COMIC BOOK REVIEW: O.M.A.C. #2 (DC Comics — The New 52)

It’s Month 2 of DC Comics’ The New 52! It’s do-or-die  this month for the books I bashed last month, and time to see if the titles I loved last month are as good as I thought! I’ll be reviewing all 52 #2 issues released this month, and you can find all of the reviews on the Comic Book Reviews index page. This week we get 13 #2 issues, including O.M.A.C. #2! O.M.A.C. #1 was the single worst-selling book of The New 52, so it desperately needs positive buzz and more readers. I criticized O.M.A.C. #1 as being pure, dumb fun devoid of all substance, plot, and characterization. Did O.M.A.C. #2 manage to change my mind about this title?

This review will contain spoilers.

The Right:

Alright, I admit it: I had fun with this issue. The addition of Brother Eye adds a ton to this title, as he (or should I say “it”?) is vastly more articulate than the taciturn O.M.A.C. and expert at giving the exposition necessary to understand what’s going on. I thought that Brother Eye being able to communicate through any electronic device on the planet was incredibly clever. Brother Eye is certainly my favorite character in this title, as his diction and constant manipulation of O.M.A.C. made him come off as rather charming and likable (for a presumably evil satellite that probably wants to take over the world).

The meat of this issue was a fight between O.M.A.C. and the Amazing Man, which turned out to be full of excitement and testosterone and quite enjoyable to watch unfold. The fight’s resolution was actually very surprising and compelling, and I’m curious to see exactly what Brother Eye’s ultimate plans are.

The cliffhanger is a bit of a mixed bag, but I think it’s definitely more positive than negative. The character who debuts here in The New 52, while absolutely not a character that readers new to the DC Universe will know, is one that I think will add a new layer of intrigue and complexity to this particular title, and also hopefully make this book relevant to the new DC Universe as a whole.

The Wrong:

We’re two issues in and so far main character Kevin Kho’s characterization is zero. Kevin only had a couple panels in issue #1, but he has the majority of O.M.A.C. #2 page-time in his civilian guise, and I still couldn’t tell you a single character trait of his. We were told through hearsay in O.M.A.C. #1 that Kevin is OCD, but I didn’t see even the tiniest hint of that in either issue. Just what kind of person is Kevin and what does he like to do? Two issues in and I can’t answer that question with anything but silence. If I don’t care about Kevin Kho, why should I care about his plight at the hands of Brother Eye?

 

Also, the artwork in this book still leaves me ice cold. I understand the “retro” feel that Didio and Giffen were trying to form, but the problem is that the human characters, particularly Kevin Kho and his girlfriend, are just plain ugly. In addition to having no personality, Kevin looks like a grunting neanderthal–that fails to make me want to read more about him.

“Where Can I Buy It?!”

The obvious place to buy new comic books is your local comic book store, but if you don’t have one or can’t get to it, I highly recommend giving Things from Another World (TFAW.com) a try! They stock a crazy huge number of comic books, and the prices on new releases and graphic novels are always 10-30% below cover price. I’ve been buying from TFAW for close to a decade now and never had a bad experience, so I have total confidence in their speed, value and quality. Click here if you wanna take a look at buying comics from Things from Another World.

Overall: O.M.A.C. #1 left me with a very sour taste in my mouth, and a certainty that this title was going to be altogether poor. With O.M.A.C. #2, I have a better, cleaner taste in my mouth, but still not a sweet one. I crave content in my comics, and there’s just not that much of it to be found in O.M.A.C. As I said earlier, this book is pure, dumb fun. That’s not enough for this book to earn its way into my pull list, but I definitely can see why this book appeals to some people and respect their purchase of O.M.A.C. I hope that this book continues to improve and find an audience so that it’s not one of the first canceled books of The New 52, but I fear that’s what this title is destined for.

Will I be pre-ordering any more issues of O.M.A.C.? No.

GRADE: C+