Omega: The Unknown [Hardcover]

... although, there's symbolism all over the place suggesting Lethem's anger over the corporate meddling of the original Omega series.

In this trippy retelling of the Omega story, Lethem finally tells the abstract tale of the mute superhero and his strange bond with an erudite teenage boy and brings it to a satisfying - if open-ended - conclusion. This is a fate that the original Omega and his fans deserved and unfortunately have not received until now.

There are just enough references to the mainstream of the Marvel Universe to suggest that it takes place in the traditional (616) continuity, and it will be interesting to see if any other writers dare to take a crack at the Omega mythos. Still, as a stand-alone work, Lethem's Omega is a terrific read.

"I've met his counterpart on many planets. 'Where there's robots, there's blue guys...'"

The blue guy in question is the titular character of "Omega: The Unknown," where author Jonathan Lethem adopts Steve Gerber's quirky, silent hero. It's a suitably bizarre adventure for such a unique hero, and Lethem does a pretty good job with roaming hands, boy geniuses, bogged-down superheroes and the everyday tragedies of human life.

Teenage Alexander Island is en route to his very first day at an outside school, when there's a car crash. His parents are killed -- and even more shockingly, they turn out to be robots.

But while in the hospital, he's attacked by more mysterious robots -- and saved by a silent superhero, who leaves a pair of omegas burned into Alexander's hands. As Alexander struggles to handle his new urban life and a hostile school full of bullies, the mysterious blue guy -- Omega -- is being hunted by the city's resident celebrity superhero, Mink.

Unfortunately Mink has his own problems with the robots -- his hand has been taken over by nanobots, and subsequently escapes from the lab. More and more people are turning into robots across the city, and they fear only one thing: the hands of Omega. Unfortunately, Omega is no more invulnerable than the Mink, and Alexander learns that even a mysterious superhero can lose his way...

Steve Gerber first wrote about Omega in the 1970s, and it's pretty obvious that Jonathan Lethem is a die-hard fan -- the entire story is soaked in a sort of retro quirkiness, from the pajamas-y superheroes to the boy hero. Even Farel Dalrymple's art is a rougher-edged, unembellished, simpler sort of drawings without bright colours, like you'd see in older graphic novels.

Lethem doesn't always hit the mark -- the first half of "Omega: The Unknown" is a rather confusing tangle of subplots, and occasional plot threads lead nowhere (what's up with the robot parents?). The second half is where things tighten up plotwise, even if it leads to some extremely strange, surreal places both for Alexander and Omega. And the final chapter is the most unusual -- utterly without dialogue.

And Lethem goes full out on weird and satirical -- the Mink is a unheroic "hero" who declares war on Omega for threatening his "M" franchise, and the story is often narrated by a statue that only has hands and a head (and occasionally sings). Even weirder, one of the big threats to the city is Mink's robotic severed hand (which grows legs and walks out of the lab -- can it get much weirder than that?). Anti-robot salt, grilled birds and neighborhood bullies all play a part.

Though it's a stereotype that homeschooled kids are disconnected from the "real" world, Alexander makes a good hero for the story -- he's moral, hyperintelligent and becomes more determined and strong as the story goes on. But while Alexander grows more attuned to the world, Omega himself tends to wander through his journey, losing himself in wherever he happens to be.

While Jonathan Lethem occasionally loses his grip on the storyline, "Omega: the Unknown" is a suitably quirky revamp of an even quirkier superhero story, and definitely worth reading.

Fair warning: OMEGA THE UNKNOWN is one weird mother. So think twice about snatching this one up if you're not down with odd shenanigans involving alienated 14-year-olds, inimical nanobots deployed in fast food joints, an introspective stone statue, and a space alien wielding salt shakers for the benefit of mankind.

The bizarre plot: With the passing of his parents (who, by the way, turn out to be robots), 14-year-old prodigy Titus Alexander Island is declared a ward of the state, with guardianship of him falling to a nice young nurse who dwells in scuzzy Washington Heights, New York. As Alexander strives to fit in at his new school, the Sammy Sosa High School (no, really!), inexplicable things are going on around him. A mute, blue-clad being from outer space watches over Alexander and shares a tenuous psychic link with him. There are robots around, up to no good, and also malignant nanorobots. In the first issue, we meet the Mink, the sleazy self-designated costumed guardian of Washington Heights. He's not very likable and not much of a superhero. He's like the Stephen Baldwin of the cape & the cowl set.

On the surface, OMEGA THE UNKNOWN is a superhero comic. But, no, not really. It tends to deconstruct the superhero mythos. It's also just a bizarro story. The focus is on the kid, Alexander. So, Alex is a 14-year-old who is socially obtuse and boasts a comprehensive vocabulary. And there's his pyschic link thing. And, lest you think he's still a normal geeky teen, okay, he also happens to shoot laser rays out of his palms, palms which are then branded with the Greek letter Omega. So, no, not normal.

I'll backstroke some. Back in the mid-70s, writers Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes created the OMEGA THE UNKNOWN comic book for Marvel (see Omega: The Unknown Classic TPB). This title was immediately weird and iconoclastic, and it didn't sit well with most comic book readers. It was axed after only ten issues, but not before garnering cult comic status. It definitely shook up the world of one young Jonathan Lethem.

This trade, then, is Jonathan Lethem's very recent revival and reimagining of OMEGA THE UNKNOWN, also all done in ten issues (ah, symmetry). It's his comic book debut, because Lethem in his everyday guise is a bestselling novelist, and a quirky one (The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn). He's never quite forgotten Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes and their brand of 1970s oddity, so it makes sense that he gravitates towards this particular title. In a Newsarama interview, he's admitted to admiring the original OMEGA THE UNKNOWN #1 so much that he ended up borrowing prodigiously from it for his own first issue. Of course, Lethem's ensuing issues would begin to veer away from the original story. This trade also contains ten pages of Lethem and co-writer Karl Rusnak's reflections on the original OMEGA, as well as reprinting several panels of artwork from that comic.

Although set in the mainstream Marvel Universe, there isn't much in the way of cameos, guest-stars from or even many references to characters and things already established in that continuity. I think there's one mention of the Daily Bugle and one of the Avengers... What this does then is isolate Alexander and his strange cast and make their story into a more unique and unsettling experience. Without all the other Marvel Comics freaks around, you feel the strange impact even more. Farel Dalrymple's awkward, unconventional illustrations keep you further off-balanced.

Even I note that the robots' infiltration of society is a metaphor to technology's rapid encroachment into all aspects of our lives. But Lethem and Rusnak don't make it easy, not really. The narrative, often outrageous, sometimes ambiguous, will startle and flummox, will make you question the context of the authors' created reality. OMEGA THE UNKNOWN delves into themes of alienation and friendship, of franchising and technology run amuck and of the value of reading S. E. Hinton's Rumble Fish, and who knows what else. There's humor, but it's from around the bend and subversive. I like that the nanotech poisoning initiated at a fast food chain is combatted thru the ministrations of a food truck. And I really like the epithet on the deceased giant hand's tombstone. This hand, by the way, sprouted its own legs (again, so weird).

Wonderfully offbeat, but, in the end, I'm left reeling inside just a bit, and still with questions. Yeah, some of the enigmas are explained, yet not every truth is spelled out. This series is simply stingy with the clarity. For eff's sake, when all's said and done, I don't know that much more about the eponymous guy in blue. He is one truculent dude.

I guess it's apropos that the final issue is virtually without dialogue. Betcha it's another metaphor.

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