The terrifying world of Resident Evil returns to comics as the dedicated agents of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance face off against Virus spreading bio-weapons both in space and on land.

The Big Bad Wolf: Are you a fan of the Resident Evil video game series?

Ricardo Sanchez: I am a huge fan of the series. I've played nearly every iteration of every game and can still remember the day I first popped the original Resident Evil into my PlayStation. I hadn't really been paying attention to the pre-release info, so the game was a complete surprise to me. I fell in love with it instantly.

The Big Bad Wolf: Which game in the series stands out as your favorite?

Ricardo Sanchez: There are two that jump out as favorites for me. The original PlayStation game, largely because it scared the hell out of me and it was a completely new experience. And Resident Evil 4 on the Wii. I can't honestly say I was a huge fan of Leon until that particular title came along. If I had to go back and re-play the original Resident Evil, though, I'd probably play one of the remakes. The load times on the PS1 version are pretty intolerable by today's standards.

The Big Bad Wolf: Did you pick up Resident Evil 5 which became available on March 13, 2009?

Ricardo Sanchez: Yes, I had it on pre-order.

The Big Bad Wolf: How did you land the job as the Resident Evil writer?

Ricardo Sanchez: I've known the guys at Wildstorm for a while now. They worked on the Tomb Raider ReVisioned animated series I produced. When they started bringing in game based books I begged on a daily basis to let me pitch the series. I think they finally got tired of it and put me on the pitch list. Capcom liked some of my ideas and selected me.

The Big Bad Wolf: What type of research did you before writing this series?

Ricardo Sanchez: The comic uses pre-RE4 bio-weapons, although it is set more or less contemporaneously with RE5, so I went back and played through RE2 and Umbrella Chronicles. I also looked at a lot of the RE5 material to get a better sense of where the franchise was going. And I watched RE: Degeneration as well. Basically, I steeped myself in Resident Evil.

The Big Bad Wolf: What it is like fleshing out more of the background on the main character, Chris Redfield?

Ricardo Sanchez: Although the initial material on the comic series indicated that the story was about Chris Redfield's life before the start of RE5, the Resident Evil series doesn't actually have Chris, or any of the other game characters, in it. The series makes use of the Resident Evil universe, the BSAA, and the lore of the series, but branches out with two new BSAA agents on a mission of their own.

The first new character, BSAA Special Operations Agent Mina Gere is a rookie member of the BSAA. She's exceptionally well trained, but no field experience. She's sent up to a Space Station to investigate a whistle blower's report that someone aboard is conducting bio-weapon research. The mission is supposed to be a simple investigation, but Mina finds herself alone in a station filled with infected astronauts.

The second new character, BSAA Special Operations Agent Holiday Sugarman is a veteran "benevolent gun for hire" who's family was killed in a bio-weapon incident. He used his extensive connections to land a spot with the BSAA so he could help make the world a safer place, and hopefully prevent what happened to his family from happening to others.

The Big Bad Wolf: What can we expect from this series in terms of blood and gore?

Ricardo Sanchez: Well, you can't have Resident Evil without blood and gore! Some stories call for gratuitous blood and gore, but I've always felt that Resident Evil succeeded based on the tension of the situations, not the number of pints of blood that got spilled. So there is a plenty of gore in the comic, but it isn't extreme. I will tell you though, that the Mina Gere character likes blades and uses them effectively on zombies!

The Big Bad Wolf: How is it working with artist, Kevin Sharpe?

Ricardo Sanchez: Working with Kevin is great! His process makes it really easy to collaborate. Kevin lays out the entire book in comps, that I can then compare to the script, so we are able to make sure both of us understand what the other one is doing. Kevin is also great at making suggestions on how to adapt what I've written to his style. In some cases he might have a perspective on a series of panels that, visually, will tell the story in a different way than I've written it, but I've learned he has great art instincts, so I try to incorporate all of his ideas.

The Big Bad Wolf: What has impressed you the most so far about Kevin Sharpe's art?

Ricardo Sanchez: That is actually a tough question because, overall, I've really liked everything Kevin has done.

I'm a huge comic book fan. As a writer I like to think people read them for the words, but in my heart I know its the art that draws readers in and the copy is there to help tell the parts of the story that the panels can't.

I mention this because if I have to pick out just one thing Kevin does that has impressed me the most, it would be his ability to take a very complex set of panel descriptions, with a fair amount of dialog, and create images that tell the story, have great detail, but still have enough open space to get in all the dialog. As a writer, I'm happiest when I know the dialog balloons aren't blocking out great artwork, and Kevin just does a phenomenal job of putting a page together.

The Big Bad Wolf: The first issue was released Wednesday March, 11, 2009, when is issue two due out?

Ricardo Sanchez: Issue #2 will come out April 8th, Issue #3 will come out May 13th.

The Big Bad Wolf: After this mini series is complete, would you be interested in writing more Resident Evil stories?

Ricardo Sanchez: Absolutely! The RE universe is a pretty wide one. There are characters from the series I'm writing, in addition to Mina and Holiday, that I'd like to revisit. There is a lot about the BSAA that would be fun to explore. And I think there are tons of stories that could be told using Chris, Leon, Claire and Wesker. Although the one game character I'd most like to write about is HUNK.

The Big Bad Wolf: Where can our readers find out more about the Resident Evil comic?

Ricardo Sanchez: http://www.dccomics.com/wildstorm/

The Big Bad Wolf: In closing, what would you like to say to our readers about this Resident Evil series?

Ricardo Sanchez: Go out and buy it!

I'm not kidding. I know some readers are hoping for an RE5 prequel, but I think that once readers get used to the new characters, they're in for a good ride. The series will take a lot of elements familiar to Resident Evil fans but use them in new ways. Without giving anything away that isn't already in some of the solicit copy, the series will have novel applications of the T-Virus to critters that have never been exposed to it before. And we'll also see advanced weaponization of zombies and an improvement on the Tyrant.

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