In this week’s episode of Off Panel, retailer Jacob Sareli joins to talk about his shop Comikaza, the first comic shop ever in Israel. Sareli discusses how he got into comics, the Israel comics scene, how he ended up taking over Comikaza, how the shop has evolved, what’s working for his shop, the impact of manga and kids comics, how the past couple years have been, what he’d like to see more of, what doesn’t work in his shop, Free Comic Book Day’s impact, his shop’s demographics, and more.

You can find Sareli’s shop, Comikaza, on Twitter and in its two locations in Haifa and Tel Aviv, Israel.

You can download the show directly here on Libsyn.

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Thanks to this episode’s sponsor, TKO Studios. TKO is a new comic publisher with current or upcoming comics coming from people like Roxane Gay, Jeff Lemire, Garth Ennis, Gabriel Walta, and many more. They also are taking a different approach to comics, as they binge-release their comics, with each title coming in the format you prefer. Whether that’s single issues in a collector’s box, trade paperback or digital download, TKO has you covered. And even better? You can read each of TKO’s first issues on their site, right now. If you’re a store that’s interested in learning more about stocking TKO’s titles, you can email them at retailers@tkopresents.com.

Thanks to my patrons, including – but not limited to – Nathan House, Kevin Maginnis, Lytwyn Studios, Alex Dimitropolous, Terry Dodson, Troy-Jeffrey Allen, Liana Kangas, Keigen Rea, Milton Lawson, Wesley Gift, Shawn Kirkham, Harry Small, Alister Ross, Julio Anta, Gus, Brett A. Schmidt, Jason Goodmanson, Paul Reinwand, Connor Farner, Vita Ayala, Jay D’Ici and Matt G. Gagnon, Aditya Bidikar, Tara Ferguson, Dave Slusher, 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, Eoin McCready, Brenden Fletcher, Gary Moloney, Jonathan Nilsson, Matthew Groom, Jason Nassi, Adam Bogert, Xavier Files, Maria Schweitzer, Matthew Taylor, Tyler Turner, Nick Pitarra, Jacob Sareli, Ford Gilmore, David Baroldy, Ira James Udaskin, Modern Magic Stories, Nick Hall, Bobby Angus, Bjorn Basen, John Hendrick, Steve Anderson, Phil Knall, Ian Maxfield, Cliff Chiang, Benjamin Schipper, Colin McMahon, Chris Palmer, Scott McGovern, Nathan Fairbairn, Cat McKenzie, Greg Rucka, Adam Highfill, Nicholas Gardner, Andrew Corrigan, Fiona Staples, 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 art is from the cover of the upcoming graphic novel, Pumpkinheads, with art by Faith Erin Hicks. Off Panel’s theme music is 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!