Michael Costner
Encyclopedia
OMAC is a DC Comics
superhero
. He was introduced in OMAC #1 (July 2006).
; first as an orphan in care of the local orphanotrophy, then scraping his life on the streets, stealing to sate his addiction to heroin.
While still at the orphanotrophy, Michael was infected with the OMAC nanovirus through a contaminated flu-vaccine shot. However, Brother Eye never activated him during the Infinite Crisis
events, having lost contact with him as Michael began a life off the grid. Instead, in prevision of a victory by the metahuman
s, Brother Eye kept Michael as a "sleeper agent," the last unit to be activated only in times of dire need.
Brother Eye's downfall, at the hands of Sasha Bordeaux
, signaled that moment. Brother Eye, now spliced between a NORAD hard drive containing the bulk of his core programming and a backup satellite orbiting the Earth
, activated Michael, incidentally saving him from a round-up. The Michael-OMAC reveals himself to be problematic from the first moments of being online. While other OMACs had no personality, nor qualms about being used as killing machines, the Micheal-OMAC actually rebelled against his programming upon being ordered to kill a female policewoman, Vienna Barstow, who was an associate and love interest of Michael. It was later hypothesized that Michael, with his personality submerged by the OMAC programming, actually relived moral imperatives and "school yard rules" from Michael's subconscious, such as "never hitting the girls".
Despite the obvious inconsistencies in his programming, Brother Eye, having no other choices, still trusted Michael to steal the hard drive from NORAD and upload it, along with part of the nanovirus source code, into the backup satellite, restarting the OMAC project at full capacity. Along the way, he was forced to battle Firestorm and Cyborg
, once again pulling his punches to avoid hurting Firehawk.
Deeply resenting Brother Eye for forcing him to kill and for stealing his personality, Michael flies to outer space, taking enough control of his OMAC form to jettison the Nomac drive and the damaged Brother Eye. Enraged, Brother Eye casts him on Earth.
, Vienna Barstow, who took an obvious interest in the young, dashing castoff, helping him escape the consequences of one of his many thefts.
Luckily, when Brother Eye later casts Michael on Earth, Vienna is traveling with her sleazy manager, Pete Rollins, and her fellow showgirls to their new job, and mistaking Michael for the victim of an ultralight aircraft accident, rushes to give him first aid.
Later that night, Vienna discovers Michael stealing from her and attempting to escape. Hoping to scare him out of his plan, she fakes a call to Las Vegas sheriffs, denouncing the earlier theft. When a truck almost runs her over, Michael is forced to use his OMAC powers to save her, incidentally revealing his ability to connect with technology. He admits to have always known Vienna was faking the call. Vienna begins to believe he is a metahuman, but, out of gratitude, she keeps helping him.
Forced by Pete to kill Michael, thereby avoiding "unnecessary" questioning for aiding a fugitive, Vienna convinces Michael to fake his death, promising to return to him later.
Meanwhile, Brother Eye rebuilds itself out of space debris. It contemplates a connection between the independence shown by Michael and his addiction to heroin; supposing the more heroin that is in Michael's system, the more control it can exert over him. Brother Eye slips into a dormant state until a motley crew of travelling drug addicts pick up Michael and, believing him in the throes of withdrawal, decide to give him a free fix.
The crew's car crashes into Pete's bus. Pete was hoping to escape the rage of his bosses who are angry at him because, being late to the next show of Vienna's équipe because of Michael, they suffered a huge monetary loss. Brother Eye is forced to activate Michael.
From the catastrophic crash emerge only four survivors: Vienna, Pete, a grievously wounded showgirl, and OMAC (Michael). OMAC mercy-kills Vienna's friend, being able to see the extent of her internal bleeding, kills Pete to prevent him from killing Vienna, and then brings Vienna to safety and reveals his identity as Michael Costner.
Able to balance his new form, Michael shows an increased control over his body, becoming able to access several OMAC powers in his human form, mostly for Vienna's benefit. At first skeptical and angry at Michael for OMAC's early doings, Vienna softens up, steadily falling in love with him. Michael squats an abandoned cabin and uses his powers to make Vienna as comfortable as he can. They share a moment of intimacy
, unknowing that Brother Eye, apparently dormant since the incident with Pete, is still watching over them, planning to turn Vienna into a new, more obedient OMAC unit through the exchange of bodily fluids with Michael.
Brother Eye puts his plan into fruition by hampering Michael's activities with a wave of hallucinations and shutting down Vienna's body during a raid by the local police, arresting both of them as squatters. Michael manages to free himself, but too scared to actively fight Brother Eye, he keeps feigning a catatonic state while Brother Eye rebuilds Vienna's now comatose body to peak health.
Elsewhere, Batman
notices strange activities in space and sends Superman
to search for Brother Eye. Superman is captured by Brother Eye and held in a kryptonite
-laced chamber. He manages to contact Michael, transmitting him Brother Eye's plans about Vienna and the world: to kill all of Earth's metahumans to avenge its defeat; and ultimately smash the Earth and the Moon
together, thus ending a "corrupt" humanity. Moreover, Vienna is now pregnant with Michael's son.
Hoping to stop Michael from garnering enough courage to make a stand, Brother Eye awakens Vienna, now an OMAC, and sends her to kill Michael, knowing he will refuse to access his full powers to avoid being controlled by Brother Eye. Michael shocks Vienna into control by telling her of her pregnancy and reminding her about their previous charade. Once again, Vienna fakes Michael's death, before returning to human form and expressing fear for her child.
Michael reassures her and asks her to remain on Earth; since, only by focusing on her safety can he avoid becoming a thrall of Brother Eye again. He then sets off for a final stand.
As Brother Eye gains the upper hand, Vienna once again takes the matter into her own hands. Faking absolute subservience to Brother Eye, she hurls herself over the atomic furnace alimenting Brother Eye, utterly destroying it.
Michael returns to Earth, mourning his dead companion and his unborn child. No longer a fugitive, but a revered hero, thanks to a flattering article by Clark Kent
, he reveals to the planet that he fears for a return of Brother Eye. Prophetically, a small monitor in space activates, showing the distinctive Brother Eye icon.
#51 (first issue) shows an OMAC among the characters assembled. However, Michael Costner takes no part in the story.
Michael's status as "the last OMAC unit" is questioned as Brother Eye is shown to be able to rebuild, effortlessly, an OMAC armada by assimilation of human soldiers and Apokolitan
parademon
s, apparently negating his need for a "last unit" to restore to him his source code. It may, however, be inferred that Buddy Blank, its early programmer, restored the entirety of its code while trying to restore it to its normal operating parameters, making it again able to control and activate OMACs.
A captive, amnesiac OMAC is acquired by Batman during his last tenure with the Outsiders and is brainwashed into total obedience. It is later destroyed, though, making a moot point if he was intended to be an amnesiac Costner or a simple construct.
Furthermore, during the Final Crisis events, Mister Terrific is able to reach several humans infected with the OMAC virus, putting Brother Eye in charge of fighting the Justifiers
on the behalf of humanity. Obviously, their presence contradicts Michael's (and Vienna's) status as "the last and most necessary OMAC unit standing."
At first completely unconscious, his main personality was submerged under the OMAC main program. A unique set of circumstances later gave Michael full control of his abilities. Shortly before being depowered by Brother Eye's destruction, he could retain his invulnerability, heat vision, and partial shapeshifting abilities even in human form. He could turn his limbs into tools or weaponry partly covered in OMAC armor; or, simply, into giant, enlarged OMAC body parts.
The OMAC virus can be transmitted through the exchange of body fluids, such as during sexual intercourse
. However, any newly infected individuals (e.g., Vienna Barstow) would still need to be "activated" by Brother Eye before they could access their OMAC powers. While infected with the OMAC virus, Vienna expressed the very same abilities as Michael.
There is no known cure for the OMAC nanovirus, but EMP
disruption can put the infection into "remission." Thus, until the creation of a new breed of OMAC cyborgs during the Countdown events, Michael was still the last OMAC and he can still spread the infection, though he is unable to access his powers. This assumption, presumably due to bad communication between Grant Morrison
, author of the Final Crisis series, and the authors involved in Countdown to Infinite Crisis
and the OMAC miniseries, is again debunked when Mister Terrific, in his role as head of Checkmate, reveals that the former OMACs still retain their powers and manages to activate millions of them at once with the help of Brother Eye's lingering code.
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
. He was introduced in OMAC #1 (July 2006).
Fictional character biography
Michael Costner, a seventeen year old petty thief, spent his entire life in Gotham CityGotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
; first as an orphan in care of the local orphanotrophy, then scraping his life on the streets, stealing to sate his addiction to heroin.
While still at the orphanotrophy, Michael was infected with the OMAC nanovirus through a contaminated flu-vaccine shot. However, Brother Eye never activated him during the Infinite Crisis
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, and a number of tie-in books...
events, having lost contact with him as Michael began a life off the grid. Instead, in prevision of a victory by the metahuman
Metahuman
Metahuman is a term to describe superhumans in DC Comics' shared universe, the DC Universe. It is roughly synonymous with both mutant and mutate and posthuman in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. Use of the term in reference to superheroes was coined in 1986 by author George R. R...
s, Brother Eye kept Michael as a "sleeper agent," the last unit to be activated only in times of dire need.
Brother Eye's downfall, at the hands of Sasha Bordeaux
Sasha Bordeaux
Sasha Bordeaux is a fictional character in the DC Universe. She was at first primarily associated with Batman, and has subsequently evolved an association with Checkmate in two of its incarnations...
, signaled that moment. Brother Eye, now spliced between a NORAD hard drive containing the bulk of his core programming and a backup satellite orbiting the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, activated Michael, incidentally saving him from a round-up. The Michael-OMAC reveals himself to be problematic from the first moments of being online. While other OMACs had no personality, nor qualms about being used as killing machines, the Micheal-OMAC actually rebelled against his programming upon being ordered to kill a female policewoman, Vienna Barstow, who was an associate and love interest of Michael. It was later hypothesized that Michael, with his personality submerged by the OMAC programming, actually relived moral imperatives and "school yard rules" from Michael's subconscious, such as "never hitting the girls".
Despite the obvious inconsistencies in his programming, Brother Eye, having no other choices, still trusted Michael to steal the hard drive from NORAD and upload it, along with part of the nanovirus source code, into the backup satellite, restarting the OMAC project at full capacity. Along the way, he was forced to battle Firestorm and Cyborg
Cyborg (comics)
Cyborg is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez, and first appears in a special insert in DC Comics Presents #26...
, once again pulling his punches to avoid hurting Firehawk.
Deeply resenting Brother Eye for forcing him to kill and for stealing his personality, Michael flies to outer space, taking enough control of his OMAC form to jettison the Nomac drive and the damaged Brother Eye. Enraged, Brother Eye casts him on Earth.
Vienna Barstow
While on the run, Michael met a kind showgirlShowgirl
A showgirl is a dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show. Showgirl is also often used as a term for a promotional model in trade fairs and car shows, etc...
, Vienna Barstow, who took an obvious interest in the young, dashing castoff, helping him escape the consequences of one of his many thefts.
Luckily, when Brother Eye later casts Michael on Earth, Vienna is traveling with her sleazy manager, Pete Rollins, and her fellow showgirls to their new job, and mistaking Michael for the victim of an ultralight aircraft accident, rushes to give him first aid.
Later that night, Vienna discovers Michael stealing from her and attempting to escape. Hoping to scare him out of his plan, she fakes a call to Las Vegas sheriffs, denouncing the earlier theft. When a truck almost runs her over, Michael is forced to use his OMAC powers to save her, incidentally revealing his ability to connect with technology. He admits to have always known Vienna was faking the call. Vienna begins to believe he is a metahuman, but, out of gratitude, she keeps helping him.
Forced by Pete to kill Michael, thereby avoiding "unnecessary" questioning for aiding a fugitive, Vienna convinces Michael to fake his death, promising to return to him later.
Meanwhile, Brother Eye rebuilds itself out of space debris. It contemplates a connection between the independence shown by Michael and his addiction to heroin; supposing the more heroin that is in Michael's system, the more control it can exert over him. Brother Eye slips into a dormant state until a motley crew of travelling drug addicts pick up Michael and, believing him in the throes of withdrawal, decide to give him a free fix.
The crew's car crashes into Pete's bus. Pete was hoping to escape the rage of his bosses who are angry at him because, being late to the next show of Vienna's équipe because of Michael, they suffered a huge monetary loss. Brother Eye is forced to activate Michael.
From the catastrophic crash emerge only four survivors: Vienna, Pete, a grievously wounded showgirl, and OMAC (Michael). OMAC mercy-kills Vienna's friend, being able to see the extent of her internal bleeding, kills Pete to prevent him from killing Vienna, and then brings Vienna to safety and reveals his identity as Michael Costner.
Able to balance his new form, Michael shows an increased control over his body, becoming able to access several OMAC powers in his human form, mostly for Vienna's benefit. At first skeptical and angry at Michael for OMAC's early doings, Vienna softens up, steadily falling in love with him. Michael squats an abandoned cabin and uses his powers to make Vienna as comfortable as he can. They share a moment of intimacy
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
, unknowing that Brother Eye, apparently dormant since the incident with Pete, is still watching over them, planning to turn Vienna into a new, more obedient OMAC unit through the exchange of bodily fluids with Michael.
Brother Eye puts his plan into fruition by hampering Michael's activities with a wave of hallucinations and shutting down Vienna's body during a raid by the local police, arresting both of them as squatters. Michael manages to free himself, but too scared to actively fight Brother Eye, he keeps feigning a catatonic state while Brother Eye rebuilds Vienna's now comatose body to peak health.
Elsewhere, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
notices strange activities in space and sends Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
to search for Brother Eye. Superman is captured by Brother Eye and held in a kryptonite
Kryptonite
Kryptonite is a fictional material from the Superman mythos —the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman's home planet of Krypton. It is famous for being the ultimate physical weakness of Superman, and the word kryptonite has since become synonymous with an Achilles' heel —the one weakness...
-laced chamber. He manages to contact Michael, transmitting him Brother Eye's plans about Vienna and the world: to kill all of Earth's metahumans to avenge its defeat; and ultimately smash the Earth and the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
together, thus ending a "corrupt" humanity. Moreover, Vienna is now pregnant with Michael's son.
Hoping to stop Michael from garnering enough courage to make a stand, Brother Eye awakens Vienna, now an OMAC, and sends her to kill Michael, knowing he will refuse to access his full powers to avoid being controlled by Brother Eye. Michael shocks Vienna into control by telling her of her pregnancy and reminding her about their previous charade. Once again, Vienna fakes Michael's death, before returning to human form and expressing fear for her child.
Michael reassures her and asks her to remain on Earth; since, only by focusing on her safety can he avoid becoming a thrall of Brother Eye again. He then sets off for a final stand.
Final battle
Michael returns to space for a showdown with Brother Eye, freeing Superman to assist him.As Brother Eye gains the upper hand, Vienna once again takes the matter into her own hands. Faking absolute subservience to Brother Eye, she hurls herself over the atomic furnace alimenting Brother Eye, utterly destroying it.
Michael returns to Earth, mourning his dead companion and his unborn child. No longer a fugitive, but a revered hero, thanks to a flattering article by Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
, he reveals to the planet that he fears for a return of Brother Eye. Prophetically, a small monitor in space activates, showing the distinctive Brother Eye icon.
Countdown and beyond
The cover for CountdownCountdown to Final Crisis
Countdown, known as Countdown to Final Crisis for its last 24 issues based on the cover, was a comic book limited series published by DC Comics. It debuted on May 9, 2007, directly following the conclusion of the last issue of 52...
#51 (first issue) shows an OMAC among the characters assembled. However, Michael Costner takes no part in the story.
Michael's status as "the last OMAC unit" is questioned as Brother Eye is shown to be able to rebuild, effortlessly, an OMAC armada by assimilation of human soldiers and Apokolitan
Apokolips
In the DC Comics fictional shared Universe, Apokolips is the planet ruled by Darkseid, established in Jack Kirby's Fourth World series. It is also integral to many DC Comics stories. The planet is considered the opposite of New Genesis....
parademon
Parademon
Parademons are a fictional group of aliens in the . They are monstrous shock troops of Apokolips used by Darkseid to maintain order of the planet. The original Parademons were created by Jack Kirby in The New Gods #1 .-Fictional history:...
s, apparently negating his need for a "last unit" to restore to him his source code. It may, however, be inferred that Buddy Blank, its early programmer, restored the entirety of its code while trying to restore it to its normal operating parameters, making it again able to control and activate OMACs.
A captive, amnesiac OMAC is acquired by Batman during his last tenure with the Outsiders and is brainwashed into total obedience. It is later destroyed, though, making a moot point if he was intended to be an amnesiac Costner or a simple construct.
Furthermore, during the Final Crisis events, Mister Terrific is able to reach several humans infected with the OMAC virus, putting Brother Eye in charge of fighting the Justifiers
Justifiers
The Justifiers are fictional foot soldiers in the DC Comics universe. They first appeared in Forever People #3, , and were created by Jack Kirby.-Fictional character biography:...
on the behalf of humanity. Obviously, their presence contradicts Michael's (and Vienna's) status as "the last and most necessary OMAC unit standing."
Powers and abilities
Before being depowered, Michael had shown the fullest abilities of every other OMAC before him. He was able to access the extensive knowledge on metahumans stored by Brother Eye, shapeshift parts of his body accordingly, and enlarge his body mass.At first completely unconscious, his main personality was submerged under the OMAC main program. A unique set of circumstances later gave Michael full control of his abilities. Shortly before being depowered by Brother Eye's destruction, he could retain his invulnerability, heat vision, and partial shapeshifting abilities even in human form. He could turn his limbs into tools or weaponry partly covered in OMAC armor; or, simply, into giant, enlarged OMAC body parts.
The OMAC virus can be transmitted through the exchange of body fluids, such as during sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
. However, any newly infected individuals (e.g., Vienna Barstow) would still need to be "activated" by Brother Eye before they could access their OMAC powers. While infected with the OMAC virus, Vienna expressed the very same abilities as Michael.
There is no known cure for the OMAC nanovirus, but EMP
Electromagnetic pulse
An electromagnetic pulse is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. The abrupt pulse of electromagnetic radiation usually results from certain types of high energy explosions, especially a nuclear explosion, or from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field...
disruption can put the infection into "remission." Thus, until the creation of a new breed of OMAC cyborgs during the Countdown events, Michael was still the last OMAC and he can still spread the infection, though he is unable to access his powers. This assumption, presumably due to bad communication between Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
, author of the Final Crisis series, and the authors involved in Countdown to Infinite Crisis
Countdown to Infinite Crisis
DC Countdown, commonly referred to as Countdown to Infinite Crisis, is a one-shot publication and the official start of the Infinite Crisis storyline. It was released 30 March 2005, sold out, and quickly went to a second printing. When this comic was first published, the cover showed Batman holding...
and the OMAC miniseries, is again debunked when Mister Terrific, in his role as head of Checkmate, reveals that the former OMACs still retain their powers and manages to activate millions of them at once with the help of Brother Eye's lingering code.