OMAC (Buddy Blank) is a

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

Publication history

OMAC was created by writer-artist

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

towards the end of his contract with the publisher following the cancellation of his ''

New Gods The New Gods are a fictional extraterrestrial race appearing in the eponymous comic book series published by DC Comics, as well as selected other DC titles. Created and designed by Jack Kirby, they first appeared in February 1971 in ''New Gods'' ...

'' series; it was reportedly developed strictly due to Kirby needing to fill his contractual quota of 15 pages a week. The character is inspired by

Captain America Captain America is a superhero created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in '' Captain America Comics'' #1, published on December 20, 1940, by Timely C ...

, but lives in the future, an idea Kirby had conceived years earlier while at

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

but had never realized.

Fictional character biography

Set in the near future ("The World That's Coming"), OMAC is a corporate nobody named Buddy Blank who is changed via a "computer-hormonal operation done by remote control" by an A.I. satellite called "Brother Eye" into the super-powered One-Man Army Corps (OMAC). OMAC works for the Global Peace Agency (GPA), a group of faceless people who police the world using pacifistic weapons. The world balance is too dangerous for large armies, so OMAC is used as the main field enforcement agent for the Global Peace Agency. The character initially uses his abilities to save a female coworker at the Pseudo-People factory (manufacturers of androids initially intended as companions but later developed as assassins). The coworker is revealed to be in actuality a bomb, and Blank is left in the employ of the GPA, sacrificing his identity in their relentless war, with faux parents his only consolation and companions. The original ''OMAC'' series ended with its eighth issue (December 1975), canceled before the last storyline could be completed, and Kirby wrote an abrupt ending to the series. In ''

Kamandi Kamandi () is a fictional comic book character created by artist Jack Kirby and published by DC Comics. The bulk of Kamandi's appearances occurred in the comic series ''Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth'', which ran from 1972 to 1978. He is a young ...

'' #50 (May 1977), by other creators, OMAC is revealed to be Kamandi's grandfather. An "OMAC" back-up feature by

Jim Starlin James P. Starlin (born October 9, 1949) is an American comics artist and writer. Beginning his career in the early 1970s, he is best known for space opera stories, for revamping the Marvel Comics characters Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock, an ...

began in issue #59 (October 1978), but ''Kamandi'' was cancelled after its first appearance. The story was later printed in ''The

Warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

'', and led to a new OMAC back-up series in that title (#37–39, 42–47). OMAC appeared with

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

in ''

DC Comics Presents ''DC Comics Presents'' is a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1978 to 1986 which ran for 97 issues and four ''Annual''s. It featured team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters in the DC Universe. A recurring bac ...

'' #61. In 1991 ''OMAC'' was featured in a four-issue prestige format

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

by writer/artist John Byrne that was independent of the previous series. Byrne later reused OMAC in '' Superman & Batman: Generations 3'', an

Elseworlds Elseworlds is the publication imprint (trade name), imprint for American comic books produced by DC Comics for stories that take place outside the DC Universe Canon (fictional), canon. Elseworlds publications are set in alternate realities that ...

limited series. A contemporary incarnation of Buddy Blank appears in ''

Countdown to Final Crisis ''Countdown'', also known as ''Countdown to Final Crisis'' for its last 24 issues based on the cover, was a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series published by DC Comics. It debuted on May 9, 2007, directly following the conclusion of ...

''. Following the release of the ''Morticoccus'' virus, Blank and his grandson flee to the scientific facility "Command D", where Brother Eye rescues them and transforms Blank into a prototype OMAC.

Powers and abilities

As OMAC, Buddy Blank possesses various abilities derived from Brother Eye. For example, an increase in his density grants

superhuman strength Superhuman strength is a superpower commonly invoked in fiction and other literary works, such as mythology. A fictionalized representation of the phenomenon of hysterical strength, it is the power to exert force and lift weights beyond what is ...

and enhanced durability, and a decrease in his density allows flight and super-speed. Brother Eye could provide other abilities as well, such as self-repair functions and energy generation.

OMACs

The character and the Brother Eye satellite were reimagined for the ''

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, ...

'' storyline. OMACs are portrayed as humans whose bodies have been corrupted by a nano-virus. The

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

has multiple meanings throughout the series: "Observational Meta-human Activity Construct", "One-Man Army Corps", and "Omni Mind and Community".

Other versions

* "Omegatech Mechanoid Armored Cop", a parody of OMAC, appears in the

Tangent Comics Tangent Comics is a DC Comics imprint created in 1997, developed from ideas by Dan Jurgens. The line, formed from 18 one-shots, focused on creating all-new characters using established DC names, such as the Joker, Superman, and the Flash. Cont ...

comic ''The Joker's Wild''. * Two versions of Equus, amalgamated with OMAC, appear in " For Tomorrow". * Alternate timeline variants of

Superboy Superboy is an identity used by several fictional superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series ...

and

Lex Luthor Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...

, amalgamated with OMAC, appear in ''

DC One Million "DC One Million" is a comic book crossover storyline which ran through an eponymous weekly miniseries and through special issues of almost all of the "DCU" titles published by DC Comics in November 1998. It featured a vision of the DC Universe ...

''. * A gender-flipped version of OMAC named OWAC (One-Woman Army Corps) appears in ''Kingdom Come''. * OMAC makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in '' JLA: Another Nail''. * Basic OMAC units resembling the first OMAC appear in ''

Final Crisis "Final Crisis" is a crossover storyline that appeared in comic books published by DC Comics in 2008, primarily the seven-issue miniseries of the same name written by Grant Morrison. Originally DC announced the project as being illustrated solely ...

''. * bioMAC, an alternate universe variant of Ben Boxer amalgamated with OMAC, appears in The Multiversity.

In other media

Television

200px, OMAC as he appears in ''Batman: Brave and the Bold''. A contemporary version of Buddy Blank / OMAC appears in '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', voiced by

Jeff Bennett Jeff Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor. He voiced the titular character of ''Johnny Bravo'', Dexter and Dee Dee's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', List of The Powerpuff Girls characters#Ace, Ace, List of The Powerpuff Gi ...

. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.

Video games

Buddy Blank / OMAC appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

Merchandise

* OMAC received a figure in the ''

Justice League Unlimited ''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...

'' toyline. * OMAC received a figure in wave 15 of

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

's "

DC Universe Classics DC Universe Classics was an action figure toyline, a sub-line of the DC Universe toy brand manufactured by Mattel. They were 6-inch scale figures based on the fictional characters owned by DC Comics. The entire line was sculpted by the Four Horse ...

" line. * The modern OMAC received figures in Mattel's DC Universe and

DC Direct DC Direct is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery that sells collectibles based on DC Comics characters (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.). Prior to 1998, merchandise sold by DC Comics was branded with the DC Comics logo rather than with t ...

toy lines.

Collected editions

* ''Jack Kirby's O.M.A.C.: One Man Army Corps'' collects ''O.M.A.C.: One Man Army Corps'' #1–8, 200 pages, May 2008,

References

External links

*
OMAC
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics {{Jack Kirby, state=collapsed 1974 comics debuts 1991 comics debuts Characters created by Jack Kirby Comics by Jack Kirby Comics by John Byrne (comics) Comics characters introduced in 1974 DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics superheroes Defunct American comics Fictional janitors Post-apocalyptic comics