Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

In a special, year end episode of Off Panel, we look at the defining themes of 2022 in comics with the help of Big Bang Comics' Bruno Batista, The Beat's Heidi MacDonald, and Vault Comics' Damian Wassel. Up first is Batista (1:10), who talks about the number of comics in the direct market with no clear audience, how widespread this issue is, how focused this issue is, how much this issue has worsened, whether marketing fits into this, and how this has affected the market. After that is MacDonald (33:00), who discusses the stagnant page rates, creator monetization, where those subjects are all headed. And to close is Wassel (109:09), who talks about the state of storytelling in comics, where sci-fi and fantasy are as genres, longform storytelling in comics, how things are evolving, comics being the last bastion of serialized storytelling, and more.

Retailer Patrick Brower returns to the show to talk about the year for his shop, Chicago's Challengers Comics + Conversation. Brower discusses the holiday season, his comics retail podcast, promoting comics, how the year was and its progression, product vs. process, excitement levels, what's working, building other paths, in-store sales versus online, what hasn't been working, the reasons things are a struggle, what customers are saying, awareness of titles, the conversation about the direct market, what has him hopeful about comics, and more.

In this week's episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Nick Roche joins the podcast to chat about his comics life and upcoming IDW series Scarenthood. Roche discusses growing up in a small town, stories sneaking up on you, his likability, when he first started reading comics, the development of his art, how he broke into comics, whether he wanted to do something smaller with Scarenthood, the scariness of being a parent, the origins of fear, character acting, telling more personal stories, shattering trousers, and more.

In the first episode of Off Panel, David welcomes comic artist Sean Murphy (Chrononauts, the upcoming Tokyo Ghost) to talk about the business of comics, creator-owned comics, how the industry is changing, working with Mark Millar, what the future holds for him and more.

Letterer Clayton Cowles joins the show for a conversation about his career and approach to lettering titles like Batman, Immortal X-Men, Daredevil, and more. Cowles discusses managing his expansive workload, where his love of comics started, going to The Kubert School, working with Virtual Calligraphy, his process to starting a project, how the lettering space has evolved, for-hire versus creator-owned, where challenges lie, the impact of repeat collaborators, pushing yourself, impact projects from his career, revisiting old work, and more.