WHO ARE THE “NINE PANEL NERDS”?
Dave Kraus: Known as “The Host.” Dave’s been a lifelong comic book, movie, science-fiction, and horror fan. He’s always wanted to share his love of all things nerdy with an audience, and after a fairly long career in professional broadcasting he created Nine Panel Nerds to do just that. He records, edits and produces the show each week. He plans on podcasting for as long as he can with an exceptional group of people. (In the meantime, he’ll settle for the group he does the ‘cast with now.)
Scott Prentice (a.k.a. “Clerk”): In the mid-20th century, Scott appeared fully formed on a hill and quickly discovered he had an aptitude for clerking of all sorts. After many years hawking hardware and VHS tapes, he finally gravitated to selling four-color ephemera nerd paraphernalia. His interests include obsessing about Gilligan’s Island and reading about whoever is the most recent in his long line of celebrity crushes.
Luke Foster: The mysterious yet popular Luke made his first appearance at Buried Under Comics over a decade ago. He loves reading comic books from Marvel, DC, and numerous small publishers, and is always willing to try something new. (Especially if it’s British.) In addition to appearing on this podcast and fighting evil, Luke is also a stand-up comedian who can be seen all over Connecticut, Massachusetts, and sometimes New York. In case all that wasn’t enough for you, Luke even writes and draws his own webcomic, Moon Freight 3!
Lita Rebello: Lita is the youngest member of the Nine Panel Nerds family. She’s been reading comics off and on since she was ten, and has seen almost every single comic-turned-movie on its opening weekend. You can usually find her attached to her rock star boyfriend (Marc), working on costumes for conventions, beating up one of her fellow panelists, and stealing Chaelyn’s catchphrases.
Marc DiPietro: What can we say, people, all the rumors you’ve heard are true. Marc is the resident Sicilian thug, and also Luke’s designated “Man-Pretty-Wingman” (even though he recently chopped off his rockstar hair). He’s also our Spider-Man, Nightwing, and Grendel expert, and is a walking encyclopedia on most comic and rock ‘n’ roll history. Just never approach him with a jar of change, or you’ll see his mean streak come out real quick!
Brian Kozicki: Brian is our Imperious Leader, often hidden in the shadows, and the owner of Buried Under Comics. A running gag on our show are the various adventures he has that prevent him from recording with us. In his own words, Brian is “overworked, underappreciated and grossly underpaid.” ‘Nuff said!
SPECIAL GUESTS:
Brian Cross: He’s our resident video game and manga guru, and always goes by his last name. Cross read comics for over two decades, but that’s dropped off in recent years due to exorbitant cover prices and continually declining story quality. His opinions tend to run counter to the rest of the panel, but someone needs to be the odd man out. The other panelists have given Cross the nickname “Captain Sunshine” due to his outlook on life. (If you can’t get enough of his opinions on the show, be sure to read his blog full of them, Text and Violence.)
Chaelyn Lombardo: Aside from being Cross’ girlfriend (yes, there’s someone who can actually put up with him on a daily basis), Chae provides a second female voice to support Lita in the testosterone-fest that is Nine Panel Nerds. Plus, Chae’s the only one of the group who is not a nerd, so she brings in objective opinions on our various topics. (Like bringing balance to the Force, but with less killing.)
