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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.

Previews the issue's contents, noting the "First Look" at D'Arc Tangent provides a cross-section of comics creators from writers/artists to letterer, editor, and publisher. Highlights the mix of newcomers like Tod Smith and the D'Arc Tangent crew alongside veterans Jack Abel and Joe Rosen, plus the magazine's first interview with overseas industry figures.

David describes his eight-part Wolverine story in Marvel Comics Presents (following Barry Windsor-Smith's "Weapon X"), which centers on Wolverine's psychological block against an opponent named Cyber. Originally intended for Todd McFarlane and rewritten for Sam Kieth's moody, horrific style, David wrote the story at 3 a.m. to achieve a stream-of-consciousness, *Twin Peaks*-influenced surrealism. He also discusses the differences between his and Claremont's interpretations of Wolverine and argues in favor of keeping Wolverine's past deliberately mysterious.