OMAC #5
DC Comics
Writer: Bruce Jones
Illustrated by: Carlos Magno
Colorist: Diogo Nascimento
Letterer: Travis Lanham
This issue of OMAC does something improbable. It surprises. The cast is essentially the same, with a few deletions due to casualties. The science fiction hook, which might have been beaten into the ground during Infinite Crisis, abides. And yet, a few unexpected things happen which might save this arc from irrelevance. And that was enough to reignite interest in the book.
The lead, drug-addled seventeen year-old and OMAC host Mike Costner, is still trying to pull away from the control of the Brother Eye satellite. The satellite isn’t 100% functional, and needs whatever tech or programming Mike has in order to complete itself and resume terrorizing the globe’s metahumans. The periodic lapses in control on both sides are part of what made the book interesting. Learning that the evil satellite only has complete access to Mike when Mike is high was certainly an interesting wrinkle. Tough to beat an oddball morality ploy like “Stay Clean or You Could End the World!” The swerve at the end of the book makes Mike less important while introducing a new source of man-machine conflict for the story.
The book’s mood certainly turned a corner with this issue as well. The noir elements have mostly petered out, and given the isolated setting of this issue and the lack of other cast members by page ten or so, it was a necessary shift. In its place, a weird sort of disaster movie/thriller vibe comes to the fore. It might not be as exciting as the cacophony of previous segments, but it makes the relationship between Mike and Vierra more credible. Combine that with Mike’s first conscious road testing of the OMAC talents and this issue displays a lot of growth for the cast on many levels.
The art this issue seems steady enough. The realistic elements (setting, clothing, facial expressions) are more winning than the science fiction ones. Magno looks perfectly capable inking his own pencils, as nothing looks over or under emphasized here. The layouts trend towards daring, and it makes the action scenes stand out more. The art in this issue accentuates the story without ever getting in the way, which certainly makes it better than average.
