About two years ago to the day, a new chapter in my life began. I remember the day because it was at Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo in LA which is always on Halloween weekend. I was there sharing a booth with my friends Mike Miller and Oly Pitman, and up walked two gentlemen, Omar Spahi, and Siike Donnelly. They were checking out our work, and I’m not quite sure if Omar knew Mike at the time or not, but I remember Mike mentioning that Omar wanted Mike to work on a new project with him. The nice guy Mike is, he told Omar, “you should check out Eric’s work”… and well, he did. The funny thing is, Siike saw some art of Hawkgirl on the table and immediately started telling me about his story involving angels, and demons, and he thought my style would be perfect! Little did I know at the time he saw Mike’s work not mine!! But it was meant to be.
So I talked more with Omar, and Siike, and the just beginning OSSM Comics company, and things started moving quickly. I was really excited about the story Siike had about this young guy Enoch, and his journey to becoming a hero, where the story gets its title “Mnomyth,” which is the hero’s journey. While the concept isn’t new and builds the foundation for all the films we love, Star Wars, Braveheart, etc, its setting and backdrop are what set it apart; it has a well-known source, with a whole new twist; and as I told him, [I think] I had gotten many scripts from well-meaning people thrown at me, and well, Siike’s topped them all. It was actually written from
someone who not only knew how to write, but was VERY familiar with comics. Which is very important, because you have to have some understanding of the medium, as say, compared to a novel. It’s not the same. Comics are unique; having pictures to guide the reader – not just words – opens a whole different rare dynamic. Not only that, but Siike told me how he had suffered from a Brain Aneurism and lost the ability to draw, remember peoples faces, and short term memory! He was now helping out Omar with his new company, and writing this awesome story; which writing was the one thing he could still do without too much trouble. This guy immediately amazed me! You’d never know what he’d been through just meeting him, sure, you may have thought he forgot his jeans, cause he’s always in pajama pants, but still! haha! His passion, wit, and sincerity are what makes him one of the coolest guys you’ll met. And Omar and Siike together, you have two of the most hard charging up-starts in the comic biz.
And that’s why I embarked on this journey with them. I believed in them. I quit my part-time job of serving at a downtown San Diego restaurant and got to work. By the New Year we had our concepts done, and were starting on pages. Oh, and I forgot to mention I had never worked on a “comic” before this. I did work on a Graphic Novel, but this was my first “comic” which would be published via Diamond, and be on actual comic store shelves. So you can imagine my excitement at the possibility. By July issue one had come out, and we had copies of issue #1 in hand at the San Diego Comic Con! Siike and Omar were lucky enough to land a booth in Artist Alley, and I was there signing with them. It was a dream come true for sure! Since then the rest of the story has been published, all three issues, 90 pages in all, and it’s been a bit of a wait, but now with the announcement of a trade to be made, Siike had one more ace up his sleeve. “Let’s add more pages to the trade,” he says!
And so we did. Six more pages to be exact! And if you didn’t already know, Siike is a genius. Once you read the story with the new pages you’ll see why. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, IT DOES! It’s been a blast drawing the characters and revisiting the story after a short break, but it was amazing to add a little more closure to some scenes, and I know Siike wracked his brain to get things truly where he wanted them. You’ll be pleasantly amazed at what he’s done with only six pages. Here we’re showing you where some of those new pages will fit in with the originals, only pencils though, we don’t want to give away too much just yet, but you can see where the gaps where filled and things start to button up.
On the whole, It’s been an amazing experience working with Omar and Siike, they are beyond professional, and I couldn’t be more pleased to have met them and have had the opportunity to work with them. I am sad that this will (most likely) mark the end of my Monomyth journey, but I couldn’t be more happy with it, and I’ll be looking forward to one last time seeing Monomyth occupying space on my local comic shop shelf. I know you will be too! And if you’re new to Monomyth (I know I’ve created some new fans at conventions, who will most likely be picking up the story for the first time!) you’re in store for an Epic comic experience, one that make you an OSSM Comics fan for life!!
Stay tuned for dates, and be ready!! I know it will come fast!
Stay OSSM,
Eric “End” Ninaltowski
