SPOOKS: OMEGA TEAM #1 ADVANCE REVIEW

[Blake Petit]

Review by: Blake M. Petit Blake@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Very Good

Omega Team faces the threat of… HER!

Writer: Larry Hama
Pencils: Tim Seeley
Colors: Nick Bell
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Cody DeMatteis
Cover Art: Tim Seeley (Cover A); Adam Archer (Cover B)
Publisher: Devil’s Due Publishing

Omega Team has been deployed to Iraq. Deep beneath the surface of the Earth, in an ancient temple below the streets of Baghdad, they uncover a temple for Lilithu, mother of demons, first wife of Adam, and all-around unpleasant gal. As the team winds up battling members of the Republican Guard who fell under her thrall, Bettina takes a mind-trip that may screw things up for everyone.

The more I see of Spooks, the more I enjoy the concept. We’ve seen plenty of the “paranormal investigator” archetype, in everything from The X-Files to Men in Black. To have a specific military unit designed to target the creepy-crawlies seems like such an obvious idea, but to the best of my recollection, this is the first time I’ve seen it. Lilithu and her brood make for highly convincing antagonists as well, but the real strength of this issue is how well Hama is letting us get to know our cast. Bettina is an interesting character, Kane is cool in the leader-role, and DX is becoming one of the funniest butt-kickers of them all. I like all of these characters, and I got to like them very quickly, and that’s really important when you’re trying to get a reader to try a new property.

Tim Seeley is a workhorse for Devil’s Due, and I mean that as a high compliment. He did a story in last week’s Halloween special, he writes and occasionally draws his own Hack/Slash, he does about a dozen other projects a month, and now he’s drawn this one too. And you know what? He does it all well. Bettina is a sexy amazon, DX is freaky looking (which makes the humor in the character even funnier), Kane is sufficiently grizzled, and the monsters are sufficiently monstrous.

This is definitely the book Devil’s Due needed to fill the void left by G.I. Joe. If you haven’t already done so, try to find the 99-cent zero issue and pick up this first issue when it hits Wednesday.

Rating:


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