How did you first become involved with 2099?
Tom:
I'm pretty sure that Joey called and asked me to write a few
Dooms. Although I don't remember the exact conversation. But
he and I had known each other for years, and we got along
well. Really bright, funny guy. Has comics in his DNA. We
met at a party in the mid-80s, then again years later when I
was hired at DC. He was working there, and he remembered me
from that party. I thought that said a lot more about his
kindness than about how memorable I was.
When you got the assignment of writing Doom 2099, was the idea
of taking Doom back in time part of your pitch or was that plot
already part of the assignment?
Tom:
I'm certain that he was coming back in time no matter who
was going to be writing it.
What recollections do you have about your
artists on Doom 2099? John Buscema, Dale Eaglesham & John Royle?
Tom:
Eaglesham and Royle were very good. Buscema, of course, was
a hero, and a particularly embarrassing memory.
I didn't know who was going to be drawing his issue, so I
kind of idiot-proofed the script. Explained things in too
much detail, chose camera angles, that kind of thing.
Because there were a lot of rookie artist coming into the
field and I felt you needed to hold their hand a little.
So Joey, bless him, gave this overwritten, over described
script to one of the greatest and most experienced
professionals. I was pretty embarrassed. And there were two
Dooms in the story; Joey told me that John mixed them up and
had to go back and redraw them. So even my overwriting was
no help. After he finished the issue, John told Joey, and I
paraphrase, "I don't want to do any more Dooms. They're too
arduous." Gak!
What recollections do you have about working
with editor Joey Cavalieri?
Tom:
Like I said, he was smart, funny, and really into the work.
He brought a lot of ideas to the books he worked on. The
2099 universe was his baby.
An interview you did for Marvel Vision reveals that Doom
would overshoot 2099 and land in 2101. Had you made any plans
for stories set in 2101 for either Doom or X-Nation?
Tom:
I'm pretty sure I didn't. We were working pretty hard just
to keep up. I don't plan too far in advance.
How did X-Nation 2099 come about?
Tom:
Joey's idea! Like I said, 2099 was his baby. I created some
characters and pinned the emotional arc to a certain point
in my adolescence--I think I described it in a text page,
didn't I? Attending a free school where we frustrated the
adults with our lack of interest in anything to do with
work? But I'm sure most of what I did, conceptually, came
out of conversations with Joey. John Francis Moore was a
real help, too.
What recollections do you have about working
with artist Humberto Ramos?
Tom:
Great guy, great artist. I also had the pleasure of working
with him on Impulse. I remember calling him in Mexico and
getting hit with this whopping phone charge; they would add
these ridiculous rates at the border, whether you made the
call or received it. I'm not proud to say it, but I didn't
talk to him a whole lot after that.
The character of Dorian makes an appearance
in Doom 2099, but he is in 1996. Do you recall what the
explanation for how he is in both 1996 and 2099 was without
seemingly to have aged?
Tom:
That was his mutant power; he didn't age. Joey named him
after Dorian Gray.
The Sisterhood of Howling Commandments? Where
did this come from? Are you a fan of the original Howling
Commandos?
Tom:
I used to read them. I won't say I'm a huge fan, but they
were good. I was more interested in the nun angle. I went to
Catholic Elementary School during the baby boom; the
teacher-to-student ratio in our school was 1:50. You read
that right. One adult teaching fifty kids. Some of them
seemed to feel that the only way they could teach a group
that big was to bully us. Of course, it wasn't their
fault--they never should have been put in that position--but
it took me a long time to realize that. In the meantime, I
enjoyed every chance I got to make fun of nuns.
Why did you leave Doom & X-Nation 2099?
Tom:
Humberto and I both left at the same time, and for the same
reason. Marvel trimmed its staff, and they laid Joey off.
We had no interest in working on Joey's baby without him.