All roads lead to Colleton County. I know that’s not the saying, but if you go around and inquire, you will find quite a few people who aren’t originally from here including myself. However, people here welcome us and weave us into the tapestry of the community. Omar Jeter is one of those people who was welcomed in and are now part of the landscape of the area just like he’s been here since day one.
Omar is from Brooklyn, New York. He and his family came to be in South Carolina because his parents wanted somewhere to retire that was nice, quiet, and warm. They were not expecting the amount of heat that comes along with living in this area, but they were committed. Jeter’s sister and her family lives down here also so the family was “getting the band back together.” Omar shares they love it here and don’t think twice about the city anymore with its hustle and bustle and the faster pace. He was captivated by the scenery that varies from the downtown city scape to the forests and open country spaces. Jeter has been in Walterboro off and on for about 25 years. With high school behind him he was working at ACE Hardware (As an aside, Omar praises the store as an amazing place to work and Mr. Westbury as an amazing person) and decided he needed to make a change before he became the stereotypical guy living in his parents’ basement playing video games all day. He came home from work one day and literally flipped a coin on a map and said, “wherever this coin lands that’s where I’m going to go to college.” Fate was kind because the coin landed in Colorado one of Omar’s favorite places. In a drastic move (or at least his parents thought it was pretty drastic) Jeter bought his ticket on a Greyhound bus, packed what he could carry, and off he went. While living in Colorado, he commuted to New Mexico and went to college there.
Retail work is often a college students’ best friend due to the flexibility with hours. Omar began his retail career that would follow him after college with Walgreens in New Mexico. Eventually it was time to return home to Walterboro. Jeter missed his family and with a transfer secured he made his way back home and began working at the Walgreens on Robertson Boulevard. Omar was responsible for some of promotional events at the store. Some of you may remember when SpongeBob SquarePants made an appearance at Walgreens. The kids could come in, meet SpongeBob, and get a photo made with him. The event had a tremendous turn out. That was Omar in the costume interacting with all those kids (probably some of the adults too).
Omar is a self-proclaimed nerd. Nerd as in comic book collector, action figure collector, lover of animation all the way back to childhood. His immersion into comics came from a little bit of adversity. Jeter’s parents noticed he was having a bit of trouble reading in school. The wherefores and the whys varied. He may not have liked the material, maybe a lack of understanding of the material, or just being stubborn about the situation. Whatever the reason may have been his godmother and father took what could be considered a unique approach. They took him to the comic bookstore thinking he watches the Spider-Man cartoon let’s see if he will read the comic. He did. One comic was not going to be enough. That was the beginning of a life-long love of comic books and their characters. “Fantastic Four”, “X-Men”, “Avengers”, “Transformers”, “ThunderCats”, and the list goes on and on. Jeter still has all these original comics from back then and they hold a spot in his massive collection. All comic book superheroes have an origin story, and this happens to be Omar’s. Eventually, his reading material expanded from the comic book field. “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, “A Wrinkle in Time”, “Superfudge”, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder collection (“Little House on the Prairie”) found a place on the bookshelf. Television also played an important part in Jeter’s childhood. Live action television series of “The Incredible Hulk”, “The Amazing Spiderman”, “Wonder Woman” and shows like “The Greatest American Hero” had us ‘80’s kids tuning in every week just to watch. Of course, the 1980’s is when video games started gaining traction as well. This just opened a whole new world for storytelling and collecting for Omar and he took it in stride and found another area of interest.
But despite all that, the ’80’s were an odd time. For us Gen Xers it was great in terms of the things that were available to kids such as the comics, the movies, and the TV shows, but socially it could be challenging to navigate. Schools very much functioned on a clique scale. Some cliques were more “important” than others, but everyone was put into one. Remember “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles?” It was fairly accurate as far as some of the categories go. John Hughes films didn’t do a lot of favors for those who were lower on the clique scale according to Jeter. Is life imitating art or is art imitating life is a question to ponder. Maybe it’s a little bit of Column A, a little bit of Column B. However you want to view it, Omar found it was difficult to have the interests he did in school. The term nerd didn’t have a more positive connotation like it does now. Those labeled nerds back then whether for their high intellect or different interests were low on the clique scale which at times could make their school experiences less than ideal. It took a long time for Omar to “find his tribe”, but eventually he did here in Colleton County. He was almost finished with high school when his family moved down here, but he began to find more people with similar interests. They were in the library trading comic books and letting someone borrow a VHS tape of a superhero movie or talking about the latest and greatest on the scene. It was here he found his people and having likeminded people around him made things easier.
His love for collecting and immersing himself in all these different “worlds” led him to share what he loved for kids in the area who were into the same things. He has hosted multiple Comic-Cons in Walterboro. He loved that people and businesses in the community helped to sponsor and even had corresponding events at their locations to help get the word out. He started getting calls from Cons in other areas asking for his help at their location. He even started his own company called Universal Nerd. COVID-19 took its toll on Comic-Cons just like it did everything else and ultimately Jeter sold Universal Nerd, but his heart still lies in the community.
As far as music, his tastes are a little all over the place his favorite band is Corn, but “back in the day” you might have seen him in a Metallica t-shirt, or wearing the big Flava Flav clock. His playlist is varied to put it mildly.
Omar credits a lot of people with his growth and success. He is grateful for his parents’ influence in his life. He credits their open-mindedness about the world with his growth and varied interests. He grew up listening to their music too. One day it might be Credence Clearwater Revival or Janis Joplin. Jimi Hendrix, the Temptations, and the Four Tops also took a turn on the record player. Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, and Michael Bolton made their way into the mix also. Culturally as a mixed-race person, his mom is Black and his father is Hispanic and German, he counts himself fortunate that they brought their own cultural experiences into his life to shape him. Jeter’s dad also shared his love of his own collected items with him. His dad collected cars. He still has his ticket stub from going to see the first release of the Star Wars movie. He was into “Planet of the Apes”, “The Green Hornet”, and “Batman.” Omar laughs and comments, “So, I blame him.”
Jeter also credits Tim Cahill (Walgreens Manager), Ms. Yvonne (Librarian at CCHS), Ms. Shiela Keaise (former Children’s Librarian at CCML), Pastor Cooper (Veteran’s Victory House), Ms. Julie Lawson (Burger King), Jim Chavone (bowling alley), Carl Coffin (Director, CCML).
As we were winding down, I put Omar through the lightning round and here’s what I found out. Favorite comic book series-X-Men. Favorite illustrator-Jim Lee (He is currently Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics but got his start at Image Comics. He has also drawn Batman, Wonder Woman, Punisher, Gambit, and Superman). Another favorite illustrator-Jim Byron (He has drawn Fantastic Four and did a run in Captain America). Favorite superhero movie animated-1986 The Transformers: The Movie. Favorite superhero movie live action-Iron Man 2. Favorite Marvel character-X-Men Beast. Favorite DC character-The Flash. Favorite comic book series-X-Men.
Omar currently works at Veterans’ Victory House where his interests have come in handy. It took me a moment to figure it out, but a lot of the residents were there when the original runs from the comic books and characters originally came out such as The Phantom, Flash Gordon, and the 1940’s Captain America. Omar organized an event where staff were able to dress up a some of these original characters for the residents and according to Omar, “the place went bonkers.” He loves his job and even on his days off he will go and visit the residents.
While he isn’t aging out of the collectibles, comic books, superheroes, video game, etc. he does look to making it a little easier for the next generation. He feels everyone deserves a seat at the table, everyone deserves to eat, and he wants to help set the table for those coming up. Omar loves his town. He is proud of Walterboro and states “Walterboro will always be my home.” He is eternally grateful for the community that allowed him to accomplish the things he did.
Talking with Omar was a genuine pleasure. As a fellow Gen Xer it was like taking a walk down memory lane. Everyone has a story to tell, and it will be interesting to see what the next chapters will be in Omar Jeter’s life.
