Broken Frontier

Thanks to an invitation from Viper Comics, writer/artist Otis Frampton gets to continue and expand his popular web comic, Oddly Normal, a fun story about a little girl who doesn’t quite fit in. With the first issue of the four-issue mini-series being solicited in the January issue of Previews, I decided to take the opportunity to talk to the storyteller to see if I could learn more about the book and the man behind it.

BROKEN FRONTIER: Let’s start off with a very timely issue. What are your resolutions for the new year?

OTIS FRAMPTON: Well, first and foremost to finish the series. But beyond that, I want to begin the second series, no matter what happens with the first. I want to be ready if there is a future to be had for Oddly Normal.

BF: Speaking of Oddly Normal, I've noticed that some of the teaser ads for your new series ask, "Who is Oddly Normal?" My question for you is, what is Oddly Normal?

OF: Oddly Normal is a coming of age story about a 10-year old girl with the most unfortunate name and the luck to go with it. Her green hair and pointed ears haven't made life easy for her in the real world. On her 10th birthday, Oddly's parents mysteriously disappear and she is left in the care of her great Aunt, a citizen of a place called Fignation. Unfortunately for Oddly, her experiences there will not be any better than they were on Earth.

BF: The story was originally a web comic. When you first came up with the idea, did you see it as story for the web, or did you always want to see it in print?

OF: It all began with a sketch I did in 1999, a quick sketch of a sad little girl holding a teddy bear. I wrote "oddly normal" next to it, and it sat there in my book for a few years. In late '02, early '03, I started thinking about doing a web strip, and that sketch became the impetus. I thought the idea of a girl too odd for the real world and too normal for the world of fictional wonders was a good springboard and could lead to a lot of good stories and wild visuals.

As the ideas and characters began to take shape, I realized that I didn't want to do a gag-a-day format, that I had more of a long-form story on my hands. So I began plotting it out and doing character designs. In the middle of the planning, Modern Tales put out a call for a new web comic and I submitted what I had. I didn't get the slot, but Girlamatic picked it up instead. I did the web comic for about a year and then went on hiatus. The web comic was dormant when Viper Comics came calling.

I had no intention of taking Oddly to print, which is why I designed the original pages in a horizontal web format. That's why the first half of issue one looks the way it does. But everything after that will be like a standard comic page.
I'm thrilled that Jim Resnowski and Jessie Garza took me onto Viper. They're my new heroes. And I'm in great company. I was fans of Josh Howard and Kazu Kibuishi before ever coming to Viper. In fact, if I hadn't done some fan artwork of Daisy Kutter, Jim would have never seen my work.

BF: So you were "discovered" so to speak because of some art you did for fun?

OF: Yep. I loved Kazu's stuff, and did two pieces of fan artwork for him. One for "Copper" and one for Daisy. Jim was Googling "Daisy Kutter" one day and found my site… or so he says. [Laughs]

BF: What was your schedule like while creating the web comic?

OF: I did a page a week. Each page was designed to be like a single page of a comic. So in a way, issue one of Oddly will almost be like one and a half issues.

BF: As far as the creation process goes, what are the differences between web vs. printed comics?

OF: The biggest difference is the horizontal web format, as opposed to the vertical print format. The other difference is that I was writing and drawing each web comic page on its own, with a general feeling of where I was heading. The mini-series was plotted out so I knew exactly what had to happen on each page in each issue. But the actual production techniques were ironed out during the web comic phase and improved upon for the print version.

BF: So did you feel you had more creative freedom while you were writing the web comic?

OF: Not at all. I've always been able to do what I want in terms of content. But the spatial differences between the horizontal and vertical formats have forced me to work the panel layouts a bit differently. It was odd going from one to the other, but hasn't changed the basic story or imagery in any significant way. What is different is that with the web version, I found myself trying to make sure there was a hook, however small, to bring a reader back next week, due to the serialized nature of the web comic. Now I think in terms of each issue.

BF: Now that you've had a chance to experience both processes for creating a comic story, would you say you favor one over the other?

OF: I'll take being published in print as opposed to being on the web any day of the week. And as a storyteller, I definitely prefer the longer form of a series over a weekly installment.

BF: Because it allows you to go into more depth with the characters and stories, or are there other factors?

OF: Yes, exactly. As I said, with a weekly or daily comic, there is a feeling that you need to be entertaining or funny or exciting in each installment. This can be a detriment to someone who is really working on a long-form story, and the concern is in the whole, rather than the parts. Even with the mini-series, I've had to trim a lot of the leisurely character moments that I had in mind when planning the story during its web days. The four issue format has forced me to stay pretty focused on story. So there are pluses and minuses to both, but I still prefer the print series over the web.

BF: Let's take a few minutes to discuss the story a little closer. As you've said, Oddly is a 10-year-old girl who doesn't quite fit in. That's something we can all relate to. Is that a theme you plan on developing in this series?

OF: Absolutely. And it's the element that almost everyone who reads it and gives me feedback mentions as something they relate to. It's pretty universal. Most people, at one time or another, have felt like they don't fit in. But there are other themes I'm working with, the biggest being "good vs. evil." And I don't mean in a vague, metaphorical way. Oddly will be forced to confront these two ideas in a very literal way, and her choices have a huge impact on her and what happens after series one. The "good vs. evil" element was actually the part of the story that made me really want to do Oddly Normal. I don't want to spoil the mini-series, so I won't say any more about that.

BF: You're right, everyone understands the need to be accepted. That's something that helps your story work for all ages. Did you have an all-age type of audience in mind when you began developing the story?

OF: I did, yes. But not the way most people think of when they say "all ages." I write primarily for myself, but I want Oddly to appeal to kids and adults. So, I've tried to make the story accessible on a surface level, the way a child would read it, and also on a subtextual level, the way an adult might read it. There are also visual elements that kids will enjoy and visual elements that only adults could pick up on. That's the plan, anyway. Hopefully, it works. But I'll be thrilled if my only audience turns out to be kids. That's a pretty great audience to have, in my opinion.

BF: Indeed, there aren’t enough good comics geared to the younger generation these days.

OF: I agree. Not enough comics out there that actually do appeal to ALL ages. Bone was one that had that quality, but that's ended.

Check back here tomorrow for the conclusion of the interview.

- James W. Powell