Neil Gaiman
Writer, Freelance (DC/Image)
Working on: *Death: The High Cost of Living*; *Sandman* ("Brief Lives"); *Spawn* #10; *Mr. Punch*; *Signal to Noise*
Gaiman discusses the premise and production of the Death: The High Cost of Living miniseries, including his collaboration with Chris Bachalo (following the falling-out between Mike Dringenberg and editor Karen Berger), and the forthcoming AIDS-awareness story featuring Death. He also covers the ongoing Sandman arc "Brief Lives," his plans to write Spawn #10 (featuring an angelic assassin he calls "Angela"), and the Signal to Noise and Mr. Punch projects with Dave McKean. He expresses cautious optimism about DC's new Vertigo imprint, with Death as its first title.
Jill Thompson
Artist, DC Comics
Working on: *Sandman* ("Brief Lives"); *Black Orchid* (upcoming)
Thompson discusses her upcoming Black Orchid ongoing series (written by Dick Foreman), noting she cannot begin until her Sandman run concludes around issue #44. She describes the first Black Orchid story arc, "Sightings," which follows the character re-learning how to interact with humans, told largely from a reporter's perspective.
Chris Bachalo
Artist, DC Comics
Working on: *Death: The High Cost of Living*; *Shade the Changing Man*; *Legends of the Dark Knight*
Bachalo discusses his approach to visualizing Death as a character combining youthful freedom with quiet wisdom, and explains his deliberate shift from the colorful, experimental panel design of Shade the Changing Man to a simpler, muted palette for Death: The High Cost of Living. He covers his background (breaking in via a Sandman fill-in, then Shade), his philosophy of depicting women respectfully, and his upcoming work continuing Shade through at least issue #50 under the Vertigo label.
Mike Friedrich
Comics Agent, Star*Reach Productions
Working on: Representing comics creators; industry business advocacy (Part 2 of 3)
Part II of a three-part conversation with the founder of Star*Reach Productions. Friedrich explains why Dark Horse succeeded where other independents failed, discusses the difficulty of breaking in as a writer versus an artist, and analyzes creator rights as a practical rather than purely ideological issue. He addresses the Kirby/Marvel art-return dispute and predicts that Marvel and DC's aggressive title expansion will lead to a significant cutback within a few years.
A brief, aphoristic editorial riffing on the theme of death, introducing the issue's focus on DC's Death: The High Cost of Living and the Vertigo launch.