In this week’s episode of Off Panel, cartoonist Kyle Starks joins the show to talk his new comic at Image, Rock Candy Mountain. Starks discusses what appealed to him about the hobo treasure hunt genre, the tropes of rail travel, researching hobo culture, when the song “Big Rock Candy Mountain” came into play, world building, the realities of hobo life, the language in the book, the impact of colorist Chris Schweizer and designer Dylan Todd, overcoming the perceptions of his “cartoony” art style, his process for bringing an issue to life, before the episode comes to a close with serious basketball talk starting around the 52 minute mark.

You can find Starks on Twitter, on his website, and his work in the upcoming Rock Candy Mountain at Image Comics, which drops on April 5th.

You can download the show directly here on Libsyn.

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Header image is from the cover of Rock Candy Mountain #1, art by Starks, Chris Schweizer and Dylan Todd. Intro and outro music is Vulfpeck’s Outro from their album Vollmilch. Thanks to the band for letting me use the track.