For my money, arguably the most intoxicating heroic design that Jack "King" Kirby ever did was for Orion of the New Gods. It's one of those designs that is almost impossible for another artist to interpret, but in the deft hand of the King Orion looked sleek and dangerous, and even his peculiar helmet looked daunting. Seeing Orion charging forward astride his unique Astro-Glider is an awesome sight. The design is deceptively simple.
When they revived the New Gods after Kirby left DC, the design was changed. I'd imagine they wanted to evoke a more purely superheroic look and I'd also imagine other artists found the design frustrating.
Later the classic look was re-installed and Orion has looked pretty much himself since.
Save for a short period in the 90's about the time Orion and Lightray were tapped to join the Justice League briefly.
This is just an absolutely wretched design, and Orion looks more addled and scatterbrained than focused and violent, which is what they probably were going for. It's a regrettable design from a time when regrettable things were all too common alas.
At least Walt Simonson and John Byrne arrived to set things right.
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Orion was already back to his classic look before Byrne took over The New Gods.
ReplyDeleteThat's true enough. But I associate Byrne and Simonson and their run on the characters as the most definitive other than Kirby's.
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I agree, Byrne & Simonsen had an obvious love of the King's work and this was clearly evident in the stories that they produced.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as a fan of Don Newton, I did also enjoy his brief stint on the title in the late 70s before it was cancelled.