The Omada is a comic written by Martti Kauppinen with art by Val Jr. and colors by Javi Laparra. A team of superfolk are tasked with taking down a parasitic AI. This is a superhero, science fiction, and supernatural comic that has a large cast of characters, strong violence, and heavy drama. The members of the Omada team are: Skullcap, the leader who can turn invisible, Bombshell, a blonde with super strength, invulnerability, and flight, Elementia, a Cherokee woman with elemental-based powers, Dozerblade, a brawler with kinetic absorption, ASAP, a woman with super speed, Mimic, a woman with the ability copy the form of others but when doing so she absorbs the memories, emotions, and powers of those she copies, and Rewind, a man with the ability to rewind time but only once every twenty-four hours. They are led by two strategists: Declan Russell and Veronica Kelly. This story begins with the team undergoing a training exercise with some robots. We are given a rundown on their personalities and we get to see how they handle combat situations. Afterwards they joke around and talk about their personal struggles as they await their next mission. This takes place in the same world as the other X53 Studios properties like Arachna and Vindicators. The action here is hard-hitting with blood and gruesome, gory moments. The pace is a mix of slow and fast with a couple of scenes that can seem out of place. This has the tone of a superhero heist movie with vibes similar to the first Suicide Squad movie. There are many violently and dramatically intense moments as the stakes are high. The dialogue is primarily conversational with some occasional thoughts from different characters. Text bubbles and blocks can be thick and there are a number of word-heavy pages. This is an exciting comic with a layered story and a diverse cast of characters that must deal with personal problems and external struggles as they try to complete a dangerous mission.
The art here is drawn in a semi-smoothly detailed modern style with notable lighting and shading. The color palette is realistic overall with bright tones standing out against the more sterile backdrops. Nearly every scene of this comic is indoors with most buildings having a similar office-like look. The Omada’s headquarters are in an abandoned mall so you’ll see a variety of stores and restaurants. The backgrounds usually show the surrounding environment but sometimes it’ll just be a fuzzy or action-line filled gradient. The expression level here is a bit above-average as most of these characters react constantly but some of them are masked. Emotions on display here are generally aggressive like anger and rage but there is also sadness, fear, terror, shock, and happiness. The faces have an overall good amount of detail with strong features and most expressions come across clearly. The different powers have an electric brightness to them when in use and they are usually a light blue. Combat here is very physical with weapons rarely being used. The violence can get brutal with gruesome attacks leading to heavy gore and blood. The three main action scenes are lengthy and they have multiple angles and shifting perspectives with a good overall flow. The costumes here are generally skin tight across the board but it is more revealing on the women. There are numerous lewd shots and angles along with suggestive positions and light BDSM vibes.
“Is this worth reading?”
Yes, if this is up your alley.
“Would I like this?”
If you like supernatural science fiction superhero stories that star a large and diverse cast and that features brutal violence, heavy drama, and high stakes then this is for you.
“What would this comic’s film rating be?”
R. Violence, blood, gruesomeness, gore, nudity, sexual situations.
“Could I get a quote from the comic?”
“If that’s all it took, you were never gonna get it.”
Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arachnacomic/the-omada/description
***IN-DEPTH COMIC STATS BELOW***
Probably Contains Spoilers
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Actual Pages(not counting covers and credits): 56
Violent Pages: 26, for 46% of the comic
Sexy Pages: 7, for 13% of the comic
**The levels below aren’t necessarily maintained throughout the whole comic, but they were definitely reached**
Violence Level – 4
“Wasn’t no tussling at all.”
“Sometimes you gotta hit somebody.”
“I’m getting charged with how many counts of assault?”
“This was a tournament arc.”
“All my life I had to fight.”
Gore Level – 4
“The only thing leaking out your face is tears.”
“Looks like somebody spilled some ketchup.”
“Might need to soak that up with a bath towel.”
“That isn’t supposed to be outside the body.”
“This is a slaughterhouse.”
Death Level – 2
“And everybody lived happily ever after.”
“We might have gone to a couple funerals.”
“It just LOOKS like a serial killer was here.”
“Yeah this was a tragedy.”
“Think Gettysburg.”
Porn Level – 4
“Everybody kept their clothes on.”
“I guess it was too hot for a bra.”
“Sometimes you got to let everything air out.”
“This is like late night Cinemax in the early 2000’s.”
“Oh. This is porn.”
