Changes: Kevin Kho (Prime Earth)

I've been called OMAC, but my name is Kevin Kho. I was transformed, without my knowledge and against my will into this monstrous form. And I have no way to change back.

— OMAC ^src

Kevin Kho is OMAC, a One-Machine Attack Construct designed as an unstoppable warrior using bio-technology. The sentient satellite Brother Eye created him using New Genesis science as a weapon he could control against Project Cadmus. In his civilian identity he is a Cambodian-American scientist working at Cadmus in genetic research.

History

Origins

Born in Cambodia, his parents and sisters were killed when he was six for speaking out against the rule of rebel warlords. Raised by other family members, he relentlessly pursued education as a way to give his life order and meaning.^[1] He would go on to work at Project Cadmus underneath Martin Welman, where he met and proposed to his fiancee Jody Robbins.^[2]

Omactivate!

Main article: OMAC: Omactivate!

Kho is activated as the OMAC by Brother Eye for the first time during an otherwise normal work day at Project Cadmus. Eye has him nearly level the building to steal their mainframe from the underground facilities, fighting through Dubbilex's telepathic attacks and Mokkari's Build-a-Friend monsters to get there. His girlfriend Jody Robbins is present for the destruction, but she does not realize his dual identity. In the aftermath, Brother Eye reveals himself to have been controlling him and explains their relationship.^[2] Eye had been previously imprisoned by Checkmate's leader Maxwell Lord, and is assembling a personal army to end anything that could be considered a threat to his freedom. OMAC's next mission is to recruit Amazing Man by defeating him in combat so he can be assimilated.^[3]

OMAC Kevin Kho 0015 — OMAC vs. Frankenstein

They are challenged by the telepathic Psi-Fi Man, although Eye overrides his control and the evil scientist is thwarted. Lord sends a strike team led by Sarge Steel including Maribel and Little Knipper to take OMAC down, although they are unsuccessful.^[4] This failure leads Lord to send Mokkari instead, who unsuccessfully attacks while Kho is underground and cannot access his powers through satellite connection. Kevin is not allowed to share the secret with his girlfriend, and she angrily threatens to leave him for lying.^[5]

S.H.A.D.E. is called in to take OMAC down, and Father Time sends his top operative Frankenstein. They have an epic battle in the streets of Metropolis and OMAC is nearly executed with the Sword of Michael, but Brother Eye teleports him away before he gets beheaded.^[6]^[7]

During a double-date with his fiancee and obnoxious co-worker Tony Jay, they are attacked by Sweet Leilani of the Female Furies.^[8] Superman begins to take interest in OMAC and beats him in a fight, but Brother Eye teleports him away. Eye sends him to infiltrate Command B's underground Evil Factory run by Simyan.

OMAC Kevin Kho 0024 — Kevin is stuck in the OMAC body and leaves his fiancee.

He joins several of Simyan's experiments, a race of humanoid animals, in rebelling against their tormentor. Their leader Prince Tuftan is forced to kill his father, but they defeat Simyan and Eye has OMAC destroy the factory as an abomination.^[9] In their final confrontation with Checkmate, OMAC is hunted down by Mokkari's monsters and Steel's strike team while he tries to tell his fiancee the truth. Maxwell Lord outsmarts Brother Eye and destroys him. Eye's final act is to give Kevin his personality back, at the expense of trapping him in the OMAC body forever. Jody begs him to stay, but he declares that Kevin Kho is dead and he is only OMAC.^[1]

Justice League International

Main article: Justice League International: Breakdown

OMAC later appears with the newly formed Justice League International. He does battle with the team, more powerful than any of them, and strikes down their most heavy hitters. Screaming in his OMAC voice, he demands to see a doctor.^[10] After a grueling battle, Kevin is confronted by Batman, Booster Gold and Batwing in the sewer and instantly calms down. He explains that he discovered Batman had a hand in creating the nanomachines that changed him and came seeking any information the Dark Knight could give him that could lead to him being able to change back. He is unsure why he attacked the JLI and apologizes. Not fully trusting OMAC, but at the same time unwilling to leave him in case he loses control again, the JLI takes him with them to investigate an attack in Paris. It is August General in Iron who makes the first move to reconciliation, as he is all too familiar with being trapped in a body not his own and unable to change back. ^[11]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Omactivation: At any place and at any time, Brother Eye can transform Kevin Kho into the powerful OMAC. Using alien bio-technology, Kevin uncontrollable changes with destructive results.
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Durability
- Energy Projection

Abilities

Genetics

Weaknesses

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Kevin Kho has obsessive-compulsive disorder.^[2]

Notes

Kevin Kho's alliterative name is an obvious reference to the character Buddy Blank, the original OMAC. Buddy Blank was created by Jack Kirby as protagonist in the original OMAC volume, also a corporate nobody who receives incredible powers from Brother Eye. He had been called the One-Man Army Corps.^[12]

External Links

Footnotes

Justice League member

This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

[OMAC8-1] 1.0 ^1.1 OMAC (Volume 4) #8

[OMAC1-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 OMAC (Volume 4) #1

[3] OMAC (Volume 4) #2

[4] OMAC (Volume 4) #3

[5] OMAC (Volume 4) #4

[6] OMAC (Volume 4) #5

[7] Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #5

[8] OMAC (Volume 4) #6

[9] OMAC (Volume 4) #7

[10] Justice League International (Volume 3) #8

[11] Justice League International (Volume 3) #9

[12] OMAC (Volume 1) #1

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{PEthing|Buddy Blank (New Earth)|OMAC}}
 {{DC Database:Character Template
 | Image                   = OMAC Kevin Kho 0002.jpg
@@ Line 6: / Line 7: @@
 | Identity                = Secret
 | Alignment               = Good
-| Affiliation             = [[Project Cadmus]]
+| Affiliation             = formerly [[Project Cadmus]], [[Justice League International (Prime Earth)|Justice League International]]
-| Relatives               =
+| Relatives               = Kim Kho (sister), Kira Kho (sister)
-| Universe                = New Earth
+| Universe                = Prime Earth
-| BaseOfOperations        =
+| BaseOfOperations        = [[Metropolis]]
 | Gender                  = Male
 | Height                  =
 | Weight                  =
-| Eyes                    =
+| Eyes                    = Black
 | Hair                    = Black
-| UnusualFeatures         =
+| UnusualFeatures         = [[Transformation]]
 | Citizenship             = Cambodian
 | MaritalStatus           = Single
-| Occupation              =
+| Occupation              = [[Scientist]]
-| Education               =
-| Origin                  =
+| PlaceOfBirth            = [[Cambodia]]
-| PlaceOfBirth            =
 | Creators                = Dan DiDio; Keith Giffen
 | First                   = OMAC Vol 4 #1
+| Quotation               = I've been called OMAC, but my name is '''Kevin Kho'''. I was transformed, without my knowledge and against my will into this monstrous form. And I have no way to change back.
-| Quotation               =
-| Speaker                 =
+| Speaker                 = [[Kevin Kho (Prime Earth)|OMAC]]
-| QuoteSource             =
+| QuoteSource             = Justice League International Vol 3 9
-| HistoryText             = '''Kevin Kho''' is '''[[OMAC]]''', a ''One Machine Attack Construct'' designed as an unstoppable warrior using bio-technology. The sentient satellite [[Brother Eye]] created him using [[New Genesis]] science as a weapon he could control against [[Project Cadmus]]. In his civilian identity he is a Cambodian-American scientist working at Cadmus in genetic research.
+| Overview                =  '''Kevin Kho''' is '''[[OMAC]]''', a ''One-Machine Attack Construct'' designed as an unstoppable warrior using bio-technology. The sentient satellite [[Brother Eye]] created him using [[New Genesis]] science as a weapon he could control against [[Project Cadmus]]. In his civilian identity he is a Cambodian-American scientist working at Cadmus in genetic research.
+| HistoryText             =
+===Origins===
+Born in [[Cambodia]], his parents and sisters were killed when he was six for speaking out against the rule of rebel warlords. Raised by other family members, he relentlessly pursued education as a way to give his life order and meaning.<ref name="OMAC8">{{c|OMAC Vol 4 #8}}</ref> He would go on to work at [[Project Cadmus]] underneath [[Martin Welman (Prime Earth)|Martin Welman]], where he met and proposed to his fiancee [[Jody Robbins (Prime Earth)|Jody Robbins]].<ref name="OMAC1">{{c|OMAC Vol 4 #1}}</ref>
 ===Omactivate!===
 {{main|OMAC: Omactivate!}}
-Kho is activated as the [[OMAC]] by [[Brother Eye]] for the first time during an otherwise normal work day at [[Project Cadmus]]. Eye has him nearly level the building to steal their mainframe from the underground facilities, fighting through [[Dubbilex (New Earth)|Dubbilex]]'s telepathic attacks and [[Mokkari (New Earth)|Mokkari]]'s [[Build-a-Friend]] monsters to get there. His girlfriend [[Jody Robbins (New Earth)|Jody Robbins]] is present for the destruction, but she does not realize his dual identity. In the aftermath, Brother Eye reveals himself to have been controlling him and explains their relationship.<ref name="OMAC1">{{c|OMAC Vol 4 #1}}</ref>
+Kho is activated as the [[OMAC]] by [[Brother Eye]] for the first time during an otherwise normal work day at [[Project Cadmus]]. Eye has him nearly level the building to steal their mainframe from the underground facilities, fighting through [[Dubbilex (Prime Earth)|Dubbilex]]'s telepathic attacks and [[Mokkari (Prime Earth)|Mokkari]]'s [[Build-a-Friend]] monsters to get there. His girlfriend [[Jody Robbins (Prime Earth)|Jody Robbins]] is present for the destruction, but she does not realize his dual identity. In the aftermath, Brother Eye reveals himself to have been controlling him and explains their relationship.<ref name="OMAC1"/> Eye had been previously imprisoned by [[Checkmate (Prime Earth)|Checkmate]]'s leader [[Maxwell Lord IV (Prime Earth)|Maxwell Lord]], and is assembling a personal army to end anything that could be considered a threat to his freedom. OMAC's next mission is to recruit [[Rocker Bonn (Prime Earth)|Amazing Man]] by defeating him in combat so he can be assimilated.<ref>{{c|OMAC Vol 4 #2}}</ref> [[File:OMAC Kevin Kho 0015.jpg|thumb|left|165px|OMAC vs. [[Frankenstein (Prime Earth)|Frankenstein]]]] They are challenged by the telepathic [[Arous (Prime Earth)|Psi-Fi Man]], although Eye overrides his control and the evil scientist is thwarted. Lord sends a strike team led by [[Sargent Steel (Prime Earth)|Sarge Steel]] including [[Maribel (Prime Earth)|Maribel]] and [[Little Knipper (Prime Earth)|Little Knipper]] to take OMAC down, although they are unsuccessful.<ref>{{c|OMAC Vol 4 #3}}</ref> This failure leads Lord to send Mokkari instead, who unsuccessfully attacks while Kho is underground and cannot access his powers through satellite connection. Kevin is not allowed to share the secret with his girlfriend, and she angrily threatens to leave him for lying.<ref>{{c|OMAC Vol 4 #4}}</ref>
+[[S.H.A.D.E. (Prime Earth)|S.H.A.D.E.]] is called in to take OMAC down, and [[Father Time (Prime Earth)|Father Time]] sends his top operative [[Frankenstein (Prime Earth)|Frankenstein]]. They have an epic battle in the streets of [[Metropolis]] and OMAC is nearly executed with the [[Michael's Sword|Sword of Michael]], but Brother Eye teleports him away before he gets beheaded.<ref>{{c|OMAC Vol 4 #5}}</ref><ref>{{c|Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #5}}</ref>
+During a double-date with his fiancee and obnoxious co-worker [[Anthony Jay (Prime Earth)|Tony Jay]], they are attacked by [[Leilani Lugo (Prime Earth)|Sweet Leilani]] of the [[Female Furies]].<ref>{{c|OMAC Vol 4 #6}}</ref> [[Superman (Clark Kent)|Superman]] begins to take interest in OMAC and beats him in a fight, but Brother Eye teleports him away. Eye sends him to infiltrate [[Command B]]'s underground [[Evil Factory]] run by [[Simyan (Prime Earth)|Simyan]]. [[File:OMAC Kevin Kho 0024.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Kevin is stuck in the OMAC body and leaves his fiancee.]] He joins several of Simyan's experiments, a race of humanoid animals, in rebelling against their tormentor. Their leader [[Tuftan (Prime Earth)|Prince Tuftan]] is forced to kill his father, but they defeat Simyan and Eye has OMAC destroy the factory as an abomination.<ref>{{c|OMAC Vol 4 #7}}</ref> In their final confrontation with [[Checkmate (Prime Earth)|Checkmate]], OMAC is hunted down by Mokkari's monsters and Steel's strike team while he tries to tell his fiancee the truth. Maxwell Lord outsmarts Brother Eye and destroys him. Eye's final act is to give Kevin his personality back, at the expense of trapping him in the OMAC body forever. Jody begs him to stay, but he declares that Kevin Kho is dead and he is only OMAC.<ref name="OMAC8"/>
+===Justice League International===
+{{main|Justice League International: Breakdown}}
+OMAC later appears with the newly formed [[Justice League International]]. He does battle with the team, more powerful than any of them, and strikes down their most heavy hitters. Screaming in his OMAC voice, he demands to see a doctor.<ref>{{c|Justice League International Vol 3 #8}}</ref> After a grueling battle, Kevin is confronted by Batman, Booster Gold and Batwing in the sewer and instantly calms down. He explains that he discovered Batman had a hand in creating the nanomachines that changed him and came seeking any information the Dark Knight could give him that could lead to him being able to change back. He is unsure why he attacked the JLI and apologizes. Not fully trusting OMAC, but at the same time unwilling to leave him in case he loses control again, the JLI takes him with them to investigate an attack in Paris. It is August General in Iron who makes the first move to reconciliation, as he is all too familiar with being trapped in a body not his own and unable to change back. <ref>{{c|Justice League International Vol 3 #9}}</ref>
 | Powers                  =
+* {{Transformation|Omactivation}}: At any place and at any time, Brother Eye can transform Kevin Kho into the powerful OMAC. Using alien bio-technology, Kevin uncontrollable changes with destructive results.
+** {{Superhuman Strength}}
+** {{Superhuman Durability}}
+** {{Energy Projection}}
 | Abilities               =
+* {{Genetics}}
 | Strength                =
 | Weaknesses              =
+* {{Mental Illness|Obsession|Obsessive Compulsive Disorder}}: Kevin Kho has {{WP|obsessive-compulsive disorder}}.<ref name="OMAC1"/>
 | Equipment               =
@@ Line 48: / Line 65: @@
 | Notes                   =
+* Kevin Kho's alliterative name is an obvious reference to the character [[Buddy Blank]], the original OMAC. Buddy Blank was created by [[Jack Kirby]] as protagonist in the original ''[[OMAC Vol 1|OMAC]]'' volume, also a corporate nobody who receives incredible powers from [[Brother Eye]]. He had been called the One-Man Army Corps.<ref>[[OMAC Vol 1 1|''OMAC'' (Volume 1) #1]]</ref>
 | Trivia                  =
-* Kevin Kho has [[wikipedia:Obsessive Compulsive Disorder|obsessive compulsive disorder]].<ref name="OMAC1"/>
 | Recommended             =
+* ''[[Justice League International: Breakdown]]''
 * ''[[OMAC: Omactivate!]]''
-| Wikipedia               = OMAC (comics)
 | Links                   =
+* {{WP2|OMAC (comics)}}
+* [https://new.dcuwiki.net/w/O.M.A.C._(Kevin_Kho) OMAC at DCU Guide]
+* [https://comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=57421 OMAC at Comic Book Database]
+* [https://comics.ign.com/articles/119/1192667p1.html OMAC interview at IGN Comics]
+* [https://www.newsarama.com/comics/dcnu-keith-giffen-omac-revamp-writing-110617.html OMAC interview at Newsarama]
+* [https://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=32935 OMAC interview at Comic Book Resources]
 }}
+{{Justice League Member}}
+{{OMAC}}
+{{Justice League International}}
+[[Category:Justice League International members]]
+[[Category:Project Cadmus members]]