Comics Interview — Issue #057

Dixon discusses his prolific writing career across Eclipse, Marvel, and First Comics, with particular focus on reviving Airboy alongside Timothy Truman and building it into Eclipse's flagship title. He talks about the creation of Evangeline, writing Savage Sword of Conan, and his production company 4Winds, which packages projects primarily for Eclipse. He also addresses controversy over a Reagan poster appearing in an Airboy story as commentary on U.S.-backed dictatorships, and previews upcoming projects including a Skywolf mini-series, a Valkyrie mini-series, and the Airboy graphic novel.

Part two of a three-part retrospective on Robinson's Golden Age career, covering his time working with Bob Kane and Bill Finger on Batman, his friendship and artistic partnership with Mort Meskin on features like Johnny Quick and the Vigilante, and his recollections of working conditions and pay rates at DC, Fox, and MLJ. Robinson discusses the visual innovations he and his peers made — full-page splashes, varied panel shapes, extreme chiaroscuro — and the influence of Milton Caniff and Orson Welles' Citizen Kane on their storytelling.

Collazo, a 19-year-old assistant production manager at Marvel who came up through the company's high school intern program, recounts the absurd bureaucratic ordeal of being officially declared dead by the U.S. Army due to a draft registration mix-up, and how it took nearly a week to prove he was alive. He also talks about what impressed him most about Marvel — its laid-back, individualistic work culture — and how working inside the company somewhat demystified his lifelong love of comics by revealing how far in advance issues are produced.

Stafford, founder of Chaosium, traces the company's twelve-year history from a fanzine called WYRD through the landmark board game White Bear & Red Moon and the successful RuneQuest role-playing game to their current best-sellers Call of Cthulhu and the Elfquest RPG. He reflects on the unique participatory nature of role-playing games, argues that Call of Cthulhu resonates because it gives players a sense of personal empowerment against overwhelming forces, and discusses Chaosium's interest in the educational market and plans for expanded Cthulhu-themed merchandise and supplements.

DAK reflects on Clayton, Georgia as a personal "nexus," recounting his connections there to actor David Carradine, artists Ron and Val Lakey Lindahn, and the recent discovery that Flash Gordon strip veteran Dan Barry — who drew the earliest original Airboy adventure — has settled only 20 miles away.

Includes a letter from translator David Lewis in Tokyo correcting inaccuracies in a previous Lone Wolf interview, a positive reader letter from Japan about the Lone Wolf special, and a letter from a 14-year-old reader in Texas arguing against comics censorship by Falwell and Meese.