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Last week didn't get too "nerdy". This week is a little more nerdy, but I don't want to over-nerd you. The podcast is an example of how a simple idea evolves online from already existing technology.  The idea finds a lot of people to develop it into a huge fad, scares/motivates big business and yet most people have never heard of it.  Just like Web 2.0 and Ajax, or blogging (circa 2001) and mp3's (circa 1996), podcasts are the wave of the future (future... future... future)!  So why aren't you doing it?

Chances are that you don't listen to podcasts.  According to Neilsen Ratings, less than 7% of all adult internet users actually listen to podcasts.  Sure that sounds like very little, but it amounts to 9.2 Million.  The percentage of people who pay bills online: 51.6%  It actually comes out to one in ten users either download podcast or video podcast.  Also, you should know, the majority of them are on an Mac.

Podcasts are mostly created by other online users, it hasn't yet turned into a giant corporate media battle field.  It's not a far reaching concept considering we went from usenet groups and chat rooms to blogging and posting our personal lives for everyone to read.  Blogging has gotten so popular that it's considered a viable business tactic for marketing and generating consumer interest.  Podcasts, showing all the same traits, are also catching the eye of big media and even car companies.  How soon before Podcasts are listed as a channel on Technorati or an option on MySpace next to blogging?

My personal experience with podcasts were basically listening to Adam Curry's Daily Source Code from my favorite news reader application.  He had a lot of information for developers as well as what was hot, who was hot, etc..  He turned me on to some other spots I listened to for a time.  Then Apple updated their audio player, iTunes, to support podcasts and included an extensive list of podcasts for free subscription through its iTunes Music Store.  Anything you are interested in you can find there.  The quality of the podcasts however are another matter.

Just like blogs and websites, the quality of podcasts range wildly.  There is no real standard recommendation for making a podcast.  If you, today, right now, wanted to make a podcast, how would you do it?  Obviously you would google the answer to that.  But it isn't like there is a w3c group who draft recommendations like they have done so successfully for websites.  People's opinions vary greatly on this matter in terms of sound quality, mp3 tags and photos.  Podcasts can range from being a single mp3 file to having an array of episodes embedded in a data feed with photos/videos, chapter marker and links.  But how are you going to host it?  How are you going to get people to come listen to it?  Obviously, there are sites out there who are offering this solution and with competitive prices.  This is a subject for another article, but to put it briefly, depending on the nature of your podcast, mono vs stereo is a big factor.  I was surprised how many podcasts sound like phone conversations but the audio files were saved at the highest possible setting.

Expect to see some dot-coms crop up in the next month or two offering their own podcast/blogging experience.  SixApart, recent owner of LiveJournal, is developing a blog/podcast/video service that I'm sure will incorporate SixApart's unique blend of social networking and privacy. Apple's .Mac service has already genuisly enabled its customers to do all of this from the desktop, since the vast majority of podcasters are on a mac, this may be the ideal choice.  Google, MSN's Live Space and Yahoo are taking their already built in tools for photos and email and turning them into media experiences for their user to all do the same thing.  Podcasting will fall right into place and you won't even realize it.

In the world of comics and entertainment, its not very easy to know which podcasts are the good ones and which ones are a waste of bandwidth. Recourses for finding a podcast are still sparse. Between a few blogs and the occasional forum discussion, listeners' options are basically iTunes directory and Google. 

For instance, listening to David Hopkin's audio commentary of his popular mini-series, Karma Incorporated, was really entertaining.  Just as those commentaries you find available on DVD's, David spoke about aspects of the comic that the reader might not have known and while it certainly wasn't required to enjoy the mini-series, David's hints and homages to the nostalgic Dallas that he remembers painted the background of the comic which gave the reader a lot more to appreciate. 

Luckily, one feature of most podcasts is the built-in network that podcasters share.  They seem to know each other and support each other.  You might hear one podcaster refer another during the show or play a clip to share with his or her listeners.  And that is a great way to learn about other shows too, they make recommendations about other shows worth listening to. 

And the bad podcasts? First let me say that people who podcast are great. People who go to the trouble of making or participating in podcasts are actually taking a step beyond expressing their opinion. They are stepping from behind their fancy avatars and handles to be more accountable to the world. Most of them use their real names, and speak frankly about themselves and their thoughts. The listener gets a great sense of who they truly are. So it doesn't really matter which podcast you decide upon; it's a winner.

My goal for this article was to not only find the best of the best for a subject I was interest in, but evaluate the experience in finding them.  Only knowing of a few comic podcasts, I ventured out into the "googlerealm" to find who's doing what and rated them on the following criteria:
1. content
2. personality
3. audio quality
4. accessibility
5. referral

Obviously, content and personality are a gimme, but audio quality is surprisingly a huge factor in the podcast I evaluated.  The debate between mono and stereo is still open; not to mention bit rate and sample rate.  Accessibility refers to how I listened to the podcast.  Could I subscribe to it via iTunes or did I have to download each individual episode?  And referral is how I found it.  By the end of my evaluations, I had subscribed to almost every known comic podcast I could get my hands on.  Some weren't listed but recommended, others were right there in the iTMS directory.

One more thing, podcasts featured on this site are not eligible for this list. But, I recommend them and you should subscribe. And also, I picked these ones out almost a month ago. If I am inaccurate about these podcasts by the time this article gets published, I dunno... maybe I'll wright an addendum.

So, without further ado, here are my top five picks for the best of the best, the comicest of the comicest.

Top five comic podcasts

5. The Uncanny X-Cast - Starting out in fifth place are two guys who love the X-men.  Rob and Brian are both fans of our mighty mutants and each episode talks about what is happen in the all of the x-books.  Having wiki-like knowledge of the X-men history isn't required in order to enjoy this podcast either.  Both Brian and Rob are big fans but clearly not the elitist zealots one may find debating behind a counter at your typical local comic shop.  And if you think covering only one aspect of the Marvel Universe make for a small topic, remember all the current titles out there including Wolverine.  X-men have a lot of history and each X-cast episode is like a guide to help figure out who's who and what side they're on and their origin.  The best part of this podcast: they read Wolverine Origins for you.
Pros: Great topic with lots of history to cover.
Cons: New podcast still learning timing and transitioning.
Summary: Comic podcast develops secondary mutation.
Url: http://uncannyxcast.blogspot.com

4. Birds Of Geek - The premise is simple enough, two girls chatting about comics.  What's different is that this podcast takes place both here and in the UK.  Strictly speaking from a nerd perspective, I love that.  But what sold me was how casual and frank they were, the type on conversation one would accidentally overhear rather than what you would expect with a microphone being involved. Amy (UK) and Denise (the "States") came decided there should be more than just one comics podcast by women and hooked up via Skype for what has turned out to be an international hit.  There are only a few episodes so far and there was already a hard drive crash involved, but hopefully all the kinks have been worked out and we can look forward to many more fun episodes to come.
Pros: Fun round table with the occasional guest.
Cons: A couple of snags, but so far so good.
Summary: Brits read comics as well as write them.
Url: http://birdsofgeek.libsyn.com

3. Comic Book Noise - Derek Coward, father of four, got inspired one day and just decided to make a podcast.  He started out with a music review but it evolved into a full fledged comic book review with re-occurring guest podcasters, Tim Terrell and Mike Myers. The episode I downloaded was a pro-registration argument ala devil's advocate.  The pro-registration argument (the side of Iron Man) in this episode was not only funny, Derek was basically... correct.  A lot of work goes into making this podcast.  It's the only podcast to even bother playing excerpts from previous shows.  That's called homework.  Comic Book Noise does not have the best sound quality.  There is too much background noise and an annoying beep every now and again, but the show holds together all the same.
Pros: Good insight and pacing, obvious thought without the typical thumbs-up/thumbs-down commentary.
Cons: The audio quality loses some points but doesn't distract from the content.
Summary:  A labor of love that belongs on everyone's playlist.
Url: http://www.comicbooknoise.com

2. Fanboy Radio - Yes, this is literally a radio show.  Every Sunday and Wednesday, Scott and Oliver along with Britta and Sean and the others (we know who really runs the show) put together a great line up of guests and discussion.  The big factor that sets them apart from other podcasts: callers.  While podcasts can play voice mail and have reader responses, when a show features a guest like Mark Millar, callers change up the show dramatically from what would be just another conversation.  It isn't in stereo which makes for a fast download, but the audio quality is perfect for voice.
Pros: Good comedy with an elite and diverse guest lineup.
Cons: Stuck within FCC rules.
Summary: A must listen if you aren't in range.
Url: http://www.fanboyradio.com

1. I Read Comics - The number one comics podcaster in the world is *gasp* a girl!  Unlike most comic experts who tend to make their points based on the laws of Universe 616, Lene Taylor's point is a simple one: women are readers too and men tend to forget that.  If you don't believe me, just listen.  Women read comics and create comics and yet the industry is still considered to be geared for men.  Lene's interviews with such talents as the Lea Hernandez truly celebrates women on both sides of the pen.  I do believe that this is also the only podcast with exclusive original music.  Sure, it's advant garde but  But Lene isn't just a single issue commenter.  I Read Comics is about good comics, classic comics, cool anime and manga too.  Imagine that!
Pros: Insightful resource about women and the comic book industry.
Cons: Might actually challenge listeners.
Summary: Put down you're t&a issue for once and listen to a real woman.
Url:http://ireadcomics.blogspot.com


Chris Williams is the web designer for this site and Zeus Comics, Alluvus.com and others. His skin is uncomfortably white.