Death Of The New Gods!

I've put off getting this for well over a year now. I didn't follow the series last summer because I'm just pretty well weary of following modern comics as they weave through endless events parading under countless alternate covers. I get a choice few here and there, but the number has almost dwindled to nothing.

That said this series did intrigue me because of Jim Starlin. Starlin burst onto the scene with his variation on the Fourth World developed for Marvel in Iron Man, Marvel-Two-In-One, Captain Marvel and elsewhere. No amount of discussion will ever convince me that Thanos ain't supposed to be Darkseid, and Mentor is Izaya and Eros is Lightray. They've developed well beyond these homages, but that's where they come from, let's be honest. And I really liked what Starlin did with these Kirby-lite characters.

So when Starlin gets the chance to play with the real Kirby-items it intrigues me. Then the story got out that this "Death of the New Gods" was not the true one, that Final Crisis was going to largely ignore this telling and knock the New Gods off all over again, and the story became a sidebar. That's good for me, as I prefer it skewed off on its own. I can read it as is.

The story is not a bad one. Some mysterious killer is knocking off New Gods, both from New Genesis and Apokalypse and leaving their blooded bodies to be found. Some of the favorites get knicked pretty quickly beginning with Lightray and soon followed by Big Barda and others. There are lots of red herrings in this storyline and Starlin did a good job keeping me off balance. After a year of waiting for the trade reprint I had forgotten most of the bluster about the story online but I somehow thought I remembered the culprit's identity. I was wrong and my mistake made for a real surprise as the story unfolded at last.

There's much to like here. Starlin's style suits the New Gods, though as always no one other than Kirby can draw Orion's helmet. Starlin's version is particularly annoying. Otherwise I like what he does, and his Darkseid is magnificent. This is a good story, compelling. I'll just view it as the end of the Kirby Fourth World for now, and I can easily forget whatever it is DC might dream up for the dopplegangers it still controls from now on.

The New Gods are dead. Long live Kirby's New Gods!

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