Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

Cartoonist Kazu Kibuishi joins the show to explore his journey to completing his Scholastic Graphix series, Amulet. Kibuishi discuss the early days of Amulet, the time between its conception and launch, the evolution of comics, how much Amulet changed over its creation, being flexible, the initial response to the series, how the final volume changed, his creative process, the importance of accessibility, pushing yourself, giving characters a moment, the reality behind Amulet's villain, Emily and Navin, how he's changed in the process of making Amulet, the evolution of what he wants, and more.

Writer Pornsak Pichetshote and artist Jesse Lonergan join the show to discuss their collaboration on the upcoming Man's Best at BOOM! Studios. Pichetshote and Lonergan discuss how they got together, Lonergan's greatness, Pichetshote's editorial background, learning from collaboration, finding different ways to do one thing, how they work together, the personal nature of Man's Best, its character designs, making pets the leads, the challenges that presents, working with BOOM!, promoting the work, the evolution of comics, and more.

Writer/artist Chip Zdarsky returns to the show to talk about his wider world of projects and the story behind those. Zdarsky discusses his schedule, collaboration, the wonder of Jorge Jimenez, ten years of Sex Criminals, the legacy of books, his journey as a creator, what Batman means, Newburn's position, that title's backups, Avengers Twilight's long journey to release, connections in superhero comics, Marco Checchetto's greatness, taking on major characters, finding different angles, the secret to endings, his cross country comic shop trip, what's next for him, and more.

Polygon's Entertainment Editor Susana Polo returns to the show to chat about the recent removal of the journalism Eisner Award and some of the things we've been thinking about of late in comics but haven't had a chance to write about. Polo discusses article creation, balancing needs, the Eisner Awards changes, its impact on the comics journalism space, whats affecting that broader area, interview approaches, her love of Poison Ivy, that character's fandom, Dark Horse Comics' hot streak, the weird stretch for comic movies, where the space is at, the return of the Ultimate universe, the differences in Ultimate Spider-Man, Batman's splintered nature, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off's approach to adaptations, the destruction of digital comics, the greatness of the current Fantastic Four run, and more.

My wife Amber Harper joins the show to chat about the medium from the viewpoint of a fan of comic movies and anime who doesn't read comics, before digging into three comics she read just for the show. Harper discusses her comic history, her perception of comics, how challenging comics feel to a non-reader, the comic shop experience, an unfortunate Thor read, what she appreciates about adaptations, why those appeal over comics, her take on the first volume of Runaways, its fit as a Marvel story, coloring as storytelling, standout elements, whether it made her want to read more, Danger and Other Unknown Risks, chosen one stories, how art changes the story, it being an original graphic novel, Catwoman: Lonely City, the appeal of different formats, its art, world-building, understanding superhero worlds, her comic book reading experience, and more.

Cartoonist Nate Powell joins the show to talk about his career and upcoming graphic novel, Fall Through. Powell discusses promoting comics, the social media environment, his love of the X-Men, how his varying interests affect him as a cartoonist, the overlap between comics and music, Swallow Me Whole's position in his career, March's impact, the big emotions of Fall Through, the universal nature of youth, the pandemic and Haim's impact on the book, Diamond Mine, his band Soophie Nun Squad, music world specifics, his process, what keeps him focused on comics, and more.

Retailer Patrick Brower returns to the show to talk about the year for his shop, Chicago's Challengers Comics + Conversation. Brower discusses the holiday season, his comics retail podcast, promoting comics, how the year was and its progression, product vs. process, excitement levels, what's working, building other paths, in-store sales versus online, what hasn't been working, the reasons things are a struggle, what customers are saying, awareness of titles, the conversation about the direct market, what has him hopeful about comics, and more.

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.

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

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.