So, San Diego Comic 2019 has just passed, and even though Catalyst Prime did not have any panels, Lion Forge still had a fantastic SDCC! Not only did they have an amazing booth, but they also won an Eisner for best Anthology, with Puerto Rico Strong. The Award was accepted by Desiree Rodriguez, one of the five editors on the book. Desiree is also the head editor of the Catalyst Prime titles.
I was very lucky to have made some awesome connections with Lion Forge and their staff. I was even luckier to be asked if I was interested in interviewing Gail Simone, head architect of Catalyst Prime and writer of upcoming event, Seven Days. Of course I said yes, and that I would share it with all the amazing fans I’ve met. I’m also using this interview as a launching pad for a new Catalyst Prime based blog (this blog aka Comics Catalyst), where I will be posting interviews, reviews and even holding some contests, all surrounding the CPU!
So, here is the interview I was so lucky to get:
Dylan Davison (DD): So, first I want to thank you for letting me interview you.
Gail Simone (GS): Well, of course Dylan. You’re, like, super important because you’ve been behind the CPU (Catalyst Prime Universe) from, you know, back when, so it’s amazing.
DD: Well, like I told you earlier (before the interview), it meant a lot to me because I was reading it through chemotherapy, so I really attached myself to the world and to the characters. I will push the CPU on any site or social media.
GS: These characters are super important to me too, because once I drove into their core concepts and stuff that was designed in the beginning, I just got really attached to all of them. It just feels so fresh and new and modern, and born of today. I just got really excited.
DD: Yeah, I remember your first panel, for Lion Forge, last year and how excited you were.
GS: Yeah!
DD: So, first I want to talk about something you and I have talked about before online, the delays for Seven Days. I just want to re-confirm to the fans that it is because of something positive, it’s not something negative and that nothing bad is happening.
GS: No, there is nothing bad happening at all. The Seven Days event is an amazing story with amazing, beautiful artwork and very interesting and cool characters, that I think people can really get behind. The delays are simply because Oni and Lion Forge have done a corporate merger and there’s a lot of dust that goes along with that, and a lot of redoing things and it takes awhile for it to settle down and this gave us some breathing room. There were staff changes and this and that, so.
DD: Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
GS: Yeah, it’s nothing negative at all, we’re all still just as super excited. The teams that come on the individual books, post Seven Days, are amazing, and I can’t wait till we can start really talking about that and get everyone involved and let everyone know what we’re all up to.
DD: When working on something like this, there are so many other writers, Amy Chu and a bunch of others working on projects. Do you have discussions often about how the character would act, do you have them as a resource?
GS: Yeah, we do have that. But the absolute best recourse I have is Desiree (Rodriguez), because she’s been with the CPU from the beginning. She kind of has these great files, that she’s kept really organized. So, if I do have a question about something, it would normally take me about five days to read through a bunch of information, she can give me the information in 10 minutes. It’s amazing and the best help ever.
But yes, I do talk to the other creators and we keep them in the loop about what’s going on in Seven Days, so that things will match up post-Seven Days. But, the whole event is designed in such a way that after Seven Days we meet up with the different heroes in different books and we see the results of what they may have gone through during Seven Days. It’s different degrees for different books.
DD: I’ve seen some previews for Seven Days, including the “Big Bad”.
GS: Kherlan.
DD: Yeah! Is there anything you can tell us his species or him?
GS: Well, the thing about about Kherlan is that his species is a superior species to ours. They have advanced tech and space travel, of course. Basically, he attempted to do something to us a couple years ago, when the Catalyst Prime Universe first started and it did affect the world, in a smaller way then it’s going to the second time around.
So this is definitely his second coming and he basically tells everyone on Earth that his planet is dead now and he is taking our planet, and every living thing on Earth will be gone and the only thing left will be flags that we planted on the moon, to even say that we were ever here.
DD: Wow.
GS: So it’s devastating. And then he goes on to say “I’m not a complete monster, you have seven days to get your things in order, to say your goodbyes, to accomplish whatever you want to in those seven days and then it’s gone”.
DD: When working on something like this, there is such a variety of types of characters and such a variety of age of characters, do you find it easy to mesh them? You know, we got Quincredible who is a teen and you have your trinity for example. Summit, Noble and Accell, Accell is a young man, but Noble and Summit have more of their lives together. Is it hard to mesh those characters together?
GS: No, it’s super exciting for me. One of the reasons for that, is that this is life. You know, we don’t all live in a world that’s all just rated R or all just rated PG or all just for kids, and kids have a place in this world and this is a major event that is happening globally and to everyone. That includes kids. So they need to be involved and want to be involved in if they’re going to have a future or not. What’s it going to be like or are they going to step up and become heroes or are they going to throw up their hands and give up? You know, what’s going to happen? It’s really important to the story and I’m really excited for people to see what these teen characters do during this time.
DD: You showed a bunch of new heroes that are coming. Some amazing characters, like that one with rainbow dress.
GS: Oh yeah! Moonrise!
DD: Yeah! Moonrise! Is there anything you can tell us about those heroes? Are they featured in this event or do they come out of it?
GS: Most of the character will be seen in Seven Days, because Seven Days, like I just said, is a global event, so we have characters from all over the world. We have characters from Africa, Asia, Japan, Mexico, America, South America, everywhere, so we’re going to see some of them. And Moonrise is from Africa, and she’s able to capture the rays of the moon and forge them into weapons.
DD: That’s fantastic!
GS: It’s so cool. We even got an African artist to do the designs and that’s why they look so great.
DD: Yeah, she looks so beautiful.
GS: Yeah, she does. She’s amazing. The new one, I’ll be writing the book for and created, along with some artists is Tillian. She is my absolute favorite character I’ve created since I started working in comics and I’ve created a quite a few. So I’m excited for people to get a load of her.
DD: On the little post card/poster that you signed for me, there is a character dressed in orange, who is that, is that Tillian?
GS: That’s Tillian.
DD: Oh, okay. I recognized all that characters, but her. I was wondering. She looks amazing.
Okay, last thing. What would you do, personally, during the seven days?
GS: I have thought about that a lot, actually, through writing this. You know, I have so many things that I love so much and I wonder sometimes. Would I just go sit in a comfy spot and read the stack of comics that I have, that I haven’t read? Would I take the time to do that or spend time with my family and play games? Go out on the lake? I don’t know. I would probably be someone that would want to spend the most time with my closest friends and family, unless I was called upon and felt that I could do something to help. Then I would be the first one down.
DD: It’s such an interesting concept. I’ve talked about this with my friends and family, trying to push Seven Days, and the concept of would a cop show up to work.
GS: Right. That’s the whole thing.
DD: You know, they have a moral obligation to try to help, but they know the worlds going to end. So would they stay home with their families or would they stop a bank robber?
GS: Exactly! Would someone just go crazy and go up on a tower and start shooting everyone? If you were a border patrol agent, would you bother? I have a feeling the borders are not going to feel the same anymore. Who cares if their is a line between this country and this country, if we are all going to die. You know? So, basically the entire planet has PTSD cause the smaller event happened two years ago and now this. This is huge, because even though Kherlan says he’s not a monster, and that he is giving us seven days, he’s not leaving us alone during these seven days.
DD: Yeah, he’s sending those gray robots or whatever they are.
GS: The Obsidian Men.
DD: Well, thank you so much for taking time to talk with me, and to talk about this.
GS: Of course! I’m ready to talk about this anytime.
I had an amazing time chatting with Gail and meeting Desiree and Devin and so many other Lion Forge staff. I’m looking forward to more CPU!
Seven Days comes out this October, 2019! Go to your local shop and order it today! Below is a preview from the upcoming Issue 1!
Comics Catalyst 