Robserecaps Fifteen – episode 46 Turtles, Tom Cruise and Spielberg
by Joe
I’ve been lax on my the Rob duties, but seeing west coast comic relator Mike Sterling talk about the more recent episode has lit a fire under me. This was going to be two episodes in one post, but there’s too much here, let’s start with episode 46, Turtles, Tom Cruise & Spielberg – Going Hollywood!
- the Rob went to the car wash and saw the influence of comic books even there, they’re in your Happy Meals, at your local mom and pop stores, we won, guys!
- the Rob explains what re-solicitation means in starting about TMNT the Last Ronin #1. Unrelated, Snake Eyes Deadgame #3, originally solicited for September 30th just had it’s final order cut of date this past Monday
- This is the first time Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the original creators of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, have worked together on a project in 25 plus years. The Rob says he is very much like Eastman over Laird
- The Rob saw the first TMNT (not writing it out each time!) issue on the stands, flipped through it and took for granted it’d be there next time, foolishly by his own admission!
- Robert Kirkman pushed the Walking Dead #1 on the Rob, who was not a zombie guy, but after reading the first issue, binged all the Romero zombie movies that weekend
- Eastman used his royalties from the Turtles to start Tundra Publishing, which was inspiration for Image Comics
- The Rob reminisces when comics were forty cents an issue, this TMNT the Last Ronin book is ten bucks and the average Marvel comic price is five bucks
- the early success of TMNT the Last Ronin, the Rob claims order of 150,000 copies, the Rob hopes to do a TMNT project after Snake Eyes is done
- the Rob and his buddy were fans of U2 back when they were breaking in as a Christian Rock band
- Back to episode 42, after the Golden Apple signing, representatives from William Morris come looking to sign the Rob. First things first, he says his comics royalties are not theirs
- They do, however, get the Rob a meeting with Steven Spielberg, who was looking to do something more unconventional with comics to movie translations
- Spielberg had original Norman Rockwell paintings behind eight inch bullet proof glass in the lobby of his offices
- for time frame purposes, the Rob’s meeting with Spielberg was post filming of Jurassic Park and mid-editing on Schindler’s List
- Spielberg was beyond nice and cordial to the Rob, to which the Rob would judge all future meetings with A list folks on
- the Rob relates a fun story Spielberg tells about ‘jamming’ with Isaac Asimov on the set of Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Spielberg and the Rob were supposed to collaborate on a project called ‘Doom’s Four’ that never saw the light of day
- Next, someone from CAA got the Rob a meeting with Tom Cruise!
- Tom Cruise was turned down for the lead in James Cameron’s Spider-Man and was looking for another comic book project
- Flashback, summer of 1986, the Rob and his friends were hanging at the lake. The Rob’s male friends wanted to go see Stallone’s Cobra (MACHO MACHO MACHO!) the ladies wanted to see Top Gun, the Rob sided with the ladies and his love affair with Tom Cruise began!
- The Rob stayed up all night, knowing Tom Cruise would want a solo comic character pitch, not a team or ensemble, the Rob racked his brain trying to figure it out
- the Rob comes off super endearing here, remembering the outfit Tom was wearing as he walked by, freaking out with internal monologue “I’m gonna meet Maverick and we’re gonna be best friends for life, if not longer!” They both drove Vipers…OK, so Tom’s was custom made by Dodge in a color that only he had, but still!
- More time frame purposes, Tom was coming off his first flops, Days of Thunder and Far and Away and was looking to change to course.
- the Rob first meets Paula Wagner, Tom’s agent, who gave the Rob strict instructions “Don’t bore Tom!”
- the Rob wants you to know, much like Wizard, Details and Premiere magazines are also out of business
- Tom’s first question to the Rob was “How much money you making?” to which the Rob replied “Not as much as you make!” which got the famous Cruise Cackle he would not show the world for years
- the Rob’s pitch for Tom was ‘the Mark’ which the Rob still plans on doing something with, sort of an Indiana Jones with super powers
- all of a sudden, the Rob and Tom’s agents bust into the room, leading the Rob to believe they were being spied on
- Tom made the Rob a very generous deal and they would work closely developing ‘the Mark’ over the next two years, getting calls at 7am for an 8am flight from California to Nashville to talk to Tom on the set of the Firm, and the like
- the Rob also pitched a Mission Impossible script which was just ‘Die Hard on a Space Station’
If you want to help the show, be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, Spotify Player FM, TuneIn, Overcast, Beyond Pod or Castbox and leave a comment.
If the link at the top of the page isn’t working, you can always make your Amazon purchases through our affiliate link here!
Or you can support on Patreon and get early access to episodes of After Dark and more!
