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Omega the Unknown (1976) #1-10
Omega the Unknown Classic
Marvel's short-lived superstar fought enemies both infamous and obscure, but it took his death to unveil the story of his life It's demons, depowerment and drama when the Defenders discover the true secret of Omega and his mysterious charge Plus, the death of a super-villain who, so far, is still dead When was the last time you saw that? Guest-starring Spider-Man (if you look closely enough) Collects Omega: The Unknown #1-10 and Defenders #76-77.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 11, 2005
6 people are currently reading
203 people want to read
About the author
Steve Gerber
642 books66 followersSteve Gerber graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and took a job in advertising. To keep himself sane, he wrote bizarre short stories such as "Elves Against Hitler," "Conversion in a Terminal Subway," and "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!" He noticed acquaintance Roy Thomas working at Marvel, and Thomas sent him Marvel's standard writing test, dialoguing Daredevil art. He was soon made a regular on Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, and the newly created Man-Thing, the latter of which pegged him as having a strong personal style--intellectual, introspective, and literary. In one issue, he introduced an anthropomorphic duck into a horror fantasy, because he wanted something weird and incongruous, and Thomas made the character, named for Gerber's childhood friend Howard, fall to his apparent death in the following issue. Fans were outraged, and the character was revived in a new and deeply personal series. Gerber said in interview that the joke of Howard the Duck is that "there is no joke." The series was existential and dealt with the necessities of life, such as finding employment to pay the rent. Such unusual fare for comicbooks also informed his writing on The Defenders. Other works included Morbius, the Lving Vampire, The Son of Satan, Tales of the Zombie, The Living Mummy, Marvel Two-in-One, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shanna the She-Devil, and Crazy Magazine for Marvel, and Mister Miracle, Metal Men,
The Phantom Zone
, and The Immortal Doctor Fate for DC. Gerber eventually lost a lawsuit for control of Howard the Duck when he was defending artist Gene Colan's claim of delayed paychecks for the series, which was less important to him personally because he had a staff job and Colan did not.
He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.
In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.
In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'
He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.
In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.
In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'
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August 25, 2010
It's 1972. Steve Gerber begins writing the best-titled comic book ever, 'Giant Size Man Thing'. He takes a story about a scientist who is accidentally transformed into a shambling mound of plant life, and turns it into a psychologically complex deconstruction of comic books. Ten years later, Alan Moore would turn the comics world on its head with 'Swamp Thing', when he turned a story about a scientist who is accidentally transformed into a shambling mound of plant-life into a psychologically complex deconstruction of comic books. Another ten years after that, Neal Gaiman would do the same with 'Black Orchid'.
In 1973, Gerber created the character of Howard the Duck, a foul-mouthed, cantankerous cartoon character who lusts after human women while joking his way through a world of existential turmoil. Four years later, Dave Sim would revolutionize the world of self-published comics with 'Cerebus', a story about a cartoonish anthropomorphic aardvark who lusts after human women and jokes his way through a world of existential turmoil. He is also foul-mouthed and cantankerous.
In 1976, Gerber started 'Omega: The Unknown', an unusual comic about real people, their personal problems, and super-powered men from strange dimensions who comment insightfully on the madness of our world. Thirteen years later, Gaiman would write 'Sandman', a year later, Milligan would start 'Shade: The Changing Man', and three years after that, Sam Kieth would write 'The Maxx', all of which deal with small people, their small problems, and strange men from other dimensions commenting insightfully on the madness of our world.
Gerber started, in the seventies, to explore the style and themes which would consume the comic book world in the decades to follow, showing that it was possible to write comics in a different way, as long as you were willing to think about comics in a different way. Yet Gerber never had the notoriety or bankbook of some of these other authors. In fact, Shade was canceled after ten issues and Gerber ended up declaring bankruptcy. So what happened?
Gerber wasn't satisfied merely to change the way comics were written, he also wanted to change the way they were controlled, the way they were published, and the way authors were treated. He took his battle to the courts, and helped to start the move towards creator's rights. He was an early voice, fighting alone against large corporations, and it drove him into bankruptcy. It ended in a settlement, and Steve never got the rights to his characters.
However, other authors were inspired by him, and we can see success stories, like Eastman and Laird, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the success of creator-empowering publishers like Image and Dark Horse. We have a lot to thank Gerber for, not merely his revolutionary creativity, but his visible fight for control and comparable reimbursement.
Omega: The Unknown is an example of both. It shows that, with a powerful voice and an insightful mind, a comic book author can avoid cliche through subversion, and can explore the meaning of comic books while writing them. It also shows that even a promising, interesting new book can be taken from its author, cut short, and given to another author to be summarily killed off. And the original author, who created the character and its stories, might never be allowed to write that character again.
This is not particularly uncommon: shows get canceled, publishers refuse new books, movies end up in development hell, all because the execs up top aren't interested in giving them a chance. Cheers was last in the ratings its first year, yet someone decided to give it a chance, and it succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of avarice.
That's simply something that couldn't happen today, but it's important for us to recall that we only have good shows, good movies, and good comics because someone was willing to give them a chance. The only reason Alan Moore had carte blanche with 'Swamp Thing' was because no one expected it to last another year. Likewise, its remarkable that Watchmen was ever published, since DC revoked the use of all the characters who originally starred in it.
Yet even with all the success and notoriety Moore has had, he's struggled his entire career with creator's rights, constantly falling out with publishers who seek to maintain tight control over his creations even though they have found the greatest success when they let him run free.
Not all creators have the will to enter into a legal struggle over their work. Moore would rather write that sit in court, but we should be glad that some creators are willing to fight, or the publishers would still be paying poverty-level wages for million-selling books.
Yet this book is more than an example of the importance of creator's rights, it is ingenious, well-written, and surprising. A great deal of thought was put into this book in late-night talks by co-authors Gerber and Mary Skrenes, with a focus on characterization, psychology, and exploring the form of comics.
Gerber is one of those rare authors who is capable of stepping back from the work and saying something profound, thoughtful, and vital. While for most authors, these moments of poignancy fall flat, Gerber's unfettered mind ensures that the observations made will be intriguing, and the implications vast.
There are a lot of things done well in this book, and they are things that are deceptively difficult to do. The characters are human and realistic, but without being overwrought. They are characterized by small comments, reactions and asides, not by exposition or moments of unnatural insight.
The pacing of the story is complex and deliberate, and there is a weight to the emotional reactions that is truly difficult to capture. The book has an existential core where horror, frustration, loneliness, and loss of identity are all explored seriously, yet intriguingly through charming, surprising characters.
There are some moments that don't quite work, but most of those are the trappings of editorial control: Gerber was forced to include cameos by big time heroes to connect with the Marvel universe, which is a heavy, dull, overbearing thing in a comic so concerned with real emotions and experiences. There are also a few issues with long, knockdown fights, but these were scripted by other authors.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the comic are its symbols, which are like the standard symbols of comic books, yet bear deeper, more conflicted meanings. Perhaps it is merely that Gerber is trying to deal with ridiculous things in a meaningful way, and to find in the ridiculous something sympathetic and true.
It takes a great deal of courage to take something absurd seriously, but that is the nature of living. We all live in an absurd world, and most of us try to ignore the incongruity, to ride along on top of all the madness and pretend that our lives are predictable and sensible. It is the philosopher who seeks to explore the absurd for what it is, and by taking a philosophical eye to comics, Gerber asks us if the hyperbolic world of superheroes is really that much stranger than the world we live in.
The philosophy of absurdism is existentialism, and there are Nietzschean overtones here, like there are in all comics books, which are naturally about the struggle of power and inequality. But also like Nietzsche, Gerber's analysis is thoroughly vital, concerned with life and living and experiences. That is what touched his readers when this first came out, and what continues to touch us today, and it is this optimistic existentialism that has inspired and overtaken the minds of great authors of comics (and 'graphic novels') since Gerber first explored them, himself.
My Suggested Reading In Comics
In 1973, Gerber created the character of Howard the Duck, a foul-mouthed, cantankerous cartoon character who lusts after human women while joking his way through a world of existential turmoil. Four years later, Dave Sim would revolutionize the world of self-published comics with 'Cerebus', a story about a cartoonish anthropomorphic aardvark who lusts after human women and jokes his way through a world of existential turmoil. He is also foul-mouthed and cantankerous.
In 1976, Gerber started 'Omega: The Unknown', an unusual comic about real people, their personal problems, and super-powered men from strange dimensions who comment insightfully on the madness of our world. Thirteen years later, Gaiman would write 'Sandman', a year later, Milligan would start 'Shade: The Changing Man', and three years after that, Sam Kieth would write 'The Maxx', all of which deal with small people, their small problems, and strange men from other dimensions commenting insightfully on the madness of our world.
Gerber started, in the seventies, to explore the style and themes which would consume the comic book world in the decades to follow, showing that it was possible to write comics in a different way, as long as you were willing to think about comics in a different way. Yet Gerber never had the notoriety or bankbook of some of these other authors. In fact, Shade was canceled after ten issues and Gerber ended up declaring bankruptcy. So what happened?
Gerber wasn't satisfied merely to change the way comics were written, he also wanted to change the way they were controlled, the way they were published, and the way authors were treated. He took his battle to the courts, and helped to start the move towards creator's rights. He was an early voice, fighting alone against large corporations, and it drove him into bankruptcy. It ended in a settlement, and Steve never got the rights to his characters.
However, other authors were inspired by him, and we can see success stories, like Eastman and Laird, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the success of creator-empowering publishers like Image and Dark Horse. We have a lot to thank Gerber for, not merely his revolutionary creativity, but his visible fight for control and comparable reimbursement.
Omega: The Unknown is an example of both. It shows that, with a powerful voice and an insightful mind, a comic book author can avoid cliche through subversion, and can explore the meaning of comic books while writing them. It also shows that even a promising, interesting new book can be taken from its author, cut short, and given to another author to be summarily killed off. And the original author, who created the character and its stories, might never be allowed to write that character again.
This is not particularly uncommon: shows get canceled, publishers refuse new books, movies end up in development hell, all because the execs up top aren't interested in giving them a chance. Cheers was last in the ratings its first year, yet someone decided to give it a chance, and it succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of avarice.
That's simply something that couldn't happen today, but it's important for us to recall that we only have good shows, good movies, and good comics because someone was willing to give them a chance. The only reason Alan Moore had carte blanche with 'Swamp Thing' was because no one expected it to last another year. Likewise, its remarkable that Watchmen was ever published, since DC revoked the use of all the characters who originally starred in it.
Yet even with all the success and notoriety Moore has had, he's struggled his entire career with creator's rights, constantly falling out with publishers who seek to maintain tight control over his creations even though they have found the greatest success when they let him run free.
Not all creators have the will to enter into a legal struggle over their work. Moore would rather write that sit in court, but we should be glad that some creators are willing to fight, or the publishers would still be paying poverty-level wages for million-selling books.
Yet this book is more than an example of the importance of creator's rights, it is ingenious, well-written, and surprising. A great deal of thought was put into this book in late-night talks by co-authors Gerber and Mary Skrenes, with a focus on characterization, psychology, and exploring the form of comics.
Gerber is one of those rare authors who is capable of stepping back from the work and saying something profound, thoughtful, and vital. While for most authors, these moments of poignancy fall flat, Gerber's unfettered mind ensures that the observations made will be intriguing, and the implications vast.
There are a lot of things done well in this book, and they are things that are deceptively difficult to do. The characters are human and realistic, but without being overwrought. They are characterized by small comments, reactions and asides, not by exposition or moments of unnatural insight.
The pacing of the story is complex and deliberate, and there is a weight to the emotional reactions that is truly difficult to capture. The book has an existential core where horror, frustration, loneliness, and loss of identity are all explored seriously, yet intriguingly through charming, surprising characters.
There are some moments that don't quite work, but most of those are the trappings of editorial control: Gerber was forced to include cameos by big time heroes to connect with the Marvel universe, which is a heavy, dull, overbearing thing in a comic so concerned with real emotions and experiences. There are also a few issues with long, knockdown fights, but these were scripted by other authors.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the comic are its symbols, which are like the standard symbols of comic books, yet bear deeper, more conflicted meanings. Perhaps it is merely that Gerber is trying to deal with ridiculous things in a meaningful way, and to find in the ridiculous something sympathetic and true.
It takes a great deal of courage to take something absurd seriously, but that is the nature of living. We all live in an absurd world, and most of us try to ignore the incongruity, to ride along on top of all the madness and pretend that our lives are predictable and sensible. It is the philosopher who seeks to explore the absurd for what it is, and by taking a philosophical eye to comics, Gerber asks us if the hyperbolic world of superheroes is really that much stranger than the world we live in.
The philosophy of absurdism is existentialism, and there are Nietzschean overtones here, like there are in all comics books, which are naturally about the struggle of power and inequality. But also like Nietzsche, Gerber's analysis is thoroughly vital, concerned with life and living and experiences. That is what touched his readers when this first came out, and what continues to touch us today, and it is this optimistic existentialism that has inspired and overtaken the minds of great authors of comics (and 'graphic novels') since Gerber first explored them, himself.
My Suggested Reading In Comics
May 19, 2017
Well drawn but the dialogue was just painful.
October 17, 2017
Disappointing. In some ways, this deserves more than two stars, as Gerber and Skrenes were clearly trying to push the envelope of what was possible in mainstream comics at the time. While their writing is far from wonderful, it is generally better than that in the material included here that they did not write--the inclusion of said material being in itself part of the problem. The notion of a creative vision is rather compromised by two fill-in issues written by other hands (and in which consistency with what has gone before is not entirely maintained) and pretty much annihilated when the story of James- Michael Starling and Omega is unceremoniously (and ridiculously implausibly) terminated in two issues of a completely different comic (The Defenders) by yet another artist. Most of the art is by Jim Mooney and is competent enough, albeit more reminiscent of the style of better artists than great in its own right, but other hands also turn up and turn in some less than stellar work. This might well be the textbook example of a collision between creative vision and corporate ownership. Gerber and Skrenes's ambitions are clearly trammelled by the requirement of marvel-style monthly mayhem, including exceedingly unlikely scenarios (e.g. both the Hulk AND Electro turning up in the same Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood not only at the same time but also just as yet another costumed superhero arrives?) and what looks like editorial interference in the sudden narrative shifts (e.g. the developing narrative about James-Michael's rather more realistic public school experiences play a major role in a few early issues and then are dropped when one character ends up beaten to death). Overall, an incoherent mess, sad to say.
October 29, 2025
Some interesting ideas that never really quite work.
At its core, Omega is a trippy sci-fi take on Shazam with a dump truck full of philosophy and a few modern issues.
It just never fully comes together, and then gets cancelled.
They try to wrap it up in the Defenders story, but it is such a clumsy rush job.
Like the design and idea of the character, but I get why the series isn't better known/loved.
At its core, Omega is a trippy sci-fi take on Shazam with a dump truck full of philosophy and a few modern issues.
It just never fully comes together, and then gets cancelled.
They try to wrap it up in the Defenders story, but it is such a clumsy rush job.
Like the design and idea of the character, but I get why the series isn't better known/loved.
February 22, 2019
I expected this to be an interesting product of it's time, but damn! the book as a really modern feel to it. It's a shame how it was cut when it was just beginning reveal it's secrets. The ending in Defenders is not only attrociously insulting, but the change in how it is narrated it's a punch to the face.
I really hope that before dying, Gerber left some notes on this and someday, somehow, Marvel stops being the bitchiest company ever and lets some A-list writer give a proper clousure to this wonderful piece.
I really hope that before dying, Gerber left some notes on this and someday, somehow, Marvel stops being the bitchiest company ever and lets some A-list writer give a proper clousure to this wonderful piece.
November 21, 2023
Probably more like a 2.5, but I'll round up because it's Steve Gerber.
This began strong, but the wheels started spinning pretty early. The ending was rushed and forced, and ultimately, the whole thing was a pretty weak entry into the annals of comic book history.
This began strong, but the wheels started spinning pretty early. The ending was rushed and forced, and ultimately, the whole thing was a pretty weak entry into the annals of comic book history.
June 4, 2008
At times, unbearably slow and ponderous and yet, on the whole, sort of fascinating in its uniqueness. It's very sad when, toward the end, the book clearly gets canceled and the story is quickly and unsatisfyingly wrapped up in a different book by a different author, even that, at the same time, one wonders if it ever would have been concluded at all if Steve Gerber had kept on with it. That is, it seems much like Steve Gerber is a David Lynch type, more interested in creating mystique and atmosphere than in answering any questions. Having read this only makes me more curious about Lethem/Dalrymple's new version of the character, which presumably only improves on the obscurity (although the weirdness may be somewhat dialed back). My favorite part is when Omega and Gramps (yes, Gramps) go to Vegas to use their mind powers to win enough money to take James-Michael out of the horribleness that is Hell's Kitchen. Thinking about that makes me sad it ended so abruptly.
February 12, 2016
A short lived series that never seemed to live up to the potential promised in the first few issues. The story was as much SiFi as a superhero one and that is maybe why it never caught on and did well. Recommended
February 14, 2018
This has a lot of mixed reviews but I thought this was excellent. It rattled along at a fast pace. The writing was good throughout. Good Art. And a story that tugged at the heartstrings, which was unusual for a comic from this time.
September 30, 2025
My favorite era of comic books is the Bronze Age, specifically comics from the 1970s, especially Marvel Comics of the '70s. Comics of that era could often be a little off-kilter. They were a bit experimental. Among my favorite titles of the Seventies are "Master of Kung Fu", "Tomb of Dracula", Jim Starlin's run on "Warlock", "Luke Cage, Hero For Hire/Power Man", "Killraven", Don McGregor's run on Black Panther in "Jungle Action", "Howard the Duck" and "The Man-Thing". These were not your usual "puncheminnaface" Superhero books. To be sure, they would conform to many of the superhero tropes, like the "obligatory fight scene", but most of those titles I named were not quite your normal superhero book. ("Luke Cage" definitely was, though.)
Sure, I still loved the superhero stuff. "Amazing Spider-Man" and "Fantastic Four" being the main two. But ultimately, I liked comics that did something different or were at least trying to do something different.
Then there was this obscure little gem.
"Omega the Unknown", co-written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes, and the great artwork by Jim Mooney (the exception being a fill-in drawn by Lee Elias), only had a ten issue run. But to me, they were among the most interesting comics of the late Seventies. OtU went outside the norm from normal superhero titles then and in a lot of ways, even today.
As much as Gerber and Skrenes could get by with given the confines of the Comics Code Authority, OtU was realistic, compared to say, "X-Men" or "The Incredible Hulk". The series was primarily set in Hell's Kitchen where alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes and cockroaches were part of the backdrop. That alone made the book different. But add to that the shocking, almost realistic death of one of the book's supporting characters - they're brutally beaten up by a bully, a beating that resulted in that character's death. That was not a normal part of comic book storytelling back then.
Even more unusual is the fact that the titular hero, Omega, when written by Gerber and Skrenes, never actually defeated the story's bad guy/adversary. Superheroes in those days ALWAYS triumphed over the evil doers. Omega didn't. (There were two fill-in issues late the series' run that were scripted by Scott Edelman in one issue and Roger Stern in another, where Omega triumphed. Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes never let Omega be the champion in their stories.)
But what really set "Omega the Unknown" apart from other comics was the mysterious bond between Omega and the other star of the book, an orphaned teenage boy named James-Michael Starling. Not only did they look similar, but they had some of kind of psychic connection. In the first issue, James-Michael Starling even demonstrated he had some of the same super powers Omega had. The mystery at the heart of the series was what their connection?
'Omega the Unknown" ended not only on a cliffhanger, but it ended without resolving the mystery. There was a promise that Steve and Mary would resolve the puzzle in some future issues of "The Defenders", which Gerber was also writing at that time. However, due to a dispute with Marvel's then Editor -In-Chief, Jim Shooter, Gerber left Marvel. When the "Omega the Unknown" saga was completed in "The Defenders", it was done so by another writer, Steven Grant. Frankly, I hated that solution and outright rejected it. I still do.
Gerber died years ago and Mary Skrenes has refused to reveal what their plans were for the book. It was a pact she and Steve had made, disappointing as that is.
Still, the original ten issues exist and are reprinted in this trade paperback, which I am now going to read. I'm looking forward to reliving "Omega the Unknown". I'll skip the two issues of "The Defenders" at the end of book. They're not a part of the James-Michael Starling/Omega story as far as I'm concerned.
Sure, I still loved the superhero stuff. "Amazing Spider-Man" and "Fantastic Four" being the main two. But ultimately, I liked comics that did something different or were at least trying to do something different.
Then there was this obscure little gem.
"Omega the Unknown", co-written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes, and the great artwork by Jim Mooney (the exception being a fill-in drawn by Lee Elias), only had a ten issue run. But to me, they were among the most interesting comics of the late Seventies. OtU went outside the norm from normal superhero titles then and in a lot of ways, even today.
As much as Gerber and Skrenes could get by with given the confines of the Comics Code Authority, OtU was realistic, compared to say, "X-Men" or "The Incredible Hulk". The series was primarily set in Hell's Kitchen where alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes and cockroaches were part of the backdrop. That alone made the book different. But add to that the shocking, almost realistic death of one of the book's supporting characters - they're brutally beaten up by a bully, a beating that resulted in that character's death. That was not a normal part of comic book storytelling back then.
Even more unusual is the fact that the titular hero, Omega, when written by Gerber and Skrenes, never actually defeated the story's bad guy/adversary. Superheroes in those days ALWAYS triumphed over the evil doers. Omega didn't. (There were two fill-in issues late the series' run that were scripted by Scott Edelman in one issue and Roger Stern in another, where Omega triumphed. Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes never let Omega be the champion in their stories.)
But what really set "Omega the Unknown" apart from other comics was the mysterious bond between Omega and the other star of the book, an orphaned teenage boy named James-Michael Starling. Not only did they look similar, but they had some of kind of psychic connection. In the first issue, James-Michael Starling even demonstrated he had some of the same super powers Omega had. The mystery at the heart of the series was what their connection?
'Omega the Unknown" ended not only on a cliffhanger, but it ended without resolving the mystery. There was a promise that Steve and Mary would resolve the puzzle in some future issues of "The Defenders", which Gerber was also writing at that time. However, due to a dispute with Marvel's then Editor -In-Chief, Jim Shooter, Gerber left Marvel. When the "Omega the Unknown" saga was completed in "The Defenders", it was done so by another writer, Steven Grant. Frankly, I hated that solution and outright rejected it. I still do.
Gerber died years ago and Mary Skrenes has refused to reveal what their plans were for the book. It was a pact she and Steve had made, disappointing as that is.
Still, the original ten issues exist and are reprinted in this trade paperback, which I am now going to read. I'm looking forward to reliving "Omega the Unknown". I'll skip the two issues of "The Defenders" at the end of book. They're not a part of the James-Michael Starling/Omega story as far as I'm concerned.
December 18, 2018
Reading Omega the Unknown (the original — I have no interest in Jonathan Lethem's later reboot) is like watching a TV series that gets canceled on a cliffhanger.
A wonderfully odd series, it focused on James-Michael, a tween boy almost Vulcan in his emotionlessness, and Omega, an alien superwarrior mysteriously linked to him. As the kid tries to adapt to everyday life in Hell's Kitchen (years before Frank Miller linked it with Daredevil), Omega involuntarily winds up as the community's superhero, tackling one weird menace after another. Plus we get an eyeful of what was then a shockingly gritty setting: bars on the windows, drunks sleeping in the streets and school violence that leads to one of James-Michael's friends getting killed (I remember one letter to the original book insisted the real Hell's Kitchen couldn't possibly be as brutal and nasty as Gerber painted it).
I'd probably give this five stars but the book got canceled with Omega dead and James Michael discovering his dead parents were robots. In response to reader requests, Marvel had Steven Grant wrap this up and he blew it. I'm glad Marvel included the stories, but it lowers the quality.
A wonderfully odd series, it focused on James-Michael, a tween boy almost Vulcan in his emotionlessness, and Omega, an alien superwarrior mysteriously linked to him. As the kid tries to adapt to everyday life in Hell's Kitchen (years before Frank Miller linked it with Daredevil), Omega involuntarily winds up as the community's superhero, tackling one weird menace after another. Plus we get an eyeful of what was then a shockingly gritty setting: bars on the windows, drunks sleeping in the streets and school violence that leads to one of James-Michael's friends getting killed (I remember one letter to the original book insisted the real Hell's Kitchen couldn't possibly be as brutal and nasty as Gerber painted it).
I'd probably give this five stars but the book got canceled with Omega dead and James Michael discovering his dead parents were robots. In response to reader requests, Marvel had Steven Grant wrap this up and he blew it. I'm glad Marvel included the stories, but it lowers the quality.
July 29, 2017
Steven Grant's writing in the two concluding chapters (a conclusion without the input - or approval - of Steve Gerber or Mary Skrenes) is horrendous, but the 10-issues of the original series are fantastic - odd and dark, a strange mix of superhero story as tale of a 'pure' alien's corruption through violence and an adolescent's decent into the cruel world of Hell's Kitchen and middle school. Gerber/Skrenes never get to reveal the connection between Omega and James-Michael, unfortunately, that duty falls to the feeble hands of Steven Grant and, as a result, finishing with Omega The Unknown #10 rather than The Defenders #76-77 is preferable - loose ends and all.
January 12, 2019
Steve Gerber was a genius. Knowing that, I'm really only a fan of some of his stuff, not all of it. Sometimes, it seems to me, he needed to push his concepts a little further. And, maybe given more time, he would have done just that with this series. We'll never know. The Marvel superhero stuff is mostly dull, with some interesting sci-fi Flash Gordon stuff thrown in about mechanical races and realistic robots. The back story is OK. But the characters are the most interesting. And just when the characters were starting to get the most interesting, it all just ends.
October 21, 2024
This was a weird one. Interesting premise and enjoyable first two issues, followed by eight issues of filler re-hashing the same plot over and over, varying the villains (who barely have any personality anyway) issue to issue. The conclusion of the story in the two following Defenders issues ties the story together after the long slog, but left me unsatisfied. I thought the ending was rather uninspired and I wish Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes got the chance to write the conclusion as they had intended, as I assume they might have a different (and better) idea for the characters in mind.
January 17, 2020
Gerber creates an intriguing adventure here with a mysterious, silent hero Omega and an equally intriguing boy named James-Michael. The book has a decided DC feel to it too thanks to the classic art-style of Jim Mooney. This was yet another 70's Marvel series I knew about only from ads but never had read an issue until now.
November 18, 2023
A real curate's egg. Reads more like someone's intentionally psychotherapeutic fiction than anything approaching superhero comics, though the end is unceremoniously rushed (and the worst part of the book). I like it, your mileage may vary.
October 30, 2017
Howard the Duck: Radical. The Defenders: Zany. Omega: Just kind of odd. (Still better than any other Marvel nonsense from the '70s.)
April 11, 2022
A fun book to read. Decent story and art. Not as corny or campy as some comics from that era.
July 3, 2022
Technically i did not read this version. I have read the original comics this week. FANTASTIC......Great writing and vocabulary throughout.
It is a same this ran for just a year
It is a same this ran for just a year
April 22, 2025
Enjoyable enough series will.pick up the Defenders issues once I'm caught up with that series
September 15, 2022
A great intro to what it's like to have Asperger's.
April 17, 2015
In about 1978 or -79, when I was about eight or nine years old, I took a driving vacation with my family. To keep me occupied in the back seat, my mom bought me one of those plastic wrapped three-packs of comics you could get at places like K-Mart. One of the comics in the pack was issue #10 of "Omega the Unknown." As #10 was last issue of an unsuccessful run, it was the worst possible place to try to pick up the story, but something about it stuck with me for years. It was grim and creepy in a way that was completely out of the ordinary for superhero comics of the time. The image of the woman with tentacles coming out of her forehead to strangle the protagonists actually gave me nightmares. Now, decades later, "Omega" came to my attention via Jonathan Letham's reboot, and I had a moment when all the weirdness from that single issue returned. I inter-library loaned the trade paperback collection to try to determine just what it was that I had read all those years ago.
So, to make a long story short: Even though that single issue's bizarre story and disconcerting ending made a huge impression on me at age 8, "Omega" is not a great comic. I can see why it was cancelled after 10 issues. At the time it was published, I doubt that readers would have known what to make of it. The idea of making a superhero comic gritty, grim and/or "more realistic" is something that comes into vogue from time to time, and some amazing comics have come from that impulse. That may have been Steve Gerber's intention with "Omega," but what came out of his attempt is completely bizarre.
First of all, the character of Omega is not very interesting. He's mainly a pastiche of Superman, with some of Adam Warlock's solemn profundity and clunky analysis of humanity thrown in. And for reasons not revealed until the story's clumsy wrapup, he doesn't speak. He flies, wears a cape, has a foster father figure, and dukes it out with corny Marvel supervillains like Electro and the Exploding Man.
The cheesy and pedestrian superhero storyline is juxtaposed with a fairly disturbing secondary storyline about James Michael Starling, a teenage boy with a mostly unexplained connection to the title character. The boy is orphaned under mysterious circumstances in issue 1, and ends up living in 1970's inner city New York with two young women. The point of this subplot appears to be illustrate the crime and decay of America's urban areas at the time. James Michael is constantly bullied in his disfunctional public school. One of his friends is beaten to death by the school bullies. Several characters are killed by muggers, and so on. The depressing hopelessness of the urban landscape is in complete contrast to the cornball superhero hijinks. The two aspects of the story never really gel despite Gerber's efforts. Interestingly, the main character is killed in the last issue (rather than being put into suspended animation or something for a later resurrection). Only in a later issue of "The Defenders" do we find out Omega's true origin. The character's mysteries are explained away, and there is an attempt at a twist, but the origin story is mostly forgettable boilerplate 70's sci-fi superhero stuff. Apparently, this part of the story was written by another author in an attempt to wrap things up and dispose of the characters.
Perhaps "Omega" was on the cutting edge at the time it was published. In some ways, I applaud the book's social message and the attempt to give a superhero story some depth. Too bad it was buried under a lot of cheesy superhero fighting and bad dialogue. Quite likely, many of the book's problems came about due to editorial meddling beyond Gerber's control. Such is the nature of a commercial medium like comics. I have to chalk this one up as a good attempt, but ultimately an unsatisfying failure.
So, to make a long story short: Even though that single issue's bizarre story and disconcerting ending made a huge impression on me at age 8, "Omega" is not a great comic. I can see why it was cancelled after 10 issues. At the time it was published, I doubt that readers would have known what to make of it. The idea of making a superhero comic gritty, grim and/or "more realistic" is something that comes into vogue from time to time, and some amazing comics have come from that impulse. That may have been Steve Gerber's intention with "Omega," but what came out of his attempt is completely bizarre.
First of all, the character of Omega is not very interesting. He's mainly a pastiche of Superman, with some of Adam Warlock's solemn profundity and clunky analysis of humanity thrown in. And for reasons not revealed until the story's clumsy wrapup, he doesn't speak. He flies, wears a cape, has a foster father figure, and dukes it out with corny Marvel supervillains like Electro and the Exploding Man.
The cheesy and pedestrian superhero storyline is juxtaposed with a fairly disturbing secondary storyline about James Michael Starling, a teenage boy with a mostly unexplained connection to the title character. The boy is orphaned under mysterious circumstances in issue 1, and ends up living in 1970's inner city New York with two young women. The point of this subplot appears to be illustrate the crime and decay of America's urban areas at the time. James Michael is constantly bullied in his disfunctional public school. One of his friends is beaten to death by the school bullies. Several characters are killed by muggers, and so on. The depressing hopelessness of the urban landscape is in complete contrast to the cornball superhero hijinks. The two aspects of the story never really gel despite Gerber's efforts. Interestingly, the main character is killed in the last issue (rather than being put into suspended animation or something for a later resurrection). Only in a later issue of "The Defenders" do we find out Omega's true origin. The character's mysteries are explained away, and there is an attempt at a twist, but the origin story is mostly forgettable boilerplate 70's sci-fi superhero stuff. Apparently, this part of the story was written by another author in an attempt to wrap things up and dispose of the characters.
Perhaps "Omega" was on the cutting edge at the time it was published. In some ways, I applaud the book's social message and the attempt to give a superhero story some depth. Too bad it was buried under a lot of cheesy superhero fighting and bad dialogue. Quite likely, many of the book's problems came about due to editorial meddling beyond Gerber's control. Such is the nature of a commercial medium like comics. I have to chalk this one up as a good attempt, but ultimately an unsatisfying failure.
November 19, 2012
Reprints Omega the Unknown (1) #1-10 and Defenders (1) #76-77 (March 1976-November 1979). A boy named James-Michael Starling is having dreams of a strange being. He’s alien and mute. When James-Michael’s parents are revealed as robots in an accident that “kills” them, James-Michael is put in the care of a nurse and her friend in Hell’s Kitchen. When the being now known as Omega begins to appear in Hell's Kitchen, James-Michael questions if he’ll find out his connection to Omega before it is too late.
Primarily written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes, Omega the Unknown Classic collects all of Omega’s appearances from his short lived series to the wrap-up issues in Defenders comics which came later. Though low sales initially, the series has gained a cult following through the years.
Omega the Unknown was a strange comic. It had classic Marvel characters with internal conflict, but also a strange mystery running throughout the series. Omega’s identity and his tie to James-Michael was explored through much of the issues. When the series abruptly ended with Omega’s death in Las Vegas in Omega the Unknown #10 (October 1977), readers had to wait until Defenders (1) #76 and 77 (October 1979-November 1979) to get the answers that the series had been promising. Written by Steven Grant, Steve Gerber allegedly didn’t like the ending, but it did at least give an ending to the enigma of the series.
One problem with Omega the Unknown is that it really didn’t have super-villains (or a hero for that matter) and when it did, it felt weird. Omega battled Electro, Blockbuster, a new Foolkiller (when Gerber added his character Richard Rory from Man-Thing to the series), Nitro, and had a run in with the Hulk. Omega met his end at the hands of police as he tried to capture Ruby Thursday…yep, Omega went out as a chump.
Omega the Unknown Classic is worth picking up to see a really odd series from the classic age of Marvel. The series’ popularity has continued and it became an integral part of Jonathan Lethem’s The Fortress of Solitude. Lethem would later go on to write a relaunch/retelling of Omega the Unknown in an Omega the Unknown ten issue limited series running from December 2007 to September 2008.
Primarily written by Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes, Omega the Unknown Classic collects all of Omega’s appearances from his short lived series to the wrap-up issues in Defenders comics which came later. Though low sales initially, the series has gained a cult following through the years.
Omega the Unknown was a strange comic. It had classic Marvel characters with internal conflict, but also a strange mystery running throughout the series. Omega’s identity and his tie to James-Michael was explored through much of the issues. When the series abruptly ended with Omega’s death in Las Vegas in Omega the Unknown #10 (October 1977), readers had to wait until Defenders (1) #76 and 77 (October 1979-November 1979) to get the answers that the series had been promising. Written by Steven Grant, Steve Gerber allegedly didn’t like the ending, but it did at least give an ending to the enigma of the series.
One problem with Omega the Unknown is that it really didn’t have super-villains (or a hero for that matter) and when it did, it felt weird. Omega battled Electro, Blockbuster, a new Foolkiller (when Gerber added his character Richard Rory from Man-Thing to the series), Nitro, and had a run in with the Hulk. Omega met his end at the hands of police as he tried to capture Ruby Thursday…yep, Omega went out as a chump.
Omega the Unknown Classic is worth picking up to see a really odd series from the classic age of Marvel. The series’ popularity has continued and it became an integral part of Jonathan Lethem’s The Fortress of Solitude. Lethem would later go on to write a relaunch/retelling of Omega the Unknown in an Omega the Unknown ten issue limited series running from December 2007 to September 2008.
June 7, 2016
Omega The Unknown was a very uneven comic published by Marvel Comics in the late 1970s. Created by writer Steve Gerber, best known for Howard the Duck, it has a strange double protagonist: Omega and a young boy named John-Michael Starling. There is an obvious connection between the near mute hero, and the boy who seems to be older than his twelve years, but it takes over ten issues of the eponymous comic and a couple issues of The Defenders to untie the knot of the mystery. I actually had one of these issues of Omega, #9, so I picked this up to see what had happened to the character in the end.
Set primarily in Hell's Kitchen, the supporting cast is a proverbial wise-cracking photographer, a down on her luck nurse, an elderly shopkeeper, and a couple of wise-acre kids. The script is very caption-heavy, and excessively melodramatic at times. The dialog is strange, and none of the characters are sympathetic, just weird. Villains and the Hulk pop in and out with little reason, and disappear from the scene as quickly. Then the silent Omega ends up talking and wanting money.
Profoundly disappointing was the wrap-up of the story in The Defenders a year or so after Omega's cancellation. In a story written by Steven Grant, we get a muddle of alien races creating their heirs, and Moondragon showing up acting omnipotent. I would like to know what Gerber's ideas were, and if he were happy with how his characters ended up.
The art by Jim Mooney is pretty consistent throughout, although in one instance he is the inker instead of the penciller, but there are a number of writers that stepped in on this series and made it incoherent. This happened a lot at Marvel and DC in the 70s, particularly on low end titles, but as the book was bi-monthly, it probably didn't help sales in the end.
Not really recommended unless you're a Marvel Bronze Era completist.
Set primarily in Hell's Kitchen, the supporting cast is a proverbial wise-cracking photographer, a down on her luck nurse, an elderly shopkeeper, and a couple of wise-acre kids. The script is very caption-heavy, and excessively melodramatic at times. The dialog is strange, and none of the characters are sympathetic, just weird. Villains and the Hulk pop in and out with little reason, and disappear from the scene as quickly. Then the silent Omega ends up talking and wanting money.
Profoundly disappointing was the wrap-up of the story in The Defenders a year or so after Omega's cancellation. In a story written by Steven Grant, we get a muddle of alien races creating their heirs, and Moondragon showing up acting omnipotent. I would like to know what Gerber's ideas were, and if he were happy with how his characters ended up.
The art by Jim Mooney is pretty consistent throughout, although in one instance he is the inker instead of the penciller, but there are a number of writers that stepped in on this series and made it incoherent. This happened a lot at Marvel and DC in the 70s, particularly on low end titles, but as the book was bi-monthly, it probably didn't help sales in the end.
Not really recommended unless you're a Marvel Bronze Era completist.
January 13, 2010
I enjoyed reading this trade. It actually has something in common with the early Superman stories. This is added to the symbiotic relationship with James-Michael Starling gives it an interesting twist.
I do feel the story was rather slow moving and was plagued by "special appearances" which I know understand to be a way to boost sales. Clearly this was not a very popular character as the book was canceled after 10 issues and the story arc was completed in two issues of the Defenders (76 & 77). The ending felt very rushed after the slow pace of the story and this detracted from the tragic aspect of the story.
Omega really had little to do with the Marvel universe and has not made any lasting impressions. It is not surprising that my local comic book story was selling these for $5 each after being given them for free from their distributor.
I do feel the story was rather slow moving and was plagued by "special appearances" which I know understand to be a way to boost sales. Clearly this was not a very popular character as the book was canceled after 10 issues and the story arc was completed in two issues of the Defenders (76 & 77). The ending felt very rushed after the slow pace of the story and this detracted from the tragic aspect of the story.
Omega really had little to do with the Marvel universe and has not made any lasting impressions. It is not surprising that my local comic book story was selling these for $5 each after being given them for free from their distributor.
April 14, 2010
The first and last issue are spectacular. It's everything else that was a bit tough to make it through.
To explain:
When one looks past the obligatory guest appearances by the Hulk, Spider-man villain Electro, and Captain Marvel villain Nitro, and forgives the tacked-on ending by Steven Grant that has to involve the Defenders even if the previous story hasn't had jack shit to do with them because it kinda appears in their book, this is a great read. Steve Gerber and Mary Skrene's tale of a young boy moving through adolescence in Hell's Kitchen intertwines with an alien's move into Earth citizenship and attempts at heroism to approach issues of identity and dealing with the world's harsh truths with a depth and weird sophistication that took this reader by surprise.
To explain:
When one looks past the obligatory guest appearances by the Hulk, Spider-man villain Electro, and Captain Marvel villain Nitro, and forgives the tacked-on ending by Steven Grant that has to involve the Defenders even if the previous story hasn't had jack shit to do with them because it kinda appears in their book, this is a great read. Steve Gerber and Mary Skrene's tale of a young boy moving through adolescence in Hell's Kitchen intertwines with an alien's move into Earth citizenship and attempts at heroism to approach issues of identity and dealing with the world's harsh truths with a depth and weird sophistication that took this reader by surprise.
October 19, 2012
Good idea that was poorly executed it story, but for it's time, I'm sure it was profoundly mediocre. The main aspect that killed it for me and made it hard to push through was the narrative exposition. It seemed pointless and could have been made leaps and bounds better by Omega having some inner narrative instead of this disembodied voice that followed convention too easily.
But the book isn't all bad, like I said, the idea behind the story was great and the conclusion really lifted the overall arc into something that the reader thinks about after closing the book. Knowing that there's an updated version of the story, it makes me excited to see what a newer breed of comic writers could do with the story.
But the book isn't all bad, like I said, the idea behind the story was great and the conclusion really lifted the overall arc into something that the reader thinks about after closing the book. Knowing that there's an updated version of the story, it makes me excited to see what a newer breed of comic writers could do with the story.
October 13, 2023
I love Steve Gerber and he doesnt disappoint with this collection of all 10 issues of Omega. The main character doesnt speak and has a link with a strange boy speaks and acts like an old clueless professor.
Kind of shocking Marvel printed this - and it lasted 10 issues before cancelled due to low sales. Thankfully this volume includes 2 issues of the Defenders that wraps up the story. Unfortunately these were not written by Gerber who had left Marvel over a dispute regarding Howard the Duck. But that's another story...
I would recommend this as a nice alternative to the stereotypical superhero books but still in the enjoyable Marvel style - the Hulk shows up & theres a fantastic Peter Parker cameo you have to read to believe.
Kind of shocking Marvel printed this - and it lasted 10 issues before cancelled due to low sales. Thankfully this volume includes 2 issues of the Defenders that wraps up the story. Unfortunately these were not written by Gerber who had left Marvel over a dispute regarding Howard the Duck. But that's another story...
I would recommend this as a nice alternative to the stereotypical superhero books but still in the enjoyable Marvel style - the Hulk shows up & theres a fantastic Peter Parker cameo you have to read to believe.
April 6, 2014
Conobbi Omega sulle pagine della mitica rivista "Eterni" della Corno; da subito non mi piacque, perchè troppo diversa. In realtà non è una storia di super eroi, è solo mascherata per essere smerciata come tale. La storia è fantascienza e mistero, con qualche labile legame con l'Universo Marvel.
la grande pecca è che resta incompiuta, e non sapremo mai come si sarebbe dovuta evolvere e qual è il legame tra l'adulto apparentemente alieno e il bambino apparentemente umano.
la grande pecca è che resta incompiuta, e non sapremo mai come si sarebbe dovuta evolvere e qual è il legame tra l'adulto apparentemente alieno e il bambino apparentemente umano.
March 29, 2016
The original Steve Gerber stories still have a weird power, but the later attempts to wrap everything up in conventional comic-book fashion fall so far short of what this could have been. Kind of like the original Karloff Frankenstein monster, Omega is more impressive when he's silent. The first few episodes, though: incredible.
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