There's one supporting character who debuted in this series who went on to have a really fascinating history, Gregory Salinger, the Foolkiller. Gerber's 1990 series was a really great Dark Age of Comics satire. Even the Max Bemis Marvel NOW series was one of the more interesting short series this decade.
@@StrangeBrainParts Omega should be revived by the MCU, stay true to the original story while also giving it the MCU charms/quirks, the character would be in the public eye again
Omega had an Easter Egg appearance in Alex Ross' Earth X maxiseries. No dialogue, he was just an old man with a weird headband. I had no idea who he was at the time. Thanks for the insight.
I love how Wonder Man plays Omega The Unknown in a film within the Marvel Universe 😁 It’s more a cameo, but this particular instance was in The Vision #11 by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez-Walta. Excellent series!
Oh! Ruth Hart, the nurse, originally appears in several Man- Thing stories. I love her for leaving the craziness. She is much more material in Omega and Amber is the edgier character. I love Amber!!! I know they are anomalous for 70s Marvel- there's not much like them until Vertigo. They are ahead of their time. Their dilemma helping John Michael is so fresh. They are a hallmark of Skrenes' work: a charming, fresh blast of realism
I think it's worth mentioning that the wrap up story in the Defenders was not the idea of the writer, it was FORCED by editorial. It was also only allowed to be ONE issue and the writer had to push for at least two. So, there was some push to try and give the story as much as the writer could, despite not being of intrest, and basically pressured to get it out if the way and over with.
I have had 3 issues of this since 1989 ... Re-read them countless times over and always liked the book, he vanished into the marvel universe completely so I'm glad you are giving him a spotlight here
Ah, this brings back memories in the comic aisles as a kid - thank you. I remember thinking of Omega as a 70s attempt to update Captain Marvel/Shazam but ending up not being anything but a quirky historical character. Marvel has so many overpowered Superman tropes in their universe (especially the cosmic ones like Nova, Quasar etc) but never seems to make a workable version of Supes as a viable ongoing character. The Sentry is nuts and his own worst enemy and written pretty badly. I suppose that might just be Marvel and how it operates, as being the cooler and edgier comics giant. That 2008 series of Omega was truly bizarre too, thanks for mentioning it!
I just recently picked up the whole series of Omega the Unknown from a wonderful Comic Bookstore that is owned by a friend of mine. I have a certain Nostalgia for older comic books and I must say I'm really digging the series thus far I can tell with the tones are changing with those two issues that are written by somebody else. That is very sad that they could not complete this wonderful story. It's a good story because The Supporting Cast carries the story it's not a typical superhero comic and that's why I really like it.
Good video. I would like to see Omega the Unknown as a Disney+ series or special. I always thought the character had a lot of potential, along with other characters of the time, such as Nova, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman, Moon Knight, Adam Warlock, Nighthawk, Thunderbird, Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, etc.
In the late '80s I bought a few old mostly Marvel comics at a flea market because the covers were interesting and different to the Transformers, Thundercats and MASK comics I was used to (couldn't get the likes of mainstream Marvel or DC at the stores near me). I remember one had the final black and white story of the issue feature this unspeaking super hero with the omega symbol headband pulling a girl out of a river. Wish I'd kept the comic now, had no clue I'd read an episode of such a little known character.
Did James Michael’s robot parents not set aside some money for jimmy? You’d think with them being you know robots they’d plan for any eventuality just saying
Yeesh, seems like a story I would get in to. XD Interesting concept that somehow gets fucked over by greed, meddling or losing its original creators so it goes unfinished or gets ruined by people who don't care. For me, a lot of things Jim Shooter has had a hand in are the things I get into that are unfinished. The most recent one is a three issue comic called Knights on Broadway about a little girl who is a super genius and can see the future except the future she is seeing is the end of the world so she works to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately for her, neither of her parents believe her and are not at all ready to handle a super genius daughter claiming to see the future so she has an incredibly hard time doing anything to work towards her goal of protecting the world and inadvertently manages to piss off her mom and drive her parents apart. While all this drama is going on in the present, we see the future through the girl's visions of where her actions will eventually lead where she creates a group of knights with advance tech to help defend the world against the threats that would end it. An interesting premise, especially since the super hero action bits are future visions that have yet to happen but the series does show they are accurate as she does get a vision closer in time that does end up happening so the future visions WILL happen, the girl just need to work to make them happen or make sure she can prevent the stuff that does. Cool story and I liked the designs for the knights, reminded me of the Wire Frame guys from Smash Bros and Lil Mac's alternate costume but sadly the company crashed very quickly. I wish this company actually got to finish their existing storylines, Defiant just barely did, New Universe was allowed to and Valiant kept going even after Jim Shooter left but from what I read, Broadway Comics only got one story arc finished before they went under.
Love Gerber, but this was "meh." Too idiosyncratic, and that is a negative for ANY writer. We all exist inside our own heads, but that internal voice has got to be interpreted for an audience.
There's one supporting character who debuted in this series who went on to have a really fascinating history, Gregory Salinger, the Foolkiller. Gerber's 1990 series was a really great Dark Age of Comics satire. Even the Max Bemis Marvel NOW series was one of the more interesting short series this decade.
Gerber and Bemis's run are the only good Foolkiller books imo
@@varicosevisage4794fool killer max is budget punisher max but it’s good
I always learn interesting things on this channel. Thanks. Seriously.
You are very welcome. I'm glad these little projects of mine have interest to someone other than myself. :)
@@StrangeBrainParts Omega should be revived by the MCU, stay true to the original story while also giving it the MCU charms/quirks, the character would be in the public eye again
Omega had an Easter Egg appearance in Alex Ross' Earth X maxiseries. No dialogue, he was just an old man with a weird headband. I had no idea who he was at the time. Thanks for the insight.
I love how Wonder Man plays Omega The Unknown in a film within the Marvel Universe 😁
It’s more a cameo, but this particular instance was in The Vision #11 by Tom King & Gabriel Hernandez-Walta. Excellent series!
Oh! Ruth Hart, the nurse, originally appears in several Man- Thing stories. I love her for leaving the craziness. She is much more material in Omega and Amber is the edgier character. I love Amber!!! I know they are anomalous for 70s Marvel- there's not much like them until Vertigo. They are ahead of their time. Their dilemma helping John Michael is so fresh. They are a hallmark of Skrenes' work: a charming, fresh blast of realism
I think it's worth mentioning that the wrap up story in the Defenders was not the idea of the writer, it was FORCED by editorial. It was also only allowed to be ONE issue and the writer had to push for at least two. So, there was some push to try and give the story as much as the writer could, despite not being of intrest, and basically pressured to get it out if the way and over with.
I love that you do these histories . Thank you for your work.
And thank you for taking the time to watch.
Thanks so much for spotlighting Mary Skrenes, her history, and her contributions.
Ms. Skrenes more than deserves it. Her contributions are sadly overlooked.
I have had 3 issues of this since 1989 ... Re-read them countless times over and always liked the book, he vanished into the marvel universe completely so I'm glad you are giving him a spotlight here
Ah, this brings back memories in the comic aisles as a kid - thank you. I remember thinking of Omega as a 70s attempt to update Captain Marvel/Shazam but ending up not being anything but a quirky historical character. Marvel has so many overpowered Superman tropes in their universe (especially the cosmic ones like Nova, Quasar etc) but never seems to make a workable version of Supes as a viable ongoing character. The Sentry is nuts and his own worst enemy and written pretty badly. I suppose that might just be Marvel and how it operates, as being the cooler and edgier comics giant. That 2008 series of Omega was truly bizarre too, thanks for mentioning it!
For those of us who read 60s and 70s Marvel,marvel has been noticeably missing from the Marvel universe.
We were going to see him on Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes season 3 but we all know what happened
I just recently picked up the whole series of Omega the Unknown from a wonderful Comic Bookstore that is owned by a friend of mine. I have a certain Nostalgia for older comic books and I must say I'm really digging the series thus far I can tell with the tones are changing with those two issues that are written by somebody else. That is very sad that they could not complete this wonderful story. It's a good story because The Supporting Cast carries the story it's not a typical superhero comic and that's why I really like it.
Great work as usual! I'm going to have to check out this series!
Thanks for this video on a lesser known comic character. I recently acquired Omega The Unknown #8 and was wondering the backstory of the character.
I remember reading this comic when I was a teenager, it was really interesting and somewhat enjoyable
Mary did really great work.
This sounds very interesting
Good video. I would like to see Omega the Unknown as a Disney+ series or special. I always thought the character had a lot of potential, along with other characters of the time, such as Nova, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Woman, Moon Knight, Adam Warlock, Nighthawk, Thunderbird, Howard the Duck, Man-Thing, etc.
He is back
In the late '80s I bought a few old mostly Marvel comics at a flea market because the covers were interesting and different to the Transformers, Thundercats and MASK comics I was used to (couldn't get the likes of mainstream Marvel or DC at the stores near me). I remember one had the final black and white story of the issue feature this unspeaking super hero with the omega symbol headband pulling a girl out of a river. Wish I'd kept the comic now, had no clue I'd read an episode of such a little known character.
I have this entire initial run and it's a personal favourite of mine, thank you for giving such a great weird character some attention.
Thanks for taking the time to watch it!
I love all of ur videos
Thank you, sir. I appreciate you taking the time to say so.
Great review.
Amber is the most 'real' female character in comics to this point. Love her. Too bad we'll never know how this was to end!
1:16 Those robot parents are some seriously terrible drivers. How the blazes do you hit the top of a semi's cab with the bottom of your car?
Seen this title several times over the years and totally ignored it. Shame on me!
Passing it over is understandable. It is incomplete, after all.
Did James Michael’s robot parents not set aside some money for jimmy? You’d think with them being you know robots they’d plan for any eventuality just saying
The Origin And History Of Buster brown
Yeesh, seems like a story I would get in to. XD Interesting concept that somehow gets fucked over by greed, meddling or losing its original creators so it goes unfinished or gets ruined by people who don't care. For me, a lot of things Jim Shooter has had a hand in are the things I get into that are unfinished. The most recent one is a three issue comic called Knights on Broadway about a little girl who is a super genius and can see the future except the future she is seeing is the end of the world so she works to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately for her, neither of her parents believe her and are not at all ready to handle a super genius daughter claiming to see the future so she has an incredibly hard time doing anything to work towards her goal of protecting the world and inadvertently manages to piss off her mom and drive her parents apart. While all this drama is going on in the present, we see the future through the girl's visions of where her actions will eventually lead where she creates a group of knights with advance tech to help defend the world against the threats that would end it. An interesting premise, especially since the super hero action bits are future visions that have yet to happen but the series does show they are accurate as she does get a vision closer in time that does end up happening so the future visions WILL happen, the girl just need to work to make them happen or make sure she can prevent the stuff that does. Cool story and I liked the designs for the knights, reminded me of the Wire Frame guys from Smash Bros and Lil Mac's alternate costume but sadly the company crashed very quickly. I wish this company actually got to finish their existing storylines, Defiant just barely did, New Universe was allowed to and Valiant kept going even after Jim Shooter left but from what I read, Broadway Comics only got one story arc finished before they went under.
"ROOMATE"
Love Gerber, but this was "meh." Too idiosyncratic, and that is a negative for ANY writer. We all exist inside our own heads, but that internal voice has got to be interpreted for an audience.
I never read anything written or drawn or directed by a woman. Just saying maybe Marvel had good reason to hide Mary Skrenes. ;-D