Omega the Unknown #10 Review

Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Omega the Unknown #10, about which I write the following sentences: "The explosive climax of issue #9 has not literally rendered everyone deaf, but that's what it feels like. The silence permeates all of the small moments here, as characters say goodbye, move on with their lives, or fall in with an underground-dwelling homeless crowd recreating some bizarre superhero version of Hollywood Squares -- I'm not sure what that last part's about, exactly, but the image of the emaciated Omega being lifted into his square next to the guy in the Mink costume perfectly captures the tone Lethem, Rusnak, and Dalrymple have been striving for. It's not an image you'd expect in the final issue of a Marvel comic. It's not a grand, heroic triumph. It's a weird, underground, unnoticed-by-the-rest-of-society triumph, not of order over chaos, but of inspiration. These characters will live on -- their exploits will be celebrated and retold by society's underdwellers."

Read the entire review HERE.

Jog, Omega, and My Top 10 So Far

Jog has a review of Lethem and Dalrymple's Omega the Unknown posted at the Savage Critics, and I think it's one of the best pieces he's ever written. He articulates what's so remarkable about the difficult-to-articulate series. I share his opinion about Omega, but he was far more fond of issue #10 then I was, although he has the benefit of reading the entire run before commenting upon the finale, while I have only issue #10 in my hands here on my trip to L.A., while the rest of my comics are back home. And without a fresh rereading of issues #1-9, issue #10 isn't completely satisfying, although it's still very good. I sent Augie my review of it and he'll probably post it in the next day or so.

In my review, I mentioned that Lethem and Dalrymple's Omega will probably make my end of the year Top 10 list -- or I speculated that it might. And I do think that it will, especially after I read the whole series in one sitting. But now I'm wondering what else might make my Top 10 Comics list. I know it's only July, but since I brought up the idea in my Omega review, I'm thinking about other stuff I liked this year.

Here's what I've liked a lot this year, and if I had to make the Best of... list right now, this is what it might look like:

1. Casanova
2. Northlanders
3. Omega the Unknown
4. Batman
5. Scalped
6. Skyscrapers of the Midwest
7. Umbrella Academy
8. Captain America
9. Tiny Titans
10. Incredible Hercules

Many of these titles will get bumped by the end of the year, probably, but what else am I missing so far? What other quality comics have come out this year? What would be on your "so far" list?

Oh, yeah, and I mentioned it above, but I'm in Los Angeles right now -- and I will be for the week leading up to the San Diego Comic-Con. Stop me in the streets and say hi.

Omega the Unknown #9 Review

Recently reviewed by me at CBR: Omega the Unknown #9, about which I write the following sentence: "It's just a regular sink, but its prominence grounds the strange, supernatural, space-operatic occurrences in this comic, and since every page contains something equivalent to the sink (a fire hydrant here, a cracked sidewalk there, an unmade bed, window treatments) 'Omega the Unknown' becomes about characters moving through a banal world which just happens to be filled with weirdness."

Read the entire review of this excellent, surreal comic HERE.