Comedian Patton Oswalt stars in the new film BIG FAN, written and directed by Robert Siegel , the man who wrote the screenplay for last year's
indie hit, THE WRESTLER.

There's funny stuff in this film , but like THE WRESTLER, BIG FAN is a realistic look at sports. This time the focus is on an obsessive football fan named Paul (Oswalt) , who's loner lifestyle is defined by his voice on the phone fandom persona as a regular caller to sports talk radio, He has an awkard hero worship moment with his favorite player that turns violently ugly, and upsets his cocoon like world.

Oswalt discuss the film's character and the obvious similarities of this sort of fan worship compared to pop culture fans.

We also talkabout his upcoming one shot Firefly story for Dark Horse Comics, and the realese of his new DVD MY WEAKNESS IS STRONG.

Six Hours and 3 Time Zones couldn't keep Paul and I apart from our conversation. We talk about him wrapping up Captain Britain and MI:13, and his new focus on The Dark X-Men, the complicated relationship between Namor & Emma Frost, and his November mini series featuring the origins and history of everyone's favorite Russian Super-Spy, The Black Widow. We also talk about his run on Young Avengers,and his prolific TV work, from Doctor Who, To Robin Hood, Primeval and beyond.

Elliot Serrano talks about his new mini series from Dynamite, plus we discuss his role as a comics reviewer for the Chicago daily newspaper, Red Eye, and podcaster on Geek To Me, and Comic Culture Warrior.

On this edition of the Word Balloon podcast, writer Paul Jenkins is back to discuss his current work for Marvel Comics, including the current sci-fi story arc Problem Child, featuring Hiro Kala, from PLANET SKAAR AFTERMATH in SON OF HULK, and his upcoming 3rd one-shot of CAPTAIN AMERICA THEATER OF WAR.

Jenkins promises we'll see more new work from him for Marvel in the coming months. "I'll let Marvel make the official announcements when they decide the time is right, but In general terms I have three different series lined up. One of them is set up like MYTHOS and the Captain America One-Shots. Dan Buckley had asked me to give some thought of coming to different cases in the Marvel Universe a finding away to tell single issue or short arc stories.The way Dan put it to me was this way.

Everybody loves Daredevil and the way Brian (Bendis) and Ed Brubaker have been writing him in with that dark tone.There's no space to fix anything, it doesn't need to be fixed... but Dan said, 'What I want to see is Daredevil's one good day.'...That made me think of  55 story ideas for the Marvel universe... I'll go to the x-men say  what i want, and be done with them, and I'll move on and go to Daredevil or Thor's universe...say what I want to with these characters, and move on, while still allowing the regular monthly books to carry the ongoing soap opera."

You'll hear Paul views and insight on characters like Thor, Loki, Iron Man, Captain America and The Hulk. We discuss The Sentry and how his beginnings came from a superman/marvelman template, but what makes them all very different.Jenkins also re-addresses his humorous flap with fans over his character Sally Floyd's tirade against Captain America,  from the mini series Frontline: Civil War.

We also discuss the business side of Paul's career path which includes his work with Marvel, films, computer game animation for smart phones, and other current and future projects.

The CEO Of Wizard Entertainment Joins Us To Discuss This Weekend's Chicago Comic-Con. We talk about the programing , and try to find out details of Shamus new master plan of business.From the recent acquisitions of many regional conventions, to the personnel changes at Wizard Magazine.

Shamus addresses questions about scheduling a convention in Anaheim/Long Beach CA up against the new C2E2 Chicago Convention in April. Aren't both shows going after the same entertainment guests?

We also discuss where Wizard Magazine fits into the new media playing field when it comes to breaking comic news stories. How does the monthly magazine re-position itself in the 24hr news cycle of web coverage?