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The Exciting World of Fictional Politics
“Orion of New Genesis”
Writer/Penciller: Shane Davis
Inker: Michelle Delecki
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterers: A Larger World’s Dave & Troy
“Teeth of the See”
Writing and Drawing: Walter Simonson
Coloring: Laura Martin
Lettering: John Workman
Reprinted New
Gods Material By: Jack Kirby
Cover: Davis, Delecki & Sinclair
Cover Price: $4.99
On Sale Date: August 2, 2017
**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE
BOTTOM**
It’s the 100th Birthday of Jack “King”
Kirby, and DC is cranking out a bunch of Kirby-related one-shots during the
month of August to celebrate the occasion. Though it comprises some of the DC
Universe’s bedrock, his Bronze Age work for the company isn’t as well-known or
–regarded as his work at Marvel…where they are celebrating the King by not even
publishing the flagship title he co-created with Stan Lee. Well! We can’t worry
about the missteps and rudeness of others, can we? No, we can worry only about
our own house, so let’s see what’s what in my review of New Gods Special #1, right here!
Explain
It!
So, full disclosure: Jack Kirby’s Fourth World stuff
is not my favorite. I know that is akin to pissing in the Holy Water at church,
but it’s the truth. I love lots of Jack Kirby comics, and there are parts of
the eternal struggle between Highfather and Darkseid that I do like, but as you
get into the nitty-gritty of that detailed world, the more it starts to feel
like a six year-old child’s fever dream. This comic is really an anthology,
with one feature-length story by Shane Davis, then a shorter one by Walt
Simonson, then some Jack Kirby reprints. I’m going to do my best to encapsulate
each one.
The first story is about Orion, the son of Darkseid
traded for Scott Free (aka Mr. Miracle) in order to secure a truce between New
Genesis and Apokolips. Bug the Forager tells Highfather and Lightray, who in
turn inform Orion that Darkseid’s son Kalibak is on New Genesis, firing up an
energy pit that will turn the planet into an annex of Apokolips. He’s enslaving
the bug people to do this, but Orion is barely interested in that point, more annoyed
that Kalibak is trying to screw the deal and appeal to their daddy behind
everyone’s back. Orion goes berserk and even turns Apokoliptan ugly while
chasing down Kalibak, but eventually catches up to him and snaps his arm
sickeningly! Kalibak entices Orion to kill him and claim his Darkseidian
birthright, but Orion chills out and uses a Mother Box to turn himself handsome
again, before Boom Tubing Kalibak back to Apokolips for his punishment. In the
end, Orion’s glad to be a fella from New Genesis, where, you know, lava isn’t
spewing from pits and you don’t hear the wails of the tortured at all hours of
the day and night.
Our second story is…also about Orion. In his younger
days, when he was hanging out with New God Seagrin, who is sort of like New Genesis’
Aquaman. It’s actually Orion’s first mission for Highfather, to examine an evil
presence he sensed coming from the waters of Apokolips. So they’re swimming
around, and it turns out the evil presence is gigantic piranha monsters that
they run away from through a Boom Tube? And that’s it. There’s a lot of
dialogue referencing stuff from Kirby’s Fourth World, but on the face of it,
this seems like a randomly-recorded event in the life of Orion. Walt Simonson’s
art looks pretty terrific, for sure.
The rest of the book is a couple of back-ups from
issues of Forever People, featuring Lonar, a character that looks to be a
proto-Orion that never took off on his own. Most interesting part, to me, was
when Lonar is sifting through a ruined city and discovers what looks like
Thor’s helmet. This connects Kirby’s Fourth World to his Third World, which
would have been all the Asgard stuff at Marvel. Otherwise, first Lonar unearths
some kind of immortal devil horse, and in another story he rides it near Orion
and the horse recoils from his touch. I mean, seriously, that’s it. There’s an
awesome Kalibak pin-up, and a pretty great essay by one-time Jack Kirby
assistant and comics historian Mark Evanier. I think I enjoyed that most of
all.
Otherwise, this was a pretty crummy issue for five
bucks. Both of the new stories were more fawning reminiscences of
previously-released comics, and the back-ups were more confusing than
interesting. This comic is nothing to hate, it’s just not particularly
memorable nor does it make me wish we could get more. I mean, to continue the
second story, just read Jack Kirby’s New
Gods, I guess? If you can get your hands on those reprints, that is. They
go for a mint. Better that you read them on digital, which would be a better
use of your time and money.
Bits and
Pieces:
If you love Jack Kirby's Fourth World so much that you can brook endless reminiscences of those comics without anything new being added, then you have found your comic. If you're anything less than an expert on the subject, however, you should probably steer clear. The art is all of good quality but the stories are boring and confusing. And no amount of frantic wikipedia-searching makes them interesting.
5.5/10
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