Comics Interview — Issue #115

Main Topics: Topps Comics launch, Bram Stoker's Dracula adaptation, comics talent agency (Star*Reach), mainstream comics artist transitions to self-publishing

Contents
  1. Len Brown & Gary Gerani
  2. Jim Salicrup
  3. David Mazzucchelli
  4. Mike Friedrich & Sharon Cho
  5. "A Wrap with DAK" (David Anthony Kraft)
  6. Letters: The Last Word (Dennis Mallonee)
interview Len Brown & Gary Gerani
Interviewed by Charles S. Novinskie
Len Brown Creative Director / VP, Topps Working on: Topps Comics launch; Jurassic Park trading cards
Gary Gerani West Coast Editor, Cards & Comics, Topps Working on: Topps Comics launch; *Bram Stoker's Dracula* cards
A wide-ranging conversation at the 1992 San Diego Comic Convention tracing Topps' history from its postwar bubble-gum origins through landmark trading card sets (Mars Attacks, Beatles, Star Wars, Batman TV series). Both men describe the evolution of the non-sports card market and their excitement about Topps' new comics division, which will pair every comic with exclusive trading cards, starting with the Dracula movie adaptation and followed by Jurassic Park.
interview Jim Salicrup
Interviewed by Charles S. Novinskie
Jim Salicrup Editor-in-Chief, Topps Comics Working on: *Bram Stoker's Dracula* #1–4; *Jurassic Park* comic
Salicrup discusses his departure from Marvel after 20 years to become Editor-in-Chief of the newly formed Topps Comics, explaining how Len Brown recruited him and why Topps' stability made the move attractive. He details the strategy behind the prestige-format Dracula adaptation (pencilled by Mike Mignola, scripted by Roy Thomas), the upcoming Jurassic Park comic, and his philosophy that well-promoted quality comics across all genres can succeed.
interview David Mazzucchelli
Interviewed by Paul Power
David Mazzucchelli Artist / Self-Publisher, Freelance Working on: *Rubber Blanket* (self-published anthology) (Part 1 of 2)
Part one of a two-part interview in which Mazzucchelli explains why he stepped away from superhero comics after Batman: Year One and Daredevil, citing burnout and growing doubts about the superhero genre's artistic validity. He reflects on his collaborative working relationship with Frank Miller, his artistic influences (Gene Colan, Kirby, Roy Crane), a nine-month stay in Italy that shaped his graphic sensibility, and his decision to self-publish the anthology series Rubber Blanket.
interview Mike Friedrich & Sharon Cho
Interviewed by Mark Borax
Mike Friedrich Agent / Marketing Consultant, Star*Reach Productions Working on: Representing 50+ comics creators (Part 1 of 3)
Sharon Cho Agent, Star*Reach Productions Working on: Expanding Star*Reach client roster
Part one of a three-part interview with the principals of Star*Reach Productions, the comics industry's only dedicated talent agency. Friedrich traces the agency's founding in 1982, its growth to over 50 clients (including P. Craig Russell, Paul Chadwick, Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, and Mark Wheatley), and its philosophy of building cooperative creator–publisher relationships rather than adversarial ones.
article "A Wrap with DAK" (David Anthony Kraft)
Kraft reflects on the creative process of writing comics, describing the familiar cycle from blank-page perplexity to a flood of ideas, and noting that his old plot files for The Defenders and Man-Wolf still generate story concepts.
article Letters: The Last Word (Dennis Mallonee)
A detailed rebuttal to a letter in CI #113 that had misrepresented Mallonee's earlier interview; Mallonee argues that retailer bias toward Marvel/DC titles actively prevents independent comics like Flare from reaching their demonstrated audience, and provides sales data.