Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

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.

In this special anniversary episode of Off Panel, my pal Brandon Burpee returns for the 250th episode of the podcast. It's an all random episode, as Off Panel listeners and I generated a monster list of topics for us to discuss, and discuss we did. Subjects included the dumb characters we rep for, the quarantine life, the ComicHub situation, inventions we'd remove, comic bad boys, Maggott, most exciting/traumatic story beats, which comic character would solve the coronavirus crisis first, Dawn of X, Bill and Ted, best quarantine pals, varying sports topics, our ideal Pokemon squad, superheroes who would fail at social distancing, and a whole lot more. It's ridiculous.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, Iron Circus Comics' C. Spike Trotman joins the show to chat about her publisher and current Kickstarter for Lackadaisy: The Animated Short Film. Trotman discusses how she and Iron Circus are handling the current crisis, being a multimedia company, why she started Iron Circus Comics, the power of Kickstarter, the story behind Lackadaisy: The Animated Short Film, the rewards for the Kickstarter, what made this project appealing, the value of stretch goals, launching during a crisis, what she looks for in projects, the impact of production value, differentiating yourself, and more.

In this special episode of Off Panel, my good friend and talented natural sciences artist Amanda Jorgenson joins the show to talk about our friendship, her work, and how the coronavirus has affected the latter. Jorgenson discusses the origins of our friendship, lasting friends, how she became an artist, moving away from a narrative focus with her art, the art hustle, whether that required a personality shift, how she went towards natural sciences, comic conventions, always improving, being in Seattle during the rise of the coronavirus, adjusting to this new world order, what kind of work she has on sale on her site, what she wants for her career, and more.