OMAC, Vol. 1: Past Imperfect

OMAC (1991) #1

by John Byrne

OMAC: Libro 1 de 4.

Genres: Comics, Comic Book, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Dc Comics, Comics Manga, Science Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

John Lindley Byrne is a British-born Canadian-American author and artist of comic books. Since the mid-1970s, Byrne has worked on nearly every major American superhero.

Byrne's better-known work has been on Marvel Comics' X-Men and Fantastic Four and the 1986 relaunch of DC Comics’ Superman franchise. Coming into the comics profession exclusively as a penciler, Byrne began co-plotting the X-Men comics during his tenure on them, and launched his writing career in earnest with Fantastic Four (where he also started inking his own pencils). During the 1990s he produced a number of creator-owned works, including Next Men and Danger Unlimited. He also wrote the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced a number of Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Byrne offers a new take on Jack Kirby's Omac. Jack Kirby, Writer, Penciller which pays as much homage to the original as it re-imagines the character for a new generation of readers. What makes this particularly enjoyable is that while Byrne changes almost everything about the character, he also changes nearly nothing. This seems like it might be a contradiction of terms but if you read the original and then this, you'll see what I mean. Byrne does the nearly impossible by taking a character that I loved and doing something nearly better with it by pushing it into a more sophisticated narrative that revolutionizes how the readers thinks about what OMAC is, without destroying the original. Byrne adds a maturity without sacrificing anything form the original or diminishing it in the slightest. This is an extremely tricky thing to attempt and something that more often than not backfires on the creator(s) of the re-make. Byrne deserves high praise for this four-part graphic masterpiece that is one-part post apocalypse, one-part time-travel, one-part alternate reality and one-part re-imagined classic sci-fi.

[Brian Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm using this issue as a proxy for the whole series, which to my knowledge was never collected. This is Byrne taking a swing at Kirby's offbeat One Man Army Corps character - a sort of Captain America of the Future, but a deeply weird future full of Kirby's idiosyncrasies. In his Afterward Burne admitted he wanted to do a new take that didn't invalidate any part of the original series, so we get this story of nested timelines. It's fun to work out and piece together the sequencing.

It's beautiful to look at - stark black and while, and very Byrne in the design and pencils - and just a touch experimental for him.

It's also a bit clunky in the script - there are bits in the first volume where OMAC doesn't have word balloons, he just relates in editorial boxes what he says to the people who are talking to him in word balloons - and the broader plot - which spans decades so we just get snippets of events and go "Oh, so this improbable thing happened, ok..."

But all told if you have access and time it's a fun read.

[Nick Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Byrne redeems the promise of Jack Kirby's OMAC concept, at least for this first volume. Kirby's OMAC was a mixed bag of fantastic art and weak writing. Byrne brings more compelling science-fiction elements into play, and makes OMAC into a more rounded, thoughtful character – a far cry from Kirby's non-dimensional human vacuum. And, while it would be nice to have The King's unmatched visual imagination used in service of the updated story, Byrne's pencil is more than up to the task. His rendering of a blasted, apocalyptic landscape filled with Star Wars-like machines of death is perfectly suited to this new incarnation.

[Fugo Feedback · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unos 8 años después de haber leído el último tomo de la serie finalmente puedo leer... ¡El primero! Y aunque es cierto que en aquel momento me gustó más ese final que ahora este principio, tengo que reconocer que acá todavía se ve al Byrne talentoso y bastante inspirado.
Ahora sólo me falta poder comprar este dichoso tomito de Zinco.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Byrnes once again follows Kirby. Always fun and always interesting.

[Dony Grayman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edición española. Tomo 1 de 4, como indica la manito de la portada.
Con este ejemplar, la serie está completa.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

Primera edición en castellano, que mantenía el formato prestige en los cuatro tomos.