Marc Maron is soon bringing WTF to an end, but the wildly-popular interview podcast will live on as a graphic novel.
Having clocked up well over 1,000 episodes since launching WTF with Marc Maron in 2009, the actor and comedian will have plenty of stories to tell, and that history will be told in WTF is a Podcast.
The likes of Barack Obama, Robin Williams and Lorne Michaels have all featured as guests over the years, and their tales could be among the ones told in print.
Maron is working with graphic novel publisher Z2 on the project, alongside WTF‘s longtime producer Brendan McDonald and cartoonist Brian Box Brown, to capture the story.
The story will span the period between 2004 and 2025. Maron had launched WTF in 2009 after the abrupt cancellation of his webcast Breakroom Live with Maron & Seder, and the show became a seminal player in the burgeoning podcast space. This June, during an episode with John Mulaney, Maron announced the podcast would end “sometime in the fall.” Deadline was first to reveal the news.
“The success of WTF still seems unreal to me, so it makes sense for the definitive story to be told by a great cartoonist and Box Brown is the perfect guy to do it,” said Maron. “This is a fantastic way for fans to relive the entire run of the podcast without needing to listen to thousands of hours of material again.”
Box Brown, a New York Times bestselling and Eisner Award-winning cartoonist and illustrator, is behind the likes of Andre the Giant: Life and Legend and Is This Guy For Real: The Unbelievable Andy Kaufman. His weekly comic strip, Legalization Nation, is syndicated by King Features.
“I remember listening to episode 1 of WTF, following Marc from Breakroom Live,” said Box Brown. “WTF got me through drawing thousands of pages of comics as I tread through my career. Maron’s resiliency and self-reflection resonated with me deeply. I am excited and proud to be able to document the journey in the best way I know how: through comics. And hopefully I can shed some light on the magic of WTF with Marc Maron.”
The graphic novel is already funded, but a Kickstarter will launch on September 4 to allow listeners to pre-order the book and gain access to WTF memorabilia, including deluxe and signed editions, and rare Maron items from his vault.
“As a longtime fan of both Marc Maron and Brian Box Brown, getting to publish their graphic novel feels surreal,” said Josh Bernstein, President of Z2. “WTF is a Podcast is raw, funny, thoughtful, and so unmistakably them. I’m honored Z2 gets to publish this extraordinary collaboration and put this book into readers’ hands.”
In May, we revealed Z2 was working with the family of Dan Aykroyd and the late Judy Belushi-Pisano‘s estate on a graphic novelization of the Blues Brothers, which will form part of a universe of TV series, films, live events, books and music.
Maron has just premiered a sixth HBO stand-up special Marc Maron: Panicked. He also starred in Netflix wrestling drama GLOW and IFC’s Maron. A doc about his career, Are We Good?, premiered at SXSW and has a theatrical release scheduled for October. He also recently starred alongside Owen Wilson in Apple TV+ golf comedy series Stick, which has been renewed for a second season.
