One-Man Army Corps...
is the story of a young man in THE WORLD THAT'S COMING!! In that strange place, the common objects of today... may become the terrors that we never bargained for... like the one below!
No kidding! Terror is a Kirby woman with her head protruding from foam packing with her nude legs dangling on either side, as if she were giving birth to her own face! The pair of creepy, wiry hands severed at the wrists and laid near each cheek is nightmare fuel f'shur. This is Lila, a "Build-A-Friend" automatronic mate ready for assembly in a factory full of them. However, OMAC had arrived, ordering an evacuation before he destroys the lot. Some workers thought they could take him, but they thought wrong, and scurried like cockroaches from the scene. OMAC spoke with Lila for a moment from her shipping box. "Where does humanity stop and technology begin? We no longer know, Lila... I'm no longer who I was... and you, Lila... you... you and all these other... things... must be.... destroyed! Goodbye... Lila..." OMAC calmly started a "chain of blow-ups," then walked through the maelstrom untouched.
Flashback to a lab where once stood NASA. Professor Myron Forest had created a form of remote controlled computer hormone operation-- electronic surgery! Forest worked with the Global Peace Agency, whose agents used a cosmetic spray to conceal their features and wore matching uniforms, so that any expression of national identity was completely suppressed. Any little dispute could lead to nuclear eradication of all life on Earth, and the GPA were tasked with preventing such an eventuality. The GPA searched for the perfect candidate for Prof. Forest's process, and found it in Buddy Blank. Forest linked up with the satellite Brother Eye, sleeping for such a long time in a faithful orbit. The eye awoke, and prepared. "He and I shall become as brothers..."
At Pseudo-People, Inc., Buddy Blank was a skinny schlimazel jerked around by every creep in the office. His "Super-V" was completely unsympathetic about the harassment, laying the blame on Blank and his persecution complex. Blank was ordered to the Psychology Section to vent. One girl recommended the Crying Room, but Buddy tried the Destruct Room instead. Inside were people ripping and smashing and stabbing and burning. One guy recommended Buddy kick a pseudo-person down a rail, but Blank found them too lifelike to batter in good conscience.
Outside, Buddy ran into his friendly acquaintance Lila, who helped him feel better. Two technicians were watching from afar, as Lila's "friendship" was just a test run for their nefarious purposes. They eventually led Lila back to their lab, and though Buddy was written off as too timid to break the rules, he did indeed follow the trio. Blank was captured and held at gunpoint, then learned the Pseudo-People were being armed with explosives and used in assassinations. Buddy was horrified to learn Lila was one of them, and fought against her makers. Suddenly, an eye appeared on Buddy's chest, and energy emanating from it engulfed his body. The electronic surgery turned Blank into OMAC, whose body "rejected" bullets, and whose strength allowed him to break down steel doors. OMAC was nearly dropped into a fire vat, but his extraordinary agility would not allow it. OMAC fought his way through to destroy the factory, as recounted earlier. "OMAC LIVES... SO THAT MAN MAY LIVE..."
OMAC had accomplished his first mission, having been fed knowledge with his physical attributes. "Very good, OMAC. You've heard everything I've told you..."
"I've also used the powers you gave me when I needed them... Brother Eye..."
"I shall always help you. We are linked by the eye symbol on your chest... We are like brothers... I transmit beams... Some of them bring you my voice... others feed you instant information..."
"I start here... in Electric City... with Professor Myron Forest... then on to Mister Big!"
"Brother Eye and Buddy Blank" was by Jack Kirby with Mike Royer
3 comments:
I gotta say, that first image isn't the kind of thing you should see right before you go to bed.
I literally thought it was a contortionist coming through a wall.
An ANGRY contortionist...
I will also say that the Lila image scared and scarred me so much as a kid that I have never read the original OMAC series.
Maybe as a grownup I need to face my fears and finally read the thing!
I'll be covering every issue of the original series over the next six weeks, so if I whet your appetite for OMAC like you did mine for Stalker, maybe your time has come. Also, for once, the schedule is ironclad, in the can, & time stamped to autopost.
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