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In what Salicrup describes as the longest John Byrne interview ever published, Byrne walks through his entire run on Fantastic Four issue by issue, from his early penciling stints under Marv Wolfman's plots through his current tenure as writer/artist, discussing his approach to character (making The Thing a tragic hero, reinvigorating Sue Richards, introducing Frankie Raye as a Herald of Galactus, and the Alicia–Human Torch storyline). He speaks at length about Marvel's sliding-scale continuity and the "seven-year Marvel Universe," his deliberate effort to keep the FF's history internally consistent while avoiding characters aging into obsolescence, and his philosophy of plotting spontaneously rather than from rigid outlines. Byrne recounts the disastrous experience developing an Indiana Jones ongoing series—killed by what he describes as impossible demands from Lucas licensing representatives who didn't understand the comics medium—and explains why he has refused all licensing work since. He offers sharp opinions on the distinction between "readers" (the 250,000 who buy the book) and capital-F "Fans" (hardcore convention-goers), arguing that listening too closely to the latter led him astray on Alpha Flight; he announces he is swapping that title for The Incredible Hulk with Bill Mantlo and outlines plans to return the Hulk to his roots as a creature of the night, marry Betty Ross to Bruce Banner, and strip away accumulated continuity. On creator's rights, Byrne defends his "company man" reputation, arguing that working within the system and doing one's best work—rather than public agitation—is what actually improved conditions at Marvel, pointing to the royalty incentive program as proof; he credits Jim Shooter specifically for quietly fighting for creators' rights from inside editorial.

Byrne distinguished his position from Miller's, stating he has no philosophical objection to a ratings system per se, viewing ratings as "a hedge against censorship" rather than censorship itself — allowing creators to label content rather than restrict it. He objected specifically to DC's ratings being implemented without input from freelancers. Byrne discussed keeping SUPERMAN a universal book while acknowledging characters like Batman inhabit darker territory.

Wide-ranging interview covering Byrne's approach to She-Hulk (fourth-wall-breaking humor, Blonde Phantom revival, her role as a DA), his plans for both Avengers titles (treating all Avengers as one unified roster, dismantling the Vision, a "Dark Scarlet Witch" arc with Magneto), and his departure from and return to Marvel after his Superman run at DC. He discusses his work on Star Brand and the New Universe, his views on the industry's drift toward "psychotic" anti-heroes versus true super-heroes, critiques of DC's mature-readers content, the Comics Code and creativity under restriction, his new penciling assignment on Wolverine (written by Archie Goodwin, inked by Al Williamson), and his broader ambitions to write novels and his preference for the Excalibur print format.

Byrne addresses the "Byrne-bashing" phenomenon and explains his departures from the two Avengers titles, arguing that editors have increasingly overstepped their role as collaborators. He recounts his firings and departures from She-Hulk, Superman, and Avengers/West Coast Avengers, laying blame on editorial interference, broken promises, and Tom DeFalco's policy of always siding with editors over creators. He discusses his plans to continue on Namor, write Iron Man, and pursue self-publishing to regain creative control.

Byrne reflects on his return to the X-Men franchise as scripter (working from Jim Lee and Whilce Portacio's plots), running down his take on each major character and flagging Gambit's Cajun dialect as his chief challenge. He outlines his long-term goals — including a major "mutant massacre" to thin the overcrowded mutant population — while discussing the concurrent projects he is phasing down or handing off. Byrne also speaks at length about Next Men, his creator-owned Dark Horse series intended as an attempt to build a "Fantastic Four" for a virgin universe, and voices frustration with an industry driven by event-publishing and fan spending habits over storytelling.

Byrne discusses returning to the X-Men franchise as scripter decades after his celebrated run as writer/artist, explaining what drew him back and how he approaches the collaborative dynamic of working from another creator's plots.

Discusses finishing Frank Miller's final Daredevil issue, wrapping up The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones after John Byrne's departure over a conflict with Lucasfilm, and discovering new talent Kevin Nowlan for Dr. Strange. Reflects on his X-Men tenure — "fun while it lasted" but he got "X-Men'd out" — and his career path from inking backgrounds for Dick Giordano at Neal Adams' Continuity Associates to becoming one of the top inkers in the industry. Talks about his tradition of sneaking Popeye and other characters into backgrounds, and the long-running Jack Abel/Howie Chaykin murder subplot hidden in newspaper headlines across multiple Marvel books.

Son of Marvel production manager Sol Brodsky, Gary discusses his entrepreneurial venture Garco Systems — nearly going bankrupt in "the Depression of '82" (down to sixty cents), rebuilding with partner Brian Moore, and publishing The Comic Art Workshop series featuring instruction by Dick Giordano, John Romita, and John Byrne. Also does coloring-book art for nearly every major character and is planning to enter comics publishing. A colorful, humorous interview touching on his karate practice, piranha tank, and gambling habits.

Mushynsky, whose full Ukrainian name is Andreas Vasylovych Muszyskyj, traces an unusual path to comics inking: born in a Displaced Persons Camp in postwar Germany, he later worked in avant-garde theatre, tenant-rights activism, and publishing before gravitating toward inking through a studio he shared with DC inker Bob Smith. He discusses his tools and techniques (Sable #3 brush, Hunt #102 crowquill pen), the differences between inking the detail-heavy G.I. Joe versus the more open superhero forms in The Vision and Scarlet Witch, and his admiration for artists like John Byrne and Bill Sienkiewicz who can "turn on" creative flow without self-censorship. He expresses frustration at being overlooked while working on G.I. Joe despite its strong sales, and aspires to eventually move into pencilling.

Guice discusses how he and Bob Layton pitched X-Factor to Jim Shooter as a vehicle for the original X-Men characters, with Mike Carlin coming aboard as editor and coining the title. He explains that Jean Grey's return was not part of their original plan but was incorporated after John Byrne and Roger Stern proposed it. Guice also reflects on his origin story: breaking into comics via Southern Knights while working a day job designing patches, then drawing his first Micronauts issue with his arm in a cast, and his goal to make X-Factor feel as landmark as Kirby's Fantastic Four run. He describes his collaborative full-time creative process with Layton, and why he departed Swords of the Swashbucklers at issue #4.

Higgins, Marvel's longest-serving assistant editor (under Mike Carlin), recounts how he accidentally became a letterer through his friendship with George Perez, starting as a lettering correcter on staff in 1977 before gradually taking on full lettering jobs and then transitioning to the editorial side. He describes the mechanics of lettering (hawk quill pens, Ames guides), the behind-the-scenes production firefighting that editors rarely see, and his experience working with John Byrne on Fantastic Four — praising Jerry Ordway's inking as the best Byrne has ever received. He also discusses Steve Ditko's surprisingly easygoing nature on ROM, the editorial philosophy of Mike Carlin (a preference for comedic relief), and his personal obsession with the Grateful Dead (attending roughly 40 shows a year). He is currently lettering a Barry Windsor-Smith limited series.

Reader mail including an extended rebuttal from a fan challenging John Byrne's claims of ownership over Doctor Doom (in response to the CI #25 Byrne interview), praise for the Kevin Eastman/Peter Laird interview in CI #27, and editorial notes from DAK explaining the bi-weekly publishing schedule experiment the previous summer.

Gruenwald discusses the deliberate sales-boosting "cheap tricks" he deployed on Captain America — costume change, killing off a major character, and replacing the title hero with the Super-Patriot (John Walker) — and the massive hate mail that followed, alongside a genuine surge in sales. He reflects extensively on the failure of Marvel's New Universe to exploit its core premise, and details the upcoming radical overhaul anchored by John Byrne's Star Brand storyline and the world-altering Pitt event. As Marvel's newly installed Executive Editor, he also describes his role coordinating crossovers and running the Assistant Editors Weekly Workshop, and addresses his inadvertent racism in naming a Black character "Bucky," which he corrects by renaming the character Battle Star.

Extended letter from John Trauger and W. Everett Chesnut condemning John Byrne's handling of Star Brand #13, specifically the brutal death of supporting character Debbie Fixx, which they argue constitutes a mean-spirited vendetta against former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter through his fictional creations.

Editorial recounting how Kraft first encountered John Byrne at Marvel in the early days, writing the script for Byrne's first ever Marvel story ("Dark Asylum" in Giant-Size Dracula #5), used as context for welcoming Byrne back to Comics Interview for this in-depth follow-up to the all-Byrne issue #25.

Beatty recounts how a fan letter to Mike Zeck launched his career, describing his years inking Zeck's pencil xeroxes before breaking in professionally at DC and Marvel. He covers his time on Justice League of America, Captain America, Secret Wars, The 'Nam, and Adventures of Superman, including the famous anecdote of John Byrne giving him a $100 haircut in exchange for inking Action Comics. He expresses excitement about the graphic novel and mentions upcoming work on Ragman and a Hangman mini-series.

The co-owner and import manager of the Paris-based Album Shops discuss the structure of French comics distribution (publisher-direct vs. national press distributors), pricing laws under the Socialist government, and the contraction of the French comics market due to publisher overproduction. Bruno offers observations on American comics from a French retail perspective — noting that superheroes are a hard sell in France, that John Byrne and Frank Miller are the most popular American creators, and that Chaykin's Shadow was perceived as anti-communist by French readers. Both discuss their rapid receipt of new American comics, shop signings with creators including Walt Simonson and Bill Sienkiewicz, and the challenges of shoplifting.

Features a formal joint statement by Terry Austin, John Byrne, Howard Chaykin, Jay Muth, Trina Robbins, Craig Russell, Alex Toth, and Charles Vess, threatening legal action against Innovation Comics publisher David Campiti for falsely advertising them as contributors to his line; a letter disputes DAK's comics rating-system questionnaire; a third laments the cancellation of the JLA/Avengers crossover project.

Reis describes his extensive private collection of original Batman artwork, acquired over roughly fifteen years by trading handmade multi-layer 3-D paper shadow-boxes with artists including Berni Wrightson, Jack Kirby, John Byrne, Bill Sienkiewicz, Walt Simonson, George Pérez, and many others. He explains the mechanics and artistry of the 3-D shadow-box medium, offers advice for new collectors on acquiring original art at conventions and through trades, and reflects on how creating the 3-Ds deepened his appreciation for comic art as a craft.

Reader Cary Brayboy criticizes a prior John Byrne interview for focusing too narrowly on editorial controversies; editor Pat O'Neill defends the interview's focus. Reader letters from England and Canada round out the column.

Interviewed at the 1991 San Diego Comic Con, Claremont reflects on leaving the X-Men after seventeen years, describing it as something like a divorce and noting the dust has not yet settled. He discusses key collaborative moments — the Dark Phoenix saga with John Byrne, the Wolverine limited series with Frank Miller — and Jim Shooter's executive decision to revive Jean Grey against his wishes. He confirms he is writing the first three issues of the new X-Men title and has projects including an Excalibur graphic novel and work for DC, plus a new novel (*Grounded*).

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.

In a candid and detailed account, Perez lays out the full saga of production problems that plagued War of the Gods, DC's Wonder Woman 50th-anniversary crossover: late editorial communication, conflicting Captain Marvel projects with John Byrne, the departure of artist Cynthia Martin, and overlapping with Armageddon 2001. He describes losing all creative investment in the book mid-run, eventually hanging up the phone on DC after a delayed payment, and states he has not spoken to anyone at DC since — now working for Marvel. He argues that company-wide crossovers are generally harmful to creativity.

Two separate interviews are presented together: the first, conducted by Brian Talley, covers Romita Jr.'s career from breaking in via Iron Man (with Dave Michelinie and Bob Layton) through his long run on Amazing Spider-Man, exploring his father's influence (John Romita Sr. discouraged him from comics), his views on social commentary and violence in comics, and his feelings about ego and self-imposed pressure. The second, a shorter piece by Steve Saffel who caught him dropping off art at the Marvel Bullpen, focuses on his new role as X-Men penciller — he discusses the challenge of following Byrne, Cockrum, and Paul Smith on what he calls a "suicide book," his working relationship with Chris Claremont, his affinity for the diverse cast, and his careful research for location-specific issues.

Salicrup contributes a signed editorial preface recounting his long friendship with Byrne dating back to early Marvel days, confessing he blathered more than usual during the interview due to nerves, and crediting the conversation's structure to his inspiration from Lennon/McCartney song-by-song retrospective interviews.