Gail Simone Talks Wonder Woman/Conan

Conan the Barbarian has never met someone quite like Wonder Woman, but he's about to. The two warriors will come face-to-face in Wonder Woman/Conan, a six-issue miniseries from writer Gail Simone and artist Aaron Lopresti. Due out this Wednesday, Wonder Woman/Conan will send the Amazon princess to Conan's world, and the two will set out to become legends.

Though not much is known about the crossover event, Simone offered a few teases of what's to come during Comic-Con International in San Diego. The Clean Room scribe detailed how she came onto the project, why it appealed to her and her reunion with Lopresti. She also addressed the blockbuster superhero film Wonder Woman and her appreciation for the strong positive response her creator-owned series Crosswind, which she helms with artist Cat Staggs.

What brought you back to superhero comics?

I did shorts, in this time that I was taking a break, creating Clean Room and Crosswind, and I'm always up for a good superhero story, a good Wonder Woman story in particular, and I'd written Conan vs. Red Sonja before and I love sword and sorcery, so you didn't really have to ask too hard. [laughs]

What's it like to work on Wonder Woman again?

It's amazing! Well, like I said, I've done several shorts in between, like one-shots and stuff, but I always loved working on her and I love really getting into a nice, good, great Wonder Woman story and the fun thing about this is it's straight up sword and sorcery. So it doesn't take place in current times, and so putting her in with Conan is just so much fun. You've got two super warriors, super intelligent, super hot people together in the same book, and it looks amazing.

Why Conan?

Well, that was what was presented to me, was the Conan and Wonder Woman crossover, which is what I loved, and I think it's a perfect match if you're going to do a crossover. The exciting thing is, too, is that Conan has never met a DC character in all of the history, so that's exciting to do something that's the first time it's happened, and then to have it be just straight up sword and sorcery and down and dirty and monsters and fighting… It's just really fun.

How was this story pitched to you?

It was more like, "We're going to do a Conan/Wonder Woman crossover. What do you think, and what would be your idea for that story?" And then we just kind of went back and forth a little bit and came up with something everybody was happy with. I think it's mostly both companies want to make sure their character is highlighted and that's why I like the equality of the story. It's just really fun to put two intelligent super-warriors together.

What brings them together?

I really can't talk too much about that, because that's part of the story and the surprise of the story, but we'll just say that most of it is going to be taking place in Conan's time.

What can you tell us about the story?

What I will say about the story, which kind of delighted me because I did a spotlight panel yesterday and asked Aaron [Lopresti] if he could stop by for a few minutes so we could talk about Wonder Woman/Conan together on the panel, and he was talking about how much he likes the script and how, when he reads a script, he wants to know what's happening in the next script, which -- you know -- I write the script, it goes to him, he pencils it and then he'll get the next one when it's ready. So he's not going to have the complete six issues to read all at once, and so he was just saying how it was driving him crazy because he wanted to know what was going to happen next, and -- to me -- that's a good sign. I was like, if the artist is excited about the story, then I feel like it's going to be okay.

How was it to work with Aaron Lopresti again?

Well, Aaron and I worked together on Wonder Woman previously, and he does the most gorgeous, powerful Wonder Woman, really, and very thoughtful artist, which I really like, and he loves sword and sorcery. So, when they asked me if I was interested in doing this and we all said, "Okay, yeah, this is going to happen," I said, "Can you please, please, please have Aaron do the art? Because he will be amazing!" He loves the material, he loves the setting, he draws an amazing Wonder Woman, and they asked him and he said, "Yes, of course!" I mean, it's great.

Is this something that new readers can just jump into?

Oh, yeah. I always write with that in mind, because the whole idea is to hopefully bring new readers in, and so -- even if you've never read a Wonder Woman story or a Conan story but you're a fan of fantasy or sword and sorcery of any kind or just a really great action story -- there's something in there for you and you don't need to know big, long 75-year histories of these characters to enjoy the story.

What about those longtime fans? Will there be something for them to find?

Yeah, I think they will. Crossovers tend to follow a formula, a lot of times. This does not follow that formula, and that's why I'm saying that it's a really good Conan story as well as a really good Wonder Woman story separately, and then really great together and we really get to learn about these characters when they're in this situation, and obviously Conan has never met anyone like Wonder Woman before, so this is going to be an interesting dynamic.

Were there any other characters you were particularly excited to work with in Wonder Woman/Conan?

There's some really cool characters from the Conan mythos that I really enjoy, and then I've created a couple new villain-y type female characters that look awesome, that I just want people to see and discover when the book comes out.

If you could have Wonder Woman team up with any other character in comics, who would it be?

Oh, man. I'll probably get in so much trouble, but wouldn't it be amazing to see Wonder Woman and Storm? Just gives you chills thinking about it!

What about Wonder Woman and Red Sonja?

I would love that a lot. [laughs]

Do you have plans for the Wonder Woman/Conan story to continue after this miniseries?

Well, we haven't discussed that, but I'm always up for continuing any good Wonder Woman story. So, you know, if I was asked, I would definitely be interested, but we don't have that planned at this moment.

What was your gut reaction to seeing the Wonder Woman movie?

Well, first of all, every minute of my life that I've waited for this movie that I thought was never going to happen was worth it. I really am so ecstatic about it, and the things that I think are the most important about the character of Wonder Woman were on the screen, and that just made me delighted, to have her be so proactive and strong-willed and really set in doing what she feels is right really resonated with me. And the Amazons were terrific. I just loved it.

Were you expecting such a strong response to Crosswind?

We never know what to expect, and I think most people who are creative and who are writers, you believe in your material but you doubt that other people will, along the way, and you sort of overcome that constantly, like, "No, I think this is really good and I think people will like it." But once I saw Cat [Staggs]'s art for it, I really had no doubt that people were going to like this book, because she just brings this sense of mood and ground[s] the story, that I really felt pretty confident. You just never know if people are going to take a chance on a first issue, but then when people start talking about it and say, "Oh, you guys have to read this!" That's what makes you feel good. It's like, "Okay, well, then the people who took a chance are trying to get other people to take a chance" and I love that.

Gail Simone and Aaron Lopresti's Wonder Woman/Conan #1 goes on sale this Wednesday, September 20.

CBR

INTERVIEW: Simone Teases 'Fun,' 'Surprising' Wonder Woman/Conan Series