Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Omega the Unknown Classic by Steve Gerber Omega the Unknown #1 classic comic review – Steve Gerber’s hidden genius. If you are a lover of Bronze Age Marvel, you should pick this run up — it has been collected, but it has more appeal if you manage to find cheap copies of the original run. Summary. If you are a lover of Bronze Age Marvel, you should pick this run up — it has been collected, but it has more appeal if you manage to find cheap copies of the original run. This classic comic review of Omega the Unknown #1 contains some spoilers. Steve Gerber must be one of the most under-rated writers of all time, and Omega The Unknown is one of his most puzzling and hidden runs ever. Back in the Bronze Age of comics, writer Steve Gerber was surprising readers everywhere with some crazy arcs on Marvel titles, that often go unnoticed today. Most of you will perhaps remember his outstanding, and often controversial, work on Howard The Duck , and his mind-bending stories in Man-Thing . His wordy, often multi-layered scripts would take the most trippy ideas and embed them in the world of that time. Gerber’s career would run right through to the 2000s, and he sadly passed away in 2007. His other work would includes The Defenders , Daredevil, and She-Hulk for Marvel and some backup stuff for DC including Doctor Fate and Nevada for Vertigo. However, today I had a look at issue #1 of Omega The Unknown . Written by Gerber and long time collaborator Mary Skrenes, with art from Jim Mooney, the cover has Omega fighting what looks like a robot attacking young James-Michael Starling, who is in a hospital bed, reading copies of The Amazing Spider-Man . It’s a classic cover in the Marvel style, bombastic, colorful, and beautifully designed by Ed Hannigan and Joe Sinnot. Marvel covers had a house style, and it’s plastered all over this one. The splash page again throws us straight into the action, with Omega on the run while being attacked by laser fire. By page three he has been shot in the back by his attackers, and in a segue to the next scene that Alan Moore would have proud of, we switch to 12-year-old James Michael, who has experienced the attack through a nightmare in his sleep. James is comforted by his parents, but he is anxious about leaving his mountain home and attending a new school. There is an aloofness to these characters that is deliberately unnatural and lets the reader know there is more going on than at first sight. The next day, James’s parents explain that he must now start attending school, but in the car on route, there is a terrible collision with a truck, and in the wreckage, we see that his parents are robots. As his “mother” starts to dissolve, she leaves James with a cryptic warning. Meanwhile, on another world, Omega has been captured and is witnessing a robot army destroying everything in its path. He manages to escape to a rocket that he pilots away before we switch scenes again to James, now hospitalized after being in a coma after the crash. The doctor in charge is puzzled and eager for answers as to why there are no remains of anyone else being in the car, so in order to keep tabs on James, he persuades nurse Ruth Grant to look after him, including having James move into her apartment with her and her room-mate. The parties all agree on this plan, but while still under the care of the hospital, James is attacked during the night by one of the steel assassins that have been attacking Omega. Before he can be vaporized, Omega arrives and fights the robot off, and in the heat of the battle, James suddenly fires energy bolts from his hands, destroying the robot. Omega lifts it up and disappears with it just as Dr. Barrows enters and sees that burnt into the palms of James’ hands is the symbol Omega. It’s a tremendous first issue, and there’s a lot going on here, yet Gerber manages to introduce us to the concept in an easy 18 pages. The fact that Omega never speaks, creates a mystery around who he is, where he comes from, and who the robot killers are. James too is a mystery as we wonder who he is, where his robotic parents came from, and why are they on Earth at all? We know there is a connection between him and Omega, but what is it and why? Omega the Unknown ran for 10 issues, but low sales meant that cancellation was inevitable. Gerber would fall out with Marvel over the rights to Howard The Duck, and the newspaper strip featuring Howard, and there would be legal battles that widened the rift. However, the 10 issues of Omega the Unknown would find an audience and garner a small but loyal following. Eventually, to try and resolve the loose threads, Steven Grant would be requested to finish Omega’s story in 2 issues of The Defenders . Although it did the job, it is not considered to be a satisfactory ending for many fans. Omega would finally receive another shot at glory, though. After languishing in comics limbo, novelist Jonathon Lethem would be allowed to work on a maxi-series featuring the cast from Omega. Lethem was a fan of Gerber’s run, and despite initial rumblings from Gerber, the two would meet and discuss the series, with Lethem eventually getting Gerber’s blessing on the project. If you are a lover of Bronze Age Marvel, you should pick this run up — it has been collected, but it has more appeal if you manage to find cheap copies of the original run. Lethem’s highly praised run is also available, and for completists, it’s a must read. The Return of Omega The Unknown From Marvel Comics in December? Omega the Unknown was a comic published by Marvel Comics from 1976 to 1977, written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes and drawn by Jim Mooney, ran for 10 issues before cancellation for low sales. Despite its short run, it has remained as a cult classic. Steve Gerber promised to wrap up its unfinished plotlines in The Defenders but was fired in 1978 and never completed the storyline. In late 1978, editor Al Milgrom assigned writer Steven Grant to complete the story in two issues of The Defenders in 1979, at the end of which most of the original series' characters were killed. A 10-issue series revamping the character was published from 2007 to 2008, by Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple. Omega the Unknown is a superhuman bio-engineered by aliens who decided to create an ideal race as their legacy to the cosmos. Their penultimate model, later called Omega, was placed on the planet Srenesk to learn. He commandeered a Protar starship and fled to Earth after inadvertently destroying the world on which he was placed. The Earth was the home of the final "model" in his series, the artificially created boy James-Michael Starling, whom Omega sought to protect from the Protar. While on Earth, Omega was employed for odd jobs by a New York City pawn-broker, and had a number of battles with local beings. He battled the Hulk, Electro, Blockbuster, and Nitro. While later embroiled in a rematch with Blockbuster, the second Foolkiller saved Omega's life by murdering Blockbuster. Omega was finally shot dead in Las Vegas by the Las Vegas Police while battling Ruby Thursday. James-Michael Starling, who had inherited Omega's power, learned the true origin of himself and Omega but refused to accept the truth. He threatened to use the power of Earth's biosphere against the Defenders. Seeing the error of his decision, he ended his own life when he turned the power inward and self-destructed. Why revisit all this? Because Marvel Comics appears to be. Not openly, not yet, but it looks at if he may be part of the upcoming Annihilation: Scourge event. Somehow, somewhere. Because arel is republishing Omega The Unknown #1 as part of their Annihilation True Believers dollar line in their December solicitations. As well as issues featuring Nova, Annihilus, James Jameson -Man Wolf, Odinpower, Moondragon, Mantis, Super-Skrull and Super Adaptoid. Expect them all to play a role in the event… but which issue for Omega The Unknown? Would this be too on the nose? ANNIHILATION – SCOURGE OMEGA #1 Matthew Rosenberg (W) • Manuel Garcia (A) • SPOILER Cover by Josemaria Casanovas Variant Cover by Arthur Adams In the face of the Annihilation, there is no more room in the cosmos for heroes or villains – only survival. 40 PGS./ONE SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99. Here are those True Believers: Annihilation solicits… GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #3 FACSIMILE EDITION Written by STEVE GERBER, JIM STARLIN, LEN WEIN, BILL EVERETT & STAN LEE Penciled by JIM STARLIN, BILL EVERETT & STEVE DITKO Cover by SAL BUSCEMA It's Daredevil's first adventure with the Defenders! No, not Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist — we're talking the original Defenders: Doctor Strange, Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Valkyrie and Nighthawk, the greatest non-team in comics! And now, the Man Without Fear must join them in a cosmic game of chess played between the ever-manipulative Grandmaster and the playful Prime Mover! The rules are simple — Daredevil and the Defenders vs. a dangerous group of aliens…with the fate of the Earth at stake! And among these enemies is a major threat with a big future ahead of him — Korvac, from the year 2977! One of the biggest power players in the Marvel Universe makes his debut in this action-packed classic! It's one of the all-time great Marvel comic books, boldly re-presented in its original form, ads and all! Reprinting GIANT-SIZE DEFENDERS #3.