The Omega Men #3 - DC Comics

THE OMEGA MEN No. 3, October 2015

Whilst as action-packed as any of this comic’s 13,246 readers could surely have wanted, Issue Three of “The Omega Men” also contains a conclusion which is as shockingly surprising as it is nonsensical balderdash, and turns what arguably was a genuinely thrilling narrative into a seemingly silly storyline supposedly conceived simply to fool Kyle Rayner (and the audience) into believing that Princess Kalista has been abducted by the so-called “band of terrorists” against her will.

Admittedly seeing Tom King’s “new favourite character to write” for besting the likes of Tigorr and Scrapps in one-on-one combat makes for compelling entertainment, especially when the “former CIA counter terrorism [agent] turned novelist” has previously shown just how despicably evil the “daughter of Alpha” actually is by having “the heir to the throne” bloodily butcher a batch of natives as part of her morning sword fencing routine. But to then reveal that the entirety of this twenty-page periodical has actually been dedicated to nothing more than a ruse, and one that sees both the Karnan feline and his plucky team-mate near to death, makes for a disappointingly dissatisfying experience overall.

Equally as perplexing as “Princess Kalista’s introduction – and the cliffhanger about her relationship to the Omega Men” is the question it raises as to just “who the good guys are” in this “DC Comics” title? For surely Primus’ love for the woman can’t be so overwhelmingly blinding as to allow the Euphorix nobleman to bed such a callous killer of her subjects, and certainly not to the point where he openly declares his wife (at least during the publisher’s “Earth-One era”) “the esteemed leader of the Omega Men?”

Complaints as to the confusing shift in direction for this twelve-issue long “first arc” aside, there is no doubt that the book is beautiful to look at thanks to some incredible illustrations by Barnaby Bagenda. King is perfectly correct when he’s previously stated that the Indonesian is “not a classic sort of DC artist” and that his pencilling is “not what you would expect.” However that is not necessarily a bad thing at all when the inker brings such breath-taking “style” and plenty of dynamic, flowing soundless swishes to all the swordplay on display throughout this magazine.

The variant cover art of "OMEGA MEN" No. 3 by Toby Cypress