Beau at the Flying Fist Ranch

by Beau Smith

In part 1, Beau told us how he came to work with Tony Daniel on The Tenth and the first issue was about to hit the stands. What happens next? Read on…

Tony and I had a great working relationship on the book. As I mentioned before, we’d spend hours on the phone (before the internet) going over plots and scenes. Tony had the story and the characters well laid out in his head and it showed in his art. We both shared a love for film, so we tried to add as much of a cinematic look to the pacing as we could. Nothing feels better than a smooth writer/artist relationship. It stokes both creators up and really helps fire up the story and the characters. I can’t remember Tony and I ever arguing at any time over the book. We were on the same page and we wanted every page to be the best they could be.

As I do on most any book I work on, I kept all my notes from phone calls and conversations, faxes, as well as our back and forth mailings. I’ve found that having records of such stuff is great for not only being able to stroll down memory lane in the future, but to also have a record of how something was created step by step. You never know when you’re going to create – or be a part of – the Next Superman or Watchmen.

The first mini-series sold really well and we got a ton of press on it. Tony and I did San Diego Comic Con, Wizard World/Chicago, Pittsburgh Comicon, as well as some other high profile shows. Image asked us if we would do The Tenth as an ongoing series and that fit right into our plans.

As I said before, Tony is a very sharp guy. I knew when I signed on to write and help him develop The Tenth, that it would only be a matter of time before Tony would learn and catch on to not only the writing, but the business side of comics as well. Counting the four-issue mini-series, I wrote around 13 issues of The Tenth. As each issue moved forward, Tony began to write more and more of the dialogue and incorporated more of his long-term plans into The Tenth. Being the straight shooter that he is, Tony and I both knew at the same time when he was ready to fly on his own with the book. He did it seamlessly. The book never suffered a beat in my opinion.

Guy Gardner Warrior #40

An interesting sidebar – I got Tony some of his first work at DC Comics back in the mid-1990’s. I was writing Guy Gardner: Warrior at the time and thought it would be great to have Tony do a cover for the book. Tony was all for it. I suggested it to my editor Eddie Berganza. Much to my surprise, Eddie had no idea who Tony was. He didn’t know of Tony’s Marvel or Image work. I thought editors always kept track of that kinda stuff.

Anyway, after looking at Tony’s work on The Tenth, he gave him a shot and Tony did not fail. He did a kick butt cover for Guy Gardner: Warrior #40. The interior art was done by Aaron Lopresti (Wonder Woman)and is one of my favorite issues because I got to use Grodd as the bad guy.

Batman/Wildcat #1

I knew what a huge Batman fan Tony was, so when I got the chance and the green light to write the mini-series Batman/Wildcat with my buddy, Chuck Dixon (G.I. Joe), I once again suggested to Eddie that Tony should do the cover of the first issue. Eddie said Okay and Tony got his chance to finally do Batman. I’d like to think that with my help more than ten years ago, Tony’s current run on Batman: Battle For The Cowl became a reality. Tony is now known for not only being a heck of an artist, but a writer too. It always makes me feel good to see my old friends do well, even better when a lot of other people enjoy their work as well.

I hope you check out Tony’s current work at DC Comics. I think you’ll be very impressed. You should also check out back issues of The Tenth to see where it all got started. I think you’ll find that The Tenth is a real hidden gem of a comic.

After all, numbers don’t lie.

Beau Smith
The Flying Fist Ranch

Purchase:

Go here to find back issues of The Tenth!

Batman: Battle for the Cowl HC

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