Word Balloon Comics Podcast

From the streets to the sketchbooks, this conversation dives deep into Only in New York, the upcoming graphic anthology from my guests Dean Haspiel, Doug Latino, and Eli Schwab. Arriving Fall 2026 from Cosmic Lion Productions and Real Life Comix, this 216 page hardcover delivers 50 short stories capturing the grit, absurdity, heartbreak, and humor of life in New York City. There kickstarter cmpaign is now active. 

If you enjoy the old McSweeny anthologies this book is for you.

From Comixology, a new hilarious graphic novel about a Doctor who gives therapy to all sorts of monsters and deamons.

Scene Missing returns with co-host Gabriel Hardman for a deep dive into the ink-stained world of filmmaker Samuel Fuller and his hard-edged newspaper stories. From the crusading idealism of Power of the Press to the scrappy, street-level ambition of Park Row, and the tabloid-fueled moral collapse at the heart of Scandal Sheet, we trace how Fuller’s real-life reporting experience shaped his cinematic voice.

We get into the recurring themes that define these films: truth versus profit, the cost of ambition, and the thin line between journalist and opportunist. Hardman brings a filmmaker’s eye to Fuller’s visual storytelling, while we connect the dots between these movies and the larger legacy of newspaper noir. It’s a conversation about headlines, headlines makers, and the messy human stories behind both.

Joe Casey’s back, and he’s not here to play it safe. The architect is returning to the world that helped define a generation, BEN10 this time at Dynamite Entertainment with a bold new take aimed straight at the fans who grew up with the Omnitrix. Expect something sharper and more evolved, Casey revisiting his own legacy with the kind of perspective you only get after decades in the trenches.

This July, He’s teaming with Robert Kirkman for a major new project at Skybound Entertainment, TERMINAL . A new superhero team with an absolute killer lineup of artists: Adam Kubert, David Finch, and Art Adams.

We also get into Casey’s work with Man of Action Entertainment, the powerhouse studio behind modern animation hits, and how the rules have changed. Today’s audience is faster, more distracted, and far less patient with traditional storytelling rhythms. Casey breaks down what animation studios need to do to keep up, from tighter pacing and stronger hooks to designing stories that can live across platforms, not just in a 30 minute block. It’s a smart look at where animation is headed, and what it takes to actually hold attention in 2026.