The time Batman screwed me...

Did I ever tell you about the time I almost became an assistant editor at one of the top two publishers?

This was waaaay back in the olden days, when they were both based in New York.

And thanks to a couple of ins, I found myself at the big office building uptown for a second round of interviews to join the editorial team of one of their flagship characters, a superhero I’d loved my whole life.

As soon as I got out of the elevator—heck, even before I got off!—the first thing I noticed was a palpable sense of fear among the staff.

No joke, everyone seemed miserable. And as I bounced around from office to office, interviewing with editor after editor, it became apparent why:

With their office doors wide open, and in incredibly loud voices, each editor told me how much they hated the big boss.

And how much they wanted to be working for the other place.

In fact, while I was there, in the middle of my interview, someone came in to tell the editor that his entire staff had quit that day. So not only did he need to fill the position I was interviewing for, but he also needed to replace everyone else too.

Schmuck that I am, I didn’t run screaming. Instead, I happily shuffled down the hall to meet with the next editor whose approval I needed before nailing down the gig.

It started out great. We had a fantastic rapport. I felt like I was acing the exam.

And then the guy asked the big question:

“So, how’d you get into comics?”

And—again, schmuck that I am—I answered truthfully: “Well, when I was six years old, I LOVED the BATMAN TV show…”

The blood drained from the guy’s face.

He held up a hand to stop me from incriminating myself further as he bolted up from his desk faster than a speeding bullet, leapt across the office in a single bound, and shut his door.

When he took his seat again, he spoke in hushed tones: “You have to be very careful what you say in this building.”

(But not, apparently, when you’re shitting on the boss and saying how great the competition is?)

“I liked that show, too,” he continued in an even quieter voice, “But people have very strong feelings about it, and if you want to work in this industry, you can’t be seen as having the wrong opinion.”

Chastened, I quickly changed my origin story.

The rest of the interview is a blur. All I know is, despite what I felt like had been a strong round of interviews, I read a few weeks later that I didn’t get the gig—in the back of a comic, naturally, where the company announced their new editorial staff.

I can’t say for certain it was the not-so-Dark Knight that lost me the gig, but I have my suspicions.

A few years later, I ran into one of the editors I’d interviewed with that day on the floor of the San Diego Comic Con. He was still working for the company, still looking fairly miserable, but he lit up when I told him about the acting work I’d been doing lately.

”Hey, you dodged a bullet,” he said as he slunked back to work.

Holy Close Call, Batman?

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Anyway, that’s my Caped Crusader content for this week.

I’m sure the new movie is great, but with my middle aged prostate, I’m not watching a three hour Batflick unless I can pause it.

What did you folks think?

Yea, nay?

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In other news…

Surveys for BLAZING BLADE OF FRANKENSTEIN #1 went out to physical backers last week, and I’m happy to report that so far, 87% of you have completed them. If you haven’t already, fill ‘em out! Books should be headed our way soon…

And in case you missed it, our first issue got a stellar review over at THE PULLBOX, who said, “Fans of the kind of adventures told in the Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Conan the Barbarian, and the works of artist Frank Frazetta should have no trouble finding something to love here. Final Score: 12/13”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL REVIEW

That’s all the time for today. I know I promised to talk about a few other Substacks I’m enjoying lately, but this is already running a little long, so it’ll have to wait til…

SAME BAT TIME!

SAME BAT CHANNEL!

-Clay

P.S. West is the best. Don’t @ me.