They say to do what you love and you'll love what you do, but how do you turn your fanboy-fangirl passion into a profession? Well on Friday, July 22, 2016 Comic-Con got an even deeper insight into how the comic industry can do just that.
Panelists Dinesh Shamdasani, J.C. Vaughn, Michael Polis, Dan Braun, Melissa Bowersox, and Joe Ahearn got together to discuss how their legacy professional adventures all sprang from being fanboys and girls. Moderator Ed Catto, of Bonfire Agency and Captain Action, began the discussion by asking for the origin stories of each panelist.
J.C. Vaughn, Vice-President of Publishing for Gemstone, started reading various comics as a child before discovering The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide. Despite alternative career paths, his interest in comics and love for writing never diminished and Vaughn eventually did freelance work for Overstreet. Which was eventually bought by Steve Geppi (Diamond Comics). Fast forward 21 plus years and as Vaughn puts it "on my worst day I'm running a book I grew up reading."
Melissa Bowersox, Geppi’s Entertainment Museum president, had a different start for her love of comics. As the daughter of Steve Geppi, Bowersox was quite literally born into the comic industry. Even going as far as to call having Darth Vader and Spider-Man as bodyguards in the Inner Harbor as her normal. From working in the warehouse during the summer to assisting as a receptionist, Bowersox eventually worked her way up to help her father's dream of a museum a reality.
Dinesh Shamdasani, CEO & Chief Creative Officer at Valiant Entertainment, was a huge fan of Valiant Comics growing up. After noticing the assets for Valiant were for sale, Shamdasani got some people together and managed to purchase the company. Now in his fifth year publishing Valiant, Shamdasani still hasn't lost that fanboy thrill and insists on being there when the new shipments arrive to see the books first.
Dan Braun, of New Comics Publishing, was introduced to comics at a young age and was always mesmerized by the Creepy/Eerie Comics. Although drifting towards rock-n-roll for a time, Braun began working in advertising and made his way back to comics. Together he and his brother approached Jim Warren, and after 7 years of negotiating the pair acquired the rights to Eerie. Since 2008, the relaunch of the Creepy/Eerie series has been widely received and even won an Eisner Award in 2009.
TV producer Michael Polis, who additionally works with Catto on Captain Action, always had an interest in comics and art. After attending business school and working for Kraft, Polis shared that the passion for the industry followed him. Eventually, Polis got a job at Universal Studios and was able to help produce Neil Gaiman's MirrorMask among other projects. In addition to producing for TV and movies, Polis has had the opportunity to write scripts and is helping to produce Thunderbirds.
Joe Ahearn, of Captain Action Enterprises, was reading and collecting comics at a young age. One of his favorite characters was Captain Action, so naturally when the trademark for Captain Action was up for grabs he grabbed it. Ahearn has been at the helm of Captain Action Enterprises for the past 10 years now and wouldn't change a thing.
As far as advice for those fans out there who want to turn their own passion into a career? The panelist's had some lovely words of encouragement from being patient and persevering, to working hard, studying your craft and making opportunities for yourself, to the even the bolder notion to just seek help. One piece of advice that really stood out was Shamdansani's idea of "killing the fan inside of you to do your job better." So while you may not always produce what your inner fan loves, you will be making the inner fan of someone else even happier.
