OMAC R.I.P.

In the old Star Trek series there was a mysterious barrier around the galaxy, and there seems to be one around OMAC: both the original Jack Kirby run and the DCnU run could not make it past the issue #8 mark-which is sad as OMAC was the one title of the DCnU that I was still reading.

In retrospect the new series was a homage to the original, as someone said on Facebook it was a "love letter to Jack Kirby" and why not?

OMAC is one of those characters that is always on the outskirts of the DC Universe. His first run cancelled mid-stream with a cliffhanger. He was revived in a series of back up stories in Warlord and appeared in Kamandi (sort of...kind of) as Kamandi found he was a decedent of Buddy Blank (OMAC's alter ego) and was briefly transformed by Brother Eye (OMAC's satellite enabler) into a blond punk war god.

OMAC cropped up in DC Comics Presents next to Superman himself, vanished off the radar for a while then reappeared in a four issue black and white series by John Byrne that was so good that I hated it at first but then learned to love it.

I was disappointed when DC, as it began it march of yearly mega crises brought back the concept with none of the soul as a robotic menace.

Two bright spots were the reprinting of Kirby's run in hardcover in color: not too bad DC (too bad you did not include the Cancelled Comics Cavalcade material though-fan gripe beep! beep! fan gripe!) and an appearance in real live animation (I know just roll with me here) on the Batman The Brave and the Bold animation series.

OMAC, poor OMAC, from a world where one can buy a girl-bot in a box; but can't get your own series into the double digits. Well at least you went out before that horrible new DC logo would have been pasted on your book.

Beat the Mid-Winter Blues with Comics-Not Food!

Yesterday after work I stopped at my favorite comic shop: Brooklyn Comics @ 493 7th Avenue in Brooklyn New York. Where else is there going to be a spinner rack outside of the store with issues of Little Lotta? I even found a Cracked Magazine on the outside rack.

Inside the store is jammed with boxes, I felt like I was at one of those good table at the convention. The owner has brought in more silver age comics with very reward 2 and 1 dollar boxes. I scored a coverless golden age science fiction comic, the aforementioned Cracked Magazine and some bronze age Marvels. There is a sale going on for recent issues at far less than cover price.

In talking to the owner he said it is slow around January so now might be a good time to come in and help boost the local economy. As always when I was there people from the neighborhood came in to chat. I was also happy to see parents leading their children into to the store to buy some comics. A good way to get into reading and art.

I was tempted to buy the oversized Flaming Carrot #1 on the wall, the back issues of Journey and the Black Adam Mego Retro figure, but my aspirations are always bigger than my wallet.

Ultimate Spider-Man Diversity or Race Baiting

I have given much thought to Micheal Morales replacing Peter Parker as Spider-Man in the Ultimate comics version of our favorite Web Slinger.

Some people do not like the change seeing what Marvel says is an attempt at greater diversity actually being exploitative. I have to be in agreement with this one. Suppose you took Luke Cage and said he was going to be killed and a white guy was going to be Power Man? If a Japanese girl was going to be the new Storm or if the Bill Cosby role on I Spy was going to be recast by an Indian guy? Kind of hurts when it is on the other foot? That is the problem with diversity today, it is supposed to add something additional, instead it is always subtracting from one group for another. And it is hurtful.

How so?

Well first to begin with look at heroes like the Falcon, Luke Cage, Storm and Static. These were unique heroes crafted to be black from day one. There was an investment in creating a unique character, story, legend. Sure there were misfires like Black Goliath but other characters like Black Lightning are fondly remembered.

When you do the hand-me-down thing it is playing it safe. It is saying that we don't think a minority character can make it on its own unless it is grafted onto another character's legend.

It also sends a message to white readers that diversity is subtractive instead of expansive. It is a policy of supplanting instead of expanding.

I personally found the covers to be exploiting the racial angle also. The first issue at top was okay, but the second cover at bottom (Issue #6) has him rolling his mask up for no other reason than to be exploitative.

It is Marvel's playground ultimately so they can do in it what they like, but it does open a window into what society feels about the issue of diversity.

To have and to hold...Digital vs Print Comics

I face this debate everyday when I open up my Kindle to do some reading. The Kindle allows me portability and to change the size of the font when my eyes are tired. That being said I still go to flea markets and used book stores to buy books.

Digital comics present their own set of challenges.

In their favor:

• They are portable.
• Once publishers offer on line more of their past comics you will be able to read a whole run of your favorite title. Efforts were made to recently to put comics on DVD ROMs.

Against:

• The opposite of above, as of now not everything is out in digital.
• Physical comics can gain value. Digital editions don't.
• It will wreck and destroy the comic shops; while they all won't go under many will.
• I can sell, trade and give away my physical comics, I can't legally do so with a digital edition.

That being said there is the sense of history you get when you hold a silver or golden age comics. You hold in your hands something that at one time was at the newsstand. You wonder who owned it. Sometimes a scribble here or a filled out coupon there give you a clue to the book's past. Each fold or tear is part of the book's history. Even the mint condition comics have a story to tell.

There is a price point also. Economically the middle people, your comic shop and distributor are being cut out of the deal. All the gravy goes to the publishers, and yet the price of digital comics remains close to the physical ones. There are sales but shops have dollar bins.

I believe that digital comics should have a license that when you buy it you can after a set period resell it or trade it. Though the problem is since the companies can sell infinite copies would there ever be a back issue market.

One thing I really would like to see is reprints of some of the extinct lines such as Quality Comics and other out of business publishers. Let those characters see the light of day. Heck! I think if Cracked Magazine went digital reprinting past issues of the magazine it would turn a profit.

I would like to think there is a balance. Look at newspapers, digital news did not destroy them, it supplemented them. Perhaps the same scheme will eventually happen with comics. We will still buy them where we do, but also be able to buy a back issue we could not afford on line as a digital copy. Time will show which way the market will go, but I always think this medium will be anchored in paper.

OMAC vs OMAC

I actually remember when the first issue of OMAC came out on the newsstand. The cover was shocking in its simplicity with the white background. It was bold in the sense that the main character was only seen from afar with the woman in the box (predating the woman in the fridge by a good two decades).

The story was simple and straight forward (Spoiler) Buddy Blank (great shades of Dickens Batman) is such a nobody that he won't be missed when he is transformed into OMAC (who always reminded me of a non-flying Superman with a Mohawk).

The tagline "The World that's Coming" reflected the book. For its brief 8 issue run the series explored a future world where science had gone mad a big armies would be too disruptive. After the series was over there was a sort of cross-over with Kamandi though Kirby had left the book by then); a series of back up stories by Jim Starlin, and the occasional appearance in DC Comics Presents. He had also appeared in the cartoon "Batman: The Brave and the Bold."

I almost forgot a four issue prestige format series done by John Byrne which is well worth digging out. It had plenty of WTF? Moments but had a really great time twisting payoff. And if I remember right it was done in black and white. A very daring and overlooked jem.

I did not like the OMAC robots during some of the recent DC crossovers, which brings us to DCnU's version.

The new OMAC by Giffen is a homage to Kirby, it retains the original first issue's flavor and pacing while setting it in the present instead of the original book's future setting. I do not like the character design, it looks like blue Hulk stole somebody's OMAC costume from the superhero laundrymat. But overall I found the first issue enjoyable. I don't think this has the legs to last more than six issues but I will enjoy it while I can.

Ultimate Action and Ultimate X-Men-Seperated at Brith

Okay I took a liberty in flipping the Action cover, I could have flipped the X-Men cover just to make the point more apparent. Homage? Or message? Ultimate Superman anyone?

The Brooklyn Comic Shop with a Mission

How did I come across Brooklyn Comics & More? And why should you make the trip also?

Well the secret origin is I had an anthropology assignment and the comic shop I had gone to for years when I asked for some help looked at me as if I spat up issues of Heroes Reborn on their counter. Dejected I went outside, I remember passing a shop on 7th Avenue in Brooklyn while searching for a burrito and decided to give it a shot.

Like with tattoo shops I can pick up the vibe of the store as I go in, and I was not disappointed. While not huge in size the store packs a lot in and on sunny days has a spinner rack outside. I noticed an abundance of Archie and other titles throughout the shop. After revealing myself as a martian, wait! You did not just read that...flash...as I just said after revealing myself to be an anthropology student I talked to the Vice President of the store Gary.

His mission is to bring more children into the hobby. While I was there several kids came into the shop on their own. Gary helped them with their purchases in a non-patronizing manner.

The shop really goes all out to help its customers, special ordering items and they carry a very nice selection of independents. I bought my retro Mego Darkseid figure there.

Every Holmes needs a Watson and in this shop it is Jennifer (or is it Jenny? I am horrible with names). She is more knowledgeable on past plot lines than even I am. You can see she has a passion for the hobby and actually reads what she sells.

I have come in on a Thursday and have often seen Gary and Jennifer checking the new book racks and carefully making their next order. The precision of this process is staggering and shows the micro-economy that most comic shops must function under to survive. Often they will mention customers by name and know who needs what or who bought what.

I always seem to come in when there is a sale, the last time they were selling complete sets of various series and prestige stuff going back to the 1980s. I picked up a lot of books I had been looking for.

Another nice thing is the sense of community, when things are a little slow I have come in and we have talked about a wide range of things including what music superheroes listen to. I still say Superman listens to classic rock or country but I might be wrong.

Gary once said this store was his dream and I can respect that, and that is why I patronize this shop and encourage you to do so.

It is located at 493 7th Avenue Brooklyn NY 1-718-840--5840.