A while back, I made the acquaintance of a crazy cat named [CensorEd], who’s an editor for [a rather large comic book publisher]. I asked for an interview, s/he said yes, and voila – it’s the next installment of Running Up That Hill!

 
To heighten the sense of drama and intrigue – or perhaps to circumvent miles of red tape – we decided to keep [CensorEd]’s identity a secret.

                                             
1. There’s a great R.E.M. song called “Begin The Begin” from their 1986 LP, Life’s Rich Pageant. If this interview could have a soundtrack, that would have to be the opening song. So, let’s begin the begin of this interview with a real softball: how’d you wind up editing comic books for a living?

 
Very good question, Elton. Ask any editor how they got here (i.e. Editing for the “Big Two”), and I can guarantee we all have a different story. Me personally, I started out as a writer for a very well known magazine that focuses on comics. It was a fun job, I learned a lot and made some great friends, but I was pretty god-awful at the actual job (I’m not a good interviewer and/or shmoozer — two vital aspects of magazine writing in a competitive industry). Plus, most of what I was writing about at the time I really had no interest in — I can easily count the number of Fantastic Four, Avengers, Green Lantern, and JSA comics I’ve ever read on one hand.

 
Anyway, through the job I met a shall-remain-nameless editor and we hit it off pretty quickly. I was a big fan of the books he was editing at the time, and already had a pretty solid relationship with most of his talent. Only thing was, he already had a girlfriend — er, Assistant. So eventually, I left the magazine I was working for, was unemployed and going bat-shit crazy for about three months, then heard the unnamed editor’s assistant was leaving for bigger and brighter. I immediately sent my resume in, and after getting the mother of all background checks from this company, here I am sitting at a cluttered desk editing the books I love.

2. Given the unorthodox and covert nature of this interview, let’s switch gears for a minute from comics to movies. Why is Saturday Night Fever such a brilliant movie, and so undeservedly under-rated after all these years – or is it all in my head?

3. The ABC drama Lost: yay or nay? And if the former, what can we as storytellers learn from Lost and apply to our own work?

 
Sorry, I don’t watch Lost. I did watch a re-cap they had on last week and it seems like an interesting show...

4. At the risk of blowing your secret identity, you’re now the lead editor on some books and the assistant editor on others. What is it like wearing those two different hats and switching back and forth between them? And perhaps most importantly, what does it say on your business cards?

 
That’s an interesting question — never really gave it much thought before. I guess being an assistant kind of gives me a little more protection in a sense that I’m only “second in command”. At the same time, I’m also the first line of defense — it’s basically my job to catch any of the grammatical errors or any art that might be deemed questionable, letting the editor focus more on the story aspects with the writer and/or artists. Given that I don’t have an assistant on the books I edit, a lot more pressure falls on me to catch everything, and also make sure the story being told makes sense and above all else is enjoyable to the readers. Then of course, I have to make sure all the trains are running on time, deadline-wise, which can be a job unto itself.

 
My business card says [soylent green is people].

5. A day in the life of [CensorEd]: you drive/fly/bus/train/rollerblade in to the office. What happens next?

 
I take the subway train to the office — headphones blaring, usually reading scripts which I was supposed to read the night before, get coffee, check my messages/inbox, put out any “freelancer fires” that may have sprung up over night, check in with any other freelancers who might be running behind schedule, and then get down to business — every day is kinda different given the nature of the business and deadlines.

 
Some days I’m running all over the office trying to get a book out on time, some days I can spend all day talking/e-mailing with creators, and some — rare — days are just really slow where I’m putzing around on the internet for eight hours. Then I go home and work on whatever side-project I’ve gotten myself into until the wee hours.

6. What’s the one thing people would find most surprising about you (other than your secret identity)?

 
I’m a pretty private individual to begin with, especially with people I work with, so I think most anything I do outside of work would be surprising to most people. I’m not saying I have a collection of dismembered hands in my freezer, I’m just the type of individual who can’t really sit still for too long, so I’m constantly working on various creative projects on my own.

 
If that’s not good enough, something that always seems to surprise people is I’ve never seen any of the Lethal Weapon or Die Hard movies. Shocking, huh?

7. Convention season draws nigh – San Diego’s two months away and it’s my first con ever. Got any con stories and/or advice you’d care to share?

 
Wow, you’re going to San Diego for your first convention? That’s like playing against the Detroit Pistons having never picked up a basketball before! Vaya con dios, mi amigo, y buena suerte!

 
Most of my con stories that I, ahem, remember, I can’t really talk about since they’re a little too incriminating to other individuals involved. On the other hand, having been to more conventions than I can count over the almost-decade I’ve been doing this, I have PLENTY of advice.

 
Going to the actual convention can be a lot of fun, picking up back-issues or trades or toys, whatever floats your boat. But the real wheeling and dealing, behind the scenes juice goes on after hours at the watering holes. Ask most pros, and they’ll tell you that that’s usually the reason they go to these things. A LOT of projects are born in the wee hours over a lot of empty beer bottles, so if you’re serious about getting into the funnybook biz, you have to put in the hours after-hours. [and by “you” I mean in a broad, general sense, not “you” Elton Pruitt.]

 
One thing to always keep in mind is that most “professionals” (i.e. Writers, artists, editors, and so on) are normal people — well, for the most part — in that we all have lives outside of comics. That said, given that we do this as our 9-to-5 jobs, when we’re out after the show, usually the last thing we want to talk about is comics. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine to come up and say, “Hey, so-and-so, I really liked your work on whatever,” but an hour long diatribe on it is not how we want to spend a night at the bar. My hint (and to your credit, you did the right thing with me at least) -- most of us have myspace/comicspace pages, and love B.S.’ing about what music and movies and books we like — do a little research and find a common ground with a pro you want to meet. Not saying to become a stalker, memorizing every single movie on a creator’s myspace page, but if you see one — like, say, Saturday Night Fever — and you happen to like it too, that’s a great way to break the proverbial ice (is that even a proverb?).

 
Another piece of advice — and this is one I feel pretty strongly about — is try and maintain some level of professionalism if you’re looking to break in to the comics industry. All’s fair when the drinks start flowing, but try and maintain your composure. Recently, I was out at a show and got cornered by some kid, drunk off his ass, breath stinking like beer and cigarette soup, telling me about how he’s going to tell the end-all, be-all story for one of the books I edit. I can’t tell you how quickly I started ignoring him, and I will absolutely remember him as the 100% unprofessional kid who I will not be taking any pitches from. If your approach is “I love this book you edit, but I think I could write it better,” that’s just offensive on so many levels.

 
Basically, what he said was I clearly am not doing my job right, not doing my part to help craft a great story, and I picked the wrong writer for it. Coupled with the fact that he was slurring the entire time, it got annoying REALLY fast. Editors can be very territorial with the books they work on, and while we can take criticism — it’s part of the job, after all — one thing we don’t like is criticism disguised (badly) as “advice”. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes business that takes place before a book is published, and it’s not easy work at all, so the last thing we need is an hour-long drunk pitch session from a non-established writer or artist. Establish a relationship with us first, then all’s fair, but if I’m just meeting you for the first time and this is your approach, then good luck to ya!

Thanks for the interview, [CensorEd]!

Elton Pruitt is an aspiring comic book writer in Little Rock, Arkansas. His first publication was the short story, “Fall of the Triumvirate,” in Sequential Suicide. In the near future, his second published work, “The Barber,” will appear in Frameworks: A Study in Sequential Art.