Omnipathy by Joe Sparrow
VERSATILE, talented, intelligent, imaginative are all superlatives which could be used to describe Joe Sparrow and introduce his anthology series Omnipathy, but it would be better to describe him as a fearless storyteller who knows no frontier in the medium of mini comic.
Like all the best sci-fi shorts, The Still Planet takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride which leaves us questioning exactly what it is we have just seen.
Sparrow's use of negative space helps creates a sense of foreboding, neatly underlining the story of two astronauts heading deeper into a mysterious perfectly square black hole cut into the side of a recently discovered asteroid.
But it's is their dialogue that draws us in, hinting at the madness that is creeping over them.
And then with one violent splash of colour - standing out in the story's two tone panels - we're captured by the story's final twist.
In One Day in the Woods, Sparrow adds several notches to his bow, showing a flair for character design, composition, lighting, timing and even a good handle on the use of sound effects many professional comic book creators could learn a lesson from.
In contrast to The Still Planet, One Day in the Woods has no dialogue, but somehow in four pages it tells us even more.
The final splash page and inset are glorious, and you will find yourself leaning in to check the detail carried in the protagonist's body language, capping off this lovely tale (no pun intended) to perfection.
At this point it's probably worth mentioning the pixelated style Sparrow uses across Omnipathy 1.
At first I didn't like it, but it works so well for the two stories Sparrow tells here, giving them an 8-bit feel, which carries different, but appropriate weight in each story - echoing classic Space Invader-style games in the The Still Planet and Zelda-esque fantasy in One Day in the Woods.
Just opening the cover of Omnipathy 2 lets you know Sparrow isn't done experimenting on us.
The untitled tale within is drawn in a style so completely different to anything we've seen so far, it could almost be a different artist, and with the narrative switch Sparrow achieves by embracing voiceover to tell his story, he proves he's as comfortable adapting his storytelling style as he is his art.
And the result is something altogether different from his first volume.
Part crime story, part fantasy, part horror, part fairy tale, Omnipathy 2 weaves a complex web that is gripping, deep, dark and enigmatic.
Again Sparrow doesn't give us neat answers on a plate, instead preferring to let us draw our own conclusions on his characters.
I don't want to spoil this story too much in my reviuew, but I highly recommend you make a beeline for Sparrow's table wherever he sells his wares and make sure this one finds its way home with you.
Sparrow doesn't rest on his laurels for Omnipathy 3 either, breaking in another new, highly-polished style to present The Indigo Sonata, a very interesting piece of science fiction, that is as much philosophical musing as it is story, proving both the versatility of the author and the medium itself to deal with high concepts.
It's a neat piece that asks questions about civilisation and what we might leave behind if our time ended tomorrow, questioning what other alien races might think of us if, for instance, all that survived the end was a single 12" record.
The Indigo Sonata has a wry humour to it and wonderful elegance to its artwork, with Sparrow once again showing us how comfortable he is with colour, which here becomes the basis for an entire alien language.
Standing back from the work, it shows influences of Joan Miro, and the writing, the artist tells us himself, is influenced by a chapter in Gödel, Escher, Bach, a 1979 work by Douglas Hofstadter about consciousness and intelligence that weaves together strands on art, music, communication and mathematics.
The second story is a departure again, but this time, at least in the artistic style, character design and genre, there are echoes of Sparrow's previous story One Day in the Woods and in the colouring, the untitled story in Omnipathy 2.
Nicolas and the Dragon is a clever anti-fairy tale, where the brave protagonist manages to neatly swerve our expectations. I won't spoil how, but the nature of that twist is one of the reasons I like Sparrow.
There's a way to end this particular story that would be far too easy, but he doesn't want that, he wants to challenge us, and that's what will make me keep returning to his work.
I love the way the dragon is rendered here, the colour work around him brilliantly illuminates his appearance adding that element of danger needed for us to truly buy into the imminent peril Nicolas is in when he confronts it.
And again, Sparrow shows a knack for dialogue giving both Nicolas and the dragon distinct voices, their respective affectations adding depth to their characters.
The author himself tells us in his notes, he finds the story 'over-worded'. I can't agree. It reminds me of those wonderful moments in The Hobbit, where in desperate peril, all Bilbo has is his wits, which he uses to talk himself out of a number of dangerous situations.
If anything, my only regret here is that in the 'notes for discerning readers' Sparrow tells us we probably won't see any more of his fantasy work in Omnipathy, which he says he wants to use to focus on surreal horror and speculative fiction.
I hope he changes his mind, because for me, what makes Omnipathy a great series - and make no mistake, I think this is a great series - is the variety it presents, in genres, in artwork, in narratives, in subject matter.
I found myself eager to know what different avenue each story would take me down and never anything but impressed by how versatile Sparrow is as a storyteller and an artist.
Omnipathy is a calling card, which says very clearly, watch out for this name. I expect big things from Joe Sparrow, and I'm already eager to read whatever he does next.
You can find Joe Sparrow online at omnipathy.blogspot.co.uk where copies of his mini comics are available (and highly recommended) to buy using paypal. You can also find him at blog.joe-sparrow.com and on Twitter @torpordust.
You can find Joe Sparrow online at omnipathy.blogspot.co.uk where copies of his mini comics are available (and highly recommended) to buy using paypal. You can also find him at blog.joe-sparrow.com and on Twitter @torpordust.
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