Panel Borders – Panel Borders and other podcasts

Fantastical Worlds: In this month’s Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to a quartet of creators who make comics about Fantastical Worlds. In a panel discussion recorded at Thought Bubble Festival 2025, Donya Todd (The Witch’s Egg), Linnea Sterte (World Heist), Dave Cook (Killtopia), and B. Mure (Ismyre) discuss creating strange new worlds to tell stories […]

  Fighting for Independence: To celebrate Women’s History Month, Alex Fitch talks to a trio of female creators whose recent work depicts characters struggling for independence. The Rickard Sisters chat about their latest graphic novel This Slavery, which adapts a Romance novel by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth featuring a fiery Marxist-feminist polemic. Also, animator turned cartoonist […]

Creepy Adaptations: In a belated Halloween episode of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to a trio of creators about their work on creepy adaptations. Graphic novelist, Lucy Sullivan, and film director, Dylan Southern, have worked together on The Thing With Feathers, an adaptation to screen of Max Porter’s award-winning 2015 novella. Lucy has created new […]

Inspired by the Twentieth Century: Alex Fitch looks at the work of cartoonists influenced by the culture of the Twentieth Century. In a Q and A recorded at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, artist Juanjo Guarnido discusses his much loved anthropormophic graphic novel series Blacksad, and in a conversation recorded at Cartoon County, Digital […]

Comic Book Team-Ups: Alex Fitch talks to a trio of creators about their collaborative work. Matt Wakeham discusses writing and compiling the new coffee table book of Phoo Action, a cult comic by Jamie Hewlett that Wakeham wrote the second series of and adapted for television, which was originally serialised in The Face magazine. And […]

Innovative Trans Cartoonists: In the second of two Pride themed episodes of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of innovative trans cartoonists about their magical realist books inspired by autobiography. Artist and musician The Mollusc Dimension discusses his short story collection The Weird and Wonderful Surviveries of Squid Horse which sees the creator […]

Veteran Gay Cartoonists: In the first of two Pride themed episodes of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of veteran gay cartoonists about their auto/biographical books on LGBTQIA+ history. Kate Charlesworth discusses Sensible Footwear: A Girl’s Guide published by Myriad Editions, which tells her history as a lesbian cartoonist, interwined with the history […]

Fantastical Kickstarters: In this feature length episode, Alex Fitch chats to a trio of comic creators who are launching new titles on Kickstarter. Renowned comics creator Ilya discusses his new Graphic Novel Romo the Wolfboy, a beguiling tale of outsiders and intrigue in a Victorian Circus, Science Communicator Sara Kenney chats about her time travel […]

First Graphic Novel Award 2025: In this month’s show, Alex Fitch hosts the launch event for the 2025 First Graphic Award. Available to any unpublished comics creator, the competition looks to providing the winner with a publishing contract for their first graphic novel. 2023 long listed and short listed artists Kelly Vassie and Myfanwy Tristram, […]

First Graphic Novel Award 2023: Alex Fitch hosts the presentation ceremony of the 2023 First Graphic Novel Award, featuring short interviews with shortlisted artists Cathy Brett, Gareth Cowlin, Mereida Fajardo, Alexander Taylor, Anna Trench, Myfanwy Tristram, and Corban Wilkin, presentations by Fitch and his fellow judges: Sabba Khan, Corinne Pearlman, Ayoola Solarin, Steve Marchant and […]

Drawing on Artistic Practice: In this month’s podcast episode of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch presents a pair of interviews about the connections between sequential art and fine art. Simon Wildsmith chats about the major exhibition in Barnsley which showcases the work of his father Brian Wildsmith, and Katriona Chapman discusses the use of her paintings […]

The Past and Future in Comics at LICAF: Alex Fitch chats to a quartet of comics creators about reviving old characters, and to Ivanka Hahnenberger about helping to launch a Comics Rights Market at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. In the ‘Mantles and Legacies’ Panel, Greg Rucka, Ram V, Michael Lark and Mike Perkins […]

Pricks, and Sea Sick: In an episode on provocation and sequential art, Alex Fitch talks to Fraser Geesin and Laurie Rowan, the creators of Purple Hate Balloon and Pricks, magical realist tales of toxic masculinty set in Worthing, recorded at Cartoon County. Also, in a panel discussion recorded at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Myfanwy […]

Young Graphic Novelists to Watch: In a special Summer episode that looks at up and coming graphic novelists, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of creators who are exhibiting at the inaugural Sequent’ull Comic Art Festival in Hull this month. Michelle Freeman chats about turning her interest in fine art to storytelling, expressed in a […]

Fantasy and Horror Locations: In an episode that looks at Fantasy and Horror Comics in memoriable locations, a trio of creators talk about their work in this area. Alex Fitch talks to John Dudley and Scott Gray about their kickstarted title Big Shoulders which mixes music and magic, dragons and immortal storytellers in contemporary and […]

Euro Visions: In a pair of interviews with European artists now working in English, Alex Fitch talks to Gigi Cavenago about his work on iconic characters such as Dylan Dog / Batman, and Spider-Man in Across the Spider-Verse, and to Lucie Arnoux about her autobiographical graphic novel Je Ne Sais Quoi and illustrating the comics […]

Learning from the Past and Future: Alex Fitch talks to creators whose work set in the past and future offer salient warnings about the present. Julian Hanshaw discusses his graphic novel Free Pass which tells the tale of a couple who let a robot join in their intimate relationships, while Sophie and Scarlett Rickard chat […]

Guest presenter Ivanka Hahnenberger talks to three comics creators whose work has been adapted for film and television. Writer Peter Hogan discusses the TV version of his comic Resident Alien, cartoonist Posy Simmonds chats about the adaptations of Tamara Drew and Fred, and Luke Pearson explores the Netflix adaptation of his children comic Hilda. Recorded […]

Life Drawing: In a pair of interviews recorded at Cartoon County, Brighton, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of artists whose work is drawn from life. Nick Sayers discusses his projects Nick Draws Neighbours, and Nick Draws Nationals which see the artist pencil likenesses of people met locally and on zoom to compile vignettes of […]

Jewish Women in Comics: In a special episode looking at the work of Jewish Women in Comics, Alex Fitch talks to Sarah Lightman, one of the editors of a new book with that name, and to Sharon Rudahl, a veteran comics creator known for her strips in Wimmen’s Comix, who is featured in the anthology. […]

Transformers And Translators: In the first of this year’s autumn series of Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to Bryan Hitch, a comics artist renowned for his work on Transformers and super-hero titles, and to Ivanka Hahnenberger who has translated numerous award-winning European graphic novels into English, and works in promoting the medium at various events. […]

Comic Histories: the Panel Borders Summer Special – in a couple of public talks, a pair of academics discuss the early history of comics. Alice Loxton investigates the saga of 18th Century satirical prints, as made by Gillray, Cruikshank and Rowlandson in a talk recorded at The Cartoon Museum in conjuction with the launch of […]

Historical Comics: In a programme looking at comics from and about history, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of female creators about their work. Alice Loxton discusses her book Uproar! Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London which delves into the lives of early cartoon satirists – Thomas Rowlandson, Isaac Cruikshank and James Gillray – […]

Exploring Human Behaviour: In a programme looking at non-fiction graphic novels that explore human behaviour, Alex Fitch chairs a panel discussion with a trio of comic creators about their work. Veronika Muchitsch discusses her book Cyberman which investigates a year in the life of webcammer Ari Kivikangas, plus Daniel Locke and Alex Frith chat about […]

Unusual City Dwellers: In a programme looking at comics which depict unusual city dwellers, Alex Fitch talks to artists Ellice Weaver and Robin Smith about their work. Weaver discusses her urban graphic novels Big Ugly and Something City which tell the lives of friends and neighbours in city environments, Smith chats about the kickstarter campaign […]

Challenging Lives: In this ‘feature length’ podcast looking at comics that detail some extraordinarily challenging lives in biography and autobiography, a pair of graphic novelists discuss with Alex FItch their work on this topic. Cartoonist and designer Eliza Fricker dicusses her book Can’t Not Won’t: A Story about a child who couldn’t go to school, […]

Junkyard Jack, Monster Fun and Street Noise Books: In this ‘feature length’ podcast looking at comics for young audiences, and a young publisher looking to widen audiences, Alex Fitch talks to editor Liz Frances about her imprint Street Noise Books, who publish a range of graphic novels about diversity and activism, and to artists Matt […]

Youth and Wellbeing: In this ‘feature length’ podcast looking at comics about youth and wellbeing, a quartet of artists discuss their work which touches on these topics. Former Comics Laureate Hannah Berry chats to renowned cartoonist Alison Bechel about her latest book The Secret to Superhuman Strength, as well as her classics Dykes to Watch […]

Guantanamo Voices: To discuss the 21st anniversary of the opening of Guantanamo Bay, and the lives of the people still incarcerated there, Alex Fitch talks to writer Sarah Mirk about her graphic novel anthology Guantanamo Voices, which tells the tale of ten people associated with the prison, and to journalist Andy Worthington about his continuing […]

Local And Locas Stories: In this ‘feature length’ podcast, Alex Fitch talks to a pair of comics creators whose work is based around representation of marginalised people and cultures in specific times and places. Graphic novelist Susan Sainsbury discusses her Worthing based titles Kitty and Cheery Cak, about female lives lived on the South Coast […]