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A wide-ranging conversation with the writer-turned-retailer-turned-distributor about all three of his careers. Describes founding Cosmic Comics in Cleveland — buying it from the original owner in 1978, building it into a community institution where he attends customers' weddings and bar mitzvahs, and staffing it with people who actually read comics. Provides a detailed snapshot of 1983 market conditions: X-Men outsells Teen Titans by 40%, Marvel dominates Cleveland, First Comics leads the independents on reliability, and Omega Men is dropping due to violence backlash. Gives practical advice for prospective store owners (find a local distributor, budget $5,000-10,000 in seed money, locate near foot traffic) and discusses his writing projects including Moon Knight and his surreal creator-owned detective series Phil Noir, Hollywood Detective.

Part One of Orzechowski's career retrospective, conducted by Schutz in her capacity as editor of The Telegraph Wire for Comics & Comix in California. Orzechowski traces his origins in Detroit fandom — where he worked alongside Terry Austin, Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, and Rich Buckler — and his path to Marvel at age 19 via Tony Isabella, where Starlin championed him onto Captain Marvel before he felt ready. He recounts his famous prank of changing the Comics Code stamp to "The Cosmic Code Authority" on Strange Tales #179, and describes his move west with Mike Friedrich's Star*Reach collective (alongside Englehart, Starlin, and Brunner), his years freelancing for independents, and how he eventually settled into working almost exclusively with Chris Claremont on X-Men. Part Two (covering his X-Men alphabet design, Dark Phoenix lettering, and royalties) is promised for the next issue.