Writer Wyatt Kennedy joins the show to talk about his career and his work on the Image Comics series, Nights. Kennedy discusses managing stress, his comic origins, finding your things, influences outside of comics, figuring things out in real time, comic book rules, the origin of Nights, his artistic collaborators, the world of Nights, its season model, the work of making a comic, what he wants to do next, and more.
Cartoonist Guillaume Singelin joins the show to talk about one of my comics of the year, his graphic novel Frontier, and his career in comics. Singelin discusses his origins as a comic reader, France's relationship with comics, the works he originally connected with, what he originally wanted to do, his love animation, where inspiration comes from, working by himself or with others, creating French comics vs. American ones, the origins of Frontier, developing ideas, his process for creating Frontier, his cute characters, drawing environments, the political nature of the story, how the characters push each other, what he wants to do next, and more.
My pal Brandon Burpee returns to the show for Off Panel's annual year in review episode. Burpee joins me to discuss the year that was in comics, the different flavors of comics, how we read these days, the appeal of micro lines, where the Big Two are, the From the Ashes era for the X-Men, surprise standout moments for us, and more, before we both count down our 20 favorite comics of the year.
Also, by popular demand, you can find Brandon and I's lists below.
David
1. Hirayasumi
2. Frontier
3. Nights
4. Public Domain
5. The Library Mule of Córdoba
6. Self-Esteem and the End of the World
7. Local Man
8. Tokyo These Days
9. The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn
10. The Jellyfish
11. Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
12. The Power Fantasy
13. Marriage Toxin
14. Lunar New Year Love Story
15. Dog Days
16. Fantastic Four
17. Ultimate Universe
18. Helen of Wyndhorn
19. Kaya
20. In Utero
Brandon
1. Batman & Robin: World's Finest
2. Grommets
3. Falling in Love on the Path to Hell
4. Batman
5. Wolverine
6. NYX
7. Redcoat
8. Radiant Black
9. Avengers Twilight
10. Cobra Commander
11. Ultimate Spider-Man
12. Local Man
13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
14. Batman: Dark Age
15. Geiger
16. Spider-Man: Reign 2
17. X-Men
18. Uncanny X-Men
19. Wolverine Deep Cut
20. Green Arrow
In this week's episode of Off Panel, writers Scott Snyder, Kelly Thompson, and Jason Aaron join the show to talk about their work in the Absolute Universe at DC with Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman, and Absolute Superman respectively. Snyder kicks things off, as he discusses the roots of Absolute DC, events as the thing before the thing, the environment Absolute grew in, and the power of jumping on points, before Thompson and Aaron join to talk about taking on this type of project, the idea of competition, collaboration, figuring out how varying pieces fit, the "big" of it all, their favorite art so far, the most challenging part, trying to make something sustainable, and more.
In a special year end episode of Off Panel, we look at the defining themes of 2024 in comics with the help of retailer Steve Anderson from Third Eye Comics, The Beat’s Heidi MacDonald, and writer Joshua Williamson. Up first is Anderson (1:12), who talks about a time of struggle for Marvel in comic shops, the area of effect that can have on other publishers, what seems to be fueling those struggles, his hopes for the future, and more. After that is MacDonald (29:26), who discusses "The Big Lie," which is all about the intersection of comic publishers and media rights, the focus publishers have on media rights these days, the new publishers chasing IP plays, the impact that has on the rest of the industry, and more. And to close is Williamson (1:01:02), who talks a year defined by the phrase "go big or go home," varying examples of that thinking, why that's so important, the importance of big swings, how that affects creators and publishers alike, and more.