INTERVIEW: CIS Veitch/Ensign Conference Transcript
Alec Usticke
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Transcript of Formal Conference held on
December 10, 1995 6:00 PM Eastern time in
the Science Fiction/Fantasy Media Two Forum
with guests
TOM VEITCH and JORDI ENSIGN
Tom Veitch is the writer of the Star Wars comics series
"Dark Empire", "Dark Empire II", "Empire's End", "Tales
of the Jedi", and "Dark Lords of the Sith" (with Kevin
Anderson).
Jordi Ensign is the graphics editor and main artist for
Echo Station, SFMedTwo's Star Wars Electronic Magazine.
She is currently inking the Boba Fett comic serialized
in Star Wars Galaxy Magazine, and inked "Dark Lords of
the Sith" #2-6 and "Sith War" #1-2.
AsstOp Matt Hart | OKAY, HOLD THE QUEUE FOR NOW.
| Tom, Jordi, thanks for coming tonight!
| Slominski, you're first up, followed by
| Ramsey Forrest and Alfonso.
| Please finish your questions with "GA - Go
| Ahead.
| (Note - please address your question to Tom
| or Jordi)
SLOMINSKI | HI can I ask Jordi a question ? Ta Im doing
| my alevels and producing
| apersonal study an i was wondering where you
| get your inspiration?
J. Ensign | Hm...wel if you mean what artists I look at,
| I'd have to say off
| the top of mt head....Berni Wrightson,
| John Beatty, Michael Golden, and Dave Schultz
| (spelling?)
Ramsey Forrest | Tom, I heard about an upcoming comic series
| about the Imperial Royal
| Guard. Will you be involved in this and if so
| what are the details? GA
Tom Veitch | Not involved.
| It's being written by Randy Stradley, I
| believe
Alfonso Romero | Jordi: Are you still working on Sith Wars? I
| missed your name in one of the issues? GA
J. Ensign | No, I left after issue two, it's now in the
| capable hands of Mark
| Heike, who is actually a local workmate of
| mine..<g> GA
Jim Fisher | Tom>Could you update us on the status of
| Lightsider?
Tom Veitch | Sure. It's currently a completed manuscript,
| not yet scheduled for publication. Dark Horse
| has asked me to do a four issue comic series
| based on it.
| The prose version was finished two years ago.
| Dave Dorman agreed to illustrate it with full
| page paintings.
| However, I believe he may have made other
| commitments now which will prevent his
| participation.
Uncle Owen | My turn?
| Just a quick question from Tatooine. Why is
| it so damn hot? Err, no, that's not my
| question.
| Tom, what's your next SW project? What's
| your next project period?
| Jordi, how 'bout you?
Tom Veitch | Lightsider is the next SW that definite. But
| Chris Gossett and I have proposed doing a
| Tales of the Jedi Series.
| There are "creator-owned" projects in the
| works as well.
J. Ensign | I'm finishing up the Boba Fett piece for
| Topps Galaxy Mag, after which I'll be inking
| over that same penciller (John
| Nadeau) on a 4-issue story arc of X-Wing
| Rogue Squadron.
| I'm also currently working on some
| Illustrations for WEG, for
| one of their SW source books....
Uncle Owen | Thanks. My follow-up is for Tom. When are
| you ever going to reveal the truth about the
| Navoota Bees?
Tom Veitch | I am working on a thousand-page treatise on
| the legendary Navootas.
| It should be ready about this time next year.
| But I still have found out what that buzzy
| thing is,
| Unc. Have you?
Jim Fisher | Tom> Any word on an artist for Lightsider if
| Dorman can't
| do it? Fleming? The new cover artist,
| Laffary? [spelling?]
Tom Veitch | I believe they have asked Jim Baikie to do it.
| The comics that is -- not the novel.
J. Ensign | Tom, if you could head up any SW project,
| what would it be,
| and what format would you prefer...(TPB,
| etc...)GA
Tom Veitch | Nice question! I would want to direct the
| next film, actually. ;-)
| As for comics....more CONTROL!!!
AsstOp Matt Hart | Tom, at the end of Empire's End, Chewie says,
| "Long Live the New Republic". Wasn't that
| just a tad out of character? GA
Tom Veitch | Hmmmmmnnnrrrrgghhhhh.
| Does anybody know what he says when he grrs?
| I thought he might be a bit patriotic.
Jim Morrow | Question for Tom: Have you ever read the
| Marvel SW works of Goodwin and Williamson? If
| so, what do you think about Goodwin's writing
| and storylines?
Tom Veitch | Yes, I've read the Goodwin/Williamson stuff.
| Archie is a friend of mine, so ofcourse I
| love it!
THOMAS GRAVER | Tom Veitch> Did you enjoy working with Cam
| Kennedy ??
Tom Veitch | Cam and me 'ad some good times, we did...
| drinking in Scottich pubs...
| sittin' around the drawin' board...
Stuart James Ross | TOM:How do you feel about the way that other
| writers have handled the continuation of the
| Star wars legend?
Tom Veitch | Do you mean the novelists??
Stuart James Ross | yes
Tom Veitch | I will be out front with my opinion on this.
| I don't enjoy reading most of them.
Stuart James Ross | anyone in particular?
Tom Veitch | I like Brian Daley's writing a lot.
| Too bad they didn't let him do major stories
| like they
| let people do now.
Stuart James Ross | Personally I don't like the way that the
| novels timeline has progressed
| It's progressing too rapidly
Tom Veitch | The timeline is a problem.
| Part of the difficulty is that everything is
| governed by committees now.
| The writers are given lots of directives from
| the Emperor.
SysOp Lee Brown | Was it your idea to make Empire's End only 2
| issues? It seemed very rushed, with a lot
| happening VERY quickly... GA
Tom Veitch | It was originally going to be six.
SysOp Lee Brown | Why the squeeze?
Tom Veitch | I was asked by Lucasfilm to do it in two.
Jim Fisher | Tom>Why so many superweapons in the Dark
| Empire series when it wasn't really feasible
| [from the material stated in Zahn] for them to
| have the resources to build all of them? GA
Tom Veitch | Zahn's setup was created after Dark Empire
| had been plotted and approved by Lucasfilm
| Personally, I felt that the Battle of Endor
| was not that big a deal...the Empire had tons
| of stuff stashed everywhere.
| Also, you have to realize the Empire was cash
| rich.
| They have the largest tax base in the
| Universe.
Uncle Owen | 'Nother question for Tom. Where do you get
| your ideas? Ha ha, just joking. I know
| writers hate that question.
| Here's an easy one. Any upcoming appearances
| at comic stores or the like?
| Oh, and have you heard the DE audio adaptions
| yet? Any thoughts or comments?
Tom Veitch | No appearances scheduled.
| The DE audio takes liberties with my story,
| so I don't like 'em. Sorry 'bout that. ;-)
Alfonso Romero | Tom, in Freedon Nadd Uprising why did you
| kill off Omnin's right hand man Warb Null
| right away? (i've been dying to know) GA
Tom Veitch | I killed Warb off 'cause I didn't like the
| way he was drawn. :-)
| I liked the way Ommin was drawn tho.
| He had these really cool armatures holding
| his body together.
AsstOp Matt Hart | Jordi - any thoughts on the Marvel shakeup?
| Any from you, Tom? GA
Tom Veitch | What's the Marvel shakeup?
AsstOp Matt Hart | Tom> The Marvel licensing out everything
| (almost) to Image I think it was.
| Expecting them to revamp the stories and
| characters in one or two years.
Tom Veitch | Really? Woo.
J. Ensign | If it goes through the way it's rumored
| to...well, I'm not sure the
| market's going to recover so quickly, and the
| independent companies are definitely going to
| suffer for it....
Tom Veitch | Jordi, do you pencil as well?
J. Ensign | Yup, doing some pencilled and inked pieces
| for WEG right now.
Tom Veitch | Can't wait to see 'em.
Ramsey Forrest | Tom> Did Palpatine's indifference towards
| dying in ROTJ give you the
| idea for a clone? Also, how do you explain
| Palpatine's "dark side spirit"
| travelling from the death star across the
| galaxy to the clone labs? GA
Tom Veitch | Right on with that one.
| I wondered why he really didn't care if Luke
| killed him.
| As for "traveling", I don't think distance is
| a question in the spirit world.
| It's stort of a "quantum leap" situation.
Jim Morrow | Tom: Since Lucasfilm has veto power over your
| storylines, I'm curious: Are there certain
| types of situations or events that you have been
| told to stay away from creating? GA
Tom Veitch | Yes. Wookiees. And anything to do with Mrs.
| Skywalker.
| Of course, anything to do with the clone
| wars, etc.
Jim Morrow | What about Wookiees specifically?
Tom Veitch | Everything about Wookiees.
| We were lucky to sneak one into the Meltdown
| Cafe in DE II
THOMAS GRAVER | Tom > What was your favorite scene in Dark
| Empire? Ga
Tom Veitch | Favorite scene---I guess I like the Nar Shaddaa
| street scenes.
Jim Fisher | Tom>Why was Nomi Sunrider's character so
| drastically changed between the original Tales
| of the Jedi and the Freedon Nadd Uprising? In
| TOTJ she was downright uncomfortable with using
| a lightsaber, but in FNU she was hacking away
| with the rest of the Jedi. What happened to
| the Jedi battle mediation skills that she was
| supposed to have? GA
Tom Veitch | She is still learning...see Dark Lords of the
| Sith.
| As for the lightsaber...Master Thon said he
| could tell she had an innate ability for the
| lightsword.
| When she gave in to her ability, she turned
| into Joan of Arc.
| Well...maybe Erol Flynn.
Jim Morrow | Question for Ms. Ensign: I've been told by
| others that Lucasfilm is VERY particular about
| who works on SW related projects: What did you
| have to do in order to gain Lucasfilm's
| attention and approval?
J. Ensign | I got lucky, I had worked for an editor on one
| of the Aliens' projects, he later became one of
| the editors on the SW projects....
| when DLOTS started hitting snags, he called
| me.
| From there, it was just a matter of
| delivering good work on time and building up a
| rep.
Tom Veitch | Cream rises to the top.
J. Ensign | <g>, yeah that too....GA
Uncle Owen | Tom, can you tell us anything about the
| creator-owned projects you mentioned earlier?
| Anything with your brother? That's something
| I'd like to see.
Tom Veitch | Nada with Rick.
| The other stuff is under wraps, sorry.
Lawrence Perry | Are there anymore Tales Of The Jedi comics
| planned for the future? And if so are you
| involved?
Tom Veitch | See above answers, if you can find them.
| Chris Gossett and I have proposed a TOJ series.
Lawrence Perry | Can you elaborate on the submission?
Tom Veitch | Sure...it tells what happens to Ulic
| Qel-Droma after
| Sith War.
Ramsey Forrest | Tom, why did you revive the Emperor and Boba
| Fett rather than create new villains.
Tom Veitch | I wanted to revive Vader, actually. I wanted
| to put somebody else inside his armor.
| I revived the Emperor because GL said to do
| it, if I could figure out a way. I said ok,
| let's go for it.
Uncle Owen | For both Tom and Jordi...
| Besides purchasing your works, what's the
| best way your fans can support your efforts,
| so that we may continue seeing your wonderful
| SW creations? Letters to Dark Horse?
| Lucasfilm?
Tom Veitch | Letters to Lucasfilm help a lot...or hurt if
| you want to say bad things...(sniff).
J. Ensign | I think letters are still the best way to
| influence the higher ups......beyond that, just
| keep reading enjoying the books.
| Sales are the best motivaters....GA
Jim Fisher | Tom>You mentioned that Zahn hadn't been
| released as Dark Empire was being plotted. Why
| wasn't Dark Empire seriously changed or shelved
| [as Kenneth Flint's Heart of the Jedi was] for
| continuity problems?
Tom Veitch | Why wasn't Zahn's plot changed to reflect
| Dark Empire, that's the question. ;-)
Jim Morrow | Tom: One of the fiercest debates we have had
| here concerns what SW material can be
| considered "canon". What type of SW material do
| you consider important enough to avoid
| contradicting its events and/or timeline?
AsstOp Matt Hart | Good question!
Tom Veitch | The three films are all that count, in the
| end, if you want to talk about "canon".
Tom Veitch | Other than that, each writer is giving a
| skewed view of the SW Galaxy.
| YT included, of course.
THOMAS GRAVER | Tom> In the begining of the confrence you
| said that you would like to direct one of the
| new Star Wars movies ( I think ) would you
| rather direct a Star Wars movie or write a Star
| Wars comic . Ga
Tom Veitch | Do I have to answer that one?
| I would rather write a Star Wars movie and
| direct a Star Wars comic. ;-)
AsstOp Matt Hart | Tom, Jordi, thanks for coming!! Great
| conference. Tom - best of luck on future
| projects. Jordi, hope to see more of your
| art!
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Alec Usticke - unc...@nai.net
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