Jonathan Lethem likes Marvel Comics!

The comics Karl and I actually relished in 1976 and 1977, if we were honest (and Karl was more honest than me), were The Defenders, Omega the Unknown and Howard the Duck, all written by a mad genius called Steve Gerber, and Captain Marvel and Warlock, both written and drawn by another auteur briefly in fashion, Jim Starlin.

Jonathan Lethem, My Marvel Years

cover of Omega the Unknown #5

You cannot fake that level of geekdom. Easy enough to pretend to have liked Howard the Duck, but Omega the Unknown? No way. It’s one of those comics you’ll only known about if you actually care about comics, or were reading them at the right time. One of those weird little comics Marvel threw out in the mid-seventies for a few issues, only to cancel when the newsstand returns came in.