Lethem to cross over (for real this time)

Assuming April Fool's Day doesn't fall twice this year, I can now finally make a post nearly identical to the one I was forced to nix last month. Newsarama picked up this clip out of Time this week stating that Jonathan Lethem is stepping on for a new Omega the Unknown in 2006. The author of numerous novels and shorts has one of the keenest senses around for integrating pop cultural elements of his youth into biting character constructions and broader schemes. His most recent collection of essays titled The Disappointment Artist showed among other things how Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, and Talking Heads formed his dialogues both internally and with the parents he was growing up and trying to understand.

For most fans today, Omega really is unknown, having debuted in early 1976, and running only 10 issues. Written by Mary Skrenes and Steve Gerber (with some sweet Jim Mooney art), the series was remarkable for a couple of reasons – it featured the debut of Foolkiller (okay, maybe that doesn’t make it too remarkable), and its title character being killed in the final issue.

The character is certainly unknown to me as well, but after reading Chris Lawrence's great piece on Gerber this month in Wizard (I've also been a longtime Howard the Duck follower), my interest is sparked; and I know Lethem will make a noticeable scene out of whatever character he decides to touch. If he packs half the Hipster Age angst into Omega (and given the premise of the book, I have no doubt he will), this should be one to look out for.