Jeff Parker Part 2 X-Men First Class 4Chan and More !

Download The MP3 Here We continue our 2 part conversation with Marvel writer Jeff Parker. Jeff discusses his 2010 Oni book with Steve Lieber UNDERGROUND, and how a leaked pdf of the book at 4chan ended up being a positive publicity happening resulting in new readers and sales for the overlooked project. We also discuss the X-Men First Class Film, and Jeff's minor advisory involvement, more Thunderbolts talk including future guest stars and more on Man-Thing's unique role on the team. We discuss the old guard of comic creators like Alex Toth, Al Williamson and Burne Hogarth . The Will Eisner documentary . Adventure comic strips like Steve Canyon, Rip Kirby, Prince Valiant, and Flash Gordon from old and current creators Milton Cannif, Hal Foster, Alex Raymond, Mark Schultz and Gary Gianni . We talk about fantasy books, from The Harry Potter and Percy Jackson books, to The Hobbitt and disgraced author James Frey's I Am Number Four . Plus loads of old movie talk. From the implausibility of Dean Martin making good westerns, (Rio Bravo & Bandolero) to the best John Ford films like The Searchers, The Last Hurrah, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance .

Jeff Parker Part 1 and The Word Balloon Hotline Debuts!

Download The MP3 Here

In Part One Jeff talks about The Red Hulk, his new direction for the Thunderbolts, and we look back at the wrap up to The Agents Of Atlas. We discuss the story contributions from Jeff's collaborators Gabe Hardman, Kev Walker and Declan Shalvey. Jeff also previews his new web comic with Erika Moen called BUCKO, which debuts Feb 1st http://www.buckocomic.com/

Plus we debut the Word Balloon Hotline, and start taking your weekly calls about the comic book news, past guests and any questions you have about the show. To make a call for a future episode, call 312-841-7025.

Paul Kupperberg On Archie and The Death Of Miss Grundy

Download The MP3 Here

Paul Kupperberg joins us to talk about my favorite book in 2010. Life With Archie, The Married Life. In 2009 Archie Comics finally addressed the possibilites of what would happen if Archie chose Veronica over Bettty and visa versa, but the Michael Uslan mini series was only the beginning.

Archie The Married Life is a straight up soap opera without ever losing the Archie charm and sentiment. Oldtime characters are at the same time true to their Riverdale roots, while facing adult problems that are heavier than who’s going to the dance Saturday night. One of the Archie regulars even passed away in the December issue. But despite the drama there’s still plenty of humor and satirical nods to modern pop culture that make this a great read month in and out.

We talk about Paul’s succsess taking over the adult Archie storyline, and the publisher’s fearless embrace of the modern comics era. From digital day and date release of brand new monthlies simultaneous with the direct store market at half the paper price, and the promise of more new titles and experimentation with the Archie brand.

We also look back at some of Paul’s memorable stories and characters at DC Comics, from killing Aquababy, and Vigilante, to creating Checkmate and Arion, Lord Of Atlantis. Arion fans may also enjoy Paul’s latest e-books through Buffalo Avenue Books and Smashwords: Two Tales Of Atlantis and the anthology collection In My Shorts plus you'll hear about his stint as editor of the Weekly World News .

The Word Balloon Hotline Is Now Open !

It had to happen...The Word Balloon Hotline is opened for your questions and comments. Calls will be played on the podcast. Please try to keep it brief, you only get 3 minutes to record your thoughts .

Cracking The Inner Circle Of Brad Meltzer's Decoded

Download The MP3 Here Author Brad Meltzer is back to discuss his brand new novel

The Inner Circle which uncovers the details behind George

Washington's secret intelligence organization created during

the Revolutionary War and in service during his time as President.

Was the organization disbanded, ordoes it continue today?

We also talk about the fine points behind his new History

Channel program, Brad Meltzer's Decoded. The show's

format is part documentary, part reality show, part mystery

solving, with a very entertaining narrative. Brad talks about the challenges of creating a television series in today's

competitive market. Plus we look back at his run on Dark Horse Comics Buffy

The Vampire Slayer penultimate arc TWILIGHT, which

revealed season eight's Big bad, and set the stage for Joss

Whedon's finale.

The 2010 Word Balloon Annual

Download The MP3 Here Some words of wisdom from a number of Word Balloon guests from 2010 episodes. Their thoughts not only focus on some of the biggest stories of 2010, they provide perspective on the year to come. Featuring Brian Bendis, Greg Rucka, Steve Englehart, Jeph Loeb, Mark Millar, Ed Brubaker Robert Kirkman, Jimmy Palmiotti, Matt Fraction and many more .