Comics Interview — Issue #029

Part Two of a two-part interview in which Golden Age comics writer Woolfolk continues discussing his career, including ghostwriting Superman stories for editor Mort Weisinger under his wife Dorothy's name, and his caustic portrait of Weisinger as a manipulative, bullying editor who squeezed writers like oranges. He also discusses his publishing ventures (INSIDE STORY expose magazines, with Weisinger as a partner), his Batman paperbacks written under the pen name Winston Lyon, his TV work on The Defenders (including a memorable anecdote about William Shatner demanding more screen time), and his mainstream novels — noting his recent return to comics with an Action Comics story. He reflects that comics were an invaluable testing ground for learning plot construction.

Gilbert discusses his dual career working on Elric: Sailor on the Seas of Fate (layouts with George Freeman finishing art and coloring, Roy Thomas scripting) and his own creation Mr. Monster for Eclipse, explaining how the somber tone of Elric led him to create the deliberately over-the-top Mr. Monster as a counterbalance. He describes the chaotic coloring problems on the original Pacific Comics Elric series, the collapse of Pacific Comics (which he learned about the night before a cross-country move), and how First Comics picked up Elric. He also reveals that Alan Moore wrote a 16-page Mr. Monster story with a 40-page single-spaced script, and that he and Moore have had serious discussions about a Swamp Thing vs. Mr. Monster crossover — pending approval from DC's Paul Levitz. Gilbert praises the storytelling-first philosophy he shares with Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman, and is critical of the "Marvel method" for undercompensating artists like Steve Ditko who were effectively writing the stories they drew.

Higgins, Marvel's longest-serving assistant editor (under Mike Carlin), recounts how he accidentally became a letterer through his friendship with George Perez, starting as a lettering correcter on staff in 1977 before gradually taking on full lettering jobs and then transitioning to the editorial side. He describes the mechanics of lettering (hawk quill pens, Ames guides), the behind-the-scenes production firefighting that editors rarely see, and his experience working with John Byrne on Fantastic Four — praising Jerry Ordway's inking as the best Byrne has ever received. He also discusses Steve Ditko's surprisingly easygoing nature on ROM, the editorial philosophy of Mike Carlin (a preference for comedic relief), and his personal obsession with the Grateful Dead (attending roughly 40 shows a year). He is currently lettering a Barry Windsor-Smith limited series.

Brief note announcing DAK's return to writing editorials after a period of deliberate absence, prompted by reader demand and the encouragement of peers including Gary Groth and Jim Salicrup.

Conversation with a teacher's aide from Mattoon, Illinois who used the New Teen Titans/DC drug-awareness comic (produced with the President's Drug Awareness Campaign) as a classroom tool with a special-education class of students with behavioral disorders, ages 13–16. Fleming discusses the comic's effectiveness, the psychology of negative vs. positive reinforcement in educational material, and advocates for similar comics addressing alcohol abuse and child abuse. The article includes an extensive annotated bibliography of Teen Titans issues addressing social issues, compiled by Boatz.

Reader letters responding primarily to issue #24; topics include the recurring debate over women in comics and whether male writers can portray women credibly, praise for the Sal Buscema interview, and a playful letter from T.M. Maple responding to his own profile.