Omega The Unknown

ENIGMA THE FIRST: the lone survivor of an alien world, a nameless man of somber, impassive visage, garbed utterly inappropriately in garish blue-and-red. ENIGMA THE SECOND: James-Michael Starling, age twelve raised in near-isolation by parents who (he discovered on the day they “died”) were robots. ENIGMA THE THIRD: the link between the man and the boy, penetrating to the depths of the mind and body, causing each to question his very reality of self.

Acclaimed novelist Jonathan Lethem (The Fortress of Solitude) and independent comic book creator Farel Dalrymple (Pop Gun War, Caper) have joined forces in their re-imaging of Steve Gerber’s ‘Omega The Unknown.’

A bizarre and highly imaginative series first published by Marvel Comics in 1976, the series came to an abrupt end with a promise for a follow-up that sadly never happened. When series creator Gerber heard of the revival, he was outraged. Having been similarly mistreated over his creation Howard the Duck, he had good reason to be angry. However, a meeting with Lethem put his temper at ease as he discovered that the young writer had the best of intentions and a very good story to tell.

Interviewed by Newsarama’s Zack Smith, Lethem had the following to say about his relationship with comic books in general and Omega The Unknown specifically.

NRAMA: Do you currently read any comics?

JL: This and that. I haven’t managed to be caught up on this whole recent Captain America controversy or anything. I have to go back and acquire all the relevant issues and figure out what all that’s about. I’m reading more and more (comics) as a result of doing this work. It’s been interesting to get connected again.

NRAMA: Any favorites?

JL: Well, in different ways, there are things that have sparked my interest. I’ve found Y: The Last Man (to be a) very compulsive story, very enjoyable. It’s like a great…it’s like Lost, kind of mental chewing gum.

NRAMA: Well, you know, Brian K. Vaughan’s working on Lost now?

JL: Is he? I’m not surprised. That’s a very good fit. There’s all sorts of (comics) that I like. I just read a really great three-issue sequence of Adiran Tomine’s Optic Nerve. It was excellent.

NRAMA: I’d like to talk a little bit about your history growing up with Omega. The passage in The Fortress of Solitude (page 82 of the hardcover edition), where Dylan (one of the main characters) notices how James-Michael’s experiences reflect his own – I’m presuming that was similar to your own experience reading the book?

JL: Oh no, I was much more fond of Omega than that. Dylan is very tough on the comic, and if you look under the skin of his reaction to it, he’s very threatened by it. There’s something about the plight of the James-Michael character that’s getting under his skin. But that reaction is quite typical of that Dylan, and exemplifies his reaction to a lot of things. Dylan holds disturbing and stimulating material at arms’ length. He and I are very much different in that way. Though he’s an autobiographical character, the emotional armor that he wears isn’t so typical of me. I was much more emotionally wide-open and vulnerable. Omega floored me, but I didn’t resent it. I thought it was fantastic. Those first issues, when Gerber and Skrenes were really allowed to do what they wanted to do and were building this incredible story full of all sorts of weird implications and possibilities…I simply thought it was the best comic book I’d ever read. The problem for me as a reader, in the original experience, was of course that it was wrecked. The thing was totally derailed by circumstance, by sales expectations and corporate meddling. There wasn’t enough of a precedent for what the creators were doing, and no one trusted it, so they never really had a chance to realize the story they’d initiated. But that whisper of it – the first two issues above all, with all the possibilities inherent in what they’d begun, made it hugely meaningful to me. And though I’m not telling their story, not trying to continue or conclude their Omega in the least, part of my impulse was to bring a version of Omega to something like fruition.

(read the whole interview here)

So far the series has been a mind-bending visual feast the likes of which readers have not seen from Marvel Comics since… well… the original Omega The Unknown. Make sure to flip through an issue at the shop and keep an eye out for the collection to be released later this year.

Spectacular Spider-Man: ‘Persona’

A black feline, black space goo and a potential dark shift in a super hero’s attire spotlight several new challenges for “The Spectacular Spider-Man” in an all-new episode entitled “Persona” premiering this
Saturday, May 17 at 10 a.m. ET/PT on Kids’ WB! on The CW.

In the episode, Spider-Man learns the hard way not to judge a book by its cover, when another Spider-Man starts making headlines … as a crook! It’s the Chameleon, master of disguise, looting the city and laying the blame at Spidey’s feet. The Web-Slinger’s forced to team up with another crook, the lovely Black Cat, to stop his foe’s faux-Spidey crime spree and clear his name. The episode is written by Matt Wayne and directed by Dave Fausett. “The Spectacular Spider-Man” is produced by Culver Entertainment, a Sony Pictures Television Company.

Prior to the premiere of “Persona,” Kids’ WB! will air a repeat of “Natural Selection,” the episode which introduced Lizard, at 9:30 a.m. ET/PT.

Making the leap from the first issue of Amazing Spider-Man to the small scree, the Chameleon is one of the stranger Spider-Man villains simply because he is so ‘normal.’ With a rogue’s gallery consisting of lizard men, sand men and goblins, it’s surprising for a master of disguise to give old Spidey a run for his money. Personally, I think the villain was the invention of Steve Ditko who was very interested in the mob mentality and how easily it can be steered.

The new episode premiers this Saturday!

Spectacular Spider-Man- The Uncertainty Principle

For “The Spectacular Spider-Man,” Halloween arrives early this year –in the all-new Saturday, May 10 episode – but it still comes with all the traditional goodies, including a goblin, lots of spiders, a very large tombstone and even a black cat.

“The Uncertainty Principle,” this Saturday’s premiering episode at 10:00 a.m. ET/PT on Kids’ WB!/The CW, presents a number of perplexing situations for Peter Parker and Spider-Man as they both try to find clarity amid the masks, mysteries and menace of Halloween. While Colonel John Jameson struggles to land his damaged space shuttle, Spider-Man continues his ongoing battle with Green Goblin, who also threatens Hammerhead and Tombstone. Still, Peter’s greatest challenge will be facing the awful truth when he finally learns the Goblin’s “true” identity.

This week’s episode was an all out blockbuster that was full of plenty of action as well as twists and turns that show how far this series has come. The revelation of the Green Goblin’s identity was a shocker, but nowhere near as interesting as the fallout. Peter Parker’s life is getting very complicated and with the special hint toward next week’s episode involving a certain outer space black ooze, it’s not going to slow down any time soon.

If you are a Spider-Man fan, you have got to start catching up on this series. Each week a new episode is paired up with a repeat, so it’s a perfect opportunity to see what is becoming one of the best super hero cartoons on TV.

Upcoming Marvel Comics movies

If (like me) you knew well enough to stay in the cinema after the Iron Man credits finished, you will know that this is just the beginning for Marvel Studios. Now that they have wrested the keys of control from the hands of large corporations and movie studios, they are free to do as they will… and make their own mistakes? Perhaps.

But the promise of an Avengers movie lies nested in the deep planning of other films. As big wig Avi Arad has stated, Marvel Studios had no interest in simply plopping an Avengers film featuring complete strangers at the feet of a confused movie going public. Instead, the plan is to fully introduce the key characters in the super hero super group before plunging them headlong into an ensemble flick.

That said, it looks like this (thanks to Pardis Parker for the time table)

Iron Man 2 (Marvel) Scheduled for April 30, 2010 release
Thor (Marvel) Scheduled for June 4, 2010 release
The First Avenger: Captain America working title (Marvel) Scheduled for May 6, 2011 release
The Avengers (Marvel) Scheduled for July 2011 release
Ant-Man (Marvel) Writer/director engaged

So we have three long years to wait for a pay off for a post end credit sequence? It’s not that I mind, but… is it going to be worth it? If the films listed above (including next month’s dark horse Incredible Hulk) are as good as Favreau’s Iron Man, I’m in.

But any comic book fan can tell you that nothing is set in stone and the fickle winds of change are only months apart sometimes. Three years could mean anything for the Avengers.

All I know is that the day after I saw the Iron Man movie I saw my cousin-in-law’s children Seth and Ilan and they were ravenous for anything Avengers-related… how weird is that!?

Thor: Ages of Thunder

At a time when comic fans are bombarded with Iron Man tie-ins, it’s nice to see another classic Marvel character getting the treatment. In the Thor one-shot, Ages of Thunder, we get a glimpse of the Thunder God long before he became involved with the world of Man, embroiled in a romance with Jane Foster and tangled with Mister Hyde and the Cobra. In other mediums, this would be called a ‘prequel’ to the Mighty Thor. Rumors of the Thor movie have included the idea that it would be set entirely in mythological Asgard as a fantasy film. This comics could be a way to get readers used to the idea.

Written by Matt Fraction (of Iron Fist) and drawn by Iron Man’s Patrick Zircher (part 1) and newcomer Khari Evans (part 2), the comic is a collection of mythological tales of Asgard. In both, Thor whoops Frost Giants with such extreme violence that it becomes apparent that this is a very different character than the one we are familiar with. This Thor is very much a force of nature, a beast of battle and a God of few words. Most of the story is told through narration which may turn some readers off, but it is used so well that I miss the convention that used to be a quintessential part of the Marvel Comics mystique very dearly.

The pair of stories involve Asgard during a time when the race of Gods was pitted against the Frost Giants almost constantly. The set up for both tales is that Thor fells a Frost Giant in battle with a hammer blow through the skull. The killing blow is so deadly that the Giant’s falling body destroys part of Asgard’s city wall.

In the first story, a simple human promises to fix the damage to the wall in return for the Enchantress’ hand in marriage. Loki convinces wise Odin to honor the wager, demanding that the stone cutter finish the work in six months with no assistance. The task is absurdly impossible, so Odin agrees. Things get a little hairy from there as the human actually manges the monumental task, resulting in the punishment of Loki the Lord of Mischief. The second tale involves a punished Loki being offered a way out of his suffering by a Frost Giant. The only catch, you guessed it, the hand of the Enchantress in marriage. In both stories, Loki causes trouble which gets so out of hand that Thor has to intervene and remind the pantheon of Gods why he is the favored son.

It’s a fantastic comic and I’m glad I took the ‘risk’ in buying outside of my comic book collecting comfort zone. The writing is in a classic style and the mixture of art is top notch stuff. At the conclusion, there is promise for a follow up called Reign of Blood. Marvel must be unsure of the chances of success to launch a Thor ongoing spin-off, but if all the stories are as good as this one, I think they should take the chance!

Remember, this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, so be sure to stop by your local comic book store and stick up on all the great material out there (including this comic)

Eight Arms to Hold You

Doc Ock takes center stage this Saturday, May 3 in “Reaction,” an all-new episode of “The Spectacular Spider-Man” airing at 10:00 a.m. ET/PT on Kids’ WB! on The CW.

In “Reaction,” Peter Parker and Spider-Man learn that actions have consequences when nebbishy Dr. Otto Octavius becomes the megalomaniacal Doctor Octopus. The cause: Green Goblin; the effect: Mayhem!! The episode is written by Randy Jandt and directed by Jennifer Coyle.

Interview with voice actor Peter MacNicol below:

The next time you drop the “I’m too busy” excuse for some undone deed, consider the career of Peter MacNicol.

Over the past year, MacNicol could be found pulling the unheard-of simultaneous double duty as a core cast member in two hit primetime television series – “24″ and “Numb3rs” – and was still able to devote an afternoon every other week to creating the voice of Dr. Otto Octavius and his villainous flipside, Doctor Octopus (aka Doc Ock), for the breakout animated series, “The Spectacular Spider-Man.”

Now THAT’S busy.

While Dr. Octavius has had a submissive role in the first seven episodes of the series, Doc Ock makes his explosive debut this Saturday, May 3 in an all-new episode entitled “Reaction.” The episode premieres at 10:00 a.m. ET/PT on Kids’ WB! on The CW.

MacNicol has crafted an extremely diverse and successful career, balancing primetime series starring roles (the aforementioned following the likes of “Ally McBeal” and “Chicago Hope”) with numerous guest performances (“Boston Legal,” “Cheers,” “Tales From The Crypt”), not to mention feature film appearances (“Ghostbusters II,” “Sophie’s Choice”) and, of course, his first starring role as Galen in the fan favorite, “Dragonslayer.”

Despite all the on-camera work, MacNicol maintains a steady flow of voiceover roles in animated television series and movies, as well as being very popular in the books-on-CD arena. MacNicol’s animated voiceovers cover a wide range – from lighter series like “The Wild Thornberrys,” “Olive, the Other Reindeer” and “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command” to the super hero-laden “Justice League,” “The Batman” and now, “The Spectacular Spider-Man.”

“Cartoon work is pure recreation for me, pure playtime,” said MacNicol. “But ‘Books-on-CD’ – now that’s work! Keeping even the minor characters straight in my head, giving each bit-part his/her/its own voice, working for days in that airless chamber of the recording booth, with my eyes playing tricks on me as the hours drag by, and the pages I’m narrating, which must be noiselessly turned, and the sheer whiteness of those pages, which begins to create a kind of snow-blindness by mid-afternoon.

“Once for an epic fantasy series, I had to voice literally dozens of elves, fairies, and ogres, all of different ages, sexes, and from many lands – with the hill dwarves needing to sound different from the valley dwarves. Had there been a window I would have jumped out of it.”

Still, there is joy for MacNicol within the world of animation voiceovers. “My favorite moment on the job is that magic instant when you’ve got the voice just right and you can let go of the steering wheel and let the character drive.”

MacNicol has found great pleasure in bringing villains to animated life – Doc Ock follows his previous portrayals of Chronos and Manbat (”I was very proud of the possibly-too-piercing shriek I devised for him”). For Doc Ock, MacNicol opted to channel the persona of a classic actor far outside the reference points for most Spidey fans.

“The voice I chose for Dr. Octopus was something of an homage to Laird Cregar, one of Hollywood’s greatest ‘heavies,’ and I do mean ‘heavies,’ ” MacNicol explained. “Throughout his brief 1940s career, Cregar waged a war to the death against his own obesity, ultimately losing too many pounds too quickly; he was barely 30 when he died. In his two greatest movies, ‘Hangover Square’ and ‘The Lodger,’ he seemed so haunted and hulking, and I loved that soft menacing voice of his. Still, I’m no mimic and it was Cregar’s quality rather than his voice which gave me my model.”

MacNicol admits he enjoys devouring the role of a villain, pointing out the extreme texture the dark side adds to any story – particularly in super hero tales.

“It’s all relative – this business of hero or villain,” MacNicol said. “After all, villains are somebody’s hero – certainly they’ve won the devotion of their cronies, their parents, and perverse fans like myself who actually prefer them over the title characters. Yep, it would be a pretty dull universe if we didn’t have Rhino, Sandman and Doc Ock trying to destroy it.”

Iron Man and War Machine

(Above: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Terence Howard as Jim Rhodes)

Big old spoiler for this Friday’s premier of Marvel Comics’ Iron Man.

As fans of the comic book series can tell you, there is more than one armored Avenger in the Marvel Universe. After Tony Stark’s alcoholism took the better of him in the now classic ‘Demon in the Bottle’ making it impossible for him to wear the one-man army suit, he was forced to choose a replacement. Tony needed to look no further than his close friend from the Vietnam War, James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes. In the gun-metal gray suit bedecked with missile launchers and machine guns a-plenty, Rhodey was known as the War Machine. Eventually this storyline lead to a duel between Iron Men.

“The beautiful thing about Marvel is that they’ve always stuck with the tradition of staying truthful to the comics and loyal to the fans,” actor Terence Howard told IGN. “If you’ve read the comics you’ll know that that is the next phase, but there is another intermediate phase in there where he would have to put on his best friend’s suit for a period of time.”

Could this story play out in the eventual sequel?

Spectacular Spider-Man May Schedule

The newest animated series version of Marvel’s famed flagship web spinner continues on KidsWB! This Saturday the arch nemesis Green Goblin makes his mark on the program in the premiere of ‘Catalyst’ (which also sees the introduction of a certain red-headed bombshell).

“Catalysts” takes place on the night of the Midtown High Fall Formal, and Peter Parker finds his overconfidence is nearly his undoing – as both a teenager and a super hero. While his date, Mary Jane Watson, threatens to invert Midtown’s social structure, Pete lets her popularity go to his head. So when the mysterious, murderous Green Goblin tries to force L. Thompson Lincoln (a.k.a. Tombstone) to step
down as NYC’s Big Man of crime, will Spider-Man take this new threat seriously enough – or will he be so cocky that he loses his big head?!

Voiced by veteran voice-over actor Steve Blum, the Goblin will certainly take Spidey to task.

Blum has been called the “King of Anime” for his monumental number of credits within the industry. Blum’s trademark voice can be found in a variety of characters within the anime realm, though his prolific voiceover career has moved seamlessly between all animated mediums, including voices for traditionally animated cartoons and films, commercials and video games.

Beyond his recognizable work as the voice of Tom, the announcer of Cartoon Network’s Toonami, Blum can be heard in “The Powerpuff Girls,” “Naruto,” “Ben 10,” “Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law,” “Loonatics
Unleashed,” “What’s New, Scooby-Doo?” and as the title character in the upcoming “Wolverine & the X-Men.” His favorite voice acting role is as Spike Spiegel from the popular anime series “Cowboy Bebop.”

Blum is highly regarded as the second (and last) voice actor to voice Canaan in the Xenosaga video game series, and is the voice of Wolverine in the video game, “X-Men Legends.” He has also been featured in the interactive arena on innumerable video games, including “Halo 3,” “Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “Transformers: The Game,” “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Spider-Man 3,” “Call of Duty,” “Call of Duty: United Offensive,” “Mission: Impossible - Operation Surma,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

Blum is also the voice of Vincent Valentine for the dub cast of the direct-to-DVD release, “Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.” His many anime credits include “Goku Midnight Eye,” “Kyôshoku sôkô Guyver,”
“Akira,” “Ôritsu uchûgun Oneamisu no tsubasa,” “Amagaedun uzu,” “Jûichi-nin iru!” and “Hokuto no Ken,” “Chôjikû seiki Ôgasu.”

Below is the schedule for May.

Saturday, May 3
9:30 a.m. – The Invisible Hand (repeat featuring Rhino, Tombstone, Mary Jane)
10:00 a.m. – Reaction (premiere)

Saturday, May 10
9:30 a.m. – Catalysts (repeat featuring Green Goblin, Tombstone)
10:00 a.m. – The Uncertainty Principle (premiere)

Saturday, May 17
9:30 a.m. – Natural Selection (repeat featuring Lizard)
10:00 a.m. – Persona (premiere)

Saturday, May 24
9:30 a.m. – Market Forces (repeat featuring Shocker)
10:00 a.m. – Reaction (repeat)

Saturday, May 31
9:30 a.m. – Competition (repeat featuring Sandman)
10:00 a.m. – Group Therapy (premiere)

Spider-Man Web of Shadows

Developed by Treyarch and Shaba Games for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo DS, Wii and PC, the newest iteration of the Spider-Man video-game franchise is set to collide with players the world over later this year. The web slinger’s video game adventures have gone through almost as many developments as the video game format itself. From the cave-man-like Atari adventure against the Green Goblin to the critically acclaimed Spider-Man 2, old web head has enjoyed a kind of video game celebrity status second only to Mario.

Atari Spider-Man trailer
(listen to the actor playing the Green Goblin have a nervous breakdown!)

Details on Spider-Man Web of Shadows are slim at the time, but what is clear is that the game will follow the free-roaming style of Spider-Man 2 which allowed players to swing about the entirety of Manhattan. The new game will include the combat system that players have enjoyed but it will be bolstered by a new system that ties the player’s actions into the city itself. Help out the regular joe and they help you too. Let a few too many crooks get away and don’t be surprised if you catch a few ripe tomatoes in the face.

The trailer seems to show the invasion of a Venom-like creature, but word is that you can expect many surprises in the game. With Treyarch behind the wheel, I’m sure it’ll be a major success… unlike the lackluster Spider-Man 3 game (and movie).

Spider-Man Web of Shadows trailer

Bring Back My Gobby to Me

Here’s your exclusive first look at The Spectacular Spider-Man’s Green Goblin. The web-slinger’s most notorious nemesis makes his first appearance on the CW’s Saturday-morning ‘toon in the episode “Catalysts,” airing April 26 (at 10 am/ET).

From the design to the left here it looks like the Marvel Animation Studio has decided to go with a more modern take on the character. With so many choices, I can see why. The sick design will fit in perfectly with the other new takes on the web slinger’s rogue’s gallery.

Green Goblin is an important villain in the Spider-Man universe for a couple of reasons. Firstly, he’s the first major super villain that crossed the line into Peter Parker’s personal life. Secondly, he’s the villain that split up the Lee/Ditko team that pioneered the series. The story goes that the mysterious Goblin who was often seen removing his costume in private was to be revealed as a major player in Peter’s life. Ditko objected to this, wanting instead to stick to the anonymity of criminals. The feud (probably fueled by many other factors as well) ended with Ditko leaving Marvel Comics and the revelation of the Goblin’s identity (Peter’s best friend Harry’s dad Norman Osborn!) taking place under the apt pen of John Romita.

In his early appearance, the Green Goblin was a smart thug with a satchel of Halloween-themed gizmos and traps from flying bats to pumpkin bombs. One of the ‘inventor’ set of characters that littered Marvel in the 1960’s, Goblin was not above recruiting others into his schemes, including anyone from the Enforcers to the Incredible Hulk (though it was really a fortuitous accident).

With the arrival of the Green Goblin in the new Spectacular Spider-Man series, expect the drama and danger to hit a higher mark than usual as this nefarious villain plays for keeps!

The Green Goblin makes his debut April 26.

Recommended:
Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus, Vol. 1 (Variant Version)
Amazing Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Vol. 1