GUGGENHEIM TALKS RESURRECTION

[MattBrady]

by Zack Smith

Imagine that one day, aliens invaded Earth. Nicknamed “The Bugs,” they easily beat back our military forces. For 10 years, our world lived under their occupation.

Then, one day, they just left.

Now, in the aftermath of an alien invasion, a disparate group of characters are faced with one enormous question:

What’s next?

That’s the premise for Resurrection, a new ongoing creator-owned series premiering from Oni Press this November. Written by Marc Guggenheim (Wolverine, The Flash) and illustrated by Dave Dumeer, it’s a tale that answers the question – what would really happen after an alien invasion? To get an idea of what this new world will face, we chatted with Guggenheim about his new series, and also got some hints at what’s coming up in his other comic projects.

Newsarama: Marc, could you give our readers an idea of what to expect from Resurrection?

Marc Guggenheim: Sure! Well, I guess the first thing to expect is the unexpected. I’m trying hard to throw in at least one or two surprises per issue. I’m always thinking, “Okay, what’s the version of this character or version of this plot point that we’ve already seen in a million alien invasion movies, and how can we turn it on its head?” In some cases, it turns out to be a quiet character surprise, and in other cases, it turns out to be a big jaw-dropping moment.

In the first arc, we focus in on three different sets of characters, who all have their separate storylines that we are building to a collusion. The first group are our protagonists Sara and Ben.

Sara is in many ways an everywoman, about as typical as you can find. I really wanted the main character to be the reader – we’re going to experience this new, post-invasion world through her eyes, and it’s important for the reader to feel like, at least initially, “Oh, she could be any one of us.”

What’s kind of cool about the series is that everyone’s got a secret – everyone’s got a hidden past, or a hidden agenda, or a hidden something. So, I’m not going to promise that Sara will stay an everywoman, but that’s the approach we’ll have at first.

Ben, her traveling companion, is someone who is very much shrouded in mystery. I think out of crises come people with great potential, and those historical moments bring out that potential that was heretofore buried. And I think Ben is one of those types of people.

That’s one faction, if you will. The next faction involves Paul Dolan, who is a Karl Rove type, and General Schultz, who is obviously a career military man. They represent the power structure that survived in the wake of the alien invasion.

I did a lot of research into this project, probably more research than I’ve done on anything in the past, because I wanted to ground everything in as much reality and as much real-world context as possible. I’m writing it as though it was our world one day, and then the aliens landed, and now it’s 10 years later.

To get that sort of verisimilitude, I had to do a lot of research. After 9/11, Bush set up this shadow government – this is all a matter of public record, he’s said it a million times. One of the premises of the series is that the only thing to survive from the alien occupation is the shadow government.

So we now find that this covertly-installed power base is the only source of authority left standing after the occupation. We follow their journey and what’s going on with them, and how they plan on governing in the wake of this cataclysmic event.

And finally, we have what may be the most mysterious and intriguing group of characters. We have Judy McCreery, who is a woman with a particularly dark past, and a particularly dark secret to keep. She lives alone, by herself up in the mountains, and she has in her basement what looks an awful lot like an alien, whom we called “Spock.”

What Judy’s connection to Spock is, and who Spock is, and what’s going to happen to them, are going to provide some of the more interesting subplots of the series.

NRAMA: I’m curious about the “Bugs,” as the characters call them. How do you create an alien race – what do you think about them in terms of biology, technology, or even just culture?

MG: That’s a good question. I think the first thing you have to do is let go of all your preexisting assumptions that are sort of instilled in us from all these science fiction movies. For example, there’s a sort of very now-clichéd-looking alien, which is the humanoid-standing-upright-big-eyes-without pupils-big-forehead-no-hair alien.

And one of the things Dave Dumeer and I did in discussing the aliens – and this goes into their biology as well – we really, really wanted to come up with as atypical of a look for the aliens as possible.

Now, obviously that’s a very tall order. Reasonable minds are going to differ on just how atypical our aliens look. But a lot of thought went into the question of “Why is it that more often than not in science fiction, aliens look like us?” They’re always our size, they always have one culture.

It’s sort of funny – I love Star Trek, and I’m not bashing it, but if you look at the Klingons, the entire race is warlike! Now, if you look at our planet, and look at all the diversity within a single country over the entire world, you have to ask yourself, “How is it that one planet would be so homogenous?”

Asking those questions and challenging those questions has been the driving force behind the development of the Bugs. And the reason we call them “The Bugs” is because we developed this look, and then started asking the question, “Okay, if these aliens showed up, what would we humans call them?”

And we could call them aliens, and sure enough, we do that a lot in the series. We wouldn’t call them Klingons, we wouldn’t call them Martians…we could come up with some slang term to describe what they look like. And while we avoid an insectoid look, when you see the design – we’re going to slowly tease the appearance of the aliens – when you see the aliens in full-form, you’ll go, “Oh, I understand why they’re called bugs!”

NRAMA: Bugs but not insectoid…that’s already sounding creepy. Now, from what you’ve just said, it sounds like you and Dave have a very close collaboration on this book.

MG: Yeah, it’s probably the closet collaboration I’ve had in comic books so far. Dave has been really, really great. The really nice thing about this book, in Hollywood terms, we put a lot of time into preproduction. This book was announced a year before we set our publication date. I spent an enormous amount of time doing research and developing backstory, and Dave and I spent an enormous amount of time talking character design.

Dave has put a ton of work into designing the characters, designing the Bugs, designing their ships…there was an incredible amount of pre-visualization before we even started working on issue #1. I think it pays a nice dividend.

But a lot of the credit for that has to go to Dave. He’s not only incredibly creative, but incredibly collaborative. He’s tinkering, he’s always shooting me e-mails, he’s always calling, and he’s always asking me these really intelligent questions. It’s been a really, really fruitful collaboration.

NRAMA: How much have you developed the backstory of this idea? Because this is an Earth with 10 years of alien occupation, you have 10 years of backstory for world history, the individual characters, not to mention the aliens themselves…

MG: Right. There’s a huge amount of backstory, and a huge amount of backstory development. I have a whole set of documents I worked up and used as reference when I’m writing each individual script.

I have a whole map that indicates locations and routes of travel. I have a whole list of characters and their back stories. I have a whole timeline going into the past, during the occupation and pre-occupation, as well as into the future and what’s coming down the pipe for the series.

The backstory is actually not just the 10 years of the alien occupation. It actually goes deeper than that – it goes into several decades earlier. So it’s really sort of a wide-ranging, epic-length story. It required a lot of pre-writing work.

NRAMA: All that information sounds like it could take up a few volumes. How many pages of material do you have?

MG: I tried to do everything electronically – I have everything in different files, in different documents on my computer. I also have a series bible that lays out story ideas and concepts. For me, this project presents an interesting challenge. I like the stories that almost sort of tell themselves to me, and this has been an exercise in doing my homework and laying out my backstory so I don’t resort to any hacking. (laughs)

But at the same time, I want that flexibility to play around with how the story unfolds. I’ve found that with my writing that if I plan it out to a ridiculous degree, I wind up losing the spontaneity that makes the story interesting and makes it unpredictable.

So, it’s like I’ve got my master plan, but I’ve already deviated from my master plan in certain, cosmetic senses. In some cases, it’s just changing a character’s name, while in other cases, it’s a more radical shift.

But it allows me to have the best of both worlds – to plan the series out, so I have answers to all the questions that are being raised as I’m writing them, but at the same time, I have some flexibility about how the answers are divulged to the readers.

NRAMA: Given your background in TV writing, I’m curious – was Resurrection originally an idea for a TV series? The concept sounds like it could be easily adapted into that medium.

MG: You know, you’re right – it totally could. It was originally developed as just an idea. I’ve been writing things down in my notebook for years now. And when I came up with the idea, I wasn’t working in comics.

I thought it could work as a movie, I thought as a TV show, I thought it could work as a comic – there’s so many different ways into the story. That’s one of the things I liked about it – there’s different ways you can tell the story, and that lends itself to ways you can tell it in different mediums. It’s one of those ideas that can work in almost any form.

NRAMA: Do you see the series as running a set number of issues, or is it currently open-ended? It sounds like a story that has a definite beginning, middle and end.

MG: It’s a story that definitely has an ending, and I know what the ending is – I know a lot of people say that, but I really do know how it ends! (laughs) Right now, it’s an ongoing series with no set ends. We’re planning to do 10 issues a year, broken into two five-issue arcs a year.

So I’m not going to be overly dogmatic about that number, but that’s the target. Our goal is to work exclusively with Dave. That way, you’ll have a nice, consistent creative thing, which is always a good thing.

NRAMA: Getting into the world of the story – I once attended a lecture where a professor discussed how the Civil War changed the culture in America. For example, individual shoe sizes came about as a result of soldiers needing to walk long distances in shoes, while the popular image of Santa Claus came from a Harper’s illustration of him visiting Union troops.

Have you thought of how the culture of this post-invasion America might have evolved over 10 years?



MG: That’s a really, really great question. To answer that, I have to adjust the assumption behind the question. This wasn’t a war – a war implies two forces fighting each other. This wasn’t a war…this was an ass-kicking. (laughs)

I don’t think about the invasion and occupation as a war. I think about it as a natural disaster. So, actually, most of my research has been into disaster response and how a natural disaster changes the culture.

In fact, the title, Resurrection, has an interesting history behind it. Originally, the title was “Aftermath.” And we had some concerns about other people coming before us with rights issues and things, about calling it “Aftermath.” And when Hurricane Katrina hit, I was watching the news, and one of the New Orleans residents said, “And now we have to look towards the resurrection of New Orleans.” And I thought, “Resurrection! That’s the title!”

NRAMA: Well, you just answered my next question…

MG: (laughs) That’s why! It’s really about what happens after a major disaster – what happens after Katrina, what happens after 9/11, what happens after the tsunami – but on a global scale.

It’s a disaster that happened on this massive, massive planetary scale. The traumas of war are certainly relevant, but I’m thinking of the book more in terms of the aftermath of a cataclysm.

NRAMA: Just curious – have you read the Scarlet Traces books over at Dark Horse?

MG: Yeah! Yeah, I have. And I’ve really, really liked them. I think any work you do is inspired a lot by the books and movies and TV shows that came before you. Resurrection draws a lot, obviously, from not just comic books but also on science fiction novels and movies and even science fiction TV shows like V, which I grew up with.

NRAMA: Ah, those good ol’ gopher-gulping Visitors…

MG: Yeah, I love the Visitors! And I have to say, V the series, which came out of the two miniseries, had a pilot with some interesting parallels to Resurrection insofar as the title of that episode was “Liberation Day,” and it takes place a year after the final battle, after the aliens have been repelled from the planet, or so we think.

So that one hour of television was in many ways an inspiration for Resurrection. I actually thought that one hour of television was more interesting than the 12 hours or so that came after it in that TV series.

NRAMA: Well, the people behind the initial miniseries said the sequel and the TV series were different from what they had planned.

MG: Actually, you know Kenneth Johnson, who wrote the original miniseries, has done a novel called V: The Second Generation? It comes out in late November. I can’t wait for it, I’m really excited.

NRAMA: I did not know this! I’ll have to put in a pre-order…

(Newsarama Note: J. Michael Straczynski also wrote a pilot for a new V series, the first three acts of which are online here.)

MG: I just love V. You know, I was really young when it came out, but I actually enjoyed V: The Final Battle. There’s something to be said for taking out aliens in hot air balloons.

NRAMA: Hey, it also worked on the Tripods…

MG: From War of the Worlds?

NRAMA: No, John Christopher – it’s a trilogy of children’s books, The White Mountains, The City of Gold and Lead, and The Pool of Fire. (Describes plot) They were made into a British TV series.

MG: That sounds cool, actually. That sounds really, really cool. I’ll have to pick those up.

NRAMA: Before we finish, could you give us some updates on your other projects?

MG: Sure! I’m finishing up my second run on Wolverine that I’m doing with Howard Chaykin. It’s great to work with Howard. He’s incredibly professional. He immediately understands what you want to get at with a scene, and knows how to present that in a dynamic and clear way. He’s just a very visceral type of storyteller.

The downside of working with Howard, I always say, is that with my scheduled, keeping up with him is tough! I always breathe a sigh of relief when I’m done doing something with Howard, because when I’m working with him, I have to write that much faster to keep it one step ahead of him. He’s just the nicest guy ever. He’s hysterical. His brain moves at a million miles an hour.

I’m also working on Amazing Spider-Man, as part of the four-man writing team. My first arc comes out in January, in the second month of the “Brand New Day” run. My first three issues deal with the introduction of a new villain to the Spidey universe, a character named Menace. And it also features the “Brand New Day” debut of Jackpot, the character who made her initial appearance in the Free Comic Book Day issue of Spider-Man.

NRAMA: How much interaction is there between the writers of the rotating teams?

MG: A huge amount, via e-mail. We have summits every six months or so, and we have conference calls every two or three months or so, but there are about a million e-mails exchanged every day.

I’m thinking of setting up a separate account just to handle all my Spidey correspondence, because the e-mail chains are huge! There’s even a Google spreadsheet we update in real time to keep track of all the storylines and changes. Honestly, Spider-Man could be a full-time job.

NRAMA: But it sounds like there’s a very coherent vision for the book at this point.

MG: Oh yeah. It’s funny…I was thinking about it the other day. If you look at the way Spider-Man has been written for decades, it hasn’t been written like this. I don’t mean the four writers; I mean with Peter Parker front and center. This is a back to basics approach to Spider-Man that I don’t think has been employed in a very, very long time.

That’s the main thing that all four of us, along with our editors Tom Brevoort and Steve Wacker, agree on. We want it to be back to basics. We want it to be a modern comic, but with a real old-school sensibility. That’s why we’re doing this trade dress. That’s why we’re using thought balloons.

It should feel like a modern comic, but at the same time, it should also hearken back to those days when it was about Peter Parker instead of about Spider-Man. In many ways, the brilliant, brilliant work that Brian Bendis has been doing on Ultimate Spider-Man has been more true to Spider-Man than you’ve seen in a long time.

And that’s not the fault of the writers who came before us. It’s more of a natural outgrowth of the evolution of the character. For better or for worse, Spider-Man has evolved more than any major character. If you look at Superman or Batman, or even the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, Spider-Man has probably evolved more as a character than any of these other key, major-league characters.

NRAMA: Well, he was the character who introduced ongoing soap-operatic elements to the superhero comic.

MG: Right. And I think that soap-opera element is what has driven his character development. There have been all these different people in and out of his life – friends and girlfriends and marriage and clones and a baby – there’s been a lot of character development because of that soap opera show quality that’s been in the book for a long time.

NRAMA: But it sounds like you’re having a lot of fun with this.

MG: I am! I have to say, it’s a really fun project. I knew when I signed on that it would be me and three other writers, that it would be a very different type of project – and it is! And that’s what makes it fun! It’s Spider-Man. If you’re not having fun writing Spider-Man, there’s probably something wrong with you.

NRAMA: Words to live by! Now, the last time we talked, your ABC series Eli Stone had just been picked up. It’s already getting some great reviews. Sounds like it’s going pretty well…

MG: Just plain ridiculously well! By all rights, there’s no way it should be going as well as it is. It’s really exciting, a fun show. I think it’s going to really blow people’s minds.

NRAMA: It’s already gotten a good review at The Futon Critic…

MG: Yeah! That was a great review. And they haven’t even seen the final version – we just did five days of reshoots on the pilot to give it some more eye candy, do some work on the visual effects. So if you liked the pilot before, now it’ll just completely blow your mind.

NRAMA: Any other projects you’d like to discuss?

MG: Yeah, there’s my 12-part project in Marvel Comics Presents, Vanguard, which just started. There, I’m working with Dave Wilkins, who’s new to Marvel, and he’s a breakout artist. It’s funny – I get his pages, and I don’t have to do any work. Who needs my writing? Just look at the art! I never say, “Just buy something for the art, because it’s spectacular,” but with Dave…he’s really, really spectacular.

The series is very ambitious. It’s a very different type of project. But what I’m happy about with my current slate of projects in comics is that all my projects are so incredibly different from one another. And Vanguard is unique in that over 12 issues, over the course of a year, it starts as an episode of Law & Order, and then it takes you into this totally unexpected territory. And it’s very unlike anything I’ve ever done, and unlike other “mainstream” Marvel comics.

NRAMA: Any final thoughts?

MG: Just thanks for reading! On Newsarama, I do lurk on the message boards from time to time, and I’m very flattered by what I read there about my own work. I’m very grateful for the readers being interested in my stuff, and willing to read it, and willing to write about it. So – thanks!

Resurrection #1 is available from Oni Press in November. This interview was conducted prior to the announcement that Guggenheim will be one of the screenwriters on the upcoming Green Lantern movie.

[AbacusComics]

Cool. I like the concept, I'll definitely have to check this out.

[Jed Saxon]

They had me at "Guggenheim". Oni is just icing on the cake.

[rwe1138]

Sounds interesting.

And Guggs, if you read this, congrats on the Green Lantern gig.

[Contrabandolero]

I absolutely love Marc's work, I am so dissapointed that I missed this on Previews. I will definitely take a trip to my LCS to grab a copy. While it has the same "flavor" than the Wlaking Dead, it has a distinctive enough concept to make it stand on its own... can't wait!

[ShinAkuma666]

This looks great and the premise of doing it ten years after the invasion and that they have now left is just a very neat idea,

Will keep an eye for it for sure.

[GSHAG]

if guggs even sneezes on it, i buy it. only issues of ASM im buying are his

[Lamond]

Guggenheim? I'm in.

[deadkid]

This looks like it could be pretty damn good. Have to check it out when it comes out.

[Kid Impulse]

Damn you Guggenheim, I don't need another ongoing, but you've convinced me. Sounds awesome

[Fletcher]

Man this thing looks like its going to be three different types of dirty laundry......
nah just kidding.
I like the concept alot and the preview pages were enough to wet my appetite. I'll be getting this and hopefully in trade to if it stays around long enough to get some issues collected.

[Snotling]

So... its like The Walking Dead but with aliens? ^_^

I kid, I kid. This sounds really cool, and I'll definately check it out. And here's why:

Originally Posted by Marc Guggenheim

That’s why we’re using thought balloons.

Take that postmodern writing conventions!

[Fletcher]

NRAMA: Given your background in TV writing, I’m curious – was Resurrection originally an idea for a TV series? The concept sounds like it could be easily adapted into that medium.




I was just wondering, maybe it's just me, but can't we say this about alot of comics? At least the non- Marvel DC ones? I think Walking Dead would be pretty cool too. Invincible? Maybe some of the Luna Bros stuff. Just throwing that out there......

[-Armando523-]

looks interesting

[christosgage]

I got to sneak a glance at the bible for this series and I can't wait to read it...it's going to be all kinds of cool!

[HughSterb]

Dude, V is the greatest. I can't wait for the Kenneth Johnson novel.

Anyone else read The Pursuit of Diana, the novelization of that two-part premiere of the V series? My sixth grade teacher took it away from me, and I stole it back from her so I could finish it!!!

Definitely picking up Resurrection. I think you could sell me anything by comparing it to V, LOL.

[jimbo887]

Goddamit, Guggenheim! Now I have to add yet another book to my pull list. I hate you, sir.

[trachmanred]

............Sold!

[stasisbal]

Looking good.

[monkeybob]

Yeah, it is a cool concept. I thought it was even cooler, though, when the book was called "Second Wave" and Boom published it.

Maybe they could change the name of this "original" comic book to "Invasion of the Premise Snatchers."

[RandyOni]

Originally Posted by monkeybob

Yeah, it is a cool concept. I thought it was even cooler, though, when the book was called "Second Wave" and Boom published it.

Maybe they could change the name of this "original" comic book to "Invasion of the Premise Snatchers."

Second Wave was a literal continuation of War of the Worlds. The story was about how the aliens came back for a "second wave".

Resurrection isn't about a returning alien armada or invasion. Nor is it a direct continuation of any other preexisting story. It is about how humanity rebuilds after such a massive cataclysmic event. How do we rebuild our societies? Who will be our leaders? What will we use as the foundation of the new economy? How do we cope with the loss of almost everyone we know and love? How does this event reshape our views of the universe and the nature of religion?

And surrounding these questions are other mysteries like: Who were these aliens? Where did they come from? Why did they attack earth? Why did they all just up and leave? Were they defeated or did they just move on? Will they be coming back? Are any still around?

The closest piece of fiction I would compare Resurrection to would be the dark but hopeful tone of Children of Men.

[monkeybob]

Oh, I see, so Second Wave is about the aliens leaving, how earth responded to those events and then how the aliens came back, and your book is just about how earth reacts once the aliens leave.

So your premise isn't a rip off of Second Wave because you're only ripping off half of the premise to Second Wave?

Huh? Wha? Color me confused.

And you'll gladly admit a passing similarity in tone to a really cool movie, but you won't just concede the obvious similarities to a recent comic? Hey, what's to be ashamed of? Marvel did a sequel to War of the Worlds in the 1970s, and I don't remember anyone at Boom feeling the need to apologize. There are only a limited number of stories out there, after all, and most everything is a variation on a theme.

I'm just saying you should be up front about it - you're putting a variation on a pretty damn recent theme, and this has "derivative" written all over it, to put it kindly.

[RandyOni]

Originally Posted by monkeybob

So your premise isn't a rip off of Second Wave because you're only ripping off half of the premise to Second Wave?

...

I'm just saying you should be up front about it - you're putting a variation on a pretty damn recent theme, and this has "derivative" written all over it, to put it kindly.

I have to be honest here... until your post, I had no idea what Second Wave was. I'm sure it is a good book. Heck, it must be for it to inspire you to create an account and make your very first post on Newsarama. But nobody at Oni has read the mini-series. I don't recall ever even seeing it in any of our comic shops. The reality is we had no idea it even existed. In fact, I went to Amazon.com to try and figure out what on earth you were talking about. Unfortunately, Amazon didn't even provide any book description at all. So, I then looked up Boom's sight, and after a little digging, found the book in question.

Do they sound similar? Sure.
Are we ripping anybody off? Nope.

Here are a couple things that you should understand:

1) Almost all of the books Oni Press publishes, including Resurrection, are creator-owned. We don't sit around devising ways of "ripping off" other works. In fact, we don't sit around coming up with story or project ideas at all. Creators come to us with books they passionately want to make and we do every thing we can to help those creators tell their story in the best manner possible.

2) Marc Guggenheim has been working on this project for years. In fact, we announced this project about a two years ago. I honestly don't know if Marc has read Second Wave, but I do know he has been working on this project for significantly longer than he could have ever even known Second Wave existed. I'm not sure he has ever even heard of Boom's book.

Now...

Granting some surface similarities between the two projects, I still think there are enough differences between them for people to be able to appreciate them both. As the saying goes, "the magic isn't in the idea, but the execution." And I think people will find that both the idea and the execution of our long-form ongoing series make it a viable addition to the comics world.

And lets also be clear, Marc isn't giving away too much in this interview. He is very careful not to give away all the big reveals and secrets of the series. And I can assure you that as the series moves on and the large mysteries are revealed, you will be seeing a greater and greater difference between it and the disaster/alien-invasion films that inspired it. In fact, all the presumptions people have about the series will likely change. The surface similarities between this story and War of the World or ID4 or even Second Wave are just that, surface similarities.

My suggestion, read the material before you jump to conclusions. You're in for some fun surprises.

[monkeybob]

Wow, get defensive much?

Let me quote myself here:

"Marvel did a sequel to War of the Worlds in the 1970s, and I don't remember anyone at Boom feeling the need to apologize. There are only a limited number of stories out there, after all, and most everything is a variation on a theme.

"I'm just saying you should be up front about it - you're putting a variation on a pretty damn recent theme, and this has "derivative" written all over it, to put it kindly."

I'd hardly say that means I'm calling you rip-off artists, unless I'm saying that's true of everyone, which I guess I am to some extent.

But if we're going to go there, so what if you claim not to be familiar with Second Wave, or claim Gugge... Gugen... gah... never could spell. So what if you claim the writer has been working on this for years? If this were a deliberate rip off - IF! and I'm not saying it is, just that methinks you protest too much and it has that smell about it - isn't that exactly what you would say? That you knew nothing of the series and any resemblance was purely a coincidence?

So accuse me of judging a product sight unseen - I said it SEEMED suspicious; I wouldn't just label a book as plagiarized if I hadn't read it first! - then try to wave off what you perceive as accusations with the sort of lame excuses a plagiarist would make IF THERE EVEN WAS ANY PLAGIARISM.

But, hey, if you're going to jump right to defending against an unmade accusation, rather than acknowledge the similarities, I might as well go all out and make the accusation.

Ahem. "I'm rubber, you're glue, but in addition to being a common household adhesive you're plagiarists too."

[RandyOni]

If you are curious, here are some of the review excerpts that have come out recently:

Comics Waiting Room

"...
I was pretty surprised by how much I liked RESURRECTION. It has some nice character depth to it, and by telling this story, it gives the writer the chance to genuinely say something about our current society as well (as good sci-fi should). There are a number of strong plots put into motion here, and I found myself interested in every one of them.

David Dumeer’s art is really terrific. He’s got a nice sense of how to draw real people. There are different body types, different ethnicities… and he knows how to draw a proper background, too. For some, it seems to be a lost art, so to speak.
... "

Ambush Bug @ Ain't It Cool News

"This book starts where every other sci fi/alien invasion story ends. Writer Mark Guggenheim does a great job of creating a devastated world, picking up the pieces after a narrow victory against invading aliens. This is a survivor’s tale told from many different perspectives. I especially liked the scene between the captured alien and the scientist regarding his acclimation to the earth environment and the chances of the alien ever being rescued by his own people. There’s some really great dialog in this one and the concept is great enough to give survivor books like THE WALKING DEAD a run for its money."

Humphrey Lee @ Ain't It Cool News

"...
From both creative aspects, the writing and the art, this is a solidly put together book. The dialogue flows forth pretty smoothly, and the scripting does very well for alluding here and there as to what exactly has been going on during this "war". And, honestly, this issue holds a lot of poignancy despite it being more of a "cliff notes catchup" making me hopeful for exactly the kind of power it can pack when/if it becomes more focused. And David Dumeer's pencils do a great job of first and foremost doing exactly what they have to in a Black & White book: differentiating and diversifying the characters. I don't care whether a book is in color or not, but if you are going to go the B&W approach you have to realize the lack of color can sometimes mess with people's recognitions of the characters, especially if there's a lack in facial feature range and what have you. That is most certainly not the case here as Dumeer looks to have a large arsenal of features, expressions, body types, etc. at his disposal to go with a pretty skill to create background detail and good panel pacing. This already looks to be a very solid mesh of Writer and Artist, each with some tricks up their sleeves to spice things up.
..."

Comic Pants:

"What are the odds of two great science-fiction series starting on the same week? I admit, I was skeptical. I love a good post-apocalypse story, I’m a fan of Oni, but I’ve enjoyed literally nothing that Guggenheim has written in comics. With Resurrection #1, I guess the score goes up to one, because this is a fantastic first issue. Starting from the first day after an alien invasion, when a mysterious weapon has forced the occupying “bugs” off the planet, Guggenheim introduces a handful of characters and ideas, teasing about what happened in the invasion, what’s happening now and what the survivors are going to do about it. It’s all got a very similar feel to the first issue of Walking Dead, when it all has a promising vibe but you have no idea how good it’s going to get, and I hope Resurrection builds in the same manner. It certainly has art equal to the task, as newcomer Dave Dumeer shows off clever storytelling (check out the passage of time sequence on nine) and a confident, expressive style that reminds me of Charlie Adlard crossed with Becky Cloonan. Good stuff, and one of the stronger first issues I’ve read in a while."

Click on the above links for the complete reviews. :twisted: