Interview with Alex Paknadel e Dan Watters

Q: Hi Alex and Dan! Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy day to field our questions. Can you please introduce yourselves to our fans that might not know you, and a little about your careers?

Alex: I’m a writer and academic from London. My first comic, Arcadia, was released in 2015 via Boom! Studios. It’s follow-up, Turncoat, was released a year later. I’ve spent the past couple of years working on licensed work for Titan Comics, e.g. Doctor Who and Assassin’s Creed. Next on my slate is Friendo, coming September 2018 from Vault Comics.

Dan: I’m a London born and bred writer who released his first graphic novel, LIMBO with artist Caspar Wijngaard, in 2016. Since then I’ve been working on titles such as The Shadow over at Dynamite Comics, as well as Wolfenstein and of course Assassin’s Creed at Titan. My next creator owned work is the botanical nightmare Deep Roots, which came out in April from Vault Comics.

Q: Uprising has been pretty well received by fans, thanks to its primary focus on the Present Day storyline. How would you describe this series and why do you think new fans should read it? Is it different from the series you previously worked on?

Alex: I’d describe the series as the culmination of the Phoenix Project storyline, because that’s what it is. That’s also why fans should read it. It all ends here, folks!

Dan: AC was my first shot at doing a full blown action story, which I think is something any comic writer looks forward to sinking their teeth into. We really wanted to dig into the modern day elements of the mythos, since we thought that there was a lot of room to tell a story in the techno-thriller mould in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, which I think you can tell we had a hell of a lot of fun doing.

Q: Why is the series actually called Uprising? Is it referring to something specific?

Alex: Yes. A terrifying insurgency has been gathering strength in the dark.

Dan: Uprising felt like the perfect title for the series, since we’re dealing with upheavals left, right and centre - be it the Instruments, be it Juno… or be it this new cell of Assassins thrown together by necessity, and rising to face the oncoming storm. Regardless, all of these struggles do rather seem to be building to a crescendo.

Q: How much of an involvement does Ubisoft have with your story threads, or are you very much given free reins to take the story where you desire?

Alex: Ubi have been magnificent, I have to say. They’ve been receptive to our whackiest ideas, and they’ve even encouraged us to go further. They’re committed to extending the franchise into as many new areas as possible, which is so refreshing.

Dan: We came on board with the task of rounding out the Phoenix Project story arc, which obviously ran through a number of games, so there was already a spine and idea in place for that. But how we got from point A to point B was left entirely up to us, and Ubisoft were entirely supportive of the wildest detours that we wanted to take, be they into the fiction of Jorge Luis Borges, the Spanish Civil War, or the contents of Otso’s liquor cabinet.

Jose Holder

Q: How has it been working with your artist Jose Holder? We are intrigued by your working process - do you write the story in detail first, or does Jose do storyboarding and such to reach a collaborative common ground?

Alex: We pretty much leave Jose alone to work his magic, but he’s always been very keen to share his designs with us. The storytelling is Jose’s, but having input into everything we’ve envisioned at the design stage is really useful. It helps us to visualise the characters we’re writing, and Ignacio in particular.

Dan: There are a bunch of different ways to write comics, but we always lean towards full script, which is certainly easier when you’re working with two writers and time zones and so forth in between a team. That said, we made a point of saying to Jose at the start, that if he saw a better way to build on what we sent—to take it.

Q: One aspect that female fans enjoy is the strong female characters present in Uprising, with both Charlotte and (long haired) Galina proving to be favourites amongst the fanbase. As our main protagonists, what do you enjoy most about writing for these two characters?

Alex: I love writing for Galina. She has this dry, extremely cruel Slavic sense of humor that only Otso – her sworn enemy – really gets.

Dan: My hope would be that everybody enjoys these characters as much as we do. It’s been a lot of fun taking Charlotte from a position where she was somewhat under Galina’s wing, and raising her to her equal as she becomes one of the most talented, and possibly one of the most acerbic, Assassins active today.

Q: The Instruments of the First Will are a newer faction to the franchise, but it has been wonderful to see them being fleshed out within Uprising with new and interesting members as well as getting an insight into their machinations towards the Phoenix Project and achieving their goal. What is their role in the series?

Alex: Simply put, they’re agents of chaos. We’re used to seeing Templars and Assassins clash – both of whom actually share a core commitment to improving the lot of humanity. The Instruments, however, do not give a s**t about humanity. They’re Isu supremacists and they mean business.

Dan: The Instruments may be a newer faction, but they may have been around longer than we initially thought. It’d probably be fair to say that the entirety of Uprising circles around that particular drain, with their plans seeming so ready to come to a head. It is in fact their willingness to step out of the shadows because of this, and potentially drag the secret war between the Templars/Assassins out with them, that I think makes them such an interesting threat for both factions to combat - they’re changing all the rules.

Q: In issue #1 Elijah sees Charlotte and says “Oh it’s you. Hello again.”. That seems a pretty foreboding sentence, will that be expanded upon in the future issues?

Alex: You’re breaking up, sorry. Could you repeat the question?

Dan: Yes? Yes.

Q: Apart from issue #1 and a tiny appearance at the ending of issue #4 Elijah seems to have had less “screen time” in the second arc because of the direction of the story. Can we expect him to have a stronger role in the future issues? As suggested in the first issue has Aita begun to manifest and take hold of him?

Dan: Elijah will be back for sure. He’s a big part of the Instruments’ plans - but he’s also very much a son of Desmond, so there’s an imminent inner struggle there. Which side will win out remains to be seen.

Alex: We’re of the “less is more” school, but yeah… what Dan said.

Q: Assassin's Creed Origins has now introduced the character of Layla Hassan to the Present Day. Could we see her interacting with the events of Uprising in the future? Or are the Present Day storylines being kept separate to allow more freedom in storytelling?

Alex: We haven’t been involved with the development of Origins at all, so I honestly have no idea. That said, we’ve been able to draw on obscure continuity for our effort so hopefully we’ll see the two strands converge at some point – maybe in the hands of other writers.

Dan: Honestly, we’ve currently got plenty to be getting on with just dealing with our current Assassin cell and assorted Templars - Uprising has a pretty sprawling cast. The wonderful thing about a franchise like AC where everything is within continuity, is that knock on effects from one thing will inevitably ripple to others.

Q: How challenging has it been to keep up with the lore of the franchise for Uprising? There are of course many characters and plotlines across many games and other transmedia. Are you both regulars on the Assassin's Creed Wiki for example?

Alex: The Wiki’s saved our asses on more than one occasion. Gregory Ellner’s excellent ‘Isu Codices’ over at Multiversity Comics have also been pretty indispensable.

Dan: The Wiki has been invaluably useful when doing research for the book, I’ll freely admit, especially when it comes to checking timelines, especially in the early 20th century - both the Assassins and Templars were particularly busy bees back then.

Q: What was it like to write an entire scene taking place in the First Civilization times? Was it always planned to be part of end of the first arc of Uprising?

Alex: Dan wrote that one, so I’ll yield the floor to him on this one.

Dan: That scene was one of the first we conceptualised for the book, and it’s one we took great joy in putting together - we really wanted to get to the heart of what makes Juno tick, and that was inevitably going to be bloody and somewhat tragic.

Q: The second arc of the comic is more similar to the classical Assassin’s Creed format (sequences in the past combined with sequences in the present). Was there any difference in development between the second arc and the first arc, which took place only in the Present Day?

Alex: To be completely frank, the first arc – for me at least – was easier to write. Don’t get me wrong, it was all fun. However, transitions between time periods have to serve the plot and move it forward, so picking the right moment and the right motivation was always tough – worthwhile, but tough. That said, it made the division of labor between Dan and myself easier to manage. If I knew I was going to be in the 1930s for my half of the issue then I knew I had to double down on research.

Dan: We sought for each of our volumes to feel unique, and with all of history available to us, we would have been foolish to pass up the opportunity for a backwards jaunt. There was definitely a lot more research required, but that was an undertaking we were more than happy to take on and was extremely rewarding to boot.

Q: Abstergo and the Templars are in a strange situation at present. With the shock death of Alan Rikkin portrayed in the Assassin’s Creed movie, their upper circles are in disarray again also thanks to the Instruments. Otso Berg is a very popular character amongst fans, therefore can we expect to see more his attempts to save the Order as the Black Cross? Perhaps gain a high tech suit himself?

Alex: One thing we’ve tried to do with this series is really highlight Otso’s drives and motivations. He’s always been a badass, but his backstory is really tragic. He signed this Faustian pact to save his kid, and ever since he’s been fighting the good fight for Abstergo as far as he’s concerned. He does whatever it takes to secure Abstergo’s interests, but I don’t believe he thinks of himself as being a bad man at all. The Instruments offend him because he genuinely despises fascism, as all right-thinking people do. I really hope his character gets explored elsewhere because he’s just fascinating to us.

Dan: Agreed. Otso has been one of our favourite characters to write, so I certainly hope so. He’s such a wonderful bastard.

Q: Juno has been the primary antagonist of the franchise for many years and long term fans keenly felt her absence in the latest game of the series, Origins. Many have waited for her to find a body but they have also now been expecting her untimely demise within Uprising. Do you have any teases for her story arc to come, and could she yet still return to the main games themselves? (You could write in a clone backup body just in case so she could come back - we wouldn't complain!)

Alex: Nice try. Ubi have actual assassins you know…

Dan: I have no idea, of course, as to whether she’ll finally find a body or not, though may whistle absent-mindedly and innocently eye again the title ‘Uprising’.

In occasion of our anniversary, we have teamed up with The Ones Who Came Before to organize a Fundraising Campaign for the Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation!

Both of our projects usually gather information, create content and discuss the franchise with our fans but this time we wanted to try and have a positive and meaningful initiative that doesn't just deal with fan content but can also have a real impact.
Eagles are such an important element of the franchise that we are accustomed to see them in every game of the franchise. Thus, we thought that this would be the perfect occasion to support an organization that takes care of them and to ask you all for some help in doing so.
By helping this cause you will be directly helping the foundation in its efforts towards the rehabilitation of wild rescued birds, conservation of the environment, and bringing the animals to the schools to help children understand the environment that they will one day be responsible for.

Even the smallest donation could make the difference! If you can, donate!

Click on the picture if you want to reach the page for the Fundraising Campaign!