ONIGAMI
Updated on May 14th, 2001.
After I finished illustrating Derek Kirk's story for Warrior Nun Black
& White 4 to 6, then-Antarctic Press editor Herb Mallette called
me up and said he wanted me to do something else for Antarctic. I pitched
a sequel I had inadvertently conceived to Mr. Kirk's story while drawing
it. Comic book artists spends long hours on their pages, many of these
hours on no-brain work which leaves them plenty of free RAM to mull
over loose ends and alternate plotlines. I find this very useful when
I draw my own stories, which I can change if I want to, but in this
case where I had to stick to someone else's script, my reflections on
how this or that point could have been explored further had been driving
me nuts. It was therefore a relief when Herb green-lighted my sequel
idea and signed me up to do it as a three-issue limited series. For
this, and for his much-needed advice and patience throughout production,
I owe him much.
Onigami 1, 2 and 3 came out in 1998. Back issues can be most easily
be found through Millenium, and I believe retailers can order them from
Cold Cut.
THE STORY
Cartoon characters come back from the dead so often readers don't even
believe it when a character dies anymore. Though Onigami does come back
from the dead, it's a long and difficult task. Where does he get a body
to inhabit? Once he has a body, how does he get a life? The man needs
a job, a home, love in his life... If coming near death can change your
perspective on life, imagine actually dying and coming back.

In Onigami,
Hiroshima police chief Masaomi Oga, who was present when the Man-Oni
died at the end of Warrior Nun Black & White 6, is visited by the
dead villain's spirit. They strike a bargain: the villain's ghost will
lend his powers to Oga, and Oga will use these powers to make life difficult
for the man they both hate, yakuza boss Masaru Tomino. When he calls
upon the ghost's powers, Oga becomes a creature similar to the Man-Oni
and calls himself Onigami, the Japanese word for an angry spirit.

The Onigami wages a campaign of terror on Tomino's illegal operations,
and Oga laughs when Tomino comes to him for police protection. Oga has
it made, doesn't he? Well, not quite. Why does the Onigami do things
that Oga doesn't want him to, and sometimes can't remember? Does the
ghost acquire more and more control over the Onigami every time Oga
becomes it? Does the ghost care at all about protecting Oga's wife and
children from Tomino?
Maybe Masaomi Oga should have thought twice before striking a deal with
the oni...
Michel
Lacombe's comics in print