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In a no-holds-barred joint interview at the Fantagraphics offices in Stamford, Connecticut, DAK turns the tables on the Comics Journal publishers. Groth recounts how he and Mike Catron rescued the Journal from its original Texas publishers and rebuilt it from an advertising trade sheet into a critical magazine, with Thompson coming aboard shortly after; the switch to magazine format quadrupled circulation from 2,000 to 8,000. Groth and Thompson defend their reputation for negativism, arguing that their stringent critical standards come from a deep love of the medium's unrealized potential, and that mainstream comics — singling out Secret Wars as an example as infantile as a bad 1940s comic — have failed to evolve artistically in forty years. They discuss plans to expand outside the direct market through album-format reprints such as Popeye, warn that most independent publishers are financially precarious, and discuss the three lawsuits pending against the Journal. Thompson explains the rationale for making Amazing Heroes bi-weekly, and Catron describes his role handling circulation and advertising for the entire Fantagraphics line.

Brief note announcing DAK's return to writing editorials after a period of deliberate absence, prompted by reader demand and the encouragement of peers including Gary Groth and Jim Salicrup.

Includes a substantial letter from Richard S. McEnroe rebutting charges of "elitism" leveled at Gary Groth and the Comics Journal; a critical letter from George Ross objecting to what he calls puffery on Comics Interview's cover; and a brief note from Dave Sim (Cerebus) clarifying that casting Archie Goodwin as a character in Cerebus #82 was Gerhard's idea, not a deliberate satirical attack.

Mougin traces Heck's four-decade career from Harvey Publications and Comic Media in the early 1950s through his formative years at Marvel (originating Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Avengers) to his stints at DC (Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Justice League) and back. Heck discusses working conditions and page rates, his admiration for Milton Caniff, and takes issue with Gary Groth and Harlan Ellison's characterization of him in The Comics Journal.

Responses to the CI #100 "Power 100" list from John Byrne (arguing freelancers have no real power), Lou Bank of Marvel (defending omitted employee Sven Larsen), and Gary Groth and Kim Thompson of Fantagraphics (Thompson disputing DAK's characterization of Alan Moore); DAK responds to Thompson at length.