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First look: Gail Simone's Seven Days shakes up the whole Catalyst Prime universe
Imagine being given the freedom to architect a foundation-shaking disaster story in a superhero universe. It's an exciting proposition that writer Gail Simone couldn't pass up when she was approached by Lion Forge to throw their Catalyst Prime Universe into Seven Days, a seven-issue, biweekly crossover event that will change the course of this universe forever. Art is by José Luís and Jonas Trindade, Michelle Madsen on colors and Saida Temfronte lettering. SYFY WIRE has an exclusive preview of Seven Days #1 Day One, which will hit comic shops in October.
Seven Days is about an omnipotent alien being who arrives at Earth with plans to terraform it. In a moment of mercy, he has given Earthlings seven days to put their affairs in order and say goodbye to each other. At first no one believes him but then the panic begins to spread as people scatter and the terror raises. Each issue will be a day in the final moments of Earth as we know it before this superior being unleashes his wrath.
As a welcome mat for new readers, all of the Catalyst Prime books (Summit, Noble, Accell, Quincredible, Superb, Kino, Astonisher, Incidentals) will be put on pause during the duration of the series, with some of them being canceled afterwards and new series launching stemming from the events of the story.
"Seven Days clearly and firmly establishes the positions of these characters in the Catalyst Prime Universe," said Simone, who realizes that this may be the first time readers venture into Lion Forge's CPU. "It’s meant to give new readers a solid footing for who they all are in the big picture."
Simone exclusively told SYFY WIRE how each character fits into the Seven Days story. "Noble, Summit and Accell are our power trinity. They are the heroes that people think of when they think of enhanced humans in the CPU. And they reluctantly work together, as they come to realize their leadership positions. Noble is the born leader, Summit is the thinker, the team’s genius and Accell is the young guy who is just realizing his responsibility to the world.
"With Cosmosis and Amina from Superb, and Quincredible from his own book, I think we have three of my favorite teen heroes ever. They are all to one degree or another inspired by previous heroes, mainly from comics and pop culture. But they have heart beyond their years. They have the passion of someone who wants the world to be better and do better. I love each of them to pieces."
"Kino is in a class of his own, he’s had his mind messed with and finds himself in a political argument he wanted no part of. To me, he feels like the character most reflective of our current society, we have all this power and still feel unsure of what we can do.
"I have to keep Astonisher and Incidentals secret for now, but they are our wild cards, and they are here to mess s**t right up."
The Catalyst Prime Universe began three years ago on Free Comic Book Day 2016 when seven heroes were introduced. CPU has been applauded for its diversity, youth outreach, and fun approach to superheroes without the decades of continuity to worry about. Despite the acclaim though, it's tough to get noticed in the superhero race these days. Yet, trusted talents such as Christopher Priest, Jan Duursema, David Walker, Alex de Campi, Amy Chu, Brandon Thomas and Alex Paknadal have headlined their creative pool and Lion Forge as a whole, is on the rise as they earned 10 Eisner Nominations.
Simone describes Lion Forge as a family and has opened up the house of Catalyst Prime to prospective readers "If you’re reading the books, you’re in the family, too. So that means I better not mess up," Simone said of herself.
And while Seven Days is Simone's first CPU story, she's not stressed at the thought of orchestrating a company crossover. "A lot of writers loathe crossovers and event books, because they are frankly a lot of work, but I adore them, I love being part of them," Simone said excitedly. "I’ve been included in many and ran a couple myself, and it’s hugely rewarding. I love what a feeling of excitement it can give the readers!"
Simone goes on to say that the significance of Seven Days isn't just that this is CPU's first crossover story but it's also the first time most of the characters have even appeared in the same book. "For new readers, it’s like, what if there was a great disaster movie, but this time, Earth had superheroes to fight back? How can you lose?" That’s exciting!"
Check out SYFY WIRE's exclusive three-page preview below with two covers by Stjepan Sejic and Ashley Witter.
