COMIC NEWS INSIDER!

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I haven't used this blog in years. Go check out my long running podcast COMIC NEWS INSIDER

For some reason, my "About" page doesn't show. Here's the info:

I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and moved to New York City in 1994 to pursue the acting career. I left the biz around 2000 after my last national tour and immersed myself into the NYC bar scene. Bartending and bar managing for years.

Currently, I have been bartending at a cool spot in New York City for several years.

As a full time actor, singer and dancer, I performed in numerous regional and national touring productions and made my NYC debut in TURANDOT and MATHIS DER MALER with The New York City Opera. I also had such roles as "Woof" in HAIR (30th Anniversary Production), "Chris Perez" in SELENA FOREVER (Nat'l tour), and "The Kralahome" in THE KING AND I (Westchester Broadway). Other productions include JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, WEST SIDE STORY, MACBETH, KING LEAR, and HENRY V.

Around 2005, I started doing sketch comedy with HOMEGROAN SKETCH COMEDY and began writing a lot more. Really dug that. The group is now defunct, but it inspired me to write more. 

Currently, I am co-host of COMIC NEWS INSIDER. A weekly podcast (since April 05) about the world of comic books, animation, sci-fi/fantasy and pop culture. Interviews with lots of comic book artists/writers, actors, directors, producers, editors, publishers, musicians, and big time celebs as well!

I had my first published comic book work out in June 09. (6 pages in an anthology from Slave Labor Graphics called Fat Chunk Vol. 2: Zombies).

In 2011, I became the Pop Culture Contributing Editor at Stated Magazine interviewing many artists including Michael Emerson, Frisky & Mannish, Emily Hagins, Frankie Boyle, Ben Templesmith, Qui Nguyen, Natali Morris and more!

For more info/social media links:
https://linktr.ee/JimmyAquino


Comic News Insider Episode 1602-1610? - FCBD Random Reads!

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Comic News Insider: Episode 1610 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Reviews: All In 2025 Special Edition #1, Conan: Scourge of the Serpent #1, Fantastic Four/Giant-Size X-Men #1, Speed Racer #0, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures/Avatar: The Last Airbender #1,Disney Stitch! #1

It's a Free Comic Book Day review special! Jimmy chose 6 random FCBD books to review. Some good lead ins into their upcoming series. But what's with the numbering of the episode? 1602-1610? What does it mean? Technically, this is episode 1610. Jimmy explains the number skip from last episode to this one. Trust! It makes sense. Did you check out any FCBD books? Which was your fave? 

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Jimmy's Socials: Instagram/Bluesky

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Comic News Insider Episode 1601 - Kathleen Kim (Sesame Street's Ji-young)!

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Comic News Insider: Episode 1601 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Jimmy sat down with famed Sesame Street puppeteer Kathleen Kim! Kathleen is the voice/puppeteer for the first Asian-American puppet on Sesame Street, Ji-young. They talked about how she got into puppetry, her early love of muppets, working with Awkwafina, how she finds her character voices, growing up Korean-American, fave foods, K-pop and so much more! A delightful, fun and laid back conversation. Thanks to Kathy for taking the time! 

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Jimmy's Socials: Instagram/Bluesky

Thanks for listening!


Comic News Insider Episode 1600 - Remembering the Early Podcasting Years w/ Charlito (Indie Spinner Rack)!

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Comic News Insider: Episode 1600 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Jimmy and Producer Joe celebrate their 1600th episode w/ a long and fun talk! They chat about favorite moments and guests, current likes in comics/TV/film/streaming and more. Old pal Charlie LaGreca aka Charlito of the former awesome Indie Spinner Rack  joins us for the last 30 minutes to reminisce about the early days of podcasting, the podcast arena that CNI ran at New York Comic Con, live recordings, etc. Lots of laughs and great memories. 

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Jimmy's Socials: Instagram/Bluesky

Thanks for listening!


Comic News Insider Episode 1599 - Top 3 Multiplied!

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Comic News Insider: Episode 1599 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Jimmy and Producer Joe have some recommendations for you! Joe's are eclectic and awesome as always. Jimmy's are of course also great! All good stuff for you to check out. A cool mix of books, comics, TV, film and music. Give them a shot if you're interested! You just might like them as much as we do. 

Also, get a hold of us!

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Comic News Insider

Jimmy's Socials: Instagram/Bluesky

Thanks for listening!


Comic News Insider Episode 1598 - Ooh! More Comic Book Reviews!

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Comic News Insider: Episode 1598 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Reviews: Absolute Flash #1-2, GI Joe: Silent Missions - Beachhead/Jinx/Roadblock/Spirit, Golden Rage: Mother Knows Best #1, Vatican City #1

Jimmy does some catch-up on some comic books. We get superheroes, soldiers, bad ass older ladies and vampires. What a mix! Does Absolute Flash continue the awesomeness of the great new line from DC? Do the GI Joe silent issues work? Why are vampires at the Vatican? Tune in to find out. Did you check any out? Let us know. 

Also, get a hold of us!

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Comic News Insider

Jimmy's Socials: Instagram/Bluesky

Thanks for listening!


Comic News Insider Episode 1597 - Wow! More TV/Streaming Reviews!

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Comic News Insider: Episode 1597 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Reviews: Andor s2 premiere, Black Mirror s7, Daredevil: Born Again s1, Doctor Who s15 premiere, The Last of Us s2, Lazarus s1, Super Duper Bunny League series premiere, The Wheel of Time s3.

Jimmy does some catch-up on TV/streaming shows and boy howdy are some of them heavy! But some are lighter which balances it all out. Does Andor season 2 hold up to season 1? Does it matter what order you watch Black Mirror in? And that 2nd episode of The Last of Us has us all reeling! Did you check any out? Let us know. 

Also, get a hold of us!

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Jimmy's Socials: Instagram/Bluesky

Thanks for listening!


Comic News Insider Episode 1596 - KICx: Peter Rostovsky!

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Comic News Insider: Episode 1596 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Jimmy went up to Kingston, NY to attend the 2nd annual Kingston Independent Comic Expo (KICx)! Producer Joe produces it with friends Cris Livecchi & Kevin Michael Rowe. It's held in a small spot in a church w/ over 40 exhibitors. Jimmy got 4 interviews with the likes of Jeremy Holt, Annie Dwyer, Jonathan Baylis and Peter Rostovsky. In this episode, you'll hear Peter Rostovsky. In a long overdue conversation, Jimmy talks to Peter about his graphic novel Damnation Diaries, growing up in Russia (and Jimmy's visit to Russia in his late teens), how comics are like a film with subtitles and more. A bit lengthy but super fun chat! 

Also, get a hold of us!

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Comic News Insider

Jimmy's Socials: Instagram/Bluesky

Thanks for listening!


Comic News Insider Episode 1595 - KICx: Jonathan Baylis!

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Comic News Insider: Episode 1595 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Jimmy went up to Kingston, NY to attend the 2nd annual Kingston Independent Comic Expo (KICx)! Producer Joe produces it with friends Cris Livecchi & Kevin Michael Rowe. It's held in a small spot in a church w/ over 40 exhibitors. Jimmy got 4 interviews with the likes of Jeremy Holt, Annie Dwyer, Jonathan Baylis and Peter Rostovsky. In this episode, you'll hear Jonathan Baylis. Jonathan talks about his comic series So Buttons, his recent discovery that he is from Japanese heritage and a possible upcoming graphic novel based on that discovery. Always a great time catching up with Jonathan!

Come back early next week for the interview with Peter. 

Also, get a hold of us!

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Comic News Insider

Jimmy's Socials: Instagram/Bluesky

Thanks for listening!


Comic News Insider Episode 1594 - KICx Recap! Interviews w/ Jeremy Holt & Annie Dwyer!

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Comic News Insider: Episode 1594 is now available for free download! Click on the link or follow on Spotify/subscribe on iTunes!

Jimmy went up to Kingston, NY to attend the 2nd annual Kingston Independent Comic Expo (KICx)! Producer Joe produces it with friends Cris Livecchi & Kevin Michael Rowe. It's held in a small spot in a church w/ over 40 exhibitors. Jimmy got 4 interviews with the likes of Jeremy Holt, Annie Dwyer, Jonathan Baylis and Peter Rostovsky. In this episode, you'll hear  Jeremy and Annie. Jeremy talks about a recent project put on hold that will come to fruition soon, dream IP to work on and we share our thoughts on Ted Lasso. Annie talks about her online comics, creating art through hard times and her upcoming graphic memoir. All great chats. Thanks to all for taking the time. 

Come back later this week for the interview with Jonathan and early next week for the interview with Peter. 

Also, get a hold of us!

Email

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Comic News Insider

Jimmy's Socials: Instagram/Bluesky

Thanks for listening!


Happy 20th Anniversary, COMIC NEWS INSIDER!!!

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Happy 20th anniversary to us! On April 13th, 2005, the very first episode of Comic News Insider was put out into the wild. We went weekly in 2006 and haven't looked back since. Thanks to Producer Joe Gonzalez (original co-host) for starting it all. It's the most fun hobby I've ever had and I will continue to do this for as long as I can. Thanks to the thousands of listeners over the years for tuning in. We appreciate you more than you know. Big gratitude to the hundreds of CNI guests for taking the time to chat with us. So much love to all of the friends who have co-hosted, sent in reviews, sang at anniversary recordings, did interviews for us, volunteered at our NYCC table back in the Podcast Arena days, showed mountains of support and so much more!

We're going to try to celebrate with a live recording w/ guests perhaps some time in May. Stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, stop by comicnewsinsider.com each week for more of your nerdy goodness! Here's to us! 

- Jimmy Aquino (Host/Producer)