Superman '86 to '99 Extra: Tom Grummett Interview!
Superman ‘89 to '99 Extra: Tom Grummett Interview!
This week we welcomed two important additions to this blog: Tom Grummett, who joined the Superman titles in the year we’re covering (starting in Action #665), and Don Sparrow, who will be adding extra comments to these entries (starting in Adventures #478). Well, as it happens, Don and Mr. Grummett live in the same city and know each other… so Don was kind enough to conduct an exclusive interview with Tom Grummett for us. Yeah, I think this tops my ten second conversation with Jon Bogdanove at a con last year.
Anyway, I’ll shut up now and let them talk.
DS: You joined the Superman books in 1991 (I think your first issue was Superman #665?). Can you tell me a little about how that came about? What had you been working on before that?
TG: I was the regular penciller on the New Teen Titans for editor Mike Carlin, who was also editing the Superman titles. I think it was over a lunch at my first San Diego Con that I asked him what I had to do to to draw a Superman story - a backup story, a fill-in, whatever. I just wanted to take a crack at it. I’m not sure whether it was an Action Comics Annual or Action 665 that was my first Superman assignment… they were pretty close together as I recall, and I had a great time. I guess I did a good enough job on it that when Jerry Ordway decided to step aside from the pencilling duties on Adventures of Superman, I was given the slot.
DS: Had you been a fan of Superman before working on the character? Were there any previous artists that shaped your visual approach to the character?
TG: I was a huge fan of Superman from when I was a little kid… while I didn’t read every single issue, I’d check in on him pretty regularily. When John Byrne rebooted the character, I followed the titles much more closely. My two strongest influences were Curt Swan and Byrne… when I was working as part of Team Superman it was Jon Bogdanove’s work that pushed me the most. Loved seeing his pencils roll in.
DS: The Superman comics of the 90s are famous for having linked stories, where the different titles each acknowledged the events of the other books in tight continuity. In the pre-internet age, how tough was it to keep everything straight? Were there any tricks the creative teams? Having worked in other methods, do you now have a preference between working on a linked storyline (over multiple titles) and a standalone title?
TG: Looking back, it’s pretty amazing how it was all co-ordinated… everyone on the team (writers. pencillers, inkers) would be sent a weekly package of all the Superman work that had been done that week - it would include photocopies of all the plots. scripts, pencils, inked and lettered pages for all four Superman titles, so everyone could see what everybody else was doing. Mike Carlin’s approach was that we weren’t as much publishing four monthly titles as we were putting out a Superman weekly. Once a year we’d all get together in New York for what we called the Super Summit, a three or four day marathon of throwing around story ideas, for a year’s worth of stories over the four titles. It was quite a creative experience.
DS: When you became the regular artist on Adventures of Superman, the title’s writer, Jerry Ordway, handled cover duties for the first few issues. Was this to smooth the transition between Jerry Ordway as writer/artist to writer? Do you take a different approach to cover art than you do to interiors?
TG: Jerry was hard at work painting his Power of Shazam graphic novel, writing Adventures every month, as well as handling the covers. I was pencilling Adventures, and providing pencils plus covers for New Titans every month. It might have been a transitional thing, but it probably just sort of worked out that way. Covers had to be done early for solicitation, and when I took over the book Jerry probably already had three covers in the drawer.
There are different things to contend with for a cover, to be sure… sometimes because of the way the schedule works you have to come up with a cover before the story’s been plotted. There are sketches to be submitted so that your cover doesn’t accidentally look like another cover that comes out that month. With a story, you’ve got the script or plot to work from. With a cover, it’s often the editor describing something.
DS: You’ve worked with a lot of different inkers over the years. Do you have any favourites? Do you prefer an inker to really stick to the pencils, or do you like seeing a more heavy-handed “embellisher” type of inker?
TG: I’ve been lucky enough to have great inkers… each one brings something different to the table. I’ve never been militant about 'protecting’ my pencils. Everyone along the line from the writer down to the colorist have their own challenges to face on any particular job, and all under deadlines. As to a favovrite, that’s too tough a call to make.
DS: The Superman titles of the 90s are beloved for their rich cast of supporting characters. Any characters in your Superman run that you really got a kick out of drawing? Any characters that made you shudder when you saw them in a script?
TG: Jimmy Olsen was always fun… he could be generally be counted on to screw things up enough for some great moments.
DS: Did you ever put any in-jokes in the backgrounds of your comics? Particularly Superman?
TG: Oh, sure. I put myself, my wife and kids into a crowd scene in one issue. Sometimes, interesting things would show up on billboards, or people’s t-shirts and things. My personal favorite moment was when Jon Bogdanove drew me in a scene with Jimmy Olsen in one issue of Man of Steel. I’m the one with the moose on his shirt. Happy hunting.
DS: We now all know the story of how the Superman Lois Lane marriage had to be delayed to accomodate the Lois and Clark TV series. There are rumours that the storyline initially planned for the wedding was “better” than what ended up being published in “The Wedding Album”. Do you remember what was planned? And if you are sworn to secrecy on plot detail, can you at least say which story YOU prefer?
TG: I honestly can’t say I remember what the writers had been planning. We all showed up at the Super Summit, and were I think on our second day when we were told we had to scuttle the wedding plans. As it turned out, we worked out the Death of Superman to make up for it, so I think it worked out pretty well all 'round.
SUPERMAN LIGHTNING ROUND!
DS: Lois Lane, Lana Lang or Lori Lemaris?
TG: I’d have to say Lois. But you know, I don’t think I ever got to draw Lori Lemaris. Dang!
DS: Indestructible cape or ordinary fabric?
TG: The cape Clark’s Mom made.
DS: Favourite look: super-mullet or clean cut
TG: Clean cut.
DS: Skinny Luthor or fat Luthor? (Or long-hair Aussie Luthor?)
TG: Skinny. No hair.
DS: Favourite Super-pet?
TG: Krypto.
DS: Favourite Superman villain?
TS: Lex… Roger Stern had him down cold.
Pictured: Tom Grummett, Don Sparrow and Superman. Thanks to all three!