Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer - as well as the Co-President of Archie Comics - Alex Segura joins the podcast to talk about his currently being Kickstarted graphic novel The Dusk and Archie's progressive nature. Segura discusses the last year for him, how the pandemic affected his thinking, the origins of The Dusk, rethinking superheroes, all-ages comics, the team on the book, the appeal of co-writing, David Hahn's design, why he's such a crime guy, Archie's recent moves, being everywhere readers are, what's next for comics, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Rodney Barnes joins to talk about getting into comics after a career in TV and his work in Killadelphia at Image Comics. Barnes discusses why he got into comics, his love of Neal Adams, grounded stories, the connective nature of comics, the origins of Killadelphia, marrying ideas, the trauma of vampires, learning comics, the title's procedural nature, creating tension, Jason Shawn Alexander's work, the book's holistic feel and design, entering comics from another field, his upcoming Lakers series at HBO, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Andy Schmidt joins to talk about his career and work on the new Crime Syndicate mini-series at DC. Schmidt discusses all of his different roles in comics, how he decided to enter the fray, learning comics on the fly, the projects he learned the most from, writing comics, what happened with Generations, the appeal of working with DC, how Crime Syndicate came together, why it's different than other Syndicate stories, bad good guys, Earth 3, what's next for him, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Joëlle Jones joins to chat about her career and work on Future State: Wonder Woman and the upcoming Wonder Girl. Jones discusses how she decided to become a comic artist, her love of art, what spoke to her about comic art, how she became interested in writing, figuring that world out, the influence of just doing the work, the DC Talent Development Workshop, writing vs. art, her process, the appeal of darkness, the origin of Yara Flor, who the character is, how the pandemic helped her figure things out, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Vita Ayala joins the show to chat about New Mutants and the world of the X-Men. Ayala discusses the video conference era, X-Men origins, learnings from Prisoner X, answering questions in the work, how their New Mutants run came together, what's up with the kids, the New Mutants as teachers, the greatness of Rod Reis, the vibe of the book, X of Swords, synergizing powers, planting seeds, carrying collaboration into other projects, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, author Abraham Riesman joins to chat about his new book, True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee. Riesman discusses the pre-release response to the book, Stan Lee and Marvel's inseparability, what appealed to him about the project, Lee's relationship with his own life, the research process, the most interesting character from the process, the ambiguity of Marvel's origins, Stan the Brand, biggest surprises, Riesman's changing relationship with superheroes, becoming a biographer, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Chris Samnee joins to chat about his work on books like Fire Power and the upcoming Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters. Samnee discusses his post-Marvel time, why he went the directions he did, Fire Power's origins, looking back on his art, the appeal of simplicity, where Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters came from, working with his wife Laura, the importance of family, his monsters, Oni Press, why they went the single issue route, Matt Wilson, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, ComicsXF's Zack Jenkins joins me for a chat about the state of comic sites and his site's recent rebrand. Jenkins discusses the origins of the site, how it evolved, the power of rankings, researching the comic site landscape, finding new angles on content, letting writers do their thing, differentiating yourself, merging comic sites, the X-Men election, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, Polygon's Comics Editor Susana Polo joins to chat about five things we're each watching for in comics in 20201. Polo discusses her comic book origin story, how The Mary Sue came together, her approach at Polygon, what's coming for DC, format changes, the box office schedule, digital's future, Mariko Tamaki on Detective Comics, Saga's return, convention reinvention, Scholastic + Marvel, creators going rogue, Wonder Woman: Historia, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Zander Cannon joins to chat about his Oni Press series, Kaijumax. Cannon discusses working from home, how the state of the world has affected his storytelling brain, Kaijumax's evolution, empathy in storytelling, what he's learned from the series, its season model, kaiju as proxies, the type of kaiju he'd be, and more.