Tag Archive for 'sneaking into comics'

Sneaking Into Comics 009: My Interview with DC Comics for a Pre-Press Production Job

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nick marino
on November 13, 2008
in Comics and Sneaking Into Comics
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Ahh, yes. The time has arrived. I’ve foreshadowed this particular column since the beginning of this series, and now the story is here: my second interview with DC Comics a.k.a. the one that got away.

As you may already know, I first tried out for the part of DC Comics editorial assistant, and my last audition was for MAD Magazine receptionist. But this second interview was for a spot with the DC Comics pre-press production team, something I was actually qualified for.

Basically, the job consisted of collecting artwork from artists, making copies of said artwork, spreading the copies around to editorial, and getting the finalized art ready for print. This was by far the best opportunity I’ve been up for in the comics industry, and I’m proud to say that I didn’t royally fuck it up.

Since I had already interviewed once before with DC, I knew where to go and pretty much what to expect. I also had some college-level training with digital imaging so I was confident in my abilities to successful take on a pre-press position.

I met with one of the guys in charge of the print production efforts at DC. Honestly, mistake number one is that I forget this guy’s name! (I should try and dig up his business card.) Anyway, he was a great person to interview with. No excessive pressure and he maintained a comfortable, conversational tone the whole time.

I probably spent more time talking about my personal life than my employment qualifications. In retrospect, that’s what I think my interviewer wanted — someone who could fit in with the print production atmosphere that was already established at DC Comics. As I’ve learned in subsequent interviews, landing a job is often more about present attitude than previous accomplishments.

While I certainly wouldn’t say I nailed it, I know that I had a decent interview. But I didn’t leave a lasting impression. The decision was down between another applicant and your truly. Obviously, the other individual won out.

Why? Because I didn’t bring any schwag to my interview, because I didn’t tell them exactly what they wanted to hear, because I didn’t heavily research the responsibilities of the position, and because I didn’t play up my interests that would have really sold me as the right guy for the department. I didn’t do anything wrong, but I didn’t do EVERYTHING right.

And that’s just another reason why I’m going to have to sneak into the comic book industry if I ever want to make it in.

Future Predictions: DC Comics Is Going to Cancel Detective Comics and Batman

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nick marino
on November 6, 2008
in Comics
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[We postpone our regular installment of Sneaking Into Comics to bring you this special vision of the future courtesy of our incredible AudioShocker time machine. Okay, okay, we don't actually have a time machine. I'm pretty much just pulling this out of my ass based on a bit of educated guessing.]

You’re probably thinking, “How the fuck do you know what DC Comics is going to do? Your only contact with DC consisted of three failed interviews! You’re full of shit.”

But it’s a pretty simple prediction to make. Neil Gaiman said it himself. Check out this snippet of his interview with MTV’s painfully shameless Splashpage blog:

“[DC Comics] phoned me up and said… ‘Would you like to write the last issue of Batman and the last issue of Detective Comics?’ And when they make an offer like that, you say yes.”

So there you have it. Neil Gaiman closes out Detective Comics and Batman with his “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader” story. This is an especially easy future prediction considering that DC Comics just announced Robin, Nightwing, and Birds of Prey are all getting canceled in February.

So when Batman and Detective Comics get the axe in 2009 (or at least relaunched with new #1 issues), remember that the AudioShocker officially predicted it first.

I’ve been trying to tell everyone about this for a few weeks. Now I’ve decided to go on record with this futuristic Batman vision in light of the three supporting series getting the boot. However, let it be known that my future predicitons may be a bit far fetched.

So now that we’ve established this, the real question is: are you going to read Batman and Detective Comics if (let’s really be honest here: WHEN) they get relaunched?

Sneaking Into Comics 008: I Showed Up Late to My Interview at Marvel Comics and Forgot to Wear Pants

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nick marino
on October 30, 2008
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Having a blog is a lot like misplacing your diary at the train station or a bus stop. And by “misplacing” I mean leaving your diary there on purpose and waiting around the corner behind a pole as you watch people sit down and read it. Some people leaf through the pages while others try to pocket it. A few people won’t even touch it because they have some sort of germ phobia, like those people that insist on using the paper towels from the bathroom to open the handle on the bathroom door. So you took a dump, got it on your hands while you were wiping your ass, stuck your hands under the faucet, got them wet, and then rubbed your wet feces germs all over a paper towel, and now you’re using it to touch the door handle we ALL have to touch? Great. You know that you could have just used the paper towel to wipe a modicum of the wet feces OFF of your hands instead of using the paper towel to moistly transfer it the door handle, right?

Anyway, back to that diary thing… where was I? Ah, I remember. Something about leaving it at the bus station. That reminds me of the scene from The Ladies Man movie where Leon Phelps (a.k.a. Tim Meadows) encourages a lonely woman to hang out at the bus station with no panties on so she can meet a good man. Do you think there are women who do that? Ever since I watched that movie, bus stations have held a fascinating sexual allure. Maybe I’ll have a sensual rendezvous at the bus station because Tim Meadows wasn’t just telling a joke — he was relating a time-tested method that sexy women have been using for centuries. They show up without panties on, and then I get to go home with them and trade sexual fluids. Maybe that’s how I’ll meet my future wife.

Continue reading ‘Sneaking Into Comics 008: I Showed Up Late to My Interview at Marvel Comics and Forgot to Wear Pants’

Sneaking Into Comics 006 - Next Time I Interview for MAD Magazine Front Desk Receptionist, I’m Bringing a Funny Hat

Published
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nick marino
on October 16, 2008
in Comics and Sneaking Into Comics
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Recently, I told you how a bunch of inappropriate emails and a voicemail from Tom DeFalco led me to an opportunity with Cracked.com. If you read those columns, you may remember that I was on the phone with DC Comics when I missed Tom’s phone call. To be exact, I was speaking with Warner Bros human resources to set up an interview for the job of MAD Magazine front desk receptionist.

To say this was my most demeaning DC Comics interview would be an overstatement. My first interview experience with Joey Cavalieri and Joan Hilty was far more soul crushing. Not because of my interviewers — they were great. Rather, the interview made me realize how savagely unqualified I was for the job.

Though not as bad as my first time at DC Comics, this interview with MAD was still pretty fucking bad. As if to prove that I learned nothing from my earlier shot at assistant editorial, I failed to research my MAD Magazine interviewer. Only being a casual reader of the magazine, I failed to even research MAD’s publication history.

Continue reading ‘Sneaking Into Comics 006 - Next Time I Interview for MAD Magazine Front Desk Receptionist, I’m Bringing a Funny Hat’

Sneaking Into Comics 005 - Tom DeFalco + Inappropriate Emails = Cracked.com

Published
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nick marino
on October 9, 2008
in Comics and Sneaking Into Comics
. 8 Comments

I was on the phone with the human resources department at DC Comics when I missed a call from Tom DeFalco.

It was early 2005. I had been emailing humormag@yahoo.com for a couple weeks after finding a vague posting on Monster.com calling for humor submissions. I suggest you check out those emails (a.k.a. my wildly inappropriate attempts at employment), and then come back and finish this story.

In some sort of twisted way that I’ll never understand, the emails worked. The voicemail Tom left started something like this: “Nick, this is Tom DeFalco. How the hell am I supposed to hire you if you don’t pick up your phone?”

Incase you don’t know or need a quick refresher, Tom DeFalco is a seasoned comic book creator who served as Marvel Comics’ Editor-in-Chief during the wildly successful years of 1987-1994. Tom currently writes Amazing Spider-Girl and other MC2 comics.

When I started sending my bizarre emails, I had no idea I had no idea that I’d be getting a personal call from a living comics legend. All I had to go on was an incredibly cryptic job posting for a new magazine.

Continue reading ‘Sneaking Into Comics 005 - Tom DeFalco + Inappropriate Emails = Cracked.com’

Sneaking Into Comics 004 - A String of Inappropriate Emails I Sent to Tom DeFalco in 2005

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nick marino
on October 2, 2008
in Comics and Sneaking Into Comics
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The real meat of this story — which consists of comic book legend Tom DeFalco, Cracked.com, MAD Magazine, and poor judgment — will be the feature of next week’s Sneaking Into Comics. As a prologue to that highly ironic tale, I would like to provide a set of emails I sent to humormag@yahoo.com (an email address that, unbeknownst to me, was actually being checked by Tom DeFalco) in March of 2005:

from: nickmarino@gmail.com
to: humormag@yahoo.com
date: Thu, Mar 3, 2005 at 10:39 PM
subject: Humor Mag - hire me you bitches

Hey -

I found your info on monster.com. I am all about this Humor Mag thing. I kid you not. This what I do. I’ll send along my resume, but to really get a feel for why I am the new Renaissance man of comedy you need to see my videos, my music, read my articles, and see my cartoons. I could help getting multimedia for the website going, and I do A LOT of comedy music work (and my production skills are mint). I really would like to learn more about this, and I’m positive you would like to learn more about me.

Thanks, Nick

from: nickmarino@gmail.com
to: humormag@yahoo.com
date: Fri, Mar 4, 2005 at 12:30 PM
subject: Humor Mag - you still haven’t hired me

Hey “Humor Mag” -

Listen, I’m emailing because you still haven’t hired me. You should give me a mail address so I can send you some writing, music, video, and cartoon samples. Trust me, you really want all these. Hook me up. Then hire me.

Nick

Continue reading ‘Sneaking Into Comics 004 - A String of Inappropriate Emails I Sent to Tom DeFalco in 2005′

Sneaking Into Comics 003 - My DC Comics Interview for Assistant Editor to Joey Cavalieri and Joan Hilty

Published
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nick marino
on September 25, 2008
in Comics and Sneaking Into Comics
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It was the summer of 2004. I was a recent college grad constantly searching for work. I found a job listing for “Assistant Editor at DC Comics” on the Warner Bros employment website and I somehow managed to get my resume over to the right human resources people at Time Warner.

I’m not exactly sure who helped push my status along to help me land the interview. It could have been the DC editor that I had been communicating with via email. It could have been my dad’s friend who worked for Time Warner and passed along my resume. It could have even been Neal (of the AudioShocker), who interviewed with Warner Bros around that time and possibly mentioned my name to HR.

I was up for the position of Assistant Editor to Joey Cavalieri and Joan Hilty, both in working in the DCU proper at the time (Joan was also running the Johnny DC imprint). The physical application process with Warner Bros was daunting, akin to taking a standardized test. I had to dig so far back into my own personal history that I actually couldn’t remember some of the addresses, phone numbers, and names that they wanted to see.

Afterwards, Warner Bros HR sent me over to the DC Comics offices, part of a large building nestled into the upper edge of Times Square in New York City. I can’t speak for how they look nowadays, but the interior hallways were covered in giant paintings of DCU heroes with huge smiles on their faces. It was both awesome and unsettling at the same time.

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Sneaking Into Comics 002 - How I Got Fired from a High Profile NYC Comic Shop

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nick marino
on September 18, 2008
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It was the end of 2004. While shopping at my New York City comic shop of choice (which shall go nameless), the idea came to me that I should work there and save a few bucks on my weekly haul.

Everything about my interview went smooth like butter until I was asked, “Do you read any online comic book reviews?” Not reviews, I told him, but I read news and interviews on Newsarama. A look of shock washed over my interviewer’s face as he asked, “What?! Why don’t you read Pop Culture Shock?”

I didn’t have a good answer for the guy. Maybe because I barely knew anything about Pop Culture Shock. Maybe because Newsarama was more comics-centric back then. Either way, there was an air of sadness in his voice that made absolutely no sense.

Eventually, I got the job. This was around the time that the Countdown to Infinite Crisis cover image was being teased. Everyone speculated that Batman was holding a dead Nightwing. As I was stuffing poly bags with back issues, I made an offhand comment about the Jim Lee art.

“Psssh, who cares if he dies?” I said jokingly, figuring that my sarcasm was inherent in my tone of voice. “Nightwing sucks anyway.”

“Don’t let Dave hear you say that,” another employee whispered. “Nightwing is his favorite character.”

“What?!” Dave shouted from across the room. “Who said Nightwing sucks? Nick, Why would you say that?!”

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Sneaking Into Comics 001 - Heroes, NYCCBM, Gene Colan, and Bill Jemas

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nick marino
on September 11, 2008
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I’ve been doing a shitty job of breaking into the comic book industry for nearly ten years now. I’ve probably botched better career building opportunities in the past decade than some professionals have had in a lifetime. This column is the first installment of a new series wherein I will relate my experiences (no matter how painful) to show you what NOT to do if you want to work in comics.

My first truly formative experience took place (I think) in 2002. I caught wind of a gallery opening in New York City honoring the artists who worked on Heroes (Marvel’s charity book benefitting the September 11th cleanup efforts). Not only was this a great historical moment in comics, but it was a terrific venue to meet professionals outside of the convention circuit.

The event was put on by the New York City Comic Book Museum (NYCCBM), an effort run by David Gabriel (before he was Marvel’s Director of Sales). It was a terrific show, with tons of great original art from the Heroes book and even greater comic book legends in attendance. Early on, I approached a table of distinguished elderly gentlemen (who had to be silver age comic book greats). Ignorantly, I asked them if Jim Steranko was at the show. They shrugged their shoulders and looked at me like I was nuts.

And I was nuts. There’s no better proof than when I ran into Gene Colan later on. In one of my more embarrassing moments, I shoved my Essential Captain America vol. 2 in front of his face and asked him to sign it. Was I out of my freaking mind? Have Gene Colan sign a black and white reprint book made of newsprint?

I was out of my mind and extremely excited to meet the artist who helped create the Falcon. To my surprise, Gene didn’t recall being the first artist to draw the Falcon. In fact, I don’t think he remembered the character at all. I had to kindly explain to him that yes, he was the first artist to ever draw Sam Wilson. And then I had him sign the crappy copy of the cover of the Falcon’s first issue in my newsprint reprint book.

After a couple hours, my sister was sufficiently tipsy from the cash bar and she was determined to help me network. She struck up with Bill Jemas, then President (a.k.a. Publisher) of Marvel Comics. Bill imparted an excellent piece of advice that I now pass along to you: if you want to work in comics, get in on the business end. Even if your end goal is creative, work your way up through comic book sales, production, or admin. Bill used himself as an example, noting how he was an executive with Fleer and worked his way into one of the top spots at Marvel publishing.

I haven’t taken Bill’s advice. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve tried, numerous times. I just never got my foot in the door and kept it there (those are, of course, the subjects of future columns). Point is, I went to one of the world’s greatest comic book networking opportunities and all I left with was a confused signature and advice I didn’t follow.

And that’s just another reason why I’m going to have to sneak into the comic book industry if I ever want to make it in.