Cartoonist Tillie Walden the show to talk about the her past few years and her soon-to-complete Clementine trilogy over at Skybound Comet. Walden discusses the disparate audiences for the Clemetine series, atmosphere, going outside the box, how tools define an artist, tapping into the right energy, her extremely busy recent stretch, learning on the job, her plan for Clementine, dealing with trauma, the different levels of working on a property, her creative process, Clementine as a focus, the character's fanbase, the evolution of how she sees the character, how her experiences affect how she feels about her books, how her recent projects changed her as a person, and more.

Co-writers Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan join the show to talk about the comics podcaster to comics creator pipeline. Parker and Sheridan discuss their comic origins, the way they work together, how they think about story, their first collaboration, the origins of their partnership, experimentation, how they ended up making comics, idea generation, working on licensed comics, the power of restrictions, working with editors, debut release anxiety, whether they're still figuring themselves out, operating during a time of chaos, what the future holds for them, and more.

Retailer Eitan Manhoff joins the show to talk about the year in his shop Cape and Cowl Comics and the year in the direct market. Manhoff discusses how his role has changed, how the year has been in his shop, what's driving things, success spreading to other titles, the sustainability of the moment, customer interactions, adjustments he's had to make, the impact of available space, when things changed for his shop, the original/creator-owned side of comics, Deniz Camp's moment, the impact of micro lines, challenges from the year, Diamond Comic Distributors' bankruptcy, its impact on other product lines, what should be learned from the moment, the Eisner judge experience and more.

Cartoonist Gabriel Bá joins the show to talk about his career and the upcoming The Umbrella Academy: Plan B. Bá discusses the build up to new releases, the past few years for him, whether that stretch has changed him as a creator and storyteller, San Diego Comic Con's impact on his journey, how his career and what he wanted from it evolved, following new directions, co-writing The Umbrella Academy: Plan B, Gerard Way's artistic background, script flavors, the differing approaches he and Fabio Moon have, learning about art, his art across the years on Umbrella Academy, the joy of the series, what keeps him excited about comics, and more.

In this week's road show episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Kazu Kibuishi, writer Ryan North, and cartoonist Lucy Knisley join the show to talk about why they love comics so much, albeit in individual segments. Up first, Kibuishi discusses the original appeal of comics, what stood out about the medium, comic strips and picture books, his reader self versus creator self, information compression, the excitement of the new, the power of Dog Man, and more. Then, North chats about his own love of comics, his view of the medium as a reader and creator, whether making them has changed his feelings about reading them, what keeps him excited about comics, knowing where the walls are, and more. To close, Knisley discusses her own love of comics, the primal impact of words and pictures, the comics that unlocked the medium for her, multi-generational creator relationships, the low barrier of entry for comics, diversifying what you do, what keeps her excited about comics, and more.

In the landmark, hologram-covered 500th episode of Off Panel, my pal Brandon Burpee returns to the show to hand out some awards and to answer questions from friends of the podcast. We discuss favorites and surprises from the first 500 episodes, the comics that aged the best and worst from the past decade, comic book crushes, advice for our previous and future selves, comics that made us cry, comic character influencers, what we would change in comics, the comic we think everyone should read, our favorite X-Men comic ever, my approach to interviews, detail in art, our Star Wars connections, comics that get better with rereads, who won the past decade, favorite birthdays and Halloween costumes, our favorite writer, artist, and comic from the past decade, comic and music pairings, and more.

Writer/editor Alejandro Arbona joins the show to talk about his shift towards writing and his upcoming Kickstarter for his new graphic novel Lake Yellowwood Slaughter. Arbona discusses how he views himself these days, shifting how he's perceived, navigating the current publisher landscape, how he decides which projects to take on, the big things he learned from his editorial work, the origins of Lake Yellowwood Slaughter, his slasher movie background, the roots of its name, Suspiria Vilchez's cover, making a horror comic work, the difference between film and comics, the format of the book, his view of the current state of comics, the wonder of Goats Flying Press, and more.

Writer Jonathan Hickman joins the show to talk about this phase in his career and the varying projects he's working on. Hickman discusses his love of the World Cup, the phase he finds himself in, his current reality versus his previous one, why Imperial is a focus, his project mix, whether he has to think differently because the current market, promotional materials, working with artists, the origins of Aliens vs. Avengers, notable pitches, the space side of Marvel, Imperial's roots, finding new corners to work in, editorial experiences, the type of writer he is, Ultimate Spider-Man's timeline, delivering what people don't expect, creator-owned versus for-hire, the lasting feelings of his X-Men run, leeping things fresh, how he finds the right fit for himself, and more.