IMAGINE YOU'RE AT A COMIC-CONVENTION AND YOU SPOT YOUR FAVORITE CREATOR.
YOU KNOW THEY HAVE BEEN SIGNING BOOKS FOR HOURS BUT YOU MAKE THE DECISION TO
ASK THEM SOME QUESTIONS WHILE YOU'RE WAITING IN LINE.
YOU ONLY HAVE A FEW SHORT MINUTES, BUT WHAT DO YOU ASK THEM,
THAT THEY HAVEN'T ANSWERED ALL DAY, AND HOW MANY QUESTIONS CAN YOU SQUEEZE IN?
SIT DOWN WITH US AS WE BROWSE THE ARCHIVES AND
TAKE FIVE with...
If you've heard a rumor within the comic industry...you can bet Rich Johnston has heard it first!
From his homebase in London England, Rich has become the #1 "rumor monger" of the
comics industry, and his weekly "LYING IN THE GUTTERS" column on
ComicBookResources.com is one of the most popular on the internet.
He has numerous writing credits...from TV, radio, and stage...to advertising...to comics,
and recently received Punch Magazine's Young Writer Of The Year Award for 2001.
With news traveling fast on the internet, Rich is always busy, gathering every tid-bit he can,
talking to various creators and companies (on and off the record!) , scanning message boards and chat roms, and always on the look-out for the things these creators and companies don't want you to see or hear about, or hope fall between the cracks.
I wish to thank Rich for taking some time for this interview, and to say I enjoy his column!.
...and please, enter this interview freely, with an open mind and your blinkers off!
1) How did you get started in the "rumor business" and why that, rather then straight news reporting?
RICH: Following in the footsteps of Phil Hall over at Comics International, there were plenty of comics news reporters at the time, and a paucity of rumour mongers. As a gossip fan myself, I was dismayed that other media such as TV, film, and music were well served...but not comics. So I decided to write the kind of column I'd want to read. Ten years on, I still want to read it.
2) You post to many different message boards, and are not well received on a few in particular. Why do you think these fans (or creators) take such a dislike to you?
RICH: Most people seem to be very welcoming indeed.
The others? Ah...they just haven't gotten to know me yet.
3) What would you do with a rumor that could be potentially damaging to someone, when all it is, is just a rumor and not an actual fact? Do you report it anyway, and hope your "Rumor Barrier" holds up, or do you sit on it until more facts can be brought to light?
RICH: If I'm aware of harm that can be caused, then I don't print the story. Most major companies, including DC and Marvel, as well as individual creators, have asked me not to run stories, or at least modify them, and I have. And if it's clearly about someone's personal life, I tend not to report it...or at least remove all the names!
4) I'm sure you have a lot of info gleaned from the comic-convention bar scene. Are there creators out there who know you have unreported dirt on them, and you need to be wary of? Are you a danger to any?
RICH: The fact that Bill Jemas (Marvel Comics COO) sends me a small packet of Reece's Pieces every other Wednesday has nothing to do with the fact that I have photos of him today, as opposed to that publicity photo he uses which seems to have been taken at college.
And now...Question Five...
You have to pick someone to live with on a deserted island, for the rest of your life. You're choices are...
Grant Morrison
Sean Connery
Scary Spice
Who do you pick...and why???
RICH: Grant Morrison would kill me. Scary Spice would irritate me.
And Sean Connery would irritate me more. So Mel B. it is!
Can I insert a coconut into her gob first though?
Sure Rich...whatever you want to do to her is fine!
