Writer: Bruce Jones
Artist: Renato Guedes
Publisher: DC Comics
This issue was pleasantly surprising (as in, I was expecting it to be coma-inducing drudgery), and I think I’ll stick around a bit longer to see where the series is headed. The OMAC 11-page teaser in Brave New World was terribly underwhelming, and when my LCS dealer had OMAC #1 in my box, I was planning on putting it back on the shelf. Only by flipping through until I saw Firestorm making an appearance did I decide to go ahead and drop the cash to check out the title. (Yes, I succumbed to the gimmick of the cameo.)
And it was actually pretty cool, despite a few anchors weighing down the book in my mind before it even hit the stands: Such as the fact that the OMAC units became all too quickly a boring, pointless villain in the buildup to Infinite Crisis last year, thus leaving me utterly without motivation to see any more of them; Such as the fact that Bruce Jones’ recent work has been pretty hit and miss (Incredible Hulk), laughable dreck (Nightwing), or completely ignored (Vigilante); Such as the fact that this book will almost certainly unfold in one of two formulaic ways: either (A) the last OMAC host will win his autonomy and decide to become the latest hero to wear blue cybernetic armor that improbably manifests itself near-instantaneously with no hint as to where its mass comes from (um, Blue Beetle, anyone?), or (B) the poor, unknown host will simply be a metaphorical foosball ricocheted across the table of the story by the spinning kickers of the plot points until, in true Mary Sue fashion, he somehow rises above his challenges by issue #8 and faces the likely prospect of being forgotten by comic fans forever.
In fact, the latter formula does seem to be in play. We don’t really learn anything substantial about the last remaining OMAC host. So far, he’s just a plot device. The story here is that Brother Eye is waking up, computes that his creator is dead, and resumes his mission – which is now somewhat confusingly stated as being the extermination of all organics. Huh? Perhaps this was a sour grapes plan by Alex Luthor in the event he was defeated. Or maybe it’s just a glitch in Brother’s system. I hope we’ll find out for sure, because it’s got me scratching my head.
The first half of the story takes place in Gotham, street level, with some no-name cops running a drug sting. Some readers will find the choice to extend this scene to such a length and in such detail to be perplexing, given the fact that we’ll almost certainly see no more of the players in the rest of the series, except perhaps on slabs at the morgue (well, I think we might get one recurring character out of the intro … and since she’s hot, and survived, her odds are good). But – and maybe I just happened to be listening to the perfect music in the background at the time – I really dug the opening. It had a great Law & Order mood, complete with the real-world New York City feel of tight streets, ubiquitous scaffolding and mazes of alleyways. Guedes rendered the cityscape beautifully, though his choice of severe camera angles (some well past 60 degrees from horizontal) was uncomfortable to my neck and unnecessary to the mood.
Guedes’ shortcomings were evident in the latter half of the story. Luckily, the garish reliance on photo-referenced people seen in the Brave New World short wasn’t in evidence here, but the difficulty following physical action did make an unhappy return.
The opening page set a nice tone for the story, with a bit of Terminator-style black-screen machine-think dialogue setting up what’s to come. I liked the concept and potential of Brother Eye when it was introduced last year, but, as I’ve stated, found the OMACs numbingly tiresome. If Jones explores the mind of Brother Eye as much as he focuses on the unknown kid wrapped up in the OMAC armor, he’ll earn my continued patronage on the mini-series.
The last panel of the issue certainly suggested he’s got some interesting plans.
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