Date:         Tue, 30 Nov 1993 14:41:24 PST
Sender: COMIC Writers Workshop <[COMICW L] at [UNLVM.UNL.EDU]>
From: James Drew <[j r d] at [FRAME.COM]>
Subject:      MISC: Michael Davis on professionalism

Nabbed from a lengthy interview in CBG #1045:

[Michael Davis runs Bad Boys Studios, which is an extended training program
for comics professionals.  According to Davis, no one ever really "leaves"
the program.  "Graduates" include Bernard Chang, Adam Polina, John Paul Leon,
and Walter McDaniels]

Q: Are there any textbooks?

A: That's a good questiopn, because there are textbooks in the program but
they are by no means what you would expect.

Q: Well, you have piqued my curiosity.  What kind of textboooks are they?

A: We have two textbooks and one magazine that they have to subscribe to:
_The_Emily_Post_Book_of_Etiquette_ (the big one, the $40 one), _Dress_for_
_Success_, and they have to subscribe to _Business_Week_.

Q: No art books.

A: No, because the burden of learning is on the student.  If these guys
really want to do this for a living -- for a *living*, not as a hobby --
they have to know that it's up to them to go out and kick some serious
butt.  They have to be excited about it.  They have to be excited about
what they do.  They have to be excited about what they want to do in the
industry so they can.  I'm not going to hold a gun to their heads and say
they have to go out and get the Bridgeman book.  They should get it
themselves.  They should know.
        First year, everyone gets a list of books they should get.  As
they more [sic] involved in the program, they get more involved in the
real world.  It's not an I-like-to-draw world.  It's an I'm-a-well-
-rounded-professional world.  How you dress is very important; how you
speak is very important.
        Guys in editorial positions in comic book companies, who came in
as fans, have a disadvantage, if they are not schooled in the real world.
I know at DC Comics, I think DC Comics has the best editorial department
in comics, because their editors are all very professional; they're big
fans of the industry and they have expertise in other areas.  Archie
Goodwin and Denny O'Neil know a lot more than just comics and they bring
that excitement to what it is that they do.

***** ***** *****

* Anyone know what "the Bridgeman book" is?

* The interviewer really should have cleaned up the style of the interview
        a little more, removing redunancy.  (I say this having published
        several interviews myself: you've got to make the interviewee come
        off looking as good as possible.)

* Of course, the CBG editorial staff left in a later reference to "living
        legend" Bernie Ritson, which I assume should have been "Berni
        Wrightson".

------------------------------
                             |     I averted my eyes from the negligible
Jim Drew                     | amount of leather Ron was wearing.
[j r d] at [frame.com]                |     "Do you realize that it's only 60 degrees
(Furry: Randy Puritan)       | out there?" I asked.
"Innocent, but not naive."   |     "Do y' realize Ah'm gonna wear chaps an' a
B2h t c s k g+(p) rv p e     | t-shirt?" he replied.
S8/5 g l+ y+ o+ a+ u++- j++  |     The t-shirt was white with a slogan printed
{opinions: mine != frame's}  | in black: "UNLEASH THE QUEEN."  The first two
                             | letters had a slash of red striking them out.
                             |          - Marc Lynx, "Awl's Fare"