How did you first become involved with 2099?
Ian:
It’s all a little vague so you’ll have to bare with me but I
was introduced to Marie Javins who was an editor on Marvel’s
Epic line, a sort of precursor to DC’s Vertigo imprint. Via
Marie I had a series lined up and ready to roll when at the
11th hour, the artist admitted he’d already signed on to do
another series for DC. I think in the end it took him years
to complete so I dodged a bullet there. My series, a fantasy
pirate yarn called Red Seas was going to be the last one
Epic would do as they were shutting down the imprint.
Instead of finding a new artist, they simply shut Epic down
early and Red Seas was canned.
In one of those strange twists of fate, about ten years
later I pitched Red Seas to 2000AD with Zenith artist Steve
Yeowell. It was accepted and ran for over ten years
so it worked out well in the end.
But I digress…
Marie introduced me to Joey Cavalieri and we hit it off from
the start. There wasn’t a regular title to jump on to but I
was given fill-in’s and short stories to keep me ticking
over with. It was great proving ground, where I cut my teeth
on how to write US format comics. After that I was offered a
regular gig on Blade, several Star Trek titles and later,
X-Force.
How did you come to write the last issue of
Ravage 2099? Did you know it was to be cancelled? Were you given
any specific instructions (i.e. kill off Ravage and co., remove
Hellrock, etc.)? Was it difficult writing the last issue of a
comic you had never written before?
Ian:
Joey simply asked me. I knew it was going to be cancelled
but it was work and also, if I’m honest, the idea of killing
off a headline character like that had a macabre appeal.
Certain plot threads had to be tied up but how I did it was
up to me so I just took it and had fun with it. I was sent
some of preceding issues to bring me up to speed on what had
gone before and that was that, no more Ravage.
How did Lachryma come about?
Ian:
Joey asked for new characters to showcase in the 2099
Unlimited bi-monthly anthology. I wanted to do a futuristic
spin on the vampire lore and so Lachryma was born.
What recollections do you have about the art
and artists who drew your stories? David Klein (Lachryma), Steve
Pugh (X-Men), Malcolm Davis (Chernobyl), Tom Grindberg
(Spider-Man)?
Ian:
As far as I can recall they were all great, no problems. I
still talk to Steve Pugh, he’s a good friend not to mention
being best man at my wedding. I think the only grumble I had
at the time was with Chernobyl. It wasn’t Malcolm’s fault
but the character was supposed to have been comatose in a
downed Soviet submarine since the Cold War, so I wanted him
to have a retro-Russian Captain America look that would have
fitted in with the period he disappeared but it didn’t
happen. All things considered though, I was really pleased
with the way it turned out.
Do you have a favorite of the stories you
wrote? Or fav 2099 character?
Ian:
It’s the X-Men 2099 story I did with Steve Pugh in the X-Men
2099 Special. X-Man Shakti Haddad, was travelling the
country, looking for mutants and found this small, Norman
Rockwell-type country town but it harboured a dark secret.
The townsfolk were sacrificing anyone who had even a glimmer
of a mutant gene to a demented, half buried Sentinel that
they revered as a kind of god. It had a very American Gothic
feel with tones of Shirley Jackson's classic story The
Lottery. Steve did a cracking job on the art chores. It was
a great little story that I’m still proud of to this day.
Is there a 2099 book you would have wanted to
write for but didn’t get the chance?
Ian:
I always wanted to work on Ghost Rider 2099. He was such a
great looking character. I got close once but it didn’t
quite work out.
What recollections do you have about working
with editor Joey Cavalieri?
Ian:
He was great. Hands off for the most part but if he ever had
to step in, his comments were spot on.
If you were having any problems with a story or wanted to
talk anything through, you only had to pick up the phone (no
email in those days!) and he’d be there. I learnt a lot
working with Joey.
Did you write anything else that was not
published?
Ian:
I did get my wish and write a Ghost Rider 2099 story but the
book got cancelled before it saw the light of day. It was
set in an abandoned under water city, enclosed by a huge
dome. I wanted to use it to take a look at what had happened
to Namor’s world but the series ended before I had the
chance.
