action figure: Omega Man

Omega Man was the creation of Alonzo Washington, a civil rights and social activist whose company, Omega 7 Inc., published comic books featuring socially conscious superheroes of color. The production of an Omega Man action figure fulfilled a childhood dream of Washington’s. He told one reporter that “at a young age, I used to take my action figures and paint them. I’d get some clay and change their features, give them an afro or something and turn them into superheroes that I’d make up—a black Superman or something.” Omega Man came from the future, he was intelligent, and he was Washington’s attempt to raise consciousness and self-esteem among young African Americans.