Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dynamite, entertainment, marc laming, Nathan Edmondson, splinter cell, tom clancy

Getting Into The Game – Nathan Edmondson Talks Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

Nathan Edmondson is burning up the comic shelves with his runs on Black Widow and The Punisher, now we get to see his take on Sam Fisher from Tom Clancy's Spinter Cell from Dynamite with artist Marc Laming. I caught up with Nathan to talk about the new series and how working with one government agent differs from another.

BLEEDING COOL: When most people hear the name Splinter Cell, I think they are familiar with it being a game, it's ties to Tom Clancy and maybe the unique night-vision goggles. But for those who aren't familiar with the narrative in the game or previous stories… what is Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell?

NATHAN EDMONDSON: A "splinter cell" is a clandestine operative sent into the field alone with a support component of people and technology behind him.  In this case, it's Sam Fisher, a weapon of the government and private contractors who specializes in stealth combat.

BC: We've seen him as a one-man-army in the game, but who is Sam Fisher to you and why will readers want to follow him through the series?

NE: Sam is a truly remarkable character; he's faced so much adversity, so many betrayals, ended so many lives, and while part of him seems to have grown ever-more cynical, he is still, at heart, a patriot and a father.  Those are traits we explore in the book.

BC: So give me the sales pitch for the series. What can readers expect when they pick up Splinter Cell: Echoes #1?

NE: Echoes is a story about Sam being pulled back into the game after retirement, only to find himself wrapped up in something far more sinister than he was willing to face, and than he may be capable of defeating.

BC: How familiar were you with Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy's work prior to taking on this project? Were you a fan of his before starting on the scripts?

NE: It's hard to ignore the juggernaut that is the Splinter Cell game franchise — I was a player before taking on the assignment, but getting to know Sam meant talking in depth with Ubisoft and paying closer attention to the gameplay and game narratives.

BC: A game like this tends to have a fairly rabid fanbase. How do you balance servicing their expectations with telling the story you want to tell? How much are you influenced by what you think the players would want to see?

NE: That was the trick, but our goal at the beginning, middle, and end was simple: tell a great story, and make it exciting.  With the real Sam in mind, pleasing the devotees came naturally.

BC: You are also working on Marvel's super-spy Black Widow. Do you see similarities between Natasha and Sam? Both seem to be get-the-job-done types, how do you think their approaches to assignments differ?

NE: There are some similarities, sure, but for one thing, I wrote Echoes well before I began on Black Widow or Punisher, so they weren't all in my head at the same time.  The experience of storytelling is radically different between them, though, mainly because the universes are completely different, with very different rules.  Splinter Cell, being a Tom Clancy property, exists in a space only a slight step removed from reality.  Which makes for a very different kind of excitement than the Marvel U.

BC: Since one of the big talking points on the web right now is how Marvel should do a Black Widow movie, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you your thoughts on a Natasha solo adventure on the big screen.

NE: I think I'm plenty satisfied with what's going on now, and Black Widow has been kicking ass as the best supporting character in any action movie—she makes every Marvel film she's in way more interesting, and whatever happens with her I want to be sure we don't lose that effect.

BC: Besides the two mentioned series, what else do you have in the works for the rest of the year?

NE: Keep an eye at Marvel for some new work there, and I have some original series in the pipeline.  See you on twitter!

For more on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell go here. 

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