Of the four one shots leading in to Infinite Crisis the Omac Project was my favorite. I have always loved Batman and this comic featured him as the main character trying to solve the murder of Blue Beetle and ultimately attempting to uncover a conspiracy that had taken root at the base of one of America’s secret spy organizations, Checkmate. When DC announced the special follow-ups to their lead-ins I could hardly wait for the Omac Project special.
The first few pages captured my interest immediately. It began where Infinite Crisis #6 left off, with Brother Eye plummeting to the Earth in the middle of the Rub Al-Khali desert. Several pages in and the comic looked as if it would get really interesting as it showed many of the heroes who took down Brother Eye returning to Earth. A couple more pages and I was so bored that I couldn’t wait for it to end. I had quickly realized that the initial appearance of heroes was to be their last. The only Meta to appear later on in the issue was Fire, and she sucks.
The overall story was decent as it tied up a few loose ends such as the reason for Bordeaux’s transformation in to a half Omac, half Human monster, as well as the fate of Borther Eye. Perhaps I’m just not familiar enough with the Checkmate back-story, but it all just seemed so boring. Sasha feels like a very weak character and looks really dumb in her half Omac state so basing an entire comic on only her killed the issue for me.
The art was equally as drab. No more so than the 6 issue mini-seires really, but the boring story and boring art was a terrible combination. I think that DC really needs a better art director. More hand colored comics, less Photoshop filters and gradients.
The pencils weren’t terrible, Jesus Saiz did the best he could with the crap story Greg Rucka put together… how could Saiz really get in to this sucker? God knows I couldn’t.
This comic is worth reading to learn what happened to Sasha, Brother Eye and Checkmate, but don’t expect anything astounding. It’s more of an epilogue to the Omac back story of the Crisis and a lead in to the Checkmate comic than anything entertaining.
Credits
Writer
Greg Rucka
Artist
Jesus Saiz
Colorist
HiFi Design (Note: hire some real colorists, DC, not just some graphic design agency!)
Letterer
Jared K. Fletcher
Asst. Editor
Rachel Gluckstern
Editor
Joan Hilty