JEF: When we first got the idea for this picture, I worked hard for it, because I knew Zander would love to draw this. Because it’s basically a Kaiju, and Zander is Kaijumax.
ZANDER: And it’s very of the moment. She’s very much on everyone’s mind right now, at least judging from social media.
BEN: That’s where we got the idea. Everyone is crazy about that vampire. So we turned the idea around with things like, maybe other companies see that and make their characters huge. Like a giant Pyramid Head for a new Silent Hill. We keep coming up with stuff like that, but at some point we say, “Why are we around it? We should just do Resident Evil, and she’s really big. “
ZANDER: I think it sucks that there are so many little jokes. But I liked that the ambulance was just full of herbs, and Jill Valentine was trying to find the right car keys.
JEF: The dogs ran out of the rubble of the building and still pounded through the windows to catch me. It’s their thing! And the Tex-Avery wolf in the corner.
BEN: I brought up the idea that Wesker should just have sunglasses everywhere, but you put a huge pair on his tank, which is also funny.
ZANDER: Tanks, helicopters, ambulances – I used the same trick as the web cam. I found some 3D models and included them as a reference. That saves a lot of time.
BEN: This might be a holdover from the Silent Hill concept, but I’d love to have Pyramid Head there next to a sign that says “Must be this tall to get the new game”. But this has pretty much everything to do with Resident Evil, so it doesn’t quite fit.
HAPPY: I just can’t see the word “sick” without thinking of that cartoon word Onion.
BUTTON BUTTON: Yes! Ha ha ha! Yes!
BEN: One of the other ideas we had before deciding on this was Steampunk 1877. That could be really cool visually, but we don’t have enough people who love it. We’ve already talked about the cover of The Last of Us too much, but there’s been so much talk about that series as soon as Part II comes out… it’s hard to find an untapped joke there.
JEF: I really like “Extra Large” with IX in it.
ZANDER: Yes, I think it’s Blake [Hester] who came up with the idea. But it’s fun to include all kinds of details here. The detectors figure out from their gun, and figure out how to do all the search lights, with layers on the far side.
JEF: All in all, looking back at all these covers over the years, one of the most interesting things about the whole process was that, after we had a meeting on the concept, we sent it off to Zander. And the fun part is when you send us your initial sketches, and we’ll all gather around Joe’s desk and watch them; they were always so nice, and they made the whole thing come to life and real. Joe will do his best to sketch a rough layout – bless him, he tries. But understanding what it will look like is actually always a super fun part of the process.
ZANDER: Thanks! It’s always been an extremely gratifying part of the process for me, sending it in and getting feedback.
HAPPY: And I always feel like I’m a broken record, because I’m always just saying how great it looks. It’s hard to say how impressive it is to see an image coming from leagues beyond what we’re thinking.
ZANDER: I’ve been looking forward to it every year. Never “Oh no, I have to redo that super fun illustration!”
HAPPY: Well, Zander, I’m so grateful that we were able to collaborate for such a long time!
ZANDER: I really appreciate this! And it was fun going through it all!
