A NYCC 2013 Moment # 2. OMG! It’s OMAC – and He’s Off The Wall!

Everyone familiar with Comic Cons knows that there are generally “two classes” of comic books for sale… The regular, everyday books in long boxes, and the more prestigious and expensive items up on the walls! 

 

Even in my long-ago days of freer spending on comic books, my purchases were rarely “Off The Wall”… er, in PRICE, that is. 

But, on Day One of New York Comic Con 2013 (…the same day THIS HAPPENED), I also made an “Off The Wall” (…have I used that bit enough for one post?) purchase that was simply irresistible! 

A Near-Mint copy of Jack Kirby’s OMAC # 1 (published in 1974 by DC Comics) was on a dealer’s wall – for a mere FIVE DOLLARS! 

Now, I never had an issue of this series because, during the period of 1973 – 1980, you couldn’t have been further away from comic books than I was – and, in fact, I’d never even heard of OMAC (an acronym for One Man Army Corps) until reading DC COMICS PERESENTS # 61 (Cover Date: September, 1983), bought new from a comic shop, which teamed OMAC with Superman. 

 

I remember liking that book, and later OMAC references and appearances scattered throughout my DC Comics reading of subsequent years… and it was the great JACK KIRBY, at what some believe to be his most “unbridled” period of creativity – so the fiver quickly left my pocket, and (after just shy of 40 years) I now had this unusual comic book – “Edited, Written, and Penciled by Jack Kirby” (as the credits said) for my very own! 

Just LOOK at that image!  How’s THAT for “unbridled creativity”?  Can’t say you see something like THAT every day, even in the wonderfully bizarre worlds of comic books! 

…And how about the SMALL PICTURE IMAGE vs. the size of the LOGO and cover text captioning?  Oddly, it’s not unlike this very early Gold Key comic, in that regard!   

Another reason for jumping on this Kirby treasure so readily is that the period during which OMAC was published was an unusual one for DC Comics, in that they were VERY QUICK to cancel new titles… almost as quickly as they were started, and sometimes (it was said) before sales data was even fully received and analyzed. 

A quick “phone-search” (Don’t we live in a wonderful age?) revealed that OMAC lasted for only EIGHT ISSUES!  Yes, that’s EIGHT ISSUES!

And with Number One in hand, it was a simple matter to round up OMAC # 2-8 for about the same price, or even less. 

And, so I’ve begun reading the original adventures of “Buddy Blank” (who becomes OMAC), and the “Brother Eye” satellite that guides him – and like what I’ve seen in those first few pages. 

Oh, but then there’s that “Day Two Purchase” that has since taken precedence – and more of my scant time for reading.  More about that to come!