Synopsis Review
O-boy (short for Omnipotent Boy) is the product of artist Kevin Terry & writer Kevin Lintz (of Team Slug). One thing that Terry makes quite evident through the comic is his own Evangelical Christian convictions, and his desire to promote that worldview. Thus, Terry’s work on O-boy is equal parts hobby, and mission.
The nature of the titular character is--at least to this reviewer--not entirely clear. Initially, I thought O-boy was some sort of robot or android; but by the end of chapter 2, I had the distinct impression a living being of some sort.
The free O-boy material is published as a weebly page. Consequently, the story presentation features all the strengths and weaknesses that come along with such a decision.
Sustainability - 1
My impression is that sustainability is going to be a challenge. As mentioned above, O-boy is a labor of love. That usually equates to “it’s something you can only devote time to intermittently, as regular work, family, et. al. obligations allow.” The fact that there are only two chapters of O-boy up on the website right now, leads me to suspect the story is falling victim to those all too common work-life trade-offs.
Language - 5
Violence - 5
Sexuality - 5
Owing to the artists’ obviously-deeply held Christian convictions, there is really no criticizing O-boy on the areas of language, violence, or sexuality. If what you’re looking for is clean, kid-friendly prose and artwork...you won’t find anything cleaner.
Political Leanings - 5
Try as one might, there is microscopically-little evidence of the creator’s political leanings in O-boy. However, this may simply be a function of the relatively small amount of material freely available online (two chapters).
Morality - 5
Again, owing to his creator’s Evangelical leanings, I find nothing to criticize in the morality of this comic.
Artwork - 2.5
To be frank, the artwork is one of my least-favorite aspects of this story. It’s not that the art is bad, per se...simply that it has more of Saturday morning little kids’ cartoon (e.g., Smurfs, Snorks, etc.) feel than I prefer. I don’t know who Terry’s target audience is, though; so this might be precisely the right look.
Storytelling - 2.5
The low storytelling score requires some explanation. Basically, I don’t feel like there’s enough material available for me to get a good sense of Terry’s storytelling ability. I can say that the two chapters didn’t “hook” me--I don’t feel like I have to return to know what happens next; but I can see enough potential to think something better might develop if I knew more of the story.
Overall Rating: 3.875
Archives
chapter 1. Introduces the title character. It jumps right into O-boy’s confrontation with Glooma and her Gloomtroopers. There’s not enough introduction for my tastes. I suppose the author’s goal is to leave us wondering and curious to read more. That’s a legitimate strategy, but it has to be used carefully. My initial impression is that O’boy is some sort of robot, and that Glooma is some sort of spiritual force of evil. As far as where the confrontation is taking place...what led up to it...etc., I’m lost.
The most interesting thing to me is that O-boy apparently has a sidekick or assistant somewhere in space referred to as D.O.V.E. The spelling leaves me to assume this is an acronymn, but the full meaning is not explained in the opening chapter. I’m not sure why, but D.O.V.E. represents a case where the author’s goal of piquing interest works well. I find that I do want to know more about who (or what?) D.O.V.E. is.
chapter 2. Picks up immediately where chapter 1 ended: with a hovering O-boy announcing to Glooma that neither she (yes, chapter two ultimately reveals that Glooma--who I’d been assuming was a male character to this point--is, in fact, female) nor her darkness “belong here.” Predictably, the villainess announces that if she is going to leave O-boy will have to make her. Whereupon, she summons (I’m guessing that’s the right word?) numerous new Gloomtroopers to continue their assault.
At this point, the reader begins to get more of a sense of just how powerful O-boy is. In a few brief panels he exhibits: energy projection, freeze breath, super speed, super strength, and flight. In other words, O-boy is clearly depicted as a Superman-level character in terms of his power set.
While the hero is easily dispatching this latest round of Gloomtroopers, the reader is introduced to a group of unidentified characters who look like adult versions of whatever sort of being O-boy is. They are surreptitiously observing O-boy’s battle from the surrounding heights. Their internal conversation reveals they are uniformly surprised and impressed by the powers O-boy is exhibiting. One observer speculates that O-boy might be “the one,” and all agree that they must report what they’ve witnessed to “the others.”
(The conversation among these unnamed watchers is what leads me to believe that O-boy is, in fact, some sort of living being, and not simply a robot as his appearance seems to allow. I say this because one of the observers refers to O-boy as, “just a kid.”)
After the last of the Gloomtroopers are mopped up, O-boy returns his attention to Glooma. She affirms that he is powerful, indeed, and cryptically asks whether O-boy might’ve been, “sent by...Him,” though no answer is forthcoming. Rather, Glooma chooses to flee with the obligatory threat that there will be “another time.”
O-boy is prepared to pursue, when D.O.V.E. notifies him of the more pressing problem: “injured lumens.” Lumens are, apparently, the inhabitant of the land Glooma has been terrorizing. They appear to be different in nature not only from O-boy, but from each other.
The mystery watchers briefly discuss revealing themselves to O-boy and engaging him, but decide that they must first inform their absent fellows of what they’ve witnessed.
Chapter two ends with the kindly-faced O-boy telling the terrified lumens that, “those monsters...won’t be back. I’ve come to help you.”
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