CONTENT WARNING
This post contains mentions of familial death and deals with trauma. (Yes, I know I’m breaking my Horrorclature rules yet again here. I will do so one more time, unfortunately.)
Annie is a youth who lives with her grandpa and her bratty older sister, her father absent and her mother dead due to a car accident. Annie loves to care for creatures but she is awful at it, which results in the death of lizards, birds, and smaller animals.
“I’m cursed.”
One day she discovers a sort of a nightmare of a multi-legged creature — something along the lines of a mutated spider. She latches onto it, names it Ojo, and considers herself Ojo’s new mother, even though she’s repeatedly told that she should find Ojo’s real mother, and she does upon realizing that Ojo can only survive by feeding his mother meat. Matters escalate.
“Okay, that’ll make you all better. You don’t want to go home, do you? I’m your mama now.”
Ojo was penned and illustrated by Sam Kieth. Kieth is best know for the comic book series THE MAXX, which was adapted into one of the handful of shows featured on MTV’s ODDITIES too-short-lived alternative animated programming.
Sam Kieth is a triple-threat of comics. Kieth is quite well-known for his extraordinary and multi-faceted illustration work, which ranges from extremely elaborate and realistic cross-hatched renditions that involve so many curls — both hair and torn fabric — to absolutely warped, exaggerated depictions, to energetic cartoonish portrayals and then to deceptively simple child-like line-drawings that are also effortlessly amazing with their storytelling.
“There’s a kid whose name is Mike /
“He couldn’t dance or ride a bike; /
“He couldn’t keep a beat, and he had flat feet. /
[…]
“Now Unicycle Mike’s his name, receiver of fortune and fame. /
“Cash and cars and chicks galore — tell me, who could ask for more? /
“But happiness was not to be: his life was struck by tragedy. /
“When he was on his way to Vegas… /
“He collided /
“With a /
“School bus!”
He’s also a surprisingly sensitive individual, especially for someone who was involved in the initial launch of IMAGE COMICS, which comically — no pun intended — represents the worst of young male teen wish-fulfillment, and that comes through in every work of his. THE MAXX is all about abuse and disassociation and allowing folks to help you sort out your trauma.
“Gramps, why’s she gotta wreck everything, and why won’t she won’t ever talk about mom?”
“Maybe for the same reason we don’t want to talk about her.”
“Should we talk about her?”
“Only if we’re ready to.”
“How will we know?”
“We just will.”
OJO juggles similar emotional trials and feels earnest and earned. It’s not just about Annie’s journey, her struggle trying to reckon with the death of her mother, but how that also impacted the entire family, and how Annie’s actions affect them.
OJO is backed up by some supreme talent: Alex Pardee and Chris Wisnia contributed to the art, and multi-faceted Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O’Malley (who you may know as the creator of SCOTT PILGRIM) lend their lettering expertise to the work.
It’s a brilliant, evocative work that flew under the radar, and it is absolutely stunning, both with its visuals, its storytelling, and empathy and trying to imbue to the reader the hurt and coping mechanisms of trauma.
“When you’re as young as Annie, you can’t deal with something like this directly.
“What she can’t say to Mom, she says to her pets. She’s working it out the only way she knows how.”