Off Panel #174: Back to School with Ramon Villalobos

In this week’s episode of Off Panel, artist Ramon Villalobos joins the show to talk his art and new Vertigo Comics series, Border Town. Villalobos discusses the Marvel movies, non-comics influences, learning about art, making something 100% his, Border Town, how it came together, the appeal of teen stories, his process, creating character through art, Tamra Bonvillain’s colors, the response to the book, how he’s promoted it, Comicsgate, his shoe game, and more, before closing with five questions about Ramon Villalobos, the person.

You can find Villalobos on Twitter and his work in Border Town at Vertigo Comics.

You can download the show directly here on Libsyn.

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Thanks to this episode’s sponsor, AHOY Comics. They’re looking to shake up the publishing industry with a bold new format: comic book magazines! What are those? Comic book magazines will feature traditional, full length comic stories plus extra material, like prose fiction from Grant Morrison, cartoons from Shannon Wheeler, and more! And AHOY is debuting in September with two titles: First is The Wrong Earth, a six-issue mini-series from Tom Peyer and Jamal Igle about parallel earths, heroes and vigilantes, and what happens when they trade places. The other is High Heaven, a five-issue mature readers mini-series from Peyer and Greg Scott about a chronic malcontent who dies and goes to heaven, but he still can’t help but complain about everything. Look for those in comic shops everywhere this month!

Also, thanks to the show’s other sponsor, Radio vs. the Martians! Mike Gillis and Casey Doran host the Radio vs. the Martians! podcast, a show that gathers their funniest, smartest friends once a month for a deep dive into science fiction, video games, horror, comics, movies, and everything in-between. So far, they’ve dissected topics like Superman, Steven Spielberg, Akira, George Lucas, Zombies, Twin Peaks, Hiyao Miyazaki, James Bond, Watchmen, and whether drivers are required to pull over for the Ghostbusters. Find this podcast and its spin-off show, Podcasta la Vista, Baby! a celebration of the films of thespian and statesman Arnold Schwarzenegger, on iTunes, Stitcher and their website.

Thanks to my patrons, including – but not limited to – Dave Slusher, Greg Pewterson, Ciaran Marcantonio, WMQ Comics, Akylle, Greg Lockard, Kokaachi, Phil White, Ben Becker, Shaun Pinello, Kent Heidelman, Phillip Sevy, Al Ewing, Ryan Alcock, Nick Michelin, David Kelley, Robert Wilson IV, Nick Poleto, Dylan Campbell, Eoin McCready, Brenden Fletcher, Michael Garland, Gary Moloney, Jonathan Nilsson, Matthew Groom, Jason Nassi, Mike Gillis, Adam Bogert, Xavier Files, Maria Schweitzer, Matthew Taylor, Tyler Turner, Dan Gearino, Nick Pitarra, Jacob Sareli, Ford Gilmore, David Baroldy, Evan Blasor, Brian McCray, Ira James Udaskin, Henning Ahlers, Modern Magic Stories, Nick Hall, Bruno Batista, Bobby Angus, Bjorn Basen, Darren Neely, John Hendrick, Steve Anderson, 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 Border Town #1’s cover by Villalobos and Tamra Bonvillain. Intro and outro music is Vulfpeck’s Outro from their album Vollmilch. Thanks to the band for letting me use the track.