The dynamic duo, Todd Johnson and Larry Stroman, had one of the hottest comics in the country when they launched Tribe in ’93, then they took a surprising exit from the comics scene after a two year on-and-off run. Where have they been? In their first exclusive interview in 15 years, Johnson and Stroman answer questions that have been on the fans’ minds and tackle the big question, “Will they bring back the bestselling African-American creator owned comic book of all time?

UVC MAGAZINE: Give us a little background..

TODD JOHNSON: I was born in Grand Rapids, Mich. I had no formal background in writing. Just that I was a certified, card-carrying comics nerd since childhood. I have a complete collection of both Marvel and DC comics from 1961 to 1998. Every Dark Horse, Image, First, Comico, Milestone, ANIA, etc. I owned a chain of comic stores in the Detroit suburbs – the Comics Cafe. We started hosting conventions and inviting guests. The retail side of this business both at the stores and conventions allowed unique interactions. Artist Gene Ha was one of our customers and we encouraged him to go pro. I rented one store location from inker Jeff Albrecht. I have the first professional convention sketch done by artist Jeff Matsuda. And I broke in through one chance meeting with Larry Stroman at one of these interactions. I had invited Larry, Bart Sears and Marc Pennington to a convention. Coming out of the airport, when we reached the car, Larry looked at the other two and said,” I got front seat." He picked the seating arrangements, he picked what they had for lunch and he picked what they listened to on the radio. I thought that was hilarious. We’ve been friends ever since.

UVC: When did you first realize that comics were something you want to pursue?

JOHNSON: While reading my first marvel comics when I was a kid.

UVC: In addition to Tribe, you did a couple of issue of Darkstars?

LARRY STROMAN: Yes. I did the first three issues.

UVC: Tell us about your work on Alien Legion?

STROMAN: Alien Legion was basically the start off of my career in the industry. It led to my being able to go on to all the things that followed. Because it wasn’t a mainstream book, it gave me the freedom to grow and expand as an artist. Carl Potts gave me open reign to design, create and recreate all aspects of the book. Which ultimately led me to opportunities on mainstream marvel titles.

UVC: X-Factor? What was it like working with Peter David?

STROMAN: X-Factor came about when Suzanne Gaffney, an assistant X-men editor at the time, ran in to me in the hallway at Marvel and asked if I would have any interest in working on any of the X titles. I said yes, because I was at the end of my Alien Legion run, so the timing was perfect. I never truly worked with Peter David. His stories were already written and delivered to me as a finished product. I only spoke to Peter to tighten up a few story details as it related to what I was drawing. We never collaborated in the true since of the word, because the direction of all of the X titles was already predetermined in order for all the books to head in a particular direction.

UVC:  Your artwork has a unique style. Who were your influences?

STROMAN: Pretty much anybody, everybody, somebodies and nobodies. And most of all, all the ladies with the fine ass bodies.

UVC:  Some complained about your timeliness with projects. Please explain.

STROMAN: The creative process cannot be forced. It either works or it doesn’t. You can force it and put out bad stuff or take the time to put out something that’s worth something. I have one book that I’ve been working on the last ten years. This effort is going to be priceless. Even despite any rumors to the effect that I have a problem with timeliness, please provide me with a list of any books I did not provide to the companies that hired me in the time given.

UVC:  When you sat down to tackle Tribe, what were you striving for?

STROMAN: A book with universal appeal. Any creator’s goal –good comics.

UVC: How did the inception of Tribe take place?

JOHNSON: Larry had received an invitation from Jim Lee to join image. He gave me a call after that phone call and asked me was I interested in doing a book. He flew out to Detroit from New York and we brainstormed a couple of weeks about what we would like to do.

UVC: How did you come up with the storyline? Was it collaborated between you and Stroman?
 
JOHNSON: The storyline was a complete collaboration of conversations we had both had of comic likes and dislikes. We wanted a comic with fast paced action and an ever-changing storyline.

“Read the entire Johnson/Stroman article in the latest issue of UVC - on sale now!”