Danger Street Signs - Return Of The New Gods!

In anticipation of a review of Danger Street by Tom King, Jorge Fornes and assorted cover artists I am representing my thirteen reviews of DC's 1970's Showcase-style comic 1st Issue Special. The books by King and company make use of ALL of the sundry heroes and heroines who appeared in these pages. So, let's finish with the Return of the New Gods. 

Jack Kirby was a big part of the early issues of 1st Issue Special as we've seen with three features in the first six issues of the run. Then his contract to DC fulfilled he left to return to Marvel, now minus Stan Lee who tended to his reputation and Marvel's doings in Hollywood and thereabouts. By this time Kirby was producing his wild Captain America stories for Marvel as the title rocketed to its two hundredth issue as well as some nifty covers for a bunch of different titles. DC decided that the New Gods characters who had seemingly demonstrated a lack of marketplace power only a few years before were ready to make another try, this time minus their absent creator. 

In this thirteenth and final 1st Issue Special we meet again the denizens of New Genesis such as Highfather, Scott Free (in costume on cover only), Big Barda and Lightray (cover only) and Metron. On the Darkseid of things there is of course the cruel dictator of Apokolips himself as well as Kalibak and Doctor Bedlam. In this issue Orion in new fighting togs (no helmet darn it which has always proven difficult for many artists to draw) taking the fight to Apokolips yet again but who finds that he cannot fulfill his long ballyhooed destiny to kill his father when Darkseid has taken steps to connect his beating heart to the Sun itself, making his sudden demise rough on humans all over. So it ends in a stalemate, but with the door open for more. 

And more is what we get as within months we have a new Mister Miracle comic and a new New Gods title both picking up the numbering of the abruptly halted original runs. The Fourth World will slowly but surely become an ever increasing part of the DCU with Darkseid in particular seen by the likes of Gerry Conway (who plotted this last 1st Issue Special as well as edited it in a deal with seemingly more latitude than even Kirby had). Denny O'Neil scripted it and an up and coming Mike Vosburg (hot off the previous issue's Starman) took the artistic helm.

And so it ends, a brief little series that packed some real punch with a gaggle of strong features some of which found a lasting time on the racks and others that withered away. One thing they almost all had in common was a grand sense of fun, something today's dour comics lack by the bushel loads. 

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