Word Balloon Comics Podcast

Before there was the Marvel Universe… before Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four changed everything in 1961… there was Atlas Comics. It was the 1950s — the so-called “lost decade” for Marvel. The superheroes were gone. In their place came monsters, crime, westerns, romance, and science fiction. But inside those pages, you could already see the DNA of what was coming next. From artists like Jo...

Welcome back to Word Balloon! Today, we’re diving deep into the Star Trek universe with one of its most accomplished storytellers — David Mack. You know his work from the Deep Space Nine episodes “Starship Down” and “It’s Only a Paper Moon”, two fan-favorite installments that captured the show’s emotional depth and moral complexity. Since then, Mack’s become one of Star Trek’s defining novelists —...

Today on Word Balloon, I’m talking with two legends of Disney TV animation—Greg Weisman, the creator of Gargoyles, and Tad Stones, the mind behind Darkwing Duck. They’re teaming up for the first time in decades for a brand-new crossover comic series — Gargoyles / Darkwing Duck, debuting this January from Dynamite Entertainment. We’ll dig into how this unlikely mash-up came together, what it’s like...

Today, we’re heading off-world — straight into the events of Marvel’s massive Imperial Cosmic Epic, as the Green Goliath of Law gets a brand-new chapter in Planet She-Hulk. Writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Aaron Kuder join me to break down how Jennifer Walters finds herself at the heart of an intergalactic power struggle — torn between the laws of a reformed empire and the raw fury that made h...

In this Scene Missing episode, John Siuntres joins Wayne Mousseau and Mitch Hallock to dissect the newly unearthed Director’s Cut of the infamous 1990 Captain America film. Long dismissed as a curious relic of pre-MCU comic-book cinema, this version restores nearly 20 minutes of footage, deepening the Cold War paranoia and emotional stakes that the theatrical release fumbled. The trio dives into h...

On this episode of Kinescope, John Siuntres, Jeff Parker, and Gabriel Hardman spotlight the remarkable live television work of Boris Karloff — best known as Hollywood’s original Frankenstein Monster but equally commanding on the small screen. From the tense anthology dramas of the early 1950s to his chilling appearances on Studio One, Westinghouse Studio One, Climax!, Suspense, and The United Stat...

On this episode of To the Outer Limits, John Siuntres is joined by Gabe Hardman, William J. Meyer, Ian Brill, Jeff Parker, and Ande Parks for a lively and insightful discussion of the 1964 episode “Soldier.” Written by Harlan Ellison and directed by Gerd Oswald, this hard-edged science fiction story follows a genetically bred warrior from a future war who’s accidentally transported back to 20th-ce...

On this episode of To the Outer Limits, John Siuntres is joined by Gabe Hardman, William J. Meyer, Ian Brill, Jeff Parker, and Ande Parks for a deep-dive discussion of the classic 1964 episode “Demon with a Glass Hand.” Written by Harlan Ellison and directed by Byron Haskin, this landmark story starring Robert Culp remains one of the series’ most haunting and influential hours. The panel unpacks t...

In this episode, I sit down with writer–artist Jeremy Haun, one of the most distinctive voices in modern comics, to talk about the evolution of his hit Image series The Beauty — the dark, provocative thriller about a sexually transmitted disease that makes its victims physically perfect… until it kills them. The book is now in production as an FX television series, and Jeremy shares behind-the-sce...

Here are the full radio episodes of my top 5 sci-fi clasisic dramas 

This Halloween, Word Balloon heads back to the golden age of radio for a special countdown of my Top 5 Sci-Fi Old Time Radio Show Adaptations — stories that defined cosmic horror and speculative imagination long before television ever caught up. We’ll explore chilling classics like Ray Bradbury’s “Mars Is Heaven” and “Zero Hour,” the unnerving double-life tale “Marionettes, Inc.”, the surreal myst...

Welcome back, everybody — it’s Word Balloon, the comic book conversation show. I’m your host, John Siuntres. Today, I’m catching up with one of the busiest and most inventive creators in comics right now — Tony Fleecs. You know him from his breakout hit Stray Dogs, and now he’s back building on that legacy with not one, but two killer new creator-owned projects — Feral and Uncanny Valley. Feral ta...

A Halloween Special... Welcome to Word Balloon Theater, where we bring classic radio and record drama back to life — only this time, I’m part of the cast. On this episode, we step into a smoky pool hall, straight out of a 1950s crime picture. I’m your host, John Siuntres, playing opposite one of Hollywood’s great voices — Don Ameche. You know Ameche from his Oscar-winning performance in Cocoon, hi...

On this episode of The To The Outer Limits, we review  “The Sixth Finger.”Joining me are storytellers Gabriel Hardman, Jeff Parker, and Ande Parks. t’s the story that dared to ask what happens when humanity fast-forwards its own evolution—and the answer, as usual, isn’t pretty. Starring a young David McCallum years before The Man from U.N.C.L.E., this 1963 classic turns the lab experiment trope in...

Before Watchmen shocked readers with the idea of a staged alien invasion meant to unite humanity, The Outer Limits had already explored that same chilling premise more than two decades earlier. “The Architects of Fear,” one of the series’ most haunting episodes, aired in 1963 at the height of Cold War anxiety. In it, a group of idealistic scientists concoct a desperate plan to save the world from...

Wayne and I discuss the story so far, plus wayne's take on Starflet academy's trailer and the SNW season 4 teaser 

In this Scene Missing panel, we dive deep into the 1972 made-for-TV movie Gargoyles — a cult classic that helped define the early wave of ’70s creature features. Joining the discussion are Gabriel Hardman, Jeff Parker, Ian Brill, and Allison Baker, each bringing their sharp insight into the film’s production, themes, and its influence on modern genre storytelling. The panel explores the film’s eer...

Comics writer and cartoonist Kyle Starks joins me to talk about his brand-new Image Comics series, Wrestle Heist — a wild blend of pro-wrestling spectacle and fast-paced crime caper energy. We get into how the idea came together, his trademark mix of humor and heartfelt chaos, and what makes this book stand apart from his previous creator-owned hits. Kyle also discusses his recent work writing Pea...

In part two, writer B. Clay Moore dives into his latest creator-owned projects — the gritty 1970s crime saga Last Flight Out of Wichita from DSTLRY, and the political-horror series Bloodland (Vampires in the White House) from Ignition Press. Plus Netflix is makinga John Cena movie based on Clay and Jeremy Haun's 2007 comic The Leading Man  Moore talks about chasing new stories, creative freedom, a...

In Part 1 of this in-depth conversation, writer B. Clay Moore reflects on his early years as the marketing director at Image Comics during the early 2000s — a pivotal era when the company was reinventing itself around a new wave of creator-owned talent. Moore discusses working behind the scenes with emerging voices like Rick Remender and Jonathan Hickman, and how Image’s independent spirit encoura...

In this 2022 discussion, editor and writer James Aquilone joined Word Balloon to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kolchak: The Night Stalker — the cult-classic TV franchise that helped define the modern supernatural investigator genre. Aquilone talked about the enduring influence of Darren McGavin’s Carl Kolchak, from The Night Stalker’s 1972 TV movie origins through its single-season series and...

In this 2021 Word Balloon conversation, acclaimed writer Ed Brubaker joins John Siuntres to discuss his Eisner-winning crime graphic novel Destroy All Monsters, the third volume in the Reckless series created with longtime collaborator Sean Phillips. Brubaker explains how Destroy All Monsters expands the world of 1980s Los Angeles through the eyes of Ethan Reckless, the one-man fixer caught betwee...

This week on Trek Watch, John dives into the latest developments from the Star Trek universe. We start with a breakdown and review of Star Trek: Khan — Ceti Alpha V Episode 6, analyzing how the story continues to chart Khan’s descent from visionary leader to vengeful exile. We look at the writing, performances, and how the series ties into both The Original Series and Wrath of Khan. Next, dissecti...

Acclaimed writer–artist David Lapham joins Word Balloon for an in-depth conversation about his decades in comics and the craft of visual storytelling. Lapham reflects on his early days at Valiant Comics, where he learned the fundamentals of pacing, clarity, and narrative economy under Jim Shooter’s mentorship — lessons that would shape his distinctive storytelling voice. He then traces the creatio...

In this episode, I catch up with writer–artist Mike Kunkel, the Eisner Award–winning creator of Herobear and the Kid. Mike talks about the new volumes of Herobear from Papercutz, revisiting his beloved, hand-drawn world of childhood wonder, imagination, and heroism — and how he’s bringing fresh emotional depth and visual storytelling to the series. We also get into his Capstone Books work with Kry...