In the 1970s, writer Steve Gerber revolutionized comics. His innovative work on MAN-THING, DEFENDERS and HOWARD THE DUCK opened creative avenues that excited readers and inspired a generation of creators. So when Marvel announced an all-new character co-created by Gerber, anticipation rose to a fever pitch!   OMEGA THE UNKNOWN debuted in late 1975, featuring an enigmatic approach to one of the most compelling stories: the stranger in a strange land. James-Michael Starling, a boy with a mysterious past, holds a curious connection to the super-powered being known as Omega. Their quest to understand the gritty world of New York City reveals as much about us as it does them. As the pair's secrets are uncovered and the action unfolds in the Marvel manner, you'll come to understand why OMEGA holds a place as one of the most influential series of its time!   Collecting:   OMEGA THE UNKNOWN (1976) #1-10 and DEFENDERS (1972) #76-77.   Written by:   STEVE GERBER & MARY SKRENES with SCOTT EDELMAN, ROGER STERN & STEVEN GRANT   Penciled by:   JIM MOONEY with LEE ELIAS & HERB TRIMPE   Cover by:   ED HANNIGAN & JOE SINNOTT " Omega and its out-of-time yet utterly time-specific sensibility is a Rosetta Stone for the formal and literary experimentation that would come to mainstream comics with the 1980s British Invasion and the Vertigo era. It's an encapsulation of the heady ambition and daring that marked the best comics of the Bronze Age, and its legacy can be seen in contemporary works that explore wild sci-fi fringes within the confines of a shared universe, whether it's Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta's Vision , Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen's Nextwave , or China Miéville and Mateus Santolouco's Dial H . In the end, like so much of the very best science fiction, Omega The Unknown was both utterly of its time and frustratingly ahead of it." -- Tom Speelman "Gerber and Skrenes' unfinished masterpiece, Omega the Unknown was one of the most offbeat tales of a very offbeat decade for comics. A young boy discovers that he was being raised by robots. After their destruction, he then discovers some sort of connection with a powerful (and oddly silent) alien--but the boy has mysterious powers similar to the alien! The alien tends to show up when the boy is in trouble. It is a strange book." -- Brian Cronin "In the 1970s, a number of young writers tried to shake up superhero comics by using them to voice real-world concerns. Foremost among these mavericks was Gerber, whose Howard the Duck became a cult phenomenon. He was less successful with the ambitious Omega the Unknown , which maintained two parallel story lines, one featuring mysterious, mute, superhuman Omega, who comes to Earth to escape his war-torn planet; and the other focused on orphaned, emotionless, 12-year-old genius James-Michael Starling, placed in foster care in Hell's Kitchen. As Omega fights superpowered villains and James-Michael contends with school bullies and inner city life, we learn more about their backgrounds and hidden connection." -- Gordon Flagg Steve Gerber (1947-2008) first came to attention writing Defenders, in which he gave the non-team a non-traditional outlook equaled by few. In Adventure of Fear, he introduced Howard the Duck. Gerber’s other 1970s contributions included scripts for Iron Man, Sub-Mariner and more. Elsewhere, he is equally well-remembered for DC’s Phantom Zone, Eclipse’s Destroyer Duck and others. “Do you print [them] too?” a young Stan Lee once supposedly asked Jim Mooney (1919-2008). Mooney’s career as penciler, inker, colorist and letterer dates back to the Golden Age — during which he drew stories featuring super heroes and funny animals alike. In the Silver Age, he inked John Buscema’s Thor and John Romita’s Amazing Spider-Man. At DC, Mooney penciled Batman, Superboy and World’s Finest, among others.