This fall Simon Oliver (EXTERMINATORS, GEN 13) is working on a new project over at Vertigo with artist Robbie Rodriguez called COLLIDER. According to the Wondercon 2013 panel, this book will "take the laws of physics, the constants we all know, and twist them upside down into a reality that is completely unpredictable." Writer Simon Oliver took the time to answer a few questions about this series and his writing process.
Comic Vine:What is COLLIDER about?
Simon Oliver: Collider about a world that's very recognizable as our own, only some years back after a series of strange and unexpected phenomenon, scientists discovered that the laws of physics weren't quite so carved in stone.
But instead of the world ending we did what we do best and after a short while the new paradigm of unpredictable physics became a part of our normal, everyday lives. Time reversal loops in a supermarket parking lot or a wormhole on the freeway might make the local morning news, but generally it's not front page news anymore.
Our story is about a team of Federal Bureau of Physics agents, and their story as the paradigm starts to shift again.
CV: Where did you come up with the idea for this book and did it come from any real world inspiration?
SO: I was thinking about physics a couple of years back, around tornado season, and suddenly had this idea about quantum tornadoes and it went from there.
CV: You're no stranger to working at Vertigo, since you worked on both EXTERMINATORS and CHAS, what do you like about working at this company?
SO: That I can do books like Collider and tell stories that don't fit into the regular sized holes.
CV: How did you get involved in this book?
SO: I'd been talking to Mark Doyle (my editor) about doing a new book, and the day after getting the quantum tornadoes idea I called him up and ranted for 5 minutes about it, and he was pretty much sold.
CV: How did artist Robbie Rodriguez get involved?
SO: Mark had Robbie on his wish list of artists, which was a great pick on his part.
CV: What is your process when working with Robbie on this book?
SO: It's different from the angle I've taken in the past, which is good. In the past I've written the script, sent it off and got finished art work months later. That's how I started work on Collider, but as we're getting deeper into the process I'm starting to write looser scripts that turn into more back and forth as the book tightens up and takes shape.
CV: From the looks of the solicit, this book is pretty heavy in the world of science, how much research did you spend on this book and what did you actually research?
SO: Yeah I read a lot. The more I started paying attention the more I realized what an interesting time it is in the world of physics. Everyday there are articles about the craziest stuff, things that wouldn't seem real a few years ago. For example I'd decided on the basic premise of the book, "that physics had gone unpredictable" but I wanted to find a reason in my mind as to how and why this would happen. I got to reading about space-time fabric, and decided for my story the space-time fabric had expanded and stretched to a point that holes were starting to appear, like pizza dough stretched too far. Great I think, that works in my mind, I'll go with that. Then not a week later I read that this idea is actually a real theory someone has come up with, as being a possibility. this kind of thing happened a lot.
CV: What will set COLLIDER apart from the rest of the books on the shelves and what do you think readers will be attracted to the most on this series
SO: I don't know, that's the million dollar question. I think you go with your gut, try to tell a compelling story in your own voice and hope that there's a audience for it. Personally I'm pretty proud of the work that we're done on it, It has killer art work, and if pink covers don't make it at least visually jump off the shelf then I'm not sure what will. Will it be a monster hit? Of course I hope so. I hope that people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Thanks to Simon Oliver for taking the time to answer all these questions and make sure to check out COLLIDER from Vertigo, which hits stores on July 10!