When the world surprises me, it does it in increasingly surprising ways.
I'm not sure how many of you know this feeling, but I've encountered myself in places I never expected to. I'm a geek, as previously stated. And, as a geek, there are people I'm a fan of, and have been following for years...in some cases, decades. Neil Gaiman, for one. I discovered The Sandman in college--an artist friend was a devotee and all but forced me to read it. And I loved it, much like the rest of the English-speaking world. As time went on, and I got me some internet, I bookmarked Neil's blog/site, and made it one of my daily reads.
Flash forward a few years, and I'm at EW, editing our comics stuff, and I've an occasion to commission a piece on Neil's update of The Eternals. Written by Neil and drawn by John Romita Jr. Sweetness abounded. And Neil and I emailed back and forth a couple of times, got a little friendly, and thus as it ever was. One of the highlights of my professional career is the relatively frequent opportunity to meet people whose work I respect and admire.
Yesterday, I'm looking at his blog, as I do every day, and have the incredibly weird sensation of seeing my own name there.
I don't do this to name drop, or brag, or make it clear that not only do I know Neil Gaiman, but that he knows me. I'm just trying to get across how profoundly odd it is to come across yourself in the incredibly familiar place you still least expect.
Now, hearing Kevin Smith talk about me on SModcast was just fucked-up cool.
5 comments:
Hey, Marc. Congrats! Being mentioned by both NG and KS has got to be a rarified honor. I'm a fellow Firefly fanatic (I help create The Signal podcast - not sure if you're familiar with it), and I love your work for EW as well... your BSG TV Watches are killer. I think that my favorite thing you've written for EW, though, was a short piece in Popwatch for Autism Awareness Day. Anyway, I'm rambling. Thanks for posting. :) --Claire
Thanks for stopping by, Claire. And, yeah, The Signal was one of the first podcasts I ever subscribed to--during the heady pre-Serenity days.
And thanks for the kind words about the day job--and the Autism Awareness post.
Be well.
Wow... writing and editing at EW is your "day job." Want to trade? (I am a consultant at a non-profit fundraising software company... you know you want to.) Good luck with Genius, btw. I'm relatively new to the world of comics, but I'm definitely going to check out your books. (I only know they're called books from listening to SModcast.) Last but not least, a quick question: do you still listen to The Signal? I only ask because I'd imagine that we'd have lost quite a few listeners in the years since Serenity came out. --C
Alas, I did stop listening soon after Serenity came out. Without the currency of it, I just kinda let it go...
Yeah, I think that's probably the story with a lot of people. Thanks again for responding!
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