Jack Kirby's O.M.A.C. [Hardcover]

Jack Kirby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2008

In one of his last major works, Jack Kirby, co-creator of Captain America, The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and many others, envisions a 1984-inspired dystopia.

The protagonist is corporate nobody Buddy Blank, who is changed by a satellite called Brother Eye into the super-powered OMAC (One Man Army Corps). Enlisted by the Global Peace Agency, who police the world using pacifist means, OMAC battles the forces of conformity in this short-lived but legendary series that serves as a companion to the JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS series.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—Through a powerful satellite known as Brother Eye, the Global Peace Agency transforms mild-mannered Buddy Blank into the muscled, mohawked One Man Army Corps. In an age when large armies are banned and atomic weapons strike terror into the hearts of men, OMAC—with the aid of Brother Eye—can perform superhuman feats of strength and power, allowing him to triumph over criminals. The original eight-issue comic appeared in 1974–5, and the original artwork has been reconstructed for this handsome edition. Several of Kirby's uncolored pencil sketches are included between issues. The themes of unchecked technological advancement, globalization, and, of course, good versus evil will ring true with teens. Fans of Captain America should find this particularly interesting, but it is a good read for any fan of old-school superhero comics.—Beth Gallego, Los Angeles Public Library, North Hollywood
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

After DC pulled the plug on Kirby’s ambitious New Gods (see Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus, v.1, 2007; v.2, 2007; v.3, 2007; v.4, 2008) in 1972, the artist was still under contract, and Kirby, who generated ideas like normal people produce dandruff, came up with more series concepts, including this one set in “the world that’s coming,” in which corporate drone Buddy Blank is transformed by the AI-enabled satellite Brother Eye into a superpowered “One Man Army Corps” to police the world for the faceless Global Peace Agency. Oddball even by the eccentric standards of Kirby’s later work, O.M.A.C. opens with the image of a disassembled female “Build-a-Friend” robot-in-a-box that ranks among the more disquieting visions in mainstream comics. Lacking the loopy humor that typically leavened Kirby’s stories of the time only heightened O.M.A.C.’s grim intensity, and his characteristically bold, kinetic artwork ratcheted up over-the-top fervency even further. The comic ended after only eight issues, when Kirby returned to Marvel. Although O.M.A.C. was revived and reinvented by others, Kirby’s original stories are unparalleled. --Gordon Flagg

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401217907
• ISBN-13: 978-1401217907
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 0.6 x 10.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Collection of Kirby's strange, short-lived series., June 13, 2008

By 

Michael R. Brown (Tamarac, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jack Kirby's O.M.A.C. (Hardcover)

Are you ready for the World That's Coming?
Are you ready for the One Man Army Corps?

It's great that this series of Kirby's (along with several other Kirby series at DC and Marvel) are finally being collected and published.

I just wish it could have been done while Kirby was still alive!! (what other creators also deserve collections of their works before they kick off? Ditko?)

As I hate hardbacks, I really wish this was in paperback, but I guess this is the only way we could get it. I'm not too keen on the paper, either. Same style as the Fourth World Omnibuses, and I know others have complained. I expect the future Demon and Loser collections will follow the same style.

This was one of the first short-lived series that I worked to get a complete set when got seriously into comic book collecting in the early 80s. As DC in recent years have been reusing the concept, it's great they finally collected the original series. Now, I wish they'd collect Byrne's OMAC mini, as well as some of the scattered other OMAC appearanced (short-lived backup series in Kamandi and Warlord, etc)

I wish they had shown Kirby's original last panel from issue #8. And I wish someone had tried to find out from Kirby were he was originally planning on going with the series after the cliffhanger in #8. You see that Kirby is setting things up for future stories that never happened. Other after Kirby tried to tie the series into other stuff, such as tying it into Kamandi (by claiming that Kamandi's grandfather was the now de-powered Buddy Blank; and that the absense of OMAC allowed the Great Disaster to wipe out the World That's Coming).

(REVISED REVIEW)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars OMAC Part of the Second DC Wave, December 14, 2008

By 

M. B. RENTZLER (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jack Kirby's O.M.A.C. (Hardcover)

This book contains the first run of Jack Kirby's OMAC series which ran eight issues in the early 1970's. OMAC along with Kamandi and the Demon were part of the second wave of Kirby titles after his ambitious Fourth World Series of titles was cancelled.

OMAC is set in the "World that's coming." and deals with a time where armies are too risky. The Global Peace Agency creates OMAC from a character named (of all things) Buddy Blank. Buddy is transformed into the mohawked superhuman OMAC through electronic surgery performed by his (shades of HAL) satellite partner Brother Eye.

OMAC goes on to fight the mega rich who can rent a city for murder; a dictator who can by living bio weapons; a group that wants to assassinate through the use of pseudo-people; body transplant snatchers; and a man who wants to steal the world's water.

These stories show Kirby strutting his science fiction stuff with a shade of Superman (OMAC even receives foster partents).

The series is cut short in issue 8 with a panel thrown in to explain what happened off camera. Kirby left for his return to Marvel shortly thereafter. OMAC would go on as a back up character in an excellent series of shorts; and was revealed to be related to the character Kamandi.

Extras include some original pencils; a forward by Mark Evanier; Kirby friend and creator in his own right.

Like the Charles Dickens book the Mystery of Edwin Drood (which was only half completed) enjoy the stories that are there and imagine how it might have ended. Still a fun read.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really fun look at the "World That's Coming", September 30, 2008

By 

J. Thomason "SkyFitsJeff" (Idaho) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jack Kirby's O.M.A.C. (Hardcover)

I'm not a Jack Kirby fan, but I do enjoy most of his DC work. OMAC has been my favorite so far. This book contains eight short stories that explore the "World That's Coming" as Kirby described it. Basically, it's his view of the future assuming the current corruption of the 70s had continued including the rich buying up the world, doing whatever they wanted, and weapons becoming so powerful, we couldn't afford to have large armies fight each other. His version wasn't so far off.

What I really liked was how fun the stories were. They're like the Saturday Morning cartoons I remember in the 80s. Each one is a complete story (except for a two-parter in the middle) where OMAC takes on a different social problem in the form of a villain. The art has a lot of energy. The stories are simple, but deal with social issues and make their point. I also enjoy a superhero who's actually a hero (has good moral character) and can use his powers to stop the bad guy (instead of losing the powers every issue or facing some kryptonite that forces him to solve the problem some other way).

If you like comics with real heroes, or 80's style cartoons, I think you'll enjoy OMAC.