Word Balloon Comics Podcast

For comic book fans, he's the voice of John Stewart, the Green Lantern, in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, and the title character in Static Shock. Animation fans know him as Hermes Conrad on Futurama and Samurai Jack.But Phil LaMarr's career goes well beyond the recording booth.He was an original cast member of MADtv, appeared in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, and has spent decades moving effortlessly between sketch comedy, live-action performances, and some of the most memorable voices in animation.In this conversation, originally recorded in May of 2020, we look back at Phil's remarkable career, the craft of voice acting, and the comedy and characters that have made him such a familiar presence in pop culture.

Today we're spending time with one of the great inkers in comic book history, Joe Rubinstein, whose incredible career spans more than five decades and includes collaborations with some of the biggest names in the business.Joe's work helped define the look of some of Marvel and DC's most memorable stories, including Frank Miller's groundbreaking Wolverine miniseries, his work with Jim Starlin on The Infinity Gauntlet, and his contributions to The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, where he inked an astonishing gallery of characters drawn by many of the industry's finest artists.But Joe is much more than an inker. He's a storyteller, an artist, a historian of the craft, and a guy who's never been shy about expressing his opinions on the comic book business.

We discuss The Studio One broadcast of George Orwell's 1984 from September 21, 1953, on CBS. Starring Eddie Albert, Norma Crane and Lorne Greene. We also talk about other film TV and radio adaptations of the novel.

Curt Pires is back on Word Balloon, and he's got a lot happening in the world of creator-owned comics.First, we're talking about his new Kickstarter project, The Objectivist, a dark psychological vigilante thriller with artist Alex Diotto that draws inspiration from Steve Ditko's uncompromising philosophy, The Question, Sin City, and Taxi Driver. It's the story of a man who decides to take justice into his own hands, armed with a hammer and a dangerously rigid worldview.Then there's Creature Corps, his new Image Comics series with artist JOK, debuting in December. Imagine the creature-battling craze of the '90s colliding with the brutal satire of The Boys. It's a world where monsters from the future have become the stars of a billion-dollar blood sport, and a former teenage champion is dragged back into the game.We'll also catch up on Curt's expanding fantasy universe at Image, including Lost Fantasy, with artist Luca Casalanguida, where a hidden world of magic and monsters threatens our reality, and Fireborn, co-written with Franklin Jonas and illustrated by Patrick Mulholland, which brings dragons, ancient magic, and superhero action into that same universe.Four ambitious projects, some fascinating creative collaborations, and plenty to discuss about building original comic book worlds in today's industry.

Back in 2015 , this was a great chance to talk with 2 TV writer producers who are at the top of live action television and animation. Both were at Long Beach Comicon that weekend and have great insight on the 2010s superhero tv explosionWriter- Exec Producer Marc Guggenheim talks about The CW's Arrowverse.  Given the success of both shows, it's no surprise that it was annouced this week that the characters Atom, Professor Stein and White Canary were being devolped for their own future CW TV series.NOTE- This conversation took place before the Legends Of Tomorrow announcement , but Marc did give insight about the success of introducing these new characters and in theory about expanding the DCU TV universe on The CW. Animation writer exec producer Greg Weissman looks back at Gargoyles, Young Justice, Spectacular Spider-Man, his current work with Star Wars Rebels, and the realities behind producing comic book/toy adaptaions for kids television.