Panel Borders – Panel Borders and other podcasts

Jewish Women in Comics: In a special episode looking at the work of Jewish Women in Comics, Alex Fitch talks to Sarah Lightman, one of the editors of a new book with that name, and to Sharon Rudahl, a veteran comics creator known for her strips in Wimmen’s Comix, who is featured in the anthology. Also ahead of her appearance at JewCE in New York, Alisa Kwitney chats about editing DC Comics in the 1990s, writing Sandman spin-off titles, and her parallel career as a novelist.

Originally broadcast 1st November 2023 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

For more formats to stream or download, please visit archive.org

Links: Alisa Kwitney’s website

Transformers And Translators: In the first of this year’s autumn series of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to Bryan Hitch, a comics artist renowned for his work on Transformers and super-hero titles, and to Ivanka Hahnenberger who has translated numerous award-winning European graphic novels into English, and works in promoting the medium at various events. Recorded at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, and Cartoon County, Brighton.

Originally broadcast 6th September 2023 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

For more formats to stream or download, please visit archive.org

Links: Reviews of books translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger

Comic Histories: the Panel Borders Summer Special – in a couple of public talks, a pair of academics discuss the early history of comics. Alice Loxton investigates the saga of 18th Century satirical prints, as made by Gillray, Cruikshank and Rowlandson in a talk recorded at The Cartoon Museum in conjuction with the launch of her book Uproar! Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London; and in a presentation from Comics Up Close at Manchester Museum, Benoît Peeters explores famous examples of comics in the 19th and 20th Centuries from Rodolphe Toffler and Caran d’Ache, to Alex Raymond and Hergé. Introduced by Alex Fitch.

Originally broadcast 3rd May 2023 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

For more formats to stream or download, please visit archive.org

Links: Listen to Alex Fitch’s interview with Alice Loxton about Uproar!

Historical Comics: In a programme looking at comics from and about history, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of female creators about their work. Alice Loxton discusses her book Uproar! Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London which delves into the lives of early cartoon satirists – Thomas Rowlandson, Isaac Cruikshank and James Gillray – in an interview recorded at The Cartoon Museum. And, in a Q and A recorded at Cartoon County, Teresa Robertson chats about her autobiographical comics, and illustrating the educational pamphlet The Comical Eye’s British Monarchy from Alfred the Great to Charles III written by Leo Schulz and tells the history of the royality in Britain, published by Self Made Hero.

Originally broadcast 5th July 2023 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

Links: Info about Uproar! on Icon Books’ website

Exploring Human Behaviour: In a programme looking at non-fiction graphic novels that explore human behaviour, Alex Fitch chairs a panel discussion with a trio of comic creators about their work. Veronika Muchitsch discusses her book Cyberman which investigates a year in the life of webcammer Ari Kivikangas, plus Daniel Locke and Alex Frith chat about their collaboration – Two Heads – with the latter’s parents, Uta and Chris Frith, detailing their research into how the human brain works, recorded at Waterstones, Brighton (photo by Myf Tristram).

Originally broadcast 3rd May 2023 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

For more formats to stream or download, please visit archive.org

Links: Info about Cyberman on publisher Myriad Editions’ website

Unusual City Dwellers: In a programme looking at comics which depict unusual city dwellers, Alex Fitch talks to artists Ellice Weaver and Robin Smith about their work. Weaver discusses her urban graphic novels Big Ugly and Something City which tell the lives of friends and neighbours in city environments, Smith chats about the kickstarter campaign to collect the small press British comic The Bogie Man ,a pastiche of Bogart noir films set in Glasgow, plus his career in British comics.

Originally broadcast 7th June 2023 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

For more formats to stream or download, please visit archive.org

Links: Ellice Weaver’s website

Challenging Lives: In this ‘feature length’ podcast looking at comics that detail some extraordinarily challenging lives in biography and autobiography, a pair of graphic novelists discuss with Alex FItch their work on this topic. Cartoonist and designer Eliza Fricker dicusses her book Can’t Not Won’t: A Story about a child who couldn’t go to school, which illustrates her experiences of raising a child who suffers from Pathological Demand Avoidance, and writer Jonathan Sandler talks about turning his father’s wartime memories into the graphic novel The English G.I.: A World War II Graphic Memoir. Both interviews recorded in front of a live audience at Cartoon County.

Shorter edit broadcast 5th April 2023 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

For more formats to stream or download, please visit archive.org

Links: Eliza Fricker’s website – Missing the Mark

Junkyard Jack, Monster Fun and Street Noise Books: In this ‘feature length’ podcast looking at comics for young audiences, and a young publisher looking to widen audiences, Alex Fitch talks to editor Liz Frances about her imprint Street Noise Books, who publish a range of graphic novels about diversity and activism, and to artists Matt Baxter and Danny Noble about illustrating Hire a Horror and Junkyard Jack and the Horse that Talked respectively in a panel discussion recorded at Graphic Brighton.

Shorter edit broadcast 1st March 2023 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

For more formats to stream or download, please visit archive.org

Links: Danny Noble’s website

Youth and Wellbeing: In this ‘feature length’ podcast looking at comics about youth and wellbeing, a quartet of artists discuss their work which touches on these topics. Former Comics Laureate Hannah Berry chats to renowned cartoonist Alison Bechel about her latest book The Secret to Superhuman Strength, as well as her classics Dykes to Watch Out For and Fun Home in a Q and A recorded at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Also, Alex Fitch talks to artists Jaime Huxtable and Zara Slattery about their titles for younger readers including G Bear and Jammo, and Don’t Call Me a Tomboy respectively, in a panel discussion recorded at Graphic Brighton.

Shorter edit broadcast 1st February 2023 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

For more formats to stream or download, please visit archive.org

Links: Links: Hannah Berry’s website

Guantanamo Voices: To discuss the 21st anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo Bay, and the lives of the people still incarcerated there, Alex Fitch talks to writer Sarah Mirk about her graphic novel anthology Guantanamo Voices, which tells the tale of ten people associated with the prison, and to journalist Andy Worthington about his continuing campaign to Close Guantanamo. Also, Worthington talks with Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a former prisoner of the site about his experiences, in a Q and A introduced by lecturer Sara Birch, recorded at the University of Brighton in 2022.

Partially broadcast 23rd January 2022 on Resonance 104.4 FM / DAB (London)

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

Links: Sarah Mirk’s website including info on Guantanamo Voices