For this new episode of CROPPED, Will Dennis and I have a fun conversation about 1972’s THE GETAWAY. Directed by Sam Peckinpah, starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw, and written by Jim Thompson and Walter Hill, we discussed what comic book creators could learn from Peckinpah’s work in crafting something more than just a crime genre programmer.

For this new episode of Portrait of an Editor, I reconnected with Dave Wielgosz. We talked about his new series, Showdown with Ignition Press, which you should order today. Dave provides info about that. For the first part of the interview, we discussed surviving as a freelance editor and writer in comics.

As usual, you can find all the old episodes of Portrait of an Editor at its Patreon page and get almost a hundred and seventy episodes for a buck a month.

In this ep. I get to live vicariously through Will Dennis's visits to San Diego Comic Con 2025 and Terrificon. Even though I recorded this months ago, what Will Dennis had to say about his visits to 2025's San Diego Comic Con and Connecticut's TerrifiCon is still very relevant with what's going on in the United States and comics. Will also mentioned a new venture that developed from an idea he first discussed with me during some of our first conversations in 2018. 

Portrait of an Editor will have new episodes this year. Yes, 2025 was a bust for the podcast. Other commitments came up, eating up a lot of time. Also, I was burnt out producing PoE. It launched in 2017, and the outside world has been much more stressful than expected since I recorded the first interview. In 2025, it became clear to me that PoE needed some changes if I was going to continue with it and, hopefully, expand my audience. I've been brainstorming, and in March I plan to put them into action.

I want to keep giving the medium I love attention, but I also want to grow the audience and keep the show exciting for my audience and myself. I'm not in it for the money, but I do need inspiration to get through the boring parts of delivering a bi-weekly podcast.

Will Dennis and I talk about SDCC 2025, ICE, and Lee Marvin's POINT BLANK.

At the beginning of 2025, I mentioned wanting to see the return of Greg Rucka and Michael Lark's LAZARUS. Well, 2025 finally delivered something good for a change. LAZARUS is back, and its editor, Alejandro Arbona, is here to talk about one of the best comic books Image Comics has ever published. Also, we talk about the breathtaking horror one-shot Alejandro wrote, LAKE YELLOWWOOD SLAUGHTER. Goats Flying Press is its publisher. And you can still get in on the Kickstarter campaign. Click here to get to it.

Sorry about the delay, but finally, here's the third part of my conversation with Stephanie Phillips. It's a fantastic wrap-up and contains plenty of new info on managing a writing career in comic books. One thing I took away from it was that you need to be prepared to do the work and don't fear that part either. Everyone who is succeeding as a writer finds a way to write their way across the finish line. Without that, you will not have a career. Remember, every completed piece of work starts a conversation that could open another door.

As promised, here's my conversation with Chris Thompson about the Heavy Metal relaunch. Chris is one of the three editor masterminds behind the rebirth of Heavy Metal. You should be able to find the new issue right now. It's even on newsstands throughout the world. If you're a Heavy Metal fan, then you should rush out and get it right now. It's a stunning magazine.

Here's part two of my conversation with Stephanie Phillips and Will Dennis.

Even though there has been a bit of a gap between episodes, I've been hard at work getting interviews. In fact, I have a new three-part interview with Stephanie Phillips, with Will Dennis co-hosting. We spent our time talking about how to approach building and maintaining a writing career in comic books.

In this episode, my friend Alex Schumacher returns to discuss his new Original Graphic Novel, The Effects of Pickled Herring. In 2024, his OGN won two national JewCE Awards from The Center for Jewish History in the categories of "All Ages" and "Autobiographical/Biographical Content." We talk about his long trek to get his OGN into readers' hands. An update-- The past 50 or so episodes are now on YouTube for free. When you get there, please like and subscribe.