This past August at
the Toronto Fan Expo, I met Allen Drinkwater at the Omega-Level.net booth. A
copy of "OMNI: A God awful, small affair" caught my eye, recognizing
the line from "Life on Mars?" and being a big David Bowie fan myself
I asked him about it. He very promptly handed me a free, signed copy of the
book (how's that for fan-service?) and told me to let him know what I thought.
I took it home, sat down, and gave it a try.
The inside cover is
marked with a Carl Sagan quote, which is always a good sign. The next page is a
vivid explosion of colour. Emmanuel Hernaez's visual representation of
colonized Mars is simultaneously both glorified and gritty. It is one of the
best visual comic experiences I've had since McKean and Morrision's
"Arkham Asylum". The story jumps into the already very much in
progress life of Detective Farmer Murdock, who stands outside the high-end
nightclub "Ares" with political assassination on his mind. Set in the
classic style of the "detective noir" serials, the story is rich with
trench-coat clad Detective Murdock's inner monologue. This twenty-six page
story doesn't waste time and jumps right into mysterious motives, dynamic
combat, unknown history, and of course "the girl with the mousy
hair."
Allen was kind enough
let me grill him for my article, and was even kinder to reply:
Q: What was the very first step in making "OMNI" a reality?
A: Honestly, the whole thing has been swimming around my head for years,
albeit in various forms. A few years ago I wrote a short story that told the
story of an aspiring writer traveling to Mars well after it'd been colonized.
While the story wasn't strong enough to get me into an MFA program (REJECTED!),
it's served as first bit of OMNI mythology. From there, the scripts poured out.
Q: Is OMNI your first Endeavor into writing?
A: OMNI is my first comic, but I've been writing for as long as I can
remember -- short stories, one act plays, poems, whatever.
Q: Can you tell us how the idea of incorporating David Bowie came up?
A: Honestly, I've always needed to write to music -- it just helps the
brain fluids start swirling in a way that coffee alone can't accomplish. During
this round of scripting, Bowie popped on and scenes started revealing
themselves.
Q: What were some of the inspirations for Detective Murdock?
A: I think I've always been fascinated with that archetypal badass who's
tired as hell but has one last job to do. Hell, maybe it's the fact that I'm a
workaholic and the prospect of one last task is heavenly to me. But other than
that, Murdock is all sorts of Frank Miller's Sin City and maybe a little Sergio
Leone cowboy.
Q: What was it like working with Emmanuel Hernaez?
A: Working with Manny Hernaez was great. I found him through Warren Ellis'
WhiteChapel forums and had a wonderful experience. He was super-professional,
which is always appreciated.
Also, his artwork is goddamn gorgeous.
Q: For an independent comic, how did you find the publishing process to be?
A: It is daunting, overwhelming, liberating, and so damn worth it.
Q: What inspired the "OMNI" universe?
A: The main influence is Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles, which is one of
my favorite bits of fiction. But with each episode being self-contained, the
influences are multitudinous -- STAR WARS and Catcher in the Rye and campy
monster movies and espresso and heavy metal.
Q: I feel like "A God awful, small affair" has a very expansive
back story, can you tell us how shaped your writing process?
A:I always try to remind myself that any script I bang out is a snapshot of
a much, much bigger picture.
Q: Who would you say is your biggest influence in terms of writing?
A: I don't know if it appears in my writing, but my favorites are Bradbury
and Palahniuk and Hemingway and Ellis and so many more that my mind is freezing
up.
And the question I was dying to ask;
Q: When can we see some more tales from "OMNI"?
A: Well, Manny has moved onto other projects, so I don't know. But I've got
stacks of scripts, so if any artists want to take a crack at 'em, let me know.
If you're looking for
something new with a classic feel I would recommend "OMNI: A God awful,
small affair". It's a unique twist
on a classic formula, with art that will have you spending way too much time on
every page. Not to mention a climax that will leave you wanting for more. So do
yourself a favour and find out for yourself if there's Life on Mars.
You can follow Allen
at WWW.Omega-Level.NET,
and pick up your own copy of "OMNI" here, (http://www.omega-level.net/2012/07/09/ol-exclusive-omni-a-god-awful-small-affair)
and for only $5 you'd be crazy not to.
By: Logan Thomas Dillon