SKTCHD BOOK 2025
The latest SKTCHD BOOK is here!
It's SKTCHD BOOK 2025, and it's the seventh print annual from my Eisner Award-nominated site that collects the very best of SKTCHD and Off Panel from this past year. This edition is the biggest yet, and it features five of my favorite pieces from the year for the site and podcast, a book-only Ten Things column, maybe my favorite cover yet, some wonderful art shared by the subjects of the pieces in this book (including an array of comic strips and an iconic cover), an incredible foreword by one of the best writers in the business, and more.
What does that actually look like? Well...
- A foreword by writer Kieron Gillen (The Power Fantasy, Die: Loaded, Immortal X-Men)
- The Story of Bone’s Time in Disney Adventures, From the People Who Made It Happen: Back in the 1990s, Bone — Jeff Smith's legendary series — appeared in Disney's monthly magazine for kids, Disney Adventures. But how did it happen? I talked with Smith, Marv Wolfman, Heidi MacDonald, and Cliff Chiang, four key players in that journey, for this piece about how it happened.
- The Comic Character Name Matrix: Comic characters have all kinds of names. Code names. Real names. Nicknames. But which name is the right one? The Comic Character Name Matrix is built to answer that very question, as I break down characters based on the right fit and write about (some of) the decisions I make along the way.
- A Conversation with Grant Morrison: The legendary writer joined Off Panel for the first time, as Grant Morrison visited the podcast right before the release of DC/Marvel: Batman/Deadpool to talk about their life, career, approach to comics as a medium, the fact we both bungee jumped off the same bridge in New Zealand, the importance of adventures, and, oh yeah, Batman/Deadpool, I guess.
- Comic Strips Are So Back: 2025 was a massive year for comic strips, both as a form and for me as a reader of them. But it's a much different world for comic strips than the heydays of the 1980s and 1990s. In this piece, I talked with cartoonists Beetle Moses, Sarah Andersen (Sarah's Scribbles), Joshua Barkman (False Knees), Boum (Boumeries), and Jimmy Craig (They Can Talk) about what it's like making comic strips today, why the format is eternal, social media's role, and more.
- The Entire History of Me: In honor of the 10th anniversary of SKTCHD and Off Panel (which hit in 2025), I took on the massive project of looking back through my life to pick the most personally consequential comics released during each year of my life, and then I wrote about each selection and how each shaped me as a reader and fan of comics as a medium.
- Ten Reasons I Love What I Do at SKTCHD and Off Panel: Each Friday, I publish Comics Disassembled, a column where I write about ten things I liked or didn't like from the week of comics, and I wanted to do something similar for the book. The difference is this one is all loved, as I wrote about ten reasons I loved what I do on the site and podcast, and I suspect very few of them will be what you expect.
The book is 152 pages, A5 sized, with interiors printed on 80 lb uncoated paper and a 100 lb uncoated cover. It's perfect bound, with the art that introduces each piece either coming from the focus project or being designed by my wife, Amber, just like the rest of the book. She crushed it.
All books will be printed to order, and there will only be one print run, so if you want one, order a book before things close up on Thursday, April 30th.
As per usual, shipping is what it is, as USPS rates continue to be nightmarish and completely not under my control. I did add Ground Advantage shipping, so there's a middle option between flat rate and media mail this year! Also, I do have a reasonably workable solution for International shipping, but it's still more than I'd like. I can promise you I did my best!
If you have any questions or want to talk about some sort of bulk ordering solution, please email me at [email protected] and I'll do my best to sort it out with you. Otherwise, happy ordering!