If you haven’t heard of Michael Avon Oeming, well, then I’m not sure what you’re doing reading this . . . Maybe you stumbled onto it thinking it was a prophetic site about the impending End of the World? You’re half right. Either way, Oeming is probably best known for his work on Powers, the comic chronicling police detectives who solve superhero murders. Now, Oeming is teaming up with his wife, Taki Soma, for a brand-new, creator-owned project -- Rapture.
After warring for a century, Earth’s greatest heroes and villains suddenly disappear, leaving the planet devastated. Surviving among the wreckage and fighting cannibal raids, two lovers -- separated by a continent -- must find a way back to one another. But when Evelyn is chosen by a supernatural being to be the next champion of the fallen city, will her newfound power cause her to forsake Gil? Who knows? You’ll have to read the book when issue #1 is released on May 27.
Until then, read this interview with Michael Oeming and Taki Soma. It might not give you any more information about the exciting new series, but it might help you prepare for the collapse of modern society.
Dark Horse: What was the inspiration behind Rapture?
Taki Soma: Me! Mike took all the elements of storytelling I love and mushed them all together.
Michael Oeming: And Taki was sharp enough to tell me what to take out. There was a subplot involving kitten ninjas and she thought that was too much. Kitten Ninja copyright Soming, Inc.
DH: Michael, you’re very much established in the comic-book industry, both as a writer and an artist. What does Taki bring to this project that you feel would be missing without her input?
MO: I like working with other writers and creators. I wrote a lot of stuff with Bryan Glass (The Mice Templar, 86 Voltz), Dan Berman (Thor, Stormbreaker, Six), and Ivan Brandon (The Cross Bronx), so as Taki and I got to know each other better and our relationship grew, I knew I wanted to work with her. As with my other writing relationships, we have similar yet diverging writing styles and ideas. Without Taki, Rapture would have a whole lot less heart, less driven by emotion and more about violence and superhero bullshit. She really fleshed out the characters, especially little Adam -- I think he is going to shock the hell out of people, thanks to Taki.
DH: Taki, do you feel as if you’re bringing a better, more realistic understanding to the main female character, or do you feel your talent is used on a wider scale in the series?
TS: I think there are a good amount of writers out there who get women right, and I don’t want to step on anybody’s idea of how a female mind works, to be truthful. I am not my sex, although it is part of who I am -- and I have yet to figure out the whole species of femme anyway.
DH: Michael, you seem to reflect on the balance of power in many of your stories; why is this concept so intriguing to you as a writer?
MO: Okay, here is a fun thing for writers. All good stories are about some kind of balance of power -- it could be physical, emotional, or even figurative. You can make that a theme on every level and it will only enrich your story. There is a lot of that here: the balance of power in the love of Gil and Evelyn, how that balance changes, and how that relates to actual, physical superpowers. Evelyn does not accept the responsibility of a love relationship -- and there is a consequence for that. Later she does not accept the responsibility of a relationship with power and there is a consequence for that too. Love is power. One theme reflects the other; it’s about balance.
DH: Taki, what underlying concepts do you hope readers will take from Rapture?
TS: The main concept I hope reflects strongly is that being in love is like having superpowers, and if you don’t take the responsibilities that come with it, there will be consequences that will consume you.
DH: In Rapture, those with the most power are responsible for the most devastation, yet it’s when these people leave that the real destruction occurs. Is this irony intentional?
TS: My view was that the world was dependent on the powered beings and had no concept of just how much until they left; thus, without any preparations when devastation hit, humanity was left to fend for themselves, but had no idea as to how.
MO: And how many times have we seen that, done that, or had it happen to us in real life? Someone leaves us, we leave someone -- however it happens, if the person who is left is devastated, that person is destroyed. That is power! It happens to people, heroes, and, in our case, the world. So, totally intentional.
DH: Rapture, not only in its name, but also in the comic itself, has strong biblical connotations. How will you use the reader’s assumptions of Christianity in the series?
TS: As much or as little as Mike and I know. Even if you’re not familiar with any of the biblical references, the story should be enjoyed because it’s just a theme and not the actual core of the story.
MO: I think it’s simply a good analogy. Take as much from it as you want. In the biblical Rapture, the blessed leave the earth in cosmic battle; us wretches left behind are in hell. The relationship between Champions and humans breaks up, and we fall apart. The Word could be the word of God . . . Who knows -- we only know as much as our characters . . . until we do a follow-up series. ;)
DH: As society progresses more and more towards complete globalization, do you think humanity has a greater chance of redeeming the ills of our race, or a greater chance of destroying what we’ve already established?
TS: At this point, I think we can go either way. I hope for the former.
MO: I think aliens are going to come and make us into pets.
DH: If a worldwide pandemic were to occur, what do you see as the greatest asset to the human race? What do you see as the greatest setback?
TS: I think the best asset is that we now see individual life as precious, even more so than in our past, but the setback is overpopulation.
MO: Well, we turn on ourselves pretty quickly, but I’ve seen us come together in amazing ways. After 9/11, certainly, and a few short years later the big blackout happened in New York City. No giant riots like there would be in a film -- instead people were helping each other, passing out free water and food. There is hope . . . well, until the zombies come.
DH: Is this series, above everything else, a love story?
TS: Yes.
DH: H. P. Lovecraft is quoted as saying, “the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear.” In your opinion, is fear the greatest emotion?
TS: Greatest, no. Strongest, perhaps. Coming from an advertising background myself, I know many ads are based on fear, which is kind of not right -- but only because I know it works.
MO: We need a good fear-based campaign for Rapture!
DH: On a scale from 1 to 10 -- 1 meaning “it will definitely happen in 2012” and 10 meaning “it’s happening right now as you read this interview” -- how likely do you think the Apocalypse is?
TS: Ha ha ha, we were just watching a History Channel show about the coming Apocalypse; I believe they predicted it will happen sometime in the next ten years.
MO: It happens all the time. I love how self-centered we are as people to think that just because it hasn’t happened to us, it didn’t happen. Tell that to several Native American tribes, or the Maya; go to Africa during the tribal wars or Southeast Asia when sickness wipes out whole communities. Apocalypse happens all the time, but the end of one thing is just a new beginning for something else. Still, best to avoid it if you can.
Also, I have a theory about the biblical Apocalypse. Mark 13:32: “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” My guess is that we can hold off the biblical Apocalypse by predicting the “final hour” every single day. As long as someone is predicting the end of the world each day, that means someone knows, and God is pretty clear that He only wants to be right. ;) So keep predicting, dudes; it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy that might save the world.
DH: From these choices, pick which will cause the destruction of the world:
a) Zombies
b) Crazy Animal Flu
c) Nuclear Fallout
d) Barack Obama
e) Turning on CERN’s Large Hadron Collider
TS: f) 42
MO: I’ll go with CERN. I don’t know what that is, but ignorance is bliss.
DH: Knowing food will be scarce, should I chop my cat into sections now so that I can properly preserve them, or do I continue to fatten him up until the last moment and then share the sections with the last of my remaining friends over a fire barrel?
TS: I’d say chop up your weakest friend. I heard human flesh tastes like Spam, but cats taste like ass.
MO: We need to find that pic of Taki biting her cat . . .
DH: I noticed a subtle dig on Portland in issue #1. Yet, with all of its rainfall, Portland will be a great place to get water when society collapses. Would you like to take this opportunity to apologize to the angry Portland hordes that will no doubt rise up against you when the revolution comes?
TS: Crap! Mike, hide all the gold! (We actually love Portland; we were going to move there until Seattle pulled us in.)
MO: You only hurt the ones you love; that’s why we destroyed Portland. That and we hope to get freebies from Voodoo Donuts.
DH: So, obviously Portland is the best city to be in when Armageddon goes down, but what city is second best?
TS: Tokyo, but only because I’m from there and I know lots of people are really polite -- “No, no, you eat my ration. I have my shoe to eat.”
MO: Did you know Armageddon is a real place? Mount Megiddo is in Israel, and that’s where the “final battle” takes place.
DH: What items are necessary to prepare for the Apocalypse?
TS: Blunt, projectile, and chemical weapons. Oh, and virus immunity.
MO: I agree -- blunt, lots of blunts; I quit that, but I’d start again for the Apocalypse.
DH: After we run out of stray dogs and are forced into cannibalism, which part of the human body would you suggest is most delicious to eat?
TS: Well, I once read about this cannibal who tried to eat his victim’s butthole, but it tasted too much like poop, and despite his obsession with her butt, he could not bring himself to eat it, even though he ate everything else on her . . . So, not the butthole.
DH: True or false: When the Rapture occurs, everyone still on earth can claim left-behind objects based on the “I call dibs” rule?
TS: True, ’cause I’m certainly going to try it and probably will apply my saliva to claim.
MO: Dibs may be the best ice cream treat ever. I call Dibs.
DH: Can you comment on these Cinderella lyrics? “Don’t know what you got, till it’s gone.”
TS: I think I knew I had a rash, even before it was gone.
MO: I’ll pretend I’m too young to get that reference.
Check out a special 8 page preview of Rapture #1 -- just click here!
Click here for a Rapture desktop download!
And be sure to check out the special Alex Maleev cover!