The end of OMAC. So sad to see this book go. Read a preview of the book out this Wednesday.
Source: scribd.com
If and when I write a forward for a DEMON collection, I will tell how Jack created that entire comic in—this is not an exaggeration, it’s what was happening at that moment—the time it takes to get a hot turkey sandwich at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant. Asked earlier that day to come up with a macabre hero, Jack went to dinner with his family and friends (I was a friend) and he ordered, then sat there very quietly at the table, figuring out all the essentials of his next comic while he waited for the waitress to deliver his meal.
Kirby concept art for the original O.M.A.C. How awesome is this? And yes, I am one of the mourners of the new series, because it was probably the most fun series of the New 52.
Source: whatifkirby.com
OMAC by Eric Canete (via awyeahcomics and bigredrobot).
You know what I love? My new obsession with all things OMAC.
Source: awyeahcomics
Via Sam Humphries, “Jack Kirby, The King of Comics, Would Have Been 94 Years Old Today. An amazing gallery of Kirby work at the Comics Reporter.”
Happy birthday to the King!
Source: comicsreporter.com
I was just emailing Dan Hacker about this book and normally I wouldn’t chime in, because I’m really not into the comic punditry thing anymore—I feel like that doesn’t add anything to the conversation and doesn’t matter what site you write for, it’s all mostly noise (that’s not everyone, mind, there are a few people who actually do add something but we’re talking about maybe three or four people in the crowd)—but I’m actually pretty interested in this new OMAC book.
Anyway, the background to this story is I checked out DiDio’s Metal Men story in Wednesday Comics having never read anything he’s ever written, only later realizing that he co-wrote the end of the ’90s Superboy series with Jimmy Palmiotti. And I really liked Metal Men (which I’ll be honest, I liked everything about that Wednesday Comics thing. How could you not?) So, I went into his Outsiders thinking why the hell not. And what did I just write to Dan? oh:
“When Giffen showed up and was doing this crazy Kirby impersonation but you know not ripping off Kirby but actually kinda channeling his ghost and I’m like, You know, this book is very odd but fun in a completely I can’t believe I’m reading this way. Like ’90s comic book fun but good ’90s fun, not shitty Spawn or any of that business but the Kesel/Grummett “Superboy” and the Priest/Howard Porter “The Ray” series. So you might be surprised with this, but color me someone you may not have thought would be interested in a DiDio book.”
And Outsiders just kind of became this fun book that I may miss from time to time but when I went back to it, it became this completely different thing every other month. Like one moment Metamorpho, Owl Man, and this new character Freight Train is fighting Goop, and the next thing is Geo-Force is up against a horde of Roman warriors and fighting off the Olympian. And then Doomsday shows up. I mean, what the hell is happening here? I don’t know, but I like it and I’m going to check out OMAC because that character is the shit.
Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it, but what I really wanted to say is that I’m not afraid to say I like something that others may laugh at me about, because I feel like that’s what people should be doing here. All this week, everywhere you go, people are talking about what they don’t like about the relaunch and how it’s a betrayal to their longtime faithfulness and the whole outcry is just fucking sad. Why are we even here? Why are we even writing about comics on the Internet if not because we love the medium? Then why is there so little love going around, but a whole lot of dissenting. Like, I’m generalizing here so don’t think I’m quoting verbatim: “Oh those Teen Titans redesigns are terrible—” “Really with Rob Liefeld—” “Oh new DC, same as the old DC.” With the exception of two really wonderful pieces on Batgirl, most of the commentary has been “This sucks, and I’m never reading DC again.” Fraction wrote something with this in mind and it should be revisited. Shit, he’s better at articulating it than me so just read that and move on. I don’t really feel like pointing fingers because I’m not interested in an Internet Slapping Match, I have better things to do, but I’ll wrap up this annoying rant: I think we need to reassess our priorities, Internet. I don’t think this relaunch is a bad thing as many of you do, I think it’s an attempt at getting more people to read comics and taking any kind of risk to do that is worth it, including rebooting stuff, and that’s a beautiful risk to take because it’s an act of faith in us as readers, writers, artists, etc. It’s an act that is trying something different to get more people into what we already think is awesome.
I’ll say one last thing, and then I think I’ll be tapped out of the whole comics commentary thing for the rest of my life (thank God, right?): find what you do like and write about it, don’t write about why you don’t like something, if you don’t like something engage in positive reinforcement—try creating something that allows for you to show your talents. So the next time a relaunch, reboot, whatever happens you can put yourself in the position that helps bring in that change you want to see as a fan of this medium. It’s easy to go on the Internet and bitch and moan about why you don’t like something, in fact it’s so easy it’s seen as lazy. Find something to enjoy and don’t be a part of the crowd hating on the reboot, reboot yourself.
(That last bit was pretty cringe-worthy wasn’t it? What can I say? I’m kind of a corny guy).
