Stuck - Five X Five

Posted by Vito Delsante on Monday, September 18 2006 at 10:00 am

Tom and I are taking a week off. Don’t know if it leaves anyone hanging in suspence, but we just wanted to do this at the end of every chapter. Basically, it’s a look back and ahead to next week’s Page 13. First, if you’ve missed any of STUCK, we’ll break it down for you…

In Chapter One of STUCK, we met Eric Pitzer, a bartender who has a morning interview at a prestigious law firm. The night before the interview, Eric has an ominous dream of Grand Central Station on fire and his deceased girlfriend, Gretchen. On his way from Brooklyn to Manhattan, Eric’s train gets stuck which makes him late for the interview but it doesn’t matter as he and every other passenger watch the Williamsburg Bridge crumble from unknown causes.

Five X Five - Five Questions/Five Answers between the creators, Tom Williams and Vito Delsante…

Vito asks Tom…

Vito: Looking back at the first chapter, is there a moment or scene that you loved drawing?

Tom: Mostly I enjoyed the character designs. People interacting with one another is also a welcome challenge.

Vito: What about regrets? Got any panels that you’d like to do over? How?

Tom: I don’t think so. I’m sure a month later the flaws will creep up on me. When I started this project, I had just procured Painter and a Wacom tablet. Took some time to figure out what I liked or didn’t with the program. Some of my earlier approaches to coloring I might go back and change. I actually redrew the dream sequence three times but left it alone.

Vito: We met a few of the regular characters in the first chapter…any favorites?

Tom: I like drawing Lefty (the homeless guy). Eric has some promise. Hector.

Vito: Overall, did you enjoy the first chapter of STUCK? Not just as a creator, but as a reader?

Tom: It’s going places. Of course, I get to read ahead. :)

Vito: I sent you the script for Chapter 2 earlier this week…anything there that you’re looking forward to drawing?

Tom: Kinda dicey as I don’t want to give anything away. Expect aftermath and chaos.

Tom asks Vito…

Tom: Writers often slip in parts of themselves in their characters. Is this true of Eric?

Vito: Eric is pretty close to me. The whole sequence on pages 10 & 11…when get gets frustrated about the idea of an “express” train that goes nowhere…that’s totally me. I’ve thrown hissy fits like that tons of times.

Tom: Discuss how you came about the premise for this series? Influences and the like.

Vito: It was really a matter of seeing a beautiful girl on the train. I knew that under normal circumstances, she’d never talk to me. Maybe we’d exchange a nice glance to two, but that’d be it. For her to talk to me, the train would have to be involved in some cataclysm. And then I thought about that and expanded it out…like, if that would apply to everyone in NY and then I remembered those three weeks after September 11^th…where everyone smiled at you and was appreciative of life.

Influences…jeez, if it’s not obvious how big an influence LOST is, I must be doing something wrong (laughs).

Tom: You’ve done some license work with DC, etc. Anything you’re looking forward to from a writer’s perspective with Stuck?

Vito: In terms of licensing? I think Stuck is pretty unlicensable, but I’d love to have a Lefty doll.

In terms of the story, there’s a plot twist coming that no one will know about except me (and then you, once you read it) and I’m looking forward to seeing how that develops.

Tom: Stuck is about people affected by terrorism. How has it affected you being a New Yorker?

Vito: It has and it hasn’t. I think that it’s an everyday part of life now. Cops on the trains, backpack checks…at some point, you just get used to it. When at first, you think your civil rights are being violated, and then you just get to the point where you realize, “This is how it is now.” It’s not like living in a police state, but it’s not “Big Brother” either.

Tom: Any crazy subway stories for you personally?

Vito: I wrote one on a blog a year ago…for the sake of keeping this all short and sweet, you can read it here.

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Chapter 2 Preview:

In Chapter 2, we meet NY Police Officer, Frank Pastone. Frank has just retired from the force and is heading into the City to fill out some paperwork to make his retirement complete. But he, too, will find himself…STUCK…

Be here next week as we begin Chapter 2.