This piece is another in a longer line of older articles/interviews of mine that appeared elsewhere. I am re-posting it here to not only refresh it, for those who may have missed it the first time around, but in an effort to consolidate my online work under my own imprint. This interview was conducted back on May 13th, 2015 with Onrie Kompan.
Given that this article is over seven years old, not only is the Kickstarter that Onrie talks about over, but some of the links from the original interview no longer work.
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As Americans, we tend to think that all the really cool
historical stuff happened here in America, or (at the very least) to Americans.
Well that isn’t so much the case, as is evidenced by Yi Soon Shin: Warrior and Defender published by Onrie Kompan Productions in 2013. If you missed it, that
lushly rendered hardbound graphic novel that was a compilation of the
four-issue limited series told a historical accounting of one of Korea’s most
celebrated heroes, Yi Soon Shin. It was Yi Soon Shin who defended his country
from a Japanese invasion in the year 1592. The epic story was filled with
fully formed characters, internal deception, political intrigue, and some of
the most spectacular battles scenes that you are every likely to see in comics,
and depicted a magnificent rendering of an amazing battle which took place on
the open sea and on land between the massive invading forces of the nation of
Japan, and the (much smaller and not as well-equipped) Korean forces.
Kompan is now running a Kickstarter to help fund a follow-up
story arc with Yi Soon Shin: Fallen Avenger. We recently caught up with Onrie
Kompan who filled us in on why an American audience has gone positively Gaa-gaa
over a 16th Century Korean General.
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Robert J Sodaro: As Americans, we tend to think that all the
really cool historical stuff happened here in America, but the story of Yi Soon
Shin clearly takes place in Korea. Can you give us a bit of the background
about the story behind Yi Soon Shin?
Onrie Kompan: Yi
Soon Shin is literally Korea’s version of Batman. He’s one of their most
profound heroes and not for just any reason. Yi Soon Shin defended Korea from
an invasion from Japan. Imagine hordes of Japanese samurai were beaten 23 times
in a row against Yi Soon Shin who was literally outnumbered 10 to 1 against
them. He’s the man!
RJS: What caused you
to pick this story to tell in comicbook format?
OK: I wanted to show
that more could be done in comics aside from superheroes; but beyond that, I
wanted to show that real heroes actually exist and are just as cool (if not
cooler) than superheroes because they are real. Comics felt like the perfect
medium to show this.
RJS: Do you think that we as Americans are interested enough
in a war story between Korea and Japan that took place in the 16th Century?
OK: The American
audience is always hungry for new stories! They always have been and they
always will be. And let’s be honest, we’ve heard it all already. I’m not saying
it’s impossible but it’s really difficult to stay fresh these days when it
comes to storytelling. I was willing to venture out of my comfort zone to
discover the story of Admiral Yi. And despite how crazy I might sound when
saying this, I believe that one day people will be so into this series that
they’ll praise it the same way they do Star Wars or Game of Thrones. I just
hope I’m alive long enough to see it so I can cash in on it!
RJS: What is it, do you think, that is it about
this story that makes it so compelling?
OK: It’s the greatest
underdog story never told! It’s a human story about a man who sacrificed
everything for what he believed in — a man who was an incorruptible force that
stood before the face of evil—and won! You couldn’t make this kind of stuff up
because it ACTUALLY happened. The whole world deserves to know about this!
RJS: Do you believe that history (either Korean or American)
can be taught through comicbooks?
OK: People always ask me that and the real answer is, I
don’t know. I didn’t make this comic to educate people. I made this comic for
the same reason all creators make comics — because they want to entertain.
We try and avoid the word “history” wherever we can because
that is an automatic turn-off for a lot of people. History itself is fascinating
to some but to many others, it can be boring.
But to answer your question, if a first-grade teacher brings
Yi Soon Shin into a classroom, there is a good chance that they will lose their
job. This is a story about war and war is ugly. People ask why there is so much
blood and gore in our comic and the reason is because well…it’s war.
Our story is about how real people dealt with war and how
others used war to their advantage so that they could manipulate people and
have their way. Like I said, it’s a human story. This is what people do during
times of war. It’s every man for himself. What sets Yi Soon Shin apart from the
entire cast is that he’s the only character in our book that is trying to
protect people. Everyone else is in it for themselves.
RJS: Comics are essentially known for superheroes in tights.
Do you honestly believe that the medium can expand beyond this and be taken
seriously by the mass market?
OK: I think we’re
seeing that happen today. Look at all the superhero movies out there and how
they are marketing knick-knacks towards both kids and adults. Gillette is now
selling Avengers shavers. I bet nobody saw that coming back in 1962.
RJS: As a rule, more
people have seen even one of the big-budget superhero movies than read all the
comics on which it was based, why do you think that comicbook movie ticket
sales don’t translate into comicbooks sales?
OK: I ask myself that
very question quite often. Perhaps people see the comics as a lesser version of
the movie. Perhaps the majority of comics aren’t as great as we all wish they
were. Or maybe the comic book community isn’t inviting enough to new readers
because they don’t want to be seen as nerds for reading them. Maybe I’m
completely wrong or maybe I’m 100% on point.
The truth is I don’t have the answer to your question. But
every time I go to a convention and someone who has never read comics before in
their life buys my book, I hope that our work has the power to change their
minds and open up that door for them.
And more importantly, I hope that they start by supporting
independent comics rather than just jumping on the bandwagon of mainstream.
There is a lot of great independent stuff out there that deserves way more
attention.
RJS: You mentioned earlier that you hope you can
translate Yi Soon Shin into a big-budget film or a TV/Cable series, you have
anything like that in the works?
OK: I believe it will happen eventually once we finish our
work on the series. Honestly, I see it as a trilogy of movies. Call me crazy
but I want Yi Soon Shin to be the next Star Wars. As for when that will happen,
I can’t say but I hope I’m around to cash in on it and that I get to play a
role in its production.
RJS: Tell us a bit about how you went about assembling your
team for Yi Soon Shin.
OK: Great question and one I’m always happy to answer. It
was really a two-year long process. I spent a lot of time studying trends in
comics and looking for art styles that I knew had the potential to stand out.
When the time came to start building out the team, I posted
ads on sites like Digital Webbing and Deviant Art and went through a slew of
very bad portfolios. I was hoping my idea would attract a big-name artist but
even they weren’t interested.
Then one day, I got a submission from Giovanni Timpano, an
artist from Italy who was hungry for work. After that, things sort of came
together rather quickly. My friend, Alverne Ball introduced me to his colorist,
Adriana De Los Santos, and was totally fine with me hiring her to do work on
the book. Check out her work on Alverne’s series Virgin Wolf.
Adriana then introduced me to Joel Saavedra who is our
letterer. Finally, I realized that after getting rejected by damn near every
publisher out there, that I needed an editor to show me the ropes. I became
friends with Papercutz’s Jim Salicrup through Facebook and he put me in touch
with his good friend, comics’ veteran David Anthony Kraft.
Eventually, we brought on a second artist named El Arnakleus
for Fallen Avenger. We wanted to give the book a different feel and his style
meshed perfectly with Giovanni’s. I like to say that Gio is my Steve Ditko and
that El is my John Romita.
RJS: Tell us a little
about their (and your) backgrounds.
OK: I’m a Chicago
native and Yi Soon Shin is my first entry into comics. I’ve been working on the
series for the last five years and have been putting it out myself. Everything
from concept to final product has my hand in it somewhere and if you see me at
conventions, then you know that I also handle selling it. I’ve sold nearly
40,000 books.
Giovanni Timpano is our artist from Italy. He’s currently
working on The Shadow for Dynamite and has an extensive portfolio. He’s worked
on GI Joe, Hellraiser and much more. El Arnakleus is heavily inspired by Frank
Frazetta and brings his artistic influence to the series. Adriana De Los Santos is our colorist from Argentina, and she
turns every page into a painting. Joel Saavedra is also from Argentina, and he letters the
book.
And finally, my editor/co-writer David Anthony Kraft is a
veteran of comics. At some point or another, he has edited every Marvel Comics
character you can think of. He had a very memorable run on She-Hulk and The
Defenders (which is soon going to be a Netflix series) and went off to run his
own publishing venture called Comics Interview.
Everything I learned about storytelling, production, and
publishing is thanks to DAK. I enjoy working with him very much and I respect
him immensely. In fact, I respect everyone on my team immensely. They put
everything into this book and it’s not an easy comic to work on at all. Our
production process is grueling compared to other titles because I demand the
best and they are willing to give it to me. No matter what it takes.
RJS: Are you approaching this story like a
“standard” comic (whatever that may mean) or more like a history lesson?
OK: Curse the dreaded
“H” word!
Given all the blood, gore, and sex in our book, I have to
say that we’re definitely straying away from this being a boring high school
history lesson. That is the one thing we are really trying to avoid. History is
boring. Most people don’t want to learn while reading comics. They want to be
entertained. That being said, if our book entertains readers enough to get them
to do their own research, then that’s an added bonus and we’ll happily take
credit for it.
All we want to do is make a great comic series so I wouldn’t
say our approach is standard either. We work using the classic Marvel method.
DAK and I work scene-by-scene so that we get the most out of everything. It’s a
very challenging book to work on but one that has taught me a great deal about
comic book production. I’ve enjoyed every moment of it despite the challenges
I’m faced with.
RJS: You already have
one story arc of Yi Soon Shin out, and now you are working on a second arc. Do
you see this going onto more multiple arcs?
OK: Yi Soon Shin is a
trilogy and right now we’re gearing up to wrap up the second arc. After that,
we’re planning one more arc that will conclude the entire series. Eventually,
if the opportunity arises, I’d like to do a prequel trilogy about what happened
prior to the war so that readers can get more insight about the origin of
Admiral Yi. But we’ll cross that path when we get there. Right now, our focus is
on finishing the trilogy we started!
RJS: Will you attempt
to mine Korean history for more comicbook stories?
OK: Korean history is
very expansive and there are a lot of wonderful stories but I don’t believe in
genre mining. Like I said, history can be boring and if it’s approached without
passion, readers will get bored. My job is always to entertain my audience
first and I believe the best way to do that is to venture towards topics that
pull my own interests. I don’t like the idea of being categorized as a genre
writer either. I’m willing to write anything so long as there is a story to
tell, even if it’s about superheroes.
RJS: How is the
series selling?
OK: To date, we’ve
sold close to 40,000 books without a publisher or distributor.
We decided to use conventions to reach our customers
directly and while our sales at shows, Amazon, and select retailers have been
great, the truth is that it’s impossible to make money when we’re in this
position.
Our funding recently fell through for reasons unrelated to
the book’s success but I’ve come so far with Yi Soon Shin that I have to see it
through to the end for the sake of all the readers that have supported our
series over the years. Therefore, we launched a Kickstarter initiative to keep
this series alive and finish what we’ve started. We invite everyone to join the
fight and help us win this battle!
RJS: When can we expect future issues?
OK: Yi Soon Shin:
Fallen Avenger #4 is the issue we’re currently working on. It’s going to be a
48-page book with no ads in it. This is the book we’re focusing on for
Kickstarter and folks can be a part of it by funding the Kickstarter. As far as
what to expect from this issue — expect it to be bloody, brutal and the
Greatest issue of the series yet. Why? Because in this issue, Admiral Yi is
going up against a Japanese armada of over 333 ships with only 12 ships at his
disposal. He’s been beaten, bloodied, and broken and now he’s pissed. Readers
are going to learn from this book why he is such a great hero.
Fallen Avenger is really a homage to Frank Miller’s
Daredevil: Born Again arc in the sense that both stories feature protagonists
who have been broken but are unwilling to accept defeat.
RJS: Where can fans
get their own copies (are you selling online, is it stocked in stores, are you
attending cons, and if so, can you give us your schedule for the year)?
OK: We invite
everyone to check out our webstore. I will personally sign and ship your books
around the world. As far as conventions go, I will be attending Motor City
Comic-Con, Phoenix Comic-Con, NY Special Edition, SDCC, Wizard World Chicago,
Baltimore Comic-Con and NYCC. I will also be doing a few store signings in both
Chicago and New York. The rest of the time, I’m going to be focusing on
production as well as my next few projects.
RJS: What’s next for
you?
OK: I recently
launched Freedable Comics which is a site I co-created to help independent
creators like myself get their work out there. The beautiful thing about
Freedable is that we collect data from our readers and provide creators with
this information for free so that they can learn more about their demographic.
It’s a free tool for creators to help aid them in their creative endeavors and
it’s also free for readers.
I am also finishing up a 144-page graphic novel that I’ve
been working on since 2011. JM DeMatteis is the editor for the book, and it
features artwork from some of the finest artists in comics. We’re working on
the final segment of the book right now and then we’ll be shopping it around to
publishers. I’m hoping to get it out later this year or at the very latest,
sometime in early 2016.
I’m also working on a third project with a Chicago-based
artist that I’ll hopefully be able to announce sometime later this year and I’m
trying to get my foot in the door with a fourth project from a more well-known
publisher.
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Yi Soon Shin, and all artwork associated with the character,
is © & TM 2015 Onrie Kompan Productions. All rights reserved.
