By Brad and Lisa Gullickson
Attempting to stake your claim on YouTube in 2026 is as daunting as it is ordinary. New content floods the platform every second. Channels come and go, rapidly. Trying to contribute feels absurd and rather vulnerable, but that’s exactly what we’re doing with the Comic Book Couples Counseling channel, and the new comic creator video series, The Stacks.
Last year, we published seven episodes with nine comic book creators (well, seven creators if you don’t include the episode starring us, although we did publish our first comic, “The ADHD P.I.” in Scott Morse’s anthology This Ink Runs Cold — another plug snuck in here — eeee, squeamish and weak, we are). In The Stacks season one, we heard from Chip Zdarsky, David Brothers, Sanford Greene, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Steve Anderson, and Chris Condon. They all stood in front of “The Stacks,” that is, the densely packed shelves within the iconic local comic book shop Third Eye Comics in Annapolis, Md.
The first-season videos range from just under five minutes to nearly twenty minutes. In each one, a comic creator pulls a handful of books off the shelves and explains their personal or historical significance. Naturally, Chip Zdarsky pours some lavish praise upon Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s Daredevil: Born Again. Sanford Greene pays respect to the king, Jack Kirby. Chris Condon implores the criminally curious to crack open Darwyn Cooke’s Parker graphic novels.
In The Stacks, the classics get the love they demand, in the same way that movies like Seven Samurai, 8 1/2, and Citizen Kane get theirs in the Criterion Closet videos when filmmakers like Denis Villeneuve or Ryan Coogler pay a visit to those hallowed shelves. Cinema has always had legions willing to gush over the greats, financially supporting websites, channels, and influencers to drone on and on about movies. And we personally devour the Criterion Closet and other shows where filmmakers are given space to celebrate the shoulders upon which they stand.
Where the hell was that platform for comics?
To answer the question, we made The Stacks. Each episode, so far, is shot at Third Eye Comics. They were the obvious spot for us. One, they’re relatively local (we drive about an hour to get there). Two, they’re owned and staffed by some of the biggest comic book geeks we’ve ever encountered. Three, they host epic signings routinely. Nearly every episode of The Stacks season one was shot either before or after a Third Eye event. Four, co-owner Steve Anderson loved The Stacks concept and even became a subject for an episode.
Also, just like the Criterion Closet, where someone might find an off-kilter title like Armageddon or The Brood to commemorate, a cat like Chris Condon will grab something kooky and delicious like Jonathan Case’s Dear Creature, a comic book for proper comic book lovers. That’s a book that needs a little shine on it in 2026. It’s a comic about connection, or the struggle for it, and attempting that bond through art. Those who know, know, and more people need to know. Chris Condon and The Stacks to the rescue.
Too often, comic book conversation is driven by the publicity engine. So and so has a new comic coming out; it’s time for them to appear on as many podcasts as possible to discuss it. Our show, Comic Book Couples Counseling, is part of that machine, and we like to think we find means to discuss these projects in ways others don’t, helping us better understand our natures as well as those of everyone around us. That’s the story’s purpose. You look into it and see yourself, or glimpse a perspective shared by another.
However, it’s important to step away from the machine, too. It’s essential to look backward as well as forward, and it’s valuable for creators to discuss works they did not have a hand in creating. The Stacks gives Chip Zdarsky a chance to explain how Daredevil: Born Again influenced his Daredevil run and how Darwyn Cooke gave him the courage to pursue comics-making as a viable profession. It allows Zdarsky a moment to reflect on the young man he was when his mind was blown by Hellblazer and a Swamp Thing who could embiggen John Constantine’s birthday marijuana.
We took a sixth-month hiatus after completing the first seven episodes, but The Stacks season two is already up and running, and we’re not planning on stopping anytime soon. Our Jim Rugg episode premiered a few days ago, and the excitement around his Stacks selections (”Maybe the greatest juxtaposition in the history of comics: from Daniel Clowes’s Eightball to Lobo!”) has already stirred hundreds of comments online.
The Stacks will release every Tuesday going forward. Next week, we have Rodney Barnes (30 Days of Night: Falling Sun), and the week after that, Joshua Williamson (Superman, Iron Man). From there get ready for Stacks videos by Frank Barbiere (Five Ghosts), Morgan Beem (The Author Immortal), Tyler Boss (You’ll Do Bad Things), Jorge Corona (Lobo), Nick Dragotta (Absolute Batman), Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luthor Strode), Matthew Rosenberg (We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us), and Sarah Myer (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures).
For the first time ever, we’ll be leaving Third Eye Comics and traveling across the pond, where Christian Ward (Event Horizon: Dark Descent) will film his Stacks at the Chester, England-based shop, Secret Identity Comics. Third Eye Comics will always be home to The Stacks, but there are opportunities to take this video series on the road and showcase what other environments have to offer.
We’re already dreaming about The Stacks: San Diego Comic-Con Edition.
Follow The Stacks via the Comic Book Couples Counseling YouTube channel
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