore, the strip was conceived partly as King Features' answer to the enormous popularity of Buck Rogers. Yet what began as a commercial attempt to compete with another science-fiction adventure quickly became something considerably more important. Recommended reading list for this episode: Flash Gordon: Classic Collection by Alex Raymond Alex Raymond: His Life and Art by Tom Roberts Alex Raymond: The Power of the Image by Ron Goulart, Daniel Herman Children of the Yellow Kid: The Evolution of the American Comic Strip by Robert C. Harvey The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art by Coulton Waugh The Encyclopedia of American Comics - Ron Goulart, editor The Comics: Since 1945 by Brian Walker The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics by Maurice Horn The Comic Strip Century by Bill Blackbeard and Dale Crain The Funnies: 100 Years of American Comic Strips Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book by Gerard Jones Comic Book Nation by Bradford Wright The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry. COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics. Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer. This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes. © Kevin Cleary 2026

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #30

  D is for Doonesbury - The comic strip that changed everything

  Aug 28, 20261h 4m

  D is for Doonesbury - The comic strip that changed everything Few American comic strips have changed as dramatically as their country changed around them. Peanuts transformed the newspaper strip into a vehicle for introspection; The Far Side expanded its possibilities for surreal humor; Calvin and Hobbes demonstrated the expressive range of the medium. But Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury accomplished something different. It turned the daily newspaper comic strip into a running chronicle of American political, cultural, and social life. Recommended reading list for this episode: Trudeau & Doonesbury: A Biography: The Cartoonist Who Turned the News into Art by Joshua Kendall The Doonesbury Chronicles — Garry Trudeau (1975) Doonesbury's Greatest Hits — Garry Trudeau (1978) The People's Doonesbury: Notes from Underfoot — Garry Trudeau (1981 Doonesbury Dossier: The Reagan Years — Garry Trudeau (1984) Doonesbury Deluxe: Selected Glances Askance — Garry Trudeau (1987) Doonesbury by G.B. Trudeau This is the original collection of Yale strips. 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective — Garry Trudeau (2010) Must Read! Dbury@50: The Complete Digital Doonesbury — Garry Trudeau (2020) The Comics: Since 1945 by Brian Walker The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics by Maurice Horn The Comic Strip Century by Bill Blackbeard and Dale Crain The Funnies: 100 Years of American Comic Strips COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry. COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics. Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer. This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes. © Kevin Cleary 2026

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #29

  C is for Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family - The World’s Mightiest Mortal

  Aug 20, 20261h 8m

  C is for Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family - The World’s Mightiest Mortal There was a time, difficult to imagine today, when Superman was not unquestionably the most successful superhero in American popular culture. Batman was still a relatively young character. Wonder Woman had only recently arrived. Marvel Comics did not yet exist in its modern form. One of the most commercially successful comic-book characters in the world was a red-uniformed, lightning-bolt-chested hero whose greatest secret was that beneath the muscles, cape, and impossible powers was just an ordinary boy. His name was Captain Marvel. Recommended reading list for this episode: The Fawcett Companion: The Best of FCA — P.C. Hamerlinck, editor The Shazam! Archives, Vol. 1 The Shazam! Family Archives Vol. 1 Shazam!: A Celebration of 75 Years Superheroes of the Golden Age by Mike Benton COMICS A-Z is the podcast that showcases the history of sequential art: comic books, comic strips, the characters, their creators, one letter at a time. Each episode highlights an interesting aspect of the long history of comics, as a creative medium and a growing industry. COMIC A-Z is hosted by Kevin Cleary, a former executive with First Comics, Classics Illustrated Comics, and TV Comics. Kevin was also the Sales Director for the Dream Factory chain of 22 stores and Purchasing Director for Heroes World Distribution, the 3rd largest comic book, trading card, and toy distributor in the country. Kevin was an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide, The Overstreet Premium Ring Guide and a columnist/feature writer for the Comic's Buyers Guide, Overstreet Monthly, and Wizard Magazine. He was the founder of Quantum Licensing, a company that produced pins, rings, and other licensed comic book related merchandise. He even wrote issue #4 of THE MUNSTERS from TV Comics. Kevin currently works in Hollywood as a literary manager and occasional producer. This podcast is made by humans. Accept no substitutes. © Kevin Cleary 2026

  ListenShow Notes

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.