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Omega the Unknown #1

December 2007, Marvel Comics - writer: Jonathan Lethem with Karl Rusnak - artist: Farel Dalrymple - colorist: Paul Hornschemeier

When I was in the fourth grade, a kid joined our class midway through the school year. Mrs. Mickle sat him next to me, and I innocently, playfully asked him where he'd been. "I was home schooled," he answered, to which I responded with a silent, inquisitive stare. I'd never heard of home schooling before, and I was skeptical. Later in the day, I managed to ask him to spell encyclopedia, which, in my young mind, was the epitome test of intelligence, and he did so quickly and correctly. I became a believer in the unknown that day.

Unfortunately, according to Omega the Unknown #1, home schooling may prepare you for many things, but not for a car accident that reveals your parents are robots and that you are the Earthen harbinger of an alien superhero. See, public education is good for something...

I was excited to see the Marvel solicitation for Omega the Unknown #1, particularly because of Farel Dalrymple's involvement. I’ve been a fan of Dalrymple's since his independently published Pop Gun War, a surreal miniseries that I credit for opening my mind to the potential of small press, in general. Contrary to some commentary, PGW's story was linear, telling the tale of a child with angel's wings, but many of its contributing elements were too psychedelic to be explained by conventional reality. The emotional intensity of the series overpowered the weight of its weirdness, though, and, thanks to Dalrymple’s seemingly intentionally muddied brushstroke, all six issues are a personally treasured part of my collection. (I'm a sucker for comics starring kids, too, and Pop Gun War, however strange, is a coming of age allegory with very stable roots in reality.) So, that's the long way of explaining that I had high hopes for Omega the Unknown.

Though Dalrymple isn't penning this series, writer Jonathan Lethem compliments the urbanized sophistication of his art with uber-dialogue – that is to say, his characters talk smart. The brief review I’ve read of this first of ten issues, which I think summed it up in those three little letters, WTF?, might have been distracted by this verbose vernacular... which may have been Lethem and Dalrymple’s intent in the first place. Under their title page credits, a caption boldly proclaims, "A version of an unfinished dream by Steve Gerber, Mary Skenes, and Jim Mooney", which is a lofty way of honoring Omega’s original contributors, but also the implication that these ten issues will be more than your average Obscure Marvel Character Relaunch. To dream is to have a vision – or to anticipate the long-term reared with a sense of theme or significance. By utilizing a different kind of creative team, Marvel may be dabbling with the first of many niche reinterpretations of its C-list cast (despite what "omega" really means). At least, that would be this fan’s hope... and my next vote is for a quality Cloak and Dagger series. Who's with me?!

Regarding this issue's story, despite its distinguished dialogue, the story is rather standard for an inaugural issue of this magnitude: while Omega the Unknown combats some crafty robot assassins, fourteen-year-old genius Alexander is orphaned, thusly interrupting his first trip to public school. His parents are exposed as robots in the wreck (though related to Omega’s attackers, we don’t know yet), and during his recovery at a caring nurse’s house, the two plotlines collide, wherein Alexander exhibits some omega powers of his own. Fans familiar with the original series may behold these events with some nostalgia, but a newbie like me enjoyed their mystery and suspense, and I assume an alien-meets-adolescence/whoa-they’re-one-in-the-same type of arc will result. Like a good first issue should, Omega the Unknown asked its questions in the compelling kind of way to bring me back for more.

Another interesting element of this issue is its general artistic construction. Dalrymple letters his own pages, but more so also seems to hand-draw the cover’s title, making these pages completely untouched by digital effect until its coloring stage. While the black and white format of Pop Gun War flourished under this independent influence, the contrasting crafts were a bit distracting, particularly via the tinted text boxes, which, sans color, would’ve been more of an organic extension of the art. I wonder if Marvel would ever experiment with a black and white format for a mainstream title. Again, Cloak and Dagger would be great fodder for such an experiment ...!

Either way, Omega the Unknown appears to be a lesson in comics education for everyone involved. Can such an obscure character, in the hands of relatively niche artists, carry his own series, if only for ten issues? Can readers see grandiose dialogue for what it is and still appreciate the story and themes brewing underneath? Yes, Omega isn't the only unknown in this equation.

Make sure you check out KaraokeFanboy's contribution on ComicSpace and see some of his fantastic strips! - AD