The Magazine of Comics News and Criticism. This issue of the comics profession's foremost magazine of news and criticism contains two main features. First, a career-spanning interview with one of the most skillful and popular genre writers in comics, Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis discusses his crime comics beginnings, writing Sam & Twitch for Todd McFarlane, his early crime comics (Jinx, Goldfish, Torso), his Hollywood satire Fame & Glory and his sordid experiences in Hollywood, his espionage/noir graphic novel Fire, and his break-out into mainstream comics where he rejuvenated Marvel's Daredevil and Ultimate Spider-Man and created Alias, as well as his creator-owned Powers. Second, this is our annual Year-In-Review issue: The Journal's critics revisit 2004, selecting the best comics and graphic novels of the year. We'll also look at manga, webcomics and how the industry itself reacted to the changing marketplace. Add in Garrett Price's White Boy in the comics section, no-holds-barred industry commentary, and the celebrated news, regular columns, elitist judgments and snide remarks that have won the magazine countless awards. Cover by Alex Maleev.

News
Newswatch (p. 14)
Letters
Blood & Thunder (p. 8)
Interviews
The Brian Michael Bendis Interview (p. 95)
Reviews
2004: Year in Review (p. 41)
Columns
Fighting Words (p. 171)
Funnybook Roulette (p. 173)
Comicopia (p. 180)
Ctrl-Alt-Delete (p. 183)
Minimalism (p. 188)
Time Out of Joint (p. 193)
Reprints
Garrett Price's White Boy (p. 135)