In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Garth Ennis joins the show to talk his love of war comics and his latest series from TKO Studios, Sara. Ennis discusses where his love of war stories came from, why they speak to him as a writer, fitting those types of tales into Marvel and DC, the importance of editorial allies, the origins of Sara, Russia's secret police, the Eastern Front of World War II in fiction, how Sara thinks about war, the pacing and structure of the story, Steve Epting's art, why he worked with TKO on this book, why he works with so many different publishers, the importance of realism in his stories, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, Random House Graphic Publishing Director Gina Gagliano joins the show to talk about the upcoming children and teenaged graphic novel readers imprint she's building. Gagliano discusses her comic book origin stories, how she got into marketing, the beginnings of First Second, the elongated release window of the book market, her podcast, Graphic Novel TK, how Random House Graphic first came together, where you start when you are opening an imprint, her curation strategy, her very positive Twitter feed, Lucy Knisley at RHG, whether other Random House releases impact her approach, the biggest surprise of launching Random House Graphic, and more, before we close with a new segment, as Skybound's Sr. Vice President of Business Development, Shawn Kirkham, joins the show to highlight our Beasts of the Week in the world of comics.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Erica Henderson joins the podcast to talk her art and upcoming series, Assassin Nation. Henderson discusses her background in film, animation and video games, storytelling in art, why she decided to work in comics, how she works, how a prolonged run impacted her approach on Squirrel Girl, her rules for that series, visual humor, managing workloads, how Assassin Nation came together, the development of the book, her coloring herself, the cast of characters, developing their looks, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, the founder and CEO of ICv2, Milton Griepp, joins the show for a look at the state of the comic industry. Griepp discusses his time in comic book distribution, what it used to be like, the positives and negatives of Diamond being the sole distributor, whether he considered leaving comics after selling Capital City, the growth of geek culture, where the Direct Market is today, the biggest problem facing the Direct Market, reader diversification, Marvel and DC's latest moves, whether the book market fits, whether periodicals are dying, why digital has plateaued, the overall health of comics, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, the line art team from the Image series Crowded, Ro Stein and Ted Brandt, join the podcast to discuss their work. Stein and Brandt talk about their path to comics, how they met, Ro's interest in animation and its influence, their breaking in story, their process and how it evolved, Crowded's development, world building, bringing the characters to life, layering Easter eggs into the world, sound effects, animals in fiction, the power of inkers, cover work and a whole lot more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Tze Chun joins the show to talk about the new comic company he's the co-publisher of, TKO Studios. Chun discusses his comic book origin story, how TKO and its team came together, binge releasing comics, why they decided to do things completely different than other publishers, where comic shops fits in their overall plans, the format of TKO's comics, why trades <em>and</em> single issues, attracting creators, distributing themselves, giving first issues away for free, competing for readers' time, developing an audience, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, comics retailer Patrick Brower (Chicago's Challengers Comics + Conversation) returns to the podcast for a look back on 2018 for his shop. Brower discusses how the year was for Challengers, how it compared to 2017, disappearing subscribers, their ineffective events, what worked for them, the surprising single issue boom, the Marvel/DC divide, graphic novels, Saga's disappearance, what isn't working, the impact of pricing, big retailers speaking up, how back issues are doing, what publishers could do to help retailers, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Chip Zdarsky returns to the show to discuss what's coming for him in 2019 and to dive deep into my favorite comic of the year, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310. Zdarsky chats about his Spider-Man origins, how the period when you grew up influences your writing, what formed his vision of Spider-Man, J. Jonah Jameson, the length of his run, how his approach and story on #310 came together, hot dog icing, what makes Spider-Man special, overcoming his rep as the funny guy, what's coming for him in 2019, tackling Daredevil, the appeal of Namor, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, friend of the show Brandon Burpee returns for a deep dive look at 2018 in comics. We discuss what kind of year it was for comics, how our reading habits evolved, the biggest surprises and disappointments from the year, what we're looking forward to in 2019, where the X-Men are headed, favorites versus bests, the honorable mentions from our respective lists, before breaking down our 20 favorite comics of the year.
This week's episode of Off Panel is the debut of a new format that might be appearing the first week of each month, in weeks where we're not running our standard interviews. It's Off Panel Book Club, where a guest comes on the show to discuss the past month in comics.
And the first Book Club guest is Zach Jenkins, the man behind Xavier Files and the co-host of the Battle of the Atom podcast. Jenkins joins to share the story behind Xavier Files, the importance of having a niche, our five favorite comics of the month, Warren Ellis's approach, the visual storytelling from The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, slow burn comics, the small moments of Runaways, the most surprising and confusing comics of the month, the eternal return of Wolverine, before we dive into the Big Question of the month: What would it take for the X-Men to recapture an approximation of their past glory, and does that even matter?
In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer and inker Jimmy Palmiotti joins for a deep dive discussion about the creation of the Marvel Knights imprint for its 20th anniversary. Palmiotti shares where he was before Marvel Knights started, personal branding, how the project came together, why Daredevil was their #1 draft pick, Marvel vs. DC, going for realism, Frank Castle punching a polar bear, why Marvel Knights focused on standalone stories, whether he considered sticking around at Marvel like his Marvel Knights partner Joe Quesada, whether this kind of project could happen again, its lasting impact, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, comics retailer Brian Hibbs returns to the show to check in about the world of comic book shops. Hibbs discusses how his shops are doing this year, Saga's area of impact, the kids comic explosion, DC's weird year, the Walmart Giants, Black Label, Marvel's short sightedness, Image's recent volume of titles, the longevity of the print market, whether he's going to keep his second shop open, whether comics could become a graphic novel only industry, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Sanford Greene joins the podcast to discuss his art and his upcoming Image Comics series, Bitter Root. Greene talks about the influence of cartoons on his art, what stood out to him about comics when was younger, the impact of youth, whether he always knew he wanted to draw comics, the impact of artists like Toth and J.C. Leyendecker, becoming a Voltron of influences, getting into artists you disliked in your youth, Bitter Root's origins, the setting of the book, his approach to art, the importance of Bitter Root's diverse team, managing schedule and health, before we close with a brief chat about the NBA.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, The Beat's Heidi MacDonald joins the podcast to talk about New York Comic Con and recent happenings in the comic world. MacDonald discusses the NYCC experience, her favorite announcements from the con, the publisher boom, what's happening at DC, Bendis's fit, the Batman Damned controversy, the rare double Telgemeier, the Chuck Wendig news, the C.B. Cebulski era at Marvel, Ike Perlmutter's influence, industry doom and gloom, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Brenden Fletcher joins the show to talk the comic industry and his Image series with artist Karl Kerschl, Isola. Fletcher discusses what he was doing before comics, the language of fandom, the musicality of language, how Gotham Academy and Batgirl came together, why he co-writes so often, balancing abstraction with narrative, fitting the comic marketplace, the impact of continuity, the first volume's cover, long distance collaboration, the Motor Crush format change, the evolution of the comic market, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist John McCrea joins the show to talk his career and new Image series, Dead Rabbit. McCrea discusses how he and writer Garth Ennis met, how he got into comics, learning art, how his style shifted over the years, getting away with things on Hitman, the greatness of Dogwelder, his fondness of Section Eight, how Hitman affected him and his career, the origins of Dead Rabbit, Gerry Duggan's writing, the Image Expo reveal, character design, his style for Dead Rabbit, Mike Spicer's colors, the gross/sincere balance, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Ramon Villalobos joins the show to talk his art and new Vertigo Comics series, Border Town. Villalobos discusses the Marvel movies, non-comics influences, learning about art, making something 100% his, Border Town, how it came together, the appeal of teen stories, his process, creating character through art, Tamra Bonvillain's colors, the response to the book, how he's promoted it, Comicsgate, his shoe game, and more, before closing with five questions about Ramon Villalobos, the person.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Faith Erin Hicks joins to talk her work and latest graphic novel, The Divided Earth. Hicks discusses her 19 years in comics, how her skills have evolved, key influences, the power of silence, The Nameless City trilogy, what she learned from that experience, creating empathy, long-term planning, Jordie Bellaire's impact, what she gives herself breathers between projects, working with Rainbow Rowell, selling humor, her upcoming schedule, working on Avatar: The Last Airbender, and more. As a note, some details of The Divided Earth are discussed within, so if spoilers are a concern, beware the section between 20 minutes and 35 minutes.
In this week's special edition of Off Panel, creators Declan Shalvey and Stephen Mooney and retailers Bruno Batista and John Hendrick join the show in a live podcast recording from Dublin's preeminent comic shop, Big Bang Comics. In the episode, we discuss how creators, retailers and journalists can work together to give comics a bright future, how promoting comics is changing, what comics are today, whether artists can consider the industry as a whole while working, what artists can do to work with retailers, the biggest misconceptions about retailers, whether fill-in artists impact orders, incentive covers, social media's impact, how your location impacts your ability to work in comics, whether it's good enough to just be good, comic sites, what the future of comics looks like, and more, before diving into a quick Q&A.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Jason Howard joins the show to talk his art and upcoming Image series with Warren Ellis, Cemetery Beach. Howard discusses his time studying graphic design, how that influences his art, his path to comics and focus on creator-owned work, the origins of Cemetery Beach, its appeal, world building, the power of his sketchbook, why things click with Warren Ellis, how he works, character acting, his colors, cover design, Sea Bear & Grizzly Shark, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, editor and writer Alejandro Arbona joins the show to talk his path to comics and his current work as a freelance editor on books like Lazarus, The Old Guard and Black Magick. Arbona discusses his time at Wizard Magazine, interviewing Alan Moore, how he got to Marvel, how he approaches editing, Lazarus's new format breaks down, working with Warren Simons, Fantastic Four: Isla de la Muerte, chupacabras, why he's still editing comics, the differences between editing for a company and as a freelancer, whether Lazarus is a different beast than the other Rucka books, Ghost in the Shell: Global Neural Network, his upcoming book about video games, and more, before diving into five questions about Alejandro Arbona, the person.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, colorist Rico Renzi (Spider-Gwen, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl) joins the show to talk his work. Renzi discusses his time in a ska band, how that world influenced his art, what led him to coloring comics, how his take on colors developed, his time as the creative director at Heroes Aren't Hard to Find and HeroesCon, the art of arranging people at cons, how his shop experience changed his understanding of comics, going full time as a colorist, his approach to colors, the importance of Spider-Gwen, working with Robbi Rodriguez, workload, his t-shirt design side hustle, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, BOOM! Studios senior editor Dafna Pleban joins the show to talk her role as an editor. Pleban discusses her comic book origin story, 90s teen heroes, her time in comic shops, how she started at BOOM!, what her job as a senior editor entails, how the order cycle impacts her, Wild's End, how complete that book felt, the mix of titles she edits, editing licensed books, casting comics, and more, before closing with five questions about Dafna Pleban, the person.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Nathan Fox joins the show to talk his art and work on his new Image series, The Weatherman. Fox discusses what attracted him to art and storytelling first, his path to becoming a working artist, his approach to art, some of his earliest influences, the street art influence, why he took a break from comic interiors, whether he wanted his own project to build, the story behind The Weatherman, world building, his art process, character acting, the first issue's shocking moment, the complexity of The Weatherman's lead, his work outside of comics, his experience running SFA's MFA Visual Narrative program, and more.
In this week's episode of Off Panel, Skybound Entertainment's Senior Vice President of Business Development, Shawn Kirkham, joins the show to discuss their stealth launch of the new comic series from Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple, Chris Burnham, Nathan Fairbairn and Rus Wooton, Die!Die!Die!, and everything his job includes at Skybound. Kirkham discusses fancy titles, the origins of Die!Die!Die!, why they wanted to release a comic without any advance warning, the upside of doing a comic that way, trying new things in comics, Murder Falcon, The Walking Dead's 15th anniversary blind bags, original art, Wildstorm, balancing collectability with readership, what a day at his job is like, The Megabox, Skybound Games, the secret to being good at cons, and more, before closing with five questions about Shawn Kirkham, the person.