| Author |
|
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135809
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 12:05pm | IP Logged | 1
|
post reply
|
|
JB: how much input did you have on the printing for OMAC? I remember the production quality being pretty luxe.••• I had no input there.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Michael Hogan
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2091
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 12:20pm | IP Logged | 2
|
post reply
|
|
You’re the one!!
*****
Four!!!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135809
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 12:42pm | IP Logged | 3
|
post reply
|
|
One of the saddest things about OMAC was how many fans refused to buy it, saying the black and white made it look “cheap”.sigh
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135809
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 12:56pm | IP Logged | 4
|
post reply
|
|
A description of the third issue, found online:“‘Mein Kampf.’ OMAC rejoins with Brother Eye and changes history by giving the Nazis futuristic technology. Story, art, and cover by John Byrne.”
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Mike Baswell
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2005
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 2:22pm | IP Logged | 5
|
post reply
|
|
You’re the one!!
*****
Five!!!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Brandon Carter
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2388
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 3:02pm | IP Logged | 6
|
post reply
|
|
I suppose BLOOD OF THE DEMON.And if we’re really dreaming, OMAC. *********** The first DC Finest volume of the DEMON came out within the last couple of weeks. It contained the entire Kirby series plus back-up stories or guest appearances from BRAVE AND THE BOLD, BATMAN FAMILY, DETECTIVE COMICS, and WONDER WOMAN. These volumes collect characters or series up until 2011, when the New 52 reboot happened. Left to be collected for the Demon is a 4 issue miniseries from the 80s, a serial in ACTION COMICS WEEKLY, the 90s series which ran for 58 issues (plus a zero issue and 2 annuals) and BLOOD OF THE DEMON, which ran for 17 issues. At around 600 issues per volume, it would only take about four more volumes to finish the Demon (possibly more if there are a lot of guest appearances in other titles that are included). BLOOD OF THE DEMON would likely appear in the final volume, though DC Finest volumes aren't (necessarily) published in order, so it could potentially come out next. It looks as though it will come out at some point, though the DC Finest volumes are not released at any set frequency. Side note: I noticed in Jack Kirby's DEMON #1, there are 25 story pages, which are numbered 1-10, then 10A, then 11-24. Does anyone know the reason for this numbering?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31918
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 3:23pm | IP Logged | 7
|
post reply
|
|
One of the saddest things about OMAC was how many fans refused to buy
it, saying the black and white made it look “cheap”.
*****
Imbeciles
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135809
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 4:13pm | IP Logged | 8
|
post reply
|
|
Side note: I noticed in Jack Kirby's DEMON #1, there are 25 story pages, which are numbered 1-10, then 10A, then 11-24. Does anyone know the reason for this numbering?••• Obviously I wasn’t there at the time, but my experience at DC suggests Kirby probably turned in 24 pages, and DC asked for one more. So he looked for a place he could insert a page. With his habit of beginning scenes at upper left and ending at lower right, that would have been fairly easy.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Mike Devlin
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 May 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 278
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 4:36pm | IP Logged | 9
|
post reply
|
|
Imbeciles is right, Brian!JB's black & white, duo tone artwork in OMAC is one of the most stunning and mind blowing artistic creations in JB's illustrious career! I adored the OMAC art in 1991, and still do today. And the time travel story was brilliant. A HC reprint is long overdue.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3967
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 4:44pm | IP Logged | 10
|
post reply
|
|
JB/Brian wrote:
One of the saddest things about OMAC was how many fans refused to buy it, saying the black and white made it look “cheap”.
*****
Imbeciles |
|
|
I'm not saying I agree with that perspective in any way, but given that this came out in 1991, I can see how they were conditioned by the existing market to have that prejudice. It's a premium-priced product by a major creator, which at that point consumers (and I imagine dealers) thought equalled a full-color, archival paper experience.
Conversely, black and white had a negative connotation as cheap or amateurish, for the audience this would be targeting. And the only reason I didn't share that prejudice was that fully half my reading at that point WAS black and white, and publishers like D&Q and Raw had already primed me for it as a premium artistic choice, rather than one of economics.
So it's sort of an uneducated and conditioned consumer, rather than a flat-out philistine.
Edited by Dave Kopperman on 10 March 2026 at 4:44pm
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135809
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | 11
|
post reply
|
|
It's a premium-priced product by a major creator, which at that point consumers (and I imagine dealers) thought equalled a full-color, archival paper experience.••• As previously mentioned, DC originally wanted to charge color prices for OMAC, but I would not let them.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Brandon Carter
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 2388
|
| Posted: 10 March 2026 at 6:28pm | IP Logged | 12
|
post reply
|
|
Side note: I noticed in Jack Kirby's DEMON #1, there are 25 story pages, which are numbered 1-10, then 10A, then 11-24. Does anyone know the reason for this numbering?••• Obviously I wasn’t there at the time, but my experience at DC suggests Kirby probably turned in 24 pages, and DC asked for one more. So he looked for a place he could insert a page. With his habit of beginning scenes at upper left and ending at lower right, that would have been fairly easy. ******* You have mentioned how a similar habit of yours made it easier to pull pages/scenes for the Fantastic Four: The Trial of Galactus trade paperback. Overall, not a bad habit to have!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
