Comic Info
Comic Name: Countdown to Infinite Crisis/The OMAC Project/Wonder Woman (Volume 2)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Greg Rucka/Geoff Johns/Judd Winick
Artist: Rags Morales/Michael Bair/Ed Benes/Jesus Saiz/Jimmy Palmiotti/Ivan Reis/Marc Campos/Phil Jimenez/Andy Lanning
# of Issues: 8
Release Date: 2005
Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1
Reprints Countdown to Infinite Crisis #1, The OMAC Project #1-6, and Wonder Woman (2) #219 (May 2005-November 2005). Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, is on the trail of something big. He’s uncovered something that even the world’s greatest detectives could not do…and no one believes him. When Ted is killed by Max Lord’s Checkmate, the heroes of the world uncover that something called Brother Eye is watching them all. As Max Lord threatens to move forward with the O.M.A.C. Project, Batman realizes the error of his decision…leading Wonder Woman to have to make a choice that could change the world’s opinion of heroes forever.
Written by Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, and Judd Winick, The OMAC Project collects the intro story from Countdown to Infinite Crisis, the important Wonder Woman issue, and the entire run of The OMAC Project. The story was part of four mini-series leading up to Infinite Crisis which included Villains United, The Rann-Thanagar War, and Day of Vengeance.
Countdown to Infinite Crisis was quite a shocker…but also could be seen as the beginning of the downfall of DC. The death of the happy-go-lucky Blue Beetle showed a change in the DC comics that they have been fighting to undo since it happened. The OMAC Project deals the most directly with the events of Countdown to Infinite Crisis, but also shows how DC Comics faltered.
The OMAC Project #6
The OMAC Project takes some of your favorite characters…and ruins them. The story takes DC in a very dark direction that began with Identity Crisis. Ted Kord’s death was shocking, but the utter corruption of the unlikeable Max Lord and the reaction to Wonder Woman’s rightful dispatching of him seemed a bit extreme. It was obvious that Superman was a bigger threat to the world than Max Lord and by getting rid of one, you get rid of the other threat…it doesn’t seem like something that would change the world’s opinion on Wonder Woman and the heroes. The presentation of this Wonder Woman issue is a bit sloppy however since it was part of a bigger Superman/Wonder Woman storyline, but necessary to this story.
I do like Sasha Bordeaux’s role in the whole OMAC Project. Rucka rose as a writer of spy and intrigue, so it was perfect that The OMAC Project’s central theme was this subject. I also like the smart ties to Kirby’s original O.M.A.C. (aka One Man Army Corps) and his relationship to Brother Eye. It was a good modernization of a character that had mostly fallen off the radar and ties in nicely with Batman’s mistrust of the Justice League after discovering their brainwashing (but also seems a bit hypocritical).
The OMAC Project isn’t a bad series, but it did lead to bad things. I don’t like the direction that DC headed after the Infinite Crisis. DC obviously didn’t like the way that DC went after Infinite Crisis either and created a reset in the New 52. DC has worked to undo much of this series, but you must ride it out. The OMAC Project was followed by Infinite Crisis.
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