The Blastoff Podcast

Scott looks at the beginnings of the Caped Crusader in "I Shall Become a Bat," while Jud reveals the beginnings of his own kind of crusade in "Number 158." Also, Harley and Amelia return for more "Small Talk." http://BlastoffComics.com

Alan Roderick-Jones is a renowned artist and production designer, who's worked on such wide-ranging and varied projects as Papillon, Tarzan and of course, Star Wars: A New Hope. http://BlastoffComics.com

Scott and Jud look at two American literary giants who loomed large in their childhoods and still do to this day: Jack Kirby and Ray Bradbury. Also, the debut of "Small Talk," with Harley Salbacka and a very special guest. http://BlastoffComics.com

Glen Murakami is a legend in the world of animation. In the last twenty years, there were only a handful of writers and artists crafting what turned into the most successful run of comic book cartoon hits in American history. This man was one of those creators. He started his career under the direction of Bruce Timm on Warner Bros. Batman, the Animated Series and Superman, the Animated Series. He won an Emmy Award as producer of Batman Beyond and after a decade working with Timm, he branched out on his own and created the hit Teen Titans series, bringing a groundbreaking anime style to Western television that had never been seen before. He partnered with Dwayne McDuffie to create another animated hit, Ben 10: Alien Force and went on to Executive Produce Beware the Batman. He even won an Eisner Award in the world of the comic book printed page for his work on Batman Adventures Holiday Special (if you haven't read this seminal Mister Freeze story, you need to go to your local comic book store and insist they order it for you!). He's won two Annie Awards, he's worked with the greatest legends in animation history and now, he's on the Blastoff Podcast program! We hope you enjoy this in-depth and illuminating conversation with Glen Murakami.

http://BlastoffComics.com

In this week's COMICS 101, Scott explains the origins of Marvel's Iron Man in "Isn't It Iron-ic?." Then in RETALES, Jud looks at how everything fits together in "Connections." http://BlastoffComics.com

Our guest on today's conversation program is one of the most important writers in modern Marvel Comics history. Chris Yost started his career in the world of animation, writing scripts for Marvel Comics' television universe. Wolverine and the X-Men was a huge hit in 2003, when he and Craig Kyle dreamed up the story of a young girl who had been cloned from the DNA of Wolverine, complete with his claws, healing factor and bloodlust. X-23 struck such a chord with the fans that Marvel asked them to bring the character into the world of the printed comics. X-23: Innocence Lost and Target X smashed sales numbers and a legend was born! Chris went on to write long, seminal runs on New X-Men, X-Force, Spider-Man and wrote a stellar adaptation of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. He even jumped over to the DC Comics Universe to try his hand at the Batman titles. He continued to write for animation, penning stories for Cartoon Network. TMNT, Batman, the Fantastic Four and Iron Man were all big hits that led to his role as Head Writer on Marvel's smash sensation, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. He even tried his hand at the Star Wars Universe, working on Lucasfilm's Star Wars: Rebels. As the screenwriter for the live action Thor: The Dark World and the soon to be released Thor: Ragnarok (not to mention the appearance of X-23 in the latest Wolverine movie, LOGAN), Chris Yost has solidified his permanent role in the comic-book mythos. We're thrilled to have him on the show, so sit back and enjoy the ride! http://BlastoffComics.com

In this week's COMICS 101, Scott explains the origins of Marvel's Captain America in "Everybody's All-American." Then in RETALES, Jud gets a little help from Lewis Carroll as he tells the tale of a very special customer with a most unusual secret in "The Jabberwock." Special thanks to Ashley Adler Krueger for her super-smooth vocal poetry. http://BlastoffComics.com

Michael Stradford is an entertainment-industry executive for the last three decades spanning through music, radio, DVD, film, television and interactive. He's at Warner Home Entertainment as director of creative services right now, but before that, he was at Big Air Studios, which is a film distribution company. And before that, he led the digital production and development team for Crackle at Sony Pictures. He produced groundbreaking digital movie projects (Angel of Death), won awards for that; he's progressive, and he's done some extraordinary things. He's a pioneer for all kinds of added-value materials for DVD at a time when people didn't even know what that was. This man has done a lot. http://BlastoffComics.com

In this week's COMICS 101, Scott explains the origins of DC's Wonder Woman in "Enter Diana." Then in RETALES, Jud talks about some of his customers who, while artistically inclined, may not be expressing that inclination within the bounds of the law, in "Tag! You're It." http://BlastoffComics.com

Gregg Hurwitz is the best-selling artist of 17 novels. His work has been published in over 30 languages. He's written screenplays for every major studio and developed and produced work for every major TV network. You might have seen that spooky sci-fi revival of V a few years back? Yeah, that's him. And he's working on an HBO series adaption of Pulitzer Prize-winner Joby Warrick's book about the formation of ISIS, with Bradley Cooper and Todd Phillips also on board. His original screenplay The Book of Henry, directed by Colin Treverrow (yes, Star Wars' Colin Treverrow), recently wrapped shooting in New York with a cast that includes Naomi Watts, Sarah Silverman, Lee Pace and Dean Norris. And if that wasn't enough for you, he's the New York Times Best-Selling author of some of the most badass Batman, Punisher and Wolverine comics you'll ever get your hands on. His novel Orphan X came out last year, and was immediately grabbed up by Bradley Cooper; they're currently developing it for a feature film franchise. Right now he's on a worldwide tour promoting the follow-up Evan Smoak book The Nowhere Man. He was kind enough to carve out some time in the studio with us, somewhere between Arizona and New Zealand. http://BlastoffComics.com