Word Balloon Comics Podcast

All aboard for a brand-new podcast that dives headfirst into smooth seas, wild guest stars, and peak pop-culture chaos. E-Motion Sickness: A Love Boat Re-Watch is hosted by John Siuntres and Franco from the Word Balloon Network, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: a loving, clear-eyed, occasionally seasick revisit of The Love Boat, episode by episode.

This isn’t just a recap show. Each episode breaks down the guest stars, the bonkers storylines, and the real-world pop-culture moments happening the very week each episode originally aired. If you’ve ever wondered why this episode feels like 1978 in human form, this podcast has answers.

In the debut episode, the guys start where the series itself stumbled: the two misfire pilot TV Movies, featuring different captains, different crews, and a show still trying to figure out what it even is? 

The results? Absolute Madness. Highlights include:
A shirtless Gabe Kaplan aggressively pursuing a swimsuit model
Don Adams attempting to murder Florence Henderson
And Hope Lange Seducing Lyle Waggoner to get even with her husband Robert Reed 
Before The Love Boat became comfort food television, it was a weird, experimental, celebrity-stuffed fever dream, and E-Motion Sickness is here to chart that journey, one questionable cruise at a time.

So grab a drink with an umbrella, brace for turbulence, and join John and Franco as they set sail into TV history. Bon voyage...and try not to lean over the rail.

Today we’re breaking down Starfleet Academy, Episode 3, the episode that really tells us what kind of show this wants to be. The training wheels are off, the characters are starting to lock into focus, and the series finally leans into its core question: what does it actually mean to earn the uniform in a post-Burn, post-myth Federation?

Wraslling with the finer points of the frat wars of the episode special guest Andy Price joins us.

Today on Word Balloon, we’re joined by one of the true originals of independent cinema, Lloyd Kaufman, the co-founder and driving force behind Troma Entertainment, the longest-running independent film studio in the world and the home of cult classics like The Toxic Avenger and Class of Nuke ’Em High.

For more than five decades, Lloyd has made movies completely on his own terms, low budget, high attitude, zero apologies. In this conversation, we talk about how Troma survived outside the Hollywood system, why embracing the underground still matters, what it really takes to stay independent, and how creativity thrives when you stop waiting for permission. This isn’t just a trip through cult-film history, it’s a master class in doing it yourself and sticking around long enough to prove it works

Taking a short break with ny voice and letting my colaborator and friend Eoin, host this edition of Word Balloon with an episode of his podcast Creator In Conversation.

On this episode of Creator in Conversation, we’re sitting down with two voices from very different ends of the comics spectrum-Eoin McAuley, the head of Lightning Strike Comics out of Ireland, and a true legend of the medium, Frank Miller.

This isn’t a nostalgia lap or a greatest-hits rundown. It’s a real conversation about storytelling, creative risk, influence, and how the medium keeps evolving,sometimes uncomfortably, sometimes brilliantly. We talk process, career arcs, the weight of legacy, and what it actually means to keep creating when expectations are sky-high and the industry never stops shifting.

Jeremy Haun joins Word Balloon for a timely, wide-ranging conversation about creator ownership, publishing independence, and the moment The Beauty is having right now. With The Beauty debuting this week as an FX/Hulu television series produced by Ryan Murphy, Jeremy breaks down how the show translates his original Image Comics series to the screen, what stayed true, what changed, and why those differences actually matter. It’s an honest look at adaptation, collaboration, and letting a story evolve without losing its core. 

From there, the conversation shifts to the launch of Ignition Press: why Jeremy helped build a new publisher, what gaps he sees in the current comics landscape, and how Ignition plans to support creator-owned projects from concept to long-term success. Jeremy is candid about the realities of adaptation, the lessons learned from The Beauty, and why betting on bold, creator-driven ideas is more important now than ever. If you care about where comics, TV, and creator ownership intersect, this episode hits the sweet spot.