I have seen the future, and it doesn't work....
OMAC! One Man Army Corps!
While many feel that The Fourth World saga was Jack Kirby's best work at DC (and in some ways it was), the 8 issues of OMAC crammed more topical future speculation between their covers than any other point in Jack's voluminous output. Don't get me wrong - I loved Kamandi, even the later issues, but these handful of books, especially the earlier ones, address issues and concepts that speak to us today, in a prophetic manner....(fade in creepy Bernard Herrman nusic).
These concept sketches below show Jack fleshing out the ideas that he would explore in the series....
Issue 1 starts out with a bang, as we are introduced to an assembly line facility that churns out psuedo-people, as well as our protagonist (and his alter ego).
The concepts come thick and fast in this issue - see the above panel showing "Electronic Surgery"...
......or the all too possible Lila, your "Build-A-Friend"....
"Where does humanity STOP and technology BEGIN? We no longer know....".
I don't know about you, but in the early part of the 21st Century, this question cuts me to the bone... and reflects considerations re-explored by J. G. Ballard, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and Rudy Rucker in more contemporary writings.....
As OMAC says in this panel..."They've made a mockery of the spirit...".
And let us not forget our "Everyman" protagonist, Buddy Blank, and the "faceless" G.P.A. agents.....
These panels showing the "therapy" rooms at Buddy's workplace is also not an unlikely development - witness the rise in popularity of first-person shooter video games and other forms of "acceptable" catharsis available in modern society...
But it's Jack's comments in the page from this issue that really hit home today....
"The technology machine is working at full blast.
We're too human to stop it.
And we're too human not too abuse it."
Indeed.
Issue 2 continues to explore the framework of "The World That's Coming".......
...and "The World That's Coming is a place of BIG POPULATIONS! BIG CITIES! BIG MONEY! And for these very reasons, it falls prey to BIG CRIME!!!" Boy did Jack get THAT one right!
The plot in this issue concerns "Mr. Big" and his rental of an entire city to eradicate OMAC. Given the disparity between rich and poor, in various parts of the world - this is also not an unlikely development.
Issue 3, while heavier on action than concept, is still peppered with enough interesting concepts to fill entire 5 issue story-arc of today's comic product....
..... but it is Issue 4 that probably hits home today more than when it was written 30 years ago.
The bulk of this issue deals with the trial of General Kafka in "Super-Court".
Please notice the crimes the accused is charged with in the panel below....
Also in this issue is an all too possible weapon - a genetically engineered hunter-killer organism, the "Multi-Killer"!
This organism eats matter and converts it into energy, and when it reaches the designated target will fission like an H-Bomb!
As Omac says in the final panel below... "This experience has truly shown me the importance of keeping POWER MAD bandits like KAFKA in check......"
Issue 5 brings forth yet another concept all too close to our world today - "Body Banks", where new bodies are exchanged for old via computer controlled brain transplants....
I would speculate that Jack probably even got the price about right.... what is the cost of a human body on the black market these days? $750,000.00 sounds about right to me (but i am just guessing!).
.... and $2,000,000.00 for a new body.... probably about right too.....
Issue 6 details OMAC's destruction of the sinister racket, and also features some of the best action sequences in the series...
"The operation is cancelled!"
Issues 7 & 8 offer an (incomplete) tale detailing a plot to steal the world's water, something that again, is all too close to reality....
I know I could have gone into more detail with regards to plot specifics and gadgetry et al. - but my main point is this... before there was "Cyberpunk"... Jack Kirby's One Man Army Corps WAS Cyberpunk... i mean look at that hairstyle... the guy's got a mohawk for gosh sakes!
The issue of technology and it's impact on humanity has always been at the forefront of SF (or speculative fiction as Harlan Ellison would have us call it), but this often neglected series by "The King" is as prophetic as it is ground breaking.
I hope that DC considers reprinting these 8 issues and stops frigging around with the original concept.....
Dream on, hyper dave.... dream on.....
Now grab your iPod and cellphone and go "outside"!
PS. Oh yeah.... there is that interview that Jack gave where he mentioned "The Great Disaster" from Kamandi was caused by a major malfunction with "Brother Eye".... but that's a whole OTHER story.....
PPS. Check THIS out! Simply AMAZING 8 bit audio mayhem! Love that Dr. Skuba track!
PS. Sorry this re-post is all ya get..... i'm just really busy-busy-busy right now!
While many feel that The Fourth World saga was Jack Kirby's best work at DC (and in some ways it was), the 8 issues of OMAC crammed more topical future speculation between their covers than any other point in Jack's voluminous output. Don't get me wrong - I loved Kamandi, even the later issues, but these handful of books, especially the earlier ones, address issues and concepts that speak to us today, in a prophetic manner....(fade in creepy Bernard Herrman nusic).
These concept sketches below show Jack fleshing out the ideas that he would explore in the series....
Issue 1 starts out with a bang, as we are introduced to an assembly line facility that churns out psuedo-people, as well as our protagonist (and his alter ego).
The concepts come thick and fast in this issue - see the above panel showing "Electronic Surgery"...
......or the all too possible Lila, your "Build-A-Friend"....
"Where does humanity STOP and technology BEGIN? We no longer know....".
I don't know about you, but in the early part of the 21st Century, this question cuts me to the bone... and reflects considerations re-explored by J. G. Ballard, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and Rudy Rucker in more contemporary writings.....
As OMAC says in this panel..."They've made a mockery of the spirit...".
And let us not forget our "Everyman" protagonist, Buddy Blank, and the "faceless" G.P.A. agents.....
These panels showing the "therapy" rooms at Buddy's workplace is also not an unlikely development - witness the rise in popularity of first-person shooter video games and other forms of "acceptable" catharsis available in modern society...
But it's Jack's comments in the page from this issue that really hit home today....
"The technology machine is working at full blast.
We're too human to stop it.
And we're too human not too abuse it."
Indeed.
Issue 2 continues to explore the framework of "The World That's Coming".......
...and "The World That's Coming is a place of BIG POPULATIONS! BIG CITIES! BIG MONEY! And for these very reasons, it falls prey to BIG CRIME!!!" Boy did Jack get THAT one right!
The plot in this issue concerns "Mr. Big" and his rental of an entire city to eradicate OMAC. Given the disparity between rich and poor, in various parts of the world - this is also not an unlikely development.
Issue 3, while heavier on action than concept, is still peppered with enough interesting concepts to fill entire 5 issue story-arc of today's comic product....
..... but it is Issue 4 that probably hits home today more than when it was written 30 years ago.
The bulk of this issue deals with the trial of General Kafka in "Super-Court".
Please notice the crimes the accused is charged with in the panel below....
Also in this issue is an all too possible weapon - a genetically engineered hunter-killer organism, the "Multi-Killer"!
This organism eats matter and converts it into energy, and when it reaches the designated target will fission like an H-Bomb!
As Omac says in the final panel below... "This experience has truly shown me the importance of keeping POWER MAD bandits like KAFKA in check......"
Issue 5 brings forth yet another concept all too close to our world today - "Body Banks", where new bodies are exchanged for old via computer controlled brain transplants....
I would speculate that Jack probably even got the price about right.... what is the cost of a human body on the black market these days? $750,000.00 sounds about right to me (but i am just guessing!).
.... and $2,000,000.00 for a new body.... probably about right too.....
Issue 6 details OMAC's destruction of the sinister racket, and also features some of the best action sequences in the series...
"The operation is cancelled!"
Issues 7 & 8 offer an (incomplete) tale detailing a plot to steal the world's water, something that again, is all too close to reality....
I know I could have gone into more detail with regards to plot specifics and gadgetry et al. - but my main point is this... before there was "Cyberpunk"... Jack Kirby's One Man Army Corps WAS Cyberpunk... i mean look at that hairstyle... the guy's got a mohawk for gosh sakes!
The issue of technology and it's impact on humanity has always been at the forefront of SF (or speculative fiction as Harlan Ellison would have us call it), but this often neglected series by "The King" is as prophetic as it is ground breaking.
I hope that DC considers reprinting these 8 issues and stops frigging around with the original concept.....
Dream on, hyper dave.... dream on.....
Now grab your iPod and cellphone and go "outside"!
PS. Oh yeah.... there is that interview that Jack gave where he mentioned "The Great Disaster" from Kamandi was caused by a major malfunction with "Brother Eye".... but that's a whole OTHER story.....
PPS. Check THIS out! Simply AMAZING 8 bit audio mayhem! Love that Dr. Skuba track!
PS. Sorry this re-post is all ya get..... i'm just really busy-busy-busy right now!
posted by hyperdave at 3:53 AM
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