Gail Simone will be joining Lion Forge Comics, overseeing their Catalyst Prime line of superhero comic books as Chief Architect. The Hollywood Reporter broke the news ahead of SDCC, amid rumors that Simone would be joining Lion Forge after being added to their “More than Marketing: Lion Forge Comics Fall Preview” panel at the convention this Sunday. Simone follows former Executive Editor Joe Illidge, who left Lion Forge to become Executive Editor at Valiant Entertainment.
Simone expressed her enthusiasm in joining Lion Forge saying, ”I can barely express my excitement over this, and I want to thank Lion Forge for inviting me to play in this amazing new toybox. Everywhere you look, there’s something new and thrilling in this universe. And what we are planning is unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere.”
Lion Forge was founded in 2011 with an emphasis on creating stories with culturally diverse and underrepresented creators and characters. The Catalyst Prime line was launched in May 2017 with a one-shot called “Catalyst Prime: The Event” (co-written by Illidge and Christopher Priest), on Free Comic Book Day that year. The line then spawned seven ongoing series, all of which are still continuing.
Lion Forge President Geoff Garber also stated, “Gail Simone’s ability to write some of the most compelling superhero characters of our time in storylines and universes that were created three-quarters of a century before her contributions speaks to her talent as a writer. Her leadership on representation of women in superhero comics speaks to her fit with Lion Forge and its mission distilled in our slogan as ‘Comics for Everyone.’ It is inspiring to think what she will be able to do with the amazing team of current creators working on Catalyst Prime when we set her loose on an emerging universe conceived and executed for a contemporary audience that, from its inception, has been inclusive and entertaining.”
It was also revealed that, for the first time since “The Event” one-shot, Priest will be returning to Catalyst Prime to write the 10th issue of “Astonisher” with artist Al Barrionuevo in September. It was also revealed that the eighth ongoing series, “Quincredible,” which was originally solicited for August, will instead launch in November.
It has not been revealed yet if Simone will be writing any of the upcoming titles or just overseeing the line, but expect more details to be announced this weekend at SDCC.
