Omega The Unknown
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Omega The Unknown was both an American comic book published by Marvel Comics from 1976-1977 and the titular character of that comic book. The series, written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes and illustrated by Jim Mooney, ran for 10 issues before cancellation for low sales. Despite its short run, it has remained as a cult classic for many fans due to its intriguing characters and unusual storytelling.
[edit] Plot Synopsis
Unlike many other superhero titles, the main focus of Omega The Unknown wasn't on the super-powered man in the iconic costume and cape. Instead the story largely dealt with an unusually mature 12 year old boy named James-Michael Starling. Through the 10 issue run of this comic book it was made clear that there was a connection between the mute Omega and the strangely analytical James-Michael, with most issues adding to the mysterious nature of their relationship.
In the premiere issue, the character of Omega was shown as the last surviving member of an unnamed alien race. He escaped the mechanical beings who had devastated his planet in a ship headed to Earth. The story then cut to James-Michael waking up in bed having dreamed the events that had just occurred with Omega.
In his waking world, James-Michael and his parents are moving to New York City from 'the mountains' so he can improve his socialization skills after years of home-schooling. En route to New York the Starlings' car is driven off the road and both of James-Michael's parents are killed, but not before the boy discovers that both of them were robots. James-Michael collapses into a coma and awakens a month later in a private hospital exhibiting an eerie lack of emotional response to his parents' deaths. The hospital is later attacked by one of the mechanical beings that had destroyed Omega's homeworld, and Omega himself appears to defend James-Michael. The superhero and the android fight but the conflict ends when James-Michael himself destroys the alien mechanism with energy bursts from his hands (an effect used by Omega in James-Michael's dreams).
After this beginning, the story follows James-Michael's life as he is fostered to two young women, nurse Ruth Hart and her roommate, Daily Bugle freelance photographer Amber Grant, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. The series explores the problems he encounters in a strange new place, and his trials (and friendships) in a New York City public school. Issues of racism and bullying are addressed, although the stories' focus is on how the reserved and detached James-Michael relates to the world around him.
Meanwhile Omega the Unknown becomes a superhero figure in New York City, fighting minor supervillains such as Electro and Nitro. He tends to appear when James-Michael is in danger and some characters remark that his appearance is identical to what James-Michael would look like as a grown man. As the series progresses Omega and James-Michael eventually meet and interact, although the nature of their relationship remains unclear.
Omega himself is killed in the 10th (and final) issue leaving the mysteries of the story unresolved. Two years later there was an attempt to provide a final explanation, when writer Steven Grant guest-starred James-Michael (who had started exhibiting Omega's powers) in The Defenders #s 76 and 77 (1979). There, it was posited that the two were prototypes for a line of artificial warriors to be manufactured by the Protarians of the Rebreg ("Gerber" spelled backward) System, and that Omega had stolen his ship while en route to the planet Srenesk (a near-anagram of Skrenes) for training. The story ended with all loose ends neatly tied up, i.e., every character from the series dead. While Gerber, Skrenes, and many fans of the series seemed unhappy with Grant's conclusion, it nevertheless successfully, if unimaginatively, tied up the loose ends of the comic series, and is considered "canon" by Marvel.
[edit] New Series
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This article or section contains information about a scheduled or expected comic book release, or a series already in progress. It is likely to contain tentative information and the content may change dramatically as the product release approaches and more information becomes available. |  |
In 2005, Jonathan Lethem announced he would revive this character (in collaboration with artist Farel Dalrymple) in a new series sometime in early 2006. Original co-creator Steve Gerber later expressed personal outrage over the use of the character without his participation and has firmly maintained his position on the issue despite being contacted by Lethem about his concerns.
Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada recently updated the series' status during in a Q&A session on Newsarama.com by saying "Jonathan Lethem winning the Macarthur Grant put additional and unexpected demands on his time, so we’re trying to be accommodating to him so the project is running a bit behind schedule so I think it’s fair to say that we’ll be seeing it in 2007 at this point."
