Derrick Ferguson: Who is Tobias
Christopher?
Tobias
Christopher: Well, I born on the wagon of a traveling show, mama had to dance
for the money they stole, papa would- oh, wait. Tobias Christopher is a writer,
movie watcher and some would say slightly not all there. I kid, no one ever
said slightly.
DF: Where do you live and what do
you do to keep yourself in cheese and crackers?
TC: I live
in Greenwood, Indiana and I currently work in the slave mines of Wal-Mart.
DF: What writers have influenced
you?
TC: Mark
Waid and Grant Morrison in terms of comics since they were the writers whose
stories first really got me into the comic scene with the Flash and JLA. In
terms of books, Stephen King and Mark Twain were huge influences, but a really
special shout out goes Pat Frank, the writer of Alas, Babylon, who
inadvertantly inspired my first foray into fanfiction during an English
assignment in high school. We were tasked with writing an alternate ending to
the story. Things got insanely dark (my teacher even commented that I might
have taken things a bit far) and I started to realize where my passion for
storytelling would take me.
DF: Let’s jump right into it: why
Fan Fiction?
TC: Because
whenever I watch a movie or TV show, or read a book, I almost always ask myself
"What if this character did this? Or what kind of adventures would he/she
have after this? Or what's that guy in the background's story?" I just
love making up new adventures for characters I love, so fanfic just seemed like
a natural fit.
DF: How long have you been involved
with Fan Fiction?
TC: Officially,
since around (how long was that RPG Erik, MC and I were part of? 12- 15 years?)
I'm going to say at least 15 years. Unofficially it goes back to high school
when I was taking horror movies characters and making up new adventures for the
likes of Chucky, Gage Creed, Macauly Culkin's character in the Good Son, etc.
DF: Why should we be reading DC
Anthology and Marvel Anthology?
TC: Because
DCA offers a place for the pre-New 52 Universe to continue to grow and prosper,
and without 99% of the darkness that the actual DC Comics were putting out
there even before the New 52.
And MA I
believe gives the characters a chance to grow more since we're not shoehorning
Wolverine and Spider-Man into every title. The lesser known characters are
given a chance to step forward, like Jamie Primas' recently ended Avengers run,
which didn't rely on the big guns of the Marvel Universe.
DF: What is your favorite series
you’re writing for DC Anthology and why?
TC: Of the
two I'm writing for DCA, I'm going to say TEEN
TITANS. I'm not very far into the run, but I am enjoying the interactions
between certain characters. An upcoming issue (#12) made me realize how much I
love having Static as part of the team, and I'm looking forward to telling all
the stories I have planned for this group.
DF: What is your favorite series
you’re writing for Marvel Anthology and why?
TC: While I
love Captain America and Iceman, I'm going to go with ALPHA, the character no one seems to like. In the 10 issues I've
written so far, I've grown to love this character like he was my own. Plus I
have a huge love of Saturday Morning cartoons, which is a massive influence on
how I'm writing this series, so writing Alpha is like writing my own SMC series
DF: Detractors of Fan Fiction claim
that those who write it are wasting their time they could be using to write
original stories. What’s your response to that?
TC: Haters
gonna hate. But seriously, there's nothing saying you can't do both. You can tell stories about your favorite
characters and still make time to build your own universe with your own
original characters. I make time to do both, but of course I have no real life
to speak of.
DF: What’s the best advice you can
give someone wanting to write DC and Marvel Fan Fiction?
TC: Don't
be afraid to take chances with your characters, that's what fanfic is basically
for. And don't just rely on the huge names, use your stories to help give life
to the little guys that barely have any backstory.
DF: Are you more of a DC fan than
Marvel? Or vice versa?
TC: I'm
more of a Marvel fan these days. I've pretty much given up on DC, they've
gotten WAY too dark and serious for my liking.
DF: What’s your opinion of DC and
Marvel these days?
TC: I think
Marvel still likes to have fun with its characters. I mean, Squirrel Girl and
Howard the Duck have their own series now, if that doesn't scream 'fun', I
don't know what does. As for DC, see my answer in the last question. They're
way too dark and serious for me. A universe where guys dress up like bats to
punch killer clowns, amazon women fly around with magic lassos, and an alien
who can put on a pair of glasses and fool EVERYONE into thinking he's a
completely different person shouldn't be steeped in realism in any way
whatsoever. I think DC's missed the point of why people read comics.
DF: Is Fan Fiction a viable
alternative for those readers dissatisfied with DC and Marvel?
TC: It
depends on what you're looking for in fanfic, because there's an insane variety
of stories out there. Not just DCA/DCO/MA/MO, but fanfiction.net and dozens of
others.
DF: Why not just write original
superhero fiction?
TC: I
actually have been for the last few years.
https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3024820/1/Omega-Guardians-Season-1
I'm
currently writing the 4th season, although I am going back through and
*remastering* the first three seasons to fix continuity errors and such.
DF: Do you yourself have any
aspirations for writing professionally?
TC: I used
to, and sometimes I still do, but for me writing's more of a hobby than
anything. Maybe someday I'd like to get a book or two out. Lord knows I have
plenty of original stories in me for that.
DF: What’s a typical Day In The Life
of Tobias Christopher like?
TC: A lot
more boring than most people would think. Wake up, get ready for work, work for
9 hours, come home, sleep, lather, rinse, repeat. Although there is the
occassional murder attempt, but I just shrug those off and go on with my day like
most people would.
Derrick Ferguson: Anything else we
should know about Tobias Christopher?
Tobias
Christopher: Well, Tobias Christopher is actually just my pen name, taken from
a character from Animorphs (Tobias) and the first name of the actor who played
him in the horrible live action t.v. series (Christopher). Beyond that, I know
my style of writing isn't suited to everyone's taste, but I hope that those who
do read my work do enjoy what they see and hopefully come back for more.
