Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

On this week's episode of Off Panel, things take a turn in a different direction as David welcomes Grantland's Jason Concepcion to the show to talk comics and basketball. The pair discuss how Concepcion first got into comics, what he's currently reading, Jonathan Hickman, Rob Liefeld, why there's such an overlap between hoops and comic fandoms, and then jump into an NBA season preview done Off Panel style. That means they discuss their five League Pass picks for the season and then attempt to figure out who the comic character equivalent is to ten of the NBA's most interesting people are. Not an NBA fan? There's still plenty to love here, anyways.

On this week's episode of Off Panel, David welcomes the great John Arcudi, writer of Rumble at Image Comics and B.P.R.D. at Dark Horse Comics. Arcudi joins the show to talk Rumble, why he left B.P.R.D., the greatness of James Harren, how to make comic collaborations not just work but shine, creator-owned comics, Rumble's path to being published, genres and heroes, Raul Mondesi, and much, much more. It's a great conversation with a fantastic writer with tons of insight into the craft of comics.

On this week's Off Panel, David digs into the lesser talked about world of editors with freelance editor to the stars Sebastian Girner. He's the man who edits books like Deadly Class, Southern Bastards and Drifter, and they talk about what his role entails, how he impacts books, whether or not he can live entirely off that work, managing the chaos, the shift of focus to creator-owned cmics, his time at Marvel, continuity, fan ownership, and much more. It's really excellent insight into what comic editors really do, and recommended listening for both readers and creators.

On this week's Off Panel, David talks with the cartoonist behind the upcoming I Hate Fairyland, Skottie Young, about his first foray into creator-owned comics with his new Image book. They talk about how the book came together, his affinity for Image Comics, the quality of 90's comics, the impact Marvel had on him, humor in comics, the influence of music on his work, cultural attitudes towards media, and much more.

On this week's Off Panel, David welcomes the artist of the upcoming Plutona, Emi Lenox, to the show to talk her upcoming Image Comics book with writer Jeff Lemire. Emi's got a lot going on, though, and they cover everything, from her upcoming graphic novel Tadaima at Image, the experience that led to creating that book, her diary comic Emitown, Final Fantasy, her Patreon, haunted houses, the alphabet, and much, much more.

On this week's Off Panel, David welcomes Invincible Iron Man's artist David Marquez to the show to talk launching the future of Marvel in his big book with writer Brian Michael Bendis. It's not just that, though, as Marquez talks the evolution of his art, how digital tools changed everything for him, how digital is perceived by fans, visual storytelling, designing in comics, and much more. It's a pretty deep talk on both his work on Iron Man and his thoughts on art in general.

On this week's episode of Off Panel from SKTCHD.com, David is joined by Rob Guillory, the artist of the Eisner and Harvey Award winning comic series Chew. Rob joins the show to talk his new website, the advantages of having a strong web presence and running your own store, his art process, what it's like nearing the end of his long-running series and working with John Layman, beefcake Kirkman, his favorite character, and a lot more. As per usual, it's a sprawling conversation that should be of interest to both fans of Chew and creators looking for insight from one of the best.

On this week's episode of Off Panel from SKTCHD.com, David welcomes writer Joe Keatinge of Shutter fame and the upcoming Ringside. Joe joins the show this week to talk about the economics of the creator-owned model, what creators can get from working in a comic shop, making comics work for you, the distribution system, social media, art vs. commerce, the evolution and development of comics, and a lot, lot more. If it sounds like it's a sprawling conversation, that's because it is. But it's a very interesting and tangent filled conversation with a great creator that touches on all things comic books.

On this week's episode of Off Panel from SKTCHD.com, David welcomes Archie Comics' Senior Vice President of Publicity and Marketing, Alex Segura, who also happens to be the Editor of the Dark Circle Comics line AND an accomplished writer of novels and comics. Segura joins the show to talk the big changes at Archie, what pushed them down that path, the power of a great creative team, Chip Zdarsky and whether or not he actually is Jughead, the surreal nature of seeing his name on Pitchfork, how to market comics in 2015, and much more.

On this week's episode of Off Panel, David welcomes Patrick Brower, co-owner of the Eisner winning comic shop Challengers Comics + Conversation in Chicago. Patrick joins the show to talk about all things retail, how he and business partner W. Dal Bush started the shop, the plusses and minuses of being a retailer, how his team approaches sales, diversity, the power of Raina Telgemeier, and much more. This is a fitting pair with our longform piece on a recent retailer survey we did, and if you're a creator or someone interested in the comic industry, there's a lot to dig into here.