Backroom Comics Podcast
The Backroom Comics Podcast is a weekly video podcast and audio podcast focused on comics. It is hosted by Kevin Malcolm, Greg Upton, Pete Greenberg and Jason Doctor.. The first episode was released on March 20, 2009. Frequent topics include comic news, discussions AbOUT what the hosts have been reading, and InterViews with comic creators.
History
The Backroom Comics Podcast was an idea hatched by Spencer Fornaciari and Kevin Malcolm in late 2008. It was inspired by Spencer’s interest in working on a video podcast and Kevin’s extensive knowledge of comics.
In February 2009, Kevin and Spencer began to film some test segments in Kevin’s local comic shop, Arcane Comics, which has seen become the base of operations for the podcast. The first official episode was posted online (and on iTunes) on Friday March 20th.
Initially the show was to be based around Kevin sharing his weekly thoughts from the comic world, but quickly it became apparent that the show needed an additional host to keep the momentum going. Starting in episode 2, Kevin was joined by a variety of guest hosts.
After releasing four episodes, the show took a dramatic turn by doing extensive coverage of both Emerald City ComiCon and Sakura-Con in a succession of weeks. Out of these conventions a total of six episodes were produced and included many interviews with comic creators and fans.
Starting with episode 11, the show was joined by regular co-host Greg Upton. Starting with episode 41, Pete Greenberg joined the show as a regular co-host, and episode 42 marked the arrive of Jason Doctor as a regular co-host.
Guest Hosts
When Greg went on hiatus from the show in the fall of 2009, several guest hosts filled in for him including Peter Bagge, Mark Rahner, and Jim Demonakos.
Notable Episodes
Besides the Emerald City ComiCon and Sakuracon episodes, notable episodes have included an interview with Peter Bagge, Greg and Kevin’s series that allowed viewers to read along as they read the Sandman series, and their defense of Aquaman.
Spinoffs
In addition to their work on the Backroom Comics Podcast, the team have created a movie based video podcast, called the MacGuffin Film Podcast. It was started in May 2009. This time it was hosted by Spencer, and has featured both Kevin and Greg in guest hosting roles.