Internships are funny things. They’re often amazing, working somewhere and doing things you have only ever dreamed of. In my case, interning at a comic and graphic novel publisher. It’s my dream job. Of course, it’s my unpaid dream job.
So in order to intern I must work somewhere else, as well. In my case it’s as a server in a corporate chain restaurant. It’s messy, thankless work for minimum wage and slim tips. Some nights I come home with $80, some nights less than $20. It’s a hard job. But I keep at it, because when I’m not asking if you’d like soup or salad with that I get to edit comics, read through old comic journals, and generally feel like the coolest person in the world.
I get to think that maybe, someday, I’ll get paid to do this amazing work. That someday I won’t come home at 11 pm with bruised toes and ego.
As for specifics on what I’ve been up to at Fantagraphics, it’s hard to say. A lot of what I work on is hush-hush and I’m not allowed to blog about it. Generally, though, I’ve been de-texting a lot of comics, compiling lists of old comic journals, and doing less glamourous things like making photocopies and organizing bookshelves. I’ve also been scanning art for upcoming interviews with artists.
