Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

Cartoonist Nate Powell joins the show to talk about his career and upcoming graphic novel, Fall Through. Powell discusses promoting comics, the social media environment, his love of the X-Men, how his varying interests affect him as a cartoonist, the overlap between comics and music, Swallow Me Whole's position in his career, March's impact, the big emotions of Fall Through, the universal nature of youth, the pandemic and Haim's impact on the book, Diamond Mine, his band Soophie Nun Squad, music world specifics, his process, what keeps him focused on comics, and more.

Retailer Patrick Brower returns to the show to talk about the year for his shop, Chicago's Challengers Comics + Conversation. Brower discusses the holiday season, his comics retail podcast, promoting comics, how the year was and its progression, product vs. process, excitement levels, what's working, building other paths, in-store sales versus online, what hasn't been working, the reasons things are a struggle, what customers are saying, awareness of titles, the conversation about the direct market, what has him hopeful about comics, and more.

Cartoonist Lucie Bryon joins the show to talk about her career in comics and her ShortBox Comics Fair comic (and my comic of the year), Ocean. Bryon discusses her recent trip to Japan, France's relationship with comics, her gateway into comics, why manga works so well for her, her art school experience, expressing herself through comics, learning from her own work, the origins of Ocean, finding the universal in specificity, the colors of the comic, finding answers in the work, the book's leads, bending archetypes, her comic making process, the future of Ocean, what she wants from comics, and more.

In a special, year-end episode of Off Panel, friend of the show Brandon Burpee returns to chat about the year in comics before we count down our 20 favorite comics of the year. We discuss the year in comics, Brandon's disconnect from the larger conversation, the perils of being overinformed, deciding what to read, how the Big Two are doing, the end of Krakoa, the Ultimate Universe's return, honorable mentions for our faves of the year, our top 20 comics of the year, and more. Bonus! By popular demand, our lists in full can be found below. David Harper Ocean by Lucie Bryon Damn Them All by Si Spurrier, Charlie Adlard, Sofie Dodgson, and Jim Campbell Wild’s End by Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard Impossible People by Julia Wertz Monica by Daniel Clowes Why Don’t You Love Me? By Paul B. Rainey Kaya by Wes Craig, Jason Wordie, and AndWorld Design Now Let Me Fly by Ronald Wimberly and Brahm Revel Danger and Other Unknown Risks by Erica Henderson and Ryan North A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll Time Before Time by D

In a special year end episode of Off Panel, we look at the defining themes of 2023 in comics with the help of Books with Pictures' Katie Pryde, The Beat's Heidi MacDonald, and writer/artist Jamal Igle. Up first is Pryde (1:10), who talks about this unusual time in comics retail, what started us on this path, the exhaustion in the space, where it's manifesting itself, the metadata situation, how Books with Pictures is adjusting to it, and more. After that is MacDonald (30:01), who discusses the world of comics marketing, how the current state of social media and comic sites is affecting things, the unseen work of marketing, fitting within the distribution system, its impact, and more. And to close is Igle (1:02:15), who talks about the overwhelming fear of the unknown in comics, where and how it manifests, how it impacts things, the path forward, and more.

Writer Si Spurrier joins the show to talk about his dense workload of late on comics like The Flash, the Uncanny Spider-Man, Damn Them All, and more. Spurrier discusses this busy stretch, testing boundaries, the yes/no conundrum, balance within the chaos, finding his way into superheroes, delivering the necessary story, his contrarian nature, tie-ins, the X-Office, jumping on points, how his different flavors of writing impact each other, data pages, the difficulty of Damn Them All, the bad/good of that book, what he wants from comics, and more.

Writer/artist Skottie Young joins the show to talk about this moment in time in his career. Young discusses being a writer (but kind of not an artist) right now, storytelling, figuring out how to write, Twig's position in his career, the moment he finds himself in, not drawing interiors, Boy at the End, expectation paralysis, Stupid Fresh Mess, sustaining your career, finding new ways to excite fans, Oz's position in his career, building trust, his newsletter, the power of community, what has him excited right now, and more.

Writer Alex de Campi joins the podcast to talk about her career in comics and her recent slate of Image releases, including Parasocial, Bad Karma, and Scrapper. de Campi discusses being both a writer and letterer, the fluidity of creation, collaboration, having a day job, finding collaborators, Hell's Kitchen Movie Club and Bad Karma, the importance of research, how her experiences have affected her as a storyteller, her love of trying new things, anthologies, being herself, keeping things tight, graphic novels as a focal point, how she decides which projects to take on, the impact of visuals and music in her writing, why she keeps coming back to comics, and more.

Retailer Bruno Batista from Dublin's Big Bang Comics joins to talk about his path to Big Bang and what he's seeing at the shop and beyond. Batista discusses daily variance in comics retail, how Big Bang's online store changed things, how he ended up in Ireland, the evolution of Big Bang, staying ahead of trends, the year in the shop, working with libraries, their product mix, changing customer behavior, quality as a sales point, Transformers and the Energon Universe, Jonathan Hickman's Marvel, Dawn of DC post Knight Terrors, single issues, manga's performance, the larger direct market conversation, maintaining motivation, and more.

Skybound's Brand Manager - Editorial Morgan Perry joins the podcast to chat about her path in comics, her current role, and the world of promoting comics. Perry discusses her role at Skybound, the complexity of comics marketing, the broader Skybound ecosystem, her first comic, accessibility, working at Earth 2 Comics, manga and comics, her time at BOOM!, its rise, managing fanbases, the Energon Universe, the big takeaway from its reception, what's missing from comic marketing, building hype, what has her excited about comics right now, and more.

Cartoonist Juni Ba joins the podcast to chat about his two new graphic novels, Mobilis and The Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber. Ba discusses looking back on already finished projects, the origin of Mobilis, the similarities between his two latest books, project sequencing, the evolution of his storytelling, his sketchbooks, the appeal of Captain Nemo, the book's lead, the nature of its ending, character designs, Mobilis' oversized nature, the roots of Felix and Macabber, working with Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, his growth, what he wants for himself, and more.

Writer Rick Remender joins the podcast to talk about his life, career, and work at his imprint at Image Comics, Giant Generator. Remender discusses New York Comic Con, collaborators, the evolution of cons, what he loves about comics, his art brain, learning from projects, what writing is for him, evolving the work, idea generation, his artist lean, signing an Image exclusive, what Giant Generator is, this creator-owned moment, following the story, why he's leaning into comics right now, and more.

Writer Christopher Yost joins the podcast to talk about his career and his upcoming series at Vault, Unnatural Order. Yost discusses his comic origins, how other mediums drove him to comics, the idea of making comics, his early days at Marvel, his interview process, the X-Men, X-23's place in his career, writing in different mediums, trusting collaborators, Unnatural Order's origin, idea generation, understandable villains, fantasy as a genre, Unnatural Order #1's free plan, the changing landscape for storytellers, why comics are always part of the mix, and more.

Artist Erica Henderson returns to the podcast to talk about her new graphic novel, Parasocial, and how she's approaching her art and career. Henderson discusses the interview experience, the origins of Parasocial, its appeal, the intimate nature of Parasocial, the freedom comics, small moments, celebrity photos, distinguishing projects visually, collaborating with Alex de Campi, Rogue Nebula influences, conventions, the importance of color, figuring out what's next, writing and drawing, graphic novels versus single issues, and more.

Writer Joshua Williamson returns to the podcast to talk about his extensive dance card right now and the current environment for creators in comics. Williamson discusses his current workload, event comics, writing back to back events, non-writing time, his project mix, alternative paths, his current focus, workshopping ideas, the art side of DC, the positioning of superhero titles, Skybound as a fit, Duke's art team, the Energon Universe, the current direct market environment, the cyclical nature of comics, and more.

Retailer and ComicsPRO President Jenn Haines joins the show to talk about the current state of things for her shops, The Dragon in Guelph, Ontario, and comics retail as a whole. Haines discusses The Dragon's 25th anniversary, welcoming families, Guelph Comics Jam, the year for her shops, the generally strange nature of this time, variance in her shops, what's working, single issues versus trades, the single issue space, price points, balancing her two roles, the direct market environment, a recent metadata project, one thing she wants in the direct market, what excites her about the job, and more.

Writer/artist Declan Shalvey joins the podcast to talk about his current Kickstarter for Old Dog: Dossier and the rest of his busy workload. Shalvey discusses his different roles, finding time to tell more stories, the origins of Old Dog: Dossier, Kickstarter stress levels, the social media situation, what Old Dog: Dossier includes, the other roles in a creator's job, managing a shifting environment, Time Before Time's graybeard nature, foundational projects, the current environment, Joe Palmer's return, his Alien run, finding the right answers, and more.

Writer Jed MacKay joins the podcast to talk about his path to comics and current titles in The Avengers, Doctor Strange, and Moon Knight. MacKay discusses problem solving, what guides his schedule, his earliest comics, his approach as a storyteller, following a big run, Steve McNiven's Moon Knight covers, learning comics on the job, Nick Lowe's impact, Black Cat #1's area of effect, his starting points for a title, his approach to Moon Knight, the space he got on Doctor Strange, writing a Marvel #1, the shared universe, working with artists, where he wants to go next, and more.`

Writer Nadia Shammas joins the show to talk about their career to date and the upcoming graphic novel, Confetti Realms. Shammas discusses the weird year, Confetti Realms, Barnes & Noble origins, manga's influence, the Marvel internship experience, the CORPUS anthology, the power of anthologies, collaboration, putting yourself in stories, their project mix, the roots of Confetti Realms, the cast and art of the book, the current state of comics, celebrating your work, and more.

Comics critic Oliver Sava returns to the show for the sixth annual Superhero State of the Union. Sava discusses the mini-series gap between the Big Two, Dawn of DC, DC's castings, the Knight Terrors bump, event comics, price points, Big Two cohesion, continuity, Marvel's current state, Al Ewing and the upcoming Immortal Thor, the X-Men line, Marvel's messiness, Doctor Strange: Fall Sunrise, the Energon Universe, Daredevil, our most desired turns for the Big Two, and more.