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Gail Simone Ignites Catalyst Prime Universe With Seven Days

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Two years ago, “Catalyst Prime: The Event” smashed Free Comic Book Day, and emerged as one of the most talked about titles of that first Saturday in May. This was the introduction of the Catalyst Prime Universe, a new seven-title superhero universe, hinging on a cosmic event distributing powers to characters from all walks of life.

Now, legendary comic book scribe and CPU architect Gail Simone unleashes Catalyst Prime: Seven Days; a seven issued series that unites our heroes counting down the days of what might be the final week of humanity’s reign on Earth.

PREVIEWSworld caught up with Gail to coincide with the introduction of this exciting new series tying together comics’ most inclusive and diverse superhero universe.

Catalyst Prime: Seven Days #1 (MAY191790) is available to preorder now with a release date in comic shops of October 2nd.

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PREVIEWSworld:
With Lion Forge arriving on the scene a few years back under a banner of "Comics For Everyone," and a superhero universe built around representation, you were a natural fit to work with them. How did this upstart lure you over to take on such a significant role for them?

Gail Simone: It’s BECAUSE they’re new that I was so excited to take this role. The Lion Forge folks are from the Midwest, they have that wonderful welcoming hospitality that feels different from the rest. And they’re whip-smart; they are looking at new ways of telling these stories.

But above all, once I started delving into the books, I just became enraptured with the characters. Noble, Summit, Cosmosis, they all felt incredibly fresh and vibrant. I could see the possibilities immediately, and I simply got hooked. Now I’m writing them, and I love them even more.

SEVEN DAYS is essentially this premise: WAR OF THE WORLDS, but instead of Earth being completely helpless, we actually have humans with superpowers. That kind of story idea is the stuff that makes this job a joy. The humans fight BACK this time. So of course, I couldn’t say no.

Article Image 48d5PREVIEWSworld: When you were first becoming acquainted with these characters and this universe, was there one that immediately stood out for you?

Gail Simone: Absolutely! The first to really hit me hard was Summit. I just can’t think of another superhero quite like her.

The backstory of the Catalyst Prime Universe is this: a meteor wave threatens Earth, and five brave astronauts are sent into space to avoid an extinction-level event. But the mission goes wrong. Valentina Resnick-Baker survives that, she’s literally the woman who fell to Earth.

So, she’s a brilliant, Jewish, queer female astronaut, and she’s given these powers and a second chance. I feel that’s a movie waiting to happen.

But there are so many others I have come to love as well, especially Noble, Cosmosis, and our newest hero, Quincredible. I love them like I love the characters I first read as a kid. I have that kind of excitement for them.

PREVIEWSworld: Conversely, is there a character you felt was underutilized, that you saw an opportunity to "own" and position for a larger role? Were those two characters different?

Gail Simone: When I came aboard, I felt the character of Alistair Meath, the British astronaut who came back as the power-enhanced hero KINO, was a bit of a mystery. But we got Alex Paknadel to write that book now, and he’s KILLING on it. It’s not hype, I feel that Alex is one of those writers we will be speaking of as we speak of people like, say, Ed Brubaker or Donny Cates. He’s the real deal, and he’s turned the book into a thriller.

For myself, I’m enjoying writing all of them. Accell, Noble, Summit, Cosmosis, it’s just the funnest new sandbox and I get to show them under the worst stress of their lives—an actual alien takeover of the entire planet.

PREVIEWSworld: Obviously, with the vast array of characters you have written, there must have been some influences coming into play for you. Are there any characters in this universe who are influenced by others you have worked with before?

Gail Simone: I think the value of the CPU is that the characters are new and fresh, there’s a bit more of a science fiction feel to the universe as a whole, and I love that. That said, Noble has a bit of that Superman/Captain America level of leadership, and we have a new character coming out of SEVEN DAYS that I feel is a bit like our Spider-man. By that, I mean classic Spider-man, the guy who creeped people out a bit, even while saving them. But it’s too early to mention her name!

PREVIEWSworld: Events in superhero universes are fairly commonplace at this point, so what is it you hope to accomplish with "Seven Days?" What do you feel will set it apart?

Gail Simone: It’s a funny thing, I’ve been part of many event books, and run a couple myself, and a lot of them feel like they are written by a committee, according to a formula. You know, this guy dies, this guy loses an arm, a year later no one even mentions it.

Lion Forge didn’t want that, they wanted something that matters. So, I went back to my all-time favorite event book, the Crisis On Infinite Earths…where you saw how the event affected EVERYONE from the big guns to the civilians, and how you hung on every issue because anything seemed possible.

In SEVEN DAYS, we present a world where people think the world is ending, and they live their lives like it’s the last hours they will ever see. So, we see a world where people stop going to work, where everyone goes AWOL. It’s just fascinating stuff to me. It’s a superhero adventure, but it reads like an apocalyptic science fantasy, and I love those.



PREVIEWSworld:
You have mentioned that you are writing this to be a perfect place for new readers to jump into these books, without any familiarity with these characters. That said, where your personal favorite storylines thus far? Any TPB's retailers will be wise to have in stock to tie into the new series? Clues fans can find in the previous work?

Gail Simone: Our big primal force is a character named KHRELAN, he’s an alien overlord, and he covets Earth as his new home. But he wants to start the planet over, on a microbial level. It’s not just humanity that has to go, he wants to re-invent his lost home planet, so he gives us seven days to say goodbye.

There are hints about him in Summit and Astonisher in particular.

As for storylines I found really intriguing, I am wild about our newest book, Quincredible. This is the story of a kid like any other, but he has ONE superpower—he can’t be hurt. That’s it. I think he’s the best new teen hero since Ms. Marvel at least. And it’s fascinating to read of a character from New Orleans, which has experienced the meteors AND Hurricane Katrina. What would you do with that one power? I love that stuff.

PREVIEWSworld: Given your title and position with Lion Forge on these books, what do you want to do to make this universe your own in a larger sense? Anyone who has followed your writing and career can certainly see the possibilities of what a "Gail Simone Universe" could look like. With this cast of established but relatively new characters, you are still playing in someone's sandbox, but without years of history to weigh you down, (without spoilers, of course) what will be your defining moment?

Gail Simone: I think it’s this book, SEVEN DAYS. The CPU isn’t mine, it’s the hard work of a lot of gifted creators. But I get to steer it, I get to assign the priorities going forward. And I want, above all else, for it to be filled with heart. I want action. I want characters you care about. I want lust and greed and humor and rage and heroism, I want new characters, but classic conflict.

I want the kind of comics you keep to read and re-read.

I’m a bit of a weirdo among my peers because I happen to adore crossovers and event books. I truly love taking advantage of those stories…SECRET SIX came out of an event book. I want that level of intensity. Each book has to have its own tone, but I don’t want any filler, I want every issue to mean something.

PREVIEWSworld: Will we see any new characters in this series, and conversely, will this be the last we will see of others?

Gail Simone: A few characters definitely get their bell rung hard in SEVEN DAYS. This is a catastrophic story, it’s like the classic disaster movies. Some people are going to come out of this battered, if they’re still standing at all.

Then we have the character we mentioned before. There are a couple of new titles, the kinds of books I have wanted to see in the marketplace for a long time. I will be writing one of these and overseeing the others with top talent, it’s ridiculously exciting. They’re all characters I created, designed by my favorite artists. I can’t wait for you all to see them!

PREVIEWSworld: Comic books today (and the conversation around them) looks so vastly different that the days of "Women in Refrigerators," in large part to the work that you have done. What do we as an industry still have to learn? What are we doing right? How can we get better?

Gail Simone: I honestly feel like the industry has made huge strides in this arena, even as we face new market challenges. I was at the retailers’ summit recently and spoke to shop owners, and they are dealing with every possible issue.

My feeling is the answer is to always try to be MORE welcoming, to invite and entice more audiences to the comics themselves. We love the audience we have, it’s the most loyal fandom in the world, but let’s also put out the welcome mat. Let’s get people in the doors who might not have come in if comics had stayed like they were in the 1950’s.

But I give the industry all credit for making a real effort to bring in more creators and characters of all kinds. It’s not about checking boxes, it’s about inclusion, saying the gates are open. I love that ‘Comics for everyone’ is Lion Forge’s motto. When I came aboard, it felt like home.

PREVIEWSworld: Any closing thoughts or things to expect from your new series?

Gail Simone: Just that it’s a ripping yarn. I think even people who maybe haven’t followed my work that closely know that comics are my entire passion in life. I love these stories of people trying to do right, I love a huge, grand adventure. It’s what I never get tired of.

SEVEN DAYS doesn’t require seventy years of comics history. You can jump right in and you won’t feel lost. If you’re new to the CPU, it’s just a thrilling disaster story…only THIS time, the characters have superpowers. And they fight BACK.

It’s one of the funnest, most thrilling things I’ve been part of in comics. Every issue raises the stakes. And the art, by Jose Luis, is astounding…we chose him because he draws spectacle like no one else, it’s like the biggest budget film in history.

Come see our universe. You’re very welcome.

But be prepared for explosions.

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