ONI gets "Dead" in May

Oni Press is proud to announce I WAS SOMEONE DEAD, a new novella from Jamie S. Rich, author of the widely praised CUT MY HAIR. Featuring a cover and spot illustrations by graphic art master Andi Watson, I WAS SOMEONE DEAD gives comic readers and small press fiction fans alike their first new book from Rich since CUT MY HAIR debuted in 2000.

"When Jamie abandoned his comics editing career last year, initially, I was pretty bummed," said Oni Press editor in chief James Lucas Jones. "Jamie was a mentor, co-worker, and friend and I knew I was going to miss dearly in the Oni office. But my moping didn’t last long! Once it sunk in that this meant Jamie would be free to write more I was much more excited about the possibility of new work from one of my favorite authors than I was sad at losing such a valuable colleague."

"I finally thought I was free of these yahoos!" Jamie S. Rich shouted. "But not six months after I was out they pull me back in. I tried to tell them that I wasn’t interested. That I didn’t have time for their little funny books! Then I realized that doing something with Oni might mean I could work with Andi Watson again. Putting up with the stinky boys of Oni Press is a small price to pay for Andi Watson goodness, so I called James up and told him my conditions."

I WAS SOMEONE DEAD stars Hieronymus Zoo as a man no longer plagued by pain. He lives a life many dream about. His home is a serene island and his only companion is a loyal pooch. There’s only one catch for this perfect existence. Horrible nightmares plague his sleeping hours and the only place he can find solace is on the beach—small price to pay, or at least it is until a monster arises from the sea. But is the monster real or just another machination of his mind? And how will all this hold together when another person—a woman, no less—enters the picture? It could end in tears, or maybe in love.

"After all of the 'Is CUT MY HAIR an autobiography?' questions and all the similar pestering that’s bound to occur when the follow-up, THE EVERLASTING, is released, it’s nice to focus on a character and situation that’s a little more fantastic and unmistakable for reality," Rich said, "I WAS SOMEONE DEAD is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Hopefully that thoughtfulness and consideration will come through in the work. After ten years spent mostly sitting on the creative sidelines cheering my guts out, it’s nice to be the one on the field again."

I WAS SOMEONE DEAD contains 104 pages of prose and new illustrations and retails for $9.95. Wrapped in a full-color cover by Andi Watson, it hits stands May 25, 2005. A preview will be available at both OniPress.com and on Rich’s own site, confessions123.com before the release of Diamond’s March Previews Catalog for May Shipping Comics.