Reporting on Comics

Handsome Bob

Firstly, feel free to close if this isn't appropiate mods. Anyway, I've got an interview coming up soon. It's nothing major, it's just a reporter job in the comics section of a website. All the same, should I get it somehow, it's a paid position. Over the past two years I have gotten more and more into comics however I'm no where near well versed. Due to financial constraints the scope of comics I can pick up are narrow. I have rarely stepped outside of Marvel and DC comics.

So I'm just wondering if you could help me out at all, I mean if you were the interviewer what kind of questions would you ask me to try and determine that I knew my stuff about comics? Basically, I don't want to come across as blagging. So if any of you would have some insight it would be greatfully accepted.

Fysh

I'll be honest, it depends on the size of the site and what kind of reporting they want from you.

The likes of Newsarama and ComicBookResources have a range of writers, and run a lot of stories that are mainly about previews, solicitations, press releases and reviews of material from the main American publishers.

CBR also has a separate almost blog-like section with another set of writers who run more in-depth discussion articles on a variety of subjects and in a variety of depths of detail.

Then you've got a bunch of other blog-type sites (Bleeding Cool is one good example, but there are plenty more) that run a mixture of the above with film/television/pop culture discussions.

Depending on what you're expected to cover and in what depth, the questions will vary. I suspect that a good breadth of knowledge will be more useful than encyclopaedic knowledge of one narrow area, so you might want to think about how you'd answer the following:

• Who's your favourite writer working in comics? Which of their works would you recommend as a starting point, and why?
• Who's your favourite artist working in comics? Which of their works would you recommend as a starting point, and why?
• What's your favourite comic of the last 5/10 years, and why?
• What's your favourite webcomic?
• What's your favourite manga?
• What's your favourite European comic?
• Name 10 comics that have been adapted into film, including at least 3 that aren't superhero-based. Which one is your favourite?
• Name 5 prominent webcomic creators.
• Name 5 manga series and give a brief summary of what they're about.
• Name 5 ongoing comic series and give a brief summary of what they're about.
• Name 5 ongoing webcomics and give a brief summary of what they're about.
• Name your top 5 most influential comic creators, and explain why you've chosen them.
• Will Eisner, Stan Lee or Osamu Tezuka? And why?

If those seem like nasty or potentially loaded questions, don't worry - they're meant that way. Hopefully, they'll give you an idea of what areas you're familiar with - you can compare this to whatever information you've been given about the job (and if possible, the sort of work done by other people already working for the site).

Good luck!

Handsome Bob

That's awesome information, thanks Fysh. Some of those questions are indeed intimidating but I have 7 days to prepare so that's no bother. The website I have an interview with wouldn't really specialise in comics, what I'd be doing wouldn't go beyond writing a standard 300/400 word article presenting the information in an impartial format.

Handsome Bob

It was a bit of light weight interview, not hard at all. Thankfully your questions had me more than prepared Fysh, I think I impressed them with my knowedge. Fingers crossed.

Fysh

That's good to hear, hope it goes your way

Mr. K

What a cool job, hope you get it!