comic
a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
publisher which published three series between 1998 and 1999: ''Virtex'', ''The Wonderlanders'' and ''Wisp''. All three series were created by Casey Lau and Jeff Kwan with scripting assistance from such comic professionals as Mike Baron, Pat Mills and
Tom and Mary Bierbaum
Tom and Mary Bierbaum are an American husband-and-wife writing team, known for their work on the DC comic book ''Legion of Super-Heroes''.
Biography
The Bierbaums entered the world of professional comic book writing through Legion fandom. Tom Bie ...
.
Titles
The first book to be released was the 12-page ''Virtex'' #0 and the company's final releases were ''Virtex'' #3, ''The Wonderlanders'' #2 and ''Wisp'' #1.
*''Virtex'' was the story of a cybernetic cowboy that chased outlaws through a time-amalgamated wasteland. An interesting gimmick was played out in the 3rd issue of the 3-part story "Divine Intervention" where the issue shipped with 3 versions: #3A, #3B, #3C, each with a different ending.
*''The Wonderlanders'' proclaimed "What Happens When Fairy Tales Grow Up?" Merging the worlds of
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...
,
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...
Capcom
is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
and Saturday Morning cartoons. King Layoran and his team of Wonderlanders come to Earth to stop the evil Fenris and his team of evil Wonderlanders. The first story arc has gone uncompleted.
*''Wisp'' was Oktomica's "horror" book - a team of specialists protect our reality from a rip in dimensions that has allowed an evil race into our world. Wisp leads the team against villains that enter our bodies physically through our mouths. Wisp only had one issue release but #1 had a variant cover by
Kevin Nowlan
Kevin Nowlan (born 1958) is an American comics artist who works as a penciler, inker, colorist, and letterer. He has been called "one of the few artists who can be called 'artists's artist'", a master of the various disciplines of comic producti ...
.
Creators
Oktomica is notable for its high-production values in coloring, printing, and graphic design. All 3 artists went on to bigger projects.
* Kano, artist on ''Virtex'', worked for DC Comics drawing '' Action Comics'' and '' H.E.R.O.''.
*
Kaare Andrews
Kaare Andrews is a comic book writer, artist and filmmaker from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His work includes '' Spider-Man'', '' Iron Fist'', '' Renato Jones'', and '' Incredible Hulk''. Andrews has a diverse drawing style, which ranges from hyper ...
, artist on ''The Wonderlanders'', wrote and drew '' Spider-Man: Reign'' for Marvel Comics, among other projects.
*Ruben Martinez, artist on ''Wisp'', went to
Stan Lee Media
Stan Lee Media (SLM) was an Internet-based creation, production and marketing company that was founded in 1998, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2000, and ultimately dismissed from bankruptcy in November 2006. In its early years, the ...
where he drew ''
Backstreet Project
''Backstreet Project'' is an American comic book created by Nick Carter and Stan Lee. The comic features members of Carter's band the Backstreet Boys as themselves as well as a team of superheroes called "Cyber Crusaders". The book was available ...
'', a comic chronicling the adventures of the Backstreet Boys as cyber-crusaders. He has also worked at
Mattel Toys
Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
designing the art for
Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
action figures.
After Oktomica
''Virtex'' evolved into a flash-animated series at also now defunct An action figure was planned as well. It has since been reappeared in ''