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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Feb 16, 2018 19:59:57 GMT -5
Did a little research...this seems to shed some light on some of what went down. An interesting read for sure!
rsmwriter.blogspot.ca/2017/02/the-jim-shooter-victim-files-mary.html
The article states "Steve Gerber's various problems at Marvel during 1977 and 1978 (all chronicled at length in "All Quacked Up") meant he couldn't work on it," when referring to why the conclusion for the entire story did not work out with Gerber and Skrenes returning to script the final story for Omega.
Anyone know what these problems were? Disagreements? Something more? |
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Feb 16, 2018 20:10:54 GMT -5
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Post by EdoBosnar on Feb 17, 2018 4:16:34 GMT -5
Yeah, I've read all of those articles; they make for interesting reading, but as I recall, Martin was never able find any discussion of what Gerber and Skrenes were actually planning to do with Omega (which, to be fair, wasn't really the focus of his research when writing those texts).
Otherwise, as I understand it, Skrenes is also a very private person (kind of like Ditko), who only rarely grants interviews or gives statements to people from the comics press or researchers, and she does not seem to interact with the fan community at all (again, like Ditko). She did, however, talk to Sean Howe for "Marvel Comics: The Untold Story," as Martin notes, and there's a bit in that passage from Howe's book quoted by Martin that pretty much answers your original question: "Gerber and Skrenes swore to each other that they'd take their original plans for the character's ending to their graves." Gerber kept up his end of the deal, I'm pretty sure Skrenes will do the same.
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Feb 28, 2018 21:54:55 GMT -5
Omega The Unknown #9
The Cover
A Kane/Esposito/Watanabe collaboration here. Good action and great colours, so for me it is a win. I am a little worried about bringing back this Blockbuster guy, as he was very poor last outing. However, Gerber is back so I have hope! Kind of confused by the Golden statue in the background...where did it come from and why does it seem like it was just floating in the air before it was knocked into?
The pic above just may be the highest (and likely only) ever graded copy of this issue. Such a random issue to get CGCed. To each their own....
The Story
We start with Omega struggling to get out of the rubble from Nitro's blast last ish. As a result, JM is also having one of his "panic" attacks. Omega frees himself but is terribly fatigued from the endeavor. Some nearby pedestrians give him heck for how lousy he is as a superhero (referencing him allowing Blockbuster to escape a few issues back), so Omega silently heads back to Gramps' place.
Along the way, he witnesses a fight. The fight turns into a murder when a hooded figure (Foolkiller no doubt), shoots the two people fighting and they disintegrate into nothing. Omega chooses not to chase because he already feels weary from his last battle. Gramps appears and voices his approval for this mystery murderer because of how he feels about Mamie's death.
Meanwhile, Rory begins to worry again about Foolkiller. A knock on the door sees a humourous exchange between a maintenance man and Amber, who threatens the poor guy while in a towel because there is no hot water. He leaves and then Foolkiller actually does appear. However, it is not the original Foolkiller but rather a guy named Greg, who was Rory's cellmate when Rory was in prison. Rory told Greg about Foolkiller so when Greg got out, he tracked down the costume (because the original Foolkiller died) and took up the mantle. It appears the card Rory got was a joke but does seem that Greg is murdering people, taking up a similar approach as the original Foolkiller. He then departs.
Back to Omega, who asks Gramps for $300 and, after receiving it, takes off. He runs across Blockbuster robbing a bank and a man yells "$1000 to whoever can stop that thief". Omega apparently needs the money to buy a suit (why he borrowed it from Gramps originally), so he battles Blockbuster and is defeated twice in two pages. Blockbuster escapes but is seen by Gramps. Blockbuster gets upset that he was seen and is about to kill Gramps when Omega arrives to stop him. Once again, Omega is about to be defeated by Blockbuster when Foolkiller arrives and zaps Blockbuster into smitherines! Foolkiller claims he is watching Omega and takes off.
Opinions
So there was a return to the unique narration in this one but not as much of it. If anything, it seemed like Gerber felt he had to somehow wrap up the strange (and terrible) two previous issues. He did, and it just came off as being even stranger. I still do not love the idea of Omega talking. He speaks short sentences but much more than he ever did prior to the last two issues. Also, why does Omega need a $300 suit? Right now, that is part of the cliffhanger. There is also the fact that this Rory character is in town, not sure what the plan is for that either at this point. Originally he seemed a target for Foolkiller for some reason but from what I gather, this was a prank his former cell mate Greg was playing on him. Why was Rory in jail anyway? Perhaps someone who has read Man-Thing can fill me in. At any rate, it was another crummy issue...but again, I think Gerber felt he had to clean up the mess left in his absence.
Quote of the Issue
The choice is yours: Live a poem...or die a fool!"- Foolkiller's end quote to Omega before he takes off. Not sure I get it...or like it. This new Foolkiller wants people to have poetic thoughts and deeds? Don't think I like that mantra as much as the "sinner must die" attitude from the Foolkiller.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Mar 1, 2018 9:22:02 GMT -5
Omega The Unknown #8 Why couldn't Gerber have done the last two issues? They seem like they are just stalling and have really taken a book that was very interesting, uniquely written and different to a very below-average superhero book. Is this why the title met its demise? I am sure these past two issues would not have sold well and perhaps by the time Gerber comes back (last two issues), it was too late. According to American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s, Gerber was unable to write Omega #7 & 8 because he was moving home from New York to Las Vegas. Howard the Duck #16 from around this time was also a fill-in. linkI'm not sure whether #7 would have sold fewer than normal. Some Gerber fans might have seen the credits and snubbed it, but the interior art was nicer than in #6, with Jim Mooney being a much better finisher than Mike Esposito. |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Mar 1, 2018 10:06:30 GMT -5
Great point...but where is she now would be the question? Mary Skrenes co-wrote the excellent Hard Time for DC with Gerber in 2004-6, but I don't know where she is now. Her Wikipedia page says she was the creator of and inspiration for Beverly Switzler, and created Amber Grant and Dian Wilkins. It says Gerber described her as "such a private person that when she gets back to town she’ll probably castigate me for having just revealed that she’s such a private person." I think I read somewhere that her pact with Gerber was that neither of them would reveal Omega's true ending unless it was in a comic. Perhaps we should lobby Marvel to ask Skrenes to do an Omega limited series. |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Mar 1, 2018 10:17:30 GMT -5
Omega The Unknown #9
The Cover
A Kane/Esposito/Watanabe collaboration here. Good action and great colours, so for me it is a win. I am a little worried about bringing back this Blockbuster guy, as he was very poor last outing. However, Gerber is back so I have hope! Kind of confused by the Golden statue in the background...where did it come from and why does it seem like it was just floating in the air before it was knocked into?
Not sure why you bother crediting Irving Watanabe, as he was only the letterer. Despite what it looks like, the golden statue hasn't fallen over, it was always on that angle.  Why was Rory in jail anyway? Perhaps someone who has read Man-Thing can fill me in.
Richard Rory helped a girl escape from weirdness going on in Citrusville, and took her with him to Atlanta, but as she was a high school student, he was convicted of kidnapping. |
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Mar 1, 2018 10:53:40 GMT -5
Apologies, I should have looked the statue thing up. Im not familiar with my art history in any way...originally viewing the cover I just didn't see any base which is why it looked a bit odd (and still does) on the cover. As for crediting Irv, not sure why I added that haha. Letterers need recognition too though  |
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Mar 1, 2018 10:54:30 GMT -5
Great point...but where is she now would be the question? Mary Skrenes co-wrote the excellent Hard Time for DC with Gerber in 2004-6, but I don't know where she is now. Her Wikipedia page says she was the creator of and inspiration for Beverly Switzler, and created Amber Grant and Dian Wilkins. It says Gerber described her as "such a private person that when she gets back to town she’ll probably castigate me for having just revealed that she’s such a private person." I think I read somewhere that her pact with Gerber was that neither of them would reveal Omega's true ending unless it was in a comic. Perhaps we should lobby Marvel to ask Skrenes to do an Omega limited series. I would buy it. Tell her to complete whatever vision her and Steve had to give this some decent closure. |
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Mar 1, 2018 11:08:35 GMT -5
The premise of having JM staying in the care of two women, Ruth and Amber, also seems a bit odd to me especially considering that the women seem to be in their 20's at least while JM is just a young boy (not sure it ever gives his age). It just seems like a strange living scenario. Amber acts a lot like big sister to JM, watching out for him and standing up for him as well. I am sad to know I have one issue left of this series because a lot of the uniqueness of the first six issues have now been deflated by the past 9. I will do final opinions sometime this weekend once I read the final issue.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Mar 1, 2018 11:44:29 GMT -5
The premise of having JM staying in the care of two women, Ruth and Amber, also seems a bit odd to me especially considering that the women seem to be in their 20's at least while JM is just a young boy (not sure it ever gives his age). According to the letters page in Omega #1, JM was twelve. |
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Mar 4, 2018 18:45:40 GMT -5
Omega The Unknown #10 The CoverDave Cockrum and Pablo Marcos get the credit for this one. The cover blurbs on this one are strange. The one proclaims that this desert demon will not kill Omega (thanks for ruining it!) but rather that Omega's demise comes later in "The Last Gamble". Intriguing. Overall, not a great cover. This desert demon looks very cartoony...like a purple Stegron with a bird face. I would rank it one of the worst in the entire run if not the worst. The Story
We start with everyone at John Needley's funeral. Gasp! Apparently, he was released from hospital and everyone thought his internal injuries from when he was beat up had healed. But, while back at school, someone kicked him in his ass and he collapsed and died. Omega then returns to Gramps' place and is seems our hero and Gramps are poised to take off and leave New York. JM says the same thing to Dian after the funeral. Omega and Gramps land in Vegas. Gramps sees a slot machine and Omega tells him to wait until the one lady finishes. When Gramps sits down, Omeg tells him to "feel the machine". He does and wins some money. Meanwhile, JM and Dian meet up and are preparing to take a bus somewhere. JM reveals he stole money from Amber and that they are going back to the mountains where he was raised. Omega and Gramps arrive at a hotel and Omega takes off for some fresh air and have some solitude. He is sitting on a rock, minding his business when this desert demon attacks. He kills it, amidst some interesting dialogue from the narrator (the demon also looks much better drawn by Mooney). JM and Dian arrive back near JM's old home and have to walk through the woods to get there. Amber and company realize that JM has gone (he left a note) but have no way of tracking which bus he has taken. JM and Dian make it to his home...it is a very strange place. While walking around inside, a door automatically opens to reveal...JM's robotic parents!! Omega has returned to the casino, where he and Gramps rack up $55000 in winnings. Obviously Omega has some sort of ability that allows him to win, although how is not revealed. Suddenly, there is a knock on the door and a women enters wanting to party with them. Well, she is no Earth woman and she shoots tenatcle-like things from her forehead that knock Omega and Gramps out. She then summons the desert demon from earlier and the two take off with the money. Omega awakes and takes off after the woman. He attacks her as she flees in her car. The police arrive and see him attacking a woman so they open fire. We finish with Omega appearing to be dead and the promise of a conclusion sometime in the future pages of the Defenders.
OpinionsCouple things with this one. Last ish, Omega was needing money for clothing, and it turned into the same money he used for this trip. Okay, that is fine. But I did not like the explanation for John's death...I think it would have been more effective if they just said he did not survive his injuries. Instead, he gets kicked in the butt and dies...it just turns what could be a strong moment into an almost comical one. The dialogue is good, although the scene where Omega battles the demon is a bit strange. As I read it, the brief battle stands as a metaphor for human interaction and how sometimes you want solitude but people force themselves into your space. Even once they have been removed, you are scarred, meaning their intrusion has taken a toll on you. Definitely deep stuff. They just had to end on a cliffhanger! What is it with JM and his parents? Is Omega dead? I know that this is the last we will ever hear from Gerber and Skrenes and that the actual conclusion that happens is not good by all accounts. I still feel inclined to read it just to see how it plays out. Quote of the Issue
You're tainted. And so is your space. Ablution is required. Back into circulation you go. It's a "No-Win" situation- statement made by the narrator after Omega's initial battle with the desert demon. Again highlighting the strength of Gerber's writing.
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Post by pinkfloydsound17 on Mar 4, 2018 18:50:39 GMT -5
Overall, I really enjoyed the series. Issues 7 and 8 were really bad and unfortunately, 9 was also when Gerber/Skrenes returned to try and get whatever they had planned back on track. The final issue brings up all of the questions we have been wondering and leaves us with more. It is definitely the most interesting comic I have ever read from Marvel from this time period because it is so different. Clearly not a superhero book (which is why it fails for the two issues when Gerber is not writing it). It is sad to think we may never know what this was all leading up to. Is Omega really JM from the future? Is JM a robot? If Omega is from the future, is he perhaps the child of JM (a robot) and Dian (a human)? All of these thoughts and ideas have entered my head throughout the reading.
As mentioned, I will add the "conclusion" review to this, hopefully in the coming week. Just to see. Interested to hear other peoples thoughts and overall theories about this run. If you have not read it, please do. Just for fact it is something very different makes it interesting. The characters are interesting too and the writing is very very good.
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