So far we've seen Kelly Sue Deconnick interview Paul Tobin on PROMETHEUS: FIRE AND STONE and Paul Tobin interview Chris Roberson on ALIENS: FIRES AND STONE. Next up we have Chris Roberson talking to Chris Sebela about ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: FIRE AND STONE, drawn by Ariel Olivetti.
CHRIS ROBERSON: I know from personal experience how strange it can sometimes feel to get to work on franchises that you were a big fan of as a kid. Did it ever feel a little surreal for you?
CHRIS SEBELA: From day one. Even before day one. Back when I was submitting stuff to Scott Allie to even be considered for the book, I was equal parts giddy and terrified. Then I actually got the nod and it happened again. Once we actually started and we got that bible from 20th Century Fox, it was all super real in a way it hadn't been before. The whole thing is a 7 layer dip of strangeness that I'm only now adjusted to.
CR: Ariel Olivetti’s work on this series is just INSANE. Elden’s transformations as the story progresses are super creepy, in particular. How specific did you get with your descriptions in the script, and how much of that was Ariel going nuts off on his own?
CS: I tried to get as specific as possible for all the mutations. There's nothing I love more than body horror, that the one thing you can call your own is taken away from you, so I tried to go as nuts as possible. Not only do I get to transform Elden, but I get a Predator and Francis to work with too, so it was like a Mutation Christmas for me. I just hoped that Ariel was as into it as I was, and luckily he was and he took my weirdo ideas and made them actually work. When I got his pages, that was a crazy experience, coming up with some supremely messed up stuff in your head and then seeing it pulled off so much better than you'd thought it would and in a way that almost looks effortless.
CR: You’ve collaborated before with Kelly Sue on a couple of projects. How was the “writers’ room” with that many people together different from working with just one co-writer?
CS: Way more chaotic. There were five writers, an artist, half a dozen editors, it was intimidating just from a numbers perspective. When I've co-written, it's largely been done quietly in person or over a phone or via email, so I still get to maintain my hermit bubble that I'm used to working in. Having to suddenly be in a room with a lot of people way more talkative than me, I had to get used to just shouting out whatever idea popped into my head instead of turning it over and over in my head until I talked myself out of it. It took a lot of getting used to, but now that I've done it, I kind of miss it.
CR: Did you write dialogue for the Predators, or just indicate how many of those crazy alien letters to put into their balloons?
CS: I wrote so much dialogue for the predators. Every line that appears in the book, I originally wrote out dialogue for it. Even though I knew the whole time that Nate Piekos was going to be subbing it all out for his predator font, I guess that was my process for getting inside the head of the Predators. I mean, they can talk, they're clearly saying something when they barf out those clicks and rumbles, so I was mostly just answering my own questions I'd always had when I watched those movies. Spoiler: they're not the most charming conversationalists.
CR: Okay, who would win in a fight? Aliens? Or Predators? One of each, cage match, no holds barred.
CS: Aliens all the way. It took me awhile to get to this place, but I feel like the concept of Aliens vs Predators is like Bears vs Humans. Sure, humans have some amazing weaponry and smarts to take down a hell of a lot of bears, but eventually you run out of ammo, your stuff breaks, you get exhausted, and the bear? The bear comes pre-loaded with a bunch of different weapons from birth and they don't have to worry about dropping them. Plus I don't really know how a Predator makes a baby Predator, but I'm guessing that's also more like humans, while Aliens are birthing entire litters of baby war machines, so, in an all out match of the species, Aliens will always win. And I should know, I wrote AvP.
ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: FIRE AND STONE #4 is on sale January 14. We have some pages from the series below. Come back tomorrow to see Chris Sebela interviewing Joshua Williamson.
