OMM

Real Name: Omm

Identity/Class: God;
    Hyborian Era

Occupation: Object of worship, devourer of sacrifices

Group Membership: Patriarch of the Spider-People

Affiliations: Worshipped by the people of Yezud, who were led by high priest Modar; Tureem (another priest of Yezud);

Enemies: Conan of Cimmeria, Set, Serpent Men; any people served up as a sacrifice for him

Known Relatives: Gaea (mother);
    Zath (see comments);
    Spider People (spawn);

Aliases: Omm the Unspeakable; Zath (possibly, see comments)

Base of Operations: Yezud, a city in Zamora, in the Hyborian era

First Appearance: (Mentioned) REH's Conan the Adventurer; Conan the Barbarian I#13 (January, 1972)

Powers: Omm, as seen, is an enormous spider, possessing enormous strength, enhanced durability, and the ability to devour a man whole. Whether this is Omm's true form, or just a form it took is unknown. A statue of Omm shows him in a hooded, six-armed semi-humanoid form. Like many gods, it could most likely adopt other forms. In addition, the form of Omm seen may only represent one of its children, or a mortal form it took. Any other abilities it has are unknown. Presumably, his true form was also more intelligent then the giant spider form he took.

History: The origins of Omm are unknown. It is apparently a Spider-God, and was worshipped by the people of Acheron @ 13, 500 bc, and later in Yezud in the Hyborian era (@ 10, 000bc). Omm spawned several other giant spiders during its lifetime, as well as a race of Spider People. Omm and the Spider-People have long been enemies of the Serpent God, Set, and its spawn, the Serpent Men.

(Conan the Barbarian I #13)-Desperate to get out of the desert, Conan gained entry into the city of Yezud as a prisoner after threatening to slay their high priest. Conan was offered as a sacrifice to Omm. However, Modar, the high priest, got too close while bragging about Omm's power, and Conan tossed him to Omm as an appetizer. Proving he was perfectly willing to eat anyone thrown in front of him, Omm chowed down on Modar. Omm advanced on Conan, who stabbed him, and then swatted him aside. Conan leapt atop of Omm and stabbed him repeatedly, until Omm made its way back to the hole leading into its cavern, and tumbled back into it. The people of Yezud named Conan as the slayer of their god, but he escaped the city as it collapsed in fire (an ally of Conan had gone into the tunnels beneath the city and removed its support struts).

(Conan the Barbarian I#66 - BTS) - Conan  and Bêlit observed a statue of Omm in Messantia's Temple of a Thousand Gods.

(Savage Sword of Conan#207-210)-Conan returned to Yezud, which again hosted an immense spider named Zath, and its many offspring. It is unclear whether Zath was Omm himself, or one of his offspring.

(SSoC#197)-In the port of Messantia, Conan encountered Tureem, a priest of Yezud. Tureem used a Spider Amulet to awaken "The Spirit of Omm" within a statue of the Spider God. Conan slew Tureem, and then toppled two immense statues of the gods Dagon and Derketa onto it. Dagon's spear skewered the statue of Omm, putting a halt to its movements.

(Marvel Team-Up I#111)-Spider-Man and a Serpent Man (disguised as Devil Slayer) encountered and battled some of the Spider People in their temple in Japan.

Comments: Spider God mentioned by Robert E. Howard.
    Omm created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor Smith.

    The Conan sub-universe is not one of my stronger points, but I do have all of the issues. Let me know what I've missed, and I'll be happy to add it, and credit you as well.

    I place the Hyborian era @ 16, 000 BC-8, 000 BC, with Conan's period of activity being @ 10,000 BC. For a truly excellent pre-modern era Chronology of the Marvel Universe, check out Robert Wicks' Unofficial Chronology of the Marvel Universe.

    There's no evidence either way to prove Omm is male or female. I use the male terminology since it's referred to as a "god", and because it's easier.

    Years after Conan#13, L.Sprague deCamp, a noted author of Conan lore, wrote "Conan and the Spider-God." This story told of Conan's first travel to Yezud, which was later adapted in SSoC#207-210. The adaptation was modified to have it be Conan's return to Yezud, having encountered Omm there years before. It was left up to interpretation whether Zath was actually the recovered Omm, or whether it was his offspring. I'd go with offspring, and probably daughter.

    I think it's reasonably likely that many, if not all, of the giant spiders we've seen over the more than four decades of Marvel are descendents of (or perhaps somehow empowered or otherwise associated with) Omm (Alternatively, the African god, Anansi, might be responsible for some of these). How many are there? I don't know. I came up with a few off the top of my head, but I'm sure I'm missing boatloads. Let me know who else you can think of (give me a title and an issue), and I'll credit you.

• Arachne of Demon-Fire--Vampire Tales#3/6
• Zath was another giant spider in the city of Yezud--SSC#207-210.
• Harpagus inherited the name and power of Zath after its death--Conan: Lord of the Spiders#1
• The Many-Legged One was a giant, man-eating spider associated with the Kushite god Ekku--Conan the Barbarian I#101
• There was an unidentified spider in the Tower of the Elephant, in Zamora--Conan the Barbarian I#4
• A giant spider was placed in the Dark Forest by the sorcerer Vincentius and captured victims for his sacrifices to Erlik--Conan the Barbarian I#48/2
• A number of unidentfied giant spiders were created by Barlonius, the King of the Forgotten People--Conan the Barbarian Annual#6
• Conan slew a giant spider in Stygia in Savage Sword of Conan#73 (and possibly also #74?)
• Conan encountered yet another giant spider in Zamora in SSC#77, though he made quick work of it.
  
• giant spiders - serving Spiderman, fought Miss America--Blonde Phantom Comics#12
• giant spiders - enlarged by Casmir Kravadka--Uncanny Tales I#26
• In the city of Artallus a spider god named Arachna was worshipped (but not seen)--Savage Sword of Conan#156
• Another unidentified spider served the Colonel in Monster of Frankenstein#6.
• Shelob is a spider-demon, and could also be a descendent of Omm--Spirits of Vengeance#11
• The extradimensional Araknoids are a race of magical Spider-People--Knights of Pendragon II#6
• Warr led a group of Spiders in the timeline of Earth-Killraven--Amazing Adventures II#37
• The Spider-Thing, which was actually Donna Garth mutated by Richard Ricard-- Tales of the Zombie#2/9.
  His description seemed scientific, but the process took place in Haiti, in a Horror book, so I wouldn't rule out magic, perhaps derived from Omm.
• The Spider Clan of Peru, who are enemies of the Snake Clan, and worship at the Temple of the Great Weaver (there's also a spider amulet)--Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual 2001.
  That sure sounds like possible worshippers of Omm and Set, but this is not discussed.
• The extraterrestrial Daddy Wronglegs, that that showed up during Maximum Security-- Marvel Knights I#5
• Long-Legs of Dinosaur World was also referred to as the Spider God--Devil Dinosaur#2
• giant spiders of Weirdworld - Region of Shadows--Marvel Premiere#38
  
  In addition:
• The Tarantula, Antonio Rodriguez, was transformed into a giant spider, but I wouldn't count him, since it was science that mutated him.
• Ezekiel Simms-- Amazing Spider-Man II#30, has potential mystical origins, although and so he could be a "maybe" for connections.
  Current stories seem to be pointing to Anansi, so I doubt it, but it would be cool.
      And maybe even Anansi and Omm are connected somehow!
• The Thousand, Carl King, was transformed into a sentient colony of spiders--Tangled Web of Spider-Man#1
  although this might be Anansi, too.
• Warkon's Demon Rebels, of the Stenth race, lived in an immense, mobile spider city. Perhaps some distant influence?
• the spider mutated @ Journey Into Mystery I#73
  although that was science too

Thanks to Ron Fredricks for adding a cleaned up version of the snake-headed statue at the end of the profile.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Omm should not be confused with any other giant spiders (see comments)

Serpent Men

Modar was the high priest of Omm in Yezud. He was proud and arrogant, and Omm thought he tasted great.
--Conan the Barbarian I#13

Tureem was a priest from Yezud. He was allied with Ahmak, who was involved in a plot to obtain the Dragon of Kao Tsu (a statue). Tureem possessed a Spider Amulet, with which he animated a statue of Omm (either just via magic, or by summoning the spirit of Omm). Right afterwards, Conan threw a dagger through his throat.
In addition, Tureem had the ability to track a person he had touched. After direct contact, he could locate that person, even to the ends of the Earth.
--Savage Sword of Conan#197 (May, 1992)

Appearances:
Conan the Barbarian I#13 (January, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Jakes (plot), Barry Windsor-Smith (pencils), Sal Buscema (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Conan the Barbarian I#66 (September, 1976) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), John Buscema (penciler), "The Tribe" (inkers)
Marvel Team-Up I#111 (November, 1981) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Herb Trimpe (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Savage Sword of Conan#197 (May, 1992) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Ernie Chan (inks), Mike Rockwitz (editor)
Savage Sword of Conan#207-210 (March-June, 1993) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (pencils), E.R. Cruz (inks), Richard Ashford (editor)

First Posted: 03/21/2002
Last updated: 01/06/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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