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Markstein discusses his long career as fan, convention organizer, typesetter, editor, and writer, centering on his recently published Hot Tips from Top Comics Creators — a compilation of career advice distilled from 132 issues of Comics Interview — and his upcoming Mighty Morphin Power Rangers scripts for Hamilton Comics (drawn by Gray Morrow). He also covers his work on Comics Revue and rewriting of European Uncle Scrooge stories for Gladstone.

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.

Markstein argues that nostalgia, not quality, is what makes fans venerate the "Golden Age" of comics, proposing that whatever comics a person read at age twelve becomes their personal golden age by default.

Reader correspondence including a note from former CI editor Bill Chadwick critiquing issue #67 (correcting a misspelling of Yeats), and a letter from typographer Don Markstein marveling at an Advance Comics solicitation that replaces nudity with violence to create an "all-ages" version of an adult comic.

Reader Paul Power clarifies credits on the CI #89 Rocketeer cover (pencilled and inked collaboratively at Neal Adams' Continuity studio); reader Don Markstein (CI typographer) writes in support of a prior editorial on children's literacy, arguing that letting children read comics they enjoy — including TMNT — produces better readers than forcing "dull classics" on them.

Reader Jan C. Childress praises the earlier letterhacks interview (CI #107); typographer Don Markstein fact-checks a Walter Koenig claim about actors appearing in comics as multiple characters; Lou Mougin and DAK exchange banter about country music vs. classical/opera preferences.

Reader mail responding primarily to issue #107 (Dave Sim interview and letter-hack panel); includes a notable correction from Don Markstein disputing the claim that Bebe's Kids is the first animated feature with exclusively African-American principals, citing Ralph Bakshi's Coonskin (1975) as a predecessor.

Reader Don Markstein rebuts a previous letter defending Marvel's aggressive market tactics, arguing that a "Gladiator Ethic" of crushing competitors is self-defeating in an expandable market like comics.

Jim Smith of Spumco disputes factual claims from the previous issue's Ren & Stimpy interview; a reader urges Steve Englehart to take over Batman editorial from O'Neil; typography editor Don Markstein challenges O'Neil's claim about periodical longevity records.

Reader David Nesbitt requests help locating the Richard Donner version of the Superman II screenplay mentioned by Margot Kidder in issue #123; typography staffer Don Markstein writes humorously about his uncredited work Americanizing European Disney duck stories for Gladstone. ---

Don Markstein argues the Capital City policies create a "chilling effect" on experimental small-press publishing; Lee Solomon writes an open letter to Batman Forever producers suggesting Leonardo DiCaprio for Robin (DAK notes Chris O'Donnell and Jim Carrey had since been cast).

Don Markstein writes on Bill Lignante's Phantom work and the Gold Key/Charlton comic series; Australian fan Rohan Thompson delivers a detailed report on the publishing dispute between Frew Publications and the Australian creators of Marvel's Lee Falk's The Phantom: The Ghost Who Walks.

Comics Interview Hot Tips From Top Comics Creators #1 is a reference compilation edited by Don Markstein that gathers practical advice from more than 250 working and legendary comics professionals, organized into six thematic chapters covering breaking in, storytelling, business practices, artistic philosophy, working methods, and miscellaneous craft observations. The book grew out of the tip segments that had appeared in Comics Interview magazine across 132 issues and was intended as a durable resource for aspiring creators. Contributors range from Golden Age veterans like Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino, and Dick Sprang to then-current stars like Frank Miller, George Perez, and Bill Sienkiewicz, with each contributor briefly profiled in a "Tipsters" biographical section before the tips chapters begin. The volume functions less as a collection of interviews than as a distillation of professional wisdom — a how-the-industry-works manual assembled from hundreds of individual voices rather than any single authoritative perspective.