The OMAC Project

SLW (Steff) (Aug. 16, 2025, 12:29:39)
"Booster's role as peacemaker is a bit surprising here. In the previous issue, Booster was the first to engage in violence when he attacked Batman." I don't think it's that surprising myself, if only because Batman had certainly earned it while Diana hadn't. After all, she was the one who came to Booster asking after Ted; that should, I think, earn at least some good will.

As to this issue: I think one of the reasons it doesn't work for me is because of how Guy treats Diana. It's well-established since her time on the League that not only did Guy grow to like her, he also grew to trust and respect her, something that held true through his Warrior days and beyond. It's clear that Rucka -- who, in fairness, writes Diana better than anyone in my opinion -- didn't really bother to get to know Guy and his dynamic with her, or if he did, he bypassed it in favor of portraying Guy as a complete lout. It disrespects years worth of friendship on both their parts.

As to Guy and Ted, they had a more complicated relationship than immediate apparent; where Booster and Guy consistently had a battlefield simpatico together, often being the team bruisers and working well together in a fight but otherwise maintaining a kind of emotional distance, Ted and Guy were the ones sitting on the roof riffing tabloids together and hurting each other in a boxing ring, both of which imply some kind of relationship outside of teamwork. Later, it's established that Ted cared enough to try to give Guy strategy books, and that Guy cared enough to keep them. And if there's one thing Guy Gardner is established to be over and over again, it's deeply loyal, so him showing up looking ready to break down in tears and ready to avenge Ted is actually perfectly in character, even though how he treats Diana isn't.

I'm normally quite a fan of Rucka's, but the entirety of the OMAC Project feels a little rushed and jammed into the cracks of Infinite Crisis. It's a heartbreaking tale, no doubt: You can't love Booster, and the JLI as a whole, without feeling the wounds that have been ripped right through them of late. I can think of few things more devastating than what this team has been put through over the past year or more.

But I don't think there's enough time given in this limited series to the necessary emotional beats. And I don't think there was anything like enough time given to their dead afterwards, which just further puts into perspective how marginalized and shoved aside the JLI really was in that universe. Dmitri and Ted both deserved better than they got. And for that matter, so did the survivors.