Hosts
Rob Kelly
The Irredeemable Shag
… or …
maybe The Irredeemable Shag managed a comic book store for four years, and a movie theater megaplex for three years. Nowadays he’s just a really vocal geek on the interwebs. He co-hosts THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST, THE HERO POINTS PODCAST, and WHO’S WHO: THE DEFINITIVE PODCAST OF THE DC UNIVERSE. He is the host of JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL: BWAH-HA-HA PODCAST and webmaster of the FIRESTORM FAN website.
You decide…
Ryan Daly
Chris Franklin
Although no medical records can be found to substantiate this claim, legend has it Chris Franklin was born with a comic book in his hand. Or maybe it was a Mego action figure? His infatuation with drawing his favorite characters began nearly as early, and he channeled that into first a study, and then a career in art. While in high school he met a girl named Cindy, who did not judge him by his geekiness, but instead embraced it, and the two were soon inseparable, and sometime thereafter, married.
Chris’ art path steered him into a career in graphic design, although he has dabbled in independent comic and toy package design, as well as writing articles for Back Issue magazine. He found a new outlet for his fandom when Rob Kelly called upon him to guest on an early Power Records episode of the Fire and Water Podcast. Bitten by the podcasting bug, he became Rob’s permanent co-host on the subsequent Power Records Podcast. But that wasn’t enough, so he coerced his long-suffering, but completely understanding wife Cindy into producing the Super Mates Podcast, where they continue to apply a matrimonial approach to any number of genre topics, in between raising their wonderful (and equally geeky) kids.
Cindy Franklin
If her husband-to-be Chris was born with a comic in his hand, then surely Cindy came complete with a book…of ANY kind! A voracious reader from the start, Cindy has never discriminated on any literary subject, from children’s books to sci-fi, fantasy and horror fiction. It was this love of books that led Cindy to pick up a comic at Chris’ parents’ house, and thus Cupid’s arrow was fired.
With this, Cindy went from a casual comic reader to a full-blown fan. Her passion for the DC animated universe launched by Bruce Timm may be even greater than her husband’s! She also picked up Chris’ toy habit, channeling into a staggering doll collection, that takes up the OTHER half of their house. Her love of books and kids led to her career as a children’s librarian. Hey, Batgirl was a librarian! When not mothering her kids, Cindy can be heard on the Super Mates Podcast, where despite the voluminous notes her husband forces her to read for every show, she provides some much needed snark and logic to the genre topics we blindly love.
Siskoid
Xum Yukinori
Max Romero
Max Romero came to comic book fandom through an alchemical mix of Spider-Man cartoons and Superman: The Movie, but mostly by spending countless hours as a kid sitting in his aunt’s bookstore reading Bronze Age comics and eating cookies. He’s loved comics ever since (and cookies). He’s a former professional journalist, and today continues to work as a freelance copy editor and writer. Max — a longtime fan of Plastic Man — is the host of PLASTICAST, and the writer and curator of the blog Eeyow, It’s Plastic Man! He’s also the writer of the tragically neglected blog Great Caesar’s Post!, where he spent an inordinate amount of time talking about the Human Fly.
Nathaniel Wayne
Nathaniel Wayne had the privilege of being raised on Star Wars and Ghostbusters and then misfortune to get into comic books during the 90s. This cranky before his time ranter on all things geek finds his joy in Doctor Who, animated films, and his still functioning Super Nintendo Entertainment System. On the Fire and Water Network he co-hosts Punch Like A Girl and guests on other shows whenever he gets sufficient blackmail material on any given host. His other rambling works can be found under the moniker Council of Geeks, which boasts a podcast feed and YouTube Channel under that name.
The Girls
