Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

In this week's episode of Off Panel, my pal Brandon Burpee returns for our year end spectacular once again. We discuss the year that was for us, how it was in comics, our awareness of what's going on in comics, Marvel and DC, the current state of the X-Men, binge reading versus monthly, Marvel Unlimited's changes, our favorite adaptations of the year, the comics that almost made the cut, and more,...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Kieron Gillen returns to talk about his current run of comics. Gillen discusses Immortal X-Men's announcement, its Mark Brooks drawn teaser, his audience, Once & Future's blend, fighting boredom, experimentation at Marvel, the usage of continuity, problem solving the Eternals, Sersi's place, The Machine's narration, why he went back to the X-Men, the cas...

In a special episode of Off Panel recorded at Emerald City Comic Con 2021, artist Tula Lotay joined the show to chat about her art and the story behind it. Lotay discusses getting back to conventions, the origins of Thought Bubble, working in comic shops, the impact of influences, film's impact on her, covers versus prints, the appeal of her new title Barnstormers, sequential art, the look of her...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Victoria Grace Elliott joins the show to talk about her debut graphic novel, Yummy: A History of Desserts. Elliott discusses pre-release hype, art and comic origins, getting into making comics, her webcomic Balderdash!, the roots of Yummy, the Random House Graphic connection, the structure of the book, nebulous histories, the guides to the story, inj...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, letterer Aditya Bidikar joins the show to chat about his career and lettering as a whole. Bidikar discusses managing workloads, health problems related to the work, getting into comics, lettering approaches, the language of comics, learning the craft, how the line artist affects the work, the impact of time, the important of collaboration, how much the role shi...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Joshua Dysart joins to talk about his life and career. Dysart discusses his surprising first comic, his formative years, his atypical approach to typical stories, the terror of Swamp Thing, working on the B.P.R.D., artist collaborators, the greatness of Alberto Ponticelli, the origins of Unknown Soldier, respecting subjects, Odinn's Eye, the types of sto...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Christopher Sebela joins to chat about his very busy dance card these days. Sebela discusses the opening day of his Kickstarter for his new comic Foulbrood, figuring out each project, the evolution of Foulbrood, the appeal of Kickstarter, figuring out marketing, crowd-funding versus for-hire, what makes his new series .Self an interesting subject to tack...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Pornsak Pichetshote joins to chat about his career and his current Image series, The Good Asian. Pichetshote discusses his comic origins, his time editing at Vertigo, learning about comics during that time, the origins of The Good Asian, how it evolved, the title's lead, Alexandre Tefenkgi's art, Dave Johnson's covers, how the covers reinforce the series...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, retailer Steve Anderson joins to chat about his shops in the Maryland/Virginia area, Third Eye Comics. Anderson discusses the story behind Third Eye, differentiating his six shops, his expanding list of product lines, the shop's evolution, what's working for his shop, Marvel's weird place, Saga's return, the state of variants, Third Eye Buys, controlling his fa...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Sloane Leong joins to talk about the latest graphic novel she wrote, Graveneye at TKO Studios. Leong discusses her first comics, sports comics, making your own rules, the EnterVOID experience, finding the right medium, the im,portance of color, Graveneye's origins, Anna Bowles' genius, the house as a narrator, art leading in the book, her relationshi...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Cliff Chiang joins to chat about his new DC Black Label series, Catwoman: Lonely City. Chiang discusses the Prestige Plus format, watching heist movies as research, the origins of Catwoman: Lonely City, his Catwoman design, the adaptability of the character, the title's supporting cast, continuity, the real world being present, handling all aspects o...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Jonathan Hickman returns to talk about what's been happening in his world as of late. Hickman discusses this time of change, excitement levels, evolving how he does things, the recent X-Men retreat, his position at Marvel, his Substack for Three Worlds, Three Moons, the origins of that project, the greatness of Mike Huddleston and Mike Del Mundo, communi...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Matthew Rosenberg joins to chat about his upcoming Image series What's the Furthest Place from Here? Rosenberg discusses this busy stretch, the development of that series, world-building, the gangs from the book, Tyler Boss' art, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou's lettering, the value of variants, the deluxe editions of the series, putting vinyl records together, t...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, Christina Merkler - the co-owner of Discount Comic Book Service and Lunar Distribution - joins me to chat about her world. Merkler discusses a typical day in her job, the evolution of DCBS, learning curves, the main appeal of DCBS, how their ordering works, the pandemic lift, brick and mortar shops versus DCBS, the origins of Lunar, the multi-distributor model,...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Terry Dodson joins the show to chat about his Image series Adventureman. Dodson discusses the past year for him, delighting in Adventureman, the importance of coloring for him, the title's release gap, their larger plans for the book and how they've evolved, the global nature of the story, creator-owned life, what he values in his art, conventions, and m...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, comics critic Oliver Sava returns for the eight millionth annual Superhero State of the Union. Sava discusses idealogical differences between Marvel and DC, different flavors of Batman, DC's current approach, Black Label, Wayne Family Adventures, event comics, general disruption in superhero comics, Marvel's Infinity Comics, the Avengers trinity, Marvel's lack...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, The Beat's Heidi MacDonald returns to the show to chat about the recent craziness in the comics world. MacDonald discusses recent events, what it means, the Substack deal, Substack's reading experience, its viability, ComiXology's big change, the retailer response to this digital wave, the DC/Webtoon deal, creators protecting themselves, conventions, the distri...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, my pal Brandon Burpee returns to the show for another random episode covering comics and assorted other topics. Brandon and I chat about subjects like Substack, upcoming comic adaptations, cosmic beings and their lives, what we'd do with a billion dollars, superhero chefs, collecting vs. reading, the Phoenix Suns, fantasy football, continuity, surprising comics...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Chip Zdarsky returns to chat about his Substack deal and assorted other works. Zdarsky discusses his Substack offerings, the pressure of crowd-funding, the deal's origins, what appealed to him about it, whether it was a difficult move, how it changes things for him, getting back to art, Daredevil's weird spot, its co-leads, What If...?, working with...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Joshua Barkman joins me to chat about his webcomic, False Knees. Barkman discusses the origins of the webcomic, how different formats affect it, when it became a real thing, how he starts his comics, timing and pacing, varying structures, the impact of social engagement, the value of reposting, the prints he sells, the tensions of the platforms he us...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer/artist Skottie Young returns to catch up on what he's been up to and to chat about his new book, The Me You Love in the Dark. Young discusses release weeks, his past five years, the online store he launched, the world with no conventions, the origins of Stupid Fresh Mess, stepping back from interiors, Jorge Corona, the power of covers, The Me You Love in...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, the creator of the Key Collector Comics app, Nick Coglianese, joins to chat about the app, the exploding back issue market, and the app's position in that. Coglianese discusses what the app really is, the different aspects of it, the inspiration for it, the tension between readers and collectors/flippers, what's driving the insane collectors market, its sustain...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, retailer John Hendrick joins to chat about his shop, Dublin's Big Bang Comics. Hendrick discusses his first nerd love, the last year in the shop, their shift to toys, how the store itself has changed, changing consumer behaviors, the increase in work, trades and graphic novels, the explosion of young customers, whether this will keep going, the biggest thing he...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Maria Capelle Frantz joins to chat about her career and art. Frantz discusses growing up in Alaska, Alaska's impact on her storytelling, where her love of comics and art come from, short stories, making universal stories, learning from projects, the value of Helioscope Studios, imposter syndrome, generational differences, her upcoming Joan of Arc gra...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, the writer and artist behind the recently released graphic novel Everyone is Tulip, Dave Baker and Nicole Goux, join to chat about that release. Baker and Goux discuss the first days of its release, idea creation, the book's origins, its path to creation, social media, the Instagram Effect, the sadness of the book, atmosphere, finding publisher fits, the work b...