In this week’s episode of Off Panel, The AV Club’s resident comic critic Oliver Sava returns to the show for a deep dive into the state of the superhero union. We discuss how we feel about superhero comics in general today, Geoff Johns’ big move out of DC Entertainment, what he’s liking and not liking at DC right now, The Killing Zone, Bendis’s start at DC, Young Animal ending, DC’s love of imprints, Vertigo’s relaunch, where Marvel is at, Ta-Nahisi Coates’ work on Black Panther, the titles we’re really digging, who we’d want to write a Marvel event today, the upcoming Marvel comic we’re most excited for, which publisher has more momentum right now, who is making the best comics, which superhero title has the belt right now, and more.

You can find Sava on Twitter, his website and his work at The AV Club (amongst other places).

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Thanks to this episode’s sponsor, comiXology. They’ve launched a line of exclusive, new, original content as part of their comiXology Originals initiative. All titles – including Savage Game, Elephantmen 2261: The Death of Shorty, Ask for Mercy and Superfreaks (which is available in full, right now) – are available digitally worldwide and via Prime Reading, Kindle Unlimited and ComiXology Unlimited. The titles are also available for sale a la carte on Kindle and comiXology, with Savage Game also being available in print only on Amazon.com.

Thanks to my patrons, including – but not limited to – Nick Poleto, Mike D’Argenio, Dylan Campbell, Eoin McCready, Brenden Fletcher, Michael Garland, Nick, Gary Moloney, Jonathan Nilsson, Matthew Groom, David, Jason Nassi, Mike Gillis, Adam Bogert, Xavier Files, Maria Schweitzer, Matthew Taylor, Tyler Turner, Dan Gearino, Dan Lee, Nick Pitarra, Jacob Sareli, Ford Gilmore, David Baroldy, Evan Blasor, Brian McCray, Ira James Udaskin, Henning Ahlers, Modern Magic Stories, Nick Hall, Bruno Batista, Abraham Riesman, Bobby Angus, Bjorn Basen, Darren Neely, John Hendrick, Steve Anderson, Michael Perlman, Phil Knall, Ian Maxfield, Cliff Chiang, Benjamin Schipper, Colin McMahon, Chris Palmer, Maxwell Schmidt, Scott McGovern, Nathan Fairbairn, Cat McKenzie, Lou Iovino, Nicholas Keslake, Greg Rucka, Ryan Mayle, Adam Highfill, Nicholas Gardner, Andrew Corrigan, Fiona Staples, Chris Morris, Chris O’Hollaran, Mark Abnett, Mike Murphy, Michael Shirley, Tom Barnett, Jim Demonakos, Norbert, Nick Lowe, James Kaplan, and Mission: Comics and Art in San Francisco. You’re all the best.

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Header image is from Justice League #1, art by Jim Cheung. Intro and outro music is Vulfpeck’s Outro from their album Vollmilch. Thanks to the band for letting me use the track.