Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

In this week's episode of Off Panel, my pal Brandon Burpee returns for another quarantine question and answer session, at least partially driven by you, the listeners. Topics discussed include our love of collecting, QB equivalents in comics, whether we think sports should come back, the longevity of the New 52 and Rebirth, quarantine binges, Wizard Magazine in 2020, Last Dance-style documentaries, X of Swords, HOXPOXing Marvel's line, the value of creator social media accounts, deep cut Marvel Unlimited reads, the impact of the pandemic, desired time travel trips, DC's divorce from Diamond, the most promising comic markets, what comics we would Grand Design, and more.

In this week's fifth anniversary episode of Off Panel, writer/artist Liana Kangas joins the show to chat about her comic book story. Kangas discusses her early love of fine art, how working in a comic shop affected her, the importance of the people she met coming up, how anthologies helped her, the upside of longer stories, working with Vault, her continuing evolution as an artist, her upcoming TKO project, how it feels to co-write a comic, how her art brain affects her writing, helping the world while working, managing burn out, her upcoming podcasts, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Jeff Smith joins the show to chat about his immensely popular comic series, Bone. Smith discusses how he started on the path towards publishing Bone, fusing comic strips with comic books, the importance of freedom, how much he learned on the job, how the story expanded and contracted, respecting young readers, balancing tones, the value of taking risks, the evolution of comics, how the One Volume Edition of Bone changed things, multi-generational fandom, the Scholastic deal, leading off Graphix, revisiting Bone today, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Brian Michael Bendis makes his debut appearance on the show to discuss...well, really a little of everything from his entire career. Bendis discusses how his background in art affects how he thinks about comics, working with artists who are friends versus those who aren't, learning on the job, where Marvel was when he started, his uncertainty in telling superhero stories, the greatness of the aughts at Marvel, what he learned from Avengers Disassembled, longevity, the power of fear in creation, Miles Morales, the importance of change, the unique challenges of the X-Men, the importance of paying it forward, whether certain art styles fit his work better, openness to new ideas, the roots of Wonder Comics, balancing multiple projects, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Jeff Lemire returns to the show to discuss his currently being Kickstarted graphic novel Cosmic Detective and his approach to making comics. Lemire discusses the origins of Cosmic Detective (and other ideas), why he jives with Matt Kindt, the power of unscheduled creation, writing for David Rubin, why they Kickstarted the book, what guides Black Hammer's expansion, the greatness of Tonci Zonjic, the impact of collaboration, the appeal of experimentation, getting back to for-hire work, drawing the Legion, Andrea Sorrentino's productivity, Sweet Tooth's return, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, retailer Menachem Luchins joins the show for a chat about his shop Escape Pod Comics and retail in the time of a pandemic. Luchins discusses the origins of his shop, what his hopes were, the product lines that work for him, comics and community, the problem with single issues, where DC is, readers versus customers, comics retail in the coronavirus era, the divisiveness of retail, short term thinking, "new comics," change versus staying the same, Diamond's return, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Marcos Martin joins to chat about his new series Friday and the world of Panel Syndicate. Martin discusses why he approached Ed Brubaker to work together, the appeal of Ed's writing, the creative back and forth, character development, collaboration, bringing the 1970s to life, the length of Panel Syndicate comics, how they feel different, comic schedules, his influx of cover work, the fundamentals of Panel Syndicate, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Ngozi Ukazu joins the show to chat about her recently wrapped series, Check, Please! Ukazu discusses its origins, how the story expanded as it went along, comics and sports, our mutual love of the NBA, what fascinated her about hockey, why vlogging and baking, the value of hockey shit, comedy in comics, how her work grew during that time, her next big project, the Check, Please! community, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, writer Ed Brubaker joins the show to chat about his new series Friday and his approach to storytelling. Brubaker discusses the appeal of Friday, the flexibility of Panel Syndicate, world building, working with Marcos Martin, how ideas come together, threads between projects, collaboration, comic communities, where comics are now, working in other formats, what's next for him and Sean, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, Heidi MacDonald from The Beat returns to the show for a chat about the state of comics during a pandemic, which, I should note, was recorded Thursday evening before the insanity of Friday (we did an addendum in the episode). MacDonald discusses how her world is, comics changing from the inside, conventions, whether Diamond would be the only direct market distributor at the end of this, comics' obsession with the new, DC's distribution solutions, DCBS and Midtown as retailers/distributors, doing this when shops can't even open, the William Schanes story, AWA and Bad Idea, the state of Image, the book market, ComicHub vs. retailer solutions, who she's concerned about, learning from this experience, the comics community, and more.