OMAC: Omactivate!

Project Cadmus is broken into by a giant mindless behemoth calling himself OMAC, who nearly destroys the building fighting through Dubbilex and Mokkari to steal their mainframe. This monster is actually Kevin Kho, a

Omactivate! is an OMAC storyline published as part of The New 52. Following the timeline reboot in Flashpoint, it establishes the concept's mythos in the DCnU. OMAC was written by Dan DiDio and Keith Giffen, with illustrations by Giffen and Scott Koblish. Due to low interest and sales, the series was cancelled midway through the first arc but allowed to finish its initial storyline.

The storyline completely erases all existing OMAC continuity, replacing Buddy Blank with a new Cambodian-American character named Kevin Kho. Usually Blank had been called a One-Man Army Corps, but Kho is referred to as a One Machine Attack Construct. Following the series' conclusion, Kho would move on to become a supporting character in Justice League International.

Synopsis

Project Cadmus is broken into by a giant mindless behemoth calling himself OMAC, who nearly destroys the building fighting through Dubbilex and Mokkari to steal their mainframe. This monster is actually Kevin Kho, a Cadmus employee being unknowingly controlled by the renegade sentient satellite Brother Eye. The satellite gives him incredible powers and brainwashes him into obedience, using Kho as a weapon to attack his creators at Cadmus. In the aftermath of the destruction, Kevin wakes up and Brother Eye reveals itself before suggesting that he call his fiancee Jody Robbins because she's worried.^[1]

Sarge Steel begins to investigate the situation at Cadmus for their financial backers Checkmate, under the leadership of Maxwell Lord. Brother Eye sends Kho to a small town in Texas so he can recruit the Cadmus experiment Amazing Man. The two creatures fight, but when Amazing Man uses his absorption powers on the Brother Eye technology programming takes over and incapacitates him for further use.

Brother Eye reveals himself to Lord, explaining that he imprisoned him once and it'll never happen again.^[2]

Kho is put at the top of the Homeland Security watchlist, and incarcerated in a Louisiana prison. The prison is controlled by an evil scientist known as the Psi-Fi Man who killed the warden and brainwashed the staff using his incredible mental powers. Psi-Fi Man infiltrates his technology and attempts to steal it, but Brother Eye drives him out and OMAC easily defeats him in physical combat. Maxwell Lord sends Checkmate's elite agents after OMAC led by Sarge Steel, but he defeats them and escapes.^[3]

Eye returns Kevin home so he can report to work and explain the disappearance without compromising his secret identity. Lord takes Steel off the assignment and sends Mokkari after OMAC instead, who bears a personal grudge. Kevin cannot tell Jody the truth or Eye will turn her into an OMAC, so he lies to her and she angrily storms off. Taking the subway home, he finds himself cut off from the power's connection as Mokkari's bio-gators hunt him down.

Running through the sewers on foot to escape, he eventually finds an opening and transforms just in time to destroy them. Lord decides to take Mokkari off the case, and use S.H.A.D.E. agent Frankenstein instead.^[4]

Father Time agrees to lend the services of their top operative as an excuse to get closer to Brother Eye. OMAC has an epic battle with Frankenstein and nearly dies in the fight, but Brother Eye teleports him away. Eye was able to access S.H.A.D.E.'s secret files in his battle of wits with Father Time, but S.H.A.D.E. also obtained his information. Mokkari is revealed to have infiltrated Cadmus for a man he calls the Grand Director in efforts to steal OMAC's New Genesis technology.^[5][6]

Kevin is attacked by Sweet Leilani of the Female Furies while on a double-date with his fiancee and co-worker Tony Jay. Destroying the restaurant in the battle, she teleports away and leaves him to run from his before they can see him.

Brother Eye sends an assassin to kill Maxwell Lord because they can't work together towards a common goal, but his plan is thwarted and their conflict becomes personal.^[7]

OMAC finally attracts the attention of Superman and the two of them battle, but OMAC teleports away before Superman can destroy him. Brother Eye sends him to a mid-western zoo where he discovers the Evil Factory in underground Command B run by Simyan. Simyan is performing genetic experiments on the animals to make them humanoid, creating hybrid soldiers. Kevin joins a team of animals rebelling against his cruelty led by Prince Tuftan, and Tuftan is forced to kill his own father. OMAC destroys the underground base and allows the humanoid animals to discover their new lives.^[8]

In his final confrontation with Checkmate, Maxwell Lord sends legions of Cadmus monsters and his private team led by Steel after OMAC. During the fight, Sarge Steel loses his hand.

Kevin attempts to rush back to Jody's apartment with the intention of telling her everything, but Checkmate hunts him down. Lord outsmarts Brother Eye and destroys him, ending their connection. Eye's final act is to give Kevin his mind back, trapping him forever in the OMAC body with his regular personality. The soldiers are ordered to stand down, as Lord determines that Kevin is no longer a threat. Jody begs him to stay, but he tells her that Kevin Kho is dead.^[9]

Plot threads

Because the series was discontinued prematurely, there were a number of loose plot threads that were never followed up on.

• Amazing Man was stored by Brother Eye for further use and never seen again.^[2]
• Desaad's involvement as the secret Grand Director of Cadmus is never explored beyond seeing him in silhouette.^[5]
• Patient Zero, Mokkari's most top secret experiment, is never explained.^[7]
• Psi-Fi Man never follows up on his threat to return.^[3]
• Superman never completes his investigation into OMAC.^[8]
  

Issues

• OMAC (Volume 4) #1
• OMAC (Volume 4) #2
• OMAC (Volume 4) #3
• OMAC (Volume 4) #4
• OMAC (Volume 4) #5
• OMAC (Volume 4) #6
• OMAC (Volume 4) #7
• OMAC (Volume 4) #8
  

Notes

• Pandora makes a cameo appearance to witness the events of this storyline, as she does all #1 issues published as part of The New 52.^[1] This is following her first appearance at the end of Flashpoint.^[10]

Recommended Reading

• O.M.A.C. Recommended Reading
  • OMAC (Volume 1)
  • OMAC (Volume 2)
  • OMAC (Volume 3)
  • OMAC: Omactivate!
  • Kamandi (Volume 1)
  • The OMAC Project

Links and References

• OMAC interview at IGN Comics
• OMAC interview at Newsarama
• OMAC interview at Comic Book Resources
• OMAC interview at DCU Source Blog