How did you get the job of writing Fantastic Four 2099?
Karl:
Joey Cavalieri called me and offered me the job. He knew how
much I loved the FF, and gave me first crack at it once
Marvel okayed the title. We had already been working
together on Strange 2099, and had known each other for many
years before that. Joey was one of the very first people I
met when I started inking for DC in 1984! He was Joe
Orlando’s assistant, if I’m not mistaken, and he interviewed
me for some inner-company publication or something like
that.
Were they the real FF?
Karl:
Yes and no. When Joey offered me the book, first thing I
asked was: can they be the real FF? He said: sure. I
actually know exactly when in the FF’s regular monthly book
their trip to 2099 would have happened— during John Byrnes’
run, when the team takes an extensive trip through the
Negative Zone. There’s a panel where there’s a bright flash
and— if I’m remembering this correctly— that’s when their
costumes go “negative.” That flash was when they made a
detour to 2099, in my mind. That said, I also wanted to do a
story where the Thing changed back to Ben Grimm, and we
discovered he’s an African-American! And the rest of the FF
aren’t surprised! I really don’t know where that story would
have gone— an alternate timeline FF?-- but I really liked
the idea.
From Fantastic Four #256, the
moment Karl Kesel envisioned the original team being
diverted to the year 2099
Do you recall what the “Last Refuge” was? Or the significance of
the symbol/pendant that Hikaru-Sama wore which was also tattooed
on Chimera?
Karl:
It had something to do with the Inhumans 2099, “Last Refuge”
being a play on and extension of the Inhuman’s “Great
Refuge.” I can’t remember exactly what the pendant looked
like, but wasn’t it something like the design on Black
Bolt’s costume? That was a big hint.
2099 was going to be rebooted and jump ahead to the year 2101.
Do you recall if Fantastic Four 2099 was going to be part of the
new 2101 line-up, or was it going to end? If it was to continue,
do you recall any plans you had for the team after the 2101
relaunch?
Karl:
During one of our talks I suggested to Joey that all the
2099 books jump forward, skipping an entire year, and go
directly to 2101. Now, as I recall it, this was in response
to Joey saying something about another one of the titles
doing a story where the character travelled one year into
the future, or some such. I really don’t remember the
details. Maybe I even mis-heard what Joey said, but my
suggestion to take the jump forward line-wide was in
response to what I thought I heard, at least, and Joey loved
the idea and ran with it. The event was going to be called
“Fast Forward.” (In a case of great minds thinking alike, DC
did a very similar thing a few years back with their entire
line!) FF would have definitely been part of that. I had an
idea where I was I was going to regress Reed, Sue and Johnny
to teenagers— Johnny would have been only like 13, Sue
around 16, Reed around 18— and leave Ben as the adult in the
group. I loved the idea of a totally impulsive,
irresponsible Johnny being able to play with fire,
literally, and to show a rebellious teenage Sue who used her
powers to sneak away at night and party. Reed was going to
become a very laconic, slightly aloof figure, the kind of
guy who you never quite know what he’s thinking. Luke Perry
from Beverly Hills 90210 was the physical model, if you can
believe that! And Ben was going to promise all of them:
“I’ll find a way to cure you! I swear!” Most importantly,
this storyline was going to give readers a chance to
actually watch Reed and Sue fall in love. (The regression
would have made the characters loose their memories.) I
still think it’s a great idea, and every so often suggest to
Marvel that we could still do it with the current FF book,
given a year or so to comfortably tell the story. No takers
so far...
I’m sorry we didn’t get to do “Fast Forward” because I think
it would have been damn cool. Not just for FF, but for the
whole line.
What recollections do you have about the artists you worked
with? Rick Leonardi, John Buscema, and Matt Ryan?
Karl:
Only good memories. Of course, working with John Buscema was
a dream come true— one of the legends of the business,
drawing one of my little stories?!?— and Rick Leonardi was
amazing, as always. Matt Ryan gave 110% every panel of every
page. Of all of them, my strongest memory is that Buscema
took my plot— which I thought was paced out pretty well at
about 5 panels per page— and gave me pages that often had 7
or more panels per page. Everything the story required was
still there, it’s just that John broke the action into more
distinct, smaller moments. Knowing how he interpreted my
plots, I would have written very differently given
the chance to work with him again, so he had more room to
cut loose with bigger moments. Sadly, that chance never came
my way.
Why did you leave the book?
Karl:
I and a large number of other creators left in solidarity
when Joey was let go at Marvel. He was the heart and soul of
the 2099 line, and many of us had no desire to stay without
him. Luckily, Joey landed on his feet (and I continued to
work with him) as the editor of the Superman
titles at DC!
What recollections do you have about working with editor Joey
Cavalieri?
Karl:
I’ve always enjoyed working with Joey. He knows how to let
you go your own way, but still keeps his eye (and yours) on
the basics of solid, clear storytelling. We both also have a
mutual love for slightly off-kilter characters and stories—
something I think you can clearly see in the Joey-edited Bizarro anthologies
from DC.
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In the issues of Spider-Man 2099 where Strange 2099 made her
first appearance, you’re given special thanks. What exactly was
your role on those issues? Did you design the character?
Karl:
Creating and writing Strange 2099 was my first 2099 gig, and
she was originally going to appear in the 2099
Unlimited (isn’t
that what it was called?) anthology book, pencilled by Adam
Hughes (!). I did a prelim design for the character that I
submitted with my pitch, but Adam redesigned her
extensively. I gave her the cloak of levitation, but Adam
turned that into the jacket of levitation. Presumably
Strange (or someone before her) had gone all Project Runway
on the cloak, and repurposed it as a jacket! A brilliant
idea.
I wrote at least 1 full Strange 2099
script— only 10 pages, if I remember correctly. I may have
written a second, but I’m not sure. Unfortunately, I no
longer have a copy of the script. Presumably there’s a copy
in the Marvel Vault somewhere, and maybe Adam has one, but I
don’t. I remember it involved our young heroine finding the
Sanctum Sanctorum and cloak of levitation, and somehow a
demon becomes linked and bound to her. Don’t remember the
specifics, except that she wore a demon-pendant around her
neck that looked very much like the demon-design on the
front of Dr. Strange’s tunic, and this pendant kept her
demon in check. She was to have been a very reluctant
sorcerer’s apprentice, studying magic only in order to find
a way to get rid of the demon. She was being mentored by the
ghostly astral image of someone she dismissively called “The
Ancient One”, except it was heavily implied that this was
all that remained of Dr. Strange, and in his current state
he could not leave the sanctum. There would have been some
fun, snarky arguments between the two of them. Y’know,
thinking back on it now, I’m already getting some new ideas
that would have been fun to do with the character! Sadly, it
never happened...
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Original sketches of Strange 2099 by Adam Hughes
circa 1994 |
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