Tom Smith (comics)
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Tom Smith is a colorist who has worked in the comics industry.
Born in the wilds of the swamps of Spotswood, New Jersey, Tom Smith, like most people in the comics business, fell in love with comics at a young age. When he was an infant he was caught eating a handful of crayons and, a few hours later, had his first colorful display of art in his diaper when his mother (being a true lover of the arts) was heard to say " That's some colorful S#$@! , this boy has a natural talent!" Years later Tom knew that more than anything else, he wanted to draw comics.
After a near fatal critique by Neal Adams, Tom gave up his dream to become a penciller. Later, Tom fell in love and married his wife Rita, and started raising a family. However, he never strayed far from comics. After the birth of two daughters, Tom decided he'd had enough of working in a crayon factory. It was time to pursue his dream. He took night classes at the Joe Kubert School driving two-and-a-half hours each way to get to the school were he learned the magic of airbrushing and comic book coloring.Tom finally quit his factory job and took on work as a color separator at Murphy Anderson’s Visual Concepts. There he learned about the manufacturing side of the comic business. But Tom didn't get his "big break" until he met Marvel's promotional editor, Fabian Nicieza.
Fabian liked Tom’s airbrush work enough to offer him the coloring of an Iron Man promotional poster drawn by Bob Layton. Unfortunately, Tom didn't get another assignment for over a year. In 1990, Tom was hired once again to color a promo poster of John Byrne’s cover to Namor #1. John liked the coloring so much that he insisted it be used on the cover of the actual comic. That's when Tom’s career truly began. He worked for many different comic book publishers, on such titles as Nexus and Grimjack. He airbrush colored over 150 covers for Malibu Comics, and kept right on working for Marvel on Marvel Comics Presents and over a year's run on Nomad. Tom was still working full time as a color separator and was expecting a third daughter when he was offered the coloring job of a lifetime.
Tom’s dream of working on his favorite comic book character, The Incredible Hulk, came true with Future Imperfect, a two-part prestige comic book written and drawn by two of the industry's finest talents, Peter David and George Pérez. Tom had always admired George's work, and he honors the friendship that continues between them to this day. After Future Imperfect, Tom’s career really began to skyrocket. He finally quit his production job, never to return. Tom has since colored some of Marvel's & DC's best-selling titles, including X-Men 2099, Venom, Marvel Team-Up, Silver Surfer, Gambit, The Avengers, Wildthing, JLA/Avengers for Marvel & DC Comics, JSA , and his current project, The Brave and the Bold, coloring over the artwork of his friend George Pérez.
