STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo 2006

Tom Beland Quick Questions

Paige Braddock (by way of STAPLE!): Do you ever wish your book premise was a little less “true story”… do you ever just want to break out and do something that’s complete fantasy?”

Tom Beland: I have to admit, I sort of hit the wall with issue #14 of TSSTG. That issue really took a LOT out of me, talking about the whole face-spitting incident and Lily’s reaction to the whole thing. I was burnt out, so issue #15, where I begin talking about self-publishing, was a breath of fresh air. So, yeah, I was definitely in the mood for something that didn’t come from autobio.

That’s when the Spider-Man gig came in. I mean, talk about jumping onto something at the right time… this was it. I was able to put my head into someone like Spider-Man and have a great time with it. It may not seem like the type of story you’d have fun writing… but, really, this story is my own personal “thank you” to this character.

When mom and dad were losing their battles with cancer in my high school years… Spider-Man books were my escape from all that shit going down in my own home. I’d get the books, go up the hill near our house and just lose myself for an hour or so with SPIDER-MAN, TEAM-UP, SPECTACULAR, MARVEL TALES, etc. For one hour a month, this character, Peter Parker could do these incredible things.. but couldn’t catch a break in life. I felt that way to the letter.

So, after 35 years or whatever of supporting this character, I finally got a chance to personally thank him for what he did for me back then. I know that may come off sounding a bit sappy in a sense… but you’d have to have been there to fully appreciate the enormity of love I have for him.

They asked me to do another story, slated for February and this one is the actual fun story I wanted to tell. It’s got a couple of bad-guys I used to love and I even get a chance to include a small something that, hopefully, will add to the relationship of Peter and Mary Jane.

So, after that…. as well as the SIMPSON’S story that’s slated for 2006…. I’m able to now get back to TSSTG with a fresh outlook.

STAPLE!: What ways do you find your life influences your work?

Tom Beland: Well.. you can’t look at TSSTG without looking at my actual life. But I think what I tend to do is celebrate life more than most autobio works. That’s not a knock on them, because if you came to my office and look at my shelves, you’ll find tons of autobio books there. I just tend to have a more optimistic view in TSSTG. Saccharine-laced at times, but, that’s how life is viewed when you’re in a good place in life. I can totally… COMPLETELY… understand why some can read one of my books and feel they’ve eaten a pound of PEZ, if they’re not in that same frame of mind. But, if you’re in love or have ever had that one big love in your life, you’ll connect with it.

As far as the question goes… I think, given the nature of my book… I tend to look at people as possible characters to use in my book, which is a bit bizarre. I’ll be talking to someone and then I’ll start thinking “I could use that hairdo… ” or that tattoo or they’ll have a certain pose I try to remember.

I had a friend back in Napa and we’d play this bizarre game of “Who’d Draw Them?” We’d look at someone, anyone and take a guess at who would draw them in a comic. Sometimes it’s a John Byrne-type of person… sometimes it’s a Barry Windsor Smith… and sometimes it’s Ross Andru. The answers are always hilarious and I STILL do that in my head when I’m in a group.

STAPLE!: To what extent do you use digital tools in your art?

Tom Beland: I use Photoshop to color my work and to sometimes fix a spelling mistake. But as far as pages go.. I really love to look at my page and see everything on it. The art, the lettering, the inking… all of it. The more you rely on the computer, the less you’ll find on the actual page, which is a bit of a bummer.

STAPLE!: What new artists or works (whether in comics or otherwise) excite you?

Tom Beland: They’re not new to me, but as far as someone putting something out that makes me freak-out over?

• I just got hooked on INVINCIBLE recently. I ended up going to my lcs and hoarding up back issues and trades. That book, to me, gives me that same fun I had reading Marvel as a kid.
• Anything… ANYTHING by Darwyn Cooke. New Frontier is something I keep going back to over and over. The man draws unbelievably beautiful women. I love how he draws their eyes. It’s just not fair to be that good.
• CONAN by Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord. I’ve never cared for this character, but they’ve converted me into a huge fan.
• NEW AVENGERS has some of the best dialogue and art on the market.
• I’m becoming a huge Eric Powell fan. I came on to the GOON a bit late, but I’m digging it… and his covers for Marvel’s “MARVEL’S MONSTERS” were just so much fun to look at.

STAPLE!: Have you got a good convention or show story you can tell us?

Tom Beland: I was sitting at my table at San Diego two years ago and Hulk Hogan came walking by. I held up one of my issues and said “Hey Hulkster… you man enough for THIS book?” He came over and said “I could be.. tell me what it’s about, brutha” and I told him it was about how I met my wife at a bus stop in Disneyworld. I then told him his wife would love it and he said, “Will it get me any action?” I gave him a free copy and, if he got action, he could buy one.

The next day, here comes Hogan and he buys every issue and a trade paperback. I guess he got lucky.

About Tom Beland

STAPLE! has extended invites to a variety of creators to answer a series of quick questions about working in comics, and we'll be updating these questions as the responses come in, so check back often! The questions are four standard questions asked to each participant, and then a fifth question posed to the creator by the previous interviewee.

Our latest interviewee is Tom Beland, creator of the self-published True Story Swear to God.