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Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

Off Panel is a weekly interview podcast where host David Harper welcomes guests from comics and beyond to discuss the stories behind what they do.
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Now displaying: 2023

A weekly comics interview show hosted by David Harper from SKTCHD that explores the stories and creators we love, as well as the broader comics industry.

Dec 26, 2023

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.

Dec 18, 2023

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

  1. Ocean by Lucie Bryon
  2. Damn Them All by Si Spurrier, Charlie Adlard, Sofie Dodgson, and Jim Campbell
  3. Wild’s End by Dan Abnett and INJ Culbard
  4. Impossible People by Julia Wertz
  5. Monica by Daniel Clowes
  6. Why Don’t You Love Me? By Paul B. Rainey
  7. Kaya by Wes Craig, Jason Wordie, and AndWorld Design
  8. Now Let Me Fly by Ronald Wimberly and Brahm Revel
  9. Danger and Other Unknown Risks by Erica Henderson and Ryan North
  10. A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll
  11. Time Before Time by Declan Shalvey, Rory McConnville, Geoffo, Joe Palmer, Chris O’Halloran, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
  12. Peacemaker Tries Hard! by Kyle Starks, Steve Pugh, Jordie Bellaire, and Becca Carey
  13. Night Fever by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Jacob Phillips
  14. Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks
  15. Clementine Book Two by Tillie Walden
  16. Lights by Brenna Thummler
  17. Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki
  18. w0rldtr33 by James Tynion IV, Fernando Blanco, Jordie Bellaire, and Aditya Bidikar
  19. Mobilis by Juni Ba
  20. X-Men Red/Immortal X-Men by Al Ewing, Yildiray Cinar, Kieron Gillen, Lucas Werneck, and more

 

Brandon Burpee

  1. World’s Finest – Waid, Mora, and Bonvillain
  2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Campbell, Smith, Federici, and more
  3. Darth Vader – Pak, Roberson, and Gorham
  4. X-Men – Duggan, Cassara, Caselli, and more
  5. Local Man – Fleecs, Seeley, Simpson, and Sobreiro
  6. Daredevil – Zdarsky, Checchetto, and De La Torre
  7. Peacemaker Tries Hard! – Starks, Pugh, and Bellaire
  8. Ambassadors – Millar, Charest, Quitely, Kerschl, Coipel, etc.
  9. Radiant Black – Higgins and Carlos
  10. World’s Finest: Teen Titans – Waid, Lupacchino, and Bellaire
  11. Superman – Williamson, Campbell, Dragotta, and more
  12. Void Rivals – Kirkman and De Felici
  13. Immortal X-Men – Gillen, Werneck, and Ryp
  14. Adventures of Superman – Taylor and Henry
  15. Nightwing – Taylor, Redondo, and Byrne
  16. Dark X-Men – Foxe and Scharf
  17. Titans – Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott
  18. The X-Cellent – Milligan and Allred
  19. Jean Grey – Simonson and Chang
  20. Batman – Zdarsky and Jimenez
Dec 11, 2023

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.

Dec 4, 2023

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.

Nov 27, 2023

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.

Nov 20, 2023

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.

Nov 13, 2023

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.

Nov 6, 2023

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.

Oct 30, 2023

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.

Oct 23, 2023

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.

Oct 9, 2023

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.

Oct 2, 2023

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.

Sep 25, 2023

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.

Sep 18, 2023

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.

Sep 11, 2023

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.

Sep 4, 2023

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.`

Aug 28, 2023

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.

Aug 21, 2023

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.

Aug 14, 2023

Cartoonist Emily Carroll joins the show to talk about her career, craft, and upcoming graphic novel, A Guest in the House. Carroll discusses early influences, their lasting impact, storytelling flow, having fun in the work, experimentation, how she views her webcomics, her process, lettering and coloring, domestic life, A Guest in the House's lead, horror endings, age specificity (or the lack thereof), the long shadow of Through the Woods, pushing herself as a storyteller, and more.

Aug 7, 2023

Cartoonist Daniel Warren Johnson returns to the show to talk about his career and the upcoming The Transformers. Johnson discusses the San Diego Comic Con experience, how the con experience has evolved for him, a recent, giant commission, maintaining his passion, how The Transformers came together, the intensity of creator-owned, drawing for himself, figuring out how to draw The Transformers, Skybound's pitch, working with Hasbro, the version of the characters he's working with, the vibe he's going for, how his love of Transformers changes things, the freedom of Do a Powerbomb!, finding his answers, and more.

Jul 31, 2023

Retailer Eitan Manhoff joins the show to talk about his now Eisner Award-winning shop in Oakland, Cape & Cowl Comics, and what he's been seeing this year. Manhoff discusses that Eisner win, what went into it, Cape & Cowl's origin story, building his shop, accessibility, the selling secret, how the year is going in his shop, uneasy feelings, what's working, his online store, the impact of pre-orders, the Eisner bump, what isn't working, Marvel's troubles, how consumers have changed since he opened, the difficulty of ordering, and more.

Jul 24, 2023

Cartoonist Chris Schweizer joins the show to talk about his life, career, and collaborations with Kyle Starks. Schweizer discusses his Assassin Nation self, how his background shaped his path as an artist, comic strips, how he decided to make comics, his wide variety of jobs, finding new ways to tell comic stories, his middle-grade comic work, collaborating with Starks, problem solving, his coloring work, the underrated nature of Mars Attacks, his goals as a creator, and more.

Jul 17, 2023

Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick joins the show to talk about Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons and her approach to telling stories in comics and beyond. DeConnick discusses the life of a creator, the value of shutting our brains down, collaboration, artistic interpretations, controlling pace, letting go of the work, where comics are right now, her progression as a comic writer, Wonder Woman Historia's place in her career, growing as a storyteller, building communities, making panels fun, the freedom of Black Label, figuring out what projects to take on, and more.

Jul 10, 2023

François Hercouet, the Editor-in-Chief of France's Urban Comics (the publisher of DC Comics and assorted Image, Dark Horse, and BOOM! titles in the country), joins the show to talk about the French comic market and his work at Urban. Hercouet discusses connecting American comics with French readers, the essence of Urban Comics, emphasizing creators, production value, the France comic market, his path to running Urban, making superhero comics easier to read, working with retailers, curating a publishing line, having an art-centric approach, cover art, the evolution of comics in France, his view of the American market, and more.

Jun 26, 2023

Cartoonist Scott Kurtz joins the show to talk about the past, present, and future of webcomics and his career on comics like PVP and Table Titans. Kurtz discusses his earliest comics and main influences, the earliest comics he made, making his way into comics, the early days of webcomics, what success looks like, webcomics and community, what fueled the changes in webcomics, how they're changing, crowdfunding's role, his new career path, what's next for webcomics, and more.

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