From Script to The Final Page: ODB LYRICAL RUCKUS IN THE CITY
Back in 2023, Editor Chris Robinson asked me to join the creatives at Oni Press/Lion Forge on a project titled ODB: Lyrical Ruckus in the City. This original graphic novel was pitched as an anthology in the style of Tales of from the Crypt. Your host/crypt keeper is Ol’ Dirty Bastard - quite possibly the grimiest member of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan.
Created in collaboration with Four Screens and ODB’s estate, the genre-crossing book features a contribution from myself, artist Maan House, and colorist Steve Canon. Our particular entry in the book is a horror story called “Demon Flow,” a cautionary tale about inauthenticity and the music industry.
Now that Lyrical Ruckus in the City is finally out (after a successful Kickstarter campaign), I can share a little of the process behind the comic.
Typically, with a project like this, you’re handed a rough idea for a story and then told to run with it. For “Demon Flow,” the concept centered around two friends who want to make it in the music industry. One of those friends is willing to sell his soul to a literal demon to make it a reality.
Since this was my second time working on an “established IP,” I was already familiar with navigating the parameters of a brand. Still, I had to go back and forth with the editor about not so much the who, what, when, where (that was established in the provided outline) but the how and why. I found my answer in African mythology.
In the Yoruba religions of West Africa (also in Haiti and other religions influenced by the diaspora), orishas are divine entities that lived in the spirit world, a.k.a. òrún. An orisha's purpose here on Earth is to guide humans. Taking a page out of West African religion, I found an answer to why Demon Flow is. He’s the “excrement of òrún.” A fallen angel, if you will. An abomination that works to do the exact opposite of what orishas are meant to do. If you squint just hard enough while reading my story in ODB: Lyrical Ruckus in the City, you’ll discover a backstory that has the potential to go beyond our 15-page tale. One that points directly to Africa and the cosmos.
Some more about ODB: Lyrical Ruckus in the City:
Oni Press — the publishing house behind titles like Scott Pilgrim and Rick and Morty — will be honoring Wu-Tang Clan founder and MC Ol’ Dirty Bastard with a new graphic novel titled ODB: Oddities, Discord, & B-Sides — Lyrical Ruckus in the City. The book is a fully illustrated, 112-page reimagining of New York City’s five boroughs through the eyes of ODB and will, according to Oni, explore “the legendary artist’s many identities through a Big Apple distorted through the prisms of hand-to-hand kung-fu combat, dystopian science fiction, darkness-haunted horror, and lovelorn romance as presented by an all-star cast of creative talents.”
OBD: Oddities, Discord, & B-Sides — Lyrical Ruckus in the City was created in partnership with Four Screens and authorized by the Ol’ Dirty Bastard estate, and the release will feature a number of exclusive variant covers, an accompanying 7-inch vinyl of “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” and a toy figure. The graphic novel will include contributions from artists like Troy-Jeffrey Allen, Paris Alleyne, David Brame, Dojo Gubser, Jay Hero, Maan House, Mike Del Mundo, Jason Pierre, Ike Reed & David Gorden, Chris Robinson, Regine Sawyer, Damion Scott, Felipe Sobreiro and Ron Wimberly.
ODB: Lyrical Ruckus in the City is available now.
Troy-Jeffrey Allen is a comics writer, video producer, Internet personality, and host. He is known for his work on MF DOOM: All Caps, Chuck D Presents Apocalypse ’91: Revolution Never Sleeps, Fight of the Century, and the Harvey Award–nominated District Comics: Unconventional History of Washington, DC.
