Born in 1953 in Jacksonville, FL., Tom attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Advertising Design. Theere he met his wife, Susan Paris, whom he married upon graduation (literally - it was her graduation day).
Freelancing in advertising and design for several years, Tom soon found his ambitions aimed towards the comics industry. 1984 saw appointments with editors from Marvel resulting in one assignment, and in 1986, Tom landed his first regular assignment on SKYWOLF back-ups in AIRBOY. Two years later Tom broke in at DC drawing STARMAN for DC, getting in on the ground floor, designing the characters and drawing the first 25 issues. Work followed on the revolutionary set of ROBIN mini-series, as well as three issues of BATMAN and six issues of DETECTIVE COMICS.
Moving to Marvel, Tom found a dream come true, drawing SPIDER-MAN for two years. While at Marvel he also worked on the PUNISHER, wrote and drew a WARLOCK mini-series, and was artist on the X-MEN spin-off book, MUTANT X.
In 1996 Tom bought an ARRIFLEX SB 16mm camera, which leadhim to direct two short films, THE NOT-SO-GREAT ESCAPE and BUBBAS IN THE MIST, both comedies. His most recent project, DOUGIE'S ROOM, is a psychological thriller detailing the last day in prison for Douglas Hemmings. DOUGIE'S ROOM was accepted into the SILVER SPROCKET INTERNATIONAL FILM FEST for 2002.
I told you folks last time that I would write about a topic of extreme importance to anyone trying to get into any field. Now, it’s not like I’m an expert. I’m still learning how to deal with this devil, but I thought that I could share some of my “wisdom” with you all about CRITICISM -- how to take it and how to deal with it.
So, I’ve already shared some of my advice/stories about taking criticism. Things like: don’t get defensive back at editors or other artists critiquing your art. Just sit there and listen (well, you do have to talk!)
I’m not sure if I’ve shared this next advice, but it’s just as important – maybe more important – than anything else I can tell you: never apologize for your work. Doing so only undercuts you and makes you look weak and, guess what, most people will take advantage of that perceived weakness and jump all over it. It’s just too tempting for them.
I did it once. Apologized for my work. I used the excuse that “I’m meeting a daily deadline like I’d have to do when I work for you.” And the person I used this excuse to? Jim Shooter. One of the worst choices I could make. He handed my pages back to me and said, “I don’t want to look at this if it’s not your best work.” Not brutal, but it was effective. I never apologized for my work again.
Just like with drawing, when you go into the public for any reason, you will make mistakes. The trick is NOT to make them again. That’s a challenge because being objective about your behavior is just as hard as being objective about your work. I’ve heard SO many people trying to break in who say, “I’m better than so-and-so. He really sucks. Why won’t they use me?”
Well, the truth of the matter is that you didn’t stand out and that maybe you do have some flaws in your work to take into account.
I’ve done the verbal wannabe talk. I’ve been on the outside looking in. I’ve crabbed about the choices of who’s drawing what for whom. The thing is, you’ve got to be realistic about your art, yourself and your chances. Don’t let them hear you crab. Don’t let them see you be defensive. Do it later in a safe place with people who won’t spread what you said. Crabbing can come back to haunt you, that’s for sure. And I’ll tell you … the people you think you can trust are the ones who’ll spread the gossip about what you were saying.
If you’ve got to bitch – do it to the wall.
I’ve made many a mistake while I was trying to break in and many more mistakes once I was in the industry. The most frustrating thing about the comics industry is its solitary nature (you work alone at home). Add that to the fact that you can’t really trust anyone with all your secrets (except your spouse, I would hope), and you have to be pretty good at looking in the mirror and asking that face what they need to work on to be better every day.
Not an easy task.
One of the mistakes I made is that I worked on being a better artist every day, but I didn’t do my best to work on being a better person every day. You need to do both. I was getting better as an artist, but my defensiveness of the past was still with me, even when I was drawing a big book like Spider-Man. I abused my power.
Luckily for me, Danny Fingeroth was happy with my work on Spider-Man and, overall, liked me as a person or my career would have been over. I said some pretty stupid things to him while working for him. And still, he tried to work with me and offer me opportunities – like writing.
What a nice guy.
I can blame my fall from grace in the industry on others, but to be honest, I’m a hot-headed guy and it got me in trouble. I opened my mouth and said the wrong thing to the wrong person (not Fingeroth – it happened later). They misinterpreted what I said and took it to be something bad and threatening. It was neither, but tell that to the person that’s made up their mind about it. Also, I never would have been in that situation, if I weren’t so touchy in the first place.
So, it’s my fault and my fault alone.
That event is not the total cause of my gradual departure from the comics industry. It’s actually just the beginning of a long path of miscues and strange events, but I think my behavior in that meeting set the tone for all of that bad karma.
If there’s nothing else I’ve learned in the last five years, its humility and how to be a bit more patient. Maybe I’ll even get a chance to use that new personal growth and work back in comics some. Even if I don’t, I’ll use it to help me on my path into the film industry. I’ll need that confidence and patience a lot there.
Try to learn those things before you get into the industry (whatever industry you’re trying to get into), but believe in yourself no matter what. You deserve that much at the very least.
