Podcast: Kevin Smith’s Fatman On Batman

Writer and director Kevin Smith is an acquired taste, to be sure, and not everyone has warmed up to his stoned, sexually-obsessed, self-deprecating sense of humor. Smith earned his status as a cult icon with 1990s-era films like Clerks, Dogma, and Mallrats but has managed to eke out a living here in the new millennium on the cinematic fringes with even more idiosyncratic movies like Red State and the upcoming Yoga Hosers. Smith currently appears on the popular AMC TV series Comic Book Men, and has also written a handful of best-selling books, including 2012’s Tough Sh*t: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good.

Smith is also a prolific, pioneering podcaster, first launching his “SModcast” with friend and producer Scott Mosier in 2007 and expanding his efforts with the 2010 creation of the SModcast network. Today the network is home to Smith’s many podcasts like “Jay & Silent Bob Get Old” and “Hollywood Babble-On,” performed live with actor Ralph Garman, as well as the long-running “Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave” podcast featuring Comic Book Men’s Walt Flanagan and Brian Johnson, and Brian Quinn from the Impractical Jokers TV show.

The Reverend has to admit that I’ve been listening to a lot of Smith’s various podcasts while working long days here at the ConMedia world HQ, and while I regularly enjoy “Hollywood Babble-On” and others, my fave rave Smith pod is “Fatman On Batman.” While earlier episodes of the podcast focused on Smith’s superhero obsessions, the addition of writer and fellow comics authority Mark Bernardin has provided a welcome dimension to the (more or less) weekly program.

Smith’s geek bona fides are unassailable – he’s written stories on Batman, Daredevil, and the Green Arrow, among others, for Marvel and DC comics – and with “Fatman On Batman,” he gleefully lets his freak flag fly. Smith and Bernardin discuss TV, movies, and comics with a fanboy’s enthusiasm and a creator’s intelligence, making for a heck of a fun two hours. They offer a distinct perspective on the material and, if you’re a comics geek like the Rev, they provide intelligent commentary that you’re not going to get anywhere else. If you love the Flash, Batman, the Avengers, etc then you’ll probably enjoy “Fatman On Batman.”

Listen or Else: Fatman On Batman podcast