Thursday, April 17, 2025

The New Gods #5 Review




  • Written by: Ram V

  • Art by: Evan Cagle, Andrew MacLean (prologue)

  • Colors by: Francesco Segala

  • Letters by: Tom Napolitano

  • Cover art by: Nimit Malavia

  • Cover price: $3.99

  • Release date: April 16, 2025


The New Gods #5, by DC Comics on 4/16/25, finds Highfather entering the battlefield to face Karok alone, while Scott and Barda battle Orion on Earth to save the child.



Is The New Gods #5 Good?


Recap


When we last left Scott, Barda, and the rest in The New Gods #4, Highfather is forced to wear his combat armor to defend New Genesis from the invasion of Karok's army. Meanwhile, Scott and Barda find the child Orion was sent to kill, but Orion arrives to finish the deed sooner than expected.

Plot Synopsis


In The New Gods #5, Lightray questions the meaning of Life, Death, and Existence. The prologue, drawn by guest artist Andrew MacLean, speeds through Lightray's life as he witnesses death and wonders about the meaning of everything. Eventually, Lightray's wonderings catch the attention of The Racer, who promises to tell Lightray one day the meaning of Existence if he should be caught in a race.

Now, Karok steps onto the battlefield of New Genesis. Highfather meets him as Izaya the Inheritor, with his staff that can remake matter at will. Highfather asks Karok to leave, but Karok refuses and promises that New Genesis will hollowed out, just as Darkseid did to Karok's homeworld many years ago.

Highfather uses his staff and obliterates Karok. Unfortunately, Karok reassembles quickly with the power of darkness within him, possibly an artifact of the great darkness that infected Nyctar eons ago (maybe?). Karok then introduces Grayven, the bastard son of Darkseid, who agrees to join Karok's cult. Grayven unleashes a black omega beam to destroy Highfather, but the beam is blocked by Lightray, who agrees to sacrifice himself after a private word with Metron. Then, Karok runs Lightray through with a sword while Highfather and the surviving New Gods enter a portal to Earth.

The issue ends with Scott and Barda protecting the child against Orion's attacks when Superman arrives to stop Orion.

First Impressions


The New Gods was always going to be a tough sell. When you put the property in the hands of a writer known for meandering, overwriting, and poor execution of high-brow concepts, the tough sell becomes even tougher. The New Gods #5 has all that and more, but it may be one of the better issues because you can see a glimmer of how it all ties together.

How’s the Art?


Evan Cagle's imaginative, detailed artwork is fantastic. Andrew MacLean's childish aesthetic is not. Either DC or Ram V made a point of using this unapproachable series to experiment with non-complementary, almost conflicting art styles to create separation between the past and present. The visual separation is certainly evident, but the conflict in styles verges on repugnant.

What’s great about The New Gods #5?


The big positive of this issue is Ram V's brief glimmer of hope that all the pieces are coming together between Karok's assault on the gods and Scott's mission to save a child. In the annals of Ram V storytelling, the dovetailing of plots is almost too easy in this issue, but we'll take it.

What’s not great about The New Gods #5?


Barring Andrew MacLean's off-putting art, the down point of this issue is Ram V's poor connective tissue. Ram puts an inappropriate amount of effort into creating chunks of mythology, only to reference them later in a loose and undramatic way such that you can barely remember how they connect, if at all.

For example, in the previous issue, Highfather's donning of his warrior armor should have come across as a big deal, but there was no emphasis on discarding the armor, which would have given weight to its return.

Here, we see the same thing. Karok is able to reassemble himself because he's infused with a powerful darkness. If the darkness that makes him immortal is the same darkness Nyctar brought back from his travels in issue #3, there should have been a scene or at least a panel to make that connection. Instead, Ram V assumes his history-building is so gloriously unforgettable that the dramatic payoff is obvious. It's not, and it's not.



About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Final Thoughts


The New Gods #5 gives readers who've been more than patient with this series a glimmer of hope that the story is coming together. Ram V's space opera has a few moments of dramatic impact, and Evan Cagle's artwork is fantastic. That said, Ram V's connective tissue within and between issues is woefully inadequate, and guest artist Andrew MacLean's style in the prologue is off-putting.

5.5/10


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