Comics Interview — Issue #026

A deeply detailed spotlight interview conducted at DC's offices, with editor Len Wein and others drifting in and out. Wolfman and Greenberger explain that the deaths of Supergirl (issue #7) and the Flash (issue #8) were planned from the very beginning in their two-year-old original plot outline, and that the Flash title had long been in sales trouble. They discuss the mechanics of coordinating dozens of tie-in books across the line — how crossovers were voluntary but requested, how certain dictates came from publisher Jenette Kahn, and how Perez's extraordinary choreography has made the book possible. They also address the planned post-Crisis history of the DC Universe (a three-part chronological project with Perez), the decision to streamline the multiverse, the use of Charlton characters as Earth-4 heroes, and candidly acknowledge that the JLA/JSA team-up tradition had "outlasted decent stories."

Part one of a wide-ranging career retrospective conducted at the Hotel San Diego. Drake recounts his early life with his father Alan Drake, a prolific radio actor of the 1930s–40s, and describes his own brief Hollywood detour — winning a Paramount screen test and dining with starlets before Pearl Harbor ended his acting ambitions. He traces his postwar career from commercial art studios (Perlowin, then Johnstone & Cushing) through a physical breakdown from overwork, to Bob Lubbers' advice that led him to King Features and the creation of The Heart of Juliet Jones, which he describes as a happy accident born from a strip Ward Greene had originally commissioned from Margaret Mitchell. Drake discusses his technique — heavy reliance on Polaroid reference photography and attention to "fluffy" hair for depicting feminine appeal — and his studio-sharing arrangement with Leonard Starr. The interview closes on a teaser: a secret new deal Drake can't yet reveal.

Lewis (Mayfair's comptroller) and Gorden (freelance designer) discuss the just-renamed DC Heroes Role Playing Game — originally called "DC Superpowers," a title dropped as too juvenile. Gorden explains his design philosophy: a universal two-chart mechanic that handles everything from Batman's detective skills to Superman's powers without a proliferation of special exceptions, inspired by his earlier work on the James Bond 007 RPG. A key innovation is the sub-plots system, which rewards players for maintaining character relationships and personal storylines, capturing the soap-opera texture of comics. They describe extensive collaboration with DC — Gorden met with Wolfman in Las Vegas to fine-tune the Teen Titans stats — and note that the game's release is deliberately timed to coincide with Crisis on Infinite Earths' conclusion.

(int. Bill Chadwick) — A Christian pacifist factory worker (Larry) and his young son Joshua bond over Conan and X-Men comics and are collaboratively building their own post-apocalyptic comics universe. Larry reflects on returning to comics through his son, discusses how he values stories dealing with real-life issues (like Iron Man's alcoholism), and explains the paradox of loving Conan as a pacifist: he used drawing battles as personal catharsis.