Oni Press, the publisher behind Scott Pilgrim and Rick and Morty, is releasing a re-imagined comic celebrating the eccentric styles of Wu-Tang Clan founder Ol’ Dirty Bastard with ODB: Oddities, Discord& B-Sides – Lyrical Ruckus in The City. This 112-page graphic promises to keep up with ODB’s eccentricities, reimagining New York City as a fractured multiversal game of cosmic chaos filled with denizens who need saving, all while embracing the artist’s love of genre, including of course, kung-fu.
“I am thrilled to bring ODB to life in this incredibly powerful graphic novel. ODB: Oddities, Discord and B-Sides – Lyrical Ruckus in the City combines the essence of my husband like I’ve never seen before. He was and is an inspiration to my family, children, and fans across the world,” said Icelene Jones, ODB’s wife and admin of her husband’s estate. “It’s been such a pleasure to see this book come to life with our incredibly talented partners at Four Screens and Oni Press.”
“Collaborating with our immensely creative partners at Lion Forge and Oni Press to develop a brand new graphic novel has been mind-blowing! Thanks to the steadfast support of our partners at the Estate of ODB, we have merged the five personas of ODB with the five boroughs of New York to create the ultimate hip-hop universe,” said Four Screens CEO Messiah Jacobs. “ODB: Oddities, Discord and B-Sides – Lyrical Ruckus in the City pays homage to The Culture. It has been an honor to work with every writer and artist on this project. We’re bringing the ruckus with this one.”
In ODB: Oddities, Discord & B-Sides, an elemental impact has fractured NYC causing different versions of the city’s most infamous neighborhoods from across the multiverse to converge into a single reality. Queens is haunted by ghosts. The Lower East Side is now run by a rogue artificial intelligence. A hundred blocks north, time travelers are throwing a block party in Harlem.
Confusing? Absolutely. Which is why Ol’ Dirty Bastard himself will serve as the reader’s personal tour guide in this strange amalgam of a fictionalized NYC multiverse adventure, in something that I can only describe as feeling absolutely Ol’ Dirty Bastard in style. The series will also feature a limited-edition action figure crafted as an ODB ‘Lyrical Ruckus’ variant figurine. It will also include a vinyl single of ODB’s greatest hit single while he was alive ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ that will feature new vinyl cover art by prominent black cartoonist and creator of a ComicsBeat favorite series, Prince of Cats, Ronald Wimberly.
Available for pre-order via Kickstarter, ODB: Oddities, Discord & B-Sides is created in partnership with Four Screens, along with the ODB estate. The Kickstarter will include limited hardcover editions along with these collectables before hitting retailer shops one year from now on November, 2024.
The series will feature new contributions from a murderers’ row’s worth of talent including: Troy-Jeffrey Allen (Chuck D’s Apocalypse 91: Revolution Never Sleeps), Paris Alleyne (Miles Morales: Spider-Man), David Brame (MediSIN), Dojo Gubser (Rot8ion), Jay Hero (Green Lantern), Maan House (Bloodborne), Mike Del Mundo (Avengers), Jason Pierre (CW’s In the Dark), Ike Reed & David Gorden (Rampage Jackson’s Big Brawl), Chris Robinson (Vince Staples’ Limbo Beach), Regine Sawyer (Dark Nights: Death Metal – The Last 52), Damion Scott (Batgirl), Felipe Sobreiro (“Weird Al” Yankovic’s The Illustrated Al), Ronald Wimberly (Prince of Cats), and more.
Ol’ Dirty Bastard was a founding member of the infamous Hip Hop group the Wu-Tang Clan. Widely considered the greatest Hip Hop group of all-time, Wu-Tang’s debut album Enter the 36 Chambers, along with ODB’s solo sequel album Return to the 36 Chambers, popularized an entirely new genre of hardcore hip hop.
ODB also lived a larger than life personality. He was once paid 30,000 to record a single with the Insane Clown Posse in a messy 2-day session that went entirely off the rails where they had to change the entire purpose of the single (now aptly renamed, ‘Bitches’). He also, once saved a four year old girl by lifting a car with some friends after a car crash just outside of the studio. The first authorized documentary depicting his life will be Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys, produced by Four Screens – will also debut in 2024 on A&E Network.
