Omar Spahi Talks His New OSSM Comics Miniseries Thaniel

OSSM Comics's new miniseries Thaniel is set to debut in April, with the final-order cutoff for the second issue just having passed and a pair of books expected to hit the stands that month. Launching April 9 with a second issue on April 23, Thaniel is written by OSSM's CEO Omar Spahi with art by Terry Huddleston, and revolves around a young man who grew up around death his whole life, losing his friends, enemies, and his mother. Soon after his mother's passing, Thaniel realizes a power source inside him, one that may be the reason for the loss he's experienced. Wanting to aim that power at evil people, Thaniel upsets the balance by using his power to stop crime. By doing this, Death, the Grim Reaper himself, comes a knocking, with many revelations for the young man, including his true destiny. It's got a unique look which, at first glance, is a lot like any number of slick and over-produced indie books--but the rough nature of the book's backgrounds set those very fluid-looking characters and objects in the foreground into sharper relief, and give an almost 3D sense to the title. It's just the first thing that jumps off the page at you when flipping through Thaniel's not-for-kids first issue.

The lead character's "powers" are suited to the style particularly, and both the way they're written/used and the way they appear on the page gives the sense of a black hole, or of characters like DC Comics's Shadow Thief or Obsidian, for whom darkness is more than a tool in their arsenal and is key to how the character functions. It's always been a favorite technique for me, and so I'll admit to being taken by Thaniel pretty quickly. Spahi joined ComicBook.com to talk about the series. ComicBook.com: The book has a unique look; I think a lot of ti comes from the way the colors and layers are done. Is that something that was done in Photoshop or is that hand-drawn? Omar Spahi: I'm actually not sure of exactly how Terry's process works exactly, but I know the end result and it looks OSSM. ComicBook.com: Is that just how the artist works, or did you develop a specific look for this book? It works really well in the costumed sequences especially. Spahi: Terry went all out on this book, I know 100 percent that this is the book he's most proud of as an artist and I'm gonna have to agree with him. It looks absolutely stunning. Terry deserves all the credit for this book. ComicBook.com: Everything is so cross-hatches that the solid characters really jump off the page, giving the book almost a 3-D effect. Have you thought about motion comics? Spahi: Motion comics are something we may look into in the future, but right now we have one goal and that's putting out great books.

ComicBook.com: What's the elevator pitch for this book? What do readers need to know before they crack it open for the first time? Spahi: It's a cross between "Boyz N the Hood" and "Dead like me", it's about a boy who's been surrounded by death his whole life and it might just be all his fault. ComicBook.com: It's a pretty violent book, and the black-white-red palette from Sin City is here, too. What comics were an inspiration while putting together the idea for Thaniel? Spahi: We draw a lot of inspiration from the Punisher, Black Bat and Batman just to name a few. It's a vigilante story with a supernatural twist. We were definitely going for a Sin City vibe with the color pallet. ComicBook.com: This is a very moody book, both in its look and in its tone. What kind of music were you listening to while working on it? Spahi: Music makes it hard for me to write, so I prefer to write in silence and for this book in particular. I think silence would be the best music to really draw in the feeling of death. ComicBook.com: When you're doing a miniseries like this, is it difficult to craft a cliffhanger when you're working on an original property? I mean, major publishers have years of familiarity to fall back on, and whatever the cliffhanger is, the consequences are a big more meaningful for casual fans. Spahi: The cool thing about doing a 4 issue mini series is that every panel matters. We really wanted every moment to count and it's not about the cliff hangers as much as it is about the story. I know it's been a blast to write and I hope the fans will enjoy it.