Tom Veitch Live Q&A on AOL Transcript
Alec Usticke
Online Center Stage. This is a log of that event.
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OnlineHost: Copyright 1995 America Online, Inc.
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OnlineHost: Welcome to the Live Star Wars Q&A with Tom Veitch!
OnlineHost: This event is sponsored by the Science Fiction and
Fantasy Forum (keyword SF) and the AOL Star Wars Fan Club. To join the
club mailing list, simply mail Vader129.
OnlineHost: Tom Veitch has been writing Star Wars stuff since
1988, when he and Cam Kennedy were given the go to create the DARK
EMPIRE comic books. Tom also created TALES OF THE JEDI, the first
stories to be told of the ancient Jedi Knights. His numerous
additions to the Star Wars mythos include the Jedi Holocron, an
ancient interactive device in which the histories and secret teachings
of the Jedi Knights are recorded for posterity.
OnlineHost: With Martha Veitch, Tom wrote the life story of GREEDO
for the forthcoming TALES FROM THE CANTINA, from Bantam Books. Tom
has created a number of other popular comic series, notably THE LIGHT
AND DARKNESS WAR, which was also illustrated by Cam Kennedy. Please
welcome Tom Veitch to Center Stage!
Uncle Owen: Welcome, Tom, to Center Stage!
Tom Veitch: Nice to be here! I see we have 1.4 million people in
the audience. I hope we can get all their questions in. So let's go,
when you are ready, Unk.
Uncle Owen: Okay. Here we go . . .
Uncle Owen: The first question is from Anakin13 . . .
Question: Which did you enjoy working on more: Dark Empire, DE
2, or Tales of the Jedi?
Tom Veitch: I loved working on all of them...but Tales of the Jedi
was my favorite, especially the early stories, working with Chris
Gossett. Also, working with Kevin Anderson, writing Dark Lords of the
Sith was a blast.
Uncle Owen: The next Q is from Akn Solo . . .
Question: Tell us some about DE III and the 2 comic series Fall
of the Emperor.
Tom Veitch: Right. It will be called Empire's End. It will be
out in the fall. The artist is Jim Baikie; it is two issues, fully
painted. In this series we will wrap up the entire Dark Empire saga
by killing off Palpatine for all time.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Anakin13 . . .
Question: Do you use the Internet much? And if so, what parts
are your favorites?
Tom Veitch: I have spent many hours on the Web...but lately I am
getting overloaded with it. I wonder if it will turn out to be a fad
which will fade away after a few years.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from VADER 99 . . .
Question: What gave you the idea for Nar Shaddaa?
Tom Veitch: Well...looking around in my imagination I realized
there would be such a place in the SW galaxy. And apparently I was
right, because they have used this spaceport moon in the new game Dark
Forces. Nar Shaddaa is a moon covered by miles deep cities, all the
cities are joined. There are many layers, going back thousands of
years. Back in the days of ordinary space travel (before hyperspace)
such ports came into existence and they just built on top of them, as
time went by.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from MLevine3 . . .
Question: Tom, any news about the new movies, such as if you
will do the movie adaptions?
Tom Veitch: Hah hah hah hah. No, I am not involved in such.
Actually, if you read Star Wars Insider, you will see that Mr. Lucas
is writing them himself.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from VADER 99 . . .
Question: What species is Master Boda Baas?
Tom Veitch: Unh...boy you caught me on that. He's the same as
Vodo Baas, I know that. Maybe Otter is in the audience...<g>
Uncle Owen: Ha ha! :)
Uncle Owen: The next question is from MLevine3 . . .
Question: Tom, have you ever met Lucas?
Tom Veitch: Yes.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from DDeiner . . .
Question: I haven't read the Dark Empire series yet. What is
the plot?
Tom Veitch: It's quite complicated...it would be easier to read it
than for me to explain it.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Pumpkinpo . . .
Question: Are you going to make Dark Empire 3?
Tom Veitch: "Dark Empire 3" is a two issue wrap up called Empire's
End. Back to a previous question...I could say that Dark Empire is
about Luke turning to the dark side.
Tom Veitch: Maybe I should talk about Tales from the Cantina.
This is a book, just out, from Bantam Books, with stories by a number
of authors. Kevin Anderson edited it...there are stories by Tim Zahn,
Kevin...and yours truly. I wrote the life story of Greedo...poor
Greedo (sniff). We follow him from his youth on his home planet ...to
Nar Sahaddaa where he gets involved with bounty hunters who take him
to meet Jabba. There is a character in the movie, which you can see
sitting with Greedo at one point who looked exactly like a bounty
hunter in Dark Empire, so I worked him into the story as Greedo's
mentor. Of course we all know how the story ends...rather sadly, I
would say.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from FRREAK . . .
Question: Hey Tom. What are your future plans with the Dark
Empire series since you left the ending to Dark Empire 2 vague?
Tom Veitch: Guess you just got here. The ending will be out in
the fall. It's called Empire's End.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from LeiaSky . . .
Question: When is Lightsider coming out? Hope this isn't too
soon. :)
Tom Veitch: This has not been determined. Everyone assures me
that it will come out...but no one has told me when.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from FireVader . . .
Question: What motivates you to create your stories?
Tom Veitch: Something deep and mysterious inside me... <g>
Actually, It probably has to do with clearing all the cultural garbage
out of my head. I like replacing all the movies that are swirling
around in my head with my own movies.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Matt 4 Ma . . .
Question: Tom, when did you start writing Star Wars?
Tom Veitch: 1988. Lucasfilm liked the series THE LIGHT AND
DARKNESS WAR that Cam Kennedy and I did for Marvel Comics. We
proposed doing a similar full-painted treatment of Star Wars. We said
to them that we wanted to do major events, and they said OK.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Leikin Sk . . .
Question: Tom, what are your plans after DE3?
Tom Veitch: I am busy working on a number of things I can't talk
about yet.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from ChaosTh00 . . .
Question: What opposition was there when making Dark Empire to
involve such things a super-killing machines and Luke turning to the
Dark Side? The kind of thing that wasn't present in the movies.
Tom Veitch: No super killing machines in the movies? Really? As
for Luke, there was always the idea floating in the air that he might
turn to the Dark Side like his father...in fact the Emperor mentioned
something about it, if I recall. Mark Hamill said he had the same
idea as Dark Empire, while he was acting in the films.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from G0Pin96 . . .
Question: Can I order your books through AOL?
Tom Veitch: Not Star Wars books. Go to the comics section and
talk to Dark Horse Comics.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Jacen Solo . . .
Question: Do you have any future plans of doing new Star Wars
comics or stories after DE II? Will DE be written as a paperback
novel?
Tom Veitch: It would be great if DE became a novel...and there has
been discussion about it but nothing so far.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from MBowen275 . . .
Question: Tom, how did you come up with the idea of the Jedi
Holocron?
Tom Veitch: I needed a way of getting into the Galactic history
that would be easy for people to access. Since holograms were
well-established, it was a pretty easy jump to the idea of the
Holocron.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from C baoth . . .
Question: Hey Tom! I loved your Dark Empire series! Do you an
Cam Kennedy have any future work planned?
Tom Veitch: Cam is currently working on a Boba Fett special. We
are not currently planning any joint projects.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Leikin Sk . . .
Question: Do you know what is George Lucas' fave of all your SW
comics?
Tom Veitch: No, but he gave sets of Dark Empire to everybody for
Xmas.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Dark49198 . . .
Question: Did you work with George Lucas in developing the story
ideas?
Tom Veitch: We work with Lucasfilm...and sometimes he reviews
things. Usually the stuff that is too big a change in the Galaxy or
something. Also, he had to okay all the stuff we did about the
ancient Sith Lords for Dark Lords of the Sith. You see, many of the
stories these days touch on important parts of the mythos, and they
can't let writers just go any way they want to. So the guy who
invented it all needs to get a look and say "Yay" or "Nay."
Uncle Owen: The next question is from GeoffM015 . . .
Question: Will you work on the next Dark Lords of the Sith
comics with Kevin J. Anderson?
Tom Veitch: Kevin wanted to do The Sith War on his own...so I said
cool. However, he will be working with plots and story ideas we
worked out together.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from RotJ Jedi . . .
Question: Why where you talking about Han and Leia getting
divorced?
Tom Veitch: That came up as a hypothetical idea in a humorous
online conversation. I would not advocate that for a real story.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Ch4NewHope . . .
Question: Have you ever done any work with your brother, Rick,
and might he lend his talents to Star Wars?
Tom Veitch: Rick and I did comics together as kids. In fact, we
have a trunk full of stuff. At once point Lucasfilm asked me about
him...and I asked him if he would be interested in doing Star Wars,
but he was too loaded down with other jobs.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from AlexWngr . . .
Question: Will you be working with West End Games on the
sourcebooks?
Tom Veitch: I worked closely with them on the Dark Empire
Sourcebook. I will be supply material for the other Sourcebooks, but
not being so involved as a writer.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Matt1221 . . .
Question: I heard that there is supposed to be another Star Wars
movie coming out that is supposed to take place when Darth Vader and
Obi-Wan were young. Do you know anything about that?
Tom Veitch: You can learn a lot about that on the Star Wars
message board on AOL.
Uncle Owen: At keyword SF I might add. :)
Tom Veitch: There will be such a movie, and people are talking a
lot about it. In fact, there is a magazine called Star Wars Insider
published by Lucasfilm that is keeping a running log of the new
productions.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from C baoth . . .
Question: Tom, in Tales of the Jedi, did you find it difficult
to interpret what you thought would be the Jedi technology and the
Galaxies technology thousands of years in the past. Did you find it
fun, tedious, etc.?
Tom Veitch: Fun and interesting. Especially working with the
artists, who do a lot of the conceptualization on the older stuff.
Chris Gossett was very good at that, as you may know. We "reverse
engineered" the Galaxy.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from InThePast . . .
Question: Tom, since there is such a massive move towards Star
Wars once again in novel-form, what are the odds of you publishing a
novel?
Tom Veitch: Pretty good, since Lightsider is a novel (albeit a
short one). Also the story of Greedo (in Tales from the Cantina) is
about a hundred pages (I think). If these stories appeal to the fans,
and Bantam gets lots of letters (hint hint) maybe I will get a chance
to write a fat novel.
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Chip007M . . .
Question: Who came up with the idea of Princess Leia having a
third child? Didn't the Emperor posses him in your book?
Tom Veitch: We came up with the idea of Princess Leia having one
child. Tim Zahn came on board after Dark Empire was already written
but not drawn, and he added two more children. His book came out
before the comics, so his children were born first!
Uncle Owen: The next question is from Jawatrdr . . .
Question: Have you read a lot of the other novels and stories in
the SW universe? If so what is your favorite?
Tom Veitch: I can't say which is my favorite, since I know a lot
of the writers...I guess they are all my favorites.
Uncle Owen: The last question of the evening . . .
Uncle Owen: From Leikin Sk . . .
Question: What was the reasoning behind not having text pages
for DE2, unlike DE1 and will there be text for DE3???
Tom Veitch: It was certainly discussed for DE2. But things got
mixed up when we lost our editor.
Tom Veitch: How about one more question...a great one?
Uncle Owen: Okay, Tom. One more. From Akn Solo . . .
Question: I've heard that before the new episodes come out there
will be no more books about Luke and Co. Will you continue to work on
other projects maybe about Anakin Skywalker and Co.?
Tom Veitch: That's quite a ways in the future. I imagine there
will be books connected to all the new characters in the forthcoming
films...a LOT of stories to tell!
Uncle Owen: Thank you so much for joining us tonight, Tom. I hope
you'll do it again soon.
Tom Veitch: By the way, if there are any leftover questions, we
can answer them in the Star Wars board.
Uncle Owen: Great idea, Tom. Check the Star Wars message board at
keyword SF.
Tom Veitch: It has been most enjoyable, and you have been a well
behaved audience... all 1.4 million of you. May the Force Be with YOU
OnlineHost: Our thanks to the Science Fiction Fantasy Forum for
bringing Tom Veitch to Center Stage. For a transcript of this event,
please check back in approximately 24 hours. Thank you for joining us
and good night!
Tom Veitch: Or...as my dentist said, May the Floss Be with You
Uncle Owen: *groan*
Uncle Owen: To join the AOL Star Wars Fan Club mailing list,
e-mail Vader129. Good night everyone and may the Force be with you .
.
OnlineHost: Copyright 1995 America Online, Inc.
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The transcript was edited for ease of reading and to correct
typographical errors and was prepared by Uncle Owen.
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