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.
Or… Why Just Put One Story in a Column When You Can Squeeze In TWO!!
PART 1 - PERSISTENCE
Okay, I’m asking you to enter your time machines again. The year: 1987. The place: New York City. The man: ME!! I mentioned last week that I had another story in mind to tell you from early in my comics career. These stories are being shared with you folks with the intent that you see what part persistence and timing can play in achieving your goals – and finding your dreams. Well, strap on your seatbelts, ‘cause here we go.
I was wrapping up my run on STRIKE! with Chuck Dixon at Eclipse Comics in late 1987. It wasn’t something I had planned on, but the sales on the book were only so-so and Eclipse was putting it on, what they called, “hiatus”. In other words, it was cancelled.
So, I needed work.
Even while working for Eclipse, I had still been going in to New York City on a fairly regular basis and showing my work to editors. I was getting the most encouragement from the various editors at Marvel at the time. Greg Wright had given me a TIGRA story for the SOLO AVENGERS book. If that thing was ever published, I never saw it. I hope I never do. It was horrible. Bad story. Bad art. Anyway, back to my tale. I was getting what I thought was “closer” to landing some sort of job at Marvel that I was at DC just based on the treatment and feedback I was getting on my trips into the city.
I’d go to DC and show my stuff. They’d glance at it briefly and then I’d get the old “we’ll keep you in mind” treatment. Marvel, on the other hand, wasn’t giving me work, but they didn’t seem to be blowing me off with regularity – Larry Hama’s comments from last week’s column included.
Now, needing work quickly and with the attitude and the expectation that Marvel is probably where I have the best chance to land a book with one of the BIG TWO, I decided that I’d better get off my butt and … New York City, here I come. I gathered up the pages from my latest Eclipse book, SGT. STRIKE vs. THE AIRFIGHTERS, that I had drawn and inked, got on the telephone and made appointments.
I was ready for Marvel to roll out the red carpet for me.
Once in town, however, my first appointment was always usually with Bob Greenberger, then an editor at DC. He always arrived early at DC’s offices and that worked out well for me. My train arrived in town at about 8:30 AM. I needed somewhere to go! So, for the umpteenth time in the last couple of years, I went to show Bob my stuff. He gave me the usual “you’re okay, but you’re doing this wrong and this wrong and…” and so on. You get the idea. I was used to it. He would take the time to talk to me and try to help me, but no work was coming, I could tell.
Except …
This one morning, Bob was looking at my pages and critiquing them with his usual candor and the usual spiel that I mentioned above, when he suddenly stopped, looked at me and said those fateful words I had been waiting to hear all my life, “You know. You should be working for us.” WOW!! Geek heaven, here I come. I’m gonna be working for DC Comics!
Thus, was born Tom Lyle at DC and his two year run on STARMAN.
PART 2 - TIMING
Timing plays an important part in careers as well. Persistence leads to good timing, because the more you’re in their faces the more chance you have of being in the right place at the right time. Here’s another story to prove it:
1990. My run on Starman is ending (I wanted to move on despite liking the character and the writer, Roger Stern) and I have already committed to working on the COMET for DC. That was an easy commitment. My editor at that time on STARMAN, Brian Augustyn, wanted to work with me still and here was an opportunity to plot and draw a comic and work with him – a guy I liked working with.
No, this isn’t the story about timing. That’s coming right now.
I had a gap in my schedule between leaving STARMAN and starting the COMET and I called the Bat offices and spoke the Dan Raspler, then Denny O’Neil’s assistant on the BATMAN books, to inquire about a fill-in issue on one of the Bat books. (Tom’s rules for life #5,432: If you don’t ask, you may never get it and all they can do bad to you if you do ask is say No.) Dan was pleasant to talk to and said that he had nothing available on the Bat books, but that he had a mini-series that was coming up and “would I be interested in that?”
“Some sort of Batman mini-series??? Cool, I’m there.”
“Well,” Dan tells me, “it’s not Batman. I can’t tell you anything about it. It’s a character out of the Batman universe is all I can tell you.”
“Alfred?” I ask, being a smart-alec.
I did get a chuckle over that one, but still no hints. But, it was a character out of the Bat universe, so what the heck. I said YES!
Then, I found out it was ROBIN. That’s pretty darn cool. Good timing, I tell myself. I had some more good timing when I asked Dan who the writer would be. He said that they had not picked a writer yet and “did I know anyone who was well-versed in writing martial arts characters?”
Instantly, my mind went to Chuck Dixon. Chuck and I had remained friends even after STRIKE! ended and I had been to many a convention with him. I knew from all our conversations how much he did know about martial arts lore and practice and I loved his writing, so … I said to Dan, “How about Chuck Dixon?”
Dan and Denny were both aware of Chuck’s work and we went into town together (we both lived in Lancaster, PA at the time if my memory serves me correctly – so we took the train together to NYC) to meet with them. Chuck and I came back with a mini-series to do.
Two jobs in one call. Pretty cool, huh?
Unless you stick your neck out, you never know what might happen. My whole career was made by ROBIN and I remember him fondly. I miss the boy. Also, working with Chuck on that book was a joy. He wrote great stuff and I always loved how he did exposition during and with the action in the story rather than stopping the story to make a “point”!
Enough of my fond memories … go out there and stick your necks out. It hurts some when you get those rejections, but when it finally pays off with the goal you’re striving to achieve … man, that’s a feeling you can never lose.
