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Four Recent Must Listen Podcasts

I’ve listened to four great creator interview podcasts in as many days, and thought I’d drop a note here to point you all to them:

Bwah-Ha-Ha at 30

Justice League International Bwah Ha Ha Podcast

The Justice League International: Bwah-Ha-Ha podcast interviewed J.M. DeMatteis for an hour to mark the occasion of the 30th anniversary of “Justice League International” #1.  I’m embarrassed to say that I missed that anniversary date, but this interview made up for it.  It’s a good chat on the ups and downs of creating the best team superhero comic of all time.  It makes me want to go out to that longbox and pull the issues out all over again. (I have the hardcovers, too, but the paper quality is no better, so what’s the point?)

Rob Liefeld and Image

Logo of the Off Panel Podcast by David Harper

David Harper interviewed Rob Liefeld for a long-form article he wrote on the history of Image Comics.  Thankfully, he published the recording of that phone call on his Off Panel Podcast.

Liefeld is great when you give him some space on a podcast like this.  You just wind him up and let him take over and it’s pure magic.  I love the energy and excitement in his voice when he talks comics.

Amongst other things, you’ll hear about the time he offered Dale Keown $10,000 to draw a short story for him.  The Image Founders really really really wanted Keown to join them.  I’ll have more to say about that topic in next week’s Pipeline column, discussing the early issues of “Spawn.”

Erik Larsen Talking Fins

Logo for Savage Fincast Podcast with Erik Larsen talking The Savage Dragon

The Savage FINcast interviewed Erik Larsen, as they are wont to do, about recent issues of “The Savage Dragon.”  Erik’s the reverse of Rob.  He loves comics just as much, but he’s more laid back.  You need to pull it out of him a little bit more, but he’s just as opinionated and honest.  You never know what might come out of his mouth on one of these shows, and this one was well worth the listen, too.

Logo of the Off Panel Podcast by David Harper

Off Panel again?  Yes, David has more conversations from his research to share.  This time, it’s his chat with Erik Larsen on Image’s early days, Kirkman’s ascension to Founder, and so much more.

Go ahead and subscribe to Off Panel, though, because there are more of these Image Founder interviews on their way…

Bonus Bancroft Brothers Podcast

Bancroft Bros podcast logo

OK, this one is a couple of weeks old, but I wanted to include it on this site somewhere.  The Bancroft Brothers interviewing J. Scott Campbell is filled with interesting nuggets.I wish the entire episode had been on that.

Campbell, to my mind, is one of the smartest business guys in comics today.  There’s some offhand comment in this interview somewhere where he admits that it’s not worth drawing the interiors of a comic again because it just doesn’t pay well enough.  That there is the problem with the comics industry.  We can’t afford to keep great interior artists.

Instead, he’s built a brand identity up around himself and feeds it so that it keeps his income going.  All those alternate covers, signed covers, sketchbooks, etc. are part of a smart overall plan.

If you want to listen to how it is we lose interior artists in comics to cover gigs only (hello, Adam Hughes), this is a good example.


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