Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

Newsarama Editor Chris Arrant joins the show this week to talk writing about comics. Arrant discusses his comics journalism origin story, whether "comics journalism" is a proper term, the difference between his approach and that of his peers, how he made writing about comics his career, what makes for a good interview, how the landscape of writing about comics has changed over the years, recent redesigns and changes at comic sites, adapting to the changing nature of the internet, and more. As a special change of space, the five questions at the end? They're of Chris interviewing David, as opposed to the usual.

Cartoonist Andrew MacLean joins the show to talk about one of my favorite books, his Image Comics title Head Lopper. Maclean shares how the book came together, the quarterly format and doing things his way, his hyper DIY mentality, the Mike Mignola connection and influence, his creative process, making a good villain and action sequence, holding things back from readers, and more.

Writer Jim Zub joins the show this week to talk his brand new Image title that launches this week, Glitterbomb. Zub talks what Glitterbomb is all about, the horror of the reality of the story, how he works out hard storytelling beats, the amazing that is artist Djibril Morissette, how this book differs from the rest of his work, the motives of the book's lead, building hype without spoiling your own book, the incredible creative team, how important promoting your own work is in comics, before closing with five questions about poutine, Canada, Overwatch and more. Important note: there were technical difficulties in recording this episode, so there are some issues in the sound quality.  

Writer Kieron Gillen joins the show to talk a whole lot about The Wicked + The Divine, his Image comic with frequent collaborator Jamie McKelvie. The conversation actually starts with a bit about Darth Vader, before jumping into the concept of the faux cartoonist, how that idea has moved in Marvel and DC, how Team WicDiv works together, the importance of arc titles and taking risks, their Imperial Phase, and then a discussion about the recent survey they ran starting at 35:30 that touches on the makeup of their readership, variants, building a community and more. The episode closes with a quick chat about Warren Ellis' influence, before Gillen pulls back the curtain on what to expect from the Kevin Wada drawn 23rd issue of WicDiv at 1:04:00.

Writer Joshua Williamson (The Flash, Nailbiter, Birthright) comes back to the show for a special episode, as he walks listeners through the experience of developing, announcing, launching, promoting and maintaining a comic. They talk about the genesis of his upcoming book Vertigo book Frostbite with Jason Shawn Alexander, how it ended up at Vertigo, how he and his collaborators like artist Jason Shawn Alexander and letterer Steve Wands work together, Wands' contributions to The Flash and Frostbite, how the process differs between creator-owned and for-hire work, how much promotion factors in between rolling out in Previews and FOC, retailer outreach, what the week of The Flash launching was like, keeping momentum rolling in a series after launch, and more.

This week's Off Panel welcomes AV Club comic critic Oliver Sava back to the show to talk big changes at DC and Marvel as well as everything else that's going on in comics. David and Oliver talk the constant non-change change at Marvel and DC, why Rebirth is working and why it isn't, Marvel's season model and its impact, the appeal of Valiant Comics in today's era, digital coloring and art, the impact of collaboration on comics, Oliver's personal reading history, his writing approach, his freedom in writing, his current Mount Rushmore of comics, and more.  

On the originally scheduled return episode of Off Panel, Oni Press Senior Editor Charlie Chu joins the show to talk his role and work on books like Kaijumax, Heartthrob and The Sixth Gun. Chu talks about how he got into comics, how his role differs books to book, his many hats in comics, balancing tone, working off reader expectations, comics and the current period of disruption, diversity in comics, the magic of Oni Press and more before diving into five random questions.

The Ringer's Jason Concepcion joins the show this week to talk about the pros and cons of the latest DC Entertainment movie - Suicide Squad. They talk how the movie reflects David Ayer's world view, its perceived badness versus actual badness, Jared Leto's Joker performance, where DC's movie universe stands, the potential impact of Geoff Johns on it, the movie's troubled development, Zack Snyder, buying or selling DC's film future, why Marvel excels at movies while DC struggles, Marvel vs. DC in fandom, before ending with five random questions about Overwatch, the Knicks and more.

On this week's Off Panel, Marvel editor Wil Moss guests on the show to talk about his work and experience in the world of editorial. They talk his expansive list of titles, how those books came together, his approach to casting the titles he works on, the excellence of Squirrel Girl, how difficult it is to peg The Vision with a single genre, the freedom he gives creators he works with, how he got into the editorial world, what a day in the life of a Marvel editor is like, how some specific issues come together, the artists and assistant editors he works with, where he goes to discover new creators, how his job changes depending on the experience level of the creators he's working with, how the season model changes his plans, and more. Plus, stay tuned to the end for a special message at the end from David about the future of Off Panel and what's going on at SKTCHD.

On this week's episode of Off Panel, the owner of Big Bang Comics in Dublin, Ireland - John Hendrick - joins the show to talk comics and the world of retail. In a reversal, the show starts with five random questions about Sabretooth, Ireland, drinks of choice and more, before diving into the retail world. The pair talks Big Bang's recent move last year, what makes the retail world so rewarding, comic shops as an extension of the owner's personality, the proper balance in a comic shop, the Irish comics scene, the difference between marketing comics when Hendrick started in retail in the 90's vs. now, the trickiness of ordering comics, the timing of comic releases around movies and TV shows, Marvel's problems with trades and graphic novels, the power of signings, the darkness of Twitter, Big Bang's weekly comic sales analysis tweets, his ComicsPro experience, Rebirth vs. Civil War II, how the controversy impacted Captain America: Steve Rogers #1, a demonstration of his incredible abilities of picking books for readers, and more. Want to skip straight to the retail talk? Jump to right around the 20 minute mark.