During your run on the title a new armor for Doom 2099 was
introduced. How did
the design for the armor come about?
Steve: As you can see I envisioned
him a bit more heavy, like a Henry the Eighth. They were
also worried his features were a bit "ethnic!" Crazy times.
We were moving pretty fast though - I don't think there was
a stage between this and drawing the pages.
What do you recall about working with Warren
Ellis?
Steve: I have to be honest, I
thought Warren was BORN to write Doom. Hell he IS Doom. He
was totally on fire, I think he only gave it up because they
tried to foist a cross-over on him. His writing was
traumatizing the editor, my machinery was being censored for
obscenity, I think we had something going - lol.
Did you have to redraw
panels?
Steve: Nah, they told the inker to
redraw them which kinda pissed me off- wasn't why I left
though. It was silly stuff - but I was just
following Warren's lead on Cronenberg -ish body horror
machinery.
Why did you leave?
Steve: Oh, I was finding the
schedule tough going, and Warren was going, and Garth wanted
me for Saint of Killers so, essentially Warren handed me off
to Garth in some kind of pseudo-pimp situation.
Was the tough schedule why you never did any
covers; no time? I always wanted to know what a Doom 2099 cover
from you would be like.
Steve: I actually think my covers
are weak - I only really enjoy the story telling stuff -- I
think my closest image to a cover was the full page shot of
doom in his ruined armor.
This one, right?
Steve: Ha yeah! I like that
rib cage thing I did! I'm a weird ugly artist, I must have
been a nightmare to ink. Scott [Koblish] did a bang up job.
Though he changed my big Captain America reveal.
How so?
Steve: Oh, I spend a lot of time
on faces - they may look odd, but there's a lot of design
work in them - He redrew the Steve Rogers face I penciled,
it may have been editorial telling him to.
Speaking of Cap....do you recall if Warren
knew where that plot was going? Was that Cap meant to be the
real deal?
Steve: As far as we were concerned
it was Cap, though we totally expected to have it revised by
those who came later. He was a simple soul with a chunk of
ice in his brain!
In another interview from around this time, you mentioned
being particularly happy with the X-Men 2099 story you did with
Ian Edginton. Was this because you inked the story yourself?
Steve: [That was] also for the lovely Joey Cavalieri, editor on Doom. Real gent. Yeah, and I had the
time to give it my best efforts. I'm also better with female
protagonists (I think).
What do you recall about working with Joey,
the editor?
Steve: Well I remember Joey had a
good take on what was acceptable in mainstream comics at the
time, and Warren, of course was pushing those boundaries but
it was never mean spirited, and we all had a lot of pride in
the book.
Did you do anything that was not published?
Steve: Only the edited art didn't
get published. It was felt to be a bit too...uh..
disquieting. My helicopters were too sexual to be printed -
lol.
