SDCC Preview Night: Christopher Cantwell on Star Trek

SDCC Preview Night: Christopher Cantwell on Star Trek

Author: Brad & Lisa Gullickson July 22, 2026 Duration: 1:22:48
Today, we’re bringing San Diego Comic-Con International to you, our beautiful listeners. Writer Christopher Cantwellreturns to the show for a boisterous Star Trek celebration. On September 23rd, IDW Publishing is relaunching its Star Trek line. Cantwell spearheads the main ongoing series alongside his artist collaborator, Dennis Menheere. We’ve been given a sneak peek, and consider their phasers set to stun cuz - We. Are. Stunned. Years after the Star Trek: Picard finale, Seven of Nine now captains the Enterprise-G. Her crew includes several legacy characters. Picard’s kid. LaForge’s kid. Worf’s kid. Not to forget some characters familiar to those who’ve been reading the IDW comics and several new folks, too. This book is more forward-looking than backward-looking, as all good Trek should be. Most excitingly, Cantwell and Menheere are free to make COMICS within the Star Trek franchise. In the past, likeness has been the predominant factor when crafting brand comics. Dennis Menheere lets loose with his cartooning, embracing shapes and lines that communicate emotion and thought. They're not just assembled to please entertainment lawyers. These characters look like who they should look like, but more importantly, they feel like they should. Cantwell, Menheere, and the whole IDW crew seemingly have learned all the right lessons from Absolute Batman’s success. Let’s tell stories that only comics can tell. Let’s engage with this medium’s tools. This episode is the first of five episodes coming at ya this weekend. Be on the lookout for one new Comic Book Couples Counseling episode for every day of San Diego Comic-Con International. It's a lot, but you're gonna have fun whether you're here in California or not. As we said, Star Trek #1 arrives in comic shops on September 23rd. Final Order Cutoff (FOC) is August 17th. It’s written by Christopher Cantwell, illustrated and colored by Dennis Menheere, and lettered by Jodie Troutman. Make sure you’re following Christopher Cantwell on Bluesky. Other Relevant Links to This Week's Episode: Subscribe to the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube Channel Watch The Stacks, Comic Creators Name Their Favorite Comics Previously on CBCC: Christopher Cantwell and Tyler Crook on Out of Alcatraz Previously on CBCC: Christian Ward on The Forever Home Comic Book Club: Spider-Man: Brand New Day at Meanwhile...Coffee in Herndon, Virginia, on 8/2 at 3:30 PM Comic Book Film Club: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester, Virginia on 8/9 at 5:00 PM Final Round of Plugs (PHEW): Support the Podcast by Joining OUR PATREON COMMUNITY. And, of course, follow Comic Book Couples Counseling on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Bluesky @CBCCPodcast, and you can follow hosts Brad Gullickson @MouthDork & Lisa Gullickson @sidewalksiren. Send us your Words of Affirmation by leaving us a 5-star Review on Apple Podcasts. Continue your conversation with CBCC by hopping over to our website, where we have reviews, essays, and numerous interviews with comic book creators. Podcast logo by Jesse Lonergan and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. This Week's Sponsors The Future is Calling! 2000 AD is the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic, with new issues published every single week! Every 32-page issue of 2000 AD brings you the best in sci-fi and horror, featuring characters like Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and more. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive to your mailbox every week - and your first issue is free! Or subscribe digitally, and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today! What happens when the love of your life is buried on the other side of the country, and you’re a ghost who can’t leave your grave? That’s the beautifully haunting setup of Till Death, a new romant

Ever wonder what keeps Lois Lane and Clark Kent together, or why the Joker and Harley Quinn’s dynamic is so endlessly dissected? That’s the kind of territory you’ll find in Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast. Hosted by real-life married couple Brad and Lisa Gullickson, this isn’t just a rundown of famous pairs. Instead, they use their own relationship as a lens to examine the loves, feuds, and complicated bonds that define our favorite characters. Each episode feels like a lively conversation between two passionate fans who happen to share a life, digging into the psychology, history, and narrative impact of relationships across comic book publishing and wider pop culture. You’ll hear them analyze everything from classic Golden Age partnerships to the messy modern entanglements in contemporary graphic novels, always with a mix of deep knowledge and genuine curiosity. This podcast offers a uniquely personal and thoughtful way to engage with the stories you love, moving beyond powers and plot twists to ask what these fictional connections really say about us. Tune in for a smart, often funny, and always insightful look at the heart of the narratives.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Stephanie Williams on Street Sharks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:09
As far as mantras go, Street Sharks have one about as good as they come. They fight. They bite. They stand for everything right. You can read it on the opening page of each issue of the IDW Publishing series, and as we d…
Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips on The Peril of the Brutal Dark [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:14
Those in the know have been (im)patiently waiting for The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery. Of course, no one has been waiting as long as the comic’s creators, Chris Condon and Jacob Phillips. The series or…
Exclusive! Brad Meltzer on Spider-Man/Superman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:23
Immediately after we recorded our last conversation with Brad Meltzer, we recorded a secret second episode. He was aching to discuss his next project, but he couldn’t quite let the cat out of the bag until Marvel Comics…
Dave Chisholm on Is Ted OK [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:52
No one makes comics like Dave Chisholm, and we don’t allow him to make one without first making a stop at the podcast. His latest, Is Ted OK?, reveals an artist pushing himself to his very limit, built on an incredible r…
Brad Meltzer on The Viper [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:22:01
When you read The Viper, the new Zig and Nola novel from Brad Meltzer, it doesn’t take long to see how comics inform the author’s creativity. As he says during our conversation, “It’s Superman and Batman. It’s Spider-Man…
The Stampies: Best Comics of 2025 (Part Two) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:58:10
Welcome back, friend. Our end-of-the-year celebration concludes with The Stampies: Best Comics of 2025 (Part Two). If you missed the Part One party, click here, and discover the comics we considered the saddest of 2025,…
The Stampies: Best Comics of 2025 (Part One) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:41:49
Friends, let’s celebrate. We’ve made it through another year, and no matter how you felt about the world outside your local comic book shop, you certainly read some great comics. Welcome to our annual award show, The Sta…
Jock on Absolute Batman 15 - Oh, that Joker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:29
With the release of Absolute Batman #15 and the big reveal of Absolute Joker, we’re excited to welcome artist Jockonto the show for the first time. We would consider this comic an event even without the gnarly origin sto…