The Magazine of Comics News and Criticism. The Journal celebrates its 250th issue with a double-sized extravaganza featuring unforgettable interviews with a fistful of the finest cartoonists of all time, indispensable essays from more than a dozen of comics' finest critics, and the first English translation of one of the world's greatest comics short stories! The Journal presents a translated excerpt from Numa Sadoul's legendary interview with the great Herge, an interview with Raymond Briggs, an all-new "Back to the Drawing Board" interview with Dan Clowes, and a career-spanning interview with Gary Panter! The Journal also makes comics history by being the first to publish manga cartoonist Yoshiharu Tsuge's classic short story "Neji-shiki" in English. The issue's comprehensive criticism section features essays on topics like "What's Wrong with Comics Criticism," "Why Team Comics is Still a Bad Idea," "EC Comics and the Chimeras of Memory," as well as essays on the state of post-9/11 editorial cartooning, racial caricature in comics, young cartoonists of note, and the state of the medium around the world! This issue also includes TCJ's "2002: Year in Review" assessment of the comics and events that mattered most. Cover by Gary Panter.

Editorial
Why Team Comics is Still a Bad Idea by Tom Spurgeon (p. 1)
News
Newswatch (p. 7)
The Neil Gaiman-Todd McFarlane Trial (p. 17)
Interviews
The Carl Barks & John Stanley Panel (p. 159)
Back to the Drawing Board, Daniel Clowes Interview (p. 163)
The Herge Interview (p. 180)
The Gary Panter Interview (p. 206)
The Raymond Briggs Interview (p. 255)
Essays
Charles Schulz, Developing a Comic Strip (p. 105)
Ng Suat Tong, EC and the Chimera of Memory (p. 115)
Megan Kelso, Riding the High-Horse (p. 123)
The Jack Kent-Milton Caniff Letters with Jeet Heer (p. 126),
Bob Levin Teddy Bears' Picnic (p. 129)
Kim Thompson, Herge: His Life and Work (p. 176)
Reviews
Best Comic of 2002 #5 by Tom Crippen (p. 40)
Best Comic of 2002 #4 by Gregory Cwiklik (p. 43)
Best Comic of 2002 #3 by Matthew Surridge (p. 46)
Best Comic of 2002 #2 by Rich Kreiner (p. 49)
The Best Comic of 2002 by Ng Suat Tong (p. 52)
The Emerging Talent of the Year by Daniel Holloway (p. 55)
The Re-Emerging Talent of the Year by R.C. Harvey (p. 59)
That's Not Funny by Tim Kreider (p. 67)
Three Giant Gaps in Asian Cartooning by John Lent (p. 89)
London Calling: 2002 British Comics by Paul Gravett (p. 93)
Columns
Minimalism (p. 63)
Comicopia (p. 75)
Euro-Comics for Beginners (p. 83)
Funnybook Roulette (p. 99)
Lost in Translation (p. 109)
Illustration
Screw-Style by Yoshiharu Tsuge's, translated by Bill Randall