Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

Comic shop owner Patrick Brower returns to the podcast to talk about 2017 in comic book retail. Brower discusses why the last quarter of the year lagged so badly in his shop, what he thinks triggered the downturn in 2017, the volume of comics being produced, what worked in his shop, the Rickmobile, the impact of in-store events, what didn't work in his shop during the year, society's impact on sales, why pull list customers disappeared in December, his take on what's driving fans away, what's causing Marvel's struggles, the devaluation of artists at Marvel, the dip in graphic novel sales, the impact of comic book culture going mainstream, the lack of impactful marketing in the industry, the shop's plans for 2018, and more.

Artist Esad Ribić guests on this week's episode of Off Panel, as he joins to discuss his art and his upcoming Image series, VS. He discusses his path to making American comics, his influences outside of comics, the Croatian comics scene, his approach to comic art, why he's turned to creator-owned after a long stretch at Marvel, the appeal of VS, his line art getting painted by someone else, attribution of art storytelling choices, world building, the impact schedule has on his art, his Hawaii art book for Louis Vuitton, and more.

Writer Ivan Brandon visits Off Panel this week, as he joins the podcast to discuss his new Image series VS. Brandon chats about his own comics background, learning from David Mazzucchelli, how he first decided to work in comics, the stretch between the late 90s and early 00s in comics, the experience on Men of War in DC's New 52, longform projects, the difference between Western comics and manga, the development of VS, Nic Klein's painted colors on VS, how Esad Ribic realizes futuristic environments, familiarity's impact on collaboration, the level of collaboration necessary for VS, marketing comics in 2017, and more.

On this week's 2017 finale of Off Panel, my pal Brandon Burpee returns to the show to talk the year in comics. We discuss why 2017 was an improvement on 2016, parity in comics, the depth of the field, positive surprises and disappointments from the year, noticeable storytelling trends, our outlook for 2018, before closing with a countdown of our 20 favorite comics of the year. Also, an FYI: Off Panel will return the first week of 2018!

On this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Kris Anka joins the show to discuss his art and work on Runaways. Anka discusses his path to comics (both as a reader and as a creator), fan art, character acting, his animation background, sound effects, his personal background with Runaways, whether the style of the cast appealed to him in particular, the Gert struggle, his art process, working with reference, collaborating with Matt Wilson, whether there is anything he finds hard to draw in particular, merchandising art, before closing with five questions about Kris Anka, the person.

On this week's episode of Off Panel, Michael Oeming and Taki Soma join the show to discuss their new webcomic, The After Realm. Oeming and Soma discuss idea creation, the origin story and development of The After Realm, their background and experimention in webcomics, embracing fantasy, Patreon, managing workload, the process behind the comic, Soma's colors, how reader engagement changes approach, foods from yesteryear, their long-term goals for the comic, and more.

On this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Geof Darrow joins to talk his work on Shaolin Cowboy. Darrow discusses the impact of kung fu films on his work, the humor in Shaolin Cowboy, how his influences and background impacts his approach in his comics, his storytelling process, choreographing action sequences, creating stories within the story, why his pencils are so tight, Dave Stewart's impact on his art, how much Shaolin Cowboy reflects his own worldview, and more.

On this emergency episode of Off Panel, AV Club's Oliver Sava returns to discuss the big switch at the top at Marvel, as C.B. Cebulski replaced Axel Alonso as Editor-in-Chief. Subjects discussed include whether it was necessary, Marvel's aimlessness, the trouble with Legacy, the impact Alonso's comments about artists might have had, whether Cebulski is a good fit as EIC, David Gabriel's role in Marvel's struggles, the good things Alonso accomplished, risk taking at the top, our levels of concern with Marvel, before closing with a discussion about what we'd do if we were Cebulski.

On this week's episode of Off Panel, artist Alison Sampson joins the show to talk about her Image Comics series, Winnebago Graveyard. She discusses her architectural background, how her architecture background influences her comic art, panel layouts, her art process, backmatter, whether Winnebago Graveyard is more of a book market comic, women working on horror comics, whether she's gotten faster as an artist, getting bogged down in details, breaking in after an entirely different career, what Winnebago Graveyard taught her as a creator, Think of a City's present and future, and more.

It's emergency podcast time, as I just had to address the big news about writer Brian Michael Bendis leaving Marvel to sign exclusively with DC Comics. To do that, the AV Club's Oliver Sava joins the show, as we discuss how shocking the news was, what makes it so stunning, what books we'd most want to see him to take over at DC, what the deal means for DC, Bendis's ability to lure for other creatives, Marvel's other loss on the day, what losing Bendis means for Marvel, the silver lining of losing Bendis for Marvel, Marvel's need for a new architect, Hickman's reaction to all this, whether the next generation of superhero writers will be interested in shared universe stories, DC's momentum, and more.