PROFILE: DIANA SCHUTZ, EDITOR

One thing you'll notice about the comics industry is that it is comprised almost solely of people who really love it. No one else seems to stay around for very long.

Diana Schutz, one of Dark Horse's most senior of senior editors, is one of those maniacs who really love it. A fan since childhood, Diana worked in retail shops, started a fanzine, wrote freelance articles, and haunted conventions until one day she became an editor. A brief, brief stint at Marvel, a tour with Comico, and almost a decade at Dark Horse chronicle her editorial career (not to mention the fact that she somehow squeezed in the time to earn an MA in Communication Studies). Her diligence has paid off, not only in terms of her status as Editor-to-the-Heavies (Frank Miller, Matt Wagner, Harvey Pekar, and more), but also in terms of the esteem of her peers and pupils.

She has recently committed to terrorizing, er, training the young upstarts in Editorial in Der Schutz Method of Comic-Book Editing. This means that the new generation of editors coming out of Dark Horse will have had hammered into their brains such seemingly foreign concepts as Creator Rights, Attention to Detail, Familiarity with All Aspects of Publishing, and the Demand for Quality.

Diana's reputation as a hard-ass is well earned -- Diana's presence is usually announced by an eruption of profanities up and down the hallways here in Editorial on any given day. But her hard work, devotion to the medium and its creators, and the fact that she truly cares about comics inspire universal respect and affection. (And we all know that in truth she's really a big softie who probably baby-talks to her cats when she goes home.)

The goods:
Full name: Diana Marie Schutz
Age: Old enough to be your mother!
I grew up in: Montreal, Canada. (I grew up?)
My favorite comics: Pre-Code Simon & Kirby romance comics -- what else?.
My favorite movies: Way too many to list, but one of my all-time (but little known) faves is a Percy Adlon film called Bagdad Café.
My favorite music: I couldn't live without music. I like almost everything, except opera. Currently listening to a lot of jazz and '60s Motown.
When people hear my name their immediate response is: Fear! (And what is up with that?)
Is my bark louder than my bite? Not that I'm gonna admit to.
I like being a girl because: We have the best clothes!