Comics Interview — Issue #047

Schulz discusses his 36-year career at length, tracing his early days at a St. Paul correspondence school, his first published work in THE SATURDAY EVENING POST, and how he invented the "very slight incident" format that revolutionized comic strips. He reflects on Peanuts' slow rise from seven papers to global phenomenon, the role of TV specials and licensing (which he insists came to him rather than being sought), and his strong opinions about poor draftsmanship in contemporary newspaper strips. He also mentions that heart surgery has left his hands somewhat shaky and that he is working on a new television project he hopes will be his "Citizen Kane."

Williams, president of the Comic Art Professional Society (CAPS), discusses being the first female cartoonist published in Easyriders magazine and her ongoing work for Playgirl. She describes her simple linear cartoon style, her admiration for Lou Myers and Gary Larson, and how she sells three cartoons per Playgirl issue by submitting nine to twelve pencilled roughs against a monthly theme.

McNeil, an animator with credits spanning Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears, and Filmation, speaks energetically about his career from SUPERFRIENDS in-betweener to special effects work on the first Star Trek film. He is fiercely pro-DC and critical of Marvel's house-style approach, particularly SECRET WARS, while championing THE NEW TEEN TITANS and AMBUSH BUG; he also details censorship battles with Saturday morning broadcast standards over cartoon character lips and other content. McNeil has his own animation company and hopes to produce a superhero series with his own original characters.

Tallerday, formerly production coordinator at Pacific Comics and now at Blackthorne, explains the full production pipeline from original art to printed page, including typesetting, paste-up, color separation, and the shift from 63-color mechanical guides to 14,000-color grayline/laser-scan methods. Marker describes the collage-and-spit-Q-tip coloring technique she and Pacific artists pioneered, including an infamous incident in which a laser scanner destroyed a finished cover original. Together they argue that advances in materials could spark a renaissance in comics art if creators learn to use them.

Italiano, an Australian graphic artist and comic retailer, discusses the death of the Australian comics industry, the dominance of The Phantom on Australian newsstands, the severe censorship once imposed by Queensland authorities, and his frustration at being unable to secure U.S. distribution for his Super Squadron superhero role-playing game despite positive reviews.

DAK positions Comics Interview as unique in the field for offering insider interviews across all levels of the industry, from publishers and colorists to letterers and lawyers, and encourages readers to spread the word.

Reader Timothy Fay responds critically to a previous Buzz Dixon interview defending G.I. Joe as a "30-minute commercial." Artist William Stout and interviewer Steve Ringgenberg trade detailed corrections regarding factual and caption errors in a prior Frank Frazetta interview.