AM: Well, in college I studied television production, and that has definitely been a big help for me in comics. It’s allowed me to talk to my artists in a visual language we both understand and I came with a nice understanding of episodic story structure. I also interned for DC in college and started my career here in Talent Relations actually. That was a great place to start because it gave me the opportunity to meet so many of our wonderful creators and start to build relationships with them. But it also gave me the chance to see how best to support them outside of just working on the creative aspects of comics. Being an editor, you end up being many things to your creators, so being able to support them not just creatively but knowing how to help them personally as well really goes a long way.
BM: Oh man, so, for me it started pretty early. I started as a comic writer and had my first story published when I was 15, so this whole “making comics” thing has been going on for a long while. As far as editing goes, I got my start when I was working at Clive Barker’s company, Seraphim, where I worked as a consultant on all things Hellraiser comics and then, eventually, as the Editor-in-Chief of Seraphim Comics, where we produced a few Hellraiser comics anthologies. After that, bounced around for a bit writing and editing here and there and was fortunate enough to get brought on at DC. So, those are the specifics of how I got here, but the much more broad answer is this: I am very patient and very persistent. Persistence goes a long way, lemme tell ya!
MMc: The fun thing about my career is that just about every job that I’ve had has involved DC Comics in some way. My college degree is in Production/Stage Management. I spent eleven years as the stage manager for the Batman Stunt Shows at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I think the one thing the four of us all have is a passion and a love for the medium. Not to mention a love for the diverse characters and storylines in the DCU. I’ve been reading DC Comics ever since I could read. The Wolfman/Perez run on Titans…Crisis on Infinite Earths…those stories are the foundation of my fandom and my love for DC. While I didn’t set out to become a comic book editor, I feel really fortunate that my career path has lead me to a position where I can help forge the direction of some of my favorite characters.
KK: The best part about everyone’s path to being a comic book editor is that they’re all VASTLY different – so you could be doing the most random, unconnected thing and wind up editing comics someday. For me, I NEVER wanted to go into comics – I wanted to make a name for myself, on my own (I’m a very stubborn lady when it comes to that) as a creative. I thought I was going to go into special effects make up (I wanted to make delightfully gory horror movies) – so I worked in film and television. Then I worked at an art gallery for a while (this was in NYC in 2008, so right around the Lehman Bros. crash and all that Bernie Madoff insanity)…and during all of that I thought, what do I really like to do? I like to work with people, I like working in entertainment, I like telling stories, and I like being creative in a world where I can have an effect on the current art world. Turns out comics is the best place to do that…but I had no idea how to start. I knew nothing about comic books or production…so I applied to be a coordinator in the pre-press dept. at DC, learning how a comic is literally made from the ground up. And from there I realized that I wanted to be a comic book editor, I wanted to help shepherd stories and work with the world’s most amazing writers and artists…and I’ve loved every step of the learning process (which, as an FYI, never ends!)
