Comics Interview — Issue #056

Claremont discusses the launch of Excalibur, framing it as a "Cosmic Comedy Caper" blending high adventure with Monty Python-style absurdist humor, in contrast to the more dramatic tone that X-Men had drifted toward. He explains the collaborative long-distance relationship with British artist Alan Davis and credits Davis with substantial plot contributions. He also addresses Marvel's decision to launch a monthly Wolverine series (set in fictional Southeast Asian country Madjipoor) despite his own preference for periodic mini-series, and talks about handing New Mutants over to Louise Simonson.

Orsak describes how Captain 'Cuse, a superhero strip set in Syracuse, NY, began in the Syracuse New Times in 1982 as a way to sharpen his skills, eventually expanding into the larger Syracuse Herald-American. Peyer joined as writer after two and a half years when Orsak found plotting a challenge, and the two discuss how they deliberately planted a fake kid sidekick (Salty) who turned out to be an alien monster, delighting in frustrating comic-book fan expectations. They discuss the strip's use of real Syracuse landmarks and people as local color.

Part one of a three-part interview tracing Robinson's career from his accidental 1939 meeting with Bob Kane at a country resort through his rapid rise from background inker and letterer to full Batman penciller and cover artist. Robinson recounts creating the Joker — designing the character from a joker playing card one night, only to have Bill Finger write the actual story — and his role in naming Robin. He also discusses his later career curating major comic-art exhibitions, co-founding the Cartoonist's and Writer's Syndicate, and advocating for the legitimacy of comic art as a fine-art form.

Berman and Malin, who launched the first Creation Convention at age 14 in 1971, discuss growing the event from a New York City comics flea-market concept into a nationwide multi-media convention series covering comics, film, television, and science fiction. Malin highlights his close working relationship with Marvel and with Starlog's Kerry O'Quinn, and announces his five-year goal of transitioning Creation into a film and video production company, starting with convention documentaries and a 20th-anniversary Star Trek television special.

Dobson, Director of Games Development at TSR (makers of Dungeons & Dragons), explains how TSR grew from a hobbyist war-games club in 1973 into a company of 70–80 employees publishing AD&D, Marvel Super-Heroes, Gamma World, Dragon magazine, Amazing Stories, and bestselling Dragonlance novels. He outlines the unique editorial challenge of developing role-playing modules and is enthusiastic about the direct-market comic shop as a major new distribution channel for TSR, noting that roughly 70% of their audience are also comics readers.

Associate editor Boatz argues that superhero comics have drifted away from the symbolic roots that made the genre powerful (Superman = moral strength, Batman = righteous indignation) and toward pure character realism, creating a dichotomy that prevents either goal from being fully achieved.

An extended two-part letters exchange in which Canadian reader T.M. Maple and Boatz debate the definition of censorship at length, ultimately agreeing that snuff films and child pornography should be illegal but disagreeing on whether such legal prohibitions constitute "censorship."