During an NYCC ’19 interview with the inimitable UK comics writer of The Dreaming and Coda, Simon Spurrier talked about his upcoming BOOM! Studios book, Alienated. This is just a portion of a larger interview to be published later.
AiPT!: So tell me about this new project here.
Simon Spurrier: We’re announcing it today. It’s a new book I’m doing here at BOOM!, a creator-owned project with Christian Wildgoose, my buddy from Britain who is an exceptionally good artist. It’s called Alienated. I’ll give you the cheap and lazy elevator pitch: it’s what if ET was discovered by three troubled teenagers rather than one goodie-two-shoes.
AiPT!: Very good. You gotta get those movie pitches in.
SS: Oh yeah, elevator style. What if ET was not a little brown turd but a genuine alien, you know? Something ineffable and problematic and awkward and predatory and hungry. So yeah, it’s basically the story of three outcasts who encounter an alien super predator in the woods one day and use it to murder a bully.
AiPT!: Whoa.
SS: Hilarity ensues.
AiPT!: Dark hilarity.
SS: It’s kind of Heathers by way of ET, I guess.
AiPT!: More movie references! Very good. I love it.
SS: But yeah, it’s beautiful. It’s all about what it is to be visible. To be seen and understood as a teenager especially. But for all of us in this strange world, we’re living in today where anybody can publish their thoughts but nobody’s listening.
AiPT!: And the metaphor is of course teenagers feel alienated themselves.
SS: Exactly. It’s an on-the-nose title.
AiPT!; Well, you know, if it works, it works. How long is this gonna be? Six issues? Twelve?
SS: Six issues. In and out. Extremely multi-faceted, dense little miniseries. Which just becomes more and more intricate every time I sit down to write another issue. I’m very in love with it and I can’t wait. I think we’re going to show off a bunch of covers this afternoon at the panel. Yeah, Christian’s a real talent. It should be very beautiful.
AiPT!: I don’t remember, have you mentioned him before? Did you know him before working on this?
SS: Yeah. I first noticed his work when he did a book called Porcelain, which is just exquisite. And then he did some Batgirl stuff. He’s just, this week, released a Black Label, I think it’s a Batman book actually. So his profile has been sort of exploding over here. And we’ve been wanting to work together for a very long time and this was just the right time to do it. He is perfect for this job. Not only in the psychedelic creature design but also just the acting of his characters, the body language, the simple moments. Yeah, it all sings. It’s really good.
Alienated is set for release in February of 2020.
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