Writer Kelly Thompson joins the show to talk about her past few years and her incredibly busy slate of comics work. Thompson discusses those past couple years, Scott Snyder’s impact, being away from the celebration, how her opportunities have changed, the shifts with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, managing her workload, her experiences on Black Cloak and The Cull, creator-owned challenges, the draw of for-hire work, the parallels between her recent projects, the Universal Monsters line, the nature of The Bride of Frankenstein Lives, her collaborators, her expectations for Absolute Wonder Woman, the art on her books, the evolution of Absolute Wonder Woman, the power of new, and more.

You can find Thompson on Bluesky and Instagram and her work in Absolute Wonder Woman, It’s Jeff!, Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives, and the upcoming Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel over at Dynamite.

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 Kelly Thompson is available on the SKTCHD/Off Panel YouTube! Go watch it over there, and if you enjoy it, make sure to subscribe to the channel when you do.

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Thanks to one of the sponsor of this week’s podcast: 2000 AD! Next year, 2000 AD is cutting the Law down to size! As Judge Dredd celebrates fifty years of publication in 2027, now is the time to read his stories from the beginning. Judge Dredd: The Compact Crimes begins in January 2027 – a new series of compact comics featuring the Lawman of the Future. Collecting his original stories right from the start, this is the perfect way to try out Judge Dredd for the first time. Printed in compact size, each volume is filled with the sharp satire, keen wit, and all-out action Dredd is known for. Each volume costs only $12.99, with a new volume releasing every month in 2027 – so you can keep your Law in Order! So, what are you waiting for, citizen? Pre-order volume one today – and make 2027 the year of Dredd!

Thanks to another of the show’s sponsors, Oni Press! In January 2027, modern masters Michael E. Uslan and Steven S. DeKnight join explosive artist Sebastián Cabrol to chronicle the fiery origin of the once-forgotten revolutionary who first watered liberty’s tree with the blood of tyrants! Once, the Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn waged a guerrilla insurgency across 18th-century England and his rebellion soon became legend, inspiring copycat uprisings across the English countryside as the “Scarecrow of Romney Marsh” became a beacon of resistance against his nation’s mad monarch. But that’s where what history remembers of the Scarecrow’s reign is about to go violently, terribly wrong . . .The year is 1775. And Dr. Syn’s war is about to begin. Inglourious Basterds meets V for Vendetta in a bombshell of proto-pulp, Revolutionary War hellfire as Uslan, DeKnight, and Cabrol resurrect an unrelenting freedom fighter for a new age! Dr. Syn hits comic shops in January 2027 from the rebels at Oni Press!

Lastly, thanks to the show’s final sponsor in IDW. This November, IDW Publishing is bringing the horror, the heroes, and a whole lot of history! First, Hannah Rose May and Kelsey Ramsay’s The Exorcism at Buckingham Palace arrives on on November 10^th! A scandal-plagued prince inherits the throne, but something far more sinister is haunting the monarchy. Next, Master Splinter is back from the dead! But something is terribly wrong. Gene Luen Yang and Freddie E. Williams II’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ujigami arrives on November 24^th, and it finds the Turtles discovering that their resurrected father may be a deadly masked assassin! And finally, sixty years. Infinite adventures. One Final Frontier! Celebrate six decades of Star Trek on December 1^st with the 60th Anniversary Special: The Deluxe Edition! Featuring legendary creators, milestone comics, and all-new adventures in one spectacular hardcover. Three incredible releases. Endless reasons to read. Find them wherever books and comics are sold.

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Have a question for Off Panel? You can reach David by email or Bluesky.

Header photo is from the covers of Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives #1 (Mattia de Iulis), Absolute Wonder Woman #25 (Hayden Sherman), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1 (David Nakayama). 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!