In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Lucy Knisley joins the show to talk about her work and recent graphic novel, Kid Gloves. Knisley discusses the appeal of telling her own story in comics, how that changes fan interactions, the Instagram Effect, reflecting on her art as an artist and a person, the origins of Kid Gloves, representing all facets of having kids, how her art has evolved, food comics, the expansion of the comic market, making picture books, living and creating in Chicago, and more, before closing with five questions about food.

In this week's episode of Off Panel from Emerald City Comic Con, writer Matthew Rosenberg joins the show to talk about his path to Marvel and the experience of writing the X-Men. Rosenberg discusses how his work experience in comic shops impacts him, the role his Black Mask work played in getting him on radars, the DC Writers Program, why Marvel has been a good fit for him, the Bendis vacuum, tying his early X-Men work into his Uncanny run, Peter David's X-Factor, his oddball Uncanny team, their strange mix of costumes, managing expectations, what the X-Men mean to people, and more.

Note: this was recorded before the announcement about Jonathan Hickman's pending arrival on the X-Books.

In a special episode of Off Panel recorded at Emerald City Comic Con, writer Jim Zub joins the show to discuss his freshly announced and released ComiXology Originals series with artist Max Dunbar, Stone Star. Zub discusses the art of con karaoke, the con experience, Stone Star's bold release strategy, experimenting with comics, accessing the larger Amazon umbrella, downsides, what Stone Star is all about, Dunbar's art, making comics for everyone, world building, the ideal format to work in, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Jamie McKelvie joins the show from Emerald City Comic Con for a chat about his art and The Wicked + The Divine. McKelvie discusses fandom, his partnership with Kieron Gillen, long running titles, cover design, the importance of highlighting other artists, formalistic experimentation, the faux cartoonist, what he's learned in the process of making The Wicked + The Divine, getting things right with your art, the physical toll of art, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Eric Powell joins the podcast to discuss the 20th anniversary of The Goon. Powell takes us into the origins of the series and its cast, the experience of building an independent success, what the look of The Goon and Franky says about them, concept books, the learning curve of making a comic all on your own, when the idea of Chinatown came together, why he's doing more of The Goon and going back to self publishing, whether he considered changing the format of the book, what his art process is, how he uses color, why he's bringing in other creators into The Goon, building and keeping an audience, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, BOOM! Studios' President of Publishing and Marketing Filip Sablik joins the show to discuss the world of BOOM! and his recent speech at ComicsPRO's annual meeting. Sablik discusses his time at Diamond Comic Distributors, his role at BOOM!, the value of licensed books, what's dictating their move towards younger readers and women, where they are seeing growth, their bold plan for Kieron Gillen and Dan Mora's Once and Future, why they did it, what makes it stand out, staying in favor with multiple markets, servicing different audiences, marketing comics, the greatness of Giant Days, and more.

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.