Art by: Toby Cypress and Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: September 2, 2015
Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
I have been one of the biggest supporters of the Omega Men and I stand by every accolade I've thrown it's way. I have loved the slow burn story of these anti-heroes set in a universe far, far away. I put that last part in because this book immediately gave me the feelings that I had when I first watched Star Wars as a kid. Like that movie, the Omega Men just plopped you right in the middle of a living, breathing universe and let the story happen organically around you. Everything has a history and it all comes together while you read it. Each issue has built on the last and while the answers have come slowly, each bit of information has lead to me appreciating the book that much more. So, do we get any answers this month and does this issue keep the momentum going forward? Let's find out...
The issue opens up with Kyle Rayner and Princess Kalista talking. I say "opens up", but it's actually the entire issue. I'm not saying that's a bad thing...but I'm also not saying that it was all good either. The two talk about their lives, loves and of course, the Omega Men.
The first thing that anyone who has been reading this book will notice is the change in artists. Toby Cypress jumps on as a guest artist this month and while he does a decent job, I miss Barnaby Bagenda. The art in this book is half of the appeal and having it change this month made a big difference in my enjoyment. It didn't help that most of this issue was rehash from last month...and even further back.
If you are a Kyle Rayner fan and want to relive his early days of becoming a Green Lantern (or don't know the story at all), this issue may be for you. It's an okay retelling, focusing on Kyle's doubts and fears and even imagining what could have been if he never was in the alley the night he was given his ring. There is nothing earth shattering here, but it was nice to read. However, the story takes a turn into relevance when Kyle tells Kalista about his mission to bring peace to the Vega system by uniting the Citadel and the Omega Men. Now this is what I'm talking about. We see Kyle relinquish his ring (bad move, Kyle) and get betrayed by the Omega Men. I still think that not everything is as it seems here, but it was cool to see what lead up to the start of this series.
After seeing that Primus and Tigorr are watching everything that is going on, Princess Kalista opens up to Kyle. It's a bit of a recap of last month's issue with a couple of additions. It boils down to her father showing her how to deal with the native populations of their Empire. The best part is that we get to see what must be her first introduction to Primus and some of the other Omega Men. We then get back to recap territory before going back to the present.
The present doesn't get that much better. We get a heavy dose of Kalista playing Kyle for the sap he is and I can only imagine it would mean more if we didn't know the truth. We are left watching Kyle fall for the worst person he could be falling for and it just made me feel all sad inside. I don't like feeling all sad inside.
I hate to say it, but this issue was pure filler. We do get a couple of nuggets of information, but not an issues worth of material. The fact that we get a recap of last month's issue is telling that this one is just a placeholder before getting back to the regularly scheduled program next month. I have enjoyed the slow burn, but this one was barely lukewarm.
Bits and Pieces:
I love the Omega Men, just not this issue. It is recap and filler and what little we learned could have been a page or two in a normal issue of this book. I still think that everyone should give this book a try, just don't use this issue as a jumping on point.
The first thing that anyone who has been reading this book will notice is the change in artists. Toby Cypress jumps on as a guest artist this month and while he does a decent job, I miss Barnaby Bagenda. The art in this book is half of the appeal and having it change this month made a big difference in my enjoyment. It didn't help that most of this issue was rehash from last month...and even further back.
If you are a Kyle Rayner fan and want to relive his early days of becoming a Green Lantern (or don't know the story at all), this issue may be for you. It's an okay retelling, focusing on Kyle's doubts and fears and even imagining what could have been if he never was in the alley the night he was given his ring. There is nothing earth shattering here, but it was nice to read. However, the story takes a turn into relevance when Kyle tells Kalista about his mission to bring peace to the Vega system by uniting the Citadel and the Omega Men. Now this is what I'm talking about. We see Kyle relinquish his ring (bad move, Kyle) and get betrayed by the Omega Men. I still think that not everything is as it seems here, but it was cool to see what lead up to the start of this series.
After seeing that Primus and Tigorr are watching everything that is going on, Princess Kalista opens up to Kyle. It's a bit of a recap of last month's issue with a couple of additions. It boils down to her father showing her how to deal with the native populations of their Empire. The best part is that we get to see what must be her first introduction to Primus and some of the other Omega Men. We then get back to recap territory before going back to the present.
The present doesn't get that much better. We get a heavy dose of Kalista playing Kyle for the sap he is and I can only imagine it would mean more if we didn't know the truth. We are left watching Kyle fall for the worst person he could be falling for and it just made me feel all sad inside. I don't like feeling all sad inside.
I hate to say it, but this issue was pure filler. We do get a couple of nuggets of information, but not an issues worth of material. The fact that we get a recap of last month's issue is telling that this one is just a placeholder before getting back to the regularly scheduled program next month. I have enjoyed the slow burn, but this one was barely lukewarm.
Bits and Pieces:
I love the Omega Men, just not this issue. It is recap and filler and what little we learned could have been a page or two in a normal issue of this book. I still think that everyone should give this book a try, just don't use this issue as a jumping on point.
6.0/10
One way you could look at this is a half-empty glass, this issue is just a filler. Well like to think of this as a half-full glass filled by a one-shot. I thought both back stories had their own merits, specifically I really enjoyed tom king's demonstration of 5 ways to deal with a native population. Which is something that feel could only really come from Tom King and from his background. While I the story didn't move much, I felt we to learn a lot more about the vega system, the different locations, the grasp of the citadel and what possible arena could come up next in the adventures of primus and the omega men.
ReplyDeleteI really did like what we learned of the vega system a lot...I just wish the overall story moved even a little bit forward. I love this book and have enjoyed the slow burn, but this just felt like a placeholder issue. If next month hits the ground running, I will forget all about it and get back to loving it.
DeleteIt should be a small thing but something that really bugs me with this comic is they keep calling kyle a green lantern he marks his suit with the symbol last issue and now he gives up a green ring
ReplyDeleteIt more bothers me that he still should be a white lantern
Delete