Beware The Fists Of Matt Fraction

Today's Word balloon podcast finds Host John Siuntres in conversation with writer Matt Fraction. They discuss Fraction's Marvel work on Punisher War Journal, The Immortal Iron Fist and his one shot specials, including the sixth issue of Young Avengers Presents, and a special featuring Thor and the Asgard Gods. Fraction also talked about the cancellation of his new team book The Order, drawn by Barry Kittson. Some quotes from Fraction on The Order, which ends with issue #10... "The writing was on the wall... but Marvel was very gracious letting us get off the stage the way we wanted to...it was a great opportunity working with Barry (Kitson), and I can't wait to work with him again." Here are some other highlights from the audio interview ... On Punisher War Journal. "We're going to get serious again with The Punisher The Kraven-Rhino-Vulture fun time arc is over... We're doing two one shots to lead into the jigsaw arc, Howard Chaykin will be doing the art... Punisher War Journal #16 is hands down my favorite comic he's done since he came back to comics...and he's sticking around for the Jigsaw/Lady Punisher arc, so I couldn't be happier." Matt is writing the 6Th Young Avengers Presents book. "It's about The Hawkeyes, Clint Barton and Kate Bishop, and will be drawn by Alan Davis. We finally get to see what happens when Hawkeyes collide." Fraction's upcoming Thor special... "These are Tales of Asgard... the cool thing about Ragnarok is there are survivors after the Apocalypse and the cycle continues until the next Ragnarok... the stories explore the different eras of the Norse pantheon ...We'll see what Asgard looks like in the past and the future and what it means to be Thor Odin and Loki these different eras. I hate elves on horseback. They put me to sleep. ...If you're like me and you hate Tolkien but love Frank Frazetta heavy metal album covers, then this is the Thor for you...Leave your D 20 at home, Nerdo, this is a different kind of Thor." The Immortal Iron Fist "The New Special will feature more adventures of Orson Randall The Iron fist of the 1920's & 1930's and the Confederates of The Curious... my god, I get to work with Russ Heath, I wrote a "Cowgirls at war" tribute sequence to his1970's National Lampoon work, and he delivered... Nick Dragota and Mike Allred are doing pages for it too, it's outstanding." On Casanova "The current arc ("When Is Casanova Quinn") goes to #14. Fabio (Moon) is just starting #13 and says it's the best script I've ever given him. #13 is cool because Casanova finally does show up, but in flashback scenes only.We'll see these scenes replayed but extended, and from a different perspective than the first time."