The 1970s was a rather interesting time for Marvel Comics. In the previous decade, fans saw the foundations of the modern Marvel Universe come to be. The beginnings of the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Avengers (which featured a second more successful attempt at reviving Captain America), the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Daredevil, the original Guardians of the Galaxy, among others.
With the loosening of the Comics Code, Marvel was able to branch out further into other genres, like sword-and-sorcery (Conan the Barbarian), martial arts (Shang-Chi), and science fiction (Killraven). One of the writers working for Marvel at the time was the late Steve Gerber, who is most famous for co-creating Howard the Duck.
In 1976, Gerber (alongside Mary Skrenes and Jim Mooney) set out to tell a story of a rather unique superhero. This is the first appearance of that superhero. This is Omega the Unknown #1!
The cover is pretty neat. An Ed Hannigan piece, it depicts our man Omega rushing to save a boy from a mysterious being. It's a well-made cover, but it is a bit deceptive. You'll see what I mean.
"Omega the Unknown"
Writers: Steve Gerber, Mary Skrenes
Penciler: Jim Mooney
Inker: Unknown (Heh)
Colorist: Petra Goldberg
Letterer: John Costanza
Editor: Marv Wolfman
Editor-in-Chief: Gerry Conway
The story begins with our mysterious Greek letter-named man seemingly on the run.
Omega fights off some strange men, showing that he is incredibly strong. He can also fire energy beams from his hands. One of the men is able to blast him in the back, making him scream.
At the same time on Earth, a young boy named James-Michael Sterling is screaming as well. He woke up from a nightmare. Seemingly, the battle we saw was that nightmare. His parents come in to comfort him. James-Michael grew up home-schooled, but his parents want him to attend a regular school. The Starlings think it will be good for him. He'll be able to befriend other kids, experience new things, broaden his horizons a bit.
James-Michael isn't so sure. He is bored by other kids. The next morning, the Starlings head out from their home in the upstate mountains to New York City, where J-M's new school is. You know, I live in Upstate New York. New York City is not exactly a short commute. There were no towns closer to the Starlings' home he could have gone to that had schools?
The Starlings try to get J-M excited. This is a new adventure for him, and he should embrace it. However, the trip is cut short when the Starlings' car hits a truck. J-M is thrown from the car, and it appears that he's the only survivor...until he hears his mother. It's here that he gets a shocking surprise.
Huh. So, Mrs. Starling is a robot. That must've been awkward when James-Michael asked them about the birds and the bees. "Well, you see, son. When a boy-bot meets a girl-bot..."
Okay, okay! Anyway, James-Michael is left confused by his mother's last words. What "voices" was she talking about? Some people run to help the boy (remember, he was thrown from the Starling family car), but he's numbed by the shock and trauma...and he starts hearing whispers in his head. Uh-oh... The scene then switches back to space. How's our man Omega been doing?
Oh. Yeah, he's had better days. These strange metal men he was fighting are forcing him to watch. To watch as they destroy the homes of and slaughter these seemingly innocent villagers. There's only one option left to the mysterious Omega: Get the heck out of Dodge. He breaks his restraints and makes his way to a rocketship. He has a destination planned, and a reason to get there...but it's not revealed to us. Omega then stares into the darkness of space...
...as James-Michael Starling emerges from some darkness of his own. He finds himself waking in a hospital bed, in restraints. The boy is wondering where he is. The nurse, a Ruth Hart, explains he's in the Barrow Clinic in New York City. He thrashed a lot in his sleep, hence the restraints. She calls the doctor to tell him Jimmy-Mike is awake, but Hart notes that the boy sounds so analytical and cold. Almost...robotic.
A moment later, Dr. James Barrow arrives to talk to the boy.
Wait, his name is Barrow. Does that mean he runs the clinic? I can presume so. Privately-funded clinics are a thing, so...back on topic! Barrow explains that James-Michael has just awoken from a coma. One that he's been in for the past month. James-Michael is happy, as he believes he doesn't have to go to the school his parents placed him in after all. Hart remarks that he's finally reacting like a normal kid. Heh heh.
Outside his room, she and Doctor Barrow discuss the clinic's financial woes. You see, the board feels the clinic has taken a few too many charity cases lately, and it's hurt the bottom line. Barrow finds James-Michael's case fascinating for some reason. James-Michael's oddness, the lack of any human remains left at the crash that killed his parents. It's a weird case, and he's hoping that the board will continue funding to let him study this. He asks Hart to spend some time with James-Michael. Get to know him, and learn what she can about him.
She tries to do so over the coming weeks, but it's not very effective. She hasn't learned much...almost as if James-Michael knew what they were planning and he deliberately is keeping quiet. Also adding to Barrow's problems? The board of the clinic is putting pressure to make the clinic profitable. As such, Barrow really has not much other choice but to discharge the boy. But Barrow does have an idea.
He asks Nurse Hart to take him in. After all, he's got nowhere else to go. Hart doesn't mind. All she has to do is clear it with her roommate Amber.
Amber gets introduced to Jimmy-Mike, and the two seem to hit it off. They talk over a game of chess. James-Michael is getting bored with playing alone, as it's causing him to be stuck in his own head. Amber admits to having a similar issue when she tries playing chess alone, which makes James-Michael jump. Ruth and Amber explain that he'll be staying with them for a while. James-Michael agrees as he finds Amber interesting.
That night, James-Michael is having some trouble sleeping. The boy is finding himself thinking about Amber, implying that he's got a bit of a crush. He then gets a visitor...one who is not interested in reading him a nice lullaby.
The metal man scans James-Michael...and believes he is the mysterious "Omega" from earlier. He reaches for his gun to vaporize the boy, but Omega himself shows up and the two brawl in the room. James-Michael instinctively raises his arms...
James-Michael is able to kill the metal man in one blast. He then notes that he's seen Omega in his dreams. He wants to know who his savior is. However, Omega gives no answer. He just takes the metal man's body and departs. Barrow bursts in, confused as to the commotion. He examines James-Michael's hands and notices sudden burns on the palms.
The burns form the Greek letter "omega".
This comic was rather interesting. What I like about the comic is the mysteries between James-Michael Starling and Omega. What is this strange connection between them? Why are his parents robots? It's got plenty of questions, and practically no answers. I also find it rather interesting that Omega himself...is silent. He doesn't say a word during this comic. It's rather unique among superheroes of the era, and it is a good contrast to James-Michael, who is more talkative, albeit unusually mature.
In another move, Omega himself is not the focus. Despite the fact that he's the title character of the comic, James-Michael clearly gets the lion's share of the spotlight. Omega himself is really just there to provide some action and to help set up the mystery between them. It almost feels like that Gerber and Skrenes want to do a new twist on the Billy Batson/Captain Marvel thing. At least, that's the vibe I get from it.
Since Omega is silent, the art has to carry him, and Jim Mooney does do a decent job. Especially in the close-ups when you can really see Omega's facial expressions. He was kind of an appropriate choice for drawing Omega as he'd had plenty of experience drawing powerhouses at this point.
Omega's series lasted for only ten issues, but managed to become regarded as a cult classic. Gerber had intended to finish Omega's story in The Defenders, but Marvel fired him in 1978. Turns out ol' Steve had an issue with deadlines. However, fans were writing Marvel wanting to see the story finished. As such, the book's then-editor Al Milgrom assigned Steven Grant to finish Omega's storyline. Grant wasn't into the character, but he did try to approach it in a way that Gerber himself would have. Omega's story would be concluded in Defenders #77 (November 1979).
Omega would get a mini-series in 2007, written by novelist Jonathan Lethem and artist Farel Dalrymple. Lethem was a fan of Omega, and felt there was more that could be done with the character. Gerber was unhappy with this, due to his legal battles in the past with Marvel over ownership of Howard the Duck (Gerber was a big supporter of creator rights, from what I understand). Happily, Lethem and Gerber talked things out, and Gerber was basically like, "Yeah, he's cool." I haven't read the 2007 miniseries. If you have, let me know what you think.
Omega the Unknown is a very interesting series, and I highly recommend it if you want to read something lesser-known from the House of Ideas. Omega's original series was reprinted in the 2006 trade paperback Omega the Unknown Classic. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! Join me next time when we take a look at the first appearance of a certain intergalactic trash panda...
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