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Wagner, described by Comico colleagues as "the next Frank Miller," discusses Mage, his fifteen-issue series in which the protagonist Kevin is visually modeled on Wagner himself — a deliberate choice to take the comics trend of creators appearing in their own books one step further by making the creator and hero the same person. He explains that Kevin is the embodiment of the Eternal Hero archetype, and describes how Grendel, his six-issue black-and-white assassin series, grew from a desire to do a comic where the villain is the protagonist and where good and evil are deliberately indistinguishable. He cites Frank Miller and Will Eisner as his primary comics influences and reveals he has a Moon Knight back-up story completed but not yet submitted to Marvel.

Wagner discusses the full arc of Grendel from its origins in the Comico Primer through its generational structure and the upcoming Grendel Tales anthology series, which he will oversee as creative director. He details the long-gestating Batman/Grendel crossover and the legal and financial complications surrounding Comico's Chapter 11 filing. Wagner also reflects on his artistic influences (Will Eisner's Spirit, Frank Miller, European albums, Japanese manga) and upcoming projects including a Three Musketeers adaptation for First's Classics Illustrated and an erotic graphic novel.

Group interview with the young founders and creators of Comico, a new independent publisher based in Norristown, Pennsylvania, putting out five titles: AZ, Skrog, Slaughterman, Grendel, and Primer. They describe how they started the company straight out of college with creative rights as its foundation, working eighteen-hour days in a suburban studio. Each creator discusses the deeply personal nature of their characters — Lasorda designed AZ after his father, Giovinco's Slaughterman is "the first transvestite superhero," and they speak effusively about Matt Wagner's Grendel, predicting he will be "the next Frank Miller." They discuss their upcoming transition from black-and-white to four-color printing, their emphasis on advertising, and their philosophy of being artists first and businessmen second.

Willingham, creator of The Elementals at Comico, traces an adventurous pre-comics career spanning cultural anthropology fieldwork in the Yucatan, truck driving, and three years as a military policeman in Germany, before a circuitous path through TSR Hobbies, rejected Marvel auditions, and two collapsed independent publishers led him to Comico. He explains his unusual process of pencilling the full issue before writing any dialogue, emphasizes keeping all creative control in the studio, and discusses upcoming storylines revealing why the Elementals were created. He delivers an extended, outspoken critique of organized religion as inherently political, compares it to the TSR/Dungeons & Dragons controversy over religious pressure, and defends his characters against charges of being Marvel analogues. Rankin, who came to comics after a decade in rock music and managing a comic shop, discusses his inking approach and his upcoming work on a Jack Kirby's Demon mini-series written and pencilled by Matt Wagner.

Dutch-born brothers Jacob and Arnold Pander describe their background in film, fashion illustration, and fine art, and how a chance encounter with Matt Wagner on tour led to their landing the Grendel art assignment. They discuss their collaborative process — Jacob handling design and layout, Arnold stronger on figure work — and how the two complement each other without ego conflict. Publisher Phil LaSorda explains Comico's creator-first philosophy, the censorship dilemma that led to altering a love scene in Grendel #11 for newsstand distribution, and upcoming titles including Max Headroom (3-D one-shot), Rocketeer Adventure Magazine, and Maze Agency. The Panders also reveal they are developing a short independent film and have pencilled the first issue of the Ginger Fox mini-series with writer Mike Baron.

Editor-in-Chief Diana Schutz and Administrative Director Bob Schreck discuss Comico's editorial philosophy in depth: a strict hands-off creator-ownership policy, careful audience targeting across its line (from Robotech for younger readers to Grendel for adults), and Comico's decision to use "Parental Guidance Suggested" labels rather than censor content outright. Schutz explains how Howard the Duck brought her back to comics, her brief four-day stint at Marvel, and her background running the Telegraph Wire newsletter at Comics and Comix in Berkeley. Schreck recounts his path from film buff to convention promoter to Comico, and explains how he secured the Max Headroom license. Both also praise Matt Wagner's writing and Bill Willingham's Elementals as genuine social commentary.