We prided ourselves on our stories. Many series had far bigger budgets and far longer schedules in which to polish their work. We had to get the writing and the drawing and the direction right the first time. This started with the story idea or “pitch.” Below is a sample of one of the ones I’m most proud of. We tried to center our stories on character, not action. It occurred to me that there was a fascinating irony about Beast. Dr. Hank McCoy was by far the most outrageous, most inhuman, most mutated-looking of the X-Men, yet he was the one most at ease with his mutancy. What, against his usual character, could make him self-conscious about his looks? Falling in love. My wife Julia (our “Days of Future Past,” “Whatever it Takes”) chimed in, saying why not do something like Charlie Chaplin’s classic “City Lights?” I was sold. Then came the laying out of the story. Beast is a brilliant doctor. He should be involved in getting a young woman her sight. So that’s how the idea for one of the more successful X-MEN:TAS stories came to be. Stephanie Mathison did a compelling job on the script, and Larry Houston supervised a sharply-directed storyboard. And, as always, George Bouza did a sterling job with the acting. By the way, Beast’s beloved, Carly Anne Crocker, was named after the at-the-time two-year-old daughter of our close friends, Carter and Lou Anne Crocker.
