Alan Moore
Writer, DC / Eclipse / Independent
Working on: Finishing Watchmen, Swamp Thing; V for Vendetta; Miracleman Book Three; Fashion Beast screenplay
Moore discusses completing Watchmen and his final Swamp Thing issues, expressing both satisfaction and exhaustion after eight years without a holiday. He argues that Watchmen is a self-contained novel-in-comics form with no sequel planned, and that its effects — structural and visual — cannot be duplicated in prose or film, though he expresses cautious optimism about screenwriter Sam Hamm's WATCHMEN film adaptation. He reflects on his deliberate departure from superheroes, his desire to explore neglected genres (romance, crime, war), and previews Miracleman Book Three with artist John Totleben as a radical new take on what superheroes would do to the real world.
Daniel Greenberg
Writer / Actor, Mayfair Games / West End Games
Working on: Who Watches the Watchmen RPG module; Star Wars RPG adventure
Greenberg discusses how he came to write the first Watchmen DC Heroes RPG module, "Who Watches the Watchmen," set just after the failed Crimebusters meeting in the 1960s, with kidnappings and an unseen antagonist paralleling Ozymandias's schemes in the series. He describes consulting extensively with Alan Moore about the Watchmen world's divergence from history and the challenge of designing Dr. Manhattan as a suggested non-player character due to his near-omnipotence.
Ray Winninger
Writer, Mayfair Games
Working on: Watchmen RPG module II ("Harlot's Curse"); DC Heroes line
Winninger explains his approach to writing the second Watchmen module, set at a displaced 1968 Republican Convention in New York, structured around a William Blake poem ("London") about the transmission of evil and corruption — mirroring the series' own narrative technique. He spent considerable time on the phone with Alan Moore co-developing a detailed chronological history of the Watchmen world, including expanded backstories for the Minutemen, and argues that the module's built-in sourcebook will be valuable even to non-gamers.
R.A. Jones
Writer / Editor, Malibu Graphics
Working on: Dark Wolf, Fist of God, Scimidar
Jones describes his departure from his Fantagraphics reviewing column and a stint as executive editor at Elite Comics, followed by writing Dark Wolf and Scimidar for Malibu. He discusses the limits and ethics of reviewing, offers pointed criticism of Marvel's creative stagnation despite financial dominance, and calls for more diverse genres in comics while deploring the industry's tendency to censor sex while accepting graphic violence.
Hank Rose
Marketer, Comic Images
Working on: Marvel licensed merchandise (buttons, pins, T-shirts, sticker collections)
Rose, whose company Comic Images holds the Marvel direct-market merchandising license, traces his path from designing Underoos transfers to launching a full line of comics merchandise in 1984. He explains his monthly product cycle of buttons, pins, T-shirts, framed photos, and sticker collections, describing the Marvel Universe sticker line as a runaway success requiring multiple reprints. He recounts how DC commissioned WATCHMEN smiley-face buttons and the subsequent appearance of a pirated competing button, distinguishable only by which eye the blood drips from.
David Anthony Kraft frames the issue as a celebration of comics writers, noting Alan Moore's career-long effort to win respect for the craft, and announces this as his own "farewell to comics" issue as he transitions fully into publishing.
Reader Gary Kimber raises the problem of sold-out issues in Canada; DAK responds explaining the direct-market pre-order system and retailers' responsibility to order adequate quantities, arguing that subscribers are the only readers guaranteed not to miss sought-after issues.