Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Sean Phillips joins the podcast to talk about his career, art and the soon-to-be-released Reckless. Phillips discusses his early start working in comics, where he learned the craft, the comics he grew up on, whether he would have been satisfied drawing superheroes, what he likes to draw, avoiding boredom, how quickly he and Ed Brubaker realized they jive...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Ed Brisson joins the podcast to chat about crime stories and the currently being Kickstarted Catch & Release: A Murder Book Story. Brisson discusses the Halifax life, how he got into comics, marrying that interest with crime, his personal connection to these stories, writing what you know, the stakes of the stories he likes, returning to Murder Book, his...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, the co-showrunner of HBO Max's Harley Quinn, Patrick Schumacker, joins to talk comics and all things Harley. Schumacker discusses his early love of comics, how that affected his interest in storytelling, the origins of varying comic projects, what he saw in Harley Quinn, the mundane aspects of supervillains, Harley's malleable nature, the good and bad of the ch...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, colorist Tamra Bonvillain joins the show to chat about her path to comics and the world of coloring. Bonvillain discusses her early attractions to the comics world, when art entered the picture, the Kubert School, flatting's position in the coloring world, her process, finding artists you mesh with, how those partnerships come together, what capacity looks like...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, podcaster and original art collector Jason Wood joins to talk about the state of original art collecting. Wood discusses how he first got into original art collecting, where to start, the impact of art reps, his collection, deciding what to get, supporting new artists, why the market has blown up during the pandemic, original art vs. commissions, tips for new c...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Trung Le Nguyen joins the show to chat about their origins and The Magic Fish. Nguyen discusses The Magic Fish's relatively autobiographical nature, the importance of libraries, fairy tales, the magic and value of comics, when comics and art came in, how The Magic Fish came together, its fairy tale foundation, the power of stories, working with Rando...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer/artist Chip Zdarsky joins the show to chat about the wider world of Chip. Zdarsky discusses how Sex Criminals changed things for him, its community driven nature, photo reference, future interior work, his time on Daredevil, working within parameters, the art of Daredevil, the bad guys of the book, the origins of Stillwater and Afterlift, the appeal of c...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer James Tynion IV joins for a deep dive talk about horror comics and his new horror anthology Razorblades: The Horror Magazine. Tynion discusses where his love of horror stories came from, how they became ones he wanted to tell, how he fits the genre, his favorite horror comics, the strengths and weaknesses of horror in comics, the evolution of horror, the...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Jordan Blum joins to talk about the upcoming M.O.D.O.K. series on Hulu and the upcoming M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games mini-series he's co-writing with Patton Oswalt. Blum discusses his comic book origin story, the appeal of Marvel oddities, his TV writing career, the origins of the M.O.D.O.K. show, what they saw in the character, the angle they're taking, the i...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Mark Sable joins to talk about his truly unique career and the upcoming Miskatonic at Aftershock. Sable discusses what connected him with comics, his winding path, his A-list collaborators, the importance of finding artists early on, the origins of Miskatonic, its foundation, the series lead, the current fascination with Lovecraftian stories, his touring...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, John Weddleton - the owner of my local comic book shop Bosco's - joins the show to talk about the history of the shop and what goes into running a comic shop in Alaska. Weddleton discusses what made him want to own a comic shop, the origins of Bosco's, his favorite comics, how comics have evolved, the expansion of the shop, events and community, the differences...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer/artist Erica Henderson returns for a chat about her work and the upcoming Dracula, Motherfucker! Henderson discusses her eclectic projects, Dracula, Motherfucker! being on vibe for her, the look of vampires, the project's origins and appeal, horror stories, the clarity of the script's vibe, her changes of approach in this story, the creative side of colo...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Nick Roche joins the podcast to chat about his comics life and upcoming IDW series Scarenthood. Roche discusses growing up in a small town, stories sneaking up on you, his likability, when he first started reading comics, the development of his art, how he broke into comics, whether he wanted to do something smaller with Scarenthood, the scariness of...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, The AV Club's comics critic Oliver Sava returns for the fifth annual Superhero State of the Union. Sava and I discuss the state of the X-Men, our five favorite X-Books, the connectivity of superhero stories, Al Ewing's elite nature, the importance of events, the general shape of Marvel, Donny Cates' position at Marvel, superhero titles that are keeping it fresh...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Scott Snyder joins the podcast to chat about his currently being Kickstarted series, Nocterra. Snyder discusses the origins of...everything involving that project, why he's going heavier on creator-owned and Kickstarter, his scripts, the importance of doing your own thing, the three pillars to his approach, the universality of fear, the power of darkness...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer and TKO Studios editor-in-chief Sebastian Girner joins to chat about his new series The Devil's Red Bride at Vault and the world of TKO. Girner discusses the origins of The Devil's Red Bride, women samurai, scratching different itches, working with other editors, when the fear hits, the art on the book, samurai comics in America, the appeal of revenge st...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, general contrepreneur and the co-founder of Lightbox Expo Jim Demonakos returns to the show to talk the Expo and conventions. Demonakos discusses Lightbox Expo's origins, its educational side, what Artist Alley was like for it, what makes it work, the pandemic decision making process, its impact on the event, their virtual artist alley, paneling at the event, t...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, retailer Brandon Schatz joins the show to chat about the shop Variant Edition he co-owns (with his wife, Danica LeBlanc) in Edmonton, Alberta. Schatz discusses the origins of Variant Edition, opening on Free Comic Book Day, their product mix, the wider view of comic shops, delivery, what works in his shop, all-ages comics, the importance of production value, on...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Jesse Lonergan joins to chat about making comics like his recent Image Comics one-shot, Hedra. Lonergan discusses his foundational comics, the impact his roots had on his work, the appeal of more visual comics, traditional inking, his approach to art, the origins of Hedra, the 5x7 grid in the book, story vs. feel, whether creative parameters makes th...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Stephen Mooney joins the show to chat about crowdfunding and his upcoming Kickstarter for Half Past Danger Christmas Special. Mooney discusses the pandemic, how it has affected his thinking about comics, figuring out crowdfunding, the conversation amongst creators about what's next, Half Past Danger's story, the power of nostalgia, the guest list on...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Al Ewing returns to chat about his busy dance card at Marvel and beyond. Ewing discusses where he's at in Immortal Hulk, how Alex Ross' covers guide his work, the hammer issues, the political tones and anger of the book, continuity, what he's going for in Guardians of the Galaxy, unifying cosmic Marvel, structure in superhero comics, how different co-wri...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, Comichron's John Jackson Miller joins to chat about his big yearly comic sales report he did in partnership with ICv2's Milton Griepp. Miller discusses whether the record setting year in comics surprised him, how the report comes together, back issues, whether single issue comics have hit their ceiling, collectibility, libraries, comics vs. graphic novels, misu...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Robert Kirkman returns to the show to chat about Fire Power and Negan Lives. Kirkman discusses the story of Fire Power, working Chris Samnee, its first idea, the pressure of the Walking Dead, balancing his workload, his love of experimentation, what he's learned from it, why Negan Lives happened, how it came together, The Walking Dead's ending, format im...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Rob Guillory returns to the show to check in on Farmhand at the midway point and to chat about the state of comics. Guillory discusses Farmhand's hiatus, creator-owned comics as a business, how his creative process has evolved, how Farmhand has changed, the expansion or contraction of character roles and story beats, the importance of Riley and Abiga...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Caitlin Yarsky joins to chat about her path to comics and upcoming Image series, Bliss. Yarsky discusses her initial designs on becoming an illustrator, how work in non-comics fields affected her, the inspiration of Sandman, the expansiveness of comics, the value of freedom, her recent Buffy story, why she wanted to work in comics, learning curves, findi...