One of the best things to happen for comics fandom is the internet. Through the internet, like-minded fans can communicate with each other, or in some cases disagree, where in the real world there may be no one to share such thoughts with. Another innovation of the internet is the podcast. Through this new medium fans can listen to other enthusiasts discuss and review material or even hear from the creators themselves as they are interviewed. Many times that creator's voice is heard by the fans for the very first time! All possible through the miracle of the podcast. One outstanding podcast has separated itself from the pack in quality and credibility, and that is the Word Balloon podcast as conducted by John Siuntres. Some of you wil have listened to the Word Balloon podcast before, but now its time to turn the tables and put John in the hot seat.
A Voice for Radio
Jermaine: Listening to one of your podcasts, I can tell right away from your speech and intonation, that you have experience in the world of radio broadcasting. Talk to us a little bit about your background and media roots.
John: I've spent 23 years in radio starting at a small station in Bloomington, IL, and working my way up to the Chicago Market, where I've been since 1993. I've hosted music shows, but eventually found my way into sports-talk, where I hosted and was a reporter, mostly covering Pro Boxing. I also moonlighted as a fight reporter for Ring Magazine, and Boxing Illustrated.
Jermaine: Over the decades, have you had opportunity to interview any sports figures? Anyone that someone like me who does not keep up with sports too much will know?
John: I have interviewed such athletes as Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Tom Glavine, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Larry Holmes, Riddick Bowe, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar DeLay Hoya, Julio Cesar Chavez, Dick Butkus, Tommy Lasorda, Jake LaMotta, Archie Moore.
Jermaine: Wow. Yeah, I believe I have heard of some of those names.
John: I also enjoyed interviewing sports writers, including such sports luminaries as Roger Kahn, Budd Schulberg, Lester Munson, Rick Reilly, Rick Telander, and Bert Sugar.
Jermaine: While I was doing research to prepare, I stumbled upon another bit of information that people may not be aware of. You were nominated for an Emmy award. How did that come about?
John: My Emmy nomination was for a local CBS sports talk show, which had a Tonight Show style format. I was the sidekick “Ed McMahon/Andy Richter of the show, doing impersonations and skits. I hosted a "best of" retrospective which included me doing some funny characters in make-up to set up some of the clips, and I was nominated for "Best On-air Performance" in a sports show. I lost to our regular host.
Currently, my day gig is making commercials at an oldies station in Chicago. Frankly, I hope to soon be back in talk radio.
The Comics Fan
Jermaine: So John, what's your background in comics?
John: Just an enthusiastic fan, who likes reading the damn things.
Jermaine: I think that's obvious after the first couple minutes of any Word Balloon podcast. But let's dig deeper while I have you captive. How long have you been reading comics and which ones left impressions on you?
John: I've been reading comics since I was 4 years old, when my Dad taught me how to read. He knew comics would only make me a better reader, so I go back to the 12 cent days of comics.
While I was aware of the Marvel characters through their cartoons (Like the 1967 Ralph Bakshi Spider-Man & the Marvel Super Heroes Wheel), I was a DC reader.
I loved the obvious hero books, like JLA, Bats, Supes, GL & The Flash though proud to say I also remember really digging Deadman & The Spectre without being too scared.
Eventually Marvel caught my attention (I was around 11) and I really loved Cap, Spider-Man, Iron Man , The Invaders , The Avengers , Nick Fury & SHIELD (though not Sgt. Fury), Master Of Kung Fu, and the Marvel Doc Savage comics.
Jermaine: Excellent! Judging by the comics you named I can guess who some of your favorite creators must have been, but please name names.
John: My favorite creators were the DC super stars, Neal Adams, Denny O'Neil, Elliot S! Maggin, Cary Bates, Gil Kane, Mike Grell, Carmine Infantino, Joe Kubert , Mike Kaluta, Bernie Wrightson, Len Wein.
From Marvel Gene Colan, Jim Steranko, Roy Thomas, Don Glut, Frank Robbins, Kirby, Ditko, both Sal & John Buscema, Romita Sr., Doug Moench, Steve Englehart, Marv Wolfman, Paul Gulacy, Frank Brunner, and Herb Trimpe.
Jermaine: I have to say that I'm envious that you got to experience material from those creators straight off the stands when they were brand new. But that's what Masterworks, Essentials, and other reprint trades are for. How about today's comics scene? Do you read any new comics?
John: Too many. My current favorite books are Bendis' Avengers titles, everything Geoff Johns writes, Buffy, The Boys, Captain America, & Scalped.
I also like everything Brubaker, Fraction, & Rucka write, usually half of what Jeph Loeb writes, and half of what Ennis, Ellis, Morrison, & Millar write . Gail Simone & Christos Gage have my attention when they have new books coming out.
Jermaine: Yes, Christos Gage had my attention with the Civil War Captain America/ Iron Man one shot and is a name that a lot of people are coming to trust when they see it on a book.
John: I'm also a huge indie adventure fan of guys like Rick Remender, B. Clay Moore, Jay Faerber , Matt Kindt, and Nunzio De Fillipis & Christina Weir . Also Jen Van Meter (who should write a hell of a lot more).
Stay Tuned for The WORDBALLOON PODCAST
Jermaine: Just in case others out there are like me and not tech-savy, what is a podcast? How much editing and preparation goes into a podcast episode before its ready for the world to hear?
John: A podcast is an audio or video production, like a radio or tv show, created to be displayed on the net, just like a blog. "Pod-cast" became the term, due to the I-pod device having software conducive to downloading the mp3's onto them.
Personally, I like other mp3 players, and while I have iTunes, I don't like Apple's proprietary attitude towards mp3's and videos.
Jermaine: Is there additional equipment you use beyond the mp3 and about how long does it take on average to get a podcast arranged and posted online?
John: I have multi-track audio software that helps me record and edit my phone interviews . It usually takes me 3 hours to record, edit, and post my episodes.
Jermaine: Now that the technicals are out of the way, let's get right into it. What are the origins of the Word Balloon podcast?
John: My last talk radio job was at the sporting news radio network. At first I was doing a lot of national coverage of boxing, but in 2003, we got a new program director who didn't think much of boxing, so my on-air reporter work was drastically cutback.
I mostly worked as a behind the scenes segment and specials producer creating programs with others doing the hosting. I started to think of other ways I could keep my hand in hosting and reporting.
In late 2004, I started to make a video documentary about crime writers in Chicago , which included a comic book segment. My video guy flaked out on me, and the project went unfinished. I still had the raw video tapes, which included interviews with Max Allen Collins about Ms. Tree & Dick Tracy, and Brian Azzarello talking about 100 Bullets.
So in May of 2005, I decided to set up a website with audio mp3's of my interviews, and I would use my radio studio to conduct further phone interviews with creators. I thought comics were a good subject, that my bosses wouldn't feel was any "conflict of interest". I figured I could go to comic book message boards to promote my interviews. Five months in, a listener suggested I make the shows available via podcasts. It made sense, so in September I set up my first RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed.
Jermaine: Who were some of the early guests?
John: I first posted the Collins and Azzarello talks, along with my friend artist Doug Klauba, who was doing The Phantom covers for Moonstone Books.
Then Colleen Doran, B. Clay Moore, Jeff Parker, and Marc Andreyko, because I was intrigued by their indie work.
Early on, Mike Wieringo e-mailed me, because he had trouble downloading Jeff Parker's interview. That blew my mind. I immediately asked if he'd be on the show. After our recorded interview, he was amazingly kind, and really boosted my confidence and enthusiasm about doing these, because he said I was asking smart questions, and letting my guests speak.
I only had 'Ringo on my show once, but we stayed in touch via emails. I won't presume to call Mike a friend but I appreciated his encouragement, and feedback.
When he died last August, I mourned along with the rest of his fans and friends. I really regret not getting more chances to have had him on. He had a great perspective on the comics biz.
Getting Mike on led to me getting Mark Waid as a listener. Apparently, Andreyko enjoyed our talk, because he told Brian Bendis to listen.
Jermaine: So do you have to approach creators for podcasts? Or now that the Word Balloon podcast is known to be a quality presentation, do they come to you?
John: Both. Early on it was all me going to creator websites, finding their e-mail addresses, and me sending them a list of the folks I spoke to. By the 2005 Wizard Chicago show, I had done over 25 interviews, and made an mp3 CD that I handed out as business cards to creators I wanted on the show. Bendis, Rucka, Brubaker, Waid, Johns, Oeming, and 40 others all got my CDs.
Jermaine: That CD sounds like it was a great idea for exposure and it seems to have paid off because your program is definitely a known quantity in the industry now.
John: Luckily, my relationship with Newsarama.com has helped me get my name out there even more. Nothing delights me more than when I'm at a con introducing myself to a creator, and once I say "Word Balloon" they know who I am. J.M. DeMatties shocked me in NY in 2006, Loeb introduced me to Rob Liefeld at San Diego last summer, and he said 'Oh yeah, word balloon. I listen to your stuff." Dave Gibbons just emailed me last week, and said how much he enjoyed my interviews. I nearly crapped my pants.
Jermaine: An email from Dave Gibbons letting you know that he’s a listener would do that to anyone. Is there a creator that you've been after for a while, but has eluded you?
John: Jim Steranko is a good friend of Doug Klauba's and I've had the pleasure of spending some time with Jim, but he keeps me waiting.
Roy Thomas is always too busy when I try to get him. "I can give you 10 minutes." He's said that a few times in emails, but when I ask for at least 30 minutes, we just haven't been able to arrange a good time for him.
There are a few who just won't do audio interviews, which I respect, but hope they'll change their mind one day. Brian Wood was like that for years, until I finally conducted a panel of his this year at the FX con in Orlando , and now he's said he'd be happy to talk to me again.
There are a lot of obvious people I just haven't gotten to yet, but I will.
Jermaine: Have you done any podcasts directly from a con with live audience questions?
John: The FX con in Orlando has been gracious in letting me moderate some panels with Matt Wagner, Dan Brereton , Jill Thompson, Brian Wood , Brain Azzarello and others. It's a smaller con, so the audiences have been smaller, but each year there's more people, so I'm expecting a bigger turn out at next year's con.
Jermaine: What was the 24 Hour Podcast I heard about a while back?
John: My pal Chris Crank co-host of the Crankcast really wanted to do this, so he asked me and the guys from the Around Comics podcast to join him, Mike Norton, and a bunch of creators and pals to do this marathon podcast. I said 'why don't we stream it?", but Crank had his heart set on recording each hour and posting it.
Jermaine: That sounds insane! Had you done anything like that before?
John: Now, I've done marathon radio broadcasts as far back as in college radio, and when you're young it sounds like a blast...until you actually need content to fill it. That's when I decided to "pop in and out" four hours here, and four hours there, but I need and value my sleep.
I did get Bendis to do the 2am shift as a guest, which is nothing for Brian cause he's up all night. When the 4am trivia contest was becoming a trivia pissing match between me and the hyper-competitive Chris Taber, I knew it was time to go home :)
Jermaine: I don't know about anyone else, but I'd like to hear to a podcast with you talking to Rich Johnston of the Comic Book Resources rumor column, Lying In The Gutters.
John: There was a time I would have loved to talk to Rich, but I have to make sure it's cool with the Newsarama guys. Augie DeBliek is a good pal but again he's another CBR (Comic Book Resources) guy.
I also think it's kind of narcissistic for one comic web guy to talk to another. It's mostly my own weirdness, but really would people give a sh*t to hear one talk show guy talking to another? I had Scott Hinze on from Fanboy Radio, but that was to pay him back for publicizing my show . We got along very well and still are on great terms, but it felt strange to me while I was doing it.
Jermaine: I guess I can understand that. Perhaps Rob Liefeld or John Byrne? Just to give those creators a neutral ground to speak their minds. And I know many comic fans that would love a Dan Slott podcast.
John: Count on Liefeld when he's ready to release something new. Byrne and I have emailed each other, but haven't found that right date. Slott has been on, and I need to have him back.
Jermaine: You've talked with so many great professionals from the past and the present that we would otherwise not have a voice to go with the name we see inside the comics. I remember when I was younger seeing a picture of a creator was a big deal to me, now I have a voice to go with many of my favorites.
John: It's been my genuine pleasure and delight to talk to the silver and bronze age creators. These men and women were my childhood storytellers . What a thrill it was to tell Marty Pasko and Walter Simonson how much their take on Dr. Fate blew me away. Same goes for Ramona Fradon about Metamorpho, Neal Adams about Deadman & Batman. Denny O'Neil about Batman and The Question , Gene Colan about Cap and DD. My Mike Grell talk was another great thrill.
Jermaine: When you're doing a podcast with a current creator, do you ever worry about spoiling content that has not released yet or is that a sacrifice you're willing to make?
John: No. In fact I always allow my guests to "edit" themselves if they feel they've revealed too much. Personally, I get very annoyed when I hear other podcasters in an interview and they ask for spoilers. You can't have an entertaining interview without spoiling a story? Grow up! I'd rather read the stories as they come out then have sh*t spoiled for me.
Jermaine: Of current creators, who have been some of your favorite guests to run a podcast with so far? You and Bendis have a great dynamic that I could listen to forever. Same with Robert Kirkman.
John: Obviously, Brian Bendis . We seemed to have found a natural rapport very quickly. Rucka, Johns, Brubaker, Loeb, Fraction, Oeming, all of those guys clicked immediately. I agree, Kirkman was a great conversation, I just want to spread them out so we have new sh*t to talk about.
Jermaine: At one time Jinxworld.com featured a special thread where fans could ask any questions they wanted for a couple of days, the thread would get locked, and then Bendis would later post responses as soon as he was able to get to them. Whose idea was it to evolve the Jinxworld Q & A from an online text feature to a podcast and has it had a positive effect on Wordballoon's exposure to new listeners?
John: Brian and I did our first interview in late January of 2006. A few weeks later we both were at the New York Comicon, and I told him that we had 7000 unique downloads of our talk. He said "I have this q&a thread at my message board. It's kind of a pain to write out all the answers. Would you be interested in doing a q & a podcast that the Bendis boarders could participte in? Of course I jumped at the chance. More new fans still become listeners because of the Bendis Tapes.
Jermaine: I know that was where I first heard you and how you did things. Then I found more of your podcast and here we are today.
John: Seriously, Word Balloon owes a lot to Brian and the Bendis message board, because the Bendis Tapes really did put my podcast on the map.
Jermaine: I know it helped Acme Comics first-hand because a band traveling from the Pacific Northwest to N.C. for a gig came to my store specifically because they heard about it on a Bendis Tapes podcast. I sold one of the band members my copy of Absolute Planetary volume one that I had on hold because I was so flattered. Seemed like a good idea at the time!
You’re an old pro at it now, but initially what were the greatest challenges in putting together the first Bendis Tapes?
John: There's no challenge, it's just time consuming. Like I said, it takes 3 hours for an hour interview, and the Bendis Tapes has gone as long as 5 hours. It's gotten to the point where we stop after 3 hours and pick it up on another day.
Jermaine: Did you know what you would be in for when you started on the first one and saw the endless posts asking multiple questions each?
John: Neither of us thought we'd end up spending 3 plus hours going through these questions. Some are great questions that deserve a 5 minute answer. Some are very funny and we both laugh hard at them. Some aren't funny, and Brian and I sh*t on the poster. Then there are some that can get a little too verbose, and I'm ready to strangle the poster, while Brian delights in my anger. Plus because we do them in the middle of the night, so we both get slap happy. That's when the crazy stories come out, like Brian's Lou Ferrigno con encounters, or when he breaks out his Brian K. Vaughn impersonation.
Jermaine: Do you think we might get one more Bendis Tapes Q and A session this year?
John: I think we learned early on that these things are funny when they stay fresh. That's why we limit them to 3-4 times a year. Frankly the questions were getting redundant and also too many people trying too hard to be funny, who honestly weren't.
I must admit though when were done I'm like a guy at the end of an annoying date who wants to ditch the girl at her door as fast as possible...yet after a month or so I miss the little guy, and can't wait to talk to him about the films and books I've seen and read, and hear what he's watching and reading
Jermaine: Bringing it on home, at what point did you realize that the Word Balloon podcast was the premiere podcast program of the comic industry?
John: Very kind, thank you, but I'm not sure that everyone would agree. I get my share of "who do you think you are?" and "your show is boring." emails and snarky message board comments.
All I'm trying to do is a solid interview show, where the listener is going to learn about the folks who make cool comics.
The fact that many creators have told me they like my show because it's a little more mature in its approach has been a great honor. I'm glad they get where I'm coming from in my approach.
Also when listeners recognize me at cons because they hear me talking, that blows my mind.
Jermaine: Can you give us a heads up on podcast guests to come?
John: Stay tuned. I only say that because I really do work "on the fly".
Jermaine: Ok, John. Last question. How long before you break the wall and get into comic-creating yourself? It's bound to happen.
John: I won't deny, I've had a few writing ideas, but haven't most fans? Until you actually someday hear that I have a book coming out, I'm just another wannabe fan.
I have written many scripts for Radio and TV, and articles for magazines and newspapers, but writing comics is a unique craft, and I won't presume that I could just jump in...but I do have ideas I hope to one day pursue.
Jermaine: Thanks for taking my questions, John. I hope I touched on things that people had been wanting to know about you. Like I said, you provide a great service with your Wordballoon.com podcasts and to me your show is the industry standard. If I wasn't so shy, I'd love to be your first retailer guest and talk about the state of the industry from right here on the front line!
John: Thanks again for asking me to do this, LJ!
John and the Pulp Secret guys at the New York Comic Con talk to Grant Morrison and more (starting at 5:00)
Visit www.wordballoon.libsyn.com right now to listen to John talk with movers and shakers of yesterday, today, and tomorrow! Dive into the archives and pull up a podcast with your favorite creator or pick a creator that might become a new favorite! Some podcasts may contain mature language!
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