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Schanes, publisher of Blackthorne and co-founder of Pacific Comics, recounts how Pacific grew from a $50 investment in 1972 to $5 million in annual gross sales before collapsing under distribution debt and high interest rates — while crediting Pacific with establishing creator ownership contracts and breaking open the direct market. He describes how Blackthorne was bootstrapped on $20,000 in credit-card debt and now ships 22 products monthly, and has diversified into film props (for Spielberg's Amazing Stories), paperback books (Harlan Ellison reprints), and sports-tip periodicals. Part one of two.

Part two of an interview with the Pacific Comics founder and current Blackthorne publisher, focused on the legal and financial mechanics of Pacific's collapse. Schanes explains that Pacific chose informal liquidation over bankruptcy to maximize creditor payouts, describes the "Black September" Marvel product flood that caused catastrophic inventory buildup, and recounts how Pacific pioneered creator ownership and royalties — reforms that forced Marvel to create the Epic line.