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Joint interview about launching DC's new direct-sales-only series The Omega Men. They discuss building alien cultures for the Vegan Star System, their realistic approach to violence freed from the Comics Code, and their collaborative Marvel-style working process. Giffen shares his rocky early career — getting into Marvel through a lucky portfolio drop-off, a period away from comics selling vacuum cleaners in New Jersey, and returning to DC through a conciliatory phone call to Joe Orlando. They also detail their plans for the series: treating it as a society of 100 characters rather than a traditional superhero team, with real casualties and shifting focus.

Giffen reflects warmly on his years on Legion of Super-Heroes, his one-upmanship creative dynamic with Paul Levitz, and his single regret of leaving before he could kill off Karate Kid. He discusses how the completed four-issue Ambush Bug mini-series pushes the humor and parody of the earlier Action Comics appearances even further, with Julie Schwartz as a supportive but usefully moderating editorial influence, and explains that the gags were designed to be funny on their own terms, with comic-book references added as an extra layer rather than as the core joke. Giffen also mentions upcoming work including a World's Finest story written by Zimmerman, a Spider-Man inventory story with Bill Mantlo, a Superman/Brainiac special for the European market, a Robert Bloch "Hell on Earth" DC graphic novel, and a Legion annual with Levitz; he also confirms a new Deluxe Comics character called the March Hare, described as a cross between Ambush Bug and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The JLI creative team explains that the book's comedic tone evolved organically rather than by design, rooted in the concept of superheroes behaving naturally when off-duty among themselves. Giffen describes his visual plotting/breakdown method as setting the book's rhythm, while Helfer credits writer Marc DeMatteis and letterer Bob Lappan as essential contributors. They discuss the upcoming Justice League Europe spin-off, Helfer's black-humor approach to The Shadow, and Giffen's return to Legion of Super-Heroes.

Giffen reflects on Lobo's unexpected runaway popularity, calling the character "the single most reprehensible character DC has" and expressing unease that many readers take the satirical ultra-violence at face value. He discusses the genesis of the Lobo TV project, a planned ongoing monthly series with a rotating mini-series format, and his philosophical stance on characters being adapted into other media.

Interview with the relatively unknown young artist who replaced Keith Giffen as penciller on The Omega Men. Smith describes his pre-comics career as a rock'n'roll guitarist in Rhode Island, his training at the Joe Kubert School and Dick Giordano's inking workshop, and his path from doing backgrounds for Frank McLaughlin, Mike DeCarlo, and Gil Kane to landing his first pencilling assignment. He got The Omega Men because the deadline was urgent after Giffen left, and editor Marv Wolfman chose his more "Kirby-esque" style over another candidate's animated look. Smith discusses his admiration for "the three Ks" — Kirby, Kubert, and Kane — and shares Kane's motivating advice to either commit fully to comics or give it up. He acknowledges the legitimate criticism of the book's graphic violence and says the series will move toward a more entertaining adventure tone under Wolfman's direction.

The inker of The Omega Men since issue #1 discusses his decision to remain on the book despite Keith Giffen's departure and Roger Slifer's announced exit after issue #13, which had left him "disenchanted." He explains that his growing affinity with Tod Smith's pencils and his sense of obligation to a book he'd been with from the start convinced him to stay, after taking just two issues off. DeCarlo passionately advocates for the overlooked role of inkers, arguing that the final look of a comic is really the inker's responsibility, and cites his training under Frank McLaughlin and Dick Giordano. He reveals he has been hiding Marvel characters — the Hulk, the Thing, Iron Man, Spider-Man, and even Charlie Brown — as Easter eggs throughout The Omega Men, and expresses excitement about inking a Batman Annual pencilled by Michael Golden, which he calls the best work of his career.

A married writing team from California, Tom and Mary Bierbaum discuss their work on the Lightning feature in Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents for Deluxe Comics, which came about through their long friendship with Keith Giffen, initially forged through the Legion of Super-Heroes Amateur Press Association (Interlac). They explain that Giffen handles the majority of the plotting, with Tom doing rough scripts that he and Mary then polish together, and they praise Giffen's commitment to artistic growth over commercial comfort. They also reflect on the decline of younger comics readership, the value of APAs as training grounds for aspiring professionals, and their admiration for writers like Paul Levitz who tell stories through dialogue and art rather than heavy narration.

Singer, publisher of Deluxe Comics, recounts his background in entertainment marketing and PR, his early failed ventures at Archie Comics and with the short-lived Comics Times and Comics Spotlight magazines, and how he arrived at launching Deluxe to revive the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents in the direct market after being burned by newsstand distribution problems. He explains the public-domain status of the characters, his initial agreement with prior publisher John Carbonaro (and Carbonaro's subsequent reversal once Singer assembled a high-profile creative team), and articulates his vision for stylish, mature comics aimed at adult readers. Singer also discusses Deluxe's expansion plans — The Futurians series, Tales of Thunder!, a fourth Keith Giffen book (the March Hare), possible publication of Evangeline, and a project from Jerry Siegel — while acknowledging that sales have been disappointing given the difficult market timing.

Bryant recounts his thirteen-year journey from a Virginia coal-mining background through DC staff work, background inking for Marvel and DC, science fiction magazine illustration, and arcade game art, to his recent breakthrough inking The Badger for First Comics and Hero Alliance for Sirius. He describes being effectively blacklisted at Marvel and DC despite his skills, until Keith Giffen championed him, and notes his passion for NASA and the space program — he attended a shuttle launch as a press guest — and discusses plans for a series of NASA-themed paintings.

Part two of a multi-issue interview covering DeMatteis's Marvel career: his struggles finding his voice on Defenders, Marvel Team-Up, and Captain America, and his eventual creative breakthrough with the Gargoyle limited series and the Epic series Moonshadow. He discusses the controversy over Moonshadow being labeled potentially pornographic, argues passionately that the future of comics lies in creator-owned work outside the mainstream superhero square, and singles out Frank Miller, Alan Moore, and Steve Gerber as exemplars of the driven, personal vision that makes great comics. He also previews an upcoming Doctor Fate project with Keith Giffen at DC.

The long-tenured managing editor of Harvey Publications explains how he single-handedly kept the company from being sold to Marvel (or five other bidders) after publication ceased in 1982, convincing the Harvey family to hold on and reorganize under three of the founders' sons. He reflects on the "Harvey style" — pleasant characters rooted in the Paramount cartoon tradition, Warren Kremer's defining artistic influence — and praises Keith Giffen as a rare true cartoonist while dismissing the dominant Marvel/DC house style as culturally impoverished.

Toronto-based artist Templeton discusses taking over Justice League International from Kevin Maguire, admitting he accepted the job primarily for exposure and money despite preferring alternative/indie-style humor comics. He praises Keith Giffen's breakdown system as a useful storytelling foundation, expresses admiration for Jack Kirby's design work (especially Big Barda), and is candid about wanting to eventually leave mainstream superheroes to return to creator-owned indie work.

DAK recounts how he co-created the visual design for Marvel's Lunatik with Keith Giffen on The Defenders in the 1970s, and traces how Giffen's later work at DC on The Omega Men evolved that concept into Lobo, with Roger Slifer supplying the name.

Valentino details the Shadowhawk mystery (identity deliberately withheld, to be revealed in Shadowhawk II), explains the upcoming Images of Shadowhawk monthly with rotating creative teams starting with Alan Grant and Keith Giffen, and shares extensive detail about the 1963 retro-homage series featuring Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, Rick Veitch, Dave Gibbons, and others. He defends Image's impact on creator rights industry-wide.

A brief profile of the British artist drawing The X-Files comic for Topps, covering his preference for black-and-white work, his pencil-and-ink speed (two complete books a month), and his collaboration with Keith Giffen on Supreme and Mars Attacks.