Coming very soon from Oni Press, “Orphan Blade” is a very fun graphic novel from the team of writer M. Nicholas Almand and artist Jake Myler. Pairing video game sensibilities with a coming of age tale set in a formerly Kaiju ridden version of Japan, this book tells the story of young thief Hadashi as he tries to survive after he acquires legendary weapon in the form of the Orphan Blade. This draws the attention of the Five Fingers of Death, a band of mercenaries who try to control all of the greatest weapons of the world, and naturally, hijinks and high wire action unfolds from there.
It’s a great book with a sad story behind it, as Almand passed away from cancer in 2013, well before the book was ever released. Myler finished off the story, though, and he did so in style with powerful art that brings Almand’s vision to life in highly effective fashion. To get you excited about this release, we spoke with Myler about his experience on the book, what he and Almand put in to building the world and its characters, and much more. Not only that, but Myler shared some concept work he did in developing the story, so you get a behind the scenes look at Hadashi’s story.
Take a look, and if you’re interested, look for it in your local comic book shop soon.
JM: When Nick came to me with the script, more then anything else I was excited about getting to draw the monsters that appear, and to dig into some crazy fighting scenes. My previous projects have been pretty kid friendly and G-rated, but this story was outright brutal.
How did the book first come together? I know the back matter shares that you came on after the book was already at Oni with Nick, but would you describe this book as a very collaborative experience?
JM: Before I came on to the book, they had tried out a few other artists that in the end didn’t work out. Those other artists hadn’t gotten too far though, so I was free to establish the look of the world and characters. All the good guys, bad guys, their weapons, the monsters and the crazy world they come from all needed to be developed! So I got to have a lot of fun concepting and discovering how everything would look! Nick and my editor Jill Beaton gave me a little feedback as I sent images in, but they put a lot of trust in my designs.
JM: I’m actually part Japanese, so I’ve always had an interest in Japanese culture and art, and I even honey mooned there (and have visited Japan half a dozen times for non-honey moon purposes). I got my start in comics working on a 2 volume graphic novel for Tokyopop called “Undertown”. During that time I was encouraged to draw as manga-like as possible, and actually a majority of my comic book influences are Japanese authors. So naturally, various Japanese comic book influences have been ingrained in my general art-style. Since this book takes place in an alternative ancient Japan, keeping that style seemed fitting for Orphan Blade!
I actually tried to push some coloring elements from traditional Japanese woodblock prints when I went to color the book to reinforce the idea that this all happens in an ancient version of Japan.
Continued belowThe Blight is a very interesting element of the story, as those lands that spread from fallen Kaiju create a rather horrific cross section of the world that is a lot more dangerous for our heroes. When you were developing the look of the book, what were you trying to deliver with the Blight? It’s an oddly beautiful land, and I was curious as to the influences to the look of that world.
JM: The Blight was really fun to create, and I knew that I wanted to create a totally alien forest. When I began working on the book, I happened to go to an art exhibit that is permanently at the Space Needle in Seattle called: “Chihuly Garden and Glass”. It was inspirational because a lot of the glowing glass sculptures I saw inside the exhibit looked like giant mushrooms or flowers from an alien world. I wanted that look where things could be beautiful and colorful, but perhaps deadly.
Although not a huge part in the central narrative of the story, Kaiju play a huge part in that they inspire almost everything that happens in Hadashi’s journey. Some of them fit the more traditional looks, but there are some that feel more Cthuhlu inspired and others that feel completely different than any I’ve seen before. When it comes to those monsters, what did you look to for inspiration? How much was you building monsters, and how was you working off Japanese tradition?
JM: For the most part I was trying to come up with monster designs that didn’t look like anything I’ve seen before, and try not to fall back on too many monster-tropes. But that probably meant that in the end, I subconsciously threw in a mix of everything that I like in the fictional monsters throughout the world! And so those strange Yokai from Ancient Japanese lore as well as a fair amount of scary Cthulhu tentacles all probably made it in the mix.
I thought one of the most interesting elements in the art was the “death blow” beats when a character would die in battle. What was the inspiration of that, and why go that direction rather than a more simple alternative for a death?
JM: That was Nick’s idea for sure, being that he had a passion for fighting video games, and he wanted to pull in a little bit of the spectacle of the “finishing move” that you see in games like Mortal Kombat. So the idea of the deathblow became a running theme to the many deaths that happen in the book! But I think at the same time it underscores Hadashi’s slow realization that all this fighting is horrifying.
JM: Hadashi is slowly becoming both more like a monster from the Blight so with each successive change, he gets a little more grotesque!
As for the rest of the cast of Orphan Blade, I try to get a lot of the character’s background and even mental state into the design of the character. I’m not sure how successful I am in achieving that, but providing an unspoken backstory is a goal for all the characters. Although actually now that I’m saying that, there are a few characters that are exactly the reverse of that! Tenmaru for instance is a bad guy who I designed on purpose to have a very goth look with dark shadows around both eyes and bone-white pallor, but he’s probably the most well adjusted character of the bunch! So I guess the design of the character can help cement who the character is, but also sometimes be something a little unexpected
One of my favorite things in the book was how the weapons for each character conveyed so much of who they are (except in one notable instance). From the Five Fingers of Death to Soyako and Katze, the characters identities are in their weapons. When you and Nick were putting this story together, how did those types of elements come together? Were they you finding a look and him making them work in the story, you working off a script, or was it a pure collaboration?
Continued belowJM: With the weapons in Orphan Blade, they exist thanks to a lot of Nick’s careful planning. I came up with the overall look of the weaponry, and tried to show that they are composed of various pieces of the slain Kaiju, but it was very purposeful that each character’s weapon fit his or her personality. It was probably Nick’s fondness again for fighting video games where he planned out the weapons, and fighting style of each character, before everything else! So that’s why a lot of the storytelling is happening through the battles that happen in the book.
