Omega #2 - Cutaway Comics

OMEGA No. 2, April 2021

There can surely be little doubt as to the terrific pace Mark Griffiths imbues his narrative for Issue Two of “Omega” with, considering that the “comedy and drama writer” somehow manages to take the reader from the aftermath of Princess Malika’s failed execution through to her apparent death during an epic space dog-fight, all within the confines of a single twenty-four page periodical. Yet somewhat disappointingly, in order to achieve this remarkable feat, the author’s storyline does resultantly contain a fair few disconcerting contrivances which increasingly jar with the logic of this comic’s central storyline.

To begin with, the politician Oxirgi’s utterly demented plan “to release the rogue god Omega from his black hole prison” relies heavily upon the renegade Time Lord needing to feed upon “the psychic unrest” the crazed leader has created on his planet. However, in order for the statesman to acquire this ability to manipulate such vast amounts of psychic energy from raw fear the reader is asked to believe that he just happened upon the last of the Mindwranglers, Kyril – who supposedly saw “no harm” in imbuing him with such a truly horrendous ability.

Furthermore, the lawmaker’s insane scheme is suddenly altered to incorporate his use of the world’s gigantic flagship to “unleash terror on the entire planet” and basically wipe Minyos’ civilisation out of existence. Admittedly, such an attack would undoubtedly generate the psychosomatic power needed to free the once great intergalactic engineer from his anti-matter prison, but some within this book’s audience might find it a bit hard to believe that the elderly legislator’s own soldiers steadfastly support such utter Armageddon upon the very population they’re sworn to protect; “I’ll talk. But it won’t do you much good. Oxirgi’s going to steal a starship. The deadliest on the planet. He’s going to blast everything to Hell.”

Perhaps this publication’s most persuasive selling point therefore lies with its artwork by “Doctor Who legend John Ridgway.” The former design engineer who pencilled D.C.Thompson's Commando War Stories as a hobby, adds an extra element of megalomania to Malika’s main antagonist which the old man’s dialogue doesn’t debatably project. Plus, the illustrator’s inclusion of a formidably-sized Dimetrodon skulking outside a cave entrance on top of the Green Mountain is arguably worth this US format comic’s cover price alone.

The regular cover art of "OMEGA" #2 by Adrian Salmon