DCA: Who is Tobias Christopher? Are you truly insane or do you just play a lunatic on TV?

Tobias: Researchers have been asking that question for years.If making monuments of the cast of Webster with aluminum foil and having staring contests with inanimate objects is insane, then... no.

Which city and state is proud to claim you as an upstanding citizen?

T: I live in a state of mind. But on the weekends I hang out in Avon, Indiana.

What’s your background?

T: Well, I was born on the wagon of a travelin' show, mama had to dance for the money they'd throw. Papa would- wait, that's not right...

I was born and raised in Indiana, and through a very... bad series of events I had to learn to rely on humor to get through life. Then came that magical day when I started discovering the power of writing.

What inspired you to start writing?

T: It started back around the summer between sixth and seventh grade when my imagination started really kicking into high gear. I basically just started looking around the world around me, and saying 'Hey, what if this happened while we were grocery shopping?'. Since ninja invasions don't typically happen on simple excursions, I started asking all these 'What if?' questions.

What were the first stories you wrote? Where they for English class back in school or something you decided to do for yourself?

T: Both, actually, I can't recall what my first story was, but I do recall both my English teacher and my own mother having this WTF? expression after reading them. I still have quite a few of my shorter stories in a folder somewhere. Among them, the infamous 'Santa Claus vs. The Unibomber' short story. On a word processor disk somewhere is the complete original 'Ben Davis Warriors' series.

What’s your approach to writing?

T: Just sitting back, clearing your head and letting your imagination take charge.

Do you have any influences in fiction that have affected this approach?

T: Anything that's inventive, wether it's a book, t.v. show, comic, movie. The more inventive, the better. Typically, something new that I haven't seen before usually works the best.

Why fanfiction and how long have you been writing it?

T: Actual fanfic? About 8 years. Works not based off of pre-existing characters? A few years more.

What brought you to DC Anthology? What was the first title you read at DCA?

T: It all started with an RPG called New Age Heroes, a game based in the DCU with all new characters. I created an original speedster named Fast Track. Once that game died off, as most RPGS tend to do, Erik Fromme introduced me to DC Anthology, and asked if I'd be interested in reviving Fast Track there. The first title I read was Richard Hill's excellent 'Nightwing' and Fromme's 'Green Lantern: Anthony Drake'.

Do you have any work at another site?

T: Well, I wrote a Power Rangers series for Channel Surf (Site now closed); Fantastic 4, Iceman, and Ultimate Spider-Man at Marvel Anthology (I REALLY need to get back to those); and The Punisher for Marvel Omega. I also had an original series on my LiveJournal that I'm going to retool and re-introduce at some point.

What was behind your decision to pitch TEEN TITANS as your first title at DCA?

T: At the time, Young Justice was my favorite ongoing DC Universe title, but I always kind of felt- and this was before DC botched the idea by capping Impulse- that Robin, Wonder Girl, and rest should have been the next generation Titans. But with Fast Track coming in, I didn't think I could handle two speedsters, so I held off on Impulse for the time being. Plus I wanted to get people used to FT before launching him into his own solo title.

Before DCA’s relaunch in 2005 your original run on TEEN TITANS reached a zillion issues. Well, slightly over 71 to be more accurate. How did you come up with so many plots in such a short period of time?

T: Most of it was basically just tossing a bunch of ideas into the mix, and seeing what stuck, and what didn't. Outside of a few arcs, not a great deal of planning went into that run, especially in the middle of things. Omni losing his powers, the arrival of Offspring's twin brother, and a few other things were last minute things. The rebooted run is more thought out in the long run, which is why I haven't reached #100 yet.

Do you look back on your original run with fondness or do you grimace?

T: It depends on which arcs/characterizations. Looking back, there's a lot that I would have done differently with certain characters. Like one review said, there were a lot of 'talking head' issues that I really regret doing, and there's the Wonder Girl/Fast Track/Superboy thing that I screwed up on. But a lot of the stuff I loved doing was stuff like 'Reign of the Impulsive', 'Deathstroke's Assault', and the final arc I completed before the reboot.

How did you decide with the relaunch to completely reboot your title and what elements from the first run to keep?

T: I needed a clean slate, basically. There was too much... bad stuff in the early issues (The afore mentioned WG/FT tryst, everything involving Terry Berg, among other things) that I needed gone. Although admittedly, by the end of that initial run, I was really starting to love these characters and relationships, so a lot of those will be brought back as time goes on.

When you pitched the rebooted TEEN TITANS you included a 2-year gap between their dispersal from ‘Young Justice’ to when they gather to reform into a team at UCLA as young adults. Why did you feel it necessary to age the characters and put them all in Los Angeles?

T: Mainly because I wanted to have the characters mature a bit between the end of YJ and the start of the Titans. I figured that having this long gap where they had to basically act alone and realize how much they needed each other as a family would help the characters in the long run. The move to Los Angeles was more or less just to have them all in the same place, instead of having to have them travel across the country pretty much every day of the week. It just made more sense to have them all going to college together.

Plus having them actually be 18 and legal means that they don't have to answer to the likes of their guardians for every little detail. You'll see very, very little of the JLA or their older counterparts in this series..

We were already clued to a mild hook-up between Tim and Cassie as one of the reasons behind the split of ‘Young Justice’. When will you reveal the other reasons behind the disbanding of ‘Young Justice’ and what they all did in this 2-year gap?

T: The next arc starting after #15. We'll see what broke YJ up, and what certain members did with that time, plus a few other surprises.

Do you feel a better connection with this team following the reboot now that their age allows you to do more with them dramatically and emotionally?

T: Yeah, you'd be amazed what a difference two years makes. There are just certain things that you feel better writing for a character when they're a certain age. There are things coming up for several characters that probably make sense for them to do now that they're of age.

So far the plots to the series have been new. When will you begin to incorporate some of your arcs from the previous run and how did you chose which arcs would be used or abandoned?

T: Well, issues #8 and #9 were lifted from the last run (With slight changes: Omni was in Chill Out's place, No appearance from the Atom, and Trevor survived... for now). But there will be some older arcs re-introduced over the course of the series, including 'Mock of Ages', and almost everything involving Bedlam.

Your group is a pretty eclectic mix of characters, including a few originals down the line. What were your criteria on choosing the main cast and why did you feel it necessary to cut Superboy out in #14 when he, Robin and Impulse are considered the core of YJ?

T: Well, for the main cast, I wanted to start out with characters people knew for the most part, which is how Robin, Wonder Girl, Impulse, Superboy, and Damage made the cut. Omni was put in because, let's face it, he's a blank slate in the actual DCU, and he's got a fun power to work with. Risk was brought in because I needed someone with that 'Who gives a damn?' attitude, and Offspring came in because I've always had a soft spot for him.

Superboy's reason for leaving was two fold: The first being that I want to try to stick to a seven member roster with the occassional guest star, and the second being that as time goes on, you realize that you don't need all the big guns once you start getting used to certain characters. Superboy even says himself in #14 'Why do we need three powerhouses?'.

So as time goes on, we'll see old members leaving, and new ones coming in, but it'll always be a seven member roster. Basically, I want to establish Teen Titans as a group without having to fully rely on the big names by the time things really get going.

It’s pretty clear you have some big changes coming to Bart now that he’s grown up some and experienced life. What drove your decision to go down this path?

T: Well, it's no secret that Bart Allen's my favorite character in the DCU, but the change from Impulse to Kid Flash pissed me off to no end, as it happened within the span of a few issues with no real setup to the change. What I'm trying to do is give Bart some growth a little bit at a time instead of pushing it all at once. Anything and everything that happens to Bart, he'll still be Impulse when the day is done, until the day comes when Joe Grunewald decides it's time to pass the mantle of the Flash on. There will be transition to Kid Flash for Bart here.

Bart being bi-sexual was the first major thing I wanted to do with the character. Bart's always been an open minded character in my eyes, and having him actually develop feelings for another guy never seemed to be totally out of the question for him to me.

If you'll notice at the end of the last arc 'Risk It All', Bart and Carol still have feelings for each other, but he's also loyal to his new relationship, so it's going to fun to see how that plays out as time goes on.

You also seem to relish in your knack of torturing certain members of your roster. Who’s the poor sap you’re focusing on currently and why him over anybody else?

T: Currently? Bart. Characters who are happy all the time are no fun, there has to be some degree of pain and suffering that a character has to go through to get from point A to point B. 'What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger', essentially.

But don't worry, other members will get their turns. I have horrible, horrible, things planned for almost everyone on the team, and even some who aren't on the team.

Any hints about what the future holds for TEEN TITANS?

T: Besides the roster changes that'll happen over the course of the series? Expect Raven, Aquaboy, Ravager, The Wonder Twins, Chill Out, Fast Track, and a few others to rotate in and out at various points. There's also going to be the big revelation of what happened to Jericho's soul, and more of everyone's favorite terminator.

TEEN TITANS is the only book you write for DCA at this time. Are you planning on pitching another title in the near future?

T: I'm considering an Impulse title, and of course there's a little teaser at the end of Teen Titans #15 with a character I want to get firmly rooted into the DCAU beyond what people already know about his future.

Is there anybody on site you’d have assassinated in order to take over their book?

T: What, you mean he hasn't hit you yet? I mean...(looks around innocently) no. The DCA writer's all do such fantastic jobs on their respective series that I don't think I could compare to what they bring to the table. That's not to say that I'd never want to try my hand at a Superman or Batman tale, though, even it's just a one shot deal.

Any other author you’d like to see do a fill-in issue on TEEN TITANS to see what they’d bring to the table?

T: Well, out of everyone I'd love to see David Brashear take the reigns for an arc or two. He's done such a stellar job with TITANS WEST and TEEN TITANS MILLENIUM that I'd love to see what he could do with the current TT. But currently, there's no one who writes for DCA that I wouldn't turn down if they asked to write an arc.

What are some of your favorite titles or characters at DCA (besides your own of course) and why?

T: Well, besides the other TITANS titles, I love Joe Grunewald's THE FLASH, and of course Erik Fromme's SUPERMAN, mainly because of the fresth takes that are given to the characters. That's the great thing about fanfic, you can break out of the norm and do things that would be shot down immediately in the real DCU offices.

When is medication time and are you best friends with a giant Indian who has a taste for Juicy Fruit?

T: Every day at 5, 2, and 8. And he likes to be called 'Native American'. The Juicy Fruit calms him. It calms him good.

Well, thanks for your time TC, do you have anything to say or plug before we’re done?

T: Well, there is that 4 Golden Girls, 1 Cup mini-series. But beyond that, I have many, many, ideas that I want to get out there, including reviving the POWER RANGERS series.