Fighting for Independence: To celebrate Women’s History Month, Alex Fitch talks to a trio of female creators whose recent work depicts characters struggling for independence. The Rickard Sisters chat about their latest graphic novel This Slavery, which adapts a Romance novel by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth featuring a fiery Marxist-feminist polemic. Also, animator turned cartoonist Liza Cooper discusses her series of books about Meems and Feefs – a pair of naughty ferrets from outer space. Both Q and As were recorded at Cartoon County in Brighton.

Shorter edit originally broadcast on Resonance FM, on Weds 4th February 2026

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Links: Publisher SelfMadeHero’s page on This Slavery

Creepy Adaptations: In a belated Halloween episode of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to a trio of creators about their work on creepy adaptations. Graphic novelist, Lucy Sullivan, and film director, Dylan Southern, have worked together on The Thing With Feathers, an adaptation to screen of Max Porter’s award-winning 2015 novella. Lucy has created new comic book art for the film, shown as the work of lead character – played by Benedict Cumberbatch – who’s trying to capture on paper a nightmarish crow that continuously haunts his dreams.

Shorter edit originally broadcast on Resonance FM, on Weds 5th November 2025

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Daniel Bell’s Comics, including his ‘bigcartel’ shop

Inspired by the Twentieth Century: Alex Fitch looks at the work of cartoonists influenced by the culture of the Twentieth Century. In a Q and A recorded at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, artist Juanjo Guarnido discusses his much loved anthropormophic graphic novel series Blacksad, and in a conversation recorded at Cartoon County, Digital Archivist Clair Waller discusses the British Cartoon Archive in Templeman Library, University of Kent and their current exhibition Laughter in the Long Twentieth Century.

The Lakes International Comic Art Festival returns to Windermere on 26th and 27th September, and the exhibition Laughter in the Long Twentieth Century rund until the end of October.

Shorter edit originally broadcast on Resonance FM, on Weds 17th September 2025

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Juanjo Guarnido and Blacksad

Comic Book Team-Ups: Alex Fitch talks to a trio of creators about their collaborative work. Matt Wakeham discusses writing and compiling the new coffee table book of Phoo Action, a cult comic by Jamie Hewlett that Wakeham wrote the second series of and adapted for television, which was originally serialised in The Face magazine. And in a panel discussion recorded at Thought Bubble festival, Alex chats to Blake and Tini Howard about working together on such comics as Punchline and Batman: Urban Legends, as well as the latter’s solo work on Harley Quinn and Excalibur.

Shorter edit originally broadcast on Resonance FM, on Weds 5th February 2025

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Tini Howard’s Instagram site

Innovative Trans Cartoonists: In the second of two Pride themed episodes of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of innovative trans cartoonists about their magical realist books inspired by autobiography. Artist and musician The Mollusc Dimension discusses his short story collection The Weird and Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse which sees the creator take on a variety of mollusc inspired identities to explore vignettes from the past, in an interview recorded at Cartoon County, Brighton. Steven Appleby discusses the creation of Dragman, a full length graphic novel by the acclaimed Guardian cartoonist, which mixes personal experiences of transphobia and awakening with an irreverent superhero narrative, in a Q and A recorded at Space Station 65 in London.

Shorter edit originally broadcast on Resonance FM, on Weds 2nd July 2025

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Steven Appleby’s website and Instagram

Veteran Gay Cartoonists: In the first of two Pride themed episodes of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of veteran gay cartoonists about their auto/biographical books on LGBTQIA+ history. Kate Charlesworth discusses Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide published by Myriad Editions, which tells her history as a lesbian cartoonist, interwined with the history of notable queer lives in the 20th Century; David Shenton chats about his graphic novel Forty Lies – A Work of Ipsedixitism Published by Knockabout Comics, which mixes tongue in cheek autobiography with a chronicle of the gay community, in an interview recorded at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich.

Shorter edit originally broadcast on Resonance FM, on Weds 4th June 2025

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Kate Charlesworth’s website

Fantastical Kickstarters: In this feature length episode, Alex Fitch chats to a trio of comic creators who are launching new titles on Kickstarter. Renowned comics creator Ilya discusses his new Graphic Novel Romo the Wolfboy, a beguiling tale of outsiders and intrigue in a Victorian Circus, Science Communicator Sara Kenney chats about her time travel / rave culture mash-up Acid Box, and Warped and Torn Comics’ Harrison Perry explores their latest title Atonement of a Monk, about MMA fighters in the 22nd Century, in a Q and A recorded at Cartoon County, Brighton…

N.B./ The Kickstarter campaign for Romo the Wolfboy ends at 8.50am BST, Thu, June 19th 2025

Shorter edit originally broadcast on Resonance FM, on Weds 7th May 2025

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Info about Acid Box on Kenney’s website

Legendary Warriors and Football Dreams: In this month’s show, Alex Fitch chats with a couple of graphic novelists who are reinventing classic ideas and locations. Chris Shepherd talks about his book Anfield Road which imagines a young man’s experience of growing up in Liverpool, surrounded by trapping of football fandom, while dreaming of art school, in an interview recorded at Cartoon County. Brendan Albetski discusses the many influences on his street art style reimagining of fantasy warrior women, in his kickstarted sci-fi saga Manu Kiru… Please Note; the deadline to sign up for the Maru Kiru Kickstarter is April 24th!

Shorter edit originally broadcast on Resonance FM, on 2nd April 2025

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Brendan Albetski’s website

First Graphic Novel Award 2025: In this month’s show, Alex Fitch hosts the launch event for the 2025 First Graphic Award. Available to any unpublished comics creator, the competition looks to providing the winner with a publishing contract for their first graphic novel. 2023 long listed and short listed artists Kelly Vassie and Myfanwy Tristram, discuss how being nominated has had an impact on their work, while Alex and Dr. Ian Williams reflect on their experience of being judges, and the kinds of entries that might do well. Introduced by First Graphic Novel Award founder and publisher Corinne Pearlman. Please note the deadline for entry is April 22nd 2025…

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: Info about the First Graphic Novel Award

First Graphic Novel Award 2023: Alex Fitch hosts the presentation ceremony of the 2023 First Graphic Novel Award, featuring short interviews with shortlisted artists Cathy Brett, Gareth Cowlin, Mereida Fajardo, Alexander Taylor, Anna Trench, Myfanwy Tristram, and Corban Wilkin, presentations by Fitch and his fellow judges: Sabba Khan, Corinne Pearlman, Ayoola Solarin, Steve Marchant and Mark Wallinger, and the presentation of the award to the winner by graphic novelist Jenny Robins. Recorded at Waterstones Piccadilly, December 2023. Originally broadcast Wednesday 3rd January 2024 on Resonance 104.4 FM + DAB (London)

For more download formats, and to stream the podcast, please visit archive.org

Links: First Graphic Novel Award website including info on how to enter the 2025 competition