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Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
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TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Thursday, July 28, 2005
Come back with me to when COMICS BUYER'S GUIDE was switching from weekly newspaper to monthly magazine. The editors and I were kicking around ideas for things I could write in the new magazine. I came up with "TONY'S BACK PAGES," short sidebars touching on this or that aspect of my illustrious life in comics.
Somewhere along the way, the "s" was dropped from "Pages" and the feature found a permanent home on the last page of CBG's price guide. Readers seem to enjoy these blasts from my past. However, none were received more favorably than the four-part series which detailed the rejections I collected before I landed my first job in the industry.
For the first time in one place, here are all four chapters of this moderately stirring story of not-quite-tragedy and triumph. I'm willing to let the movie rights go cheap.
******
REJECTION
Rejection!
I wrote dozens of comics scripts during my teen years, all of them for my hometown buddies or fanzines. So I didn't get around to actually submitting scripts to editors until a few years before I started working in comics...as an assistant editor. This means that I have virtually no heartrending "paying my dues" tales of woe to share with you.
My first attempt at selling a script was during Bill Parente's late 1960s stint as editor of CREEPY and EERIE. Due to a budget crunch, these black-and-white comics magazines were featuring a mix of new and reprinted material. For some reason, I assumed this was because they weren't getting enough stories from their writers and were thus a good bet for my first sale.
I wasn't the brightest candle in the scary old castle.
I sent Parente "Theseus of Athens," the first chapter of what I planned to be ongoing series about the mythological hero who had slain the Minotaur...and that was the extent of my knowledge of the character. I figured I could borrow whatever I needed from Greek mythology and make up everything else. After all, in the original Norse myths, the mighty Thor had never fought Zarrko the Tomorrow Man and that didn't seem to bother his Marvel Comics readers in the slightest.
Responding to my submission, Parente didn't mentioned either the audacity or foolishness of a neophyte writer attempting to sell a series to a non-series anthology title. He did briefly point out some flaws in the story while telling me in as friendly a manner as possible that he couldn't use the script.
Flushed with this incredible success, I quickly began work on scripts to submit to DC Comics. After all, with all the titles DC was publishing, it had to be desperate for writers.
******
REJECTION--PART TWO!
I made my initial script submission to a publisher during my senior year of high school. The subsequent rejection of the story I'd sent to CREEPY could only mean one thing: I was ready for the big time!
Marvel was my favorite publisher then, but the company seemed to have all the writers it needed. DC, on the other hand, had several editors, some brand-new, and a lot more titles. My success was all but assured.
Poor Murray Boltinoff, so kind to me during our long editor and fan correspondence, must have been surprised to receive my 24-page script for CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN, especially since it was completely lacking in fantasy or science fiction elements. It was a political thriller - "The Stranger Who Walked By Night" - wherein the Challs pursued a mysterious figure across Europe while secretly protecting him. Their objective was to get him safely to Communist Russia with secret information for freedom fighters there. It's true; I was quite the raging right-winger in my youth. I was also not quite as ready for the big time as I thought.
Dick Giordano was my next victim, getting an entire issue's worth of scripts for THE WITCHING HOUR, complete with a prologue and a epilogue starring the book's host-witches. He passed, but I later sold one of the three stories to THE MONSTER TIMES.
Dick encouraged me to try again. I mailed him "Sizzling Hot Hate," a Teen Titans plot involving an interracial romance and the violent bigots who opposed it. Guess what hopeful young writer had finally gotten his liberal on? I made the pitch at a New York City convention and thus got to witness first-hand the look of horror on Dick's face.
It was back to the typewriter for Tony.
******
REJECTION--PART THREE!
It was the dawning of the 1970s and my writing career was off to a...start. Having failed to sell to CREEPY, EERIE, CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN, THE WITCHING HOUR, and TEEN TITANS, I was positive success was imminent. It can be a thin line between confidence and delusion.
I sent a letter to DC romance comics editor Dorothy Woolfolk asking for story submission guidelines. She never sent them to me; her response focused on her puzzlement as to why a guy not yet out of his teens wanted to write romance comics. She never answered my follow-up letter explaining I wanted to write comics and, at that stage of my "career," wasn't picky about what kind.
Marvel editor Roy Thomas and I were exchanging letters on a regular basis by then. I imposed on our acquaintance to submit samples to Marvel. I wrote six pages of a Captain America script in which I misspelled Steve Rogers' name on every page. I pitched plots for CHAMBER OF DARKNESS and TOWER OF SHADOWS, including ones I'd failed to sell to THE WITCHING HOUR. I submitted proposals for new titles like THE LOST WORLDS OF PROFESSOR CHALLENGER. I wrote a 20-page western comic called TARGO as Marvel was cutting back on its original westerns. Even if TARGO hadn't stunk up the Old West, the submission was dead in the saddle.
Remarkably, Roy was still pulling for me, asking me to submit a plot for CONAN THE BARBARIAN. Enamored of the social relevance of DC's GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW, I sent Marvel what was perhaps the world's first anti-pollution sword-and-sorcery thriller. It made Conan's hacking-and-slashing look subtle. Having so mastered rejection, I was surely ready for success.
******
REJECTION NO MORE?
PREVIOUSLY: I have spent three issues writing about stories I didn't sell. It ends here.
Things were actually - as opposed to delusionally - looking up for me in 1972. I sold a few articles here and there, at least one to THE MONSTER TIMES, which had also bought a story rejected by DC Comics.
Courtesy of Jack Kirby and Mark Evanier, I had almost made my first DC sale. Judge Duffy was a magistrate of the future, hero of a prose serial for Jack's planned SUPERWORLD. I created the two-fisted judge and wrote the opening chapter, but the magazine died aborning.
At Marvel, Roy Thomas and I kept in touch. He liked my idea for a Godzilla series, but, by the time Marvel landed that license, years later, I was over at DC. My big break came about as much because of timing as because of my writing prowess.
I was working for THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER and hated it. Marvel needed someone to put together the MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL weekly it was doing for the British market. My knowledge of the much-less-complicated-back-then Marvel Universe, coupled with my Stan Lee-inspired prose style, made me a good candidate. Two weeks later, I was reporting for duty. Soon I was writing articles for Marvel's black-and-white magazines, non-series comics stories, and, eventually, an ongoing series or three.
Rejection no more? I'm afraid I kinda lied about that. There may be writers who sell every idea they pitch, but I'm not one of them. Occasional and even frequent rejection is part and parcel of being a writer. On the other hand, there's no law against pitching those ideas elsewhere and I've had some success doing that. To "borrow" a line from the movie GALAXY QUEST:
"Never give up. Never surrender."
******
Thanks for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 07/27/2005 | 07/28/2005 | 07/29/2005 >>
Discuss this column with me at my Message Board. Also, read Heroes and Villains: Real and Imagined.
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THE "TONY" SCALE
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
Please send material you would like me to review to:
Tony's Online Tips
840 Damon Drive
Medina, OH 44256
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