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Conway discusses his move from comics to screenwriting, focusing heavily on his and Roy Thomas's tumultuous experience co-writing the screenplay for Conan the Destroyer: five drafts for Dino de Laurentiis, three directors, and ultimately being denied co-screenplay credit by the Writers Guild despite receiving sole story credit. He also reflects on his comics work at DC, including frustration over DC's failure to promote Atari Force and Sun Devils, his burnout on Firestorm (which he is handing to his wife Carla), his revamp of the Justice League of America (streamlining the roster around Aquaman and new members), and the collapse of the JLA/Avengers crossover. He is enthusiastic about the current creative renaissance at both the major publishers and the new independent companies.

Conway recounts the creation of the Punisher in Amazing Spider-Man #129 (1973), explaining the character's black-and-white moral worldview as inspired by Don Pendleton's Executioner novels. He describes designing the skull costume with John Romita and Ross Andru, and reflects on how subsequent writers like Mike Baron and Steve Grant handled the character well, though he would have preferred the Punisher remain more of a loner with no support team. He also discusses the War Journal device as a way to avoid thought balloons.

A bombshell "First Look" about the stalled JLA/Avengers crossover. Perez gives a detailed, anguished account of the project's collapse — Gerry Conway's original plot was rejected by Jim Shooter, DC prematurely greenlit Perez to pencil 21 pages before Marvel approved, and Shooter then spent months neither approving nor rejecting Roy Thomas's revised plot. Perez announces he is leaving the project, calling the experience "the most heartbreaking decision I've ever had to make" and accusing Shooter of deliberate procrastination. Thomas corroborates Perez's account, describing Shooter's failure to read or respond to a 17-page plot as inexplicable and unprofessional, and vows not to let the blame be shifted onto DC. Both express deep frustration that a project they loved — one Perez had dreamed of since before turning pro — has been reduced to a political meatgrinder between the two companies.

Reis, a computer systems analyst by day, describes his craft of creating 3-dimensional shadowbox artworks from comic-book covers, cutting multiple copies into layered scenes separated by balsa wood. He has been doing the work for over ten years and is approaching his 500th piece, with clients including Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, David Anthony Kraft, Jenette Kahn, and Harlan Ellison. Reis describes a PLAYBOY centerfold collage he gifted to Hugh Hefner and discusses his parallel collection of original Batman art traded from professionals in exchange for his 3-D work.