I had the chance to catch up with former FitD managing editor, Tony Smith, and talk with him about his new comic book collaboration with Michael Troy. Keep reading and get a bite of the action packed world of
The Exceptionals.
LT: The Exceptionals are a crew of young superheroes. How did you come up with the concept?
TS: Actually, they’re more like young adult heroes. The characters are all in their late teens, early 20’s. Teen superheroes are a dime a dozen these days, but characters at that in between age are rarely explored.
In the early 80’s, I was a huge fan of Marv Wolfman and George Perez’s run on a comic book called The New Teen Titans. I grew up reading the book and the characters were like friends to me.
As I got older, it occurred to me what a difficult point in their lives they were at. They weren’t really teenagers, but they weren’t quite adults yet either. I also thought they had to have a lot of baggage growing up as teen superheroes – like child stars. I really wanted to explore the idea of what if these flawed characters were suddenly forced to grow up overnight. That was the seed of an idea that has taken many years to find the right collaborator to work with.
LT: Tell me who your three favorite characters are, and what makes them tick.
TS: I was always a ginormous Robin/Nightwing fan, so Cardinal is my favorite. He’s the original sidekick and the guy that’s been making the tough decisions since he was thirteen years old. He went from child athlete to child super hero to team leader. He’s never really been a kid and now he’s starting to realize what he missed out on.
Trickshot and Swifty are my other two favorites. Trickshot is the wise-ass of the group, so I can definitely relate to him. He’s my inner monologue brought to life. Trickshot says what everyone else is thinking but wouldn’t have the balls to say. Swifty, well, he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. Good looking, sweet, talented and modest to the point of being charming. How can you not love a guy like that?
LT: How did you and Michael Troy start your collaboration on this project?
TS: Well, one good comic book often leads to another. I met Michael through mutual comic books friends and offered to review his comic book, The Blonde Squad. We starting chatting on Facebook and discovered our mutual love of DC’s Teen Titans. After that, I told him about my old fanboy dream idea – then called Prodigals – and he started offering ideas of his own. Next thing I knew, we’re collaborating!
LT: What are your favorite comic books out right now?
TS: Currently I’m really burnt out on mainstream comic books. Everything that is done one month, is undone as soon as the next creative team comes along. There’s too much editorial interference at “The Big Two” these days and too many writers go off on their own tangents. Continuity is a thing of the past and that was really what drew me to comics in the first place.
So, these days I like my little Indy world where the creators aren’t afraid to step out on the ledge and take chances. Naturally, I’m also a huge fan of comic books with gay characters – not just because I am gay, but because there’s a lot of personal drama that goes along with alternate sexualities that’s rarely explored in mainstream comic books.
So Super Duper and anything else by Brian Andersen is a must read, as is Tommy Roddy’s Pride High, which I recently wrote a back up story for.
I also recently fell in love with OrthoComics’ Frater Mine. Frater Mine is a supernatural thriller with incredibly complex characters and some of the smartest story telling I’ve read in years. The only comic book I read from a major publisher anymore is Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season Eight.
LT: What are three things that make a believable superhero?
TS: Number one, they have to have flaws. When I read the Watchmen trade paperback, I remember Alan Moore writing something (and I’m paraphrasing here) about it taking an extreme personality to want to don tights and fight crime. Well, with extreme personalities comes extreme issues. The idea of exploring those kind of characters is too tempting for me to resist.
Two, not everyone in costume is a rocket scientist. I always hate when writers have superheroes do things with their powers that don’t even make sense in a superhero world. I understand the concept of suspension of disbelief, but you’ll never convince me that Superman can move a planet out of orbit without devastating global consequences. But, by the same token, just because you can manipulate electrical impulses with your mind, doesn’t mean you always know how to do it right.
And, lastly, they’re super HUMANS. In order to be believable to today’s audiences, superheroes have to move beyond the square-jawed, always doing the right thing stereotype. First and foremost, they have to be people you can relate to. I want to know if Lois gets ticked when Superman leaves the toilet seat up. I wouldn’t mind seeing Robin pulling up to McDonalds in the Batmobile. Of course I’m being slightly facetious, but just because they live in a fantastic world of universal disasters and apocalyptic battles doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be as relatable as your co-workers or that guy you met on Facebook that’s addicted to Mafia Wars.
LT: I know you’re a huge Buffy fan. Is there anything on television right now that you think could be converted into a good comic book?
TS: That’s a tough one because I’m not a big television fan. Even though television and comic books are both forms of episodic storytelling, the time difference between installments makes a huge difference. Television airs week to week, comic books come out on a monthly basis, so it’s hard to translate one medium to the other. I love Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, but the scope of a seasonal story arc would take years to play out in comic books.
That being said though, Desperate Housewives would make a fabulous comic book. The show is so over-the-top to begin with that it just begs to be translated into a “cartoony” medium.
LT: When did you first fall in love with comics? Why?
TS: My parents bought me comic books to teach me how to read. Instead of fairy tales, my Dad read Batman to me at bedtime. And, one night, he handed me Untold Legends of Batman #2 and said, “Okay, now you read it to me.” So I did.
Not too long after that, DC Comics Presents #26 came out with the first New Teen Titans story and my first thought was, “Robin without Batman! How cool is that?” After that, I was hooked for life.
LT: Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
TS: The simple and complex answer is: everywhere. Sometimes they’re based on real-life events, sometimes they come from characters I already know and love, and sometimes I just play little “what-if” games in my head and a story pops out. I played with a huge collection of action figures growing up, so I started imagining superhero stories in my head even before I learned how to write.
LT: There’s a great murder mystery storyline in The Exceptionals. Can you tell us a little about that?
TS: Well, I may have jumped the gun on that a tad. But, since the cat is already out of the bag…The Exceptionals’ mentors – The Maximum Assemblage – are all murdered in one fell swoop, leaving them to not only deal with their own grief, but have to step into the shoes of the world’s greatest heroes. And, of course, there is the question of who was powerful enough to kill the world’s premiere superteam?
LT: How can we keep up with The Exceptionals?
TS: Well, besides my ever-present updates on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/tonysmith1975, Michael Troy often blogs about The Exceptionals at http://michaeltroy-lethallyblonde.blogspot.com/ and, of course, there is the main site where I post the behind the scene tidbits is http://theexceptionals.blogspot.com/ . That’s where you get to read the character bios, bits of backstory, teasers and other character development madness that pops into my head.
LT: Is there anything you’d like to add?
TS: Well, we’ve given away a quite bit in terms of story details, but the best is yet to come! Michael and I are putting everything we have creatively into this comic book and it’s going to be, well… exceptional.
©2009 Lori Titus
August 30th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
You know I’m ready to stand in line and get my autographed copy of issue #1, Tony. Great interview.
September 17th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Top interview.