Chuck Dixon
Writer, Freelance
Working on: *Robin* mini-series; *The Man*, *Car Warriors*, *Alien Legion*
Dixon discusses his career trajectory from Comico and Eclipse to his breakout at DC with the Robin mini-series, emphasizing that editorial relationships matter more than company policies. He talks about the "editorially driven" challenges of Robin, Tim Drake's character arc, and his publishing venture 4Winds with Tim Truman. He plans a Batman arc and a Bronze Tiger mini-series for DC.
Tom Lyle
Artist, DC Comics
Working on: *Robin* mini-series; *The Comet*
Lyle recounts how he landed the Robin assignment after finishing Starman and lobbied for Chuck Dixon as writer. He discusses Robin #1's stunning 600,000-copy sales (three times DC's projections), his fight to give Tim Drake spiked rather than helmet hair, and the involvement of Tim Burton in selecting the new Robin costume designed by Neal Adams. Post-Robin, Lyle is writing, plotting, pencilling, and inking a revival of The Comet for DC.
Chester Brown
Writer/Artist, Vortex Comics
Working on: *Yummy Fur* (autobiographical stories, Gospel of Matthew adaptation)
Brown reflects on his early failed attempts to break into Marvel and DC, his embrace of self-publishing and the mini-comics format, and Vortex's eventual publication of Yummy Fur. He discusses the spontaneous nature of the Ed the Happy Clown stories, his sustained interest in adapting the Gospels, and his conviction that superhero comics are a creative dead end that must be abandoned for the medium to mature.
Rémy Bastien
Writer/Editor, Freelance
Working on: Martín Plata enter-educate comic strip; Mexican Marvel line editing (Part 2 of 2)
Part two of a series on the Mexican comics industry, in which Bastien details his career from 1974 at Editorial Posada through editing nine weekly comics simultaneously for Novedades and developing the enter-educate character Martín Plata for Johns Hopkins University. He explains Mexico's full-script production method, the impact of the 1982 peso crisis on print runs and cover prices, and the cultural comics tradition that has eroded as the readership becomes more working-class.
A letter from comics professional Ed Hannigan critiques Ted Kennedy's Artists' Rights Bill as an unconstitutional overreach that restricts art ownership and resale, and ties it to Kennedy's earlier legislation targeting Rupert Murdoch's media holdings as a pattern of First Amendment hostility.