We have a special interview with Ricardo Sanchez, writer of the new Resident Evil Comic! The Comic is due out in May. Check out the interview for details and facts on when and where the story in the comics takes place, as well as some other info on characters and the like. For a preview of some of the first pages, check out this gallery. 

When does the comic take place in the Resident Evil timeline?

RICARDO: The new comic book is roughly contemporaneous with RE5, but I'd say occurs just prior to the events of the game, if only because no reference is made to those events. The comic was initially planned as a prequel to the game, but as we developed the story, the comic evolved into a new set of characters that would exist within the Resident Evil universe.

So the comic book doesn't use any of the characters from the games? What can you tell us about them?

RICARDO: The series introduces two new characters, BSAA Special Operation Agents Holiday Sugarman and Mina Gere. While you won't see Chris Redfield or any of the other RE characters, the BSAA agents will encounter a variety of T-Virus and G-Virus infected monsters, some with new twists, that are part of the Resident Evil universe.

The first new character, Mina Gere, is a rookie member of the BSAA, just appointed a Special Operations Agent. 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, 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.

What was your inspiration for the setting?

RICARDO: The comic book is going to range over three different settings. The first part of the series, where we get to know the two main characters, takes place in two different locations. For Mina, the story starts aboard an international space station where researchers working on the T-virus had a mishap that she has to clean up. The Holiday Sugarman storyline takes place in Grezbekistan, a fictional country you might find in the Uzbekistan, Turkey, Afghanistan region of the world. I chose these two settings to establish the characters because they highlight the strengths the two characters will bring to the main story line. For Mina, the space station is a technological challenge she's well prepared to meet. Holiday's deployment to a difficult situation in the hinterland demonstrates his versatility and experience under fire.

The main story, that develops from Mina and Holiday's initial missions, takes place in South America. I chose that particular location because it provided a lot of flexibility for creating obstacles for the characters to overcome.

What advantages do you feel the comic format provides over a game, or a film?  

RICARDO: The single biggest advantage that comic books have is budget. Whatever I dream up, the artist can draw. I don't have to worry about how many additional programming hours are required to make free fall in space realistic, or how much certain creature effects will cost. Of all the visual storytelling media, comics really have the most freedom.

What were some of your favorite moments from Resident Evil?

RICARDO: That's actually a really hard question to answer. There are a lot. But overall, I'd have to say playing through Resident Evil 1 on my PlayStation, in general, had my favorite moments. There were a lot of times where a cerberus would jump through the window or some other nasty would surprise me where it genuinely made me jump. I loved the not knowing of where things were going. I played through the remake on GameCube and, amazingly, had a similarly visceral response to playing the game. I also loved the cabin battle in RE4. There are some parts of RE5 that I am really thrilled by, but don't want to mention them in case people reading this haven't played through it yet.

Which (if any) elements from the games are most heavily involved in the comic?  

RICARDO: The T-Virus is, without question, the element from the games that has the biggest impact on the story. G-Virus has a place, but the bulk of the enemies that the two BSAA agents face are based on the T-Virus. Most are familiar, but there are a few new nasty surprises.

One of the things I was going for with the comic was to advance the weaponizing of T-Virus infected creatures. Wesker may be looking beyond T-Virus, but for the less cutting edge researchers, the T-Virus still has a lot of applications as a weapon, and there are simple technological advances that have occurred since the T-Virus was first introduced that can be used to make better weapons.

What would you say are the biggest influences on the graphical style of the book?  

RICARDO: Kevin Sharpe, the artist on the series, has a very crisp, traditional style that is easy for any comic book reader to settle into. Visually, I'd say the game artwork created pre-RE4 has had the biggest impact on the style. Throughout the story we are dealing with creatures created from technology originated by Umbrella, and Kevin's work has stayed true to what readers familiar with those games might expect of a comic book about those creatures.