Saturday mornings as a kid some of my fondest memories include watching Challenge of the Superfriends each week – I was captivated by those and other cartoons including Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Batman and Robin and others… but the first comic book I ever remember reading was … well probably Archie, my mom loved those… and then Casper, Wendy, Richie Rich… good stuff that I liked as a kid… The first one with real super heroes was a beat up copy of an X-Men book and they were visiting Kazar in the savage land… not even sure what issue that was but I was very interested.

It wasn’t until I was a teen and had a little pocket change that I was able to buy my own comic books and I found some at a little store in Whitehall, WI… back then they were maybe 75 cents a piece and I bought up all the ones I thought I would like. It was right in the middle of Crisis On Infinite Earths in 1985 and I was very lost… there were heroes in these books I’d never heard of before like Blue Beetle, Vigilante, Harbinger, and more… who were these people and what was going on. In Whitehall it was difficult to get back issues and I struggled to figure out what was happening. In the middle of that series Supergirl sacrificed herself to save Superman in a heroic gesture… Superman’s grief in that moment and pages after are what initially drew me to love the guy… Marv Wolfman and George Perez captured a feeling that I had inside me in that book, they transported me from Earth-Prime (that’s the Earth we all live on) to Earth-2 and the antimatter universe.. I was drawn in and loved it…

It wasn’t long after I was reading as a teen that I met my friend Ted, who introduced me to a whole other world of comic books including Cerebus, Mage, Nexus, and most especially the X-Men… even though I hadn’t remembered that book from back when I was a kid I found myself looking at this team of misfits and relating to them and their struggles.. I’m still an X-Fan today to some extent. Ted and I had a dream back then – to write comic books… or maybe it was to run a comic book store… or maybe it was both.. comics were everything. Even our imaginations and free time were spent thinking about these heroes and our own heroes in never ending struggles for good… and struggling with every day problems like girls or misunderstanding parents…

Comic books, Superman… made me want to read… made me want to write and it was always a dream to be able to write stories for a living… But I suck at dialogue….. none of the stories I’ve written have really any dialogue… I used to back when Ted and I were writing Pegasus II and Cygnus... (some Rush reference there) but I’m not very good.. Neil Gaiman and other writers I admire think they aren’t very good at it either but they say just keep trying and “write what you would say” and still.. suck…

But the biggest reason I never applied to work at DC or Marvel was that they were located in New York… and New York means cold… and I may love Supe’s but I’m not going to stay somewhere in the cold no matter how much I love DC Comics and super heroes…

Something changed all that… in the fall of 2013 DC Comics announced they would be opening offices in California… that was pretty big news as they’re publishers… but they thought about the changing face of media and the popularity of comic book movies and it might be wise to be where the stars and film makers actually are… I didn’t think much about it at the time…

Recently my friend Suzanne was out this way interviewing for jobs in L.A., I thought that was well and fine for her and I would be happy.. so I thought maybe I should see what’s there… that’s when I remembered DC’s move to the West Coast and I took a look at their job postings… They actually have a lot of jobs on the site and I took a chance and applied for one… Executive Assistant.

I’ve been doing this office thing quite well for, damn I’m old, almost 20 years now and many times was considered essential in my position… I’m a workers worker and I like to get things done… employers like that in a person… I’m also a quick study and pick up on the needs of a firm rather quickly… My current boss called me “Clerk of the Works” and I rather like that… I’ve got my hand in a lot of different pots at the office and it keeps me busy and out of trouble.

Anyway, as luck would have it – last year edited an email from one of our partners in an attempt to get my boss (Taylor) in an April Fools Day trick… but he was on to me from the get go… and wasn’t fooled… he was very smug about it too, so I vowed to get him good this year and with the help of many other people on Facebook and at the office I think we’re on track to get him good… did we get you good too?

There is no job offer from DC Entertainment… I didn’t even apply… but I think I did a good job on Facebook convincing others that I did. I want to say thank you for all the support and belief in me… it’s heartwarming and it’s nice to know I have people behind me.

At the office I left a partial copy of my resume out for someone to find… I had a friend (Thank you Alan) call Taylor (the target) and leave a message saying I told him to call about a reference… the suggested script is below:

“This is Bruce Everyson with DC Entertainment in Burbank CA, Jamez Prudlick said I could call you as a reference for a position in our office as an Executive Assistant. We understand you’re very happy with him there and would be interested and talking with you. As my schedule is very busy today I’d like to give you call on Friday to discuss further”

I also had my friends Katelyn and Daniel take screen shots of my Facebook posts and send them to higher ups at the office… mixed results.. lol, we’ll leave it at that. Taylor did seem to bite… he told Daniel he would ask “dad” (the other boss who’s in on it) if he had heard anything… and then as he was leaving Taylor stopped by my desk and asked “do you have plans to leave Arizona?” but he was smiling and I’m going to really be mad at him if he’s on to us… then next year will have to be even more epic.

As you may know, April Fools is my favorite holiday of the year – followed by Towel Day and then Halloween.. and I frequently try to trick people into believing things… this year I decided to treat it more like Christmas and start early… celebrations should always be longer than just one day.

There are indeed several jobs on the DC Entertainment website that I could likely do, including Executive Assistant…. I have very little doubt that they would wonder how they ever got on without me (yes, yes… I’m that good lol)… but, honestly, I love my job.. and I would likely be bored as an executive assistant… even for DC Entertainment. See where I work they challenge me daily, ask my opinion, want my help, appreciate my involvement and desire to do a good job… and I like them too (don’t tell them). Sometimes I get a little frustrated, and sometimes I wonder wtf someone is doing… but I think every job has that. I work long days, weekends and even when I’m at home I’m likely thinking about the office, writing a newsletter I created there or reading an insurance magazine… I’m sick like that I guess. If you’re looking for a job you might want to look at DC Entertainment.. JOBS

In the morning I’m going to send the bosses an email stating I was offered the job and need to start in just a weeks time.. its possible Taylor will just tell me to pack my bags right then, but I’m hoping not… We’re going to let the idea of me leaving stew with him for a few hours and then break the news after a luncheon we’re having – this post is scheduled to publish shortly before that luncheon starts and I anticipate my phone blowing up with mad fools… But hey.. I love you anyway probably…

I did have to tell a few people about what was going on for help and because they were overly excited… to them and my collaborators I thank you for helping to keep my secret… Suzanne, Katelyn, Tina, Debbie, Gerald, Kristi, Flo, Daniel, Brian, Dan, Alan, Rob, Brittney and more… couldn’t have done it without you…

to the rest of you and especially TBU – April Fools!!!