Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast

Writer Rob Williams joins the show to talk about his career in comics and his next big project, Judge Dredd: The New Future. Williams discusses managing workloads, writing versus co-writing, learning from collaborators, the TV/comic overlap, the power of trust, Judge Dredd: A Better World's accessibility, the versatility of Dredd, his ronin era, the flow of Petrol Head, the roots of Judge Dredd: A Better World and The New Future, 2000 AD blindness, standing alone as a Dredd writer, navigating a career in comics, and more.

Comics critic Oliver Sava joins the show for the ninth annual Superhero State of the Union, as we talk about where DC, Marvel, and other superhero comics are today. Sava discusses Marvel's big changes, its lack of urgency, the publisher's necessary fixes, its lack of cohesion, the artist gap, Doom exhaustion, the number of Marvel events, the upcoming Midnight line, where we stand on DC, the current Batman book, Absolute DC, Hayden Sherman's greatness, Next Level's merits, the Big Two crossovers, Chris Samnee's glory, the Fourth World, superhero titles outside the Big Two, what's next for DC and Marvel, and more.

Writer Olivia Dufault joins the show to talk about her comic journey and her new comic, Prima Apparata. Dufault discusses the roots of ideas, her comic origins, the impact of libraries, her writing journey, the overlap between theater and comics, breaking into comics, where Prima Apparata came from, her very original ideas, the lead characters of the book, Rebekah Isaacs, its ballet elements, the book's ashcan, the book's different titles, Ignition Press, her pride in the book, her comic writing future, and more.

Writer Jack Mulqueen joins the show to talk about his atypical path to comics and new series at Vault, Project Perseus. Mulqueen discusses why he started writing comics, his job as a nightlife developer, the community of comics, Mike Tyson experiences, self-publishing comics, being a part of comics, the origins of Project Perseus, the greatness of artist Edison Neo, bringing the book to life, its bananas energy, the characters of the book, working with Vault, whether he wants to keep making comics going forward, his next steps for writing, the New York Knicks' championship, the upcoming NBA season, and more.

Retailer Shannon Live joins the show to talk about the story behind her comic shop, Bat City Comic Professionals, and the year far for it and the direct market itself. Live discusses her level of busy, managing burnout, Bat City's unique nature, its different sides, their product mix, its indie emphasis, the year for shop, its energy, what's working, what can be learned from DC's success, new reader behavior, the direct market's overall health, ComicPRO's impact, tips for other retailers, and more.