Bordering on fanaticism.
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom King
Art: Barnaby Bagenda
What They Say:
Former Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and the Omega Men-captured at last! Now, these alleged terrorists are about to be processed and jailed with all the dignity and rights afforded them by benevolent Citadel law.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Omega Men has been a treat to read in general and I find myself going back to read previous issues on an irregular basis. Perhaps not as a full on read, but just to savor particular panels and the overall structure of the book with its layouts and the bits of dialogue. There’s an immersion process that feels like it’s required here to be a part of it, to separate yourself from the “rest” of the DCU so that you can be fully a part of this. That’s good for those that love the book, but it does keep it distant from the rest and less accessible. Which is incredibly unfortunate because those that discover it tickles their fancy in the right way almost become like the Omega Men are here, bordering on fanatics.
With the team having been captured for the most part by the Citadel after the encounter with the Pontifex, things are in a dark place now. The first half or more of the book really is just the Viceroy working through each of them to find out why they took Kyle Rayner all while dealing with Rayner as well to try and get the answers. It’s a good way of looking at the characters and their stories through a different set of eyes and perceptions, particularly from someone in a real position of power like he is. There isn’t a cruelty to how he does it yet it has so much threat dripping from each word that you can feel the weight of it as he deals with each of them. Kyle in particular gets the most attention since they’re removing the bomb that was put into him and that has the Viceroy being realistic about what it really is, and the stories others he’s fought against has told him. It’s a great sequence all while Kyle is on the verge of despair over the way he’s just a prisoner no matter who has him.
Naturally, there is an action component here as Scrapps has caught up to the Citadel ship and goes for a crash-boarding process. It’s a little out of order, at least in how it feels, with the way she connects with everyone outside of Kyle since they’re all looking for him as the necessary ingredient to deal with the Citadel. There’s some great humor in it and you totally feel for Scrapps, perhaps for the first time, but what drives it are the characters. Combining what we got from the Viceroy with his assessment of each of them and their pasts, we see them unleashed here in a way that’s surprising. Kalista takes control as the real leader amid all of this while Primus shifts to an almost preacher-fanaticist in a way, wanting to be peaceful but forced into fighting. Tigorr is a bit less defined but no less intent in surviving as they search for Kyle. It’s an intriguing sequence that feels like it upends what we know of them so far in this series but instead really is just peeling away another layer of them.
In Summary:
The Omega Men turn in another strong and striking sequence with what it does here in exploring the characters and advancing the larger storyline incrementally and in big ways. The physical progress is definitely nicely done as it really does move us around the quadrant and it balances that with some great character material as we get to know who these people are and what their real goals are. I’m hugely intrigued to see where it will end up going and what twists are ahead. Though King gets the plugs for the story and the pacing of it, the work done by Bagenda here is once again phenomenal. I just can’t help but to love what he puts into every panel on every page with the detail and the beauty of how the colorists bring it out even more. There’s something magical about this book as it feels a lot more like comics for grown-ups than I expected it to be. It’s handily winning me over each issue and has me wishing that there were a few more books from DC like this to savor.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 7th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99
