Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

In this week's end of the year episode of Off Panel, my pal Brandon Burpee returns to the show for a chat about the year that was in comics. Brandon and I discuss how our years were, the year in comics, how the way we engage with media is shifting, X of Swords, the best current fit for Maggott, the Hill House line's viability, horror comics, and more, before we dive into the countdown of our respective 20 favorite comics of the year.

In this week's special episode of Off Panel, we look at the defining themes of 2020 in comics with the help of Random House Graphic's Publishing Director Gina Gagliano, Third Eye Comics' Steve Anderson, and The Beat's Heidi MacDonald. Up first is Gagliano (1:15), who talks about a year of revolutionary change, the year's impact on promoting and publishing comics, how the book market was affected, and the year that was in that market. After that is Anderson (27:57), who discusses the disappearing backlist of trades in the direct market, distributor changes, and how single issues were affected. And to close is MacDonald (59:46), who talks about the end of the single issue, the rise of the webcomic, and how the balance of formats is shifting.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Sean Phillips joins the podcast to talk about his career, art and the soon-to-be-released Reckless. Phillips discusses his early start working in comics, where he learned the craft, the comics he grew up on, whether he would have been satisfied drawing superheroes, what he likes to draw, avoiding boredom, how quickly he and Ed Brubaker realized they jived together, the importance of finding a creative home, pushing your collaborators, Reckless, bringing characters to life, characters smoking, the graphic novel format, the Image deal, how he works, working with his son, Jacob, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Ed Brisson joins the podcast to chat about crime stories and the currently being Kickstarted Catch & Release: A Murder Book Story. Brisson discusses the Halifax life, how he got into comics, marrying that interest with crime, his personal connection to these stories, writing what you know, the stakes of the stories he likes, returning to Murder Book, his collaborators, why Kickstarter, creating rewards, his preferred Ghost Rider, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, the co-showrunner of HBO Max's Harley Quinn, Patrick Schumacker, joins to talk comics and all things Harley. Schumacker discusses his early love of comics, how that affected his interest in storytelling, the origins of varying comic projects, what he saw in Harley Quinn, the mundane aspects of supervillains, Harley's malleable nature, the good and bad of the character, Easter Eggs, Noonan's Bar, finding the right casting fits, and a whole lot more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, colorist Tamra Bonvillain joins the show to chat about her path to comics and the world of coloring. Bonvillain discusses her early attractions to the comics world, when art entered the picture, the Kubert School, flatting's position in the coloring world, her process, finding artists you mesh with, how those partnerships come together, what capacity looks like, how the job shifts artist to artist, layers, for hire vs. creator-owned, dream collaborators, supporting your role in comics, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, podcaster and original art collector Jason Wood joins to talk about the state of original art collecting. Wood discusses how he first got into original art collecting, where to start, the impact of art reps, his collection, deciding what to get, supporting new artists, why the market has blown up during the pandemic, original art vs. commissions, tips for new collectors, comic connections, his podcast 11 O'Clock Comics, the comics community, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Trung Le Nguyen joins the show to chat about their origins and The Magic Fish. Nguyen discusses The Magic Fish's relatively autobiographical nature, the importance of libraries, fairy tales, the magic and value of comics, when comics and art came in, how The Magic Fish came together, its fairy tale foundation, the power of stories, working with Random House Graphic, the book's colors, the importance of language, the Minnesota comics scene, the name Trungles, the glory of hens, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer/artist Chip Zdarsky joins the show to chat about the wider world of Chip. Zdarsky discusses how Sex Criminals changed things for him, its community driven nature, photo reference, future interior work, his time on Daredevil, working within parameters, the art of Daredevil, the bad guys of the book, the origins of Stillwater and Afterlift, the appeal of complete stories, building an identity, the attractiveness and rules of Stillwater, Ramon Perez's strength, the disappearance of his beard, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer James Tynion IV joins for a deep dive talk about horror comics and his new horror anthology Razorblades: The Horror Magazine. Tynion discusses where his love of horror stories came from, how they became ones he wanted to tell, how he fits the genre, his favorite horror comics, the strengths and weaknesses of horror in comics, the evolution of horror, the origin of Razorblades, why Gumroad is its home, his tactics for attracting readers, the creators and stories of Razorblades, writing for horror versus other genres, how his plans have shifted, and more.