Paul De Meo
Writer/Producer, Pet Fly Productions
Working on: *The Rocketeer* (Disney film); *The Flash* (CBS TV series); *The Human Target* (ABC)
De Meo discusses the long development of The Rocketeer film for Disney, describing its 1930s period setting, the inclusion of Howard Hughes as a character, and the Nazi-spy villain inspired by Errol Flynn rumors. He also discusses the CBS series The Flash, explaining how they combined Barry Allen and Wally West elements, created an alternate-reality version of Central City, and wrestled with the challenge of writing villains capable of threatening a super-speedster.
Kyle Baker
Writer/Artist, Freelance
Working on: *Why I Hate Saturn* (Piranha Press); *Dick Tracy* mini-series (Disney Comics)
Baker traces his unconventional path from Marvel's mailroom through inking Transformers and Web of Spider-Man to developing his distinctive flat-line-weight style in The Cowboy Wally Show and Justice, Inc. He discusses his upcoming graphic novel Why I Hate Saturn, his work on the Dick Tracy Disney mini-series, and his philosophy of controlling every aspect of his books — including designing his own computer typeface, "Bakerface."
John Romita Sr.
Artist/Art Director Emeritus, Marvel
Working on: *Spider-Man* newspaper strip (retrospective)
Romita recounts his career from 1940s romance and war comics through his time at DC, then his return to Marvel where Stan Lee brought him onto Daredevil using Jack Kirby layouts as a bridge, and ultimately to Amazing Spider-Man. He details creating key characters including Mary Jane Watson (modeled on Ann-Margret), the Kingpin, and Robbie Robertson, and describes how he and Lee collaboratively developed stories under the Marvel method, with Romita often co-plotting and acting as quality-control over other artists.
Harold Michaelson
Storyboard Artist/Art Director, Freelance (Hollywood)
Working on: Teaching; preserving Hollywood art history
Veteran Hollywood storyboard artist and art director Michaelson discusses his career spanning Hitchcock (*The Birds*), Nichols (*The Graduate*), and many others, detailing how storyboard illustration works in pre-production and how Hitchcock's mastery of visual storytelling influenced him profoundly. He laments the decline of studio infrastructure and argues that illustrators deserve full screen credit for their contributions.
DeCandido submits a transcript of his on-air commentary arguing in seven points that Jack Kirby deserves primary co-creator credit alongside Stan Lee for the early Marvel characters, citing the Marvel method, Lee's self-promotional track record, and Kirby's long independent creative history.
Markstein surveys the state of newspaper comic-strip reprint publishing, calling out shoddy editions from Pioneer and Arcadia Publications while praising Fantagraphics, and questioning whether fans should boycott inferior editions.