Off Panel #520: The Fantasy Draft with Badr Milligan and Chris Hacker
Podcasters Badr Milligan (The Short Box Podcast) and Chris Hacker (The Oblivion Bar podcast) join the show to talk about the comic podcasting world and our upcoming panel at NYCC before we fantasy draft seven hyperspecific things we love about comics. Milligan and Hacker discuss how podcasting has ruined our brains, podcast living, our upcoming panel at NYCC, and more, before we fantasy draft hyperspecific things we love about comics, including self-adhesive bags and boards, a special Marvel relationship, superhero comics that approach the line of stupid, seeing art lines in writing, Marvel Treasury Editions, Wednesday Comics’ format, and more, before a pair of guest judges come on to help declare a winner.
You can find Milligan and his podcast The Short Box on Bluesky and Instagram and Hacker’s podcast The Oblivion Bar on Bluesky and Instagram, as well as their work on The Short Box podcast and The Oblivion Bar podcast respectively.
You can download the episode directly here on Libsyn.
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Want to watch a video version of this interview, albeit mostly unedited? This chat with Badr Milligan and Chris Hacker is available on the SKTCHD/Off Panel YouTube.
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Thanks to one of the sponsor of this week’s podcast: 2000 AD! Looking for sci-fi comics which go further than you’ve ever been before? Look no further than 2000 AD – it’s the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic! Whether you’re a new or returning reader, September is the perfect time to try out 2000 AD, with the launch of 2000 AD issue 2450 — a jump-on issue with a fresh start for every story! Featuring a terrifying new Judge Dredd story by Rob Williams and Henry Flint, the issue also has a major new Rogue Trooper story from the team of Alex de Campi and Neil Edwards! And if you want weird and experimental stories, the issue features the return of the critically-acclaimed steampunk fantasy series Brass Sun by Ian Edginton and INJ Culbard, alongside the psychedelic acid trip of Void Runners from David Hine and Boo Cook. Get a print subscription to 2000 AD and it’ll arrive through your letterbox every week, and your first issue is free. Or, subscribe digitally and you can download DRM-free copies of each issue for only $9 a month. That’s 128 pages of incredible comics every month for less than $10! Head to 2000AD.com and click on ‘subscribe’ now – or download the 2000 AD app and start reading today!
Thanks to another of the show’s sponsors, Oni Press! The sins of the past don’t stay buried…they always find a way of rising from the grave. In November, Oni Press is proud to present Crownsville, a five-part series from master storyteller Rodney Barnes and phenomenal artist Elia Bonetti inspired by the true history of a notorious Maryland mental asylum. Founded at the turn of the 20th century, the Crownsville Hospital was a notoriously segregated, all-Black psychiatric institute. After decades of overcrowding and neglect—alongside darker, more-persistent rumors of patient abuse and illegal medical experiments—it was finally closed. Today, it stands condemned. But when an unexplained death inside the abandoned hospital is ruled a suicide, detective Mike Simms and journalist Paul Blair are compelled to dig deeper, only to discover the reality of the ghosts that still walk its halls. Enter a century-spanning tale of suspense and sorrow as true crime meets shocking terror in Crownsville #1 – a double-sized 48-page debut coming in November from Oni Press.
Lastly, thanks to the show’s final sponsor in IDW Publishing. What does IDW have waiting for readers in comic shops this October? An amazing slate of new comic series, that’s what. Can I interest you in a new title from Godzilla’s Kai-Sei Era , Starship Godzilla, which is written by The SKTCHD AWRDS winner Chris Gooch and has been described as Cowboy Bebop meets Guardians of the Galaxy? Or what about Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which spins out of the Paramount+ animated series and finds Godzilla: Skate or Die artist Louie Joyce taking his talents to the Turtles? There are even a couple glorious returns, as Off Panel veteran Rodney Barnes brings the vampires back to Alaska in 30 Days of Night: Falling Sun and the Tim Burton classic continues as Ichabod Crane is back in Return to Sleepy Hollow from Casey Gilly and Savanna Mayer. Are you looking for fun? Action? Horror? Suspense? And, most of all, good comics? You’ll find them from IDW at comic shops everywhere this October.
Also, big thanks to my patrons, including – but not limited to – MKFreigeist, Matthew Murphy, Brodie Duncan, Scott Chua, Paul Lai, Gene Queens, Chad Lawrence, James Ferguson, Tiffany Babb, Nerdy Mewzings Podcast, Ian A., Katie Pryde, Hassan Thalji, Pinoywonder, Toni DeBoer, Nick Friar, James Shields, Michael DiGiovanni, Pete Ficken, Patrick McGlynn, Jose Perez, Ross Binder, Chris Tanforan, Joey Riccio, Ruben Jackson, Alfa, Keith Friedlander, Adriel Moreland, Beef Red, Garrett Lawton, Mike Novello, Jaime Espinoza, Ruben Cantu, Detective 27, JJ Mack, Comic Shop Assistant, Rob Guillory, Justin Pearson, Gianni Palumbo, Oliver Sava, P. Sanger, Wilson Garrett, Ben O’Grady, Mark Tweedale, Ben Allen, Zack Quaintance, Kazu Kibuishi, Claire Scott, Tyler Crook, Patrick Horvath, Louis Krupp, Raul Allen, Omega Slice, John Walsh, Brandon Paul, Aaron Bussey, AC, Simon Birch, Austin, Sion, Megan Marsden, T.S. Luther, Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast, Scott Carpenter, Gus, Saunter, Brian, Chris Robinson, David Byrne, Milton Lawson, Benjamin Wilkins, Chris Hacker, John NeSmith, Jon Auerbach, Dustin Weaver, Brandon Hayman, Aaden Hamann, Faith Erin Hicks, Ben Wroe, Cameron Brown, Jonathan Breen, Charlie Stickney, Tom Drennen, Jeremy Thomas Burke, Jared Schwab, Scott Dunn, Chip Mosher, Seth Pomeroy, James McEwan, Andrew Leamon, Christina Merkler, Scott Place, Travis Gibb, Darcy Van Poelgeest, Tom Evans, Reid Beaman, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Max Wood, Jeremy Lambert, Bryan, Nir Levie, Jason Hussa, Kieron Gillen, Jonathan Kent-Uritam, Henry Johnston, Dennis Hoffmann, Django Bohren, James Tynion IV, Chris Lankford, Jason Wood, Tom Peachey, Ben Damstedt, Ram V, Nick Walker, Patrick Coyle, Isaac Orin, Klaas Van de Ven, Submet Industries, Jack Mulqueen, Karl Kerschl, Robert Masella, Elsa Charretier, Luc Nakashoji, Dr. Luke, Scott Haselwood, CanadianByProxy, Bradley Roeder, Carl Choi, Brandon De Pillis, Patrick Brower, Declan Shalvey, Dan Gearino, Atom Freeman, Ben Wild, Brian Klein-Q, Liana Kangas, Nick Bennett, Susana Polo, Reed Hinckley-Barnes, Mario Tiambeng, Robert Wilson IV, Andrew Kurita, Stefan Hull, Phillip Maira, Chris Bachalo, Torunn Grønbekk, FuzBubbles, Christopher Ta, Transmitterdown, Walt’s Comics & Books, Akil Wilson, Alex Dimitropolous, Terry Dodson, Wesley Gift, Shawn Kirkham, Julio Anta, Brett A. Schmidt, Jason Goodmanson, Vita Ayala, Akylle, Phillip Sevy, Al Ewing, David Kelley, Jason Nassi, Adam Bogert, Matthew Taylor, Nick Pitarra, Jacob Sareli, Ford Gilmore, David Baroldy, Nick Hall, Bjorn Basen, John Hendrick, Ian Maxfield, Cliff Chiang, Colin McMahon, Adam Highfill, Fiona Staples, Mark Abnett, Michael Shirley, Tom Barnett, Jim Demonakos, Norbert, Nick Lowe, James Kaplan, and Mission: Comics and Art in San Francisco. You’re all the best.
Have a question for Off Panel? You can reach David by email or Bluesky.
Header photo is from the logos for The Short Box podcast and The Oblivion Bar podcast. Off Panel’s opening theme music is Vulfpeck’s “Outro,” used with permission from the band (and thanks from me for them doing so!), with the rest of the music being an original track by custom music agency Upright T-Rex Music, written and performed specifically for the podcast. A huge thanks to Ross and Cody from Upright T-Rex Music for putting the track together!