Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

Kieron Gillen, a renowned comic book writer behind works like The Power Fantasy and Die, dives into the complexities of storytelling and creativity. He shares insights on the emotional challenges of the comic industry and the importance of collaboration, particularly with artist Stephanie Hans. Gillen also discusses the thematic evolution of Die: Loaded, highlighting its shift from intimate friend dynamics to exploring social interactions among strangers. Plus, he offers a look into the balance of self-promotion and the art of engaging his audience.

Cartoonist Erica Henderson joins the podcast to talk about her past few years and her work on Harley and Ivy: Life and Crimes at DC. Henderson discusses her whim based processes, writing Erica vs. drawing Erica, what she can do while working, recent learnings, the way she thinks of pages, things she needed to do in Harley and Ivy, how she approaches projects, single issues vs. graphic novels, bringing Harley and Ivy to life, their fit together, her background with them, the looks of these characters, research, building around moments, the project's origins, preferred genres, fighting boredom, how variants work, and more.

Recorded live at New York Comic Con, artists Hayden Sherman, Rachael Stott, and Russell Dauterman and cartoonist Trung Le Nguyen joined the podcast to talk about why they love comics, with each happening in individual segments. Up first, Sherman (1:22) discusses what fuels their love, controlling the read, what unlocked comics, artist's artists, where influences come from, how making comics impacts reading them, and more. Then Stott (17:25) joins to talk about early loves in comics, finding the unexpected, the impact of the individual, her relationship with the medium, smooth comics, and more. Dauterman (34:35) follows to discuss his love of comics, the appeal of the new, what's changed for him as a reader, looking to the past, what keeps him excited about comics, and more. Lastly, Nguyen (51:29) discusses the universality of images, accessibility, comics DNA, how making comics changed things, the process of comics, and more.

DC Executive Editor Chris Conroy, who works on the Absolute, Black Label, and Vertigo lines at the publisher, joins the podcast to talk about the newly returned Vertigo Comics line. Conroy discusses his Vertigo background, how it changed his reading habits, what led to Vertigo's return, adding clarity to how things work, the evergreen side of DC, the team behind Vertigo, its strategy to creative teams, how they built the line, its aesthetic, balancing the future and the past, the gap between announcements, the line's size, what he wants the line to mean, and more.

Artist Doc Shaner joins the podcast to talk about his life and career in comics. Shaner discusses working from home, his schedule, the impact of comic strips, wanting to be a cartoonist, Buddy Cops, showing a different side of yourself, getting into comics themselves, his music brain, drawing for yourself, developing your style, Comic Twart, which project he learned the most from, working with friends, New Champion of Shazam, the Strange Adventures experience, being the bright and shiny guy, how he works, video games, being off the stands, holding onto joy, and more.

Podcasters Badr Milligan (The Short Box Podcast) and Chris Hacker (The Oblivion Bar podcast) join the show to talk about the comic podcasting world and our upcoming panel at NYCC before we fantasy draft seven hyperspecific things we love about comics. Milligan and Hacker discuss how podcasting has ruined our brains, podcast living, our upcoming panel at NYCC, and more, before we fantasy draft hyperspecific things we love about comics, including self-adhesive bags and boards, a special Marvel relationship, superhero comics that approach the line of stupid, seeing art lines in writing, Marvel Treasury Editions, Wednesday Comics' format, and more, before a pair of guest judges come on to help declare a winner.

David Brothers and Nick Dragotta join the show to talk about their collaboration on the upcoming Good Devils: Don't Play Fair with Evil. Brothers and Dragotta discuss the FOC experience, promoting comics, how they met, the Creators for Creators grant, how David started writing comics, why they wanted to work together, helping others, the influences of Good Devils, how they work together, how opportunities shaped the story, why they wanted to bring these stories to print, Ghost Cage, why Absolute Batman works, what gets them excited about comics, and more.

Cartoonist John Allison joins the show to talk about where he's at right now in his comics career. Allison discusses finding things for himself, managing freelance living, how he's feeling about comics and the industry, where he fits, being an influencer, going the graphic novel route, how he figures out which projects to take on, writing vs. writing and drawing, how his reads impact his work, Hirayasumi, the types of projects he prefers, Kickstarter, what's next for him, the power of threes, what brings him joy in comics, a TV recommendation, Formula 1 takes, and more.

Cartoonist Ngozi Ukazu joins the show to talk about her upcoming graphic novels, Flip from First Second and Orion at DC Comics. Ukazu discusses book tour living, finding time for yourself, figuring out next steps, growing as a cartoonist, managing your workload, writing for others, the importance of having creative work outside comics, Flip's origins, autobiographical challenges, the body swap at the core of it, different types of creating, working with DC, becoming a Jack Kirby acolyte, why Orion was the right follow up, young adult graphic novels, knowing who you are, WNBA takes, and more.

Writer Brian K. Vaughan joins the show to talk about his work on comics like Saga and the upcoming Spectators, both of which are at Image Comics. Vaughan discusses the state of the world's impact on his writing, navigating his own emotions, how lasting relationships change collaborations, how much of his world is comics, Spectators' evolving covers, the approach to Spectators, writing a graphic novel, the book's origins, Niko Henrichon's art, how they figured things out, his predictive powers, risky approaches, the Exploding Giraffe community, where Saga is, the evolution of Fiona Staples, finding new readers, when he knew writing would work as a job, and more.