Comics Interview — Issue #016

Drake, creator of the Doom Patrol and Deadman, gives a wide-ranging retrospective on his stormy career at DC and Marvel. He discusses how DC's conservatism under editors like Weisinger and Schiff held the company back while Marvel took risks, recounts his attempts to push DC into new creative territory and his eventual departure when publisher Irwin Donnenfeld reneged on promises, and reflects on his work on X-Men, Star Trek (Gold Key), and Bob Hope/Jerry Lewis humor comics. He explains he is unlikely to return to comics full-time due to persistent low page rates and lack of editorial freedom, though he remains active as National Executive Director of the Veterans Bedside Network.

Levitz, DC's VP of Operations and writer of the Legion of Super-Heroes, discusses his dual role managing DC's business and creative output. He details DC's involvement with the new Flexographic printing process (debuted in Spanner's Galaxy #1), the success of the Kenner Super Powers toy line (outselling Marvel's comparable line two-to-one), and DC's financial health under Warner Communications. He also covers his writing approach to Legion — using scorecard charts to track the massive cast — and his excitement about bringing Jack Kirby back to profit from Darkseid and the New Gods, and hints at Crisis on Infinite Earths affecting the Legion.

New Legion of Super-Heroes artist Jurgens explains how he landed on Tales of the Legion after burning out on Warlord, a book he felt was artistically unsuited to him due to its sword-and-sorcery subject matter and the pressure to maintain Mike Grell's visual formula. He describes his preference for universe-building books like Legion and Sun Devils over grounded titles, expresses regret about how he handled Sun Devils early in his career, and discusses his ambition to write more and develop a more illustrative style like Bill Sienkiewicz. He notes he has committed to six issues of Legion with his direction beyond that undecided.

British artist Gibbons covers his career from early work on the African superhero strip Power Man (co-drawn with Brian Bolland and wrongly accused of racism by The Comics Journal) through 2000 AD's "Harlem Heroes," "Dan Dare," and "Rogue Trooper," and his extensive run on Doctor Who for Marvel UK. He discusses the stark contrast between British and American comics publishing — IPC's refusal to return original artwork, no royalties for creators, and a culture of treating comics as a shameful occupation — versus DC's superior conditions, and explains why he left Green Lantern after a year (preferring space-opera over soap-opera storytelling). He mentions a forthcoming Superman Annual with Alan Moore and his desire to eventually write, pencil, ink, letter, and color his own work.

The owner and resident comics expert of The Book Nook in Champaign, Illinois discuss the daily realities of running a direct-sales comic shop: erratic distributor shipments, the challenge of ordering new titles blind before issue one even arrives, managing a volatile collectors' market, and the burden placed on retailers by publishers who ignore their end of the supply chain. Brian argues for quality labeling of mature-content comics rather than a full ratings system, while Doug objects to content that pushes toward pornography, calling out Neal Adams' Echo of Futurepast as an example. Both express optimism about comics' future growth and the quality renaissance underway.

DAK announces that Southern Knights will become a Comics Interview publication starting with issue #8, previewed in this issue's comics insert, and enthusiastically endorses the series as a rising independent worth following from the ground up.

A multi-page comics preview of Southern Knights #8, introducing the team (Electrode, Dragon, Connie Ronnin, Kristin Austin, and the Weed) with plot and script by Henry Vogel, pencils by Chuck Wojtkiewicz, and inks by Steve Kent. Includes a back-up interlude teasing the Cybernet subplot.