Off Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast · SKTCHD

Discovery with Gabriel Bá

June 2, 2025·1 hr 13 min·5 clips

Gabriel Bá explains how having kids and the pandemic forced him to slow down and rethink his approach to comics.

The opening is pure Off Panel. Harper talks about Bá's return through release timing, work rhythm, and that odd calm that can show up after time away from the mainstream monthly grind. Bá sounds easy in the chair, but not checked out. His life has been quieter and farther from comics, while the work has kept moving slowly in the background. That patience gives the episode its weight. The best stretch is about The Umbrella Academy feeling less like a mystery Bá has to enter and more like a world he now knows from the inside. Early on, he followed the path. The larger story was already there, so the work was drawing, interpreting, shaping pages, and solving visual problems. The TV series opened up wider conversations about future chapters, character roles, and where the whole thing might go. That changed the room. Bá says that after three published books, a miniseries, and short stories, the comic has its own personality and vibe. Some ideas no longer fit. Others only show up once the story has enough history to push back. Harper gives him space, so the answer turns into something better than a credit breakdown. It becomes a look at how a comic can teach its makers what belongs. Bá's role grew through craft: splitting panels, merging panels, adjusting layouts, designing characters and places, and spotting the small details that worked better. Hotel Oblivion sounds like the hinge. After that, writing together made sense because both creators knew the book well enough to steer it. The close goes back to Off Panel housekeeping, with the supporter roll and music thanks keeping the show rooted in comics community and practical gratitude.

As heard by us

A quiet, clear-eyed comics interview about returning to a major project and trusting the long run.

Gabriel Bala's return to The Umbrella Academy Plan B gives the episode its anchor, but the deeper appeal is how David Harper lets a long comics career speak for itself.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a calm, inside-baseball comics interview about Gabriel Bala's first big U.S. comics release in about six years.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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