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.

Writer Alex Segura joins the show to talk about his busy dance card and about how his different roles and mediums interact. Segura discusses his marketing brain, handling promotion, trend chasing, deciding on projects, prioritizing mediums, the origins of The Question: All Along the Watchtower, its cast, Renee Montoya's appeal, the core murder mystery, minis vs. ongoings, how Alter Ego came together, the power of IP, being character centric, advice for aspiring novelists, what Zestworld was, how he's managing the current environment, and more.

Cartoonist Jamie McKelvie joins the show to talk about his new DSTLRY series One for Sorrow and his journey to making it happen. McKelvie discusses the coloring process for One for Sorrow, figuring out new collaborations, how The Killing Horizon shaped him, his perception as a creator, going to DSTLRY, his story in The Devil's Cut, deciding which projects to take on, the origins of One for Sorrow, its different influences, pacing the story, research for the project, character design, its twist on the Sherlock Holmes mythos, what he wants for himself creatively, and more.

Writer Geoff Johns joins the show to talk about his career and his work at his Image Comics imprint, Ghost Machine. Johns discusses his average day, the appeal of collaboration, the advantages to doing your own thing, his art background, starting out hot in comics, the most influential people from his comic journey, the projects he learned the most from, the draw of characters who need love, Ghost Machine's appeal, its origins, how the group came together, what drives him creatively now, and more.

Retailer and distributor Christina Merkler joins the show to talk about the year at Discount Comic Book Service (or DCBS), In-Stock Trades, and Lunar Distribution. Merkler discusses her New York Comic Con experience, wearing multiple hats, the advantages of being a retailer and a distributor, the weird year at DCBS and In-Stock Trades, finding new customers, the timing of Ultimate and Absolute, the publisher mix, nostalgia comics, 2019 comparisons, readers versus collectors, DC's Compact Comics, manga, views from a distributor standpoint, the biggest things she's learned as a distributor, DC's return to Wednesday, relationship management, her outlook on the direct market, and more.

Writer Ryan North joins the show to talk about his career and relationship with comics, as well as his work on Fantastic Four and the upcoming The Rise of Emperor Doom. North discusses his busy travel schedule, balancing his life, how he got into comics, the origins of Dinosaur Comics, the advantages of constraints, the impact of his computer science brain, collaboration, how he chooses projects, Fantastic Four's structure, his approach to continuity, how he builds arcs, Johnny Storm's mustache, The Rise of Emperor Doom, the greatness of Doom, working at the center of Marvel, what keeps him coming back to comics, and more.

Designer Tim Leong joins the show to talk about his recently released book, Marvel Super Graphic: A Visual Guide to the Marvel Comics Universe. Leong discusses his comic origins, the lasting nature of comics, the comics that hooked him, how his Eisner-nominated comics magazine Comic Foundry came together, his journalism background, the design of magazines, the importance of having something for yourself, the origins of Super Graphic, the variety in that book, how comics have evolved, taking on the House of Ideas with Marvel Super Graphic, how he's evolved as a designer, the subjects he included in the book, the research process, his creative process, what excites him about the current state of comics, and more.

Artist Michael Allred joins the show to talk about his life and career in comics and his soon-to-be-Kickstarted art book, The Marvel Art of Michael Allred. Allred discusses the importance of having non-comic outlets, his early journey with comics and art, his quiet influences, the impact of his passions, time as a restricting factor, what goes into successful collaborations, the story behind Doop, why Madman has been home for him, the origins of The Marvel Art of Michael Allred, what went into the book, his art process, how he's perceived, the projects he leaned on for the book, keeping his original art, continuing to learn, and more.

The hosts of the podcast Comic Book Couples Counseling, Brad and Lisa Gullickson, join the show to chat about the story behind their show and their first work in comics. The team discusses their busy October, work/life balance, the role of stories in their lives, how their different vibes work, the development of Comic Book Couples Counseling, editing's impact, the couples counseling side of the podcast, their lean into interviews, figuring out which direction to take, programming the show, imposter syndrome, their improvements as podcasters, the upcoming Pots & Panels anthology, their comic in it, how collaborating has affected their relationship, their relationship with comics, and more.

The creative team behind the upcoming DC graphic novel This Land is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story, Jacoby Salcedo and Julio Anta, join the show to chat about that book and their careers to date, both together and separate. The team discusses convention experiences, the build up to This Land is Our Land's release, the pace of graphic novel releases, how they met, how well they really know each other, the impact of Sonic comics on Julio, what inspired Jacoby to draw, their biggest influences, how their friendship affects their collaborations, the origins of This Land is Our Land, their Blue Beetle backgrounds, Easter Eggs, the art and design of the book, tackling immigration, their collaborators, what they learned from the project, what they want next, and more.

It's time, folks! Comics critic Oliver Sava returns to the show for the seventh annual Superhero State of the Union! Sava joins for a discussion about his return to The AV Club, why we read superhero comics, leaning towards art, superhero comics outside the Big Two, following creators, art and arcs, where DC is right now, its hits and misses, DC editorial's moves, where Marvel's at, the new Ultimate universe, our Ultimate rankings, where Fantastic Four fits, the power of cool, the From the Ashes era for the X-Men, Jonathan Hickman's recent stretch, Marvel's safer path, what we'd like to see more from the Big Two, and more.

Writer/artist Declan Shalvey joins the show to talk about his rather considerable mix of projects. Shalvey discusses his busy dance card, the value of time, putting out fires, why he wanted to work on Mystique, cool versus good, writing and drawing an X-Book, what Mystique started with, how he's handling the character, how Old Dog Operations came together, what it's about, the creators of the project, what's next for Old Dog, the Thundercats explosion, becoming a licensed guy, the stigma around those titles, what he's missing, and more, before we close with a conversation about John Cassaday.

Writer/artist Caitlin Yarsky joins the show to talk about her upcoming Dark Horse Comics series Living Hell and what goes into soloing a comics project. Yarsky discusses her current slate, working on Black Hammer, how she engages with comics, influences outside of comics, overthinking art, the origins of Living Hell, the appeal of folklore and mythology, domestic life, writing for yourself, the different levels of ideas, the hook of the book, pulling from real life, her process, working with Dark Horse, the business side of comics, the Portland art community, and more.

Writer Kelly Sue DeConnick joins the show to talk about her upcoming Dark Horse Comics series FML and everything that comes with it. DeConnick discusses current stress levels, the origins of FML, its evolution, the glory of David López, FML's visual styles, her collaboration with López, building from her own life, FML's personal nature, embracing the pandemic, finding humor in the nightmare, relearning creator-owned, marketing comics, Dark Horse's fit, figuring out next steps, the human side of creation, and more.

Artist Chris Samnee joins the show to talk about Batman and Robin: Year One and how he does what he does. Samnee discusses how he works, his collaboration with Mark Waid, its evolution, learning about how he wants to work, managing multiple titles at once, the RC Coda experience, how Batman and Robin: Year One came together, what it's all about, the pressure of this project, how his own taste has guided the project, the joy of drawing Batman, working with Mat Lopes, tackling The Last Halloween, Mark Chiarello, the importance of always learning, and more.

Artist Dustin Nguyen joins the show to talk about his career and his upcoming crowdfunded art book, The Art of Descender. Nguyen discusses convention life, what he's working on these days, working with other publishers, his early days as an artist, figuring out your art, the impact of influences, watercolors, breaking in, learning on the job, his Wildstorm experience, comfort's place in his career, working with Jeff Lemire, the origins of The Art of Descender, what's going into the book, his pencils, how he decided what to include, crowdfunding, how the role of an artist has changed, what keeps him excited about art and comics, and more.

IDW Associate Editor Jake Williams and Assistant Editor Nicolas Niño join the show to talk about their roles in the editorial ecosystem and their journeys in comics. The pair discusses the daily life of an editor, how editorial works, being roommates and co-workers, how different their roles are, drawing in new readers, how they got into comics, the value of big, bold takes, carrying that into their editorial work, why they wanted to work in comics, breaking in, finding your angle on properties, figuring out the job, their favorite part of the work, cover artists they'd like to work, a project they nailed, the new TMNT era, what has them excited about comics, hair choices, and more.

Writer/artist Dustin Weaver joins the show to chat about his career, path in comics, and his work on Image Comics releases like Paklis and 1949. Weaver discusses his night owl nature, maintaining a schedule, following whims, embracing himself, revisiting old work in Paklis, when he first got into comics, how his interest in the medium has evolved, being creatively autobiographical, his Wildstorm internship, what he learned at Marvel, the origins of Paklis, doing his own thing, existing on multiple sides, how he decides what to include, his creative process, writing but not drawing, continuing to evolve, and more.

Writer/artist Michael Walsh joins the show to talk about his incredibly busy workload on titles like Universal Monsters: Frankenstein, The Sacred Damned, and Nullhunter. Walsh discusses his full dance card, drawing Magic the Gathering cards, how that Frankenstein book came together, eliciting emotions, the looming shadow of its history, double page spreads, The Horizon Experiment, the twists of The Sacred Damned, the horror shift, Nullhunter's origins, why he's not drawing it, its visuals, pairing interests together, balancing wants and needs as a creator, the world of Magic the Gathering, managing an increasingly busy life, and more.

The Beat's Heidi MacDonald returns to the podcast to talk about Penguin Random House's acquisition of BOOM! Studios and our expectations for San Diego Comic Con. MacDonald discusses the big PRH/BOOM! news, why the former may have wanted to acquire the latter, the big news ahead of San Diego Comic Con, where things are right now, DSTLRY's big move, how SDCC is shaping up, how unique SDCC is relative to other conventions, the big plans The Beat has for the event, her upcoming daily TV show, celebrating 20 years of The Beat, the evolution of comic cons, what keeps her excited about The Beat, and more.

There are two corrections from the podcast. First, Filip Sablik's title at BOOM! Studios was actually President of Publishing & Marketing, not Sales & Marketing as I stated in the episode. Second, while Tiny Onion does a lot of design and production work for DSTLRY, Emma Price, Erika Schnatz, Jared K. Fletcher, Francesco Francavilla, and Lee Garbett have also done design work on a variety of individual titles and logos.

Writer/aritst Christian Ward joins the show to talk about his new art book, Many Worlds - The Art of Christian Ward - Volume One and his series at DSTLRY, Spectregraph. Ward discusses how his schedule works, leaning into momentum, idea generation, his crowdfunding emotions, the origins of his art book and why he wanted to do it, figuring out what to include in it, revisiting his work, what guides his art, his approach to Spectregraph, thinking out visuals, the appeal of horror, writing for himself, how the role of an artist has changed, and more.

Writer/aritst Ryan Stegman joins the show to talk about his work on the upcoming X-Men at Marvel and the upcoming The Missionary at DSTLRY. Stegman discusses his work on the X-Men, refining his process, how his input changed the team, his personal X-Men history, the energy he wants for the team, character designs, finding his own visual identity, how the project came together, The Missionary's mash up nature, canon texts, the origins of The Missionary, collaborating with Jason Howard, his work as a writer, idea creation, and more, before we close with a little talk about the Detroit Pistons and the NBA.

Writer James Tynion IV joins the show to talk about his busy dance card of late on books like The Department of Truth and The Nice House by the Sea. Tynion discusses Stephen Sondheim's influence, learning from other creators, finding power in old forms, how adaptations shift his view of his work, balancing everything, what exactly the new Tiny Onion is, maintaining momentum, the importance of availability, w0rldtr33's surprises, the new direction in The Nice House by the Sea, what he learned from his recent Kickstarter, crowdfunding's power, how far his plans go out, and more.

Artist Terry Dodson joins the show to talk about his life as a working artist on comics like AdventureMan and The Manchurian. Dodson discusses his recent European trip, his European lean, the Lake Como Comic Art Festival experience, keeping himself excited, his video game work, how he decides which projects to take on, the appeal of risk, collaborating with his wife and inker Rachel, his recent art book, how his decision making process has evolved, what covers do for him, the places his job take him, how industry variance affects his thinking, his longevity, and more.

Popverse's Editor Graeme McMillan joins the show to talk about his new role at the comics and pop culture site before we dig into an array of hot topics and trends in the world of comics. McMillan discusses his new role at Popverse, how it came together, the evolution of the comics journalism space, the impact of adaptations on comics, the end of Krakoa, what's next for the X-Men, the destruction of social media, comics marketing, the fractured conversation, newsletters, the power of comic lines, publishers crowdfunding, converting comics to other formats, Miracleman's struggles, The Power Fantasy, what he's excited for in the rest of the year, and more.