On this week's Off Panel, artist John Paul Leon joins the show to talk art and his work on comic covers for books like The Sheriff of Babylon and DMZ. He talks his art background, giving fantastical worlds a sense of realism, his approach on covers, how he handled The Sheriff of Babylon, the power and importance of photo reference, the key to a quality cover, how he handles interiors, how color changes the way he approaches a piece, the freedom of comics, and more.
On this week's Off Panel, artist Ryan Stegman joins the show to talk his art and Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows. He discusses his famous stegosaurus signature, when he first realized he wanted to work in comics, the influence of the early 90s on him, why he wants to blow people's minds with his art, animation as an influence, his process, the trouble with layouts, Akira, his rare Spider-Man achievement, why Spidey is his jam, and more.
The owner of comic retailer Comics Conspiracy, Ryan Higgins, joins Off Panel this week to talk Marvel Now and where the publisher is these days. Higgins shares how he got into comics retail, what his customer base is like, his take on Marvel overall, how Marvel Now has performed at his shop, why he thinks Marvel is struggling in his store, why Rebirth has connected so well with his audience, the trouble with variants, the positives of Marvel Now, what he'd do if he ran Marvel Comics, the trouble with relaunches, how he feels about the current state of the comic industry, the perception of the direct market, and more.
Writer Vivek Tiwary joins Off Panel this week to talk the new edition of his graphic novel The Fifth Beatle. Tiwary talks his comic background, what the learning curve was like for writing comics after years in Broadway and beyond, why the story of Brian Epstein was so interesting to him, turning the story into a graphic novel and a TV series, why Andrew Robinson and Kyle Baker were perfect fits for the art of the book, balancing historical accuracy and getting the right feel for the book, why The Fifth Beatle released a paperback edition, promoting his work, and more.
Artist Paolo Rivera joins Off Panel this week to talk how he works and what he's up to these days. He talks how sculpture changes his art, bringing characters to life with his art, what his process is, why he's dialed back on drawing interiors, maintaining cash flow without that, learning to loosen up on bringing scripts to life, why he wishes he left Daredevil later than he did, the importance of ownership, and more.