Omega the Unknown #1.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

To my recollection, in my younger days, I only ever owned one issue of Omega the Unknown.

That was the one in which the world's least talkative hero had to fight a man who was armed with a spanner.

But there were other issues published.

Nine of them.

And no more.

But, as we all know, longevity's no guarantee of quality. If it were, On the Buses would be better than Fawlty Towers.

So, that in mind, just fifty years after reading that other issue, I shall promptly take a look at the instalment that started it all.

And it starts it all with our hero on another planet, fighting robots.

Who are these robots?

I don't know but they seem to have taken over his world and killed the rest of its inhabitants.

And, now, we're on Earth with a boy called James-Michael Starling who's clearly some sort of child prodigy in the process of being taken to New York for a taste of that state's schooling system - only for his parents to be inconveniently killed in a car crash that reveals them to be androids.

Next thing we know he's in a clinic, having just woken from a month-long coma. One in which he's had dreams about Omega and his battles.

His doctor wants to find out out just what's going on with him and, thus, his nurse Ruth Hart agrees to look after the boy, at her flat which he'll also be sharing with her roommate Amber, a feisty redhead who likes to call him, "Punk," and sets his adolescent juices flowing in a way Ruth can't.

Then, as James-Michael lies in bed, contemplating the day's events, a robot smashes in through the wall, only to be attacked by the pursuing Omega who's now fled his own world and arrived here!

The fight isn't going well for the blue-and-red-garbed muscleman but that's when James-Michael destroys the robot by firing blasts from his hands.

Blasts that leave marks on his palms.

Marks that resemble the Greek letter Omega.

What can it all mean?

I don't know.

And I suppose that's the point. Mystery and intrigue are patently designed to be the strip's main selling point, possibly compensating for the fact it's a little dry and none of the characters act or speak like any human beings anyone's ever met.

Clearly, when it comes to characters, the breakout star's going to be Amber who resembles Mary Jane Watson directly after receiving a refund from the charm school.

With its hero arriving on Earth from a destroyed world, and an orphaned child living among us, with exceptional abilities, it's impossible not to spot the hints of the Superman mythos at play.

Just as, with its youthful protagonist having an inseparable link to a super-hero, there are clear echoes of the original Captain Marvel. Not to mention Marvel Comics' not-so-original Captain Marvel.

And is it a coincidence that it's drawn by Jim Mooney who pencilled all those classic Supergirl adventures we all know and cherish?

But perhaps Steve Gerber can tell me what's going on.

He does, we must note, provide us, here, with a one-page article about the origins of the strip - and his and co-writer Mary Skrenes's role in it. 

On the one hand, this is a bad thing, as it means I'll have to read words instead of just looking at pictures and I'm not a man who buys comics because he wants to read words and not look at pictures. If I was, I'd be the sort of man who reads instructions on food packaging instead of just guessing how I'm meant to cook it.

But, on the other hand, this is a good thing, as answers may be forthcoming.

And, so, regardless, I shall plough ahead and read it.

And I've now read it.

Only to discover it doesn't give me any answers either.

That means I'm going to have to read more issues to find out what's going on.

Oh it's a cunning plan alright.

And it's possibly going to work.