Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast SKTCHD

Artist Humberto Ramos joins the show for a rare in-person episode, as we chat about his career, art, and love of comic book artists. Ramos discusses the different types of conventions, experiences, his love of art and artists, the artists that inspired him, the early days of his career, learning from each project, Mark Waid's impact, learning from his peers, becoming an influence himself, what keeps him motivated, how he views his own art, and more.

Cartoonist Patrick Horvath joins the show to talk about his path to comics and his IDW series Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. Horvath discusses the convention experience, the appeal of comic art versus movies, the costs of creativity, learning on the job, how his route to comics changed his approach, the origins of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, thinking in story, the book's lead, serial killers, selling anthropomorphic characters, his creative process, knowing where you're going, his use of gouache, his learning curve, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou's lettering, the book's hit nature, where he's headed, and more.

Artist Jacob Phillips joins the show to talk about his career and busy dance card with Newburn, That Texas Blood, and The Enfield Gang Massacre. Phillips discusses how he works, managing schedules, his speed, how coloring himself impacts his process, tackling multiple roles, how he ended up as a comic artist, illustration work, the different steps in the process, happy accidents, his work on Megalopolis, his crime heavy slate, genre requirements, balancing multiple projects, drawing for yourself, photo reference, finding solutions, his cover work, what's next for him, and more.

ShortBox and ShortBox Comics Fair's Zainab Akhtar join the podcast this week to talk about her journey in comics, the recent closure of ShortBox, and what's next for the Comics Fair. Akhtar discuss how things have changed since ShortBox closed, the different roles of a publisher, ShortBox's evolution, the amount of work connected to it, the path to closing, how ShortBox Comics Fair came to be, the variety of comics in the Fair, Fair comics versus ShortBox comics, production value, the quarterly boxes, staying true to yourself, her love of comics, how her experiences have changed those feelings, and more.

Writer Murewa Ayodele and artist Dotun Akande joins the show to talk about their careers, collaboration, and current Oni Press series, Akogun: Brutalizer of Gods. Ayodele and Akande discuss the launch of their new book, figuring out who and what to listen to, how they became comic readers, their influences, their path to comics, computer science, print versus digital, Akande's path to becoming an artist, how Akogun came to be, their own take on gods, the oversized nature of the book, the book's structure, the variant covers, how their goals have changed, and more.

Inklore's Editorial Director Rebecca "Tay" Taylor joins the show to talk about her career and what's going on at Inklore, the imprint at Penguin Random House that's publishing manga, manhwa, manhua, webcomics, and graphic novels. Taylor discusses what editorial really is, how Inklore fits her, where things were when she started in comics, Nightwing, her path to comics, previous roles in comics, editing single issues versus graphic novels, what Inklore is, its audience, the global aspect of her job, how Lore Olympus fits, where she finds new projects, vertical scroll to print, connecting with comic markets, the convention world, and more.