Everyone has the person or place that they if/when they go, its like Mecca. For movie buffs maybe its the Chinese Theatre in L.A. or the Walk of Fame. For gamers, maybe they get weak in the knees for E3 or the Square-Enix headquarters. Well for me, who thought they were above such star-struck nonsense, it turns out that my weakness, SURPRISE! is walking into the office of Marvel Comics earlier this week!
This all started a few months back, some of you might remember me writing about how my friend got me thinking of how might I get more involved with the comic book community and industry. Well that conversation and subsequent blog has led to all kinds of fun developments! First and foremost of course is my blog site, GoldDustBoi's House of Ideas,, but I also started my eBay store, my Facebook fan site, and Twitter feed as well as regularly posting on as many boards as I can find. I also, on a whim, decided to check out Marvel's job listings on their own website. As it turns out they weren't hiring for anything I was qualified for, but they were looking for interns to work there for college credit. What many people on this site might not know is that, in addition to my diligent comic book blogging, I have also been working hard to return to school and earn my business degree, and come this Fall I will be attending Fairleigh Dickinson University. So, to me, this seemed like the perfect chance to combine my two passions into one and excel further in both. After a few weeks, I heard back from the original House of Ideas to schedule an interview, and my hopes began to soar!
After two arduous weeks (during which I had a difficult move from one apartment to another), the day of my interview arrived. I got my "business casual" best on, paced around the apartment for a while, and headed to, what many of us consider, the Mecca. As I arrived downstairs, I tried to keep as cool as I could as I told the security guard, "I'm here for an interview at Marvel Comics" and pretended not to notice him snickering at my sweaty nervous self. When I got to the office and checked in with the receptionist my first feeling was, "I'm actually here! Do Not Throw Up!". Sitting down with my application (because even at Marvel you still need to fill out an application) the first thing I noticed was instead of the usual boring magazines, there was a rack of comic books on the wall. I thumbed through them, nothing too special just random issues from the last 5 or 6 years, and wondered, if only for a second, if they would really notice one missing. Quickly dismissing that, I waited not-so-patiently for my name to be called as I scanned every face that passed hoping to see some icon or another, but alas none graced my presence. Then I saw two people coming out of the hallway and I caught jsut enough of their conversation to know that the young man was sending some sort of files to her later that day, and then the young woman came over to me. My first thought at that exact moment is, "What files could he be sending her? Should I have some sort of files to send her? Oh crap I am so out of my league here."
She led me through the hallway, which to me could have been a whirlwind, as I stared at walls lined with comics and memorabilia, much of which I own, but in the most pristine and preserved condition. Now I know what "Mint Condition" means. As I looked around the office of people I noticed how happy and friendly everyone looked while they conversed, and got the genuine feeling that this was an exciting and fun place to be! I was led into one of a row of conference rooms (each named after a Marvel Comics legend) and I got to talk with 3 people from the merchandising and promotions departments. In the essence of privacy and non-disclosure I will not go into the details of the conversation, but they were each very open and inviting as they explained their various departments and needs to me. As I talked with them, my nerves began to calm, partially because they seemed genuinely interested in my opinions and work experience but also because the more I heard they describe they job requirements, I realized I was not nearly as out of my depths as I thought before. Then, at a key moment in the conversation, I found the perfect place to slip my own site into the conversation. They are either the best actors in the world or they honestly seemed to light up at the idea that I had developed my own site. They asked me what was on the site, and I had a chance to talk in detail about my site and my writing and everything I wanted to do with it all. I asked if they wanted the web address and all 3 of them eagerly said yes and quickly jotted down the site's address (each giving a little chuckle at the site's name, to which i replied that I never expected to actually give it to anyone at Marvel Comics). They thanked me for coming said I would hear in a few weeks about the internship, and it just felt to me like there was a really good buzz in the air and that this interview had gone really well.
The girl who had first fetched me now led me back, through the vertigo inducing Hallway of Mint, to the waiting area, home of the tempting comic rack, and she thanked me and shook my hand. As I turned, I made a beeline right to the comic books again, never being one to have self control around comics, and I as reached out to grab just one she calls after me, "Oh those are free go ahead and take something!" At that exact moment all the stomach control I had been mustering almost failed and (after giving myself a self-check), as nonchalantly as I could possibly be expected to at that point, grabbed a copy of New Warriors (Vol. 4) #12 that I knew I needed. I quickly put it into my bag and stepped away as I knew I was not to be trusted at that point. While I waited for the next interviewer to show up I just could not help myself and struck up a conversation with the receptionist. I told her how exciting it was to just be there and she quickly said, "Oh do we have a fanboy? This must be surreal for you." The word had not occured to me in my dizzy state, but as she said it I realized she was right...This. Was. Surreal.
After a few minutes of waiting my next meeting approached, the intern coordinator. This part of the process actually made me much more nervous then the first because, since I had not technically started college again and did not have all the information about internships at FDU, this was the part I had the least knowledge in regard to. But alas! This is Marvel Comics people! This woman made feel just as welcome and at ease as the first 3 and our conversation proceeded very smoothly. Again, in keeping with privacy I can not reveal the minutia of the conversation, but trust when I say she had all the answers I wanted to hear about my concerns and seemed very pleased with me and my answers regarding my future plans. This meeting was much shorter then the first, but still left me with that same satisfied feeling of success afterwards. She led me through one last trip through the dizzying Hallway to the waiting area (where she collected my visitor's badge much to my disappointment), and thanked me for coming in. As I turned around to leave, feeling the rush of excitement welling up, the receptionist who greeted me gave me a large warm smile and wished me a good day. I walked through the door as calmly as I could, walked to the elevator and patiently waited for the doors to close. At that point all bets were off. I sincerely hope that the cameras in that elevator do not have sound because the moment the elevator doors closed I began to lose all the composure I had been using for the last hour. Had anyone been listening they would have heard my crazy cried and jeers of joy as I rode down the elevator. By the time the doors opened, I pulled it together and walked as calmly out of the elevator as I had walked into it, and as I walked past the security guard again I wondered if he could tell how excited I still was or maybe he just knew that it had that effect on anyone who visits. But its probably just me...
No comments:
Post a Comment