Omega The Unknown HC

Omega The Unknown HC
Written by Jonathan Lethem and Karl Rusnak
Art by Farel Dalrymple with Paul Hornschemeier and Gary Panter. Colors by Paul Hornschemeier.
Published by Marvel Comics. $29.99 USD

I can't really blame Marvel. Here this talented novelist, Lethem, writes a terrific novel called FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, wherein the teenaged main character loves a well-intentioned, corporately crippled '70s Marvel comic called OMEGA THE UNKNOWN by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes, and the kid even develops his own superpowers. It was as good a superhero novel as Chabon's AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY, plus it had great stuff on '70s Manhattan, graffiti, music, drugs and avant-garde filmmaking. So it totally made sense that they would invite Lethem to try his hand at redoing or reinterpreting OMEGA and getting it right, without compromises or interference. At least, I'm guessing a version of that conversation took place--maybe Lethem made the first overture.

And Marvel was apparently so pleased at the impending media attention the book would get that they accepted Lethem bringing in another writer on the project, Rusnak, even if it meant they would have to keep his contribution vague so as not to confuse anyone. Dude doesn't even get a bio on the jacket.

Still, I like Lethem and while I wasn't so excited about the project I couldn't wait for the collection, when that came out I was only too happy to shell out for it. As expected, there's a little bit of bonus material like sketches and a back-and-forth between Lethem and Rusnak about the original series and where they wanted to jump off from that.

As for the series itself...hmm. To call it interesting sounds like mockery, because that's such an anti-critical word, but it really is pretty interesting. I don't think Lethem could have totally dropped the ball on this one, but it's difficult to judge the success of this one. Is it gripping and suspenseful? Not really. Good characterization? Sure, pretty good, though no one who will haunt you later. Funny? Frequently. Deep? Well...

The story is about a young man who learns in a car accident that his parents were robots built to protect him. He goes to school in the city and meets a girl who helps him adjust to his new environment and try to break out of his home-schooled, asocial personality. Although a genius, his lack of socialization at least means he isn't egotistical. Over the course of ten issues of comics, he develops powers, learns of his bond with an alien hero sent to save him from a nanotech invasion, and fights off a media darling, government approved jerk of a superhero called The Mink. What it all amounts to is a lighter variation on the coming of age story Lethem already nailed in FORTRESS, played a little more for laughs and with some ideas and images that are offbeat (a park statue as occasional narrator) but not as ominous or disturbing as some in the novel (using salt to kill the nanites was a sure sign Lethem wasn't after melodramatic superhero thrills). It's not an impersonal story but it does feel somewhat detached, and the personal bits are either deeply coded or amusing notes--I have no doubt the ubiquitous burger chain is called Butterdogs because the authors just liked saying it. It's hard to imagine a real burger establishment wanting either "butter" or "dog" in its name.

Farel Dalrymple's art is fairly good but problematic. Although a fan of his early indie efforts like Pop Gun War, here with fine-lined inking his figures are flat and awkward, and it's not easy for the eyes to immerse themselves in the art, despite decent storytelling and perspective and numerous attempts to set the action in real NYC locales. Often, he draws dot eyes or shadowy brows, so that it's harder to identify with the characters, and although there are few action scenes, it would have been nice if they carried at least a little jolt of excitement or broke from the traditional grid layouts a bit. Paul Horschemeier expends tremendous energy trying to warm up the art with a palette of rusts, browns and violets, and the art would be much less interesting without his involvement. Gary Panter's three pages of art that is supposed to have been drawn by the alien Omega himself is terrific, and one wishes Lethem and Rusnak had given Dalrymple some places to cut loose like this. It was the right idea not to pick a regular superhero comic artist but the book needed something more dramatic than Dalyrmple's style. When a giant hand with legs is neither horrifying nor bizarrely fascinating and just makes you think of the Hamburger Helper character, there's a problem. Not a failure of a book but a very minor success at best.