The Four Color Media Monitor

Here's a telling case of exaggerating supposed popularity. The New 52 remake of Omega Men, which envisions the team as terrorists like ISIS, no better than the Citadel, and sold lower than 15,000 copies, was initially slated to be cancelled with issue 6 or 7, but now, because of some tiny "fandom group", the editors have decided to keep it up at least until the 12th issue:

...With several of them kicking off in June, we got the unfortunate news of a few of them being canceled earlier this week and ending at the end of this year. One of those is the critically praised Omega Men series written by Tom King with artwork by Barnaby Bagenda. The series got slated for an issue seven ending, though writer Tom King had talked previously about having a lot more mapped out and planning the first arc for twelve installments, believing he would have it.

The fans took to social media and other avenues to protest and now DC Comics Co-Publisher Jim Lee announced that the book will continue through to issue twelve to bring that part to a close. And if it builds on what’s perceived as fan interest that translates to sales, it could extend beyond that.

I don't know what kind of fans these are here who could think highly of a series that promotes and depicts its team as criminals who murdered an innocent man like Kyle Rayner. Since we're on the topic, he was resurrected from the same fate in the 2nd or 3rd issue. Yes, he gets to live again, while Alexandra deWitt is still known for being a forced sacrifice. And since the Omega Men are depicted as cold-blooded monsters in this new rendition, nothing to be happy about regardless.

The defense that this series is "critically praised" is rather telling. Given how corrupt some sections of comics journalism are today, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of "critics" with no genuine qualifications had made up their minds based on the setup alone, all to prop up people who aren't worthy successors to the staffers of yesteryear. Here's one example of a "review" by somebody who embraced this mess with no discerning:

The evil of the Citadel seems intended to make us sympathize with the Omega Men or to at least see them as the lesser of two evils. It’s still a strange situation, since the creative team has both invoked comparisons of the Omega Men to the real-world monstrosities of ISIS and has had them slitting the throat of a bona fide Green Lantern super-hero.

Rayner is forced to join the team on their journey and various members tell him that he’s one them now. His indentured servitude to the Omega Men illustrates just how different this team is from the Green Lantern Corps or Justice League. That point gets driven home when Omega leader Primus lies to Kyle, letting innocents die in those public executions so the team could steal a Citadel ship.

I'm sorry, but a group of pseudo-fighters who perform sadistic violence upon an innocent man who already dedicated himself to fighting evil and would've always been willing to do battle with the Citadel regardless, and who let innocent people die in public slaughterings, is not a group to be sympathized with. Yet one can only wonder if this is why DC's willing to keep going with it at this point. They've long lost their moral compass in storytelling as it is.

Labels: bad editors, dc comics, Green Lantern, moonbat writers, politics, terrorism, violence