New 52 Year One Retrospective: OMAC and Hawk and Dove

I'm looking at two series this time around, both of the first wave of cancellations, meaning they only got eight issues apiece. Were they deserving of this fate? Let us see...

OMAC
Writer: Dan DiDio
Artist: Keith Giffen

Another character I wasn’t particularly familiar with, you have to credit DC, they did allow some lesser known characters the spotlight in the New 52. This is O.M.A.C. also known as the One Machine Attack Construct!

The first thing that’s obvious is the art. It’s well done, but is very clearly taking its cue from the original Jack Kirby OMAC run. So we have a very retro art style, but it’s fairly good looking, as long as that sort of thing is to your taste.

The majority of the first issue is one long action scene, and doesn’t really explain much. OMAC is Kevin Kho, and has been infected with a virus that can transform him into OMAC. As OMAC, he is under the command of a satellite called Brother Eye, which refers to itself in the third person; using ‘Eye’ instead of ‘I’. It’s cute the first time, but by the third time, it’s already obnoxious. So this title didn’t get off to a strong start for me, but a couple more issues in, and something clicked. This is a comic that not only looks old school, but reads like it too. It’s an old fashioned action filled comic, with all the slightly cheesy sensibilities of comics from that era. mIt takes on something of a monster of the week type format, though with an overarching plot running through it. We also get a crossover with Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE in issue #5 (Occasionally Monsters Accidentally Crossover), and an appearance from Superman in issue #7 (Overnight, Mysterious Animals Converse). The run ends at issue #8, with Brother Eye being destroyed, and giving Kevin control over OMAC, but no way to turn back.

This series is okay, but not great. The relationship between Brother Eye and Kevin is interesting, and the art is good. But there’s too much action and too little plot. I can see why this book was cancelled, but it’s certainly not the worst title of the bunch. I’d give it 3/5 stars.

Hawk and Dove
Writer: Sterling Gates
Artist: (sigh) Rob Liefeld




I’ll admit, I suspected I wouldn’t like this going in. I’m not a fan of Rob Liefeld’s art. So that killed half the book for me already. But what about the writing? Maybe that would save it?

First things first: I was right about the art. Characters look permanently constipated, the facial expressions are weird, characters hairstyles change from panel to panel, it;s the typical Liefeld stuff, and if you’ve seen it before, you probably know if you like it or not.

Storywise, it’s forgettable. It hits predictable story beats one after the other. The dialogue varies from average to hackneyed to cringeworthy. We get a crossover with Batman later, much like with OMAC, I feel as if the crossovers are a desperate try to pull in more readers to a failing book. The rest of the series finishes off in a similarly dull way. The last issue feels particularly rushed, with them having to end the series there.

Overall, I say avoid this one, unless you’re a huge Liefeld fan. It gets 1.5/5 stars from me.