Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

The team of Charles Soule and Ryan Brown join Off Panel this week to talk about their upcoming eight issue Image series, Eight Billion Genies. Browne and Soule discuss their creative process, planning stories, the finite nature of the title, Eight Billion Genies' origins, how the genies work, Browne's artistic approach, collaboration, what they learned while making Curse Words, joke making, the ti...

Writer Joshua Williamson returns to Off Panel to talk about his busy dance card over at DC Comics. Williamson discusses the reaction to the death of the Justice League, the DNA of Dark Crisis, death's place in superhero stories, the architectural side of DC, his long-term view on things, how his position at DC has evolved, being the lore guy, his Black Label series Rogues, its development, Captain...

Retailer Katie Pryde returns to Off Panel to talk about her comic shop in Portland, Oregon, Books with Pictures. Pryde discusses day-to-day variance in comics retail, the "new" Books with Pictures, how 2021 was and how 2022 is starting, graphic novels/collections vs. single issues, top performing comics, Saga's insanity, working with libraries, the manga boom, Marvel's trade program, the value of...

Cartoonist (and Silver Coin head honcho) Michael Walsh returns to Off Panel talk about his Image horror series, The Silver Coin, and his upcoming graphic novel, The Oates & The Elphyne. Walsh discusses his role on The Silver Coin, competition amongst writers on the title, his feelings about horror, seeding ideas into the series, the universality of fear, the versatility of The Silver Coin, experim...

Cartoonist Ronald Wimberly makes his debut on Off Panel this week, as he joins the show to chat about his upcoming Kickstarter for his stealth epic, GratNin. Wimberly discusses his earliest comics, cultural elements, his affinity for history, the origins of GratNin, how he viewed his path originally, playing with the comics form, the upcoming print edition of GratNin, his love of ninjas, the value...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, the publisher of Iron Circus Comics, C. Spike Trotman, joins to talk about going her own direction in crowdfunding The Poorcraft Cookbook. Trotman discusses mid-campaign feelings, advertising, differences between crowdfunding efforts, previous expectations for Iron Circus' path, reactions to Kickstarter's plans, building out her own platform, The Poorcraft Cook...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer/artist Christian Ward joins to talk about his work on titles like Aquaman: Andromeda and the upcoming Blood Stained Teeth. Ward discusses announcement day for the Aquaman title, underwater horror, the joy of that project, working with Ram V, developing his art style, the importance of color, adding writing to drawing, the origins of Blood Stained Teeth,...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Tom King returns to the show to discuss some of his latest work and his move over to Substack. King discusses the origins of Human Target, the appeal of finite stories, valuing art and artists, his most oppressed character, knowing yourself as a writer, taking big swings, working with John Paul Leon, turning Batman/Catwoman Special #1 into a JPL tribute,...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, the co-writer of Five Worlds and founder/editorial director of First Second, Mark Siegel, joins to chat about the story behind First Second and his latest graphic novel. Siegel discusses editor brain vs. creator brain, the early days of First Second, the range of their comics, how being raised in France affected his view on comics, how the publisher first came...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Elsa Charretier returns to the show to talk about her new comic, Love Everlasting, with writer Tom King on Substack. Charretier discusses the new series, what Love Everlasting is, romance comics, pushing yourself as an artist, pairing up with King, how they made it to Substack, its appeal, why they made their comic free, whether it will be in print, how...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, Patrick Brower, the co-owner of Challengers Comics + Conversation, a comic shop in Chicago, joins to chat about the year in his store. Brower discusses his exhausting year, changing point-of-sale system, how the year was for the shop, the state of Wednesdays, what's working, the X-Men line, Reckless, Saga's return, what isn't performing well, Bad Idea, the lack...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, Susana Polo, the Entertainment Editor at Polygon, joins to talk 2021 trends in comics and things we're anticipating in 2022. Polo discusses labor shifts, Substack, its potential longevity, tokusatsu taking a lead in comics, the Power Rangers Effect, Dawn of X's spread, leaning into design, the potential of a Marvel relaunch, its current state, DC getting itself...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Juni Ba joins the show to chat about his upcoming Image series, Monkey Meat. Ba discusses the arrival of Monkey Meat, his art beginnings, figuring his work out, Mike Mignola's impact, storytelling environments, the impact of the internet, the origins of Djeliya, how Monkey Meat came together, finding joy in the work, following his passions, character...

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist R. Kikuo Johnson joins to chat about my favorite comic of the year, his graphic novel, No One Else. We discuss Maui as an influence for him, his RISD experience, his editorial illustration work, the origins of No One Else, the work that went into it, its structure and format, comic strips, silence, simplifying his art, balancing the cast, parallels,...

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...